WAMC - First time applicant

[fractious]

Hello! I’m planning on applying to veterinary schools next year for the class of 2030, and this will be my first time applying. I’ve considered both medical school and veterinary school, and as much as I also love human medicine, I cannot imagine doing anything other than veterinary medicine. I’m 25, F, and a current AZ resident but went to college in the midwest.

Cumulative GPA: 3.84
Science GPA: 3.76
Last 45: 3.86

Graduated magna cum laude in Fall 2021 with a Bachelor's in Biomedical Sciences, minor in Chemistry.

Not taking the GRE.

Veterinary Experience:
- 1270 hours working as a VA at a clinic [small animal, exotics]
- 130 hours shadowing at a clinic [small animal, wildlife, exotics]
- Currently setting up shadowing opportunities with an equine clinic, should be starting soon. Unsure how many hours I will have by the time my application is submitted next year

Animal Experience:
- 5025 hours working at a special needs dog rescue [small animal, wildlife, exotics, tiny bit of equine since they took in more than just dogs on occasion]
- 88 hours volunteering at a humane society [small animal]
- 8 hours volunteering at a wildlife rescue, organized through my animal rescue job mentioned above [wildlife]

Research Experience:
- None.

Awards/Scholarships:
- Dean's List [Fall 2017-2019, Spring-Fall 2021]
- Memorial Scholarship in Pre-Med [2020-2021]
- Endowed Scholarship for Health Sciences+ [2020-2021]
- Pell Grant [2017-2021]

Extracurriculars:
- 12 hours volunteering at a food bank, ongoing. Will likely be around 50-100 hours by the time my application is submitted next year
- 10 hours volunteering with unhoused population
- 3 semesters as Recorder and 1 semester as Reporter for Alpha Chi Sigma, a chemistry fraternity. 2 years membership total
- 1 semester Inorganic Chemistry lab TA
- Various college clubs [2 semesters clay club, 2 semesters biology club, 1 semester pre-veterinary club]
- Various hobbies [art, hiking, archery, pottery throwing, etc]

Other Employment:
- 2220 hours as a Rad Tech Aide at a hospital, ongoing
- 280 hours as a Patient Care Tech at a hospital

Current School List:
- UC Davis
- Cornell
- Washington State
- Mizzou
- Purdue
- Tufts
- Michigan
- Possibly Midwestern, but I really do not want to stay in AZ if I have other options

Davis is my #1 choice and I would not hesitate to go there if I got in, though I know my odds are probably very slim since I’m OOS. I’m open to suggestions of other schools to look into, however I do not plan on applying to U of AZ or Ross/SGU.

Currently for recommendation letters I plan to ask one or both of the veterinarians at the clinic I worked at, the professor I was a TA for, and a supervisor from the animal rescue I worked at. As far as I know, they each would be able to write a strong letter for me. It’s possible that I could get a letter from my current supervisor at the human hospital I work at as well.

Thank you!

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[leopardgecko]

UoA should be a consideration as it is your IS and tuition costs. It's a very nice program IMO. Midwestern is very costly due to being a private university, much like Western, so you would have to consider that it would be similar to paying an OOS tuition. UC Davis is extremely competitive for OOS, even for those with excellent stats, so maybe see if there is a way to move to California and apply as an IS for your best shot to get in(not sure if that would be an option, but it won't hurt to see especially if you had the option to move prior). I think you're a strong applicant but you should take into consideration OOS odds and OOS vs IS tuition costs for all universities.

 

[fractious]

I can definitely add U of A back to my list of schools that I want to do a deeper dive into! Part of my reluctance is due to the newness of the program since it just opened a few years ago, something that’s been echoed by a couple veterinarians I’ve gotten to speak to about it. The equine vet I’ll be shadowing especially, but I’ll see if I can ask her more about her thoughts and compare it to what others say.

UC Davis’s limited OOS seats is definitely my biggest concern there. I don’t think I would be able to establish residency there currently, but it’s definitely a consideration if I didn’t get in anywhere on the first cycle. My current living situation (living with family after moving back here from the midwest) is allowing me to put back quite a bit in savings, so Im hoping to stay where I am as long as I can to keep building that up.

I appreciate your input! 🙂 I’ll definitely keep everything in mind as application time gets closer.

 

[battie]

- Cornell
- Washington State
- Mizzou
- Purdue
- Tufts
- Michigan
- Possibly Midwestern

You're honestly competitive pretty much everywhere. You can add any number of schools to your list pending what your preferences are.

Due to your competitiveness, I would advise against Midwestern. The cost is simply not worth it for someone with your application. Quite frankly, I don't think the cost of schools like Midwestern is worthwhile to anyone with potential doctor saturation that is projected in 10 years or less.

Part of my reluctance is due to the newness of the program since it just opened a few years ago

Honestly, any accredited school is worth considering when we're talking in these sums of money. Plenty of established schools are experiencing accreditation discrepancies and every school has had a ding against it at some point.

There has always been a bias against new schools. That's nothing new. I'm personally against opening new schools overall with exceptions for those favoring in state students. Arizona is a state school, and so does favor their own residents on a certain level.

Not for nothing, most practicing veterinarians don't know what goes into vet school accreditation or admissions once they graduate. I've seen on VIN and Facebook pages multiple times where doctors mis-speak about admissions criteria, accreditation standards, or even the cost of attendance any more. Most couldn't even name the schools that opened in the last 10 years. Depending on how long ago your mentors graduated, you may need to take what they think of new schools with a grain of salt.

You're an applicant that can apply to virtually any program with a decent chance of success. Please strongly consider adding Arizona to your list as it is in state tuition. You'll graduate as a vet no different than if you went to Cornell.

 

[fractious]

I’ll definitely be nixing Midwestern and giving U of A another look, then! I appreciate your response, and I’ll definitely keep it all in mind. Thank you!