WAMC- fourth time applicant - 3.4 GPA

[lee315]

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Hi! I just got rejected from my in state NCSU for the third time 🙁
Planning to apply to a bunch of schools the next round, if anyone could give advice on schools / what I’m missing or could improve on, that would be great

I’m non trad at this point I’ve been out of college for a few years

GPA 3.45
Science 3.6 I think

Hours
Small animal / exotics vet assistant + surgery - 4000+
Large animal shadow - 200

Volunteering
Spay and neuter clinic -100 hours
Wildlife center raptor care/ medical handling -200 hours
Reptile rescue - 50 hours

Research -
psychology research in undergrad

Animal handling
Equine 4-h k-18 so around 8k hours of horse handling experience

Extracurriculars
Ballet
Run club
Tennis
Violin


Rec letters
2 vets who I’m super close with
1 research advisor

Other jobs I had
nannying
Starbucks barista
horse show groom / barn hand

I’m just so discouraged at this point🙁

 

[JaynaAli]

It looks like NCSU considers cumulative GPA, a pre-req GPA, and a last 45 GPA, so what are your stats for the prereq and last 45? Your cumulative is slightly below average for their posted IS stats but shouldn’t be out of the realm of competitiveness. From your stats it makes me wonder if your issue is more of an interpretive thing, like how you’re coming off in your personal statement/essays, in an interview, or that you have a poor LOR. Have you had your essays read by objective third parties for feedback? Have you used the same letter writers every time and/or are you sure they’re writing a glowing review? These questions are more hypothetical than anything.

If you do start to cast a wider net next year, be sure you’re researching the schools and how they review applicants to make sure you’re applying to places you have the best chances and you know what the schools cost…going OOS is statistically harder, though it’s definitely possible to get a great OOS seat even when your IS denies an application.

 

[pp9]

Hi! I just got rejected from my in state NCSU for the third time 🙁
Planning to apply to a bunch of schools the next round, if anyone could give advice on schools / what I’m missing or could improve on, that would be great

I’m non trad at this point I’ve been out of college for a few years

GPA 3.45
Science 3.6 I think

Hours
Small animal / exotics vet assistant + surgery - 4000+
Large animal shadow - 200

Volunteering
Spay and neuter clinic -100 hours
Wildlife center raptor care/ medical handling -200 hours
Reptile rescue - 50 hours

Research -
psychology research in undergrad

Animal handling
Equine 4-h k-18 so around 8k hours of horse handling experience

Extracurriculars
Ballet
Run club
Tennis
Violin


Rec letters
2 vets who I’m super close with
1 research advisor

Other jobs I had
nannying
Starbucks barista
horse show groom / barn hand

I’m just so discouraged at this point🙁

What is your last 45 GPA? What about prereq only GPA? Have you attended on of their info sessions? Have you overhauled your written portions? How confident are you in those LORs?

I don't know if the admitted student stats NCSU currently has on their website are recently updated or not, but your GPAs might be on the lower side for them (especially if those stats are a few years old). Otherwise, I don't know that we have enough info to be able to tell you why you haven't had success.

ETA: @JaynaAli jinx!

 

[lee315]

It looks like NCSU considers cumulative GPA, a pre-req GPA, and a last 45 GPA, so what are your stats for the prereq and last 45? Your cumulative is slightly below average for their posted IS stats but shouldn’t be out of the realm of competitiveness. From your stats it makes me wonder if your issue is more of an interpretive thing, like how you’re coming off in your personal statement/essays, in an interview, or that you have a poor LOR. Have you had your essays read by objective third parties for feedback? Have you used the same letter writers every time and/or are you sure they’re writing a glowing review? These questions are more hypothetical than anything.

If you do start to cast a wider net next year, be sure you’re researching the schools and how they review applicants to make sure you’re applying to places you have the best chances and you know what the schools cost…going OOS is statistically harder, though it’s definitely possible to get a great OOS seat even when your IS denies an application.

What is your last 45 GPA? What about prereq only GPA? Have you attended on of their info sessions? Have you overhauled your written portions? How confident are you in those LORs?

