WAMC: 1st time applicant, traditional

[puffinpoof]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hi! I am a traditonal applicant, 21F majoring in Biology. I am applying this cycle for the first time, and I feel like my stats are average-ish, and I'd like to hear from you guys on what I should improve before I submit my application! My in-state is UF, but some of the other programs I want to apply to are: UGA, Viriginia Maryland, WSU, Iowa, Purdue, North Carolina, Kansas, Tennessee, Missouri.

Cumulative GPA: 3.884
Science GPA: 3.831
Last 45: 4.0
(These are according to my school because I haven't uploaded my classes in VMCAS yet)

Veterinary Experience:
- Approx. 1,000 hours at holistic GP clinic as an uncertified vet tech (I will put vet assistant on the application)
- 360 hours as a vet assistant at vaccination clinic
- 120 hours at another GP clinic as a vet assistant
- I will be doing an internship for approx 100 hours at a specialty clinic in fall, but I am not sure if im allowed to put them on my application because it starts September 1st - beginning of December.

Animal Experience:
- Shelter volunteer (50 hrs)
- Exotic internship (50 hrs)
- Kennel Tech in highschool (~980 hours)
- Volunteer at horse farm (~100 hrs)

Research Experience:
- Currently an undergrad research assistant for a project related to chemistry education (~112 hours)
- Coastal Marine Education Research for one week (~45 hours)

Extracurriculars:
- Pre-vet club: was an officer for 2 years (public relations + academic coordinator)
- TA for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (~40 hrs)
- Joined baking club and book club
- Served as a marketing chair for engineers without borders

Employment:
- My vet assistant jobs
- TA for Comparative Vert. Anatomy was paid
- Hostess/Cashier/Expo for a restaurant in highschool (~1,000+ hours)
- Kennel Tech in highschool was also paid (980 hrs)
- Cashier for other restaurant (400 hours)


The only pre-requisite I have left to complete is Microbio, which I will take in the fall, and I am on the fence on if I should take physiology. I don't really have much community service besides a few hours from high school, so I'm not sure if I should focus on that over the summer. Also, if anyone knows if I can somehow add the internship I'll be doing in the fall in my application, please let me know 🙂 From my experiences, I know I want to try to specialize or go into emergency after vet school, but all of my experiences so far have basically been in general practice. I feel like so many people I see get in usually have a special interest that really stands out in their application, but I feel like I don't have that. Based off of this info, please let me know any vet schools you guys think I should apply to or what else I should add to my application! Thank you guys so much for looking at this post and giving any advice!!!

 

[HorseObsessed]

High GPA helps so much, so you are absolutely on the right track. A few things:
- In my UF interview, I was asked about One Health and my large animal experience (even though it was very brief). Since most of your hours are small animal, would it be possible to add a week or so of shadowing a large animal or herd health vet to diversify your experience a bit?
-Your app is great but I don't see anything super unique, so you need to make yourself SHINE. Work really hard on your essays.
I think you'll be great. With great essays, you'll get in somewhere (don't expect to get in everywhere... almost no one does).
Good luck!

 

[CeeGee14]

Also, if anyone knows if I can somehow add the internship I'll be doing in the fall in my application, please let me know

I don't think you're allowed to add future experiences or hours to your application. Your experiences/hours should be current on whatever day you submit your application.

Stats wise, you're looking pretty good. Depending on your rec letters/PS, I would say you're an above average applicant. With your stats, I would suggest adding U.C Davis and any other school that lets you become IS after your 1st year.

 

[dew5]

Also, if anyone knows if I can somehow add the internship I'll be doing in the fall in my application, please let me know

Piggybacking off of CeeGee's comment - you can't include any future hours in your application. The only way to include this experience would be if you added in your hours from just the start date and submit your application after Sept. 1st, but I do not recommend doing this for two reasons: 1. That is getting pretty close to the application deadline, and if for some reason you experience a kickback from VMCAS, you aren't left with a lot of time to resubmit and verify your application. 2. Listing experiences with seldom few hours (think less than ~50-100 hours) are not going to be very beneficial to your application overall. For these reasons, you're probably better off not including the experience at all.

TLDR: Including the internship probably isn't worth it.

As it stands, with your current stats (especially GPA), I think you have a solid chance at your IS and possibly some OOS schools.

 

[puffinpoof]

Piggybacking off of CeeGee's comment - you can't include any future hours in your application. The only way to include this experience would be if you added in your hours from just the start date and submit your application after Sept. 1st, but I do not recommend doing this for two reasons: 1. That is getting pretty close to the application deadline, and if for some reason you experience a kickback from VMCAS, you aren't left with a lot of time to resubmit and verify your application. 2. Listing experiences with seldom few hours (think less than ~50-100 hours) are not going to be very beneficial to your application overall. For these reasons, you're probably better off not including the experience at all.

TLDR: Including the internship probably isn't worth it.

As it stands, with your current stats (especially GPA), I think you have a solid chance at your IS and possibly some OOS schools.

Thank you guys so much for the advice! I’ll refrain from adding the internship🙂‍↕️

 

[puffinpoof]

High GPA helps so much, so you are absolutely on the right track. A few things:
- In my UF interview, I was asked about One Health and my large animal experience (even though it was very brief). Since most of your hours are small animal, would it be possible to add a week or so of shadowing a large animal or herd health vet to diversify your experience a bit?
-Your app is great but I don't see anything super unique, so you need to make yourself SHINE. Work really hard on your essays.
I think you'll be great. With great essays, you'll get in somewhere (don't expect to get in everywhere... almost no one does).
Good luck!

Yeah i’m definitely going to try to find an equine vet to shadow over the summer! I will for sure study for the interviews when the time comes, and i’ve heard a few of my friends mention that OneHealth is a common topic that comes up. Thank you for the advice!!!