WAMC c/o 2028 (first time app, trad, low diversity vet experience)

[lianguine]

Hi, I'm a 22yo F, MA resident, senior undergrad. This is my first application cycle (to start in 2024). Interested in Tufts (IS, top choice), LIU, OSU, Michigan State, U of Wisconsin, open to others! Not sure abt specialty, but I like the idea of lab animal med, surgery, or SA/exotics GP (all v different lol).

Sorry for the length! (edits: minor clarification changes, science gpa calc)

Cumulative GPA: 3.64 current (3.7 assuming I do well this semester)
Science GPA: 3.45 (my calc, could be off)

Last 45: 3.9

Any degrees achieved: Biology & Biotechnology B.S. (in progress, May 2023)

GRE results: not taking


Veterinary Experience:
~1500 hours intern at GP (they stuck me on reception a lot, but I got to shadow appts and surgery occasionally) only dogs/cats

I have interviews lined up for full-time vet assistant positions at a dog/cat ER, SA/exotic GP, and clinic to start after I graduate. Not sure where I’ll get offers or even which to choose, but this will add ~500 hours by the deadline I think. Plus more hours during gap year.


Animal Experience:
~80 hrs MSPCA shelter volunteer

There is a parrot shelter which I want to volunteer at but it's far so not sure if that will happen.


Research Experience:
~1500 hrs (guess) lab animal care attendant: mice, rat, frog husbandry and health monitoring (research or animal? It’s in a lab setting, but I’m not involved in the studies)

~200 hrs senior research project: mammalian cell culture working on phytoestrogen effects on prostate cancer cells. Not a journal publication, but poster presentation and paper uploaded to our school’s database

~100 hrs student lab assistant: assisted in mice studies at my school’s lab (genotyping, molecular assays, monitoring mouse health)

~70 hrs cell culture lab course: manipulating materials (ex.collagen) to aid in wound healing. Final deliverable is published in a journal as a student manuscript (in progress)


Awards/scholarships:
Deans list a couple times
Presidential scholarship (merit based) all 4 years
Student athlete award senior year of high school


Extracurriculars:
~500 hrs competitive climbing club
~150 hrs D3 varsity rowing team (one semester, not my sport )
~200 hrs exec board Habitat for Humanity club (educating chair, treasurer)
More Habitat hours as a regular member


Employment:
~400 hrs student library help desk assistant
~500 hrs Market Basket cashier in hs (totally making this number up no idea)
Seasonal cashier at Lowe's and Target


eLORS:
SA vet (where I interned), senior project advisor, academic advisor (I was in a few of his bio lab courses), vivarium manager (from animal care attendant job)


Concerns:
Gonna explain that I hit a low mental health point my fresh-soph year which tanked some pre-req grades (lots of Bs & Cs). I'm doing much better mentally/academically now. COVID not the culprit but definitely didn't help.

Also concerned about my lack of variety in vet hours. I've only really done SA. Exotics is awesome but I have 0 experience. Lab animal is cool but I only have animal exp, not vet. If I end up working at the ER (where I live closer to), I'll prob shadow an exotics vet. If I work at the SA/exotics (which I really want), I'll shadow an ER/urgent care. The commute to the clinic is farther than I'd like, so I don't think I wanna take that one. I have no large animal hours either :/

Likely going to apply to 3-4 schools this cycle bc $$$.


Thanks!

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[WildZoo]

With your stats, I would consider schools that either exclusively or more heavily consider last 45 GPA. The list I have for that is Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisiana State, Minnesota, and Michigan State (which looks at last 36). There may be others or things might have changed, so always double check! If you're trying to save money on applications, I would prioritize these. If I had to narrow down even further, based on cost of attendance I'd put Iowa and Kansas ahead of the others. Tufts is still...super expensive even for an IS student, so something to keep in mind. Not sure what their usual stats are for IS student acceptances though!

Ohio is a decent option for cost of attendance purposes (though there are better ones), but they list a 3.6 as competitive for science GPA, so I'd be a little iffy on your chances as an out of state student there. Fine if you wanted to apply to a few cheaper reach schools, but if you're restricted in the number of schools you can apply to, I'd sub in ones where you've got a better shot. I'd drop Wisconsin and LIU personally, not worth the price tag.

