Successful Applicants 2012 Thread?

[VetMed555]

LOL. Sorry, can't help but smile watching us all walk on shells around each other. I think no one here means any harm. Who knows how they select their people? Maybe paper airplanes, maybe magic 8 ball. "Try again" and "Not likely" have definitely came up more than once there

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[RockStarKDub]

Oh crap...ok, I'm so so sorry about my wording...I really didn't mean to imply anything bad about anyone who didn't get an interview!!! I was typing when I first woke up this morning and wasn't thinking clearly. (Also, the pond scum phrase is one my dad uses a lot in jest, so it just popped into my mind because going into this process I half expected schools to laugh at me with my low undergrad GPA...I really meant the phrase about myself!) I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean anything by it! This process seems so random, who even knows what these places are looking for.

(Ugh, talk about open mouth, insert foot. )

LOL, I was only teasing!!!! This process makes us ALL delirious, clearly!

 

[LVT2DVM]

LOL. Sorry, can't help but smile watching us all walk on shells around each other. I think no one here means any harm. Who knows how they select their people? Maybe paper airplanes, maybe magic 8 ball. "Try again" and "Not likely" have definitely came up more than once there

LOL..Dont forget "FAT CHANCE"; Have a feeling thats what keeps coming up for me.

 

[nyanko]

To all of the comments about my GPA.

I think the school you get your GPA from has a lot of relevance. My school is one of the top three liberal arts colleges in the country, renowned for intense academics and grade deflation. Maybe you should have thought about that a bit more before attacking my stats.

If you're here to assuage your bitter disappointments, maybe you should find some other way to do it.

I sent you a PM last night when I saw how my comment was being misinterpreted. I did not mean to attack you! You've obviously got some great accomplishments! As I said, my GPA isn't even at your level.

Also, I've got no bitter disappointments yet, but I may at the end of next month, so hold tight.

Everyone is so tense..

If you end up coming to Davis I will make you some cookies or something to make up for it hoodle!

 

[hoodle]

No worries Nyanko! I was going to PM you back, but maybe I'll share my thoughts with everyone and attempt to diffuse the situation!

I'm sorry I immediately sort of "struck back" - it's hard to see yourself and your application picked apart by other people, and I think I got defensive sort of quickly.

I've been incredibly happy and surprised by how successful my apps have been - as surprised as you evidently were! - and I hope others will continue to be similarly treated by Adcomms. I do think that my research experiences have been unusually thorough, which together with good GREs and a school renowned for tough grading makes up for an average GPA (which, btw, showed great upward improvement). Or at least that's how I see things.

Let's us all get along - we're going to be peers in a very very small world - none of us have anything to prove, other than to admissions committees. Hooray for us, and hooray for cookies! A toast to vet students! hip hip... HOORAY!

 

[cupolovet]

First time applicant, traditional, 22 years old (male)
Undergrad: BS in Animal Science with a Minor in Biological Sciences
Overall GPA: 3.8
Science GPA: 3.9
GRE: 730Q 720V 5.5A

Applied: Cornell, Penn, CSU, Tufts
Accepted: Cornell, Penn, CSU
Interviews: Penn and Tufts (turned down Tufts)

Experience:
Equine: 18+ years riding including Dressage showing and polo in college; 600 hours working with equine veterinarians and a board certified internal medicine vet at a state of the art equine hospital
Bovine/Research: 500+hours involved in four years of undergraduate research (culminating in 2 grants, 2 publications, and a senior honors thesis this May)
Small animal: ~1000 hrs shadowing and assisting a GP
Laboratory Research: ~650 hours research with C. elegans studying comparative neurodevelopment at a local university (while in high school)

Extracurricular:
Varsity polo team in college, founder and president of peer pre-vet mentoring society, mentor for others in the same research scholarship I was awarded, member of a fraternity

 

[wi girl]

cupolovet -- is that Cornell cu? Just wondering, as a cornell girl myself -- great stats btw.

