WAMC First Time Applicant- Non-Traditional- Low GPA

[vetnurse99]

Hi Everyone! I am a first time applicant and I just wanted to gauge if I should keep my hopes up or not. I feel like I am holding my breath and really hoping I can get into vet school this cycle but I am also very aware that could potentially not happen. I am a 25 year old Hispanic male and have taken about 3 years of a gap to work as a credentialed veterinary technician. I am an ER hospital shift lead currently and have tons of experience in GP, exotics/wildlife, Internal Medicine, Surgery, Anesthesia (I also teach critical care anesthesia in my current hospital), ECC/ICU, and shelter medicine.
I graduated with a bachelors in Veterinary Technology in 2022 but have been in vet med since summer of 2018. I feel like the only things that make me slightly "competitive" are my experience hours and roles. My GPA is mostly low because I failed 2 sociology classes in my freshman year and got a D the first time I took Orgo. Other than that I had an upward trend after Sophomore year and maintained an A and B average and got deans list my last 3 semesters of undergrad. I was also a TA for SA Surgery and Anesthesia my senior year.

Schools I am planning on applying to: Iowa state, Colorado State, Long Island, Ross, St. Georges, and RVC

I was able to get exceptional letters of rec from the professor I TA'd for, my current hospital manager, 3 ER doctors, and a VTS in anesthesia/analgesia.

Any and all advice is welcome! The only thing I am not really considering is getting a masters degree to apply to vet school, it just seems like more debt to pile on to the vet school debt (which I am okay with but the least amount of debt I can get I will take lol!)

Cumulative GPA: 3.05
science GPA: 3.3
last 45: 3.35

B.S. in Veterinary Technology

Veterinary Experience:
~7600 hours across all specialties I have worked in including my time as a Veterinary Assistant and a CVT in my state.
~5700 hours in ER/Specialty hospitals as a CVT rotating between ER, Internal Medicine, and surgery/anesthesia
~600 hours as a lead veterinary assistant at a GP
~800 hours in shelter med providing low cost vet care to low income communities on a mobile veterinary clinic
~500 hours interning at multiple hospitals/clinics for my graduation requirements

Animal Experience:
340 Hours as a Kennel Manager for a local university
300 Hours as a dog walker for Wag!
240 Hours working at my local aquarium maintaining husbandry of tide pool animals including horseshoe crabs, spider crabs, starfish, lobster, moon snails, and others

Research Experience:
1200 Hours working as a research associate at a human hospital doing heart attack and ischemia intervention studies on pigs for human applications.

Awards/scholarships:
High School Honor Roll
RECOVER CPR
Fear-Free Certification
2 state wide scholarships that covered my undergraduate cost of attendance

Extracurriculars:
Ukulele classes
Hiking
Volunteering at local spay/neuter clinics
Hosting marketing events for my current ER hospital
Volunteering for set up of pride parade in my city


Employment (Non-Vet):
worked multiple food service jobs and at a Walmart during undergrad as well as one of the managers of a student run business on campus.

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[vampyrica]

(im pretty sure you and i spoke via tiktok dms, hi!)

have you completed all your pre-requisites? are you able to afford (financially and time-wise) taking some non-degree seeking courses/a certificate to help boost that last 45? additionally, what does your pre-requisite GPA look like for each institution? you don't need to go get a masters to help with your GPA, but if you have other pre-reqs to take for institutions, it will only help your last 45!

Schools I am planning on applying to: Iowa state, Colorado State, Long Island, Ross, St. Georges, and RVC

i know we spoke via DMs about considering the Vet Prep program at CSU, but is there a particular reason for the rest of these institutions? are you willing to remove/add some?

• RVC requires a minimum 3.4 cGPA, you have a 3.05 minimum and so I would not recommend applying.
• CSU is very particular about their pre-reqs. To give yourself the best possible shot, make sure you have all of these! The one that really gets people is the "Cellular Biology" requirement because it is so specific. (https://vetmedbiosci.colostate.edu/dvm/admission-requirements/)
• I would recommend looking at adding UAZ to your list. They have proven to be quite forgiving when it comes to lower GPA applicants.
• Additionally, I would recommending looking into adding LMU to your list.

it will be difficult to get in with your GPA, but not impossible. your experiences are good, but it looks to be primarily small animal (please correct me if i'm wrong).

 

[vetnurse99]

(im pretty sure you and i spoke via tiktok dms, hi!)

have you completed all your pre-requisites? are you able to afford (financially and time-wise) taking some non-degree seeking courses/a certificate to help boost that last 45? additionally, what does your pre-requisite GPA look like for each institution? you don't need to go get a masters to help with your GPA, but if you have other pre-reqs to take for institutions, it will only help your last 45!


i know we spoke via DMs about considering the Vet Prep program at CSU, but is there a particular reason for the rest of these institutions? are you willing to remove/add some?

• RVC requires a minimum 3.4 cGPA, you have a 3.05 minimum and so I would not recommend applying.
• CSU is very particular about their pre-reqs. To give yourself the best possible shot, make sure you have all of these! The one that really gets people is the "Cellular Biology" requirement because it is so specific. (https://vetmedbiosci.colostate.edu/dvm/admission-requirements/)
• I would recommend looking at adding UAZ to your list. They have proven to be quite forgiving when it comes to lower GPA applicants.
• Additionally, I would recommending looking into adding LMU to your list.

it will be difficult to get in with your GPA, but not impossible. your experiences are good, but it looks to be primarily small animal (please correct me if i'm wrong).

I forgot to add that I have LMU on my list haha! YES we did TikTok DM (can you tell I am an anxious applicant yet? lol). I am currently finishing biochemistry, I am taking Physics in a couple weeks and then I am taking orgo and genetics in the fall. I am pretty sure the cell bio I took in undergrad works for the requirement since it was a 4 credit course that covered all the things mentioned on CSU's website. I am willing to add/remove some institutions because I know I have to be pretty strategic with my applications due to my low GPA. I would consider applying to UAZ but I have not taken Physics II and don't plan on it unless I don't get in this cycle then I will take Physics II and Orgo II next year because I will most likely apply again if I don't get in this cycle.
Yes, most of my experience is small animal but I did a lot of large animal courses including lambing, calf debudding, farrowing, equine nursing, poultry showing, ovine nursing and husbandry and worked with chickens, birds, geese, and goats occasionally when I worked at the shelter. I also see a lot of exotics and wildlife at my current ER since we will see almost anything that comes through the door including geese, owls, reptiles, pigeons, chickens, fish, amphibians, opossums, and raccoons.
Other than that I agree a lot of my experience is not large animal focused but it feels very difficult to get large animals when I live in such a large city (Boston).

 

[DVM882029]

Send the cell bio syllabus to CSU for a course evaluation to ensure it meets their requirements.

What program is your IS school? Guessing Tufts as you mentioned Boston. I'd toss RVC (look up the huge mess they're in with poor NAVLE scores and losing accredation). Look into programs that allow you to transition to IS after a year to save $ due to the absolute debacle that is the student loan system right now and the possible eradication of GradPlus loans along with long term repayment disasters.

I'd look at Ohio State, Mizzou, and UTK (also requires cell bio so two birds, one stone with that and CSU).

Regardless of the programs you apply to it would be very wise to meet with a student loan planner NOW, because the island schools along with other schools get very, very, very expensive, and access to loans may be severely limited in the future, so if you want to apply smartly you'd really take finances into consideration. The only reason I am going this year (non trad in my 30s) is because i got accepted to my IS program, so I know even if loans become a minefield I'll be in a reasonably decent postion (DINK at home). Set yourself up for long term financial success as well as you possibly can right now.