WAMC - 1st Year Applicant, Traditional, Engineering Undergrad

[nalayla2004]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello everyone! I’m a 20-year-old Iowa resident applying for the first time for veterinary school with an interest in small animal medicine but have been increasingly motivated to explore zoo/wildlife medicine as well.

Schools Applying To: Iowa State, Mizzou, Washington State

Major: Biomedical Engineering w/Focus in Tissue/DNA Engineering (BSE in Spring 2026)
GPA: 3.71
Science/Prerequisite GPA: 3.39
Last 45: 3.70

Hours (Some if not all are projected/planned to be done by the application deadline)

Veterinary Hours:
- 500 hours as a Veterinary Assistant at a small animal clinic
- 40 hours shadowing a small animal/livestock veterinarian in rural Iowa
Animal Hours:
- 350 hours as a Large Animal Caretaker with the Blank Park Zoo
- 50 hours as a Diurnal Raptor Volunteer at a Raptor Refuge
- 60 hours as a Cat Socialization Volunteer at an Animal Shelter
- 40 hours as a Volunteer at a Livestock Farm Sanctuary

Non-Veterinary/Animal Related Hours:
~ 6000 hours as a cook/service shift leader (From 10th grade in high school until now/current)
~ 120 hours as a volunteer in the Main OR at the University of Iowa Hospital

Extracurriculars:

At University:
Pretty much none. (tuition can’t pay on its own and could never find stuff of interest)

In High School:
- Tennis Team (Vice Captain for 2 years)

- Cross Country (Vice Captain Senior Year)

- National Honor’s Society (Not as significant, our school didn't really invest in this a whole lot)


Awards/Honors/Projects/ETC:
- 2x Dean’s List Recipient

- 1x Iowa Governor’s Scholar Award

- Valedictorian of HS Graduating Class '23

- 2x Honorable Mention Recipient in High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM)

- Developed a machine learning model with a colleague that aimed to create the perfect March Madness bracket (wasn’t necessarily the most efficient or accurate model, but it was a lot of fun making and would definitely do it again with the extra knowledge I’ve gained since)



Context/Clarifications/Concerns

My experience hours aren’t as high as I wish them to be, though this is partially due to the fact that I did not express an interest in veterinary medicine until later on in my studies and I originally came into uni wanting to study a vastly different area of engineering (Civil w/emphasis in City Infrastructure/Design). Graduating a year early would also explain my hours being low compared to traditional four-year undergraduates--not really sure what is considered "high" or "low" but I do fear I am on the lower side.

Despite doing well at the high school level, I didn’t gain any significant scholarships and am paying tuition through my part-time job (practically a full-time being in school & working 30 hrs/wk). I still maintain a good balance between a heavy school courseload and work, though if I were to throw in an extracurricular, it’d be difficult to manage and that’s where the pull had to come from my perspective.

Applying as essentially a non-traditional major and from a university that is not known for producing veterinary students, I’ve found it difficult to gain advice or insight from advisors or peers around me as they too are not too familiar with the process. In navigating through conversations with those I have been able to connect in the vet field as students, the sentiment I have built is that as diverse as my CV is and the rigorous courseload that engineering provides, that I am about as strong of an applicant as the others in this cycle—yet I still hold some doubts as to whether that is accurate or not. I’m hoping to get some feedback as to how it may look to admissions and perhaps any areas that I could strengthen before the deadline.

 

[pp9]

Hello everyone! I’m a 20-year-old Iowa resident applying for the first time for veterinary school with an interest in small animal medicine but have been increasingly motivated to explore zoo/wildlife medicine as well.

Schools Applying To: Iowa State, Mizzou, Washington State

Major: Biomedical Engineering w/Focus in Tissue/DNA Engineering (BSE in Spring 2026)
GPA: 3.71
Science/Prerequisite GPA: 3.39
Last 45: 3.70

Hours (Some if not all are projected/planned to be done by the application deadline)

Veterinary Hours:
- 500 hours as a Veterinary Assistant at a small animal clinic
- 40 hours shadowing a small animal/livestock veterinarian in rural Iowa
Animal Hours:
- 350 hours as a Large Animal Caretaker with the Blank Park Zoo
- 50 hours as a Diurnal Raptor Volunteer at a Raptor Refuge
- 60 hours as a Cat Socialization Volunteer at an Animal Shelter
- 40 hours as a Volunteer at a Livestock Farm Sanctuary