 

[cupolovet]

yes

 

[VetMed555]

Associate of Applied Science in Office Management and Technology
BS in Chemistry (Pre-Medical Concentration)
Overall GPA 3.6 (4th Tier school )
Science GPA 3.9
Last...4 years 3.9
GRE: 710Q 550V 5.0A

First time applicant, non-traditional (25 yrs old)

~1500 SA Emergency
~1200 Research
~400 SA Clinic
~100 Shelter work

Applied: Missouri, Illinois, Auburn, VMRCVM
Interviewed: Illinois, Auburn, VMRCVM
Rejected w/out interview: Missouri
Accepted: VMRCVM!, Auburn!, Illinois! (2/27)

Going to VMRCVM!.

 

[SillyFilly]

Congrats Ana!!!

 

[VetMed555]

Congrats Ana!!!

Thank You! I just CANNOT believe I got in!!! I can't stop smiling!

 

[adOggy07]

1st time applicant, traditional, 25-year old female

Undergrad: BS in Zoology from Cal Poly Pomona
Overall GPA: 3.3 (combined from CC and CPP.. I too got a couple of F's and had 1 semester in CC where I stopped going to all my classes in the summer and had a 0 GPA! wohoo! kidding...... kidding....)
Science GPA: 3.9
Last 45: 3.8
GRE: 650Q, 520V, 5.5A

Applied: Davis, Western, Colorado, Penn, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa
Interviews: Western, Minnesota, Kansas
Accepted: Kansas
Rejected: Colorado, Penn
Heard absolutely zero from: Iowa (and my file is still in "review" for Michigan... BOLONEY!)

Experience:
Small animal: 2000 hrs at small animal ER as vet assistant/tech
Large animal: none!
Research: 100 hrs doing field research
Shelter: 500 hrs volunteer work

Extracurricular:
tennis, volunteer, tutoring, teaching arts & crafts to kids on weekends... nothing really too unique...

 

[chris03333]

Undergrad: BS in Zoology from Cal Poly Pomona

My undergrad was at CPP also

okay hijacked all your thread...please continue

 

[Electrophile]

I wasn't around SDN this time last year, no one else from Mizzou has posted, my GPA was mediocre (and so are my vet school grades, turns out! Ouch!), so what the heck...

1st time applicant, 24 year old female (now 25)

Undergrad: BA in Biological Sciences (honors) and BA in Religious Studies (in 4 years with no incoming credit, woot!)
Grad: MA in Biological Sciences
Overall GPA: ~3.3 for undergrad, ~3.4 for grad
Science GPA: ~3.2ish? Don't remember
Last 45: 3.8
GRE: 620Q, 530V, 5.0A

Applied: Missouri
Interviews: Missouri
Accepted: Missouri

Vet Shadowing Experience:
Small animal: 300 (including an Army vet)
Food animal: 100
Equine: 50
Research: 30
Zoo/Exotics: 25

General Animal Experience

Small animal: 5000 (I'm a behaviorist, have done several dog sports and Dog Scouts, fostered dozens of dogs for the shelter, etc)
Food Animal: erm...mostly none?
Equine: 300 (rode when I was younger)
Research: 4000 (4 years of research)
Zoo/Exotics: 1000 (have owned numerous exotics, done educational talks, fostered a few exotics for the shelter)

Extracurricular:
Martial arts instructor and black belt, president of Tri Beta Biological Honor Society, presented research at 2 regional and 1 national academic conferences, did lots of res hall leadership and church stuff, had a PT job most of college, yada yada yada.

 

[adOggy07]

My undergrad was at CPP also

okay hijacked all your thread...please continue

Yay! Another CPPer. What was your major there? And when did you graduate?

 

[chris03333]

Yay! Another CPPer. What was your major there? And when did you graduate?

Animal Science, March '02

 

[Mark G]

Polar, non-traditional applicant, 1st time applicant...

First time applicant, 34 years old, NY resident
BA in Biology from tier 2 liberal arts school
Post-bac at NYS school (not academically renown).
Undergrad GPA (120 credits): 2.54
Post-Bac GPA (70 credits): 4.27
GRE: 730 Quantitative, 660 Verbal, 5.5 Writing

Animal Experience:
Small Animal Vet Assistant: ~3000 hours
Zoo: ~2100 hours
Pet Store: ~1800 hours

Non-traditional Experience: Entrepeneur, Co-Founder of software company from 1997-2004.

