Hello! I've been stalking this thread for about two years now, but it's coming time for me to apply and I'm starting to get very nervous. Curious about what everyone things.
20 y/o M, traditional, NC resident. Double major in animal science and chemistry.
My primary interests are small animal.
Overall GPA: 3.5
Last 45: 3.8
Science GPA: 3.6
Veterinary experience:
-3100 hours as an assistant at a SA GP
-55 hours as an assistant at a SA ER (opportunity halted due to COVID, I had to quit due to family concerns)
-20 hours as an assistant at a SA spay and neuter clinic (currently involved with this, estimated 100 hours at time of application submission)
Animal experience:
- 1080 hours fostering cats through two different rescue organizations
- 20 hours at a large animal internship focused on rescue work and husbandry (opportunity halted due to COVID, same situation as the ER)
- 150 hours of dog training and sports (I compete with my own dog in dock diving, trained her to earn her canine good citizen, etc)
- 20 hours of large animal experience through a reproductive physiology class
- 20 hours of large animal experience through an animal nutrition lab
- 30 hours of large animal experience through a small ruminant management lab
- 30 hours of pet sitting
- 50 hours of exotic animals fostering
Research:
- 850 hours with one lab in college, currently employed by them, worked directly with live mice for the majority of this. 4 abstracts (1 first author, 3 third) and 1 poster presentation. Hours will be 1250-1500 by the time of application.
- 44 hours helping with a swine feed trial study, worked directly with pigs
- 75 hours on a research proposal relating to studying harm reduction methods in a European country
- 35 hours on an inorganic chemistry project on oscillating reactions (opportunity halted due to COVID, it was through a class I was taking in high school and the school want fully online)
- 35 hours on a toxicology research study (through a class I took in high school)
Employment
- 470 hours working at Starbucks
Other things (extracurriculars, awards, honors):
- 192 hours, studied abroad in the Czech Republic
- Member of my school's PVMA, 40 hours
- Attended the AFA conference, 20 hours
- Crisis Text Line volunteer, 60 hours
- TA for physiology class, 76 hours
- Intern for my school's pre-vet advising center, helped with arranging networking events, peer mentoring, etc
- Black belt in karate (high school)
- SHRC vice president (service learning and advocacy club in high school)
- Volunteer at a local people hospital (high school)
- Fear free shelter certification
- Dean's list for every semester of college
- Member of my university's honor program, have to do a research capstone for this
-Scholarship to study abroad
- Service learning diploma, national honors society, AP scholar with honors (high school)
eLORs: SA vet, animal science professor who I've interned and taken classes with, PI on my current research experience, technician I worked with for swine feed trials
Essays: I'm planning to write my personal statement on growing up with medical fragile animals and witnessing my first euthanasia at 10, how my perspective developed when I worked at a vet and then how it changed in research. I'm also planning to utilize the other circumstances essay to talk about my involvement in a lawsuit relating to LGBT rights in my state (I want to frame it as my ability to stand up for what is right, advocate for others who may not be able to speak up, etc).
My school list right now in NCSU, Texas A&M, WSU, OSU, Iowa, Illinois, but I'm not solid on this (and am looking for suggestions).
I'm aiming to shadow a LA vet this summer (200 hours hopefully) and gain some more SA veterinary experience.
I'm mostly worried about my GPA, but also that my experiences aren't enough/varied enough. Any advice is welcome!!
20 y/o M, traditional, NC resident. Double major in animal science and chemistry.
My primary interests are small animal.
Overall GPA: 3.5
Last 45: 3.8
Science GPA: 3.6
Veterinary experience:
-3100 hours as an assistant at a SA GP
-55 hours as an assistant at a SA ER (opportunity halted due to COVID, I had to quit due to family concerns)
-20 hours as an assistant at a SA spay and neuter clinic (currently involved with this, estimated 100 hours at time of application submission)
Animal experience:
- 1080 hours fostering cats through two different rescue organizations
- 20 hours at a large animal internship focused on rescue work and husbandry (opportunity halted due to COVID, same situation as the ER)
- 150 hours of dog training and sports (I compete with my own dog in dock diving, trained her to earn her canine good citizen, etc)
- 20 hours of large animal experience through a reproductive physiology class
- 20 hours of large animal experience through an animal nutrition lab
- 30 hours of large animal experience through a small ruminant management lab
- 30 hours of pet sitting
- 50 hours of exotic animals fostering
Research:
- 850 hours with one lab in college, currently employed by them, worked directly with live mice for the majority of this. 4 abstracts (1 first author, 3 third) and 1 poster presentation. Hours will be 1250-1500 by the time of application.
- 44 hours helping with a swine feed trial study, worked directly with pigs
- 75 hours on a research proposal relating to studying harm reduction methods in a European country
- 35 hours on an inorganic chemistry project on oscillating reactions (opportunity halted due to COVID, it was through a class I was taking in high school and the school want fully online)
- 35 hours on a toxicology research study (through a class I took in high school)
Employment
- 470 hours working at Starbucks
Other things (extracurriculars, awards, honors):
- 192 hours, studied abroad in the Czech Republic
- Member of my school's PVMA, 40 hours
- Attended the AFA conference, 20 hours
- Crisis Text Line volunteer, 60 hours
- TA for physiology class, 76 hours
- Intern for my school's pre-vet advising center, helped with arranging networking events, peer mentoring, etc
- Black belt in karate (high school)
- SHRC vice president (service learning and advocacy club in high school)
- Volunteer at a local people hospital (high school)
- Fear free shelter certification
- Dean's list for every semester of college
- Member of my university's honor program, have to do a research capstone for this
-Scholarship to study abroad
- Service learning diploma, national honors society, AP scholar with honors (high school)
eLORs: SA vet, animal science professor who I've interned and taken classes with, PI on my current research experience, technician I worked with for swine feed trials
Essays: I'm planning to write my personal statement on growing up with medical fragile animals and witnessing my first euthanasia at 10, how my perspective developed when I worked at a vet and then how it changed in research. I'm also planning to utilize the other circumstances essay to talk about my involvement in a lawsuit relating to LGBT rights in my state (I want to frame it as my ability to stand up for what is right, advocate for others who may not be able to speak up, etc).
My school list right now in NCSU, Texas A&M, WSU, OSU, Iowa, Illinois, but I'm not solid on this (and am looking for suggestions).
I'm aiming to shadow a LA vet this summer (200 hours hopefully) and gain some more SA veterinary experience.
I'm mostly worried about my GPA, but also that my experiences aren't enough/varied enough. Any advice is welcome!!
