WAMC c/o 2029; Low GPA; Traditional; Student Athlete

[futuredogtorlegs]

Hello all
Any advice on how to improve my application would be greatly appreciated. Also seeking advice on other colleges to add to list or remove.

21, F, GA, Traditional, First time applicant.

Applying to: Georgia (In-state), VMCVM, Tuskegee, Florida, LMU, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, MS State

Cumulative GPA: 3.2
science GPA: 3.0
last 45: 3.3

Any degrees achieved: B.S. Biology; Spring 2025

Veterinary Experience:
- Vet Hours - Small Animal Hospital - 480
- Vet Hours- Small Animal Wellness Center - 640
- Vet Hours - Large Animal Vet Clinic Community Event Zanzibar- 4 hours
- Vet Hours - Zoo Animal Internship - 40 hours

Animal Experience:
- None

Research Experience:
- Bird Behavior - 40 hours
- Conservation in Biology Research in Hawaii - 80 hours

Awards/scholarships:
-HS Volleyball MVP - 4 years
- All region award vollleyball - 2 years
- Student athlete of the month - 3 years
- HS Social studies student of the year
- Endowed sports scholarship (college)
- Service league scholarship (HS)
- MLK scholarship (HS)

Extracurriculars:
- NCAA Volleyball Player - 3120 hours
- High School Volleyball Player - 900 hours
- Club Volleyball Player - 1200 hours
- Sorority President - 40 hours
- Sorority Vice President - 520 hours
- Sorority Membership Chairman - 160 hours
- Sorority Historian - 50 hours
- APVMA member - 10 hours

Employment (non-veterinary):
- Resident Assistant - 640 hours
- Crew Member - Dairy Queen - 1200 hours

LORs:
- DVM: pet wellness clinic
- Graduate advisor - sorority
- Supervisor : pet wellness clinic
- Professor: Biology (PhD)

Volunteer
- boys volleyball coach HS - 40 hours
- community feed the hungry events - 8 hours
- volleyball youth day/pet adoption drive - 8 hours
- various sorority volunteer events (clothing donation to women’s shelter, making blankets for women’s shelter, school supply drive, dress making for kids in Africa) - 40 hours

Essay Questions/Personal Statement:
I talked about lack of diversity in vet med field and how first vet shadow experience with a minority influenced my dream to become a vet. I also talked about low GPA in college vs HS and how my extracurricular activities contributed to my growth as a person, but took away time from studies.

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[Georgethecat]

First off, bust your butt to get your final semesters of grades as high as possible just in case this cycle doesn't garner an acceptance. that will boost your last 45 gpa. UGA uses its pre-req requirements as opposed to overall science for the science gpa.

I'd drop LSU since they are very heavy gpa focused.

For your personal statement, I'd focus more on the changes you've made to your study strategies and how that is paying off for you. Vet schools are going to want to know how you will be able to handle the academic load of vet school, which is so much more intense than undergrad. There are a lot of positives that you can point out that you've learned from being an athlete and having leadership positions in your sorority.

Best of luck!

 

[battie]

Id consider not using your personal statement to address your lower grades, but use the explanation statement instead. The personal statement is supposed to be about your drive to be a veterinarian.

 

[futuredogtorlegs]

Id consider not using your personal statement to address your lower grades, but use the explanation statement instead. The personal statement is supposed to be about your drive to be a veterinarian.

Thank you for your reply. I planned to use explanation statement to talk in detail about my daily schedule in undergrad and how I look forward to using that extra time in vet school to focus on my studies. I want to walk through a typical day now (10-14 hour days, 3 science labs/wk, 18-19 credit hours/semester; out of town travel during season, 15 hours of practice/lifting each week, RA duties; work, 3 hr sorority meetings/month) and how my typical day in vet school will be a piece of cake compared to my undergrad schedule. I also planned to share how I opted to push core classes to my senior year to complete pre-reqs; requiring me to take multiple difficult classes in one semester and this may have not been the best strategy given my extracurricular schedule. I also want to highlight how attending a small liberal arts institution with many science classes offered once every year or two limited my schedule options. I plan to also discuss a recent vet school tour and how my conversation with the tour guide (a current vet student) eased my doubts about my ability to succeed in vet school. She was a former student athlete and I asked her about how she transitioned to vet school from playing a sport for the past 10 years to ending that phase and her response was “free time”. She shared that vet school is a piece of cake compared to the life of a undergrad student athlete and it made me think about how hectic my life currently is and how that will change drastically . Do you think this is a good approach? Anything I should add or remove?

 

[futuredogtorlegs]

First off, bust your butt to get your final semesters of grades as high as possible just in case this cycle doesn't garner an acceptance. that will boost your last 45 gpa. UGA uses its pre-req requirements as opposed to overall science for the science gpa.

I'd drop LSU since they are very heavy gpa focused.

For your personal statement, I'd focus more on the changes you've made to your study strategies and how that is paying off for you. Vet schools are going to want to know how you will be able to handle the academic load of vet school, which is so much more intense than undergrad. There are a lot of positives that you can point out that you've learned from being an athlete and having leadership positions in your sorority.

Best of luck!

Thank you for the advice. I will add more about study strategies and how I look forward to using my extra free time in vet school to enhance my study skills. Based on my vet school tours and conversations with current vet students, there is a lot of time spent with classmates and studying together. I work better in study groups but don’t have the time to do it as much as I would like with my current schedule.

 

[supershorty]

want to walk through a typical day now (10-14 hour days, 3 science labs/wk, 18-19 credit hours/semester; out of town travel during season, 15 hours of practice/lifting each week, RA duties; work, 3 hr sorority meetings/month) and how my typical day in vet school will be a piece of cake compared to my undergrad schedule

I strongly advise both that you not do this and that you not assume anything about how easy or difficult vet school will be.

