28yr old female, first time applicant. CO resident
**I'll be honest, I did NOT expect ANY acceptances this year- I was hoping to be able to do an application review, retake some prereqs, and reapply next year with an improved application. You guys, my GPA is LOW... my overall GPA from just my undergraduate degree was a 2.7 (YIKES). My undergraduate advisor told me that I would never go to vet School, and that I should come up with a new life plan. I mean, it's not like she was wrong to tell me that- I FAILED organic chemistry, took it again, and got a C. I think I got a C in Biochem also- honestly, I tried to block it all from my memory long ago, and I feel like reading over all my transcripts again to enter them in VMCAS may have given me some kind of school-anxiety-PTSD. I wanted to post my stats to give those with a less than stellar academic history hope- Never give up! If you really set your mind to it you can make it happen.
Applied: RVC, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ross.
Interview Invites: RVC, Glasgow
Waiting to hear: Still haven't heard anything from Ross...
Accepted: RVC!!! (received the email 12/21, best Christmas present ever!)
Rejected: Edinburgh
(GPA significantly lower than the cut off...)
Attending: TBD, Interview scheduled for Glasgow 1/16- fingers crossed!
Overall GPA: 3.24
Science GPA: 3.20
Last 45 GPA: Not really sure how to calculate this... but my post-bac GPA calculated by VMCAS was 3.89
GRE (Q/V/W): 153 (51%) /160 (86%) / 4 (61%)
Degree: BS Animal Science, Minor in Bio (2011), AAS Veterinary Technology (2015)
Veterinary Experience
Both full and part time Certified Veterinary Technician at Small Animal Practice: Rotating between appointments, Sx, and Front Desk (2500 hours)
Veterinary Technician intern at Mixed animal practice (dogs, cats, horses, goats, cows) (252 hours)
Full Time Diagnostic Laboratory Technician at The Cornell AHDC, Virology Section (4000 hrs)
Laboratory Assistant (aka Lab Bitch, ha ha) at the AHDC at Cornell during Undergraduate (I autoclaved all the things) (2880 hours)
Animal Experience
Summer Barn Manager for Horse Camp in High school/ College: (1200 hours)
Varsity Equestrian Team member (1104 hours)
Various animal handling for animal science courses (sheep, dairy cattle, goats, etc)
Various animal handling for Vet tech courses (again, sheep, goats, cattle, but also cats, dogs, bunnies, rats, snakes, etc)
Wildlife Rehab- both for a class, and assisting with anesthesia for bears at rehab center later on.
Seabird census in Maine: Worked with Terns and Black-backed gulls (who are JERKS, by the way... one stole my hat)
Research
None- I did work in a lab, but I did not work directly on any research projects.
Although, now that I think about it, my work with seabirds was technically research , but my name certainly wasn't on the paper, ha ha.
Extracurriculars/Awards
High School Valedictorian
Founded Girls Service League in High School (High school was a long time ago, but too bad! I have no shame)
Pre-Orientation Service Trip
Alternative Spring Break Service trips
Undergraduate Scholarship: Awarded to students "committed to Scholarship and Service"
NCAA Athlete (Equestrian team still counts! After all, we are the reason that the sprint football team can exist. Thanks, Title IX!)
Reserve Champion at IHSA Ivies
Deans list for Vet Tech Program
Lucky Day Animal Rescue Fundraiser
Non-Animal Employment
Worked for 5ish years in Retail- 3 as a sales associate, 2 as a manager.
Restaurant Hostess in NY
LORs
Small Animal Vet, Owner of Practice where I work as a Vet Nurse, with whom I have worked closely for 2 years.
Mixed Animal Vet/Director of Veterinary Technology Program I attended, was also one of my professors
Mixed Animal Vet/Anatomy professor at my Vet Tech Program
Store Director at J.Crew, where I work as a retail manager.
Essay Questions/Personal Statement
These were not at all what I was expecting this year- funny story, I actually thought at first that the limit for each was listed in words, and was rudely made aware it was actually listed in characters by the VMCAS site when I tried to copy and paste my answers in... I talked a bit about the importance of the diversity of veterinary medicine, and honestly answered the questions, but I don't know that I said anything particularly enlightening or profound...