---->Successful Applicant Stats c/o 2015

[breester]

1st time applicant, 26 y/o female, MA resident

Applied: 20 schools! (I know, I know)
Interviewed: UTK, Iowa (declined), Washington (declined), K-State (declined), Minnesota (declined), Ohio State
Waitlisted: Michigan State, Oregon, UTK, Ok-State
Rejected: everywhere else..
Accepted: Ohio State
Attending: ??? Holding out for UTK..


-B.A. 2007 Economics, minor in Art (top 10 ranked liberal arts college)

-M.S. 2009 Sport Management

-Went back to school in 2009 to take all of my science pre-reqs

GRE: 500 V, 730 Q, 4.5 A
GPAs: undergrad: 3.19, Science Req'd: 3.75, cumulative: 3.3, last 45: 3.7, grad school: 3.52


Experience:
Veterinary hours:
Exotic/Marine veterinary: 100h clinical
South American spay/neuter trip: 40h clinical
small animal (spay/neuter clinic) veterinary: 240h clinical

Animal:
I wish I had found SDN before applying- the only animal experience I listed on my ap is 100h pet sitting

Honors:
2010 CRC Press Chemistry Award
2007 Kate Hogan Award
2003 Arete Award
2003 Phi Beta Kappa Society
2003 Zane Cup

High school:
academic awards, honor roll, Varsity Soccer, Hockey, and Softball.

Community activities:
Girls' AAU basketball coach, Vermont Stars girls' hockey coach, House Life Coordinator (undergrad), Junior Advisor (undergrad)

College Activities:
Junior Advisor, House Life Coordinator, Club Rugby (Freshman year), Varsity Soccer (Freshman year), Varsity Hockey (all 4 years), Varsity Hockey team captain (Sr. year), Varsity Lacrosse (Sr. year)
**proof that you CAN actually have a life prior to applying to vet school!!

Employment:
Coffee bar Barista- 2009-present
Summer camp counselor for inner-city youth- summer 2009
Basketball Hall of Fame intern
SaraLee Corp. intern


eLORs:
1. PhD - chem prof
2. PhD - physics prof
3. DVM - South America spay/neuter team leader
4. DVM - Vet I spent most time with at community spay/neuter clinic
5. Hockey and Soccer coach in college

So here I am - living proof that you non-trads have a chance!! In some ways I wish I had found this forum before applying because there is some very very useful information on here but on the other hand I think that I probably would have put off applying another year. I listed a total of 480 hours with vet and animal experience! THAT'S ALL! I see people on here post that they have between 2,000-20,000 hours of experience and it's a little disheartening but all of you non-trads out there - do not give up hope! The best advice was given to my by an admissions counselor at Tufts - when I asked her where I should take my science pre-reqs, her response was, "Choose the cheapest place, make sure that it is a 4 year institution and get ALL A's." I got one B and a couple of A-'s but overall I did pretty well.

My biggest weakness was obviously my lack of experience. I did not know that I wanted to be a vet until a couple of years ago. I didn't grow up on a farm and my family got our first dog when I was 13. My family is very business oriented which is why it took me a little longer than some of you.

I hope my post helps someone out.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Vet Med]

.

 

[nyanko]

College Activities:
Junior Advisor, House Life Coordinator, Club Rugby (Freshman year), Varsity Soccer (Freshman year), Varsity Hockey (all 4 years), Varsity Hockey team captain (Sr. year), Varsity Lacrosse (Sr. year)
**proof that you CAN actually have a life prior to applying to vet school!!

Congratulations...ice or field?

edit: I was assuming ice because I think I recognize the Vermont Stars - but it's weird because out here in CA people automatically assume I mean field if I say I play hockey.

 

[SecondOpinion]

2nd time applicant 23 y/o female, CT resident

1st Application cycle:
Applied, Rejected from: Colorado, Tufts, Illinois, and Virginia-Maryland

2nd Application Cycle:
Applied - Tufts, AVC at UPEI, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia-Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Colorado
Rejected- Tufts, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia-Maryland, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Colorado (try getting all those letters in a brief couple of weeks=not fun)
Interviewed- Kansas and AVC
Waitlisted- Kansas and Michigan
Accepted- AVC


B.S. August 2009, Individualized Major, Animal Husbandry and Wildlife Ecology
University of Connecticut

GRE: 560V, 650Q, 4.5 A

GPA:
Cum:3.425
Science: Ranged from 2.9 (Iowa) to a 3.6 (Michigan)
Last 45: 3.45

Veterinary Experience:
Small animal medicine (multiple practices): 2000 hours
Mixed animal medicine: 60 hours
Large animal medicine: 120 hours
Lab animal medicine: 65 hours
Wildlife Medicine: 6 hours

Animal:
Equine: 2225 hours (foal watch, breeding, training, judging, etc.)
Wildlife: 80 hours
Kennel attendent: 600 hours
Zoo animal (Penguins): 213 hours

Other Employment:
1000+ hours working in human hospital in radiology department

Activities:
President of Forestry and Wildlife Club for 1 year (held offices of Treasurer and Vice President before that, member for 3 years)
Treasurer of The Wildlife Society for 1 year (member for 3 years)
Horseback riding, too many hours to count

Community hours:
Volunteer at rabies clinic


Awards:
Deans list multiple semester
Two scholarship awards as undergrad
Multiple awards in high school

High School:
Volunteer at animal shelter for 3 years
Varsity Soccer and Tennis all four years
National Honors Society
Relay for Life Team Captain


eLORs
1. Veterinarian
2. Veterinarian
3. Previous supervisor from job working in human hospital

 

[goldielocks137]

Second time applicant, 22 years old, Female, CA resident.

BS in Biochemistry from California State Polytechnic University

Applied: Kansas State, Auburn, Penn, Purdue, Iowa State, Washington State, Michigan State, Mississippi State, University of Tennessee, Oklahoma State, UC Davis, Western, AVC, Glasgow, Royal Veterinary College, University of Edinburgh
Rejected: Penn, Washington State, Mississippi State, UC Davis, Purdue
Interviewed: Kansas State, Auburn, Iowa State, RVC, U. of Tenn, Western (declined), AVC (declined), Glasgow (declined)
Waitlisted: Iowa State, Auburn, Michigan State
Accepted: Kansas State, Oklahoma State, University of Tennessee, RVC (4 year programme), Edinburgh (GEP)
Attending: University of Tennessee
Cum GPA: 3.22
Prereq/Science GPA: depending on how it's calculated, 3.2-3.4
Last 45 credit hrs: 3.20

GRE: 780 Q, 640 V, 4.0 A
Bio GRE: 710

Veterinary Experience:
-100 hours volunteering at low cost spay/neuter clinic
-60 hours shadowing LA vet
-260 hours volunteering at SA specialty clinic (surgery, internal medicine, and emergency/critical care)
-800 hours as receptionist/kennel attendant at SA general practice

Animal Experience Hours
-35 hours volunteering at wildlife rehab center
-30 hours volunteering at equestrian therapy lessons
-300 hours on the Cal Poly polo club team
-800 hours dog and cat grooming

Extracurricular/Community Activities:
-Pre-vet club 2 years
-Chi Omega 1 year
-Polo team 1 year
-Varsity golf 2 years and JV softball 2 years in high school
-High school student ambassador 4 years, peer tutor 4 years, student government 2 years

eLORS:
-Biology Professor
-Chemistry professor
-Vet

Awards and Honors:
-Dean's list a couple of semesters
-high school stuff that I can't remember right now

My GPA was definitely not great, and I don't have any extraordinary experiences to offset that. I was much more successful on my second application cycle than the first.

Things that I changed from last year to this year:
-rewrote personal statement to be more subjective and talk more about me rather than what I've done
-redid the GRE's
-had two professors write LORs, instead of only 1 last year (this may have helped since my GPA is lower)
-got some new experiences (wildlife and LA)
-was much more prepared for the interviews (didn't know about SDN and interview feedback last time)

 

[breester]

Congratulations...ice or field?

edit: I was assuming ice because I think I recognize the Vermont Stars - but it's weird because out here in CA people automatically assume I mean field if I say I play hockey.

Yep, ice!!

