WAMC 3rd time applicant (average GPA)

[SungusCashMungus]

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25 F. 3rd time applying through VMCAS. Currently waitlisted for IS school (#1 position for IS but all of the spots are currently filled). I'm also waitlisted for Midwestern and Glasgow. I achieved my first B.S. degree during the pandemic and decided to go back to school in 2023 to increase my GPA and get another degree post-bacc.

Cumulative GPA: 3.53
science GPA: 3.36
last 45: 3.93

Any degrees achieved:
B.S. General Science from PSU 2020
B.S. Environmental Science from OSU 2025

Veterinary Experience:
- VA at 3 GP hospitals (one of which also had exotics) - (~6,500 hours)
- Equine Vet shadowing (~30 hours) - I'm also trying to get a new equine shadowing experience currently

Animal Experience:
- Youth/Adult Volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society (500+ hours)

Research Experience:
N/A outside of classroom setting

Awards/scholarships:
- Honor Roll every quarter in my post-bacc degree
- Numerous small scholarships during my first degree (6 totaling to about $15,000)
- AP Scholar x2 via College Board

Extracurriculars:
- Pre-vet club at PSU
- Honor Society member & Key Club member during high school

Employment:
- VA at 3 separate GP hospitals (one of which had an exotic DVM)
- Veterinary receptionist
- Numerous food service jobs prior to graduation

Summarize any concerns you have:
As I start my 4th application, I'm concerned I do not have enough experience outside of small animal medicine. I've contacted just about every equine clinic in my city and surrounding cities and most are not hiring or their compensation wouldn't be enough to cover rent for a full-time position. I'm trying to secure a volunteer/shadowing position that would be once a week while I transition to work at an emergency hospital as a VA (this hospital does avian and exotic pets as well as small animal).
I'm feeling pretty burnt out doing this application process again. The first time I applied my AP credits didn't transfer over correctly to VMCAS so I had to contact each of the schools individually to let them know my AP scores and which classes the credits satisfy (the previous AP credits are locked and I've contacted VMCAS support but they told me to reach out to schools individually).
I'm considering applying to even more schools this next cycle.

 

[vampyrica]

What schools did you apply to? Is OSU or Penn your IS (or neither)?

 

[Dovetailequine]

Could you get some specialty hours or ER hours if you aren’t able to get Equine hours?

 

[SungusCashMungus]

What schools did you apply to? Is OSU or Penn your IS (or neither)?

Oregon State is my IS. My first B.S. degree was from Portland State University and it had a pre-vet focus so I could take pre-recs for vet school but I had access to minimal animal science classes. So when I went to Oregon State for my second bachelor's degree, I tried to take more animal science classes.
This cycle I applied to Oregon State, Glasgow, Midwestern, Louisiana, Colorado, Wisconsin, Washington State, Michigan, and Illinois.

 

[SungusCashMungus]

Could you get some specialty hours or ER hours if you aren’t able to get Equine hours?

I've quit my GP hospital as a VA and I've applied to an ER hospital (waiting to hear back now if I got the job, I've already done a working interview). This ER also does avian and exotics on top of dogs and cats.

 

[pp9]

Most applicants do not have significant hours, if any, outside of small animal. If you can get more variety, it will only help you. Look up nearby vets in AAEP, AABVP for bovine/dairy/equine/swine, etc. Veterinary specialties Honestly just go to this link and start hitting up whoever is near you.

With that said, you have significant experience and decent stats with that last 45. I can't tell if Oregon weighs the last 45 heavily, so maybe someone else can chime in on that. Have you been able to get any feedback from your schools in any cycles? Where have you gotten interviews/where have you been outright rejected? I would be pushing these schools to give you feedback, or scheduling appointments with their prevet advisors. My guess is that you are in the 'perfectly fine applicant' category and need to stand out somehow. #1 on the waitlist for your IS is a good sign though (even though it may not feel that way), especially if you haven't come this close in your previous cycles.