Applied:
Auburn, Colorado State, Cornell, Iowa State, LSU, THE Ohio State University, UC Davis, U of Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Penn, Tennessee, Tufts, Wisconsin, Washington State, Purdue

Interviewed: Ohio State
Declined Interview: Tufts, Illinois, Auburn
Withdrew: Penn, LSU, Wisc, THE Ohio State, Missouri, Tennessee, Washington State
Rejected: UC Davis, Florida, Iowa State (snafu with transcripts), Purdue
Alternate List: Colorado State
Accepted: Cornell (I'm going)!

 

[VAgirl]

Post-Bac GPA (70 credits): 4.27

Are there schools that use >4.0 grading scale?

 

[wi girl]

Cornell does ... A+ = 4.3 on the same basis that B+ = 3.3 so i do know people with perfect 4.3s ... they don't really talk much though ....

EDIT: I should preface this, as my experience is with undergrad ONLY. they may do things differently up at vet school admissions.

 

[VAgirl]

Cornell does ... A+ = 4.3 on the same basis that B+ = 3.3 so i do know people with perfect 4.3s ... they don't really talk much though ....

Interesting.

 

[Mark G]

I don't know if any Vet school admissions committees factor A+ grades or flatline an A+ to an A, but many schools still give out A+'s. So I'm not sure what you mean by use. GPA is such a difficult thing to calculate, since so many admission committees factor GPA so differently. I made a spreadsheet that factored my GPA based on the different factors I knew about (whether or not A+'s were factored, how courses taken twice were factored, whether last 45 credits were weighted, etc.) and I ended up with GPAs that were all over the place. The bottom line for this line of questions, though, is that the extra .27 across 70 credits makes a significant difference in my GPA, so I hope some schools factor them. It may be unfair to people who went to undergrad institutions that don't give out A+'s, but selfishly I guess I would be glad if it helped me...which I'm still not sure that it did.

What I hope people get out of this, especially non-traditional applicants like me, is that you can overcome a lot of past history if you are motivated. When I made the decision to pursue Vet school I wasn't sure I'd ever get into a US program. If I did I figured my best shot was at a school that weighted the last 45 credits and even considered moving to a state with a school that did so I could be an In-State candidate. It turned out I was able to get in as an In-State at a school that doesn't weight last 45, which makes me really, really happy.

 

[ethicurean]

GRE 660, 680, 4.0
Nontraditional 25 yr old male
Bsc Agriculture,
4 years in the US Army

Applied: CSU and VA-MD DVM/Phd programs
Waitlisted: at CSU
Accepted: at VA-MD DVM
Rejected: VA-MD Phd

GPA: 3.5
Last 45 gpa: 3.4

Food animal work: 960
Equine: 480
Research (Poultry and Food animal): 4,000
Small animal: 2080

I think the biggest factor was that I am unabashedly intent on food animal work and 3 of the 4 vets that interviewed me were food animal.

 

[saratogian]

bump...

 

[polo vet]

Hey Ethicurian,
May I ask, how do you know you were rejected from the VMRCVM PhD program already? I applied for the PhD/DVM program as well. I was accepted OOS for the DVM (so exciting!!!!!), but i did not think we woud be hearing back about the PhD portion until at least the first week in March (or was it the last week, i can't remember...). Just curious... Congrats on getting into the DVM program, that's a huge accomplishment!

 

[BartonVet87]

Traditional Applicant - Female 20 years old
Junior at SIUE- Was on track to get a BS in BioMed w/minor in Chem in '09

GRE: Q:720, V:480, 4.5

GPA Overall: 3.54
GPA Science: 3.6

Recommendation letters:
University of Illinois Extension 4-H manager
Research mentor at SIUE
Vet I have worked with for 4 years (mixed practice)

Formal Experience-
Mixed practice experience as tech: 4500
Equine practice: 75
Ortho practice: 20
Boar stud: 15
Research: 100
Microbiology lab assistant:300

Informal Experience-
Showing horses: est. 10000
Showing cattle: est. 2000
Farmhand: est. 1000
NISA volunteer: 100

Numerous volunteering for 4-H, shelters, science groups, high school sports, music, etc.

