WAMC c/o 2028 hopeful

[spaniel11]

I’m applying for the class of 2028 and would love advice on things I could do this semester/summer to improve my application in the months before submission, as well as which schools may be a good fit for me.

19 y/o female, first time applicant, IL resident. Animal science major
Plan on applying to Illinois for sure. Not 100% sure on which other schools but I would like to stay in the midwest area.

Cumulative GPA: 3.87
science GPA: 3.72*
last 45: 3.68*
*This semester will change these

Any degrees achieved
AA in Liberal Arts, BS in Animal Science in 2024
Veterinary Experience:
-Shadowing at 3 different SA GP clinics, around 30-50 hrs each.
- volunteering at a wildlife clinic- 500 hrs
- vet assistant at a small animal GP- current, estimated I’ll be at ~700 hrs at the time of submission
- shelter medicine study abroad trip- 40 hours
-shadowing an equine vet- 20 hrs

Animal Experience:
- Kennel technician- ~400 hrs
- Humane society volunteer- ~200 hrs, involved with this from 8th-11th but still feel I should add the experience
- farm hand: sheep, pigs, horses- 100 hrs
- assisting training service dogs- estimate ~150 hrs at time of submission

Research Experience:

• ~150 hrs working under grad students in an animal nutrition laboratory
  • Possibly presenting this research at the end of the year

Awards/scholarships:

- a couple scholarships
- in my college’s honors program
- summa cum laude when graduating with my associates
-dean's list a couple semesters

Extracurriculars:
- Pre-vet club, pretty involved in this
- Volunteer organization on campus, hold position this year
- ambassador for my college

Employment: no non-animal employment

Summarize any concerns you have
I feel I am lacking with non-vet med activities and wonder if I should make it a goal to pick some up this semester/summer. Whether that be through clubs or another means. Other than that I feel like just an average applicant and wondered if there was anything I could do to make my application stand out. I appreciate the advice

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[flotus]

Your GPAs look above average and I think that will carry you far. Your veterinary experience is diverse, but compared to many applicants it is on the lower side. Maybe, you could work on adding some more large animal experience but I don’t think it would be absolutely necessary - I could see some schools using that as a “this is why you didn’t get in this cycle” kind of thing. Sometimes, they have to make really hard decisions and something as small as lacking in one area could be detrimental.

There are a few other things I immediately notice. As you mentioned, there’s no non-animal employment. You absolutely need more of this! This will serve you and prove to admissions that you have some “life” experience, and you can pick up some valuable skills and apply them to veterinary medicine.

My other concern, I see almost no involvement in any extracurriculars. The pre vet club is unfortunately negligible, almost every student applying is apart of the pre vet club. You need to pick up a hobby! Getting involved in a club you care about. I also recommend MORE volunteer activities, I’m not sure how much the committees value volunteerism - but I know that I would absolutely consider it heavily but my opinion isn’t worth much so take that with a grain of salt. Still, community involvement is HUGE.

Having any research is a good thing so congrats on that!

If you keep your grades up, broaden your horizons, AND write a kick*ss personal statement, I don’t see why you wouldn’t have a great chance.

 

[WildZoo]

Flotus gave you some good advice so I won't be redundant, but if you wanted to apply to other schools in the region besides Illinois, I'd look at Missouri and Purdue. Any others in the area are going to be in the realm of 100k more than Illinois in cost of attendance, so I wouldn't recommend them for you.

Do your best to get As in your remaining classes so you can bring that science and last 45 GPA up, schools like to see that you're doing well in the upper level pre-reqs.