WAMC? 2nd cycle (low GPA, high experience, high GRE)

[kcapplicant]

28 y/o GA resident, non-trad applicant. 2nd cycle. Only applied to UGA in the first cycle and did not get in.

Colleges I'm Applying To
Definitely: UGA (IS), Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan
Probably: Minnesota
Possibly: Louisiana, Colorado, LMU, Midwestern, Tufts, UC Davis, Missouri, Penn, Florida (all the other schools that meet prereqs)

Cumulative GPA: 3.49 (with grade replacement); 3.2 (without)
Science GPA: 3.39 (with GR); 3.2 (without)
Last 45: 2.8 2.98?

Degrees achieved
BSc in Biology (originally a music major)

GRE results: 169/163/6.0

Veterinary Experience:
6000+ hours as vet tech (mostly SA but some LA, equine, avian, & exotics)
x hours shadowing LA vet (starting soon)

Animal Experience
80 hours volunteering at a wildlife center
x hours volunteering at a stables (starting soon)
Lots of misc hours in pet sitting (SA and exotics), dog walking, non-vet supervised animal rehab

Research Experience:
100+ hours lab experience

Awards/scholarships:

• Graduated with honours
• Honors scholarship
• 1st year music scholarship
• Hope scholarship

Extracurriculars:

• Concert clarinetist
• Music tutor (for high school students)
• oSTEM member
• Science Olympiad volunteer
• Volunteer at foot clinic for open door community

Employment:

• 3+ years as a vet tech/lead tech
• Music tutition, clerical work, grocery stores, a coffee shop, and a bookshop

Summarize any concerns you have
So obviously this is a low GPA without grade replacement and this is the biggest hurdle to overcome. Got a lot of Ws on the transcript as well due to major health issues, which will be addressed in the essays. The priority is to apply to schools that do grade replacement. Last 45 is also an issue (going to do a Masters if this cycle is a wash). I've seen claimed that Missouri calculates the last 30 (which is much higher; last 16 credits are this year's prereqs at 4.15GPA), but I can't find anything about this on their website so it might be apocryphal.

Of Louisiana, Colorado, LMU, Midwestern, Tufts, UC Davis, Missouri, Penn, and Florida which might be sensible schools to apply to with these stats? Any of these schools especially value experience and the GRE? Can't afford to apply for more than a couple of these so want to be smart about it. Midwestern, Tufts, and Penn have the highest OOS acceptance percentages. LMU, Midwestern, and Florida have lowish (3.4-3.5) average GPAs, but I don't know if that counts for much when applying with a 3.1.

Any guidance appreciated, thanks!

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[WonderingStudent]

Any of these schools especially value experience and the GRE?

Schools waiving their GRE requirement for the c/o 2025 cycle due to COVID-19 (as of 05/12, according to AAVMC)
Dublin
Illinois
NCSU
Texas A&M
Tuskegee
UTK
Wisconsin

Schools which no longer require the GRE, period
Arizona
Bristol
Calgary
Cornell
CSU
UF
Glasgow
Guelph
KSU
ISU
LIU
Melbourne
Michigan State
Midwestern
Mississippi State
Mizzou
Murdoch
Ohio State
Purdue
RVC
Sydney
Tufts
WCVM/Saskatchewan
VMCVM

This list might be helpful in regards to schools that are possibly not utilizing the GRE in their admissions process.

 

[DVM2024]

Speaking from personal experience, UC Davis only factors in GPA, quant GRE score, and LORs when considering OOS applicants, and they only invite the top 50.

 

[supershorty]

I'm not sure how long ago you took your pre-reqs, but if memory serves me right, UMN will only do replacement if they're more than 3 years old. Otherwise they average them. Edited to add a quote from the admissions website:

"Repeated courses are both considered if retaken within three years; only the new grade is used if it has been three or more years since the course was first taken. All math and science prerequisite courses must be recent within 10 years of the application deadline. Applicants with a GPA of 2.75 or below on required courses do not receive any points in this area."

So keep that in mind with regards to whether you apply here or not! MN also evaluates your last 45 credits (which are not the strongest) and your GRE (which is outstanding!). If you are trying to save money on your applications, you might want to take MN off the list. Your GRE is excellent, but I'm not sure it would be sufficient to overcome the challenge presented by your pre-reqs and your last 45 this cycle at this program.

 

[kcapplicant]

I'm not sure how long ago you took your pre-reqs, but if memory serves me right, UMN will only do replacement if they're more than 3 years old. Otherwise they average them. Edited to add a quote from the admissions website:

"Repeated courses are both considered if retaken within three years; only the new grade is used if it has been three or more years since the course was first taken. All math and science prerequisite courses must be recent within 10 years of the application deadline. Applicants with a GPA of 2.75 or below on required courses do not receive any points in this area."

So keep that in mind with regards to whether you apply here or not! MN also evaluates your last 45 credits (which are not the strongest) and your GRE (which is outstanding!). If you are trying to save money on your applications, you might want to take MN off the list. Your GRE is excellent, but I'm not sure it would be sufficient to overcome the challenge presented by your pre-reqs and your last 45 this cycle at this program.

Yes, all the badly graded prereqs are 3+ years old (some are 6 years old now...), although some of the retakes are pretty old now as well, so I should probably contact them to check how they calculate it when both originals and retakes are 3+ years old.

Michigan I believe actually takes the last 36 rather than the last 45 (unless that's changed?), which is 3.29. Not great but much better than the last 45 and clears their minimum 3.0 minimum requirement.

It's a bit annoying, as the GPA for the last undergrad semesters is pretty rough (graduated in 2017, then took a 2 year break), but post-bacc classes (2019-20) are all 4.0s. But last 36/45 doesn't really account for time gaps like that so the big jump in academic improvement gets glossed over. Something to emphasise in the essays, I suppose!

 

[supershorty]

It's a bit annoying, as the GPA for the last undergrad semesters is pretty rough (graduated in 2017, then took a 2 year break), but post-bacc classes (2019-20) are all 4.0s. But last 36/45 doesn't really account for time gaps like that so the big jump in academic improvement gets glossed over. Something to emphasise in the essays, I suppose!

(bolding mine) EXACTLY what essays are for, especially the hardship/extenuating circumstances/explanation one (I can't remember what it's called but you know which one I mean)!

I think you're correct about MSU taking last 36 instead of last 45. Minnesota looks at last 45.

 

[kcapplicant]

Completely got Minnesota and Michigan mixed up there, haha... Yes, will have another think about Minnesota.