WAMC - first time applicant, high GPA, moderate experience

[maryjbrn]

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Hi! I’m a first time applicant applying this cycle, 21F NC resident, transfer student at NCSU undergrad in animal science major, applying to NCSU, and unsure what other schools to apply to! I’m not sure how competitive I am because my veterinary hours are not super diverse - let me know if you have any advice on schools or additional experiences!

Expected:
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
science GPA: 4.0
Last 45: 4.0

Veterinary Experience (current): ~3800hrs
- 3700 hours - Veterinary Assistant at Small Animal/Integrative Medicine hospital
- 100 hours - Shadowing canine Spays/Neuters and some soft tissue/ortho surgeries at a dog rescue

Animal Experience: ~
- 300 hours - Volunteer at dog rescue in puppy care mainly, some outreach events
- 100 hours - Volunteer as equine assistant at horse riding therapy center
- 50 hours - Volunteer in raptor care (owls, raven, hawks) at wildlife center
- 400 hours - Petsitting (dogs/cats)

Research Experience:
Participating in retrospective research project in turtle medicine with a veterinary student this semester/summer - possibility to be published as co-author in future

Awards/scholarships:
- Deans list - all semesters

Extracurriculars:
- Companion Animal Science Club
- WRNC Attendee
- Welding Certificate

Employment:
- Cashier at grocery store (~2000 hours)

I am planning to get LORs from two vets I work with at my current practice that know how I work and my organic chemistry professor, and hope to explain my low diversity in hours in the explanation section with working as much as possible/full time to pay for undergrad debt free. I’m also hoping to either be accepted to a wildlife internship this summer or shadow large animal. As of right now, I’m most interested in small animal medicine first and exotics/wildlife second.

 

[pp9]

I think you have great chances, just make sure your written components and interview skills are still really excellent.

With those academic stats, personally I would apply to all of the schools that allow for residency change after 1st year (Washington, UC Davis, Ohio, and Mizzou) in addition to your IS.

 

[CeeGee14]

I think you have great chances, just make sure your written components and interview skills are still really excellent.

With those academic stats, personally I would apply to all of the schools that allow for residency change after 1st year (Washington, UC Davis, Ohio, and Mizzou) in addition to your IS.

Just a word about Ohio State since I literally just found this out a few days ago. OSU charges you the entire OOS premium your 1st year-over $46k in extra tuition alone-so becoming IS your 2nd year for tuition purposes isn’t going to do you much good money-wise.

 

[pp9]

Just a word about Ohio State since I literally just found this out a few days ago. OSU charges you the entire OOS premium your 1st year-over $46k in extra tuition alone-so becoming IS your 2nd year for tuition purposes isn’t going to do you much good money-wise.

This is still better than being OOS all four years at another school . I guess I assumed this is how all five schools did it, but I've never actually looked into it all that hard

 

[catsandsnakes]

Just a word about Ohio State since I literally just found this out a few days ago. OSU charges you the entire OOS premium your 1st year-over $46k in extra tuition alone-so becoming IS your 2nd year for tuition purposes isn’t going to do you much good money-wise.

I think that most schools that give you IS tuition after 1st year do things this way, though? I briefly checked WSU's website as an example to compare and they charge an additional 37k if you're an OOS 1st year.

Even with the extra 46k, tOSU was my cheapest option by a lot when I was deciding between UIUC, UMN, and LSU. I'd still highly recommend applying there as an OOS, especially since some students get recruitment scholarships their first year to reduce that upfront 1st year cost.

 

[CeeGee14]

This is still better than being OOS all four years at another school . I guess I assumed this is how all five schools did it, but I've never actually looked into it all that hard

I get what you mean. It would be cheaper in the long run compared to some OOS tuition rates.

U.C Davis charged me $12k for OOS tuition, so not all schools that let you become IS charges you the entire premium.

 

[pp9]

I get what you mean. It would be cheaper in the long run compared to some OOS tuition rates.

U.C Davis charged me $12k for OOS tuition, so not all schools that let you become IS charges you the entire premium.

$12k *is* the yearly OOS premium for UC Davis...right?

2025-26_Vet_Med.pdf | Powered by Box actually kind of surprised, that seams 'cheap' for an OOS upcharge. Sorry to derail this thread lol.

 

[CeeGee14]

$12k *is* the yearly OOS premium for UC Davis...right?

2025-26_Vet_Med.pdf | Powered by Box actually kind of surprised, that seams 'cheap' for an OOS upcharge. Sorry to derail this thread lol.

Yeah. After looking at some other OOS tuition, $12k is on the cheaper side.

Anyway, sorry to go off on a tangent. Maryjbrn, apply to all the schools that let you become IS after your first year. You’ll save so much money that way.

 

[JaynaAli]

I’m gonna disagree with the crowd a little tiny bit, with stats like that I’d potentially just apply to your IS and not apply OOS until you have to with the loan situations. Take advantage of your IS being one if the cheapest and do everything you can to get in there. Sure you may not get in to your IS on the first attempt so you might have to apply again, but don’t apply OOS if you don’t want to go OOS. You can always apply to those OOS places in subsequent years if you had to.

 

[maryjbrn]

I’m gonna disagree with the crowd a little tiny bit, with stats like that I’d potentially just apply to your IS and not apply OOS until you have to with the loan situations. Take advantage of your IS being one if the cheapest and do everything you can to get in there. Sure you may not get in to your IS on the first attempt so you might have to apply again, but don’t apply OOS if you don’t want to go OOS. You can always apply to those OOS places in subsequent years if you had to.

Do you think I’d be competitive enough to apply OOS and get in? I would be willing to go OOS especially if I can get IS tuition after the first year, but I’d ideally like to try and get in *somewhere* on my first cycle if possible. Like you said, it’s not a given that I get into my IS, especially since so many NCSU undergraduate students apply, and I’ve been told by a couple CVM students that they only take a certain amount from the undergrad program (could be wrong, but). I’m hoping to start after graduation, and if I only apply to my IS, maybe I’m not casting my net wide enough?

 

[Zenacube]

Hi! First of all I think your stats are amazing. I had a slightly lower GPA and way less vet/animal hours than yours and still somehow got into Illinois and Minnesota as an out of state applicant this cycle. If you can paint the best possible picture of who you are in your application and interview well, I'd say your chances are very good!