Non-Veterinary/Animal Related Hours:
~ 6000 hours as a cook/service shift leader (From 10th grade in high school until now/current)
~ 120 hours as a volunteer in the Main OR at the University of Iowa Hospital

Extracurriculars:

At University:
Pretty much none. (tuition can’t pay on its own and could never find stuff of interest)

In High School:
- Tennis Team (Vice Captain for 2 years)

- Cross Country (Vice Captain Senior Year)

- National Honor’s Society (Not as significant, our school didn't really invest in this a whole lot)


Awards/Honors/Projects/ETC:
- 2x Dean’s List Recipient

- 1x Iowa Governor’s Scholar Award

- Valedictorian of HS Graduating Class '23

- 2x Honorable Mention Recipient in High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM)

- Developed a machine learning model with a colleague that aimed to create the perfect March Madness bracket (wasn’t necessarily the most efficient or accurate model, but it was a lot of fun making and would definitely do it again with the extra knowledge I’ve gained since)



Context/Clarifications/Concerns

My experience hours aren’t as high as I wish them to be, though this is partially due to the fact that I did not express an interest in veterinary medicine until later on in my studies and I originally came into uni wanting to study a vastly different area of engineering (Civil w/emphasis in City Infrastructure/Design). Graduating a year early would also explain my hours being low compared to traditional four-year undergraduates--not really sure what is considered "high" or "low" but I do fear I am on the lower side.

Despite doing well at the high school level, I didn’t gain any significant scholarships and am paying tuition through my part-time job (practically a full-time being in school & working 30 hrs/wk). I still maintain a good balance between a heavy school courseload and work, though if I were to throw in an extracurricular, it’d be difficult to manage and that’s where the pull had to come from my perspective.

Applying as essentially a non-traditional major and from a university that is not known for producing veterinary students, I’ve found it difficult to gain advice or insight from advisors or peers around me as they too are not too familiar with the process. In navigating through conversations with those I have been able to connect in the vet field as students, the sentiment I have built is that as diverse as my CV is and the rigorous courseload that engineering provides, that I am about as strong of an applicant as the others in this cycle—yet I still hold some doubts as to whether that is accurate or not. I’m hoping to get some feedback as to how it may look to admissions and perhaps any areas that I could strengthen before the deadline.

You are probably hovering around average with your grades, depending on the school, but could absolutely use more hours. With what is essentially 3.5 months of cumulative veterinary experience and a career path change, you will want to write your personal statement/any supplemental essays carefully. Stats aside, if I were reading your app, I'd want to understand why you changed trajectories and how you know this is the right choice.

'High' and 'low' hours are very subjective, and sometimes you can have lower hours that are of higher quality that count just as much as a ton of lower quality hours. What determines quality is also very subjective. As an example, shadowing at a clinic tends to not hold as much weight as someone with a paid position, because the latter is more likely to be handling animals, dealing with clients, etc.

 

[nalayla2004]

You are probably hovering around average with your grades, depending on the school, but could absolutely use more hours. With what is essentially 3.5 months of cumulative veterinary experience and a career path change, you will want to write your personal statement/any supplemental essays carefully. Stats aside, if I were reading your app, I'd want to understand why you changed trajectories and how you know this is the right choice.

'High' and 'low' hours are very subjective, and sometimes you can have lower hours that are of higher quality that count just as much as a ton of lower quality hours. What determines quality is also very subjective. As an example, shadowing at a clinic tends to not hold as much weight as someone with a paid position, because the latter is more likely to be handling animals, dealing with clients, etc.

What would define as more hours that would be achievable by the application deadline? I obviously would love to be able to maximize as many hours as I could but between working and classes this summer there may be some push and pull there.

 

[JaynaAli]

What would define as more hours that would be achievable by the application deadline? I obviously would love to be able to maximize as many hours as I could but between working and classes this summer there may be some push and pull there.

As many as you can get. More never hurts, a lack is what hinders an application. 540 hours isn’t bad, but your grades are pretty average and your experience hours are pretty average to slightly low compared to what other applicants are going to have, so get as many as you can get. Average isn’t bad, but you’re trying to stand out. Maybe look into an emergency hospital or something open nontraditional hours. If all your hours are basically at one GP SA clinic, it could also be nice to find another clinic too since different clinics can be very different experiences.

And I agree with PP that I’d want to hear your why in essays and how you know vet med is the right choice for you.

 

[pp9]

What would define as more hours that would be achievable by the application deadline? I obviously would love to be able to maximize as many hours as I could but between working and classes this summer there may be some push and pull there.

