WAMC - 3.93 GPA, Good Hours, First Time

[zoovetwannabe]

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Hi!

I am a junior in college

I am in-state in Iowa. I am looking at Iowa State, but also at other schools that have good zoo vet programs. Some others I am looking at include Illinois and Georgia, but I am open to others!

I am a Biology major with minors in Chemistry and Spanish. I have a 3.93 cumulative GPA and a 3.84 science GPA

I am a full-time service dog trainer. I have added approx 2 hours per day of dog training to animal hours. I have also started and am the president of a service dog club on my college campus.

I am a member of our college's top choir.

I have done a study abroad program to Costa Rica where I was immersed in the Spanish-speaking culture. I will be traveling to Germany, Morocco, and Spain as a part of an international choir tour this coming May.

Vet hours - approx 1500
- from a small animal hospital working with dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and other small rodents
- I have my veterinary assisting certification
- I have done some shadowing of zoo med and large animal med, but only a couple of hours

Animal hours - approx 1100 hours
- 362 hours from a zoo animal care internship
- worked with large mammals (rhinos, giraffe, camels, zebra, etc)
- 100 hours from pet sitting
- 100 hours of animal caretaking at school
- included: care and breeding of poison dart frogs, care and breeding of guppies, and others
- around 600 hours of dog training

Research - 50
- Research using black lab mice.
- Will be completing another research project in my senior year

Volunteer - 100
- I volunteer near weekly at my church, where I participate in multiple services.

Some jobs I have held include veterinary assistant, lab assistant, grading assistant, tutor, and notetaker

I plan to have 6 letters of recommendation - 2 from vets I work with, 1 from my pastor at the church i volunteer at, 1 from my zoo internship supervisor, and 2 professors

On top of zoo med, as that can be a difficult field to enter, I am also interested in emergency medicine!

Thanks for reading!

 

[CeeGee14]

Hey! I think the objective stats of your application are looking really good! You've got a high GPA, decent number of vet hours and lots of extracurriculars. As long as you make your rec letters are strong and your PS is in tip top shape, I think you've got a very good shot!

I would recommend adding U.C Davis, NC State and other vet schools that let you become IS after your 1st year to your list. Your stats are good enough to stand a chance. With the new loan cap, going OOS anywhere is most certainly going to push you past the 200k limit and force you to take out private loans. Especially if you're considering zoo med-which from my understanding, doesn't make as much compared to small animal GP-the less debt you have, the better.

Good luck!

 

[Tech_Penguin]

maybe try to get more zoo vet hours if you’re going to state you’re interested in that?

 

[zoovetwannabe]

I totally would but the zoo in my state doesn’t do a lot of shadows. They offer like one space per month.

 

[pp9]

Hi, zoo vet here. Go to the cheapest school you possibly can. Like CeeGee pointed out, you have the stats that could very well get you accepted to the handful of schools that allow for residency switches, take advantage of that. Otherwise, your goal should be your IS. There is not a single school that will track you for zoo med, has a 'zoo vet program,' etc. There are schools that can get you more exposure, sure, but given what is going on with the student loan situation and how abysmally we are paid, your focus should be on making vet school as cheap as possible. You can get exposure via externships at any school, and that is what students do.

You can become a zoo vet regardless of what school you choose. You can earn a lifetime of crushing debt if you don't choose wisely. Don't forget to consider the fact that most zoo-bound people are going through 2+ years of internships, and 3-4 years of residency, before finally earning a real paycheck (as real as that can be in zoo med, lol). So ~10 years of little to no pay while your debt collects interest. This, along with general burnout, are the two main reasons why most zoo-hopeful students abandon the dream and go to something else. Set yourself up for success as early on as possible. Don't go to a school just because you think they have a 'zoo program' because it is not worth it.

 

[DVM2024]

I would add NCSU to your list as well. They have the lowest tuition in the country for IS students, and give you the potential of gaining IS status as an OOS student after the first year. They also have a great zoo program with numerous diplomates and house officers on staff, and lots of unique opportunities for students (Turtle Rescue Team, Carnivore Conservation Crew, etc.). Zoological medicine is also a focus area option, and as far as I know is one of the only schools to offer that.

 

[pp9]

Zoological medicine is also a focus area option, and as far as I know is one of the only schools to offer that.

Just want to say a few things about this comment:

I think this is a point of confusion for a lot of zoo-med hopefuls. They think they have to go to the schools that have a zoo med service/faculty/ties in order to have the best chance and it's not true. Now, NC State does offer residency changes, yes, but being IS for all four years is still the smartest choice for any applicant that wants to end up in a poorly paying field.

You don't really 'focus' in anything during vet school. You can take electives if they are offered, schedule externships, and look for extracurriculars. And sure, certain schools will offer more in the way of zoo/exotic options, but it is so far from 'focusing' in zoo med during your veterinary education that it wouldn't be worth any extra expense. There is also a dramatic increase in competition for these opportunities at this school (Edit: really any school that has zoo med will attract a huge number of interested prevets, I didn't mean NC state specifically), to the point where you might not get as much out of it as you thought you would. Meanwhile, you could have saved money at your IS and still scheduled externships, summer opportunities, etc. and made yourself just as involved in zoo med as any other person at another school.

So, idk, just food for thought. Go to the cheapest school, always. Coming from someone who did go to a school 'known for' zoo med...it wasn't the reason I succeeded. It was everything else I did outside of school, that any vet student at any vet school could do.

Also total side note but while I'm on a tangent - it's also super easy to think "I'm here to be a zoo vet" and laser focus on anything/everything zoo. While doing that, you miss out on a lot of experiences/skills that serve zoo vets extremely well but don't have the glamorous 'zoo med' label slapped on them. Foal watch, rectal palpations, large animal handling skills, basic surgical skills, hoof care, production medicine, etc.

 

[HorseObsessed]

I have similar stats to you and have received multiple acceptances (but also multiple rejections) this cycle. Throw your hat in at some of the cheaper schools, but make sure to apply to you IS as that's your best shot! Every applicant will get rejected somewhere so don't back on any one choice too much.