WAMC: Low GPA, but good experience?

[rigoodni]

Hi! I'm a 24 year old, non-traditional student from North Carolina who has yet to apply to vet school. I know my GPAs are all the bare minimum for most universities to consider, so I'm wanting to seek advice on how I should approach the next few years. I'm currently applying to a year-long Master's program for in the fall, while also applying for small animal veterinary assistant jobs until then to increase my current veterinary experience. If you have any advice, whether it's schools to apply to, or how to improve what I have, I'd love to hear it.

I'm also curious as to how far back applicants are counting experience? Below is from the past ~4 years.

Thanks!

Schools of Interest: NCSU; Tufts; Michigan; Auburn; Illinois; Kansas; Louisiana; Oklahoma

Cumulative GPA: 3.26
science GPA: 3.0
last 45: 3.1

Any degrees achieved
B.S. Zoology; Minors in Applied Ecology and Italian Studies

Veterinary Experience:
-Avian/Exotics/Wildlife: 3000 hours
-SA GP Shadowing: 25 hours

Animal Experience:
-Kennel Attendant at a SA/exotics hospital: 1250 hours
-Butterfly/Reptile House: 150 hours
-Collections Intern (wildlife/reptiles): 100 hours
-Invertebrate Husbandry: 40 hours

Research Experience:
-100 hours studying behavior in shorebirds. Presented at a conference, but unpublished.

Awards/scholarships:
-NCDVA Scholarship
-Office of Undergraduate Research Travel Award
-Dean's List (3/8)
-Zoology Honors Program
-National Italian Honor's Society

Volunteer Experience:
-Wildlife Rehab Center Phone Volunteer: 300 hours
-Educator, Butterflies/tropical forests: 250 hours
-Made avian study skins: 80 hours

Extracurriculars:
-Conservation-related club President (1 year)
-Conservation-related club Secretary (2 years)
-Academic club dedicated to women in STEM (2 years)

Non- animal Related Employment:
-Community Assistant: 320 hours
-Research and Collections Intern: 200 hours

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[neocaridinadavidi]

Hey! So to be honest - I had very similar stats (but last 45 was 3.5 ish) and experiences to you but I got rejected from every school I applied to except for St. George's University and I got an interview for the 5 year at RVC but haven't heard back yet (but, I applied to 10 stateside schools and none of them were the ones you are planning on other than Michigan). HOWEVER I think it will help you a bit that your instate is not California and therefore you have a much more reasonable chance at getting a spot at NCSU from what I can tell. Also, the Master's may help you get that GPA up which will definitely be a plus and another year of vet experience also seems like a great route to improve! Good luck. The competition is tough and the number of applicants is only increasing. I would say you could consider adding Caribbean schools to your list though with that GPA if you are really wanting to do just one application cycle and can afford it. I put experiences going all the way back to the start of high school when I first volunteered at an animal shelter (I graduated university this June - so from 8 years ago).

 

[rigoodni]

Hi! Thanks for responding, and I hope you hear good news from RVC soon!
I have considered applying to the Caribbean schools, but as much as I've loved studying abroad, I'd be worried about being so far from family for their medical reasons. It's why I'm trying the Master's route to raise my GPA and get into a nearby-ish school. I'd be fine applying multiple times, too.
I'll expand my current application to go back 8 years, that would definitely help. I had a lot of late high school experience working at a shelter, and significant experience as a petsitter with small animals/exotics.

 

[EngrSC]

I was also a lower GPA applicant and felt like every other aspect of my application had to be on point. I worked super hard as a post-bacc student and waited to apply until my last 45 GPA was a 4.0, I had trusted friends critique my essays, I sought out diverse experiences, and I chose letter writers from various aspects of my life that I knew would say great things about me. I feel like a masters program will help you boost your GPAs but I think it would benefit you to be honest with yourself about why you haven't made more As so you don't repeat the same pattern as a graduate student. Find out where you're going wrong or what you can do better because you're only going to further solidify your GPAs if you continue making Bs, making it that much harder to get into vet school. Experience-wise, I would continue getting SA hours if you can and try to find some equine or large animal experience of some kind. I feel like it would even still benefit you if it was animal experience - so a therapeutic riding center or horse rescue or something in your area. The equine world is a lot about who you know so if you can get your foot in the door with an equine organization of some kind they can probably hook you up with veterinary experience once they've gotten to know and like you. Good luck!

 

[bryanna]

Hi everyone! I was looking to take an animal nutrition class for some of the schools. My undergrad didn’t offer it, and I was told about Oklahoma state university for it (which is very affordable). I wasn’t sure if anyone has taken it through them to know what the class is like? It’s one of the individual study classes where you can have up to a year to take

 

[EngrSC]

Hi everyone! I was looking to take an animal nutrition class for some of the schools. My undergrad didn’t offer it, and I was told about Oklahoma state university for it (which is very affordable). I wasn’t sure if anyone has taken it through them to know what the class is like? It’s one of the individual study classes where you can have up to a year to take

I took animal nutrition through Oklahoma State and it wasn’t bad. There’s an assignment for each chapter and there’s 3-4 chapters per exam for 5 total exams (if I remember correctly). The exams are multiple choice, 50 questions. He tests on some of the smaller details so I felt like I needed to study for the exams (they’re proctored). I made As on all of the written assignments but you have to make at least one A on an exam to make an A in the course. It was doable and I managed to make an A while I was taking other courses and working full time.

 

[bryanna]

I took animal nutrition through Oklahoma State and it wasn’t bad. There’s an assignment for each chapter and there’s 3-4 chapters per exam for 5 total exams (if I remember correctly). The exams are multiple choice, 50 questions. He tests on some of the smaller details so I felt like I needed to study for the exams (they’re proctored). I made As on all of the written assignments but you have to make at least one A on an exam to make an A in the course. It was doable and I managed to make an A while I was taking other courses and working full time.

How does the proctoring work? Like do I need to schedule it way ahead of time or? And how long did it take you to complete the course ?

 

[EngrSC]

How does the proctoring work? Like do I need to schedule it way ahead of time or? And how long did it take you to complete the course ?

You can either have someone you know proctor it or there's an online proctoring service. For the first 3 exams I had a professor at my school proctor, then I had hip surgery and used the online proctoring service for the last 2 exams. You have to submit a form when you're ready to take an exam, which isn't available to you until the assignments for that section have been submitted. It was a couple years ago for me but I seem to recall the proctoring service having decent availability.

I think I took like 9 or 10 months to finish the course? I wasn't in a rush because I started the course a year before I was applying to vet school.

 

[bryanna]

You can either have someone you know proctor it or there's an online proctoring service. For the first 3 exams I had a professor at my school proctor, then I had hip surgery and used the online proctoring service for the last 2 exams. You have to submit a form when you're ready to take an exam, which isn't available to you until the assignments for that section have been submitted. It was a couple years ago for me but I seem to recall the proctoring service having decent availability.

I think I took like 9 or 10 months to finish the course? I wasn't in a rush because I started the course a year before I was applying to vet school.

Okay thank you! I’m taking a couple classes now (2 MBA & 1 anatomy and physiology) and I’m about to register for genetics so I was looking for something flexible!!

 

[EngrSC]

Okay thank you! I’m taking a couple classes now (2 MBA & 1 anatomy and physiology) and I’m about to register for genetics so I was looking for something flexible!!

It's super flexible! Just have to finish the course within a year.

 

[bryanna]

It's super flexible! Just have to finish the course within a year.

I’d prefer to finish over the summer (before applications are due) if I can manage but I can definitely do it in a year 😂

 

[steadyeddy22]

I won’t pretend to be an expert but one thing that might help is putting a lot of effort into communicating with schools you’re interested in! A lot of schools will track how often they’ve interacted with you. Try to do a tour or call and chat with someone in the admissions process. You could even email and ask if you could be out in touch with a current student. Show a lot of interest! I did a tour and sat down with the director of admissions to ask questions and I’m convinced that’s the only way I got an interview at Mississippi State since my GPA (especially my science GPA) was lower than their average by a decent amount. Hope this helps!

 

[bryanna]

I won’t pretend to be an expert but one thing that might help is putting a lot of effort into communicating with schools you’re interested in! A lot of schools will track how often they’ve interacted with you. Try to do a tour or call and chat with someone in the admissions process. You could even email and ask if you could be out in touch with a current student. Show a lot of interest! I did a tour and sat down with the director of admissions to ask questions and I’m convinced that’s the only way I got an interