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.