WAMC : First Time Applicant

[scaredprevet]

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First time applicant, 22 and about to graduate! IS UC Davis.

Gpa: 3.7

Veterinary Experience:
Exotic Animal Clinic: 300 hours
Small Animal Clinic: Estimated 500-600 hours by graduation (Current)
Shadowing and Interning at various small animal clinics: 70 Hours
Large Animal: 50 Hours Clinic Internship, 8 Hours in the field assisting with ophthalmology surgeries


Animal Experience:

Kennel Tech at a clinic: 170 Hours

Wildlife Rescue: 40 Hours

Wild Bird Banding Clinic: 3 Hours

Equine School: Estimated 60-70 Hours by graduation (Current)

Veterinary Science Class in HS: 10 Hours lab animal


Volunteer Experience
Large Animal Sanctuary: 5 Hours

Shelter Fostering: 350-1,000+(?) Hours (Not sure how much this would count as, I fostered nine dogs/cats throughout 2 years. Can someone help?)

Various Animal Shelter Volunteer Work: 10 Hours

Equine Riding School in HS: 20 Hours

*Potentially: Marine Mammal Physiology Project, Shadowing the head trainer (current/in the works). *Not guaranteed 🙁


Extracurriculars are looking grim…

Pre-vet club
Balloon Artists Club (Freshman/Sophomore Year)
Sacnas (I will attend more meetings this year to boost my involvement with this club).
Deans List for a couple of quarters

Student Council in HS
National Honors Society in HS

Other Work Experience:

Burger King: 1 Year in HS, around 1,000 hours
Sierra College Bookstore: One summer, probably around 100 hours.


Looking at other applicants, I was doubting my experience until I put everything down in one place. I believe I am a good applicant, but am I excellent? WAMC?
Gpa is 3.7 from a C in biochemistry that I cannot retake because it is considered a passing grade. UC will not let me retake it. I tried…

 

[pp9]

Looking at other applicants, I was doubting my experience until I put everything down in one place. I believe I am a good applicant, but am I excellent? WAMC?
Gpa is 3.7 from a C in biochemistry that I cannot retake because it is considered a passing grade. UC will not let me retake it. I tried…

What are your last 45 and science GPAs (UC Davis does not look at cGPA)? What is your plan for your LORs (UC Davis weighs those pretty heavily throughout their admissions process)?

The downside is that UC Davis is your IS and their admissions can be unpredictable imo, so it's hard to guess at your chances with that school specifically. A decent portion of their evaluation is subjective right off of the bat, so that is all criteria/scoring we can't really guess on. They also only pass 200 IS students onto their interviews, which isn't a small number necessarily, but UC Davis typically gets a lot of applications each year. Their IS pool tends to be larger than a lot of other state schools.

In general, the more vet experience, the better. You have some variety, which is great, and you have a decent amount of hours already, but I would keep growing that.

Are you interested in any schools other than UC Davis?

 

[vetmedang]

First time applicant, 22 and about to graduate! IS UC Davis.

Gpa: 3.7

Veterinary Experience:
Exotic Animal Clinic: 300 hours
Small Animal Clinic: Estimated 500-600 hours by graduation (Current)
Shadowing and Interning at various small animal clinics: 70 Hours
Large Animal: 50 Hours Clinic Internship, 8 Hours in the field assisting with ophthalmology surgeries


Animal Experience:

Kennel Tech at a clinic: 170 Hours

Wildlife Rescue: 40 Hours

Wild Bird Banding Clinic: 3 Hours

Equine School: Estimated 60-70 Hours by graduation (Current)

Veterinary Science Class in HS: 10 Hours lab animal


Volunteer Experience
Large Animal Sanctuary: 5 Hours

Shelter Fostering: 350-1,000+(?) Hours (Not sure how much this would count as, I fostered nine dogs/cats throughout 2 years. Can someone help?)

Various Animal Shelter Volunteer Work: 10 Hours

Equine Riding School in HS: 20 Hours

*Potentially: Marine Mammal Physiology Project, Shadowing the head trainer (current/in the works). *Not guaranteed 🙁


Extracurriculars are looking grim…

Pre-vet club
Balloon Artists Club (Freshman/Sophomore Year)
Sacnas (I will attend more meetings this year to boost my involvement with this club).
Deans List for a couple of quarters

Student Council in HS
National Honors Society in HS

Other Work Experience:

Burger King: 1 Year in HS, around 1,000 hours
Sierra College Bookstore: One summer, probably around 100 hours.