You tell me what's achievable +1 for as many as you can get. There is no such thing as too many.

 

[nalayla2004]

As many as you can get. More never hurts, a lack is what hinders an application. 540 hours isn’t bad, but your grades are pretty average and your experience hours are pretty average to slightly low compared to what other applicants are going to have, so get as many as you can get. Average isn’t bad, but you’re trying to stand out. Maybe look into an emergency hospital or something open nontraditional hours. If all your hours are basically at one GP SA clinic, it could also be nice to find another clinic too since different clinics can be very different experiences.

And I agree with PP that I’d want to hear your why in essays and how you know vet med is the right choice for you.

That makes sense—it also seems you guys make a distinction between vet hours & animal hours. Based on what ISU looks at (my target), they sort of group them the same under that “quality hours” umbrella and I just wanted to know if there is a genuine distinction in how they are evaluating the type of hour.

 

[JaynaAli]

That makes sense—it also seems you guys make a distinction between vet hours & animal hours. Based on what ISU looks at (my target), they sort of group them the same under that “quality hours” umbrella and I just wanted to know if there is a genuine distinction in how they are evaluating the type of hour.

Animal experience is very different than veterinary experience. Both are important and necessary for an application, but vet experience is going to be more important for pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. All the animal experience in the world won’t necessarily show you the realities of being a vet. I would be very very surprised if they truly value them as equal in admissions decisions.

 

[Tech_Penguin]

hey fellow BME’er. For what it’s worth I think your overall GPA is impressive bc classes like diff eq are no joke. But many vet schools don’t make a distinction between challenging coursework vs easier/traditional degrees (kinda frustrating). Maybe enter your transcripts in a way such that your lower grades count toward engineering instead of science and vice versa since there’s some gray area with classes like thermo. Also, if you did a senior design project, that should count as research

 

[indysadventures]

hey fellow BME’er. For what it’s worth I think your overall GPA is impressive bc classes like diff eq are no joke. But many vet schools don’t make a distinction between challenging coursework vs easier/traditional degrees (kinda frustrating). Maybe enter your transcripts in a way such that your lower grades count toward engineering instead of science and vice versa since there’s some gray area with classes like thermo. Also, if you did a senior design project, that should count as research

I wouldn’t list anything completed for credit in an undergraduate degree, like a research design class or design project, as research. Those are controlled, classroom situations modeling real-world applications.

Also, RE: coursework - VMCAS has the final say on what something will count as, and math/sciences/engineering all sometimes get lumped into a science GPA.

And, I get your point, but “easier/traditional degrees” is a tad much - if I had a dollar for every time someone in the sciences talked down to me during undergrad based on my major…..

FWIW, applicants shouldn’t get special treatment for taking subjectively “hard” classes - logistically, that’s also a really slippery slope. (Aside from advanced applicable courses, of course, but schools DO favor applicants with advanced courses.)

What’s challenging for one is easy for another, and vice versa. I watched my partner complete advanced engineering projects with the same horror with which he watched me complete 40+ page historical theses and advanced Latin translations. Anyway, I digress. It’s personally just a pet peeve of mine - don’t put down your fellow applicants.

 

[Tech_Penguin]

I get where you’re coming from but I wasn’t referring to humanities when I said easier/traditional. As someone who’s taken both engineering and biology/animal science classes (and will get degrees in both areas), BME classes are objectively harder in terms of the workload and conceptual reasoning and the class averages are lower. My pre-med classmates said the MCAT would help account for this, but this isn’t the case for vet schools. I’m sure this logic also applies to some humanities classes like advanced language courses. This is a shame bc it’s pushing people to make major and course selections based on will they get more A’s or who has the best rate my professor vs what they are passionate about or how can this degree translate into vet school or my career?

Also, according to the VMCAS science GPA website, math and engineering courses don’t count towards your science GPA but some schools may recalculate this. And I’ve seen plenty of people use research related to their senior thesis as hours or list animal science classes as animal hours, which is allowed by some schools.

 

[pp9]

I wouldn’t list anything completed for credit in an undergraduate degree, like a research design class or design project, as research. Those are controlled, classroom situations modeling real-world applications.

Also, RE: coursework - VMCAS has the final say on what something will count as, and math/sciences/engineering all sometimes get lumped into a science GPA.

And, I get your point, but “easier/traditional degrees” is a tad much - if I had a dollar for every time someone in the sciences talked down to me during undergrad based on my major…..

