WAMC and eLOR help!! - NC State

[katijo23]

24 year old female first time applicant, NC Resident

Applying to NCSU, LMU (in case my grades aren't good enough for NCSU), CSU(?, this has been my dream school until really looking into how much is cost comparatively), and maybe Wisconsin or Washington (because you can get IS after a year, and no interview for Wisconsin, so no travel cost there)

Degree
B.S. Animal Science, minor in Poultry Science 2016 from NCSU

Cumulative GPA - 3.32
Science GPA - 3.1-3.3 depending on how its calculated
Last 45 - 3.1
D and D- in quantitive chem, and orgo II respectively, retook them and got C+ in quantitive (not great but better), and A! in orgo II
Those first grades are unfortunately in my last 45 so they bring everything down

GRE
153(50%)Q/155(69%)V/ 4(59%)W (not impressive, I know)

Vet Experience
Equine Repro Vet Assistant - 650 hours
Small Animal Clinic Vet Assistant - 3000 hours
Small Animal Clinic (different than above) Kennel Assistant - 500 hours, current

Animal Experience
Equine Breeding Farms (2 facilities) - 2350 hours
Equine Training Barn - 250 hours
Swine Farrowing/Breeding barn - 320
Livestock Extension Intern - 280
Volunteering with Exotics/Arthropods - 100 hours, current

Research Experience
None


Awards/Honors/Scholarships
Dean List 4 of 7 semesters
Golden LEAF Scholarship
Residency/Need Based Scholar
Livestock and Poultry Judging High School level awards
Collegiate Poultry Judging 4th Team
Various Leadership Conferences

Other Experience
Catering company - 1000
Selling vegetables and eggs produced at family farm at farmers market ~ 600

Concerns
• GPAs not that great
• Worried about letters of recommendation
I have already sent request to 3 people: the small animal vet/practice owner I have worked with since high school and have 3000 hours with, the equine repro vet, and my undergraduate advisor/professor/club advisor.
I am second guessing myself last minute after reading through the forum and seeing that most people have submitted more than 3. I went with 3 because NCSU website said they prefer to only have 3. I was also influenced by LMU, who wants 3; one from an employer, one from vet, and one from educator.
• Help considering OOS schools, is LMU a good secondary option because of the number of applicants they generally receive? Should I even apply to the other OOS schools because there are less seats and my gpa's are not super competitive?
• Animal ownership hours as part of experience? My family has owned all sorts of farm animals, chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, geese, quail, and peacocks. This is not the typical animal ownership but I've always heard animal ownership shouldn't ever be included. What are you thoughts, what have you done?


Thanks for any help and advise you guys can give!

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[EngrSC]

I would not feel obligated to submit more than 3 LORs. I submitted more but only because several people offered to write me one (so I thought they’d be great letters) and as an older, non-traditional applicant I thought it would benefit me to submit letters from various aspects of my life. It’s questionable whether or not my extra letters will get read. I would not submit more than 3 unless you are absolutely certain that the additional letters will be awesome and will contribute something to your application that your other letter haven’t. That’s my 2 cents.

wooooosaaaaah

 

[genny]

I would not feel obligated to submit more than 3 LORs. I submitted more but only because several people offered to write me one (so I thought they’d be great letters) and as an older, non-traditional applicant I thought it would benefit me to submit letters from various aspects of my life. It’s questionable whether or not my extra letters will get read. I would not submit more than 3 unless you are absolutely certain that the additional letters will be awesome and will contribute something to your application that your other letter haven’t. That’s my 2 cents.

wooooosaaaaah

I second this. And I’d like to add that additional letter can actually hurt your application if they’re just average letters. Better to go with 3 stellar recommendations than add a 4th that just thinks you’re ok.

 

[battie]

Help considering OOS schools, is LMU a good secondary option because of the number of applicants they generally receive? Should I even apply to the other OOS schools because there are less seats and my gpa's are not super competitive?

NCSU, LMU (in case my grades aren't good enough for NCSU), CSU(?, this has been my dream school until really looking into how much is cost comparatively), and maybe Wisconsin or Washington (because you can get IS after a year, and no interview for Wisconsin, so no travel cost there)

My 2 cents on your school list: I suggest reconsidering CSU and Wisconsin, or adding more OOS friendly schools. These two are some of the more competitive as far as sheer numbers goes. There were 15 applicants per available seat for CSU last year. There are other schools, such as U of Illinois and Kansas State, that have classes that are ~50% out of state, but have half that number of applicants per seat.

My stats were rather similar to yours. I wish I had been more informed on the stats of what schools actually accept and the chances of being accepted. Take a look at which schools have a high out of state acceptance and those that are closest to your application.

 

[deleted676737]

My 2 cents on your school list: I suggest reconsidering CSU and Wisconsin, or adding more OOS friendly schools. These two are some of the more competitive as far as sheer numbers goes. There were 15 applicants per available seat for CSU last year. There are other schools, such as U of Illinois and Kansas State, that have classes that are ~50% out of state, but have half that number of applicants per seat.

My stats were rather similar to yours. I wish I had been more informed on the stats of what schools actually accept and the chances of being accepted. Take a look at which schools have a high out of state acceptance and those that are closest to your application.

I agree with this. I'll also suggest Iowa State as another potentially good option; their classes are ~50% OOS and the average accepted stats are generally lower than most other vet schools (though part of that is a function of their somewhat odd method of calculating science GPA) and are more in line with what you're applying with: Class Profiles | Iowa State University

 

[katijo23]

I agree with this. I'll also suggest Iowa State as another potentially good option; their classes are ~50% OOS and the average accepted stats are generally lower than most other vet schools (though part of that is a function of their somewhat odd method of calculating science GPA) and are more in line with what you're applying with: Class Profiles | Iowa State University

Iowa State, was on one of my final list and I recently decided to cut it (can't remember my reason and will reevaluate). I had taken Wisconsin off as well, but added it back. My reason for taking Wisconsin off was their high GPA for admitted students, but then I thought I was second guessing myself. I will most likely add Iowa State back now, if there are no problems with pre-reqs, and from what I have read so far, my GPA according to Iowa will be higher because they only count the most recent attempt at classes.

I am having a hard time making decisions on whether to go ahead and apply to more schools to possibly increase my chances, or if I should save my money and only apply to 2 or 3 and try again next year if I don't make it this time.

**My dilemma with the LORs pops up again because Iowa "strongly suggest more than 3 letters of rec", however, NCSU my first choice prefers only 3. I am also, slightly worried that, my advisor/professor letter isn't going to be a strong as it could be because it has been 2.5 years since I graduated and have spoken to them in person. When I asked if they were comfortable with writing one I also mentioned that I would be happy to meet in person and up date them on life since graduation. They declined the offer but said they would be comfortable writing a letter. The VMCAS status on their letter still says requested, and they have not responded to my follow up email asking if they have received the request.**

 

[SkiOtter]

I am having a hard time making decisions on whether to go ahead and apply to more schools to possibly increase my chances, or if I should save my money and only apply to 2 or 3 and try again next year if I don't make it this time.

Don’t forget that some schools have interviews which can cost you thousands of dollars to attend, between flights/gas for driving, clothing, hotels, meals, etc. you also have to pay out of pocket for first months rent/security deposit/moving costs because you won’t get loans until after school starts or right before.
I would also agree with bats that you may want to reconsider both CSU and Wisconsin.

 

[Barkley13]

My dilemma with the LORs pops up again because Iowa "strongly suggest more than 3 letters of rec"

I only had 3 letters of rec and I was accepted. So not a huge deal as long as they’re strong