 

[squibby]

Applied: Kansas State, Auburn, Penn, Purdue, Iowa State, Washington State, Michigan State, Mississippi State, University of Tennessee, Oklahoma State, UC Davis, Western, AVC, Glasgow, Royal Veterinary College, University of Edinburgh
Rejected: Penn, Washington State, Mississippi State, UC Davis, Purdue
Interviewed: Kansas State, Auburn, Iowa State, RVC, U. of Tenn, Western (declined), AVC (declined), Glasgow (declined)
Waitlisted: Iowa State, Auburn, Michigan State
Accepted: Kansas State, Oklahoma State, University of Tennessee, RVC (4 year programme), Edinburgh (GEP)
Attending: University of Tennessee

Yay! I was waiting to hear where you would attend. Congrats! What is it you like about Tennessee? (I know nothing about it)

 

[PocoCalypsoQH]

3rd time applicant 23 y/o female, WI resident

My first application cycle was basically a joke now that I look back on it. I had hardly any shadowing, no good LORs, crappy GPAs, I really had no idea what it took to get into vet school; applied and rejected at Wisconsin. Second application cycle, got a file review and improved on everything. Applied to WI, IL, MO, MN; rejected at IL, MO, MN; waitlisted #11 at WI. Did ANOTHER file review, replaced one of my more mediocre letters with a really good one and got about 30% more shadowing hours. Waitlisted at #4 this year and I just got in!

Applied - Wisconsin
Waitlisted - Wisconsin
Accepted- Wisconsin


-B.S. Biology, 2009

GRE: 530V 710Q 4.0A

GPA: 3.41
Last 30 credits- 3.75ish
Science- 3.56

Veterinary Experience:
-Food Animal: 367 hours (split between a few different clinics)
-Equine: 22 hours
-Small Animal: 25 hours

Just want to point out you don't need 1000s of hours to get in. And these hours accumulated over the course of 3 years mind you.

Animal:
-working at riding club
-animal handling lab at school
-stallion research project
-working at vet school kennel
-working at campus dairy barn
-volunteer at therapeutic riding center
(I also have thousands of horse experience hours, but I did not put them on VMCAS because they were with personal pets)

Activities-
-Riding club member (3 years)
-Pre-vet club member (2 years)
-Study abroad program (1 semester)

Awards:
-minor scholarship
-Deans List 7 out of 10 semesters

High School:
-did not list anything from high school, nothing relevant

eLORs:
-Food animal vet I had ~200 hours with
-Manager from commercial lab job I had for ~8 months
-Food animal vet I had ~50 hours with

 

[CalicoCate]

First time applicant, 21 years old, Female, PA resident.

B.A. turned B.S. in Biology

Applied: Penn, Tufts, OVC
Rejected: None
Interviewed: Penn, Tufts, OVC (declined interview)
Waitlisted: Penn
Accepted: Tufts, Penn
Attending: Penn
Cum GPA: 3.90
Prereq/Science GPA: 3.90
Last 45 credit hrs: 3.92? I think
GRE: 660 Q, 660 V

Veterinary Experience:
-500+ Hours as a volunteer at an animal hospital then as a veterinary technician
-35 Hours at Penn's Summer Program

Animal Experience Hours
-100+ Volunteering and Handling Animals at a Nature Exhibit in a Children's Museum
-30 Hours Volunteering at an Animal Shelter
-10 Hours (at the time) volunteering at a Therapeutic Riding Academy


Extracurricular/Community Activities:
-Community Service Group
-Biology Club
-Multicultural Society


eLORS:
-Vet
-Vet
-Composite Letter from the Pre-Health Professions Committee at my school

Awards and Honors:
-Full Scholarship to the college I attend
-Dean's list every semester
-Pre-Health Honor Society
-High School Stuff: scholarships I received to attend there, etc

I also received feedback on my personal statement from one of the admission people at Penn who was extremely nice.

 

[RaiderTXgirl]

2nd time applicant, 25 y/o female, TX resident

Applied: Texas A&M, Kansas State, Mizzou, Minnesota, Tufts
Rejected: Mizzou, Minnesota, Tufts
Interviewed: Texas A&M, Kansas State
Waitlisted: Kansas State
Accepted: Texas A&M
Attending: Texas A&M!!!

-B.S. 2008 in Animal Science

-Finished a few remaining pre-reqs as a part time student after getting the B.S. (while working full time as a small animal vet tech)

-Also took a few graduate biology courses (due to advice given to me during last year's file review)

GRE: 480 V, 730 Q, 4.0 A
GPAs: Science: 3.23
Cumulative: 3.17
Last 45: 3.71

Experience:
Veterinary hours:
~4500 hours as a small animal vet tech (regular day practice, as well as in a specialty hospital ICU and also in an emergency clinic)
~20 hours volunteering at an equine only hospital

Animal:
~70 hours fostering kittens at my house
~48 hours assisting with Hippotherapy (therapy with horses for kids with disabilities)
~200 hours as a kennel worker in a small animal boarding facility
~24 hours spent to become certified in Artificial Insemination (bovine)
~130 additional hours in food animal/equine activities related to my Animal Science degree (several small things added up to 130)
~60 hours as a volunteer at an animal shelter for horses and cats/dogs

Honors:
Dean's List 2007-2008
Equine Science Certificate (received 2008)

Community activities:
AniMeals on Wheels (deliver pet food to homebound senior citizens)

College Activities:
Pre-vet society (held officer position)
Polo Club
College church group
Co-ed volunteer fraternity
Senior mentor for college freshman

Employment:
Petsmart
Several veterinary clinics

eLORs:
1. PhD - biochem prof
3. DVM
4. DVM

My weakness was definitely my GPAs (science and cumulative) because I goofed off way too much in the beginning of undergrad. I didn't realize until late that I wanted to go to vet school. I would say I really didn't get it together until my last 1½ years of the B.S., and then when I was finishing my pre-reqs and taking the grad classes. I also took the GRE three times to get the score listed above (HATE that test!!)

Anyway, I hope this helps someone that may have a low cumulative/pre-req GPA. The fact that they look at the last 45 hours was a lifesaver for me! It shows that they understand that some people may have a rough start. It is possible for it NOT to haunt you forever!!

 

[TomTheK9Fixr]

Welp, here ya go
Interviewed: Minn, OSU, KSU... Declined Western
Accepted: OSU (IS), Minnesota (OOS), KSU (OOS-called off waitlist)
Rejected: Cornell, Penn, Wisconsin, & CSU
Attending: Minnesota

I made this decision right after they offered me a spot, although, the past month or so I waivered between OSU, which is my IS and Minn. The reason for the second-guessing was the amount of debt for IS vs OOS. If money was not a variable, I would choose Minn with no questions asked. Fortunately, I spoke with a few finanical aid folks and it was determined that my monthly payment (using the Income Based Repayment program) difference between the two schools was actually not that bad. Therefore, I chose Minnesota and am utterly excited to start this journey.

*Penn shot me down really early because I didn't have an academic reference

B.S. in Biology with Chem minor 2006
M.A. in rehab sciences 2009

Cum GPA: 3.55
Last 45 GPA: 3.94
Science: 3.40 (no C's)

Experience:
>5000 hours as an ER/Surgery/IM non-certified tech at small animal referral hospital for 8 years.
150 hours at OSU ATI working with swine, equine
150 hours shadow at Akron Zoo with head DVM
100 hours with Avian/Exotic DVM
100 hours ride along with LA DVM

References: 2 from boarded SA surgeons, 1 from ER DVM, each of which I've know for at least 5 years

Extracurricular:
Played collegiate athletics
Coached CYO boys' basketball in undergrad
Other awards and recognition for good grades throughout college

 

[phaedraeos]

Yay TomTheK9Fixr! I'm so glad you found a way to be financially comfortable enough to follow your dream

 

[aschenk]

Hey you guys, I just created a facebook page for University of Tennessee accepted students for the class of 2015! Can't wait to meet you guys!

 

[Breann]

1st time applicant, 24 y/o female, WI resident

Applied: Wisconsin
Waitlisted: Wisconsin (#7 IS)
Accepted: Wisconsin
Attending: Wisconsin

Education: B.S. 2007 in Biology (Cellular/Molecular concentration), Chemistry Minor. Finished physics pre-reqs as part-time student at technical school in 2009.