FWIW, applicants shouldn’t get special treatment for taking subjectively “hard” classes - logistically, that’s also a really slippery slope. (Aside from advanced applicable courses, of course, but schools DO favor applicants with advanced courses.)

What’s challenging for one is easy for another, and vice versa. I watched my partner complete advanced engineering projects with the same horror with which he watched me complete 40+ page historical theses and advanced Latin translations. Anyway, I digress. It’s personally just a pet peeve of mine - don’t put down your fellow applicants.

I get where you’re coming from but I wasn’t referring to humanities when I said easier/traditional. As someone who’s taken both engineering and biology/animal science classes (and will get degrees in both areas), BME classes are objectively harder in terms of the workload and conceptual reasoning and the class averages are lower. My pre-med classmates said the MCAT would help account for this, but this isn’t the case for vet schools. I’m sure this logic also applies to some humanities classes like advanced language courses. This is a shame bc it’s pushing people to make major and course selections based on will they get more A’s or who has the best rate my professor vs what they are passionate about or how can this degree translate into vet school or my career?

Also, according to the VMCAS science GPA website, math and engineering courses don’t count towards your science GPA but some schools may recalculate this. And I’ve seen plenty of people use research related to their senior thesis as hours or list animal science classes as animal hours, which is allowed by some schools.

You'd have to verify with VMCAS what the current recommendation for 'research' is. When I applied, it was said that only hours spent on research that resulted in a publication should be listed, even though they didn't outright say that in the application instructions. I believe it did actually say that classroom research didn't count, but my memory may be wrong. Animal science classes counting towards animal hours is entirely different/more reasonable imo than counting the type of research that goes into the average undergrad classes as research when it comes to vet school.

The current guide states: "Research experience includes any animal and veterinary research, as well as other field and/or laboratory-based research. Include specific details about your work/ involvement, including whether the research experience provided an opportunity to present or publish." So do with that what you will.

I think people (myself included, at the time) get really worked up about what's okay/allowed/what counts for what when applying, but it most likely doesn't actually matter that much. If you list an in-class 'research' project, and the school doesn't count that, they'll probably just ignore it. I can't really see any school dinging you for that in that context. If they are dinging people for taking liberties with the intentionally vague VMCAS instructions, then schools would need to be putting more specifics on what they expect on their own websites.

As for what's harder, who cares. There are at least a few schools that do take 'academic rigor' into account, but that can mean different things. Most schools will also tell you that they don't care what you chose to major in, and some schools don't even care if you have a degree or not. Remember that you are trying to get into the same class as 100+ other people, so it's best not to look down upon those that made choices you deem to be less challenging than yours.

Also, you can't outsmart VMCAS and the schools, lol. They'll recalculate and reassign as they deem fit. That's why your transcripts will have one GPA, VMCAS will have another, and then each school will probably have 1-2 more GPAs that don't match VMCAS or your transcripts. Math absolutely counts towards a science GPA for some schools, but it may be only a math pre-req that they look at depending on the school.

 

[indysadventures]

I get where you’re coming from but I wasn’t referring to humanities when I said easier/traditional. As someone who’s taken both engineering and biology/animal science classes (and will get degrees in both areas), BME classes are objectively harder in terms of the workload and conceptual reasoning and the class averages are lower. My pre-med classmates said the MCAT would help account for this, but this isn’t the case for vet schools. I’m sure this logic also applies to some humanities classes like advanced language courses. This is a shame bc it’s pushing people to make major and course selections based on will they get more A’s or who has the best rate my professor vs what they are passionate about or how can this degree translate into vet school or my career?

Also, according to the VMCAS science GPA website, math and engineering courses don’t count towards your science GPA but some schools may recalculate this. And I’ve seen plenty of people use research related to their senior thesis as hours or list animal science classes as animal hours, which is allowed by some schools.

But, you're still judging those taking biology courses.....

As PP said, who cares? All in all, I just don't think any of this matters - all you're doing is hurting yourself when you assign external locus-of-control to these things. You chose the path you felt was right for you and good! But, vet schools only require their prerequisites for good reason - to prepare students for a veterinary medical curriculum and clinical work.

At most, this means prerequisites might include advanced biomedical courses like pathophysiology, immunology, hematology, cancer biology, microbiology, etc, which are all clinically relevant. Coursework like this, especially if you have a significant amount, IS noted by admissions committees. In fact, many schools call that out - Penn, CSU, Cornell come to mind from what I remember from their admission websites.

