WAMC c/o 2026, strong GPA but not a lot of experience!

[lilygarcia2000]

I am in my junior year of college and I will be applying to vet school during the 2021-2022 cycle. I have a solid GPA and some good references for LORs, but I do not have extensive animal/veterinary experience (however I feel that my experience is diverse). I wanted to see what others think I should be working on to strengthen my application!
Schools: NCSU, UGA, Mississippi State, Auburn, Purdue, Wisconsin, Colorado State, Tennessee

Cumulative GPA: 3.961
Last 45: 3.96
Science GPA: 3.96

(still need biochem II, cell bio, physiology, and animal nutrition)

GRE: I am planning to take it in May!

Vet Hours:
150 hours- shadowing at a small animal hospital
315 hours- shadowing an equine veterinarian
160 hours-shadowing a holistic small animal/exotic veterinarian
Total: ~625 hours

I am also continuing the equine and holistic experiences for the remainder of the semester as well as the next school year. I hopefully will be able to complete at least 200 more hours between the two this semester (to bring me up to 825 hours). Hoping to complete at least 150 hours in an urgent vet clinic over the summer as well as some large animal hours (hopefully to get me to at least 1,000 hours)

Research:
- 40 hours working on a project about breathing meditation and stress/anxiety, I am completing this for credit and hope to have around 150 hours by the end of the semester. I am also going to be working with the same professor in the summer to complete a second project related to Fitbits and mindfulness (hopefully around 400 hours). We are trying to get our work published (I am writing our paper) and we will be presenting at conferences.
-I am also included in a grant proposal to work with a professor on an immunology research project.

Animal Hours (290 total):
100 hours- pet sitting
120 hours- basic care of exotic animals at technical education center while completing veterinary science program
20 hours- dog grooming at technical education center while completing veterinary science program
50 hours- volunteering at an animal shelter
Non-Vet related employment:
Hostess (1 year)
Crew Member at a poke restaurant (6 months)
Server (4 months)
Shipt shopper (just started)

Extracurriculars
Founder & President of Pre-Veterinary club (3 semesters)
Winthrop University Ambassador (4 semesters)
Tri-Beta (4 semesters)
Alpha Lambda Delta
Biology freshman symposium mentor (3 semesters)
National Society for Leadership and Success
Phi Kappa Phi
Honors Program

Awards/Scholarships
Dean's List – 2 semesters
Presidents list- 3 semesters
J. A. Knox Scholarship
Dr. E Cooper Bell Scholarship
Winthrop Garnet Scholarship
Life Scholarship with Enhancement

Letters of Recommendation:
-1 from an equine veterinarian that I have completed 315 hours with ( I have done a ton of stuff with her, she taught me and let me practice floating teeth, drawing blood, giving vaccines, so much more. I hope that her recommendation will set me apart since I have had a lot of hands-on work)
-1 from holistic/exotic, small animal veterinarian that I have been shadowing (have also done a lot of hands-on stuff)
-1 from a professor with who I have taken freshman biology, immunology, and mechanisms of disease. I have also dog sat for her and will most likely be doing research with her in the fall.
-1 from my zoology professor
-1 from a professor that I am currently doing research with

(I realize I have 5 LORs and some schools will probably hate me for this lol but I truly believe each one of these will add SO MUCH to my application, but please if you have any advice let me know!)

Degrees at time of application
None will have B.S in Biology in May 2022

Other Factors:
First-generation college student
Interested in teaching at the university level while doing research

*Interested in Ph.D./DVM dual degree program- I know I expressed my interest in this in a previous post and I got a bit of a reality check! I am waiting to see how I feel about my research experience this spring and summer—it's just something I am considering and keeping in the back of my mind for now!

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[WildZoo]

I don't see any major issues here, especially if you continue with your current experiences and bump your hours up a bit. You're already over the range where I would raise an eyebrow anyway. Academics are really strong, and the research experience is a bonus, especially given the paper writing and conference presentations. Confirm that everyone who is doing a LOR will write a strong letter - extra letters will hurt you if they're mediocre/lukewarm. And then you just have to work on your essays. Personally I think it's a good idea to at least get a draft of those done early so you can give them to your letter writers. They can give feedback and also have an idea of the complete story you're trying to convey with your application.

 

[Lupin21]

I don't see any major issues here, especially if you continue with your current experiences and bump your hours up a bit. You're already over the range where I would raise an eyebrow anyway. Academics are really strong, and the research experience is a bonus, especially given the paper writing and conference presentations. Confirm that everyone who is doing a LOR will write a strong letter - extra letters will hurt you if they're mediocre/lukewarm. And then you just have to work on your essays. Personally I think it's a good idea to at least get a draft of those done early so you can give them to your letter writers. They can give feedback and also have an idea of the complete story you're trying to convey with your application.

LoR's should want to see CV/Resume and Personal statement/s for sure.

 

[lilygarcia2000]

I don't see any major issues here, especially if you continue with your current experiences and bump your hours up a bit. You're already over the range where I would raise an eyebrow anyway. Academics are really strong, and the research experience is a bonus, especially given the paper writing and conference presentations. Confirm that everyone who is doing a LOR will write a strong letter - extra letters will hurt you if they're mediocre/lukewarm. And then you just have to work on your essays. Personally I think it's a good idea to at least get a draft of those done early so you can give them to your letter writers. They can give feedback and also have an idea of the complete story you're trying to convey with your application.

Awesome! Thank you so much for your feedback. I am pretty sure that all my recommenders will write strong letters and they have all been able to get to know me through academics, leadership, etc., and hopefully, this will help tremendously! I also plan to have all of them read over my personal statement and essays maybe even more than once (I have already had 2 requests that I let them proofread).

 

[lilygarcia2000]

LoR's should want to see CV/Resume and Personal statement/s for sure.

I will definitely have them all read over my personal statement! I also just went ahead and sent them all my CV!