WAMC 2nd time, Oregon State

[BunnyFluffy]

Hello all! I am a 23 YO applicant, looking to hopefully get into my IS Oregon State. I'm technically a second time applicant, but last year I only applied to Oregon just to get the idea of how the application works and make sure I could enter everything correctly. I also plan to apply to Washington, Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota. I know my GPA is low, I'll actually be going to Oregon State this fall in order to re-take my lower grade classes, namely Ochem. My goal is to be a LA or food animal vet, hoping to stay in Oregon so I've been working on getting more opportunities over this summer. I just want to know what else I can continue doing to impove my app, and should I think about an M.S in order to improve my GPA? Should I reel back my school selection? Thank you!

Cumulative GPA: 3.4
science GPA: 3.09
last 45: 3.4

Any degrees achieved
B.S in Veterinary Science from University of Nevada, Reno
GRE results: N/A

Veterinary Experience:
- 2394 Hrs Veterinary Assistant for a GP clinic, focus in the back.
- 570 Hrs Veterinary Assistant & Receptionist (cross trained) at a separate GP clinic.

Animal Experience:
- 1028 Hrs Student Farmhand, husbandry and approved veterinary care of a 300 head cow/calf operation and 100 head market sheep operation. I feel it's important to specify that I was able to assist in many veterinary operations, such as a C-section, multiple necropsies, vaccinations, general hospitalizations, ect. when our lab veterinarian was able to supervise.
- 360 Hrs Pre-Veterinary Technician H.S program, after school student volunteer grooming program.
- 2080 Hrs Puppy raiser/volunteer for a local service dog program. I raised four dogs for their program and volunteered at their kennel 5-10 hours a week.
- 520 Hrs as a 4-H member, secretary, and VP for my rabbit and sheep programs.
-200 Hrs Dog and cat sitting, both privately and through independent contract companies (Rover).

Research Experience:
- 70 Hrs as an undergraduate research assistant working on a pilot study to explore pollination patterns of the snowplant, an ecologically niche plant to the Sierra Nevadas.
Awards/scholarships:
- Dean's List for my college, Fall 2021 & Fall 2023
- National 1st Place Team Breed ID Senior 2018 awarded by the American Rabbit Breeder's Association
- National 2nd Place Team Breed ID Senior 2019 awarded by the American Rabbit Breeder's Association

Extracurriculars:
- Member of the Professional Agriculture Student Association
- Played Jr Varsity Women's Lacosse in HS and volunteered for our club in the summers selling ice during boat races.
- 4-H camp counselor for 2 years in the summers
-Part of my university's Pre-Vet club
- For fun, I kayak in the summers

Employment:
- Freshman Intensive Traning mentor for 2 years during undergrad.
- Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology undergraduate TA for spring 2024, listed as a volunteer position but you're given some compensation.

LORs:
- The veterinarian I have most of my vet hours under, who has been in my corner since day 1. She is a private practice owner and practitioner.
- The second veterinarian I worked under in practice, also the clinic owner and practitioner.
- A professor for 2 classes I've taken and I have TA'd for her this spring as she runs the anatomy lab. She just got her PhD and has her DVM from Brazil.
- My current boss who is the Livestock Coordinator for my university's experiment station and farm.
- The professor I conducted my pilot study under, which was for an experimental ecology class I took.

Personal Statement:
I want to change it a lot from what I wrote last cycle, but in general I'd like to touch on my love for livestock and the hardworking people they often come with. I'd also like to touch on my interest in the OneHealth approach to veterinary medicine, and how important veterinarians are for the health of our foodchain in the US.

I know my application still has a lot of work to be done, and I'm hoping to fill in a lot of these gaps over the next year, but is there a chance for me to get in this year? While my GPA is far from great, the mean acceptance cGPA at OSU is a 3.6, so I'm not sure how close or far away my mark is. I would also just love to have any input in general, I haven't gotten an opportunity to let anyone from the vetmed world look at my application. Thank you so much!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[battie]

I also plan to apply to Washington, Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota

Strongly reconsider CSU unless you know you subjective application parameters are amazing. You're competing against 2000+ OOS students. Unless you have a great upward trend across undergrad, CSU is a hard sell for you.

Consider looking at the AAVMC public data and evaluate the schools that have fewer OOS applicants with more seats to see if your GPA matches better.

hould I think about an M.S in order to improve my GPA?

Would you use this masters if you never got into vet school?

 

[BunnyFluffy]

Strongly reconsider CSU unless you know you subjective application parameters are amazing. You're competing against 2000+ OOS students. Unless you have a great upward trend across undergrad, CSU is a hard sell for you.

Consider looking at the AAVMC public data and evaluate the schools that have fewer OOS applicants with more seats to see if your GPA matches better.

Would you use this masters if you never got into vet school?

My backup plan is to work under the government (USDA) as an inspector or go into herd management. If I were to get a master's, it would likely be an MPH as it aligns with my interest in public health, and many government jobs require a master's or at least graduate level work. I will definitely rethink CSU, I knew it was a pretty long shot but I've also heard that they were fairly holistic.

Would you have any other recommendations for me regarding my application?

I really appreciate your reply, thank you!

 

[Benjamin Scalera]

Your stuff is great! I have the same GPA and similar experiences to you, and Im also looking to be involved in Food Animal. Id say make your personal statement the strongest thing. Something that sticks out more than the GPA because otherwise you're very well rounded and have plenty of experience

 

[BunnyFluffy]

Your stuff is great! I have the same GPA and similar experiences to you, and Im also looking to be involved in Food Animal. Id say make your personal statement the strongest thing. Something that sticks out more than the GPA because otherwise you're very well rounded and have plenty of experience

Thank you so much for your comment! It's nice to hear others have the same stats as me, sometimes I get way into my head about it lol. I'll definitely be working on my personal statement over the summer and see if I can get others in the vet field to read it over, last year I admittedly put it off until the last second. Best of luck to you, fellow food animal friend!