WAMC? Highly Motivated Pre-Vet Student!

[12FutureVet12]

Hello everyone!

I am a pre-vet student at a small liberal arts college in Virginia. I am finishing off my junior year now, and will be completing a BS in biology as well as a minor in animal science and chemistry in spring of 2021. I have taken between 16-18 credit hours every semester, and last summer I took 11 credits, and this summer I am set up to take around 16-18 credits while working as well. I am currently applying to vet schools and have worked really hard to get where I am at, and am hoping to get others opinions on my current standings as well as advice on ways I could strengthen my application between now and August!

21 yr/F/NC resident, graduating undergrad in Virginia in spring 2021
Applying: Virginia, Georgia, NC State, Florida, Auburn, possibly LMU, possibly Ross? (Open to other options if anyone has suggestions!)

Overall GPA : 3.5
Science GPA : 3.3
Last 45 : unknown at this time, should be pretty high considering how my grades this semester are looking and the summer classes I am taking.

GRE : taking (HOPEFULLY!) within the next month - test times had been mixed up due to Covid.

Veterinary experience:
small animal shadowing - 280 hours while in college; primarily preventative medicine for small animals, some surgeries.
large animal ambulatory shadowing - 250 hours summer 2018
large animal ambulatory assistant - 500 hours summer 2019, due to coming home early from school due to the virus, expected about 700 hours obtained before submitting application; working with goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas, horses, cattle, and some exotics (some wildlife rehab, etc). traditional medicine as well as acupuncture and chiropractic. Working both regular appointments as well as emergencies

General animal experience:
Grew up with dogs, cats, chickens, one year with sheep, extensive experience with horses
Worked as a kennel assistant and assisted with restraint, treatments, and minor procedures in a small animal clinic while in high school (est. 700 hours)
Trail guide/stable hand - est. 800 hours
1 year on my schools equestrian team
Pet sitting for many years - hours unknown (I'm not sure if this would go on an application)

Employment outside of vet med:
2 years as receptionist/Student assistant at college office (average 6 hours per week)
Supplemental Instructor (similar to TA position) for a general biology course for spring 2020 semester.

Research:
Independent study through my college - "The Effects of Probiotic Yeast on the In-Vitro Rumen"
completed a full literature review and proposal to present, was approved by department. Have been working on this project since Spring 2018 with my research mentor, and will continue to work on it until I complete undergrad. I attended the Virginia Academy of Sciences Research meeting in fall 2019, and won a research grant. I was invited to attend the 2020 Fall meeting for VAS to present my new findings, but it was cancelled Due to Covid-19. Also was registered to attend Association for Southeast Biology Research Conference in Jacksonville, FL, which was also cancelled due to Covid.

Clubs:
Pre-Health Club
Pre-Vet Club
Tri-Beta Honor Society
Blue-Key Honor Society

Awards/Positions
- Deans list
- 2019 Virginia Academy of Sciences Research Grant
- 2020/21 Tri-Beta Honor Society Treasurer

LOR's (who I plan to ask):
- large animal ambulatory veterinarian
- advisor and professor for undergrad, also department chair for biology department
- research mentor

I believe that this is the majority of what will be found on my application. I did have to retake general chemistry (which I did and got an A in first semester and a B in second semester). I had an internship set up at an agricultural extension of VT to help out during lambing season (the facility had over 100 head of ewes, it was going to be great experience!), however that was also cut off due to covid.

I am open to all constructive criticism as well as general recommendations and comments as to how to strengthen my application!

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[battie]

With everything going on, the best way to improve your application over the summer will be to get A's in all your classes (and continue it with your senior year). With a cGPA of 3.5 and a scienceGPA of 3.3, you can't really afford to have Bs at this point in your academic career. Bs will just further drag your stats down as you continue through the program. You're at the lower end of average for OOS students for a lot of schools at this point. Protect your GPA! If that means reducing your credit hours, I highly suggest it. I averaged 17.5 credits hours while maintaining 3.3 GPAs. I heavily regret not lightening the load following my sophomore year.

Virginia, Georgia, NC State, Florida, Auburn, possibly LMU, possibly Ross? (Open to other options if anyone has suggestions!)

Another thing you can do is adjust your school list. You need to tailor your school list to fit with the strengths of your application. Schools that 1) have a high number of OOS seats, 2) have a lower OOS applicant to seat ratio, 3) favor a high last 45 GPA, 4) don't consider GPAs heavily to begin with, and/or 5) are pretty holistic in their approach. Having a solid school list that's tailored to your strengths is half the battle.

Why do you have Georgia on your list? It's *highly* competitive for OOS students. According to the AAVMC public data, Georgia has 34 students out of a class of 114 for the current first year class, and half of those are contract seats for South Carolina and Delaware. Realistically, you would be competing for 15 spots. On top of that, UGA had 35.1 OOS applicants per OOS seat! Your subjective stats (hours, potentially essays and letters of rec) are pretty solid, but your objective stats (GPAs, potentially GRE) are currently a bit below their averages. UGA would potentially not be a high yield school to apply to.