If you're able to retake any courses, you could also look at schools that do grade replacement to try to bump up your science GPA. Otherwise not much you can do there, just have to apply smart.

I think your vet experience hours should help you, but agree it'll help more if you've got a bit of diversity in there.

~1500 hrs (guess) lab animal care attendant: mice, rat, frog husbandry and health monitoring (research or animal? It’s in a lab setting, but I’m not involved in the studies)

I would call this animal experience if you weren't involved in the actual research. Veterinary if it was under the supervision of a lab animal vet.

For your eLORs, I would definitely try to get another vet on the list (this goes hand in hand with getting more diverse experience). Is the academic advisor someone you have a pretty close relationship with, vs just a student in a couple classes? It helps if you've TA'd or something like that for instance, so they can write a more detailed, personal letter. You really want letter writers who will go to bat for you.

Hope this helps!

 

[lianguine]

With your stats, I would consider schools that either exclusively or more heavily consider last 45 GPA. The list I have for that is Iowa State, Kansas State, Louisiana State, Minnesota, and Michigan State (which looks at last 36). There may be others or things might have changed, so always double check! If you're trying to save money on applications, I would prioritize these. If I had to narrow down even further, based on cost of attendance I'd put Iowa and Kansas ahead of the others. Tufts is still...super expensive even for an IS student, so something to keep in mind. Not sure what their usual stats are for IS student acceptances though!

Ohio is a decent option for cost of attendance purposes (though there are better ones), but they list a 3.6 as competitive for science GPA, so I'd be a little iffy on your chances as an out of state student there. Fine if you wanted to apply to a few cheaper reach schools, but if you're restricted in the number of schools you can apply to, I'd sub in ones where you've got a better shot. I'd drop Wisconsin and LIU personally, not worth the price tag.

If you're able to retake any courses, you could also look at schools that do grade replacement to try to bump up your science GPA. Otherwise not much you can do there, just have to apply smart.

I think your vet experience hours should help you, but agree it'll help more if you've got a bit of diversity in there.


I would call this animal experience if you weren't involved in the actual research. Veterinary if it was under the supervision of a lab animal vet.

For your eLORs, I would definitely try to get another vet on the list (this goes hand in hand with getting more diverse experience). Is the academic advisor someone you have a pretty close relationship with, vs just a student in a couple classes? It helps if you've TA'd or something like that for instance, so they can write a more detailed, personal letter. You really want letter writers who will go to bat for you.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for the in depth response! Definitely helps put things into perspective. I’d say Tufts is the one school of which I’m okay with the high price for many reasons but mostly bc it’s close to home and family. Most of the other schools I only based on pre-reqs and OOS tuition, not COA or anything else (maybe location). I’ll look more into Iowa and Kansas !

My academic advisor is a good pal lol I’ve had him for classes each year. I do think he’d write a good letter. I think everyone I asked I’ve had a decent relationship with. Im gonna sit down with them so that they can get a full picture of me and my goals etc. I’m hoping my job this summer allows me to get one more vet eLOR.

I know I’m not a super competitive applicant. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I’m still gonna do my best to get in this round!

Thanks again

 

[WildZoo]

Thanks so much for the in depth response! Definitely helps put things into perspective. I’d say Tufts is the one school of which I’m okay with the high price for many reasons but mostly bc it’s close to home and family. Most of the other schools I only based on pre-reqs and OOS tuition, not COA or anything else (maybe location). I’ll look more into Iowa and Kansas !

My academic advisor is a good pal lol I’ve had him for classes each year. I do think he’d write a good letter. I think everyone I asked I’ve had a decent relationship with. Im gonna sit down with them so that they can get a full picture of me and my goals etc. I’m hoping my job this summer allows me to get one more vet eLOR.

I know I’m not a super competitive applicant. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but I’m still gonna do my best to get in this round!

Thanks again

You're welcome and good luck!

