WAMC: 2nd time applying; anthropologist; help

[justachillgirl]

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Hello!! Its 12 am and I need some advice to help me relieve some stress. Here are my stats, please be honest!

I am a graduate from the Caribbean, so automatically OOS for every accredited school available. I applied to this past 2024-2025 VMCAS cycle, and got waitlisted in UPenn.

I applied last cycle to: Cornell, UPenn, LSU, and UWisconsin-Madison.

For this cycle I will apply to:
1. UFlorida
2. LSU
3. North Carolina
4. Auburn
5. UMissouri
6. UIllinois
7. UPenn
8. Purdue
9. Long Island
10. UArizona
11. Ana G Mendez
12. Ross (pending)

Cumulative GPA: 3.6
science GPA: 3.2-3.6 depending on school's prereqs (estimate)
last 45: 3.57-3.7

Degrees Achieved: Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with all of my pre-reqs (except Physiology and Cell Bio)
Important: have not taken Physiology, or any other advanced animal science courses such as Nutrition, etc.)

Veterinary Experience:
- 2,500 hours in small animal general practice hospital (worked as vet assistant and held different tasks in that job helping in reception, surgery, consults, etc.)
- 14 hrs in oncology specialty
- 36 hrs in ophthalmology
-30 hrs in general surgery
-170 hrs working in a mobile vet clinic
-participated in 3 summer internships in vet schools (Purdue, UF, MSU)

Animal Experience:
- 168 hours working as a groomer
-42 hours volunteering in a equestrian club
- 15 hours volunteering as a assistant in educating children how to take care of horses
- 64 hours volunteering in assisting certified equine therapists giving therapy to human patients of MS, ASD and more

Research Experience:
- 480 hrs in medical microbiology at a vet school
- 480 hrs in a summer internship program dedicated to research
- 62 hrs worth of presenting my research in conferences (especially in National Vet Scholars Symposium in 2024)
- +2,300 hrs in environmental microbiology (where I published my first peer-reviewed paper)
- +1,410 hrs as part of a NIH funded research undergraduate grant that pays me to do research at the same time as I take my undergrad courses
- 210 hrs in agriculture industry

Awards/scholarships:
- Best Capstone Project in a summer vet school internship as an undergrad
-Scholar at the NIH funded research training program for 2 years
- Magna Cum Laude
- 1st Place Best Poster Presentation in Biology Track at a scientific conference
- 3rd Place for innovative Project at a entrepeneurship/scientific event
- Exemplary Leader of a student leadership club
-Dean’s List, every year

Extracurriculars:
- Member of American Society for Microbiology
- Student President of a leadership club for 2 yrs
- Pre-vet Club
- Women in Medicine club

Employment:
- worked as a florist for 2 yrs
-worked as a vet assistant for 3 years (small animal GP)
-worked for 1 yr for a mobile vet clinic
- research assistant for 2 years

Volunteer:
- 12 hrs post-hurricane help
- 40 hrs building homes post-hurricane

Letters of Rec:
- PI from my environmental microbiology lab
-PI from my summer research internship that is a veterinarian/professor
-Vet from mobile vet clinic
-organic chem 2 professor

Other:
-have a peer-reviewed research pub (mentioned above) and another one coming soon

Thank you for stopping by and helping me in this process. It means a lot to me!

 

[JaynaAli]

Are you applying just for regular vet school or like a combined program? With all your research experience i wasn’t sure, and that sort of detail may influence advice.

 

[justachillgirl]

Are you applying just for regular vet school or like a combined program? With all your research experience i wasn’t sure, and that sort of detail may influence advice.

hi! just for regular vet school. I did apply last year to dual degree (DVM/PhD) but i dont wish to do that again.

 

[pp9]

You've got a good amount of hours - if you can add more variety hours, that could be helpful. The hard part is that your GPAs are all essentially the same (depending on the school), and all probably average-ish for most schools. It's hard to strategize with that, but the fact that you've already gotten waitlisted is encouraging! Does UPenn do file reviews, or have you reached out at all?

I know we say this all the time, but looking at your school lists, you've got some of the most expensive options on here. I would consider adding more schools that allow for a residency change just to give you the chance at lower COA. I'd also look at schools that have the highest # of OOS seats. IIRC, NC State for example admits very few (less than 30?) OOS students each year, so competition is very high. Compared to Ohio, for example, which I think has OOSers making up roughly half of the class? and still lets you switch to IS tuition after year one. If cost/time is not an issue, then just add a few more schools to this list.

 

[justachillgirl]

You've got a good amount of hours - if you can add more variety hours, that could be helpful. The hard part is that your GPAs are all essentially the same (depending on the school), and all probably average-ish for most schools. It's hard to strategize with that, but the fact that you've already gotten waitlisted is encouraging! Does UPenn do file reviews, or have you reached out at all?

I know we say this all the time, but looking at your school lists, you've got some of the most expensive options on here. I would consider adding more schools that allow for a residency change just to give you the chance at lower COA. I'd also look at schools that have the highest # of OOS seats. IIRC, NC State for example admits very few (less than 30?) OOS students each year, so competition is very high. Compared to Ohio, for example, which I think has OOSers making up roughly half of the class? and still lets you switch to IS tuition after year one. If cost/time is not an issue, then just add a few more schools to this list.

this is what Penn replied to my status update for waitlist: "While you may be tempted to ask what was lacking in your application, it is difficult to point to obvious weaknesses when so many applicants have demonstrated real achievement and potential." I did not reach out again, but I do not know of anyone else who had a review. Would you advise that I reach out?

