WAMC c/o 2027

[lmak01]

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21 y/o female, PA resident, first-time applicant
Cumulative GPA: 3.63
Science GPA: 3.45
Last 45 GPA: 3.75

Degree: B.S. Biology with a cell & molecular concentration, Spanish minor

Schools: Cornell, Lincoln Memorial, Long Island, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Washington State, Western, Ohio, UPenn, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Arizona, CSU (You're right, it's a lot- I am having trouble narrowing it down, if I should at all, and am just trying to improve my chances)

GRE: Not taking, none of the above schools require it

Vet Experience: 1500 hrs as vet assistant at local small animal/exotics clinic, 100 hrs of equine shadowing

Animal Experience: 1500 hrs for non-profit rabbit rescue, 500 hrs as kennel attendant, 5000 hrs on my family dairy farm

Research: 190 hrs as I collected/analyzed data on invasive plant species, currently working on research on white-tailed deer parasites with at least 100 hrs already (should be 500 by end of summer)

Employment: 500 hrs as babysitter, 50 hrs as Spanish tutor, 600 hrs working as a shift supervisor at my school's phonathon/scholarship funding campaign

Volunteer: 1000 hrs as a receptionist at a retirement home

Extracurriculars: Tri-beta biology honor society vice president, vice president of cooking club, her campus, pre-vet club

Achievements/Awards: Outstanding young citizen award in local newspaper, Dean's list every semester except Fall 2020, about 10 misc. scholarships, member of 3 honor societies at school

LORs: Commitee letter with 4 different professors and the practice manager at the vet clinic I work at, 2 DVMs, thinking of asking the manager of the retirement home I volunteer at

Personal Statement: I talk about my upbringing (growing up on a farm) and how it helped steer me (pun intended) into vet med

Anyways, I am really worried about not getting in, I had one semester where I got 2 Cs and I have heard from multiple people that that has messed up my chance. It messed up my science GPA cause both were science classes (O chem and cell bio)- but my mom was sick and dying. I am going to try and address this in my explanation statement but still I am not sure how. I was told my grades are "not competitive", so I am trying to apply to as many schools as I can to improve my chances. I am hoping that growing up on a farm and being bilingual help. I have also tried really hard to get as much varied experience as I can, and I think I have every type except for zoo med. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[britzen]

Your grades are in line with the average for most schools - meaning ~50% of the people there will have better GPAs than you and ~50% will have worse grades. Whoever told you that your grades are not competitive was not correct. (Unless they meant that you aren't at the top of the pool academically in which case, sure. But neither are 50% of the people who also get into vet school just fine.)

You're pretty average as far as a vet school candidate goes grade wise. Be sure to include to include an explanation statement that your weakest semester academically came at the same time as a very difficult time in your life personally. Also, you still passed those classes, and can talk about how even when you have severe outside stressors you are still able to do okay academically.

Are you going to blow other candidates out of the water on the academic part of the app? No.
But you're also not going to have to do serious work to overcome your GPA by making up for it in other areas.

Some of the schools on your list have average GPAs of 3.7-3.8, so you are a little on the low side but you're not out of contention for them.

Cornell may be a reach - they weight their app heavily on grades and do not interview. If it's your dream school or you would prefer to go there so that you can be closer to home in PA... Well, you'll never know if you would have gotten in unless you apply.

Would you really, truly be willing to go to any of those schools if you got it? Consider distance from home and cost. If not, mark that school off your list for this cycle at least.

Are you able to afford all of the application fees? There are fees to VMCAS, supplemental fees for each school, and potentially travel fees to/from interviews?

If you can afford thousands of dollars and don't mind spending it, go ahead and give yourself as many options as you want.

If you can't afford it or you would just prefer to spend less, rank all of the schools on your list and only apply to the ones you can afford or most want to go to. Maybe consider dropping the ones where your GPA is less competitive (avg GPA of 3.7-3.8) and prioritize schools with less competitive academics if you want to increase your chances of acceptance.

 

[max_wildlife]

just here to offer support - i got in with a 3.4, and had multiple Cs & Ws. a couple of Cs won't mess up your chances, especially with experience to make up for it