Looking at other applicants, I was doubting my experience until I put everything down in one place. I believe I am a good applicant, but am I excellent? WAMC?
Gpa is 3.7 from a C in biochemistry that I cannot retake because it is considered a passing grade. UC will not let me retake it. I tried…

depending on your last 45 & science GPA you sound like you have a good shot! i also agree that their admissions can be very unpredictable so it's hard to say for sure whether you'll at least get an interview or not. but i recommend continuing to diversify your experiences, and making sure your essays and LORs are as strong as possible. UC Davis is arguably one of the hardest schools to get into (although it helps to be in-state for sure), but it's 100% possible! good luck!!!
for reference: i was accepted this cycle as an in-state applicant! my science gpa was a 3.54 & last 45 gpa was a 3.92.

 

[dew5]

Hey there! I was accepted at UC Davis this cycle (also IS applicant). Echoing what others have said, Davis's admissions process can be quite unpredictable. Your cGPA is generally on the competitive side, but Davis calculates science and last 45 GPA for initial scoring. Cumulative GPA plays a role in minimum requirements and potentially in their holistic review process. Without knowing these numbers, it's hard to say exactly how competitive your academics are.

As for your experiences, you have done a great job of establishing a background with diverse species! I'd recommend continuing to gain hours in all of these areas. If time allows you could also consider adding to your animal and volunteer hours. Keep in mind, if you end up in a position to have to reapply, it is much easier to gain additional experience hours than is it to improve GPA - so you are fighting a slightly-less-steep uphill battle, in that regard.

I'm not entirely sure where the 350-1000 hour range for your shelter/foster experience is coming from - when calculating these hours, make sure you are being realistic about how much time you were actually spending in your role as a foster (i.e. don't include hours you would have been sleeping, at school or work, etc.).

My last recommendation: are there any areas where you served or can serve a leadership role? Club officer, trainer, etc.? I see you are planning to attend more meetings with one of your clubs. Perhaps applying for an officer position in this club would be a possibility? Vet schools love to see well-rounded applicants, and if you can serve a leadership role in these areas, all the better!

 

[scaredprevet]

Thank you guys for the replies! Both my most recent 45 GPA and my Science GPA are 3.6 (3.61 last 45 and 3.65 science). I don’t know a whole lot about other schools aside from my IS, but I do plan on applying to as many of them as my prerequisites allow! Unfortunately, finding leadership positions for clubs and extracurriculars has been the biggest hurdle for me. My lack of extracurricular leadership experience is probably going to be my biggest downfall. I would appreciate any advice I can get this far along in my undergrad! As for the fostering hours, I fostered nine dogs and cats for two years, so I’m pretty sure I am at least SOMEWHERE within the 350-1000 range, I just not exactly sure where… I will probably stick closer to the lower 350 area, just in case.

 

[scaredprevet]

If it counts, I have trained numerous people at work during both high school and college, and there might be some various leadership opportunities I have had that are just buried in my memory. But they probably aren’t important enough to mention, so i’d be more than willing to try to get new ones!

 

[dew5]

If it counts, I have trained numerous people at work during both high school and college, and there might be some various leadership opportunities I have had that are just buried in my memory. But they probably aren’t important enough to mention, so i’d be more than willing to try to get new ones!

That absolutely counts! Be sure to include that in the description area of your experiences.

And thanks for the additional insight into your GPAs. These are just slightly on the more average side, as Davis is often considered a GPA-heavy school - if you could raise that science and last 45 up (think closer to your cGPA), then I think that should be one of your primary areas of focus. As stated earlier, it’s typically easier to raise experience hours down the road than to raise GPAs.

Best of luck!

 

[pp9]

I fostered nine dogs and cats for two years, so I’m pretty sure I am at least SOMEWHERE within the 350-1000 range, I just not exactly sure where… I will probably stick closer to the lower 350 area, just in case.

My recommendation for this is to only include these hours if the animals you fostered were medically/behaviorally complex +/- needed specific medical skills to care for (ie tube feeding, injections, significant behavioral modification, whatever). Otherwise, this is equivalent to pet ownership but with a volunteering component to it. It won't hurt you to keep it, but just be realistic about how important this is to your application.

Also be sure to use your best judgment and only count time you would have spent actively providing care for these animals. a normal dog/cat probably gets <30min of your active, dedicated attention each day for feeding and walks/litterbox care. 350 could be fairly reasonable for two years, but could also still be a overly generous estimate depending on what you actually do each day.

Unfortunately, finding leadership positions for clubs and extracurriculars has been the biggest hurdle for me. My lack of extracurricular leadership experience is probably going to be my biggest downfall.

Idk if this would be your "biggest downfall." Having a really well rounded application is always ideal, but it usually won't entirely make up for academics if you are teetering on average to below average (for UCD, as dew5 has already said).

Personally I did not have a lot of extracurricular leadership on my app, I had none maybe? Aside from being a supervisor at a job, I basically had nothing. I think most people get accepted without significant leadership experience because as you've learned yourself, it's can be hard to come by. If you don't get elected to be president of a club, the next chance to run might not be for another 2-3 years so it kinda makes sense that it's less common.

Is the training you do at work under anything like a 'shift lead' or whatever type of position?

 

[scaredprevet]

Assuming I get A’s in the classes i’m in right now, and the classes I will take next quarter, my last 45 GPA will jump to 3.96, and my science will be closer to 3.7. I didn’t have any official “shift lead” positions, however I did train multiple people who came and went at my BK job in high school. I also did a bit of training to a new employee at the exotic pet clinic I worked (setting up rooms, taking histories, etc). The fostering hours makes sense, I will probably bring it down to 150 hours. This does seem more reasonable with how much time I actually spent with them, and one of the cats I fostered we had to set a trap for during a blizzard and got her. Another was semi-feral (this one was my foster fail!). I think these things, along with boosting my involvement with clubs, will put me in a much better spot for my application! I can’t thank you guys enough. Now onto to LORs… I have one from a veterinarian I worked with at the exotic clinic, and I am going to ask my supervisor for one hopefully today. I also have one from a professor, but I’m not sure if that professor remembers me so I would like to get a second from one of the classes i’m taking next quarter, just in case.

 

[dew5]

Assuming I get A’s in the classes i’m in right now, and the classes I will take next quarter, my last 45 GPA will jump to 3.96, and my science will be closer to 3.7. I didn’t have any official “shift lead” positions, however I did train multiple people who came and went at my BK job in high school. I also did a bit of training to a new employee at the exotic pet clinic I worked (setting up rooms, taking histories, etc). The fostering hours makes sense, I will probably bring it down to 150 hours. This does seem more reasonable with how much time I actually spent with them, and one of the cats I fostered we had to set a trap for during a blizzard and got her. Another was semi-feral (this one was my foster fail!). I think these things, along with boosting my involvement with clubs, will put me in a much better spot for my application! I can’t thank you guys enough. Now onto to LORs… I have one from a veterinarian I worked with at the exotic clinic, and I am going to ask my supervisor for one hopefully today. I also have one from a professor, but I’m not sure if that professor remembers me so I would like to get a second from one of the classes i’m taking next quarter, just in case.

That's a good goal to set for yourself.
I agree with @pp9 for all of the above. I felt that including leadership qualities/roles in my experience descriptions helped my application stand out, but I certainly wouldn't consider it to be detrimental if you didn't have those things. I also applied as a very non-traditional applicant so many of those leadership roles simply transpired after working in the veterinary and laboratory fields for so long. It's completely understandable for traditional applicants to apply without those things.

I also have one from a professor, but I’m not sure if that professor remembers me

This raised a red flag for me. If you aren't sure if this professor even remembers you, then they likely wouldn't be able to write a strong LOR. A bad or even mediocre LOR can make or break an application. For the record, Davis will only allow you to submit 3 (one from a veterinarian and the other two ideally from someone who can attest to your academic or work abilities, such as a professor). Make sure that the individuals you are asking to write a letter for you will be able to write something strong, memorable, and honest. You don't get points simply for "having one" - it's the ones that contribute positively to your application that will allow you advance to the next stage (i.e. interviews).

 

[vampyrica]

This raised a red flag for me. If you aren't sure if this professor even remembers you, then they likely wouldn't be able to write a strong LOR. A bad or even mediocre LOR can make or break an application. For the record, Davis will only allow you to submit 3 (one from a veterinarian and the other two ideally from someone who can attest to your academic or work abilities, such as a professor). Make sure that the individuals you are asking to write a letter for you will be able to write something strong, memorable, and honest. You don't get points simply for "having one" - it's the ones that contribute positively to your application that will allow you advance to the next stage (i.e. interviews).

I found out during my first app cycle that someone wrote me a “poor LOR” that “reflected poorly on me”. Definitely make sure you ask people who can speak very highly of you!

 

[scaredprevet]

Thank you guys for all of your help, my supervisor agreed to write me a LOR today! I will try to get A’s for my last two quarters, go to more club meetings, and get closer to one of my smaller class professors during my final quarter. Hopefully it will be enough.

 

[dew5]

Thank you guys for all of your help, my supervisor agreed to write me a LOR today! I will try to get A’s for my last two quarters, go to more club meetings, and get closer to one of my smaller class professors during my final quarter. Hopefully it will be enough.

Good luck! If you have any other questions or are seeking additional guidance regarding the application process feel free to reach out