I don't know if the admitted student stats NCSU currently has on their website are recently updated or not, but your GPAs might be on the lower side for them (especially if those stats are a few years old). Otherwise, I don't know that we have enough info to be able to tell you why you haven't had success.

ETA: @JaynaAli jinx!

Hi! Thank you both for responding 🙂

my last 45 is 3.7
And my science gpa was 3.4
I had lots of improvement in the last few semesters but the beginning of undergrad was not great

As for my LORs, I feel like they’re all pretty great, one of them is from college tho, so perhaps not as detailed and they don’t know me as well anymore.

I’ve attended all info sessions and they tell you to focus on making your experiences match your application, so I applied small animal exotic with 4K hours in that area. They also mentioned having consistent volunteering and I have been at my volunteer positions for over a year now,
II’ve also had a few people read my application and did a lot of edits and critiques to improve it.
. I do think I struggle with writing and expressing my experiences perfectly, so I can try to reach out for more assistance there.

NCSU did not interview this year so it wasn’t that
Maybe my gpa is just too low for them?
I may also try and get some research hours somewhere this coming year as well

 

[JaynaAli]

This may feel like semantics, but NCSU’s website doesn’t say they look at science GPA, they look at a prereq GPA. Most of the pre-reqs are probably sciences, but it probably doesn’t include all sciences and would probably include other stuff like gen ed credits. So calculate that if you haven’t.

I mean ultimately, when you’re an average-looking applicant, that means you could have perfectly fine/acceptable stats and still not get in just because seats are limited. Doesn’t mean there’s gotta be anything “wrong”, it’s just not working out for whatever reason. And I don’t mean any insult when I say average, average isn’t bad when it comes to vet admissions. It’s competitive.

 

[HorseObsessed]

The others that have commented on this thread are a lot more experienced than me, but I'll throw my hat in.

I didn't think that my experiences with "low hours" would count (80 hours lab animal, 40 hours food animal...), but I was actually asked about them in interviews and wrote about them in essays. I was also accepted to some of the more holistic schools — CSU, Cornell— and I think having a few more categories of experience on my application helped. Based on that, I'll give this advice: keep whatever you need to for work, but consider getting a few hours of experience in different areas of vet med— make yourself seem less average! Then, maybe try some of the more "holistic schools". Your GPA isn't terribly low so it's worth trying at some of the more competitive holistic schools — Colorado, Louisiana, Cornell. Also try Lincoln Memorial and Ross/ SGU. Once you get out of state, tuition gets more expensive.

Steer clear of schools that seem less competitive because of lower applicant numbers but are very GPA heavy like Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and UC Davis.

 

[Tech_Penguin]

I wouldn't call Cornell holistic and say Davis gets less applicants

 

[vampyrica]

I wouldn't call Cornell holistic

cornell calls themselves holistic, and davis does get less applicants than the the “most holistic schools.”

“The Admissions Committee applies a holistic, need-blind review process which considers a student’s strength of coursework, academic and extracurricular interests, talents and background. We avoid inflexible criteria whenever we can and do not set lower limits for grade point averages. However, all admitted students must succeed academically. The Admissions Committee considers each applicant's academic abilities as an early first step in the review process based on the cumulative GPA and Prerequisite.”

link: Admissions Decisions

csu was the most applied to, uaz was the second most applied to and cornell was third most applied to this cycle.

 

[notliterally]

The others that have commented on this thread are a lot more experienced than me, but I'll throw my hat in.

I didn't think that my experiences with "low hours" would count (80 hours lab animal, 40 hours food animal...), but I was actually asked about them in interviews and wrote about them in essays. I was also accepted to some of the more holistic schools — CSU, Cornell— and I think having a few more categories of experience on my application helped. Based on that, I'll give this advice: keep whatever you need to for work, but consider getting a few hours of experience in different areas of vet med— make yourself seem less average! Then, maybe try some of the more "holistic schools". Your GPA isn't terribly low so it's worth trying at some of the more competitive holistic schools — Colorado, Louisiana, Cornell. Also try Lincoln Memorial and Ross/ SGU. Once you get out of state, tuition gets more expensive.

