WAMC C/O 2026 - lower GPA but decent experience

[sunnydog]

Female from Pennsylvania, age 20, first time traditional applicant for C/O 2026. Planning on applying to Ohio State, Illinois, Virginia-Maryland, Univ of Tennessee, Mich St… Also considering Purdue, Auburn, Minnesota, Ontario Vet College (open and appreciative of any suggestions). IS school is UPenn but don’t think gpa is adequate…

Cumulative GPA: 3.46
science GPA: ~3.3
last 45: expecting ~3.75

Any degrees achieved: B.S. in Agriculture from Ohio State in Spring 2022

GRE results: taking in the spring

Veterinary Experience:
- 3,500 hr small animal clinic as a veterinary assistant for 4 years (we also occasionally saw pigs – probably about 15 hours total over the past several years)
- 30 hr small animal ICU volunteer at OSU hospital
- 10 hr small animal shadowing (while in high school)
- Tentative ~25 hr shadowing LA vet pending COVID

Animal Experience:
- 3,000 hr volunteer trainer and foster for service dog organization known as 4 paws for ability
- 300 hr student milker and dairy assistant at Ohio state dairy farm working with herd of 165 Jersey Cattle and replacement heifers
- 75 hr volunteer camp counselor at equine training and boarding facility
- 40 hr livestock experience as a teaching assistant for an animal sciences lab
- 10 hr reptiles as an animal educator for elementary school kids (while in high school)
- Beef Quality Assurance transportation certified

Research Experience:
- 60 hr in a biology lab studying bacteriophages

Awards/scholarships:
- Dean’s List (2x)
- Provost Merit Scholar
- National Buckeye Merit Scholar
- Community Scholar (high school)

Extracurriculars:
- Pre-vet medical association for all 4 years (1 executive board position as college representative, 1 peer leader position)
- College Peer Mentor for all 4 years
- College Student council member for 1 year (public relations committee member)
- Undergraduate Teaching assistant for 2 semesters (in intro animal sciences lab and lecture)
- Second-year transformational experience participant for 2 years
- OSU 4paws for ability for 3 years
- Intramural soccer and flag football for 2 years
- Run several half-marathons and avid runner throughout college career but not sure if this belongs in my application considering it is not through an official student organization?

Employment:
- Community babysitter/petsitter (~3,000 hours throughout high school)

LOR:
- 2 small animal veterinarians that I’ve worked with over the years
- 1 professor who I took two classes with and served as a teaching assistant for
- hoping to gain another over the summer depending on internships


Worried about lack of diversity in veterinary experiences and a bad freshman year gpa holding me and my science gpa down … also not sure if science gpa includes my animal science credits? If this is the case it would be a little higher. GPA has steadily increased every semester though. Currently applying to internships at zoos/wildlife rescues and research labs for the summer to hopefully gain several hundred more hours of diverse animal experience. If I were to have the option between these two, is there one that would be more helpful for my application? Appreciative of any advice, thanks in advance!

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[battie]

Ohio State, Illinois, Virginia-Maryland, Univ of Tennessee, Mich St… Also considering Purdue, Auburn, Minnesota, Ontario Vet College (open and appreciative of any suggestions). IS school is UPenn but don’t think gpa is adequate…

Illinois is a good option for you. Your stats are on par with mine or better. It will just depend on what the cut offs for the different phases are in your cycle.

You should also consider schools that heavily prefer the last 45 credits, like Kansas state.

also not sure if science gpa includes my animal science credits? If this is the case it would be a little higher. GPA has steadily increased every semester though.

This will be school dependent and you'll have to ask.

Currently applying to internships at zoos/wildlife rescues and research labs for the summer to hopefully gain several hundred more hours of diverse animal experience. If I were to have the option between these two, is there one that would be more helpful for my application?

Whichever one you would be more passionate about. At that point, you'd be able to speak about it (either in an essay or interview) more passionately and connect it to your life goals. For the average applicant, either would work.