 

[puppydogtor]

Just wanted to chime in that while all applicants are different, I had very similar stats to you and got in my first time applying. The schools I didn't get in to told me my weakest point was my vet experience. I worked with GPs, sports medicine specialists, and a board certified surgeon but saw mainly SA with occasional rabbits, pocket pets, snakes, and chickens. I had zero LA or horse experience. My top choice was Midwestern (also a more expensive school like Tufts) but I was planning to follow the advice of "go to the cheapest school." I also don't have an IS school.
I got accepted to two schools (Midwestern and Western). I thought about reapplying to get into a cheaper school, but I really love Midwestern. A vet I worked with told me I might as well go since I got in and that I would be "making more money sooner" with a vet salary a year earlier than if I spent another year reapplying and working as a tech. If you do choose to go to a more expensive school, it will help you out a lot if you stick to a budget and apply to scholarships to minimize your debt. Also talk to upperclassmen about housing recommendations - Midwestern has on campus apartments that are really nice and half the rent of most places that I wish I knew about before my first year. Federal Work study is also a great way to gain some vet experience and earn some extra cash. I will be graduating with more debt than most vet students, so I'm really trying to limit spending in any way I can. If I had gotten into a cheaper school, I would've 100% gone that route.

 

[RockClimberMed]

Helps if youve climbed 5.14 and V12. rest of app looks good!

 

[lianguine]

Just wanted to chime in that while all applicants are different, I had very similar stats to you and got in my first time applying. The schools I didn't get in to told me my weakest point was my vet experience. I worked with GPs, sports medicine specialists, and a board certified surgeon but saw mainly SA with occasional rabbits, pocket pets, snakes, and chickens. I had zero LA or horse experience. My top choice was Midwestern (also a more expensive school like Tufts) but I was planning to follow the advice of "go to the cheapest school." I also don't have an IS school.
I got accepted to two schools (Midwestern and Western). I thought about reapplying to get into a cheaper school, but I really love Midwestern. A vet I worked with told me I might as well go since I got in and that I would be "making more money sooner" with a vet salary a year earlier than if I spent another year reapplying and working as a tech. If you do choose to go to a more expensive school, it will help you out a lot if you stick to a budget and apply to scholarships to minimize your debt. Also talk to upperclassmen about housing recommendations - Midwestern has on campus apartments that are really nice and half the rent of most places that I wish I knew about before my first year. Federal Work study is also a great way to gain some vet experience and earn some extra cash. I will be graduating with more debt than most vet students, so I'm really trying to limit spending in any way I can. If I had gotten into a cheaper school, I would've 100% gone that route.

That's awesome to hear about getting in and liking it there!! I'm hoping to squeeze in some diverse experience before the app so I don't look too one sided (also obviously to learn more about other sides of vet med lol). Just curious, what made you choose Midwestern over Western?

 

[puppydogtor]

Just curious, what made you choose Midwestern over Western?

A lot of things that are specific to my own situation, tbh. I have a scholarship for Midwestern, my sister and cousins live within 30 min of the school, and I love the area since I only have to drive 10-20 min to find nice places to hike/bike/climb. Cost of living is cheaper here and the area is much safer than Pomona. Can't speak much about Western's program, but for me Midwestern's hands on experiences have been great, I like all of my professors so far, and I like how prepared Midwestern grads feel going into practice post graduation. I'm also very into shelter med, so working on our mobile clinic for TNRs and community outreach is awesome. And if you foster through a specific organization, you get to assist in all of the medical care for your fosters. First years can do neuters at TNRs and for foster pets, too.

 

[abbielovescats]

I second everyone else is saying!
Id say that my science gpa was quite low at maybe a 3.2 at the highest and my cumulative gpa was 3.48 with a good upward trend. I got into tOSU last year and am a first year now.
Definitely don’t count out schools based on stats alone. tOSU counts interviews very heavily, I think people were saying over half of the score is interview.
Essays are also really important and how you write them too.
Defintely look at stats still like I would not have applied to Colorado or a school like that but still keep options open and do your research!

 

[ButterflyEffectt]

Have you thought about Penn at all? I know it can be expensive, but with your interest in lab animal it might be cool to look into! They also have a pretty holistic process overall.

 

[lianguine]

Have you thought about Penn at all? I know it can be expensive, but with your interest in lab animal it might be cool to look into! They also have a pretty holistic process overall.

I was thinking about it! I've been talking to a current Penn student who also is interested in lab animal, so I've gotten to know a little more about the program. I think I might try to apply to a few more schools than I thought originally. Thanks!