WAMC c/o 2027

[JimmyJackson]

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21 M Texas traditional student. Only applying to the two Texas schools (TAMU and Tech). Really want to get in this cycle and not have to take a gap year but kind of worried I'll have to. Appreciate any feedback!

Cumulative GPA: 4.0
science GPA: 4.0
last 45: 4.0

Any degrees achieved: Will be getting my BS in Biology in May

GRE results: Didn't take

Veterinary Experience:
- Shadowing at two separate small animal (dog/cat) clinics for 250 hours total
- Got a job just two months ago as a veterinary assistant at one of the clinics I shadowed at. About 200 hours so far but will be more like 1000 at least by next summer.
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Animal Experience:
- Volunteering at two separate animal shelters (dog/cat) for about 400 hours total. The first shelter I went to had horses and livestock too but COVID hit right as I was going to get trained and the shelter permanently closed afterwards. So now I have literally no large animal experience
- Serving as a conservation ambassador at my local zoo. Not sure if this counts because I don't get to handle the animals. Basically I learn about them (physical characteristics, behavior, etc) and then educated guests about them. 70 hours
- Have owned and bred cockatiels my whole life

Research Experience: None 🙁 My university is so pre-med focused, not a single one of the professors' research activities interested me as they were all focused on some aspect of human medicine.

Awards/scholarships:
- Full ride to my university + stipend
- Dean's list every semester
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Extracurriculars:
- Various sports (soccer, basketball, cross country). Played intramural soccer at my university and also various other adult soccer leagues in my city.
- Orchestra all through high school (violin)
- Astronomy. Not involved in any clubs or organized activities though, I just have a big telescope and like looking for deep space objects as a hobby
- NHS member and public library volunteer in high school.


Employment:
- Soccer referee in high school and beginning of college until COVID. Will probably mention this job a lot in my personal essay because it was a really tough job and taught me a lot of lessons about having thick skin and making quick/decisive decisions. Not sure if it makes a good essay topic but its all I can think to write of. 1000 hours
- Bartender for a year after Covid 1000 hours
- Vet assistant currently as I mentioned above

LORS:
- One of the vets I currently work for
- Biochem professor who I will TA for in the Spring
- Bartender manager who really liked me

So basically my main concern is that I'm really lacking on hours, which I think may be a red flag especially since I only have dog/cat hours. I also don't have any research hours, all I have is the good GPA which I had to no-life to get these past three years. I included in my planned activities section that I want to shadow at equine and exotic clinics this coming Spring when I'll only be taking 6 credit hours.

 

[WonderingStudent]

As you mentioned, the biggest thing I see is the diversity of veterinary experiences. It's not impossible to get accepted with only small animal GP hours though. There's not really anything to do for this cycle but would still be beneficial for your own learning to get some shadowing with a large animal vet or at a specialty small animal hospital or a mixed animal hospital. Additionally, if you do need to reapply you will be in a better place than last cycle. Good advice that I've seen on here is to just assume you are not accepted until you get decisions so that you are in the mindset to continue improving your application/gaining more awesome experiences and even if you are accepted you have so many more experiences going into vet school. It's totally up to you if a gap year would make sense for you. I have a lot of friends including myself that took gap year(s) and we all are extremely glad that we did so. It was a good break from school (because vet school is a lot) and a good way to see what vetmed is like working full time - not just a simple summer job or shadowing. Everyone is different. I know someone who took a gap year vs her sibling went directly into grad school and for each of them that was what was right for themselves.