Good resources for adjusting your school list are:

Public Data - AAVMC

The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges provides access to certain data sets to the general public via our website. We are pleased to release the most recent collection of data for the 2022-2023 academic year. The report includes data on faculty, students, applicants and tuition...

www.aavmc.org

Use this source to look at which schools have a high number of OOS seats, have the ratios of applicants to seats, and other applicant data.

How to Apply - AAVMC

Preparing your application is the first step you’ll take on your journey to becoming a veterinarian. The AAVMC’s VMCAS is a user-friendly system for applying to veterinary medical schools. Please review the “Before Applying” section for information about school prerequisites, general...

www.aavmc.org

A quick easy way to check out statistics on admitted students so you know what you're up against!

 

[12FutureVet12]

With everything going on, the best way to improve your application over the summer will be to get A's in all your classes (and continue it with your senior year). With a cGPA of 3.5 and a scienceGPA of 3.3, you can't really afford to have Bs at this point in your academic career. Bs will just further drag your stats down as you continue through the program. You're at the lower end of average for OOS students for a lot of schools at this point. Protect your GPA! If that means reducing your credit hours, I highly suggest it. I averaged 17.5 credits hours while maintaining 3.3 GPAs. I heavily regret not lightening the load following my sophomore year.



Another thing you can do is adjust your school list. You need to tailor your school list to fit with the strengths of your application. Schools that 1) have a high number of OOS seats, 2) have a lower OOS applicant to seat ratio, 3) favor a high last 45 GPA, 4) don't consider GPAs heavily to begin with, and/or 5) are pretty holistic in their approach. Having a solid school list that's tailored to your strengths is half the battle.

Why do you have Georgia on your list? It's *highly* competitive for OOS students. According to the AAVMC public data, Georgia has 34 students out of a class of 114 for the current first year class, and half of those are contract seats for South Carolina and Delaware. Realistically, you would be competing for 15 spots. On top of that, UGA had 35.1 OOS applicants per OOS seat! Your subjective stats (hours, potentially essays and letters of rec) are pretty solid, but your objective stats (GPAs, potentially GRE) are currently a bit below their averages. UGA would potentially not be a high yield school to apply to.

Good resources for adjusting your school list are:

Public Data - AAVMC

The American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges provides access to certain data sets to the general public via our website. We are pleased to release the most recent collection of data for the 2022-2023 academic year. The report includes data on faculty, students, applicants and tuition...

www.aavmc.org

Use this source to look at which schools have a high number of OOS seats, have the ratios of applicants to seats, and other applicant data.

How to Apply - AAVMC

Preparing your application is the first step you’ll take on your journey to becoming a veterinarian. The AAVMC’s VMCAS is a user-friendly system for applying to veterinary medical schools. Please review the “Before Applying” section for information about school prerequisites, general...

www.aavmc.org

A quick easy way to check out statistics on admitted students so you know what you're up against!

Thank you so much for your input! I realize that UGA is definitely a reach, where I grew up is only about an hour and a half from the university and many of my own animals have gone there for care. I fell in love with the school, but I do realize that it is extremely hard to get in. I will definitely use the resources to better gauge what schools to apply to! I will also be applying to masters programs at the same time, so if I get denied from everywhere I apply I will have a backup plan. Thank you again!

 

[DVM2024]

Hey! I was accepted to NCSU as an IS student this past cycle. Your experiences are very strong, and having substantial hours with both small and large animals is definitely going to be helpful, since NC is very focused on agriculture. I really recommend you concentrate on getting your GPAs up as much as possible. I applied with a 3.96 cumulative GPA, but even with that I was initially waitlisted (that being said, I'm a white female interested in small animal, so I'm not the most unique applicant). NCSU doesn't care much about your GRE score as long as they're above the 50% percentile, so while you should study and do your best, don't neglect your regular schoolwork in favor of the GRE. NC looks at your cumulative, last 45, and prerequisite GPAs. I'm not sure how many prereqs you have left to take, but with 18 hours this summer, you can significantly raise your last 45 GPA. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any more questions, and best of luck to you!!!!

 

[12FutureVet12]

Hey! I was accepted to NCSU as an IS student this past cycle. Your experiences are very strong, and having substantial hours with both small and large animals is definitely going to be helpful, since NC is very focused on agriculture. I really recommend you concentrate on getting your GPAs up as much as possible. I applied with a 3.96 cumulative GPA, but even with that I was initially waitlisted (that being said, I'm a white female interested in small animal, so I'm not the most unique applicant). NCSU doesn't care much about your GRE score as long as they're above the 50% percentile, so while you should study and do your best, don't neglect your regular schoolwork in favor of the GRE. NC looks at your cumulative, last 45, and prerequisite GPAs. I'm not sure how many prereqs you have left to take, but with 18 hours this summer, you can significantly raise your last 45 GPA. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any more questions, and best of luck to you!!!!

Thank you for your advice! The fact that you were waitlisted with a 3.96 cumulative GPA makes me nervous. Did you have primarily small animal experience going in?

 

[DVM2024]

Thank you for your advice! The fact that you were waitlisted with a 3.96 cumulative GPA makes me nervous. Did you have primarily small animal experience going in?

Yes, I had about 3400 small animal vet hours but only 120 from a mixed practice. I did have 500 non-vet animal hours from a stable and 40 for reptile care. But overall my experiences were mainly small animal.