WAMC - First Time, Mid GPA, Good Hours

[raspberryrosepoppi]

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Hello! I would love some insight and feedback on my app for this upcoming cycle.

cGPA: 3.53
Science GPA: 3.93
Last 45 credits: 4.0
25 y/o student in the US

I will not have a Bachelor’s, only applying w pre-reqs. I was a creative writing student for 3 years pursuing my BFA when I decided to make the commitment to prepare for vet school, so despite having beyond the required credits, I won’t have a degree.

Experience, extracurriculars:
-10,000+ hours at speciality/ER as a surgery tech assistant, primarily in ortho. I have worked full-time and been a student full-time for nearly my entire undergrad. Within the past 6 years I’ve also held positions as a CSR and a kennel tech at the same hospital, and gotten hours as an assistant across several specialities which I’ll try to quantify if it’s necessary or enhances my stats?

~2000 animal hours w/ my pet sitting business (experience with dogs, cats, snakes, and geckos)

-Recover CPR certified, radiation safety certified, EO gas certified

-No research or volunteer hours currently, work in progress!

~500 hours of tissue recovery work on human cadavers as a technician procuring skin, fascia, bones, tendons, veins, nerves, etc. for the purposes of reconstructive surgeries, transplants, and grafts.

-Lead member of a competitive collegiate acapella group

-Learning assistant in general chemistry

-Member of pre-vet club

-Won three awards for original poems plus several poems published in literary magazines & one anthology, featured poet at a local event connecting scent & art, editorial reader for two literary magazines.

-Two LORs from veterinary surgeons I work with, one from our surgery supervisor/CVT, one from my chemistry professor.

Schools:
Glasgow
Massey
RVC*
Bristol*
Dublin*
Utah
OSU (IS)
Tufts
CSU
Long Island
Cornell

*I believe I’d have to take the 5-year programs at these schools if accepted due to not holding a B.S. To my knowledge Glasgow is a 5 year program regardless. On VMCAS, Dublin seems to require a degree but I’ve also seen conflicting information stating they do 5yr programs for non-degree holding international students?

My concerns are:

• my GPA; I will absolutely make use of an explanatory statement but over the course of my undergrad I have 3 F’s, a D, and 2 C’s. None of these classes were science/pre reqs except for an F in Physics, which I retook and got an A. I retook another F class and got an A as well. The science GPA is calculated with the more recent grade earned instead of the F.
• lack of exotic/large animal hours
• lack of volunteer and research (I have an orientation for a volunteer opportunity next month!)
• could have more leadership experience

Are there any schools I should consider dropping or adding? Would it be worthwhile to consider island or Australian schools? I will also be moving with my wife, no pets.

My dream is to attend school abroad though my options are a bit limited with no degree for international schools. At the very least I’d love to be OOS, but if my IS school gives me an offer it will be hard to say no w loan caps!

I’m from MN and toured UMN recently - despite loving their course structure and all the glowing things my tour guide had to say, it’s really hard for me to imagine being back in the midwest so I’m reluctant to apply to MN, UW Madison, etc etc. But if people think my stats are best suited for some of those schools I’d reconsider!

 

[mapleQ]

I don't feel like I can give good and proper school rec's, but I do want to give some quick notes on some things I see.

First, are your GPAs calculated with grade replacement? You calculated your sGPA with your replaced physics grade, so I'm assuming you did the same with your cGPA. Vet schools will almost always (ironically UMN doesn't) include all letter grades in your GPA calculations. Your sGPA should still be very strong, but if you did the same with your cGPA it will be lower than it currently looks. A 3.53 cGPA doesn't look all that bad next to your other GPAs, but if it's inflated with grade replacement it could affect which schools are a good look for you.

I don't think you need to explain poor early grades with your last 45 perfect, but that's what the explanation statement is for so if you feel more comfortable then by all means fill it out. More typically for poor grades it's used to explain hardships that had an impact on your education, so if that applies to you then you should include it.

You said you're from Minnesota but you listed OSU (I'm guessing Ohio?) as your in-state. Are you no longer eligible for UMN in-state? Your GPAs match fantastic with them. Four years is a long time, but it's literally a blink compared to the rest of your life. If you can get into UMN in-state then I think you should prioritize them.

 

[raspberryrosepoppi]

Oops! Sorry, I meant Oregon State. I moved to Oregon 6 years ago, so I’m no longer eligible for IS at Minnesota to my knowledge. My cGPA is calculated with no grade replacement, it reflects the entirety of my transcript. Only my sGPA has the replaced grade, without substituting I think it came out around 3.7 with the VMCAS calculator. Thank you for your comment, I’ll think about adding MN 🙂

I don't feel like I can give good and proper school rec's, but I do want to give some quick notes on some things I see.

First, are your GPAs calculated with grade replacement? You calculated your sGPA with your replaced physics grade, so I'm assuming you did the same with your cGPA. Vet schools will almost always (ironically UMN doesn't) include all letter grades in your GPA calculations. Your sGPA should still be very strong, but if you did the same with your cGPA it will be lower than it currently looks. A 3.53 cGPA doesn't look all that bad next to your other GPAs, but if it's inflated with grade replacement it could affect which schools are a good look for you.

I don't think you need to explain poor early grades with your last 45 perfect, but that's what the explanation statement is for so if you feel more comfortable then by all means fill it out. More typically for poor grades it's used to explain hardships that had an impact on your education, so if that applies to you then you should include it.

You said you're from Minnesota but you listed OSU (I'm guessing Ohio?) as your in-state. Are you no longer eligible for UMN in-state? Your GPAs match fantastic with them. Four years is a long time, but it's literally a blink compared to the rest of your life. If you can get into UMN in-state then I think you should prioritize them

 

[mapleQ]

Ohhh ok. I'm not too familiar with Oregon, but your GPAs look to be competitive with their most recent class. They don't differentiate between IS and OOS, but IS numbers tend to be a bit lower so I wouldn't be surprised if you're competitive/above-average in cGPA/sGPA/45. This last cycle only had 150 applicants for 49 spots, so it does look promising. I don't know how the rest of your numbers/experiences would compare though.

Admissions Statistics | Gary R. Carlson, MD, College of Veterinary Medicine

Statistics related to admitted students at the Oregon State University Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine

vetmed.oregonstate.edu

 

[pp9]

If you apply to schools that only look at science (or prereq) and last 45, your chances are excellent. Your cGPA isn't bad though so with how high the other two are, I think you have good chances elsewhere too. Even for schools that average grades across attempts (as opposed to replace grades), I still think you have decent chances with an sGPA of 3.7.

Not everyone applies with exotic or large animal hours. It's great to have variety in your hours, but you certainly aren't lacking in hours so I don't think I'd worry too much about that.

Similarly, not everyone applies with research, leadership or volunteer experience. Applicants with true research experience are probably in the minority.

I think your stats are high enough to consider the US schools that allow for residency changes fwiw so I would consider applying to those. I don't know anything about the international schools so don't have much to say, but I would consider Ohio, NC State, Washington, and UC Davis to your list for the additional chances at IS tuition after your first year. There's a 5th school that allows this but I can never remember all 5 at once...lol. I get wanting to go abroad and experience that but I don't know that it is a wise choice given the loan situation we have currently.

 

[JaynaAli]

There's a 5th school that allows this but I can never remember all 5 at once...lol.

Mizzou