Prerequisites are the required courses that will adequately prepare you for vet school - as much as it might feel like it, you don't deserve special treatment or consideration for taking harder courses in a related but clinically unnecessary subfield.

And, my previous point still stands, whether you intend it or not, your language and argument implies that you believe your accomplishments should be considered above those of other applicants who chose "easier/traditional degrees." Medicine is an incredibly collaborative field, and I think you'll have more lifelong success by treating your peers with respect.

Also, FWIW, your specific language sounded familiar and I just realized that you've been here awhile, you've just changed your name. So, I'm sorry if I've repeated anything from a previous discussion. Hope all is going well!

I think people (myself included, at the time) get really worked up about what's okay/allowed/what counts for what when applying, but it most likely doesn't actually matter that much. If you list an in-class 'research' project, and the school doesn't count that, they'll probably just ignore it. I can't really see any school dinging you for that in that context. If they are dinging people for taking liberties with the intentionally vague VMCAS instructions, then schools would need to be putting more specifics on what they expect on their own websites.

As for what's harder, who cares. There are at least a few schools that do take 'academic rigor' into account, but that can mean different things. Most schools will also tell you that they don't care what you chose to major in, and some schools don't even care if you have a degree or not. Remember that you are trying to get into the same class as 100+ other people, so it's best not to look down upon those that made choices you deem to be less challenging than yours.

Also, you can't outsmart VMCAS and the schools, lol. They'll recalculate and reassign as they deem fit. That's why your transcripts will have one GPA, VMCAS will have another, and then each school will probably have 1-2 more GPAs that don't match VMCAS or your transcripts. Math absolutely counts towards a science GPA for some schools, but it may be only a math pre-req that they look at depending on the school.

Good point RE: research guidelines - it's really up to the schools to decide what is research and what is not, and they can disregard any research they don't think is applicable. It doesn't hurt to put everything out there and schools can take or leave as desired.

That being said, I did have several school admissions officers tell me these types of research wasn't considered seriously, akin to listing pet hours as animal experience. That was 1-2 years ago now, so things could've changed, and it will certainly vary across schools. Personally (and so it doesn't really count for anything, just yodeling into the void), I think that listing classroom experiences comes off as naive or inexperienced, when in a competitive admissions environment, such research experience will be compared against those who have legitimate research.

One admissions officer told me to give things the "eyeroll test" when considering what to include in experiences or an explanation statement. Unlikely to hurt you, especially when done sparingly, but a lot of eyerolling moments across an entire application could undermine the rest of your application. They said it's about trust: if you're overexaggerating in one area, what's to say that you didn't do the same everywhere?

Obviously very subjective advice, but having worked in hiring as well as on a committee that selected research project applications, this rang really true to me in how I judged applicants' application materials.

 

[Tech_Penguin]

Oh yeah, my original intention wasn’t to imply that one major is better than another. But OP was at a disadvantage because of the major’s lower grade distribution and no school only look at prerequisite GPA. But either way, this is very niche and would only benefit a handful of people professionally.

 

[pp9]

Oh yeah, my original intention wasn’t to imply that one major is better than another. But OP was at a disadvantage because of the major’s lower grade distribution and no school only look at prerequisite GPA. But either way, this is very niche and would only benefit a handful of people professionally.

Well, if OP is looking at 'VMCAS science GPA,' then sure, other courses could be pulling them down. If they are applying to schools that specifically look at the 'prereq GPA,' which wouldn't include engineering courses, then it doesn't matter beyond how cGPA and last 45 were affected.

I actually just wrote a longer reply on this exact thing in another thread, but we use 'science GPA' pretty generically here when in reality, some schools state they look at 'prereq GPA' and others state they look at the 'VMCAS science GPA.' They are two totally different GPAs, with the latter potentially including a lot of courses. The former requires the school to sit down and hand calculate the prereq GPAs for each applicant since VMCAS doesn't do that for each school afaik. VMCAS just says 'Okay, this applicant took 18 science classes, here is the GPA for that.'

Edit: Also for OP specifically, Iowa looks at prereq GPA, Washington appears to look at both prereq/VMCAS science, and Mizzou appears to not even look at science/prereq and only last 45/cGPA which is interesting ("The academic score is determined by using cumulative grade point average, GPA from the last three full-time semesters, and average undergraduate course load."). Would be worth verifying with Mizzou because that seems weird, but that's directly out of their admissions guide