GRE: 480 (V) 540 (Q) 3.5 (W)

GPA:
Overall: 3.32
Last 30 credits: 3.70

Veterinary Experience:
- 400 hrs veterinary assistant (SA)
- 160 hrs research assistant in WNV lab under DVM (Research)
- <50 hrs random vet shadowing (equine, SA)

Animal Experience:
- 2800 hrs study technician in animal laboratory (Research)
- 2040 hrs dog grooming assistant
- 900 hrs animal care technician at wildlife health center (wildlife/research)
- 640 hrs biological field technician (wildlife)
- 100 hrs volunteer humane society (SA)
- 80 hrs vaccine research under DVM (just started this job after VMCAS submission and was listed on supplemental app only)

Community activities:
Volunteer abroad in Kenya
Volunteer Humane Society
Volunteer Habitat for Humanity

Employment:
Resident Assistant at nursing home

eLORs:
1. DVM – research
2. DVM – SA clinic
3. DVM – SA clinic
4. DVM – lab attending vet

 

[Birdo88]

1st time applicant, 23 y/o female, NJ

Applied: Western, Dublin
Rejected: Western
Waitlisted: Dublin
Accepted: Dublin
Attending: Dublin

Education: B.S. 2010 in Animal Science

GRE: Verbal-510 Quant-660

GPA:
Overall: 3.01
Last 30 credits: 3.6

Veterinary Experience:
- 2,000 hours in SA general practice hospitals
- 1,500 hours in a SA Emergency/Referral hospital (before the VMCAS)
- 55 hours shadowing a dairy vet in Costa Rica

Animal Experience:
- 76 hours assisting with equine research
- 70 hours assisting with goat reproductive behavior research
- 500 hours working with lab animals (rats and mice) for a botanical therapeutics lab
-24 hours getting my certification in dairy cow AI
-20 hours volunteering at a wildlife refuge in Costa Rica

Community activities:
The Fraternity of Alpha Zeta (an honors, service agricultural fraternity)
Vice President of my college's Society of Animal Science

I was also a TA for Animal Nutrition Lab 2 years in a row, a TA for functional human anatomy lab, and did an Honors Thesis in the botanical therapeutics lab I worked in. I also have my name on some published work/award winning posters.

eLORs:
VMD from a General Practice Hospital
DVM from an Emergency/Referral Hospital
Animal Nutrition Professor
PhD Student I assisted

I totally wasn't expecting to get in anywhere with my low GPA and "meh" GREs (although UCD doesn't look at GREs so I guess I tortured myself last summer for nothing :/) I got pretty much straight Cs in all of my gen chem, orgo, and math classes. I even failed Gen Chem once my freshman year. I showed a lot of improvement during my last 2 semesters along with taking on a heavy course load both semesters, and did very well in my Biology/Animal Science courses.

Hope this gives some people with lower GPAs some hope!

 

[NStarz]

Any successful waitlisters want to add their stats so us c/o 2016 hopefuls can obsess some more?

 

[twelvetigers]

Applied: Auburn, UC Davis, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Ohio, Western
Interviewed: Oklahoma, Western
Apps withdrawn: Western
Accepted: Oklahoma
Rejected: Everywhere else
Attending: Oklahoma

Cum GPA @ time of application: 3.01, but 2.93 for some
Last 45 credit hrs: 3.0
Required courses GPA: 3.2 (OK uses this)
Science GPA @ time of application: 2.5-3.0 depending on what's counted
GRE: 1290 on 3rd try - 650q, 640v, 4.0 aw
Bio GRE: 580

No one is allowed to be ashamed of their stats. Post here if you got in, 'cause guess what? You got in. They won't take it back if you post here.

Also, doooo itttttttt.

 

[StartingoverVet]

No one is allowed to be ashamed of their stats. Post here if you got in, 'cause guess what? You got in. They won't take it back if you post here.

Also, doooo itttttttt.

TT, I have been on forum a decent amount of time, and although you always give great advice, I have not seen (or more likely missed it), what specifically you did to improve your app to overcome your stats. I think it might be helpful and/or inspirational for others to hear what that involved. Sorry if you have posted it elsewhere(or is none of my biz), but this seems a great place to mention it.

 

[sirbuckie]

1st time applicant, 24 y/o female, CA

Applied: UC Davis, UPenn, Minnesota, Ohio, Edinburgh, Glasgow
Rejected: UC Davis, UPenn
Waitlisted: Ohio
Accepted: Minnesota, Edinburgh, Glasgow
Attending: Minnesota (but will attend OH if I get off the waitlist.. 13 more people need to decline!!)

Education: B.S. 2009 Biochemistry and Cell Biology

GRE: Verbal-740 Quant-610 AW 3.5

GPA:
Overall: 3.27
Last 30 credits: 3.6

Veterinary Experience:
- 500 hours SA hospital
- 650 hours research at the Wild Animal Park, WMV surveillance (very cool)
-70 hours prion resesarch

Animal Experience:
- 700 hours wildlife rehabbing
-50 hours Project Wildlife in San Diego
-50 hours animal shelter

Community activities:
Volunteered in Mexico -played with kids in orphanages and built houses
High School Biochem Technique outreach

Employment:
3.5 years Stage Hand in my school's theatre
0.5 years Lab Technician, purified lots of protein
1 year blood banking technician

eLORs:
DVM/PHD Scientist at the Wild Animal Park
DVM Wild Animal Park
PHD Wild Animal Park
Ecology Professor from study abroad program
DVM/PHD I had started volunteering for 2 months before VMCAS was due

I decided to go to vet school exactly 2 years ago and at that time I had zero vet and animal hours. It was hard for me to get hours because I had to keep my job to pay the bills. I almost applied for the c/o 2014 cycle, but I didn't feel ready and other things came up.

I am quite surprised that I made it in the first round though. woohoo! At least 3 of my letters of recommendation were excellent and Moosenanny helped me write a pretty decent statement of purpose

 

[Tator17]

1st time applicant, 33 y/o female, IN

Applied: UPenn, Purdue
Rejected: UPenn
Waitlisted: Purdue
Accepted: Purdue
Attending: Purdue

Education: B.S. 2000 Marketing & Spanish

GRE: Verbal-640 Quant-640 AW 5.0

GPA:
Overall: 3.01

Veterinary Experience:
-700 hours SA low-cost hospital

Animal Experience:
-298 hours Animal Foster/Rescue
-156 hours Volunteering with a Pit Bull Awareness group
-15 hours Volunteering for various Humane Society events

Activities:
Organized a biking team to raise money for charity
Volunteer for Rotary Club
Volunteer for IndyReads (teaching adults to read)
Volunteer for UnitedWay
Fundraising for Susan G Komen
Captain of Sand Volleyball Team (it's a rotating position)
Book Club
Student Orientation Guide for three years in College
Intramural sports in College
Member and Officer of Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women
Colorguard Member (ALMOST cool enough to be in the marching band )

Honors/Awards (I did not remember many of these. God bless my mother.)
Alpha Kappa Psi
Alpha Lambda Delta
Phi Eta Sigma
Received Scholarship from University Attended
Received Scholarship from Mead Johnson
National Merit Semi-Finalist

Employment: (All full time 40 hours/week)
3 years in Market Research as Project Manager I and II
7 years as VP of Logistics (current job)

eLORs:
DVM for clinic where I volunteered
President/CEO of company where I currently work
IT Consultant that I worked with
VP of Market Research
Physics Professor
Office Mgr/Sr. Vet Tech where I volunteered

I decided to go back to school to complete my pre-reqs for vet school in 2007. I kept my job the entire time I took my pre-reqs. In the beginning, when I started this whole journey I felt like my age was a liability. So I crammed in as many classes as possible while working. Maybe there are those who can work and maintain a 4.0, but I was not one of them. But I think I had already given up on impressing any admissions committees with my GPA. I had graduated with a 3.0 for my BS, and there wasn't much I could do to change that number significantly, so I focused on standing out in other ways.

My eLORs were fantastic. Really. I owe the people who wrote me those letters a LOT. They all knew me personally and had spent quite a bit of time with me, so that helped. Originally, I didn't think that these letters mattered too much, but now I have to wonder. I purposely only filled the minimum requirement for "animal related" eLORs. I wanted my app to stand out and be different, so I incorporated as much of my marketing background as I could. Also, my personal statement was really focused. I think it was written really well, but that's subjective I know I want to eventually end up in a lower income area with a low cost clinic or get into shelter medicine. My personal statement was very focused on that and told the story of how I made the journey from marketing to where I am now. I worked on it quite a bit and had a ton of people re-read it.