Applied: Illinois
Accepted: Illinois

 

[ethicurean]

Polo, I asked Joyce when I was invited to interview for the DVM program becasue I wasn't sure if I was interviewing for the DVM alone or the combined degree. She told me that they only accepted 2 applicants into the combined program and those people had already been sent offers so I was not a candidate if I hadn't recieved an offer. I never heard about a March date. Maybe I'll get my official rejection letter then?

So are you going to accept the offer and come to blacksburg?

 

[pika8]

First time applicant, non traditional, 30 years old.
BS in Biology from tiny liberal arts school in Oregon.
MS in Biology from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ.
Undergrad GPA: 3.79
MS GPA: 3.85
But then I went and got a B- in the second semester of physics when I took it later on...
GRE: 740 Quantitative, 630 Verbal, 6.0 Writing

Animal Experience:
Small Animal Vet Assistant: 300 hours
Dairy Farm: 200 hours
Research: Oh, jeez, many, many many hours of my life. That's all I did from 1999-2005. (Master's degree, then went and managed a genetics lab.)


Applied:
Tufts, Penn, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Cornell, CSU, Guelph
Interviewed: Tufts, Penn, MN, IL
Rejected: Cornell
Accepted: Penn, MN, WI, CSU (MPH/DVM program), Tufts, IL
Withdrawing Application: Guelph

My words of advice--do research! It seems to be what schools are really looking for, especially if the research has anything to do with public health issues. Also, take the GRE more than once if need be! My quant score went up over 200 points.

 

[akitavet]

First time applicant, sort of non-traditional (26 y/o but I did a lot of work in Chemical Engineering first)
BS Chemical Engineering University of Toledo GPA: 3.53
MS Chemical Engineering Northwestern University GPA: 3.58
GPA Science: 3.55
GPA Last 30 h: 3.77

GRE Q800, V590, W5.5

Animal Experience:
1200 h showing/training dogs
500 h SA Emergency
1200 h SA Therio (mostly)
30 h Equine
5000 h Research (DNA sequencing techniques)
130 h Zoo intern (although after the deadline)
A smattering of hours doing akita rescue, wildlife monitoring, etc.

Applied: Illinois, Wisconsin
Illinois: Accepted
Wisconsin: Alternate (#69)

 

[ShelterGirl]

2nd time applicant, non-traditional (33 yrs old)

BS in Chemical Engineering (yay AkitaVet!), GPA 3.2
MBA, GPA 3.7
Post-bacc sciences GPA 3.9

GRE Quant 770
GRE Verbal 740
GRE Analytical Writing 4.0

10 years' experience as information technology project manager before taking the left turn into vet med

Small Animal: ~1500 hrs vet tech experience, thousands more hrs volunteering with feral cat colonies, volunteer socializing at animal shelters, and working as a behavior evaluator at a shelter
Large Animal: ~50 hrs, mostly shadowing
Zoo: ~50 hrs as volunteer zookeeper, also some shadowing

Applied: UC Davis, CSU, Illinois, Missouri, Penn, Wisconsin
Accepted: Illinois
Interviewed: UC Davis
Waitlisted: Wisconsin
Rejected: CSU, Missouri
No word: Penn

 

[BobDog]

Holy crap that is a nice GRE sheltergirl! Near perfect! How was it such a tough call to let you into vet school????

 

[ShelterGirl]

Holy crap that is a nice GRE sheltergirl! Near perfect! How was it such a tough call to let you into vet school????

Thanks BobDog - my grades weren't so hot (esp. undergrad), and last year I didn't have very much tech experience.

 

[Danaish72]

First time applicant, traditional, 21, female

B.S. in Integrative Biology
GPA 3.55
Science GPA 3.45

GRE Q 730 V 740 Writing 5.0

Animal experience:
Small: 150+
Large: 150+
Wildlife: too many
Research: WAY too many, hoping to publish in spring/summer
Various: Lots of time at the shelter, caring for lab animals, pet sitting and other random experiences

Applied: WI, WSU, MN, IL
Rejected: MN
Interviewed: WSU, IL
Waitlist: WI
Accepted: IL
Who knows what's up with WSU, they'll get a hold of me when they're good and ready.

