If you're reading this, I'm so sorry for the novel but I wanted to give a full, accurate picture. If anyone has any insight or advice I would greatly appreciate it.
So, I'm a late 20s non-traditional student who has been working in human med (pharmacy) for 11 years. Vet med has always been a major passion of mine but I never even considered pursuing it as my career because a 4.0 GPA seemed impossible. 11 years ago I took a semester at a community college #1, hated it and acted like a completely stupid 18yo by failing all 5 classes I was enrolled in. Abandoned ship and began working in pharmacy, which has been incredible and the best thing for me professionally.
9 years ago I enrolled in a different community college #2, took 2 semesters and did ever so slightly better (mostly Cs, a B, but failed Gen Chem 1 and Psychology) but was dismissed because I failed to bring my GPA high enough. Took a long break to focus on work.
3 years ago I decided to give myself one last shot, enrolled in community college #3 where I thrived, earning an associate cum laude with a 3.54 GPA. Transferred to a university to work on my pre-vet bachelors and have thrived here as well (current GPA 3.779).
I applied only to my IS school (tOSU) for c/o 2027 and foolishly thought I had a chance with these stats:
Cumulative GPA 3.12
Science GPA 3.06
Last 45 GPA 3.6 or 3.7?
vet hours: 550 (high quality hands-on experiences, not just shadowing)
animal experience: 14,000 (4H, FFA, very involved in showing horses, worked on farms..)
extracurricular: 20,000 (sports, volunteer, foster care certified, 2x pharmacy certified..)
work experience: 25,000 (pharmacy but also tons of diverse experiences: customer service, waitressing, even worked for a home repair man for a while..)
awards: leadership scholarship, multiple dean's list, titles/awards from showing horses, etc.
Letters: 2 from equine vets at the practice I interned for. 1 was the owner and 1 was an associate. Both offered to write letters for me and have been some of my biggest cheerleaders on this journey
1 from a pharmacy direct manager
1 from pharmacy regional leader
Interview: I thought it went really well, I prepped for 4 weeks ahead of time with an interview coach and had truly genuine but well formed responses
Result: rejected without even a spot on the waitlist
I'm gutted and feeling like an absolute fool thinking I stood a chance against these incredible traditional students with flawless stats. I had hoped my experiences would help me stand out but obviously it didn't. I don't know what to do.
If I retake 1-2 courses from community college #2 over the summer I think I can raise my cumulative GPA from 3.12 to a 3.27 but I've already re-taken these classes at community college #3 and gotten an A and B in them so this would only benefit to raising the GPA from community college #2 and nothing else. For some reason I don't think VMCAS included the 5 Fs from community college #1 into consideration, I'm not sure if I'll get so lucky again if I re-apply. Would a Master's degree be a better option? I don't know how I can trend any higher, in the last 3 years I've had 24 As, 4 Bs, and 3 Cs, nothing else. It just feels impossible to move that cumulative GPA no matter how hard I work or how well I do now.
If I do re-apply, I would apply to more schools (add Michigan, Purdue, UPenn?) and will continue to get more vet experience but do I even stand a chance at all?
So, I'm a late 20s non-traditional student who has been working in human med (pharmacy) for 11 years. Vet med has always been a major passion of mine but I never even considered pursuing it as my career because a 4.0 GPA seemed impossible. 11 years ago I took a semester at a community college #1, hated it and acted like a completely stupid 18yo by failing all 5 classes I was enrolled in. Abandoned ship and began working in pharmacy, which has been incredible and the best thing for me professionally.
9 years ago I enrolled in a different community college #2, took 2 semesters and did ever so slightly better (mostly Cs, a B, but failed Gen Chem 1 and Psychology) but was dismissed because I failed to bring my GPA high enough. Took a long break to focus on work.
3 years ago I decided to give myself one last shot, enrolled in community college #3 where I thrived, earning an associate cum laude with a 3.54 GPA. Transferred to a university to work on my pre-vet bachelors and have thrived here as well (current GPA 3.779).
I applied only to my IS school (tOSU) for c/o 2027 and foolishly thought I had a chance with these stats:
Cumulative GPA 3.12
Science GPA 3.06
Last 45 GPA 3.6 or 3.7?
vet hours: 550 (high quality hands-on experiences, not just shadowing)
animal experience: 14,000 (4H, FFA, very involved in showing horses, worked on farms..)
extracurricular: 20,000 (sports, volunteer, foster care certified, 2x pharmacy certified..)
work experience: 25,000 (pharmacy but also tons of diverse experiences: customer service, waitressing, even worked for a home repair man for a while..)
awards: leadership scholarship, multiple dean's list, titles/awards from showing horses, etc.
Letters: 2 from equine vets at the practice I interned for. 1 was the owner and 1 was an associate. Both offered to write letters for me and have been some of my biggest cheerleaders on this journey
1 from a pharmacy direct manager
1 from pharmacy regional leader
Interview: I thought it went really well, I prepped for 4 weeks ahead of time with an interview coach and had truly genuine but well formed responses
Result: rejected without even a spot on the waitlist
I'm gutted and feeling like an absolute fool thinking I stood a chance against these incredible traditional students with flawless stats. I had hoped my experiences would help me stand out but obviously it didn't. I don't know what to do.
If I retake 1-2 courses from community college #2 over the summer I think I can raise my cumulative GPA from 3.12 to a 3.27 but I've already re-taken these classes at community college #3 and gotten an A and B in them so this would only benefit to raising the GPA from community college #2 and nothing else. For some reason I don't think VMCAS included the 5 Fs from community college #1 into consideration, I'm not sure if I'll get so lucky again if I re-apply. Would a Master's degree be a better option? I don't know how I can trend any higher, in the last 3 years I've had 24 As, 4 Bs, and 3 Cs, nothing else. It just feels impossible to move that cumulative GPA no matter how hard I work or how well I do now.
If I do re-apply, I would apply to more schools (add Michigan, Purdue, UPenn?) and will continue to get more vet experience but do I even stand a chance at all?
Last edited:
