WAMC - 2nd Application Cycle Low GPA

[dogtor_v81]

22, M, Resident of WICHE State, 2nd application cycle

Last cycle I applied to Arizona, Kansas, Washington, Colorado, WesternU and have heard back from all except for western. I was waitlisted at Washington State as a WICHE student but was denied WICHE funding. Otherwise I was rejected from all the others.

Cumulative GPA: 3.06
science/prerequisite GPA: Depends on the program
last 45: 3.3-3.4

Any degrees achieved
B.S. Cellular/Molecular Biology (Completed in 3.5 years)

GRE results: N/A

Veterinary Experience:
- Veterinary Assistant/Surgery Tech: 1700 Hours @ SA Hospital with majority of time spent aiding ortho procedures
- Veterinary Assistant: 460 Hours @ mixed practice (~276 Large Animal and 184 Small Animal)

Animal Experience:
- 7 years 4H

Research Experience:
- N/A, but I completed my senior thesis on canine hypothyroidism if that counts for anything.

Certificates
- Fear Free Certification completed through my job

Extracurriculars:
- Wrestling (~16 years throughout childhood through college)

For the upcoming cycle I am considering applying to: Washington State, Oregon State, WesternU, Arizona, Colorado, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Mizzou, Michigan State, tOSU, Lincoln Mem., Mississippi State, Georgia, and Long Island, Louisiana State. I am wondering if anyone can give me pointers for what steps I should take to improve my application. I am aware that my GPA is the main factor holding me back from gaining acceptance. I went to a small college without really any opportunities to gain research experience. I am concerned with the lack of extracurriculars that I have on my application solely because all of my spare time was poured into wrestling. Should I try to diversify my experience hours more? Should I retake classes that I got a C in (genetics, Ochem 1&2, Biochem)? Should I try to gain hours in research? Any pointers on what you recommend I should do, and any schools you recommend adding or taking off are greatly appreciated.

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[ks1034]

Your GPA is lower but with a great application you can still get in to some of those schools. Your last 45 GPA is a bit higher which will help you at schools like Michigan and Iowa.

I also have a lower gpa (3.4, 3.2 science) and was accepted to Colorado and Iowa this past cycle. I have about 4000 hours as a vet assistant in small/exotics and 4000 hours in research. I honestly think my research hours and publications that resulted from my research helped me immensely. I think your vet experience hours seem pretty solid. Adding some research experience and getting your name on a publication could really help boost your application and make it stand out. Also adding some volunteer experience or other extracurriculars would definitely help.

I don’t think it would be a bad idea to retake some classes to boost your gpa, but I think it would probably help you more to diversify and add to your experiences. If you have to choose between one or the other I would recommend focusing on more veterinary or research experience.

Your school list looks pretty good. I’m not a WICHE student and don’t know how that works but I will say for me, I was rejected from Missouri pretty early on and don’t think my app was even looked at due to my GPA. I didn’t apply to Texas a & m but based on the research I’ve done on them it is super competitive for OOS, they only have like 10 seats or something really low like that. Georgia is also extremely competitive for oos, I believe they only have 19 seats. However, I am of the belief that if you can afford it, it doesn’t hurt to try. I never thought I would get in to CSU, but I did! So you never know!