When I got the interview invite, I did a lot of research on what sorts of questions would be asked so that I would feel as comfortable and prepared as possible. That way, during the interview, I worked on connecting with my interviewers. I wanted as much of my personality to come through as possible. I wanted them to remember me even after they had completed 18 other interviews that day.

I hope this helps give someone the confidence to apply. Your stats can not be worse than mine. There's always hope.

 

[twelvetigers]

TT, I have been on forum a decent amount of time, and although you always give great advice, I have not seen (or more likely missed it), what specifically you did to improve your app to overcome your stats. I think it might be helpful and/or inspirational for others to hear what that involved. Sorry if you have posted it elsewhere(or is none of my biz), but this seems a great place to mention it.

I'm sure I mentioned things here or there (or perhaps even sought advice about it) but I doubt there's a post that summarizes what I've actually done. I'm happy to point out a few of the things that, IMO, helped me finally succeed this time.

1. I took a bunch of upper-level science courses (in the pursuit of a 2nd bachelor's degree, which may or may not have in itself been relevant). I took advanced micro, medical mycology, concepts in medical genetics, molecular micro lab, and parasitology. I expressed confidence in doing well in my PS, and I did do well - 4 A, one B.
   
   
2. I got some neat experiences. I did the VIDA trip and I shadowed a vet in Montana. They were new, and they were interesting to talk about.
   
   
3. This was true for the previous time as well, but it came in handy for my interview... I got experience in several areas. I didn't really have any wildlife/exotic, but I was able to talk about my research and I was also asked directly if I had LA experience.
   
   
4. I got different people to write my eLORs. I know the one from the Montana vet was AMAZING. Then one from the vet I worked for, one from my adviser (who loves me), and one from an employer at the diagnostic lab. They all wrote great LORs and I was confident of that! I think I had a 'stinky' one the previous cycle... and I fixed that. So be absolutely sure about what you're going to get in a letter.
   
   
5. I slaved over my PS. I had a million people read it. I took some advice and chose not to take some other advice... but I considered everything. I worked hard to address EVERY issue - why I was interested at all, what got me interested in a specific field, what strengthened that interest, and why I feel I need a DVM to pursue it. I tried to sound like an asset to the profession. It can be a hard balance to achieve in writing - not full of myself, but confident. Also, parietal love took what I said and made it sound like someone about 45% smarter said it... haha. She made my writing sound intelligent. If you know any journalism students, buy them a beer now. Make pals. They are wonderful.
   
   
6. The interview went better. I think having Western's interview first really helped. Not so much because the questions were the same - there was no overlap - but because simply thinking of the answers for Western's questions helped force me to explain my reasoning behind my choices, mistakes, and desires... excellent practice. I also did a mock interview. I tried to be myself during the real interview, but also tried not to sound crazy - also a delicate balance at times. I think I was a bit more lucky this time too - nice interviewers and no off-the-wall current event questions to throw me.

I think that's all - I don't know if applying to more schools may have helped, but I seriously doubt it. I ended up getting in to the one I had applied to the first two times.

So, TL;DR = I was more mature, I knew what I wanted *and* made sure I expressed that well in both PS and interview, I got LOR writers that adore me, and I worked my *** off to get excellent grades in my most recent semester.

Good?

 

[farmgirl12]

1st time applicant, 21 y/o female, NY

Applied: Cornell, Iowa State, Michigan State, Kansas, Ohio, Virginia-Maryland
Rejected: Cornell, Kansas (still a viable applicant, but they doubted there'd be anymore interviews), Ohio (one of the last groups w/o an interview to be rejected), Virginia-Maryland
Waitlisted: Iowa State (#52), Michigan (in the middle)
Accepted: Iowa State
Attending: Iowa State!!!

Education: B.S. 2011 Biochemistry, Minor in Psychology

GRE: Verbal-530 Quant-660 AW 4.0

GPA: I went to a small public state school that was supposed to be equivalent to Cornell in academic difficulty, but substantially cheaper and a better learning environment for a country kid like me I think Iowa was one of the few schools that took into account how difficult my classes were. If you are in a similar situation I highly recommend you apply to schools that look at this, (Its only 5% at Cornell and Michigan doesnt take this into consideration, not sure about the others I applied to).

Overall: 3.39 (includes 20 credits of A's at a community college in h.s.), (GPA just at four year undergrad was 3.27ish at time of application)
Last 30 credits: 3.57
Science courses: 3.31
(All as calculated by Iowa)

Veterinary & Animal Experience:
250 hours-cow vet (helped w/ embryo flushings/ freezing, drew blood)
~2000 hours small animal vet (shadowing and worked as tech/receptionist)
~200 hours alpaca farm,
I also have thousands of hours from working on my farm at home, but I was mislead by my college adviser and was told none of that counted w/o letters of recommendation (Michigan said otherwise at my file review). I did have my farrier write a letter and had ~800 hours from that.


Community activities:
DAR Good Citizen of the year 2007
Maintain landscaping and flowers in town square/ my church for like 8 yrs
Rake leaves for local town people at college w/ my cross-country team
(ran x-c & track freshman yr of college)
Kidney walk and food baskets w/ intervarsity Christian fellowship last 2 years

Employment:
Worked for family greenhouse landscaping business since 7th grade (I didn't emphasize this enough though--file review)
Receptionist/ vet assistant last 4 years

eLORs:
DVM-small animal vet
DVM-mixed animal vet (Iowa graduate!!)
DVM-large animal, mostly dairy vet
Certified Farrier
Anatomy Professor

God truly blessed me by allowing me to get into vet school this year. I learned from the 2 file reviews that I didn't emphasize a lot of the things that make me unique (family landscaping business, hours from working on my farm). I was told you are NOT supposed to spend to much of your personal statement talking about animals, but rather emphasize what sets you apart. I think my supplemental essays and also the interview at Iowa helped bring out/ draw attention to some of the stuff I left out. I cried after one file review (no interviews done at that school) and was told I had sold myself short in my PS, so dont do that! I recommend you start the application asap and have at least 10 people read it! They may think of experiences that you have forgotten. I hope my stats give someone else some hope! I think my letters and animal experience, as well as the heavy course loads of upperlevel sciences were my strength. I'm SO excited to go to Iowa State and I definitely think it is the perfect school for me. Everything always works out the way it should . Feel free to PM me with any questions.

 

[SnowyPlover]

1st time applicant, 23 y/o female, CA resident

Applied: 10 schools
Interviewed: Ohio, Minnesota, Mississippi, Western
Waitlisted: Michigan, Oregon, Kansas
Rejected: Ohio, Western, Washington, Davis, Colorado
Accepted: Minnesota, Mississippi
Attending: Minnesota

-B.S. 2010 Biological Sciences

GRE: 520 V, 720 Q, 3.5 A
GPAs: Undergrad: 3.46

Experience

Veterinary hours:
Aquatics, Exotic/Avian: 192h
Small Animal: 2000h
Research: 520h

Animal:
Exotic/Avian, Zoo Animal/Wildlife: 500h

Honors:
2010 Deans Honor List

High school:
2006 Scholar with Distinction
2005 Scholar Athlete Award

Community activities:
National Society of Leadership and Success, Society of Pre-Vet Students, Key Club, Volleyball Club, High School Girls' Volleyball

eLORs:
Veterinarian
Veterinarian
Dev. Cell Professor
Micro. Professor

 

[MustLoveCats]

I put this off because I'm pretty shy and I'm not incredibly proud of my stats. But if it can help some of you stressing out about this years' application cycle (esp. any CSU wannabees) here it is...

2nd time applicant (CSU only each year) , 23 y/o female, CO Resident

BS in Biology from Colorado State University

Applied: CSU
Accepted: CSU
Attending: CSU

GPA: 3.7 from CSU, I wasn't required to calculate my last 45 credit hours. My cumulative GPA was about a 3.8.