About the schools, I often think about if I am applying to too many schools. In my case, I can't add Ohio because I would still need a whole year or more to complete some prereqs (Physiology, etc). and I really feel ready to start this next phase of my life. I would have loved to to up my chances, but this is where my question comes in: am i doing too much, should I eliminate some of my options and apply to 6 or 7? I honestly have no idea what to do at this point, UMissouri is the only one that i have (other than NC) that is lower on non-resident total cost and offers residency status after year 1. Primarily I am looking at east coast for proximity to my family.. but I need some light rn lol

PS: I will add Wisconsin-Madison to the list + maybe Washington!

 

[mw1356]

PS: I will add Wisconsin-Madison to the list + maybe Washington!

I would add Washington before UW Madison. Madison accepts a very small portion of its (already pretty small) class from OOS, which also means they have a super high GPA avg for OOS applicants.

 

[justachillgirl]

I would add Washington before UW Madison. Madison accepts a very small portion of its (already pretty small) class from OOS, which also means they have a super high GPA avg for OOS applicants.

good to know!! definitely helps a lot in my decisions

 

[mkg323]

this is what Penn replied to my status update for waitlist: "While you may be tempted to ask what was lacking in your application, it is difficult to point to obvious weaknesses when so many applicants have demonstrated real achievement and potential." I did not reach out again, but I do not know of anyone else who had a review. Would you advise that I reach out?

About the schools, I often think about if I am applying to too many schools. In my case, I can't add Ohio because I would still need a whole year or more to complete some prereqs (Physiology, etc). and I really feel ready to start this next phase of my life. I would have loved to to up my chances, but this is where my question comes in: am i doing too much, should I eliminate some of my options and apply to 6 or 7? I honestly have no idea what to do at this point, UMissouri is the only one that i have (other than NC) that is lower on non-resident total cost and offers residency status after year 1. Primarily I am looking at east coast for proximity to my family.. but I need some light rn lol

PS: I will add Wisconsin-Madison to the list + maybe Washington!

I realize Penn has changed their interview format since I applied but they do usually say that once their at the interview stage the decision is mainly on that, so I think if you have an advisor or someone that you could maybe practice some mock interviews with would be helpful.

 

[pp9]

this is what Penn replied to my status update for waitlist: "While you may be tempted to ask what was lacking in your application, it is difficult to point to obvious weaknesses when so many applicants have demonstrated real achievement and potential." I did not reach out again, but I do not know of anyone else who had a review. Would you advise that I reach out?

About the schools, I often think about if I am applying to too many schools. In my case, I can't add Ohio because I would still need a whole year or more to complete some prereqs (Physiology, etc). and I really feel ready to start this next phase of my life. I would have loved to to up my chances, but this is where my question comes in: am i doing too much, should I eliminate some of my options and apply to 6 or 7? I honestly have no idea what to do at this point, UMissouri is the only one that i have (other than NC) that is lower on non-resident total cost and offers residency status after year 1. Primarily I am looking at east coast for proximity to my family.. but I need some light rn lol

PS: I will add Wisconsin-Madison to the list + maybe Washington!

It sounds like they aren’t willing to give much insight, but if they have a prevet advisor, you can try to schedule a general appt with them.

Ohio was just an example, but there are probably multiple schools that are cheaper than UPenn and Ross I would think. As for whether or not you eliminate options, that’s entirely up to you. Finances aside, my biggest concern for those casting wide nets is the fact that a chunk of people are wasting money because they’ll miss a deadline for something, or fail to realize they never qualified for that school to begin with (missing a prerequisite). If you are organized about it, applying to more schools is not a bad thing.

 

[justachillgirl]

I realize Penn has changed their interview format since I applied but they do usually say that once their at the interview stage the decision is mainly on that, so I think if you have an advisor or someone that you could maybe practice some mock interviews with would be helpful.

Thank you for the help. I had an advisor but they got cut off when the DEI shutdown came in... so I am honestly riding this solo. Does anyone know of any resources I can look for help? there is not really anyone that can help me specifically from a vet med POV because vet med isn't as big as human med where i am from. I feel a little stuck honestly

 

[justachillgirl]

It sounds like they aren’t willing to give much insight, but if they have a prevet advisor, you can try to schedule a general appt with them.

Ohio was just an example, but there are probably multiple schools that are cheaper than UPenn and Ross I would think. As for whether or not you eliminate options, that’s entirely up to you. Finances aside, my biggest concern for those casting wide nets is the fact that a chunk of people are wasting money because they’ll miss a deadline for something, or fail to realize they never qualified for that school to begin with (missing a prerequisite). If you are organized about it, applying to more schools is not a bad thing.

I reached out, and they told me they do not provide any advising on any sort, sadly. I did get the following message: "Generally, for all applicants that are considering re-applying, our advice is to look at the application as critically as you can and look for spots where there can be improvement (generally GPA, Last 45 GPA, Science GPA, References selection, experience, understanding of exp/vet met…all of these). Not improvement that you wish to take on, but improvement that might/could be made for an application to be more competitive. For some it could be one small thing and for others it could be several."

 

[supershorty]

I reached out, and they told me they do not provide any advising on any sort, sadly. I did get the following message: "Generally, for all applicants that are considering re-applying, our advice is to look at the application as critically as you can and look for spots where there can be improvement (generally GPA, Last 45 GPA, Science GPA, References selection, experience, understanding of exp/vet met…all of these). Not improvement that you wish to take on, but improvement that might/could be made for an application to be more competitive. For some it could be one small thing and for others it could be several."

I'm not laughing at you, I'm just laughing at how useless this advice they gave you is.

"Figure out what you could do better on and do that."

 

[justachillgirl]

I'm not laughing at you, I'm just laughing at how useless this advice they gave you is.

"Figure out what you could do better on and do that."

exactly like this



i mean its not like i'm investing a lot of money on this right at least help me lol