You need to reframe how you’re presenting yourself. Right now, it reads like you’re using your other commitments as excuses for weak grades. But lots of people do sports and have jobs during undergrad and have stronger grades. As an application reviewer, that would be a red flag to me that you don’t have the time management skills to be successful in a rigorous professional program.

Instead, find a way to discuss your strengths and what you’ve learned from your previous struggles with balancing everything - and demonstrate that you actually can balance things and be successful. You need to bust your behind and get outstanding grades for whatever you have left in school. Don’t let yourself keep using athletics and other tasks as an excuse. And don’t write anything in your explanation statement about how you think vet school will be easier - you don’t know that, and reading that would concern me that you don’t truly have those strategies for success figured out, but rather are assuming things. It would make me concerned that you would just continue to struggle and may not be successful in the program.

Sorry if that seemed blunt, but that’s my perspective on it both as someone who helps with the admissions process and as a former pro athlete during undergrad. Your athletics can be a really great plus. Don’t let them be an excuse for a poor performance.

Work hard and study smart. You can do this!

 

[battie]

Do you think this is a good approach? Anything I should add or remove?

I don't think presenting vet school as easier than undergrad is a good idea because this statement:

my typical day in vet school will be a piece of cake compared to my undergrad schedule.

is an unknown. Vet school is an extremely individual experience. We had a similar schedule in undergrad, except my 15-20 hours a week was a job rather than athletics. I failed out of vet school at the end of first year and had to repeat. I felt 4th year was our easiest year (as the person bottom of the class), when some of our top 20 students really struggled. So it's completely impossible for you to make that statement.

 

[JaynaAli]

I agree with shorty and bats 100%. I would reconsider your approach to the essays.

 

[futuredogtorlegs]

I strongly advise both that you not do this and that you not assume anything about how easy or difficult vet school will be.

You need to reframe how you’re presenting yourself. Right now, it reads like you’re using your other commitments as excuses for weak grades. But lots of people do sports and have jobs during undergrad and have stronger grades. As an application reviewer, that would be a red flag to me that you don’t have the time management skills to be successful in a rigorous professional program.

Instead, find a way to discuss your strengths and what you’ve learned from your previous struggles with balancing everything - and demonstrate that you actually can balance things and be successful. You need to bust your behind and get outstanding grades for whatever you have left in school. Don’t let yourself keep using athletics and other tasks as an excuse. And don’t write anything in your explanation statement about how you think vet school will be easier - you don’t know that, and reading that would concern me that you don’t truly have those strategies for success figured out, but rather are assuming things. It would make me concerned that you would just continue to struggle and may not be successful in the program.

Sorry if that seemed blunt, but that’s my perspective on it both as someone who helps with the admissions process and as a former pro athlete during undergrad. Your athletics can be a really great plus. Don’t let them be an excuse for a poor performance.

Work hard and study smart. You can do this!

Thank you for the feedback. Apologies, I think I may have oversimplified my point by saying “piece of cake”. I did not plan to say this outright. My explanation statement focuses on my study habits and how they have evolved while juggling my daily schedule. It talks about participation in study groups as an area where I thrive the most, but how my schedule rarely allows this. It then focuses on the study habits I have adopted given the lack of time. It also talks about having to take quizzes, do assignments or study on charter bus trips vs a quiet environment because that sometimes is my reality. It’s not due to lack of time-management, it’s because I can’t control when a professor decides to open/close a quiz/assignment. Also, having to focus on preparation for tests after having very mentally and physically exhausting days. It focuses on how I believe these challenges along with time management as a student athlete has prepared me for the rigors of vet school. My main point is that this was not evident to me until speaking to a current vet student who was a former athlete. I never took time to evaluate how much of a better student I could be when I have the opportunity to only focus on being a student as I have been an student athlete for the past 10 years. Therefore, my current GPA is not a true reflection of my capabilities in vet school. My personal statement already touches on my extracurricular activities and how each has contributed to me being a better vet.

 

[genny]

Therefore, my current GPA is not a true reflection of my capabilities in vet school.

So I'm going to add my two cents and repeat what everyone else has said: this isn't something you should say in an application essay. Vet school is its own set of challenges. You haven't taken a single vet school class yet, so there's no way you can know that your vet school GPA is going to be higher than your undergrad GPA. What you can say is that you've learned how to balance being a student athlete with the demands of your classes, but you have to back up this claim with kickass grades. If it's still more mediocre grades, no one is going to believe that you can balance vet school classes with outside needs, and your essay comes off as either cocky or naive.

 

[battie]

My explanation statement focuses on my study habits and how they have evolved while juggling my daily schedule.

My personal statement already touches on my extracurricular activities and how each has contributed to me being a better vet.

Make sure you're actually answering the question of the personal statement prompt. The prompt this year, "Why do you want to pursue a career in veterinary medicine?"

Does your study habits and extracurricular activities answer that question?

 

[thenontraveler]

I think an explanation statement should be used to describe very extenuating circumstances, not to be used to give excuses for why you got B average grades. Like others have pointed out, plenty of people have done college level sports and gotten amazing grades, so that alone is not really enough to prove you can handle vet school regardless. It's probably better to not use the explanation statement at all than to use it like this? Maybe others can weigh in on that since I am not in vet school yet, but so far, you statement does not inspire confidence that you will be able to handle a professional level course. I have sat on several interviews committees for jobs and I would not be inspired to pick someone who doesn't take ownership for their actions and show how they have worked towards being better at something they say they struggle with. It's okay to have had struggles, but if you don't have the data to back up the claim you are doing better, maybe pick a different struggle to speak about or don't mention it at all.