Steer clear of schools that seem less competitive because of lower applicant numbers but are very GPA heavy like Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and UC Davis.

I agree with the idea of diversifying types of experiences and seeing many fields within vet med. I also think that if you're looking at Cornell, I think you should also look at Tufts (similar cost).

 

[cardamom23]

Hi! I just got rejected from my in state NCSU for the third time 🙁
Planning to apply to a bunch of schools the next round, if anyone could give advice on schools / what I’m missing or could improve on, that would be great

I’m non trad at this point I’ve been out of college for a few years

GPA 3.45
Science 3.6 I think

Hours
Small animal / exotics vet assistant + surgery - 4000+
Large animal shadow - 200

Volunteering
Spay and neuter clinic -100 hours
Wildlife center raptor care/ medical handling -200 hours
Reptile rescue - 50 hours

Research -
psychology research in undergrad

Animal handling
Equine 4-h k-18 so around 8k hours of horse handling experience

Extracurriculars
Ballet
Run club
Tennis
Violin


Rec letters
2 vets who I’m super close with
1 research advisor

Other jobs I had
nannying
Starbucks barista
horse show groom / barn hand

I’m just so discouraged at this point🙁

Hey, Great job reiterating your app. Vet school admissions is a beast and you’re doing all the right things by making tweaks here and there and refining. I agree that expanding your school list is a great call. It’s what I’m doing this cycle too.

Something I’m curious about—going off of Jayne above, is your LOR list and potentially essays. Maybe see if you’re able to look at those and offer insights.

The personal statement question is changing for this year. That will be an exciting opportunity for you to revisit your essay and transform your purpose. It really comes down to 1. What I have seen 2. What I’ve experienced 3. What is my impact 4. How I’m going to contribute to the field for the personal statement.

I think you should look into leaning more into your professional experiences. What are you doing fulltime for work? What’s something that’s pushed you outside your comfort zone? How can those diverse skill sets be applied to veterinary medicine? If you already work fulltime in vet med, incorporate extracurricular and volunteering that is not animal related and lean into how your skills and interests there apply to succeeding in vet school.
Ensure that your volunteering with animals is listed under “animal Experience”
Volunteering is work done without connection to animals, like Dress for Success, Habitat for Humanity, Food Bank, Women’s Shelter, reading to seniors in a nursing home, etc..
Don’t really worry too much about research unless that’s something you truly want to focus on in the future. It’s tricky getting research hours as a non traditional student.


I had a friend who was waitlisted and rejected for 2-3 cycles before she decided to go to SGU. She just started there this past January!

YOU GOT THIS!!!

 

[hcflie]

Hi! @lee315 I know this isn't advice but I wanted to say that I have seen you on the NCSU forums and here, and am genuinely rooting for you. I hope you find the help you are looking for and that the next cycle is yours to win! Keep your head up; the application cycle is grueling and feels heavier every year.

 

[lee315]

Hi! @lee315 I know this isn't advice but I wanted to say that I have seen you on the NCSU forums and here, and am genuinely rooting for you. I hope you find the help you are looking for and that the next cycle is yours to win! Keep your head up; the application cycle is grueling and feels heavier every year.

Responding to this and everyone else as well,
I appreciate everyone's advice and help!!
I do work full time in a GP and exotics clinic, I also did a summer internship with exotics, and still volunteer there.
My rec letters were probably a bit weak, but I asked two vets I work with everyday this time, and the resident at my summer internship, so I think they will be much stronger.
I took a deep dive into my essays and really tried to make sure I was putting my best foot foward.
Also I discovered veternary pathology, and spent this past summer learning more!
Hoping that diversifying my experiences, and getting the strongest rec letters I could, will help me this year!
Praying that I come back on this thread to say I got accepted.

Also if anyone else is applying and reading this, I wish you the best of luck, its quite the journey.