WAMC first time applicant, strong hours, low/mid GPA

[ch3rryb0mb]

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Hey everyone! I’m applying this upcoming cycle and would love some outside perspective on my school list + how competitive I realistically am. I’ve looked through all the class profiles, but I’d love advice from people who’ve applied recently or who go to these schools. My main priority is attending a school that has a teaching hospital, but I recognize that my GPAs are not the most competitive and there are gaps in my application.

My Stats​

• Cumulative GPA: 3.45
• Science GPA (VMCAS): 3.39
• Prereq GPA (estimated): ~3.3–3.4
• Last 45 GPA: ~3.7–3.8
• Degree: B.S. Biological Sciences (2024 grad)
• State: California

Experience​

• ~2,500+ current small animal GP hours (blood draws, treatments, anesthesia monitoring, client comms, etc.). Some of this experience (probably 400ish hours) was spent as a CSR.
• Starting new job in small animal Internal Medicine + ER in the coming weeks
• ~400 hours wildlife rehabilitation internship under DVM supervision (primarily raptor/avian patients)
• ~800-900 animal hours (**I worked at a dog daycare/boarding facility in college)
• No research
• Limited extracurriculars/leadership
• Strong LOR potential from multiple veterinarians + a hospital manager/RVT

Concerns​

• Early COVID-era grades lowered my science GPA
• Limited leadership/ECs outside of work
• Some schools’ admitted GPAs look intimidating
• Currently no exotics or large animal experience

My Current School List​

Top choices (teaching hospital, curriculum fit):

• UC Davis (IS)
• Washington State
• Oregon State
• Michigan State
• Colorado State

Rest of the list:

• Iowa State
• Minnesota
• Virginia–Maryland
• Ohio State
• Illinois
• Georgia
• LSU
• Kansas State
• Missouri
• Mississippi State
• Oklahoma State
• Tennessee
• Midwestern

I ended up removing Western and Arizona from my list due to cost and their distributive model. I kept Midwestern since it seems that their students are given more structured learning and hands on experience despite the lack of an actual teaching hospital. I do not want to attend any island schools or foreign schools due to lack of teaching hospitals, cost, and distance. Here are my questions:

1. Are there schools I should remove based on my stats?
2. Which schools on this list are the most realistic for someone with a 3.39 sci GPA + strong last 45 + solid vet hours?
3. Are any of these apps “wasted money” given my profile?
4. Should I drop Midwestern or keep it as safety?
5. Any OOS-friendly schools I should consider adding?
6. Is my experience well-rounded enough, or should I add anything ASAP?

Thanks so much, any honest feedback is appreciated!

 

[pp9]

1. Are there schools I should remove based on my stats?
2. Which schools on this list are the most realistic for someone with a 3.39 sci GPA + strong last 45 + solid vet hours?
3. Are any of these apps “wasted money” given my profile?
4. Should I drop Midwestern or keep it as safety?
5. Any OOS-friendly schools I should consider adding?
6. Is my experience well-rounded enough, or should I add anything ASAP?

1. Idk...you're kind of in a pickle here. Your last 45 is pretty strong, but your cGPA and science/prereq are essentially identical, so you have lost some strategizing power. Doesn't mean you have no chance, far from it, but it just makes picking schools according to your stats a bit harder. If you are truly looking to trim this list, I'd cut Georgia and Colorado. Both are notoriously competitive for OOS students, Georgia also has very few non-contract OOS seats iirc.
2. Again, hard to say, because it depends on your competition. You might have some trouble with the average to slightly lower science/cumulative GPAs. There are people with higher GPAs that get rejected in initial cuts.
3. Again, I'd say Georgia and Colorado. I did not review each school's admissions stats, those are just the two that jumped out at me. Illinois' stats are getting really high lately too, although if you make the initial academic cut, their process favors those who have good subjective portions from there on.
4. No such thing as a safety school in vet med. You may very well find yourself rejected from Midwestern for all we know. Only apply to schools that you'd actually attend should you get an acceptance.
5. Idk, I think you've got a large list here and from what I can think of off the top of my head, your list includes the schools that have a considerable number of OOS seats.
6. I think your hours are probably fine, your biggest hurdle is getting past any initial academic cuts. The biggest thing to remember is that admitted stats are generally presented as averages, fewer schools publish the actual ranges for a class. There are people both above and below an average.

I think you're going to need to be 110% sure that your LORs are exceptional, and that you write a really good personal statement/supplemental essays when applicable.

 

[JaynaAli]

I’d personally cut Midwestern because of cost. Especially when considering the new borrowing limits if you’ll need loans.

And before anyone jumps on me for this opinion, it’s not a criticism of the program or its people or anything, it’s just that a 450k+ total cost of attendance (source: their own website, I just verified the math) is nuts, especially when you can only borrow 200k from federal student loans.