I also volunteered quite a bit on campus and at home as well as TA'ed a bit and that sort of thing, but I'm going to side with pika and say get some research experience, I can't remember the number of questions that I was asked about those experiences.

 

[oathay]

Hi guys. I've glanced at the forums before and never got around to registering to post. Finally today I was looking through this to see where people were thinking about going to school and I thought that I could add my experiences, too.

I am a first time applicant, 21 years old
B.S. in Animal Sciences this June, Honors College at Oregon State

GPA: 3.87, science: not sure, but probably a 3.8 or so
GRE: 1240 (I can't remember the breakdown, but my math score was technically "lower"), writing: 5.5

Vet/Research experience:
Small Animal: 100 hours at my local SA clinic (summer before freshman year)
Equine: 1000 hours working long hard days with my ambulatory equine vet (2 summers and then when I was home over breaks)
Food Animal: work about 20 hours a week this year for a research farm, feeding cattle/sheep, taking blood samples, helping with calving, foot rot treatment, pretty much everything they don't want to do
Research: worked a summer at the University of Wisconsin on chronic wasting disease/prion environmental fates - will work this summer at Pacific Northwest National Lab in WA on antibody development (through a government scholarship that requires me to do internships)

Extracurriculars:

Freshman year I was quite active with our school's TV station and did some writing jobs, but then I joined the polo team and that all went out the window. Aside from being an advisor in my department for younger students, I worked 30-40 hrs a week for the polo team, first as treasurer and then as barn manager. I got a lot of equine vet experience that way...I think I spent more time with one of OSU's rural practice vets than I did my parents. The team's focus changed, people got a little too interested in winning over anything else, and I left because of the job at the research farm (my interest is food animal, so that was looking much better for me at the time.) Other than that, I've always been around horses, my family ran a boarding stable, and I have 3 horses now. I'd like to go into rural practice.

Recommendations:

1 from my equine vet (a very good friend)
1 from OSU's rural practice vet (now gone, sadly)
1 from my advisor


Applied: Oregon State, Washington State, Wisconsin
Accepted: Oregon State (w/o interview)
Interviewed: WSU (haven't heard back yet)
Alternate List: Wisconsin (#45, withdrew application)

Probably going to stay in Oregon even if I were to get in to WSU.

 

[bnicolec]

22 yr. old, tranditional applicant, first time applying

GPA: 3.83
Science: 3.93
GRE: 1090 (horrible...)
Major: Biology
Minor: Chemistry

Experience:
Small Animal: about 1500 hours
Wildlife, exoctics: about 200 hours
Equine: 80 hours

Large animal: NONE
Research: (with Indiana State Department of Health): probably 250 (i caught mosquitos for a summer).

Other factors:
Delta Zeta Sorority
Risk Manager, Gaurd, Pi Chi (recruitement group leader)
Instructor of college course Anatomy Lab
Formed first successful pre-vet club at undergrad university
President for the first two years
numerous hours of community service

Interests:
Small Animal, hopefully specialize in Radiology.

Schools:
Iowa - waitlist
Illinois - waitlist
Mississippi - accepted
Purdue - interviewed on 2/22 waiting to hear back (my instate school)

 

[FeatheredFriend]

Second time applicant, Traditional, 24 years old (female)
Undergrad: BS in Animal Bioscience from land grant school.
Graduate: MS in Animal Science (in progress)
Overall GPA: 3.3, Graduate GPA: 3.5, Science GPA: 3.1
GRE: 600Q 570V 5.0A

Applied: Penn (IS), VA-MD, Iowa, Tufts, MN, CSU, UC-Davis, A&M, Kansas
Rejected: Tufts, MN, CSU, UC-Davis, A&M, Kansas
Waitlisted: Iowa
Accepted: VA-MD
Haven't Heard: Penn, UC-Davis PhD

Experience:
Research: 3500+ hours, reproductive genetics in birds
Large Animal: 200+ with beef heifers and horses
Small animal: 300+ at vet clinic
Avian: 1000+, National Aviary, Disney World, and some other small things
International: 2 months in Ireland working at a vet clinic and teaching disadvantaged kids how to take care of horses

Extracurricular:
Pre-vet club, wildlife club, etc. Officer in most clubs.
Peer Counselor, TA, and Officer for Student Counseling Hotline

Don't give up hope if you don't have the best GPA!!! My masters did wonders for me and my love of birds doesn't seem to be the norm. Everyone has a special quality that makes them unique!