GRE: 700 Q, 500 V, 4.0 A

Veterinary Experience:
-1400 hours paid employment at small animal hospital
-10 hours shadowing mobile food animal vet
-200 hours shadowing at small animal hospital

Animal Experience Hours
-250 hours volunteer feeding horses at a horse rescue
-100 hours paid experience working at an organic calf farm
-240 hours volunteering at animal shelter
-+ miscellaneous hours from petsitting, pre-vet club volunteering, pet first aid course

Extracurricular/Community Activities:
-Pre-vet club 2 years
-Volunteer at Step Up For Cancer
-Weekly math tutor at an alternative high school
-Meals On Wheels
-High school extracurriculars (NHS, science olympiad, science bowl, key club)
-Participated on soccer teams since I was 7
-Played the violin since I was 5

eLORS:
-2 of the vets I work with at SA clinic
-Manager at my current (other) place of employment

Awards and Honors:
-Dean's list
-High School Valedictorian
-Comcast Scholarship
-High School-District Writing, Science Bowl, Science Olympiad awards

Employment:
-4600 hours at an indoor air quality lab as a mycologist/asbestos analyst
-600 hours spent trapping and speciating mosquitoes
-900 hours as an undergraduate research assistant with my genetics professor


The tips I learned after my file review were very helpful:
-List every single time you were on the dean's list separately
-List all scholarships
-List clubs you were in and the activities you did for them separately (i.e.- you are in pre-vet club, list that under community activities, AND list any volunteering you did with animals under animal experience.)
-I doubt if all schools would want you to do this, but I was told (by the assistant dean) to project my number of hours (if they are still ongoing) on the VMCA's all the way to December, since that's typically when they look at the applications. I only counted my hours up until October the first time.
-I was told to take more upper level division science courses. I was already working full time (and part time at the SA clinic) so I took them online.

Things I did the second time around that I think helped:
-I listed everything no matter how insignificant it was but I backed it up in the description, by telling them what it was I did, AND how it was important/pertinent to veterinary medicine. You're only allowed like 400 characters, well I used nearly all of them for everything I listed.
-I know CSU likes to see students who take on a full school and work schedule. Well I took 7 credits online in the summer, while working 60 hours a week, volunteering feeding horses, and tutoring math... AND I MADE SURE THEY KNEW IT!
-I re-took the only C that I had on my transcript and made sure to mention it in part of the application so that they would notice it.

 

[JesLynn]

Congrats everybody!

 

[laitmanvet]

25 year old female, Pennsylvania resident

Applied: UPenn, Minnesota, RVC, Edinburgh, Tufts, Mississippi
Rejected: UPenn, Minnesota, Edinburgh, Tufts, Mississippi
Interview: RVC
Accepted: RVC (4yr program)
Attending: RVC!

Education: B.S. Biology 2007 & M.S. Microbiology, 2010 (technically finished thesis Nov 2009)

GRE: took 3 times (once in 2006, the other 2 in 2009 before I applied the first time)&#8230;all were around 1200. My math was ~700 and verbal was ~500 give or take 10 pts each time.

GPA:
Undergrad: lower than average...
Grad: ~3.7
Science GPA: don't know, never calculated
Last 45 Credits (at time of application): 3.5

Veterinary Experience:
- ~100 hours volunteering in Penn hospital ER
-Countless hours in research with mice (3 yrs FT work)
-A couple hours shadowing the lab animal vet at work
-I did a research project with ruminant nematodes in undergrad (~ 10 months of work)

Animal Experience:
-I worked at the Philadelphia zoo in education for ~6 months. A lot of my work involved education of school-aged kids with animals. Lots of small mammals, (rabbits, chinchillas, ferrets, etc) reptiles, (snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises) birds (hawks, owls, parrots, macaws)

Employment:
-Currently work in research in an immunology lab at a large university medical school. I've been here for 3 years. I did my thesis research here too. Have one publication (nothing big, I'm like 4th author), had an abstract accepted for a poster presentation, gave a talk here at the University about my thesis work.
-I worked as a camp counselor for many years, I also worked as a paralegal one summer (so boring, I don't recommend law work)

eLORs:
-Vet PI in research our lab occasionally collaborates with
-My grad advisor (PhD) who also taught like 5 classes I took
-My current boss/PI, tenured MD

 

[SouthJerseyBell]

1st time applicant, 23 y/o female, NJ

Applied: Western, Dublin
Rejected: Western
Waitlisted: Dublin
Accepted: Dublin
Attending: Dublin

Education: B.S. 2010 in Animal Science

GRE: Verbal-510 Quant-660

GPA:
Overall: 3.01
Last 30 credits: 3.6

Veterinary Experience:
- 2,000 hours in SA general practice hospitals
- 1,500 hours in a SA Emergency/Referral hospital (before the VMCAS)
- 55 hours shadowing a dairy vet in Costa Rica

Animal Experience:
- 76 hours assisting with equine research
- 70 hours assisting with goat reproductive behavior research
- 500 hours working with lab animals (rats and mice) for a botanical therapeutics lab
-24 hours getting my certification in dairy cow AI
-20 hours volunteering at a wildlife refuge in Costa Rica

Community activities:
The Fraternity of Alpha Zeta (an honors, service agricultural fraternity)
Vice President of my college's Society of Animal Science

I was also a TA for Animal Nutrition Lab 2 years in a row, a TA for functional human anatomy lab, and did an Honors Thesis in the botanical therapeutics lab I worked in. I also have my name on some published work/award winning posters.

eLORs:
VMD from a General Practice Hospital
DVM from an Emergency/Referral Hospital
Animal Nutrition Professor
PhD Student I assisted

I totally wasn't expecting to get in anywhere with my low GPA and "meh" GREs (although UCD doesn't look at GREs so I guess I tortured myself last summer for nothing :/) I got pretty much straight Cs in all of my gen chem, orgo, and math classes. I even failed Gen Chem once my freshman year. I showed a lot of improvement during my last 2 semesters along with taking on a heavy course load both semesters, and did very well in my Biology/Animal Science courses.

Hope this gives some people with lower GPAs some hope!

Hehe, FOUND YOU!!! lol AZ, SAS, and your Costa Rica exp. gave you away.

 

[SouthJerseyBell]

2nd time applicant 22 y/o female, NJ resident

1st Application cycle:
Applied, Rejected from: UPenn, Tufts, Purdue, VMRCVM, Missouri, NCSU

2nd Application Cycle:
Applied - UPenn, Tufts, Purdue, VMRCVM, Oklahoma, UFlorida, Edinburgh
Interviewed- Purdue, VMRCVM, Tufts, UPenn
Rejected- UFlorida, UPenn
Waitlisted - Tufts
Accepted- Purdue, VMRCVM, Oklahoma, Edinburgh
Attending- Purdue


B.S. Animal Science, Minor in Equine Science, May 2010
Rutgers University

GRE: 530V, 720Q, 5.0 A Biology: 680

GPA:
Cum: 3.511
Last 45: 3.64

Veterinary Experience:
SA Clinic: 10hrs
Mixed Clinic: 590hrs
Porcine Research: 195
SA & Exotics Clinic: 162
Nutrition Research: 75
Equine Research: 117

Animal:
Barn Hand: 100 hrs
Pet Sitting: 380 hrs
Mounted Patrol: 400 hrs
Managing Horse Farm: 5200


Other Employment:
Student Security: 300 hrs
Life Guard: 858

Activities:
President of Equine Science Club,
Treasurer of Mounted Patrol
Society of Animal Science
Pre-Vet Club
Equestrian Team
Fraternity of Alpha Zeta
SGSDS - USDA

Community hours:
Service with Alpha Zeta
Habitat for Humanity
Service with Mounted Patrol
4-H Volunteer


Awards:
Deans list for 4 semesters
Multiple Scholarships
Honors Program
Senior Honors Project

High School:
Spring/Winter Track and XC
Environmental Club
Spanish Club
Amnesty International
4-H
Academic League (Nerd Games lol)


eLORs
1. VMD - Mixed Animal
2. PhD - Honors Research Advisor
3. PhD - Academic Advisor
4. PhD - Director of Honors Program

I would say my high activity load held back my GPA, but looking back, I wouldn't change a thing. I loved and enjoyed everything I did as an undergrad and I am going where I want to go, just a year later

 

[that redhead]

AZ unite!

 

[Tonkamoo]

Took me a while to get around to posting this.
1st time applicant 28 y/o female, WA resident
First career as a computer programmer, took most of my pre-reqs while working full time.

Applied to 14 schools - this forum had me convinced I'd never get in anywhere...
Interviewed- Tufts, Auburn, Purdue, RVC, WSU
Rejected- all the others..
Waitlisted - Tufts, CSU
Accepted- Purdue, RVC, Dublin, WSU, CSU (off waitlist)
Attending- RVC

B.S. Computer Engineering in '05

GRE: 620V, 780Q, 4.5 A

GPA:
Cum: 3.3 (Undergrad was 3.2)
Last 45: 3.3 (But last 30 was like 3.7, since it didn't include senior year...)

Veterinary Experience:
Wildlife Hospital: 450hrs
Equine Lameness Vet: 80 hours
Zoo vet in Indonesia: 40 hours
Various Small animal and horse vets: 30 hours

Animal:
Competitive Horseback Riding: 10,000 hours
Running shelter dogs: 80 hours

Other Employment:
5+ years in the software world

Activities
Equestrian team in College, managed website for them

Community hours:
4 triathlons with Team in Training - raised over $20,000 for the LLS

eLORs
1. Equine Lameness vet
2. Wildlife Hospital supervisor
3. Animal Masseuse I've known since I was 10ish
4. Biology professor (I only took the one class with him...)
5. CS professor from College, for schools that took more than 3.

I put a lot of time and effort into my PS to show the schools I'd really thought about my decision to change careers and go back to school, and that my diverse background would add to their class.

 

[LovingLife10]

Fourth Time Applicant, 26 yr old female, OH resident

Applied: Ohio State (IS), Kansas, Oklahoma, Auburn, Mizzou, Mississippi
Interviewed: Mississippi
Waitlisted: Mississippi
Accepted: Mississppi

App cycle 1: Applied to 5 schools, Interviewed at IS, denied all others
App cycle 2: Applied to IS only: Interviewed, Waitlisted
App cycle 3: Applied to IS only: Denied w/ out interview
App cycle 4: see above


Education
Ohio University 2007- B.S. major in Biological Sciences: Emphasis in pre-veterinary medicine
OSU 2008-2010- ~35 hours of continuing education (I took classes that were not offered at my alma mater, got a C in, or filled a requirement. ex) Histology, Intro to Public Health, Evolution of Emerging Viruses, Comparative Physiology.)

GPA (Cum): 3.3ish*
GPA (last 45): 3.8ish
GPA (science): I actually have no idea but a rough guess is somewhere around my Cum GPA

*GOOD freshman year, OK sophomore year, NOT GOOD junior year, GOOD senior year, GOOD post-bacc grades. What happened in the middle? Personal losses, and then I turned 21 and happened to attend a top party school. Whoops hehe.

GRE
Taken 5 times I think- I asked an admission rep if this looked bad in any way and she said no. You either improve your score, or show that you are determined to improve yourself. I did improve my Quant score by 50 points after taking an online Kaplan course, but my verbal went down so my first time taking the test was my high score. Go figure haha.
High Score: 1190 (640 Q, 550 V, 4.5 W)
High Score of combined tests (some schools do this):1240 (690 Q, 550 V, 4.5 W)


Veterinary Experience
~5500 hours: small animal - all paid work, working my way from animal restraint to assisting in surgeries
~500 hours: volunteer at local non-profit wildlife rehab clinic
~40 hours: shadowing large animal clinicians at OSU's large animal hospital

Animal Experience
~400 hours: raising hogs for 4H
~15 hours: assisting industrial swine barn in town
~30 hours: horse back riding class

Other Work
Lifeguard, Nursing Assistant, Target sales associate, Starbucks barista

Activities
Meals on wheels volunteer
NAUI scuba diver
Half marathon/ 5K runner
Ohio Wildlife Center volunteer
Field Hockey- 4 yrs in high school, 3 years club in college
Study Abroad-2 weeks Andros Island (bahamas), studying the relationship between water, land, and the effects of human development

Letters of Recommendation
Stellar letters, they were brought up during my interview. Probably key in my acceptance
2 from veterinarians (both small animal vets I work with)
1 from OSU professor
1 from director of animal care of wildlife center where I volunteer

Interview
Took a public speaking class, and did a couple mock interviews. I'm not sure if this helped or not, but it was another thing I could say I did to try to improve

 

[heylodeb]

Just updated my post (somewhere on page 4, I think??) - wanted to add a couple things that I forgot while I was in my fevered state of acceptance happiness.

 

[JollyBlueJay4]

Applied: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, Kansas
Interviewed: Glasgow (rejected interview offer), Minnesota, Purdue
Rejected: Kansas, Wisconsin
Waitlisted: Minnesota (rank 48), Purdue (no rank)
Accepted: Edinburgh GEP (4 yr)
Attending: Edinburgh

First application cycle

Education
Roger Williams University c/o 2007 - BS
Purdue c/o 2011 - MS

Undergrad GPA: 3.14
GPA (last 45): No significant change
GPA (science): No significant change

Grad school GPA: 3.87

GRE:
Quant: 700
Verbal: 570
Writing: 4.0

Veterinary Experience
2 years full time vet tech at large 5 doctor practice
~1 year part time vet tech at small 1 doctor practice

Animal Experience
Research experience with MS degree in animal science and welfare at Purdue
Worked on calf projected, swine project, and my own research on laying hens

Letters of Recommendation
1 from 2 yr exp at 5 doctor practice
3 from advisors at Purdue
1 from professor at Roger Williams

Hope this helps! Definitely did not have the best numbers across the board, but made up for it with MS degree and experience. Peeved I wasn't accepted at additional schools, considering I did everything I possibly could to improve my application outside of retaking undergraduate courses (C in calculus and some chemistry courses). But, honestly, you wouldn't think that would matter given the rest of my application. (grumblegrumblegrumble).

 

[thereservoirdog]

I guess it's about time I put my stats up, at least it will give some fellow low GPAers some confidence! I doubt I will do much more posting on this forum as well, so I'd like to say thanks to all you SDNers and wish you the best of luck! Here goes

2nd time applicant 24 y/o male, CA resident
Very low cum-GPA since I spent my first 2.5 years of college doing electrical engineering. Applied to three schools first cycle, rejected from all 3 with no interviews!

This time applied to 8 schools
Interviewed- Ohio, UC Davis
Rejected- Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Washington, Illinois
Waitlisted - LSU
Accepted- Davis, Ohio
Attending- Davis

B.S. Biology conc. in Zoology

GRE: 740Q, 540 V, 3.5 Writing
GPA:
Cum: 3.1(bounced up from a 2.5 thanks to my first major)
Last 45: 3.7

Veterinary Experience:
Tech at small animal hospital: 3000 hours
Zoo hospital volunteer: 100 hours

Animal:
Wildlife disease research internship : 400 hours
Shelter volunteer: 400 hours

Activities
Rugby, Kiteboarding, Stock daytrading

Community activities:
None!

Scholarships/Awards
None!

eLORs
All three came from SA vets

So there you go! You can have a mediocre application and still get into vet school. My biggest advice is to really show that you're committed to the profession, know what you're getting into, and be honest in your application. If you're applying to UC Davis, stick to the field you have the most experience in. I got rejected my first cycle simply because I said I was interested in wildife but I have most of my hours in SA clinics.

Take care all!

 

[heylodeb]

I guess it's about time I put my stats up, at least it will give some fellow low GPAers some confidence! I doubt I will do much more posting on this forum as well, so I'd like to say thanks to all you SDNers and wish you the best of luck! Here goes


Take care all!

See ya in August!

 

[sunnyshine]

Second time applicant - 23 years old - PA resident.

BS in Animal Science from Delaware Valley College

Applied: 10

UPenn, Tenessee, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, VMRCVM, Washington, Michigan, Minnessota

Rejected:
UPenn, Tenessee, Missouri, VMRCVM, Washington, Minnessota


Interviewed:

Kansas, Iowa, & Mississippi

Waitlisted:

Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Michigan

Accepted:

Kansas, Iowa, Mississippi

Attending:

Kansas State University

Cum GPA: 3.52
Prereq/Science GPA: ~3.30
Last 45 credit hrs: 3.79

GRE:

1st Test - 460 V, 610 Q, 4 AW
2nd Test - 550 V, 540 Q, 4 AW

Veterinary/Animal Experience:

126 Hours as a volunteer at the Upenn MJR Vet Hospital
250 Hours as a volunteer at The Phila. Zoo
180 Hours as a technician at a Small Animal Laboratory
340 Hours as veterinary nurse at a corporate practice

I also had additional hours/experiences from working fulltime as a veterinary nurse after my app was submitted.


eLORS:

Veterinarian
Animal Science Professor
Manager from the Phila. Zoo

Improvements from 1st to 2nd App:

I managed to finsh my B.S degree, boosted all my GPAs, improved my GRE a bit, and gained much more experience for my second application. I also think that I learned alot about vet med between my 1st and 2nd application, which allowed me to compose a better personal statement and to interview better.

 

[Dye It Purple]

First time applicant, 29 years old, Female, California Resident
Undergrad School and Degree: UC Riverside, BS in Biology
Applied: UC Davis, Western, UPenn, VMRCVM, Colorado State, Washington State
Apps withdrawn: None
Interviews: UC Davis, Western, VMRCVM, (CSU took me w/o interview - they do not interview OOS residents)
Accepted: Colorado State, VMRCVM, UC Davis (took my seat at UC Davis)

Cum GPA @ time of application: 3.96 overall for all schools attended (3.98 for first AA, 3.87 for 2nd AS, 3.96 for BS)
Last 45 credit hrs: ~3.96
Science GPA @ time of application: ~3.96
GRE: 1080

Veterinary Experience:
Over 5000 hours total, primarily in small animal working as an RVT, but also volunteered and worked with exotics and equine. Also, some emergency hospital exposure and shelter experience.

Animal Experience:
~900 hours - small, pocket pets, equine, large, exotic, all mostly as part of vet tech school training

Employment:
- Various small animal hospitals and spay/neuter clinics
- United States Army Reserves
- In-N-Out Burger

Extracurricular/Community Activities:
- Hands on Inland Empire (local chapter of United Way)
- Humane Society Volunteer
- Peer Mentor as part of my University's Medical and Health Careers Program
- Stem cell research under Dr. Zanello at UCR
- Community college Ag. Dept. volunteer
- Choral group and musical involvements
- Volunteer for annual Christmas food drive

Letters of recc.:
- 1 vet for whom I worked
- 1 college professor under whom I researched and had courses with
- 1 committee letter signed by the program directors of MHCP (mentioned above) whom I worked under as a peer mentor

Awards and Honors:
- Dean's Academic Distinction Award 3 yrs. running (For maintaining GPA >3.9 for entire academic year at UCR)
- Academic Excellence Award (Given to only one student from my major to signify exemplary performance on a project within that major)
- Summa Cum Laude Graduation Honor (Graduating in the top 2% of my class based on cum. GPA)
- High Honors Academic Seal at Community Colleges I attended (also based on GPA)
- Army Achievement Medal (for exemplary performance on a training mission)
- Army Service Ribbon (for successful completion of Military Occupational Specialty and Basic Combat Training and signifying readiness for service and deployment)
- (Did not list my multiple times on Dean's and President's List in my app. - assumed this would be evident from my transcripts and other honors)

 

[HAWAIIVET2011]

1st time applicant, 27 y/o female, Cali resident (from Hawaii)

Applied: 6 schools: UCD, Western, CSU, Massey, Murdoch, USYD
Interviewed: UCDavis (withdrew application), Western (withdrew application)
Rejected: None
Accepted: CSU (out of state), Murdoch University, Massey U, University of Sydney
Attending: University of Sydney


-B.A. 2005 UCSB Psychology and Business Economics (double major)


-Went back to school in 2008 to take all of my science pre-reqs at UCSD and SDSU and CC

GRE: 610 V, 730 Q, 4.5 A
GPAs: undergrad: 3.57, Science Req'd: 3.97, cumulative: 3.69, last 45: 3.97,


Experience:
Veterinary hours:

small animal (spay/neuter clinic) veterinary: 1030h clinical


Animal:
Bird Breeder Assistant: 3000h
Humane Society Volunteer: 40h
Kitten Foster parent: 100h

Honors:
06/2001 High school Honors Punahou School
High school graduation with honors is granted to the top 20% of the senior student body with a G.P.A. of 3.5 or above upon graduation.

06/2002 Alpha Lambda Delta Honors

University of California Santa Barbara
Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) is an honor society for students who have maintained a 3.5 or higher G.P.A and are in the top 20% of their class during their first year or term of higher education

06/2003 NSCS

University of California Santa Barbara
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) is a higher education honor society inviting high-achieving freshmen and sophomores that rank in the top 20% of their class.

06/2004 Dean’s List

University of California Santa Barbara
Dean's Honors are awarded to students with a quarter G.P.A of 3.75 or higher on 12 or more letter graded quarter units.

06/2005 Graduation with Honors

University of California Santa Barbara
Honors at college graduation are awarded to the top 20% of graduating students who complete 76 or more letter-graded University of California units.

08/2010 Dean’s Honor List

San Diego Mesa College
Students completing 12 units or more with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher will earn a place on the Dean's Honor List. This award was received for the 2009-2010 school year.




Community activities:
2001 Headstart preschool volunteer

College Activities:
none

Employment:
many

eLORs:
1. PhD - Biology Professor
2. DVM - Vet I worked with
3. DVM - Vet I worked with
4. Office Manager of 3 Doctor Vet Clinic
5. Ex president of the San Diego Zoo who is also a retired Doctor - family friend

 

[CACoco]

Giving hope to those with low GPAs! =)

2nd time applicant, 24 yr old female, CA resident

Applied: UCD, Western, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Ross
Interviewed: Kansas, Western, Ross
Rejected: UCD, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Western
Accepted: Ross! =)
Attending: Ross! =)

B.S. Marine Biology

GRE: 540 V, 740 Q, 4.5 A (Best out of 3 times)
GPAs: undergrad: 3.2, Science Req'd: 2.8-3.1 (depending on the school), last 45: 3.45


Experiences:
Veterinary:
Small Animal: ~3000 hrs (Worked at 2 clinics and interned at another)
Zoo: 8 hrs (Shadowed a zoo vet for a day)
Equine: ~80 hrs (Shadowed a vet for a few months)

Animal:
Zookeeper Internship: ~400 hrs (Volunteered with giraffe, antelope, geese, and more)

Honors:
Dean's List- 1 quarter (haha)
1st place Photography Award in high school (idk if that counts)

Community activities:
- Lived in Peru for a month with a host family, volunteered at an orphanage (tutoring and playing with the kids), took Spanish lessons, explored Cusco (the city I lived in), Machu Picchu, etc.
- Volunteered at a marine discovery center educating visitors about the organisms at the seawater table (sea stars, sea anemones, hermit crabs, kelp, etc.)

College Activities:
None, other than volunteering at the discovery center.

Employment:
2 small animal hospitals


eLORs:
1. DVM
2. Zookeeper
3. Professor/Department Chair

 

[Ottergirl]

1st time applicant, 32 y/o female, VA resident

Applied: Virginia-Maryland
Interviewed: Virginia-Maryland
Waitlisted: Virginia-Maryland
Accepted: Virginia-Maryland

GRE: 700V, 750Q, 4.0 AW (VMRCVM has stopped counting the AW section, FYI)

GPA:
3.42 overall
3.74 science
3.43 last 45
I had a ton of fun in undergrad, took the bare minimum of English classes required to graduate, and filled up my schedule with classes like wine tasting, floral design, and choreography (all for credit, which, frankly, is the only reason my GPA is as high as it is). Seven years and a ton of maturing later, I realized I HAD to be a vet, so I took three years worth of pre-requisites in addition to my full-time job, absolutely threw myself into getting A's, and devoted almost all my free time to volunteering, shadowing, and research.

Veterinary Experience: (at time of application, all volunteer)
50 hours helping with necropsies and tissue transfers in zoo pathology lab
300 hours at medical center at large shelter
100 hours at small animal private practice
50 hours lion research in South Africa
(According to my file review, my clinical experience was average for accepted students, but they would have liked some more research experience.)

Animal: (at time of application, all volunteer)
10 hours shadowing a farrier
600 hours dog-walking at a two different shelters
800 hours adoption counseling for a rescue group
100 hours hunting dog training and competition
25 hours with zoo docent animals (well-behaved critters that could be taken out to schools and nursing homes for educational purposes)
100 hours wildlife rehabilitation (family project when I was small, doubt this helped my application much!)

Other Employment: 10 years in marketing, membership, and conference planning. I've managed employees and teams, and basically sound on paper like a grown-up with a career. I think this is what got me in&#8212;the admissions director said that having a career before vet school can really help you by showing that you have maturity, social skills, professionalism, etc.

Activities: I performed in a bunch of musical theatre productions during and after college, I did a semester-long culinary program, I've done a lot of really cool international travel, I started a supper/wine club that was covered by the Washington Post. I was in a sorority in college, too, but I left that out of my application, as I hadn't done any leadership in it and I thought it might hurt more than help.

Awards:
Not much&#8212;I was a National Merit Semi-Finalist, and I've won a couple of work awards.

eLORs:
1. Veterinarian at the animal shelter
2. Biological technician in pathology lab
3. Boss
4. Chemistry professor
5. Physics professor
6. Manager of the animal shelter's medical center

Interview:
So I thought I rocked the interview&#8212;I was poised, confident, engaging--and drove home singing "BABY, YOU'RE A FIIIIIREWORK!" The admission committee did NOT think I was a firework, however&#8212;they marked me down for not supporting my arguments well. That's what put me on the waitlist rather than the immediate acceptance list, according my file review. Another interesting thing I learned from my file review was that this year and next year, once you get invited to interview, you are considered on equal footing with the other invitees, so any advantage or disadvantage you had GPA-wise or experience-wise is washed out. Admissions offers at VMRCVM are now based solely on the interview.

 

[bulldawg29]

Just found this forum, but it's awesome! Here are my stats, or what I can remember of them:

First time applicant, 27 years old.
Applied: UGA
Accepted: UGA!

GPA: 3.73
Science GPA: 3.4
Last 45 Hours: 3.9
Major: Biology & English Double Major

GRE:
V: 630
Q: 770
AW: 5.5
BIO: 710

Vet Experience: 3.5 years at a mixed animal clinic as a tech (uncertified), 6 years as foster home/shelter volunteer

Other experience: 6 years in the Army as a linguist

Awards/Honors/Extracurriculars: Phi Kappa Phi, Honors Program, Golden Key, Undergrad Thesis (I'm pretty sure this is what got me in), numerous writing awards, local soccer league, many presentations and conferences.

Congrats to everyone else who got in! To those of you applying- work hard, and it will happen! When I got the phone call, I started shaking- I couldn't believe it. You can do it!

 

[Lab Rat83]

Can the Atlantic Canadians who go in to AVC post their stats? It'd be quite helpful for future generations.

 

[SocialStigma]

1st time applicant, female, 21 years old, Ontario resident.

Applied: OVC
Interview: OVC
Accepted: OVC

cGPA @ time of application: 3.87
Last 2 full time semesters: 3.97
Prereq GPA: 3.99
MCAT: 32Q (11 VR, 11 PS, 10 BS)

Veterinary Experience:
- 1100 h SA clinic
- 240 h SA/exotics clinic

Animal Experience:
- 507 feral cat rescue and adoption org.
- 80 h SPCA kennel keeper
- 20 h bengal tiger exhibit (at zoo)
- 40 h stablehand
- 10 h aviary volunteer

Employment:
- private tutor (2007-present)
- lab research assistant in department of pathology and molecular medicine at my university (2010-present)

Extracurricular/Community Activities:
- Golden Key (general member)
- animal welfare club (VP)
- MSF/Doctors without Borders (general member)
- my program's annual charity fashion show (model and hair/makeup assistant)
- Relay for Life (team captain)
- my program's student society elections committee
- school dance club

LORS:
- 1 vet from SA clinic
- 1 vet from SA/exotics clinic
- lab supervisor

Awards and Honors (OVC doesn't see any of these though):
- Dean's list (for all 3 years)
- President's award entrance scholarship (for entering 1st year with 95%+ average)
- Other scholarships for academic achievement/leadership (from my dad's workplace)
- Wrote a 3rd year research paper for my lab prof
- Various high school awards (IB diploma, graduated as top scholar in my school district with a 99.2% average, high school subject awards, etc)

 

[Coquette22]

Here you go, LabRat.

2nd time applicant, female, 23 years old, Nova Scotia resident.
Applied: AVC
Interview: AVC
Wailisted: AVC
Accepted: AVC

BSc Biology - Dalhousie University (well, almost)

cGPA @ time of application: 3.73/ approx 84%
Prereq GPA: 3.8/approx 87%
GRE: 640 V, 590 Q, 4.0 AW (yeah, quant sucks, I can't do math that fast!)

Veterinary Experience:
- 170 hr vet assistant (mixed animal)
- 40 hr shadowing (small animal)
- 33 hr vet conferences (continuing education)
- 1100 hr vet assistant course
(AVC allows academic vet experience as of last year, it wasn't previously counted)

Animal Experience:
- 30 hr kennel staff at small animal shelter
- 360 hr 4-H light horse/vet science
- 2500 hr riding club

Employment (1235 hr total):
- Landscaping family business
- Waste reduction summer student with municipal government
- Cashier
- Candy store

Extracurricular/Community Activities (236 hr total):
- 4H
- Community Centre
- Microbiology society
- Swing Dance society

 

[Lab Rat83]

Thank you Coquette! Big congrats for getting in! I'm very happy for you!

 

[fishfinn]

Has anyone gotten in at WCVM at the University of Saskatchewan and would like to share their stats? I'm applying there this cycle and I'm anxious to compare myself to you guys!

And congrats to everyone who has gotten in this year! A lot of you have such amazing GPA's and experiences.... Reading this is making me doubt myself more and more.

 

[LittleWiz]

*cough* bump *cough*

 

[vetme]

Ok so I have finally decided to post here after I calculated my GPA again I found I had errors in some previous posts. So here goes.....

1st time applicant, Female, 31 y/o, Kansas Resident

APPLIED: Kansas State University

INTERVIEWED: Kansas State University

WAITLISTED: Kansas State University

ACCEPTED: Kansas State University


Cummulative GPA @time of application: 3.33 (thanks to that big fat C in spanish!)
Prereq GPA: 3.506

GRE: NOPE

Veterinary Experience:
-320 hours @ mixed animal clinic
-100 hours shadowing @ mixed animal clinic

Animal Experience:
-1680 hours kennel and training Greyhounds
-1120 hours ranch hand mixed animal care

Other Employment:
-2720 hrs as CMA/Billing and Coding @ 2 different clinics.
-5040 hrs as store manager and seamstress at military dry cleaners.
-1440 hrs as sandwhich maker @ Subway two different times about 3 years apart.
-1120 hrs as clerk/night manager at grocery store.
-80 hrs as maid at hotel
-720 hrs in clothing retail sales.
-1120 hrs door-to-door sales with Kirby Vacuum.
-480 hrs waitressing @ chinese restaurant
-countless hrs as a mom

Activites:
-Pre-vet club for a year
-Den mother to cub scouts

Awards:
-honor student for fall '09,'10, spring '11 semesters

eLORS:
1 professor
2 advisor
3 kennel owner
4 nurse practitioner I worked under
(the vet I asked never got around to filling it out)

Other Info:
Ok I poured all that I am into this quest. I had previously been officially DISMISSED from KSU for several "F's". So it is possible to get accepted if your record is not spotless. I started over and took the classes again and got "A's" to replace the grades mentioned above. You have to WANT it and put all your energy into it. Don't give up and change your major just because you got a couple of "C's". "Buckle Down"! And make your life what you want it to be. If that includes Vet school...then DO IT!

 

[smilin1590]

eLORS:
1 professor
2 advisor
3 kennel owner
4 nurse practitioner I worked under
(the vet I asked never got around to filling it out)

Congrats! I would freak if my vet never sent in my eLOR. How did you get by without it or does Kansas not require you to have one from a vet? Either way congrats

 

[vetme]

Congrats! I would freak if my vet never sent in my eLOR. How did you get by without it or does Kansas not require you to have one from a vet? Either way congrats

Ya I was freakin' out when he didn't get it in. He said he was sorry he forgot. He is a very busy guy. I guess when I applied it wasn't a requirement, but highly recommended. I think it is required now. I was surprized when I got an interview invite because I thought it would look bad that the vet I worked for did not write the eLOR, but I guess I was wrong.