 

[SpayLady]

ShelterGirl's recent posts have motivated me to join this forum! I must be her East Coast doppelganger . . . non-traditional, chemical engineer, career-changer, shelter medicine experience, etc.

I hope to soon extend this list of similarities to add "accepted"! If not this year for me, then maybe next.

Congratulations ShelterGirl and all the rest!

 

[ShelterGirl]

Thanks SpayLady and

 

[projekt]

Mark G: Wow. I had a ~3.0 GPA last year, applying to Cornell, and they basically told me it wasn't going to happen unless I got a Masters. Oh well, I'm happier in Georgia!

 

[athenaparthenos]

First-time applicant, traditional, 23 years old, female.

Undergrad: BA in Biology from a small liberal arts school (once made #50 in the Top 50 schools, so a good school but also not hugely competitive)
Overall GPA: ~3.56, never calculated my science GPA but I'm guessing I had about 45% As, 45% Bs, and a C in physics and a C in biochem.
Last 45 hours GPA: crappy, lol. Taking physics and biochem and working at the same time, so yeah, sad times. Oregon was kinda persnickety about that... but they accepted me all the same!
GRE: 750 Q, 680 V, 5.5 Analytical Writing

Applied: UC-Davis OOS, CSU OOS, Western University, WSU OOS, Oregon State IS
Rejected: CSU, UC-Davis
Waitlisted: Unknown
Accepted: Oregon State
Haven't Heard: WSU, Western

Experience:
Research: ~200 hours: hissing cockroaches, mollies (fish), mice, frogs
Large Animal: Zero! Unless you count pygmy goats, which I didn't really mention on my app.
Small animal: ~2000 hours in a SA clinic, ~1000 with exotics at the Oregon Zoo/Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

Recommendations: 3 veterinarians from my clinic

Extracurricular:
Cartoonist for school newspaper
Contributed poems/articles/photos for school creative zines
President of Student Art Club
Member of Poi Club (poi = firespinning; have now been spinning fire for 3 years)
Member of Freaks and Geeks (a club devoted to community service and shaking up the establishment, lol)

I hope either Western or Washington takes me, as I'd choose them over Oregon, but hey, I got in somewhere!

 

[RockStarKDub]

Extracurricular:
Cartoonist for school newspaper
Contributed poems/articles/photos for school creative zines
President of Student Art Club
Member of Poi Club (poi = firespinning; have now been spinning fire for 3 years)
Member of Freaks and Geeks (a club devoted to community service and shaking up the establishment, lol)

Firespinning?! Now that's a rad extracurricular!!

 

[athenaparthenos]

Firespinning?! Now that's a rad extracurricular!!

Damn right it is! WSU was super excited about it during my interview (I had thought the interview was closed file, but they asked about that and the cockroaches) and during my interview for Western I busted out the gesticulations and explained to them how it works. I'm hoping that it'll help me stand out... "Oh yeah, that interesting firespinning girl, let's bring her on!" Because, I mean, I *am* a badass, lol.

 

[cwazy cat lady]

Thank you for posting.

It is a bit intimidating when everybody who's posting has a 3.8 or above haha

All depends on the school, IMO...

There are places that are competitive and some less so. Also, some applicants work a lot or have families, while some don't have many or any other responsibilities...

I'm at least one observer on here that recognizes that GPA isn't the whole story...

And we know that admissions committees are aware of that, too.

 

[MikeMisho]

I didn't know that there were so many engineers applying to Illinois. I too am an Electrical Engineer (MS and BS). I'm still waiting for my letter from Illinois.

Congratulations to both of you ShelterGirl and akitavet !

 

[lailanni]

Damn right it is! WSU was super excited about it during my interview (I had thought the interview was closed file, but they asked about that and the cockroaches) and during my interview for Western I busted out the gesticulations and explained to them how it works. I'm hoping that it'll help me stand out... "Oh yeah, that interesting firespinning girl, let's bring her on!" Because, I mean, I *am* a badass, lol.

Hey that's awesome! You should go to WSU so you can teach me

I throw knives, heheh.. we could put together some vet med circus to pay for our tuition : ) I'm sure theres some other unique talents out there as well! Train some animals to do some tricks....yep...pay off our tuition!

 

[RockStarKDub]

Damn right it is! WSU was super excited about it during my interview (I had thought the interview was closed file, but they asked about that and the cockroaches) and during my interview for Western I busted out the gesticulations and explained to them how it works. I'm hoping that it'll help me stand out... "Oh yeah, that interesting firespinning girl, let's bring her on!" Because, I mean, I *am* a badass, lol.

Oh man, you are my kind of girl! lol! Any chance we'll end up at the same vet school? I want to be able to say I am friends (anatomy partners?!) with a badass firespinner.

 

[athenaparthenos]

Hey that's awesome! You should go to WSU so you can teach me

I throw knives, heheh.. we could put together some vet med circus to pay for our tuition : ) I'm sure theres some other unique talents out there as well! Train some animals to do some tricks....yep...pay off our tuition!

If WSU would freaking send out their letters already (they told us OOSers it'd be last Friday they'd send them out! nothing yet!) then maybe I'll see you there

Dang, that would be one hardcore act! I'd be down for that!

RockstarKDub, which schools did you apply to? I applied to Western, WSU, and OSU (accepted at OSU so far, the O being for Oregon). I know there's at least one other firespinner at Western though, thanks to LiveJournal... we could start a club!

 

[rustysmom]

First time applicant, non-trad, 35 years old, female

Undergrad: bachelor of bus admin in computer information systems
Graduate: masters of science in computer information systems
GPA: 3.9 ish (I never calc'd my science GPA or the last 45 hours)
GRE: Q 740 V 690 writing 5.0

Applied and accepted: Michigan State!!

Experience:
~1000 hours mixed animal practice (both large and small)
2000 hours dog obedience trainer for Michigan Humane Society

Recommendations: 2 vets at the practice where I shadow, 1 from my manager of 8 years at my IT job

Extracurricular:
Not a whole lot - worked full-time while doing my pre-reqs
* Played women's ice hockey for 6 years (co-manager for 2 years)
* Pre-Med Society (my school doesn't have a pre-vet society)

Honestly, I think my hobby of playing ice hockey was a big help b/c it made me stand out from the crowd. During my interview, we talked about it a lot. Not as cool as fire-spinning or knife throwing - but still a LOT of fun!!!!

 

[nyanko]

Honestly, I think my hobby of playing ice hockey was a big help b/c it made me stand out from the crowd. During my interview, we talked about it a lot. Not as cool as fire-spinning or knife throwing - but still a LOT of fun!!!!

Ooh who did you play for? If you're from Michigan I might have played against your team (probably not you, because I'm almost 10 years younger and I played in that area when I was a teen)

 

[rustysmom]

Ooh who did you play for? If you're from Michigan I might have played against your team (probably not you, because I'm almost 10 years younger and I played in that area when I was a teen)

For 4 years, I played travel hockey (at the recreational/novice level) on the Michigan Senior Women's Hockey League - it was the Michigan Women's Hockey League until a couple of years ago. The league is based out of southeastern Michigan (the Detroit area, basically).

Before I played travel, I played on house leagues and did some clinics (also in southeastern Michigan). Went back to a house league this past fall - it was too much time and money for me to play travel. I hope to keep playing while I'm at MSU - there's just something so satisfying about putting the puck in the net!!!!

 

[nyanko]

I played for a midget AAA travel team in Pittsburgh when I played girls' hockey and we played a couple of midget teams in the SE MI area, that's why I asked! Mostly grew up playing with the guys though, started when I was 4. Learning not to check was hard for me! Also played briefly at the womens DI collegiate level before bowing out of that because it was killing my grades.

I love playing hockey and we talked about it in my interview as well - except that in CA not as many people care about it, so it may not help me as much as it might've helped you. Congratulations on getting into MSU! I only applied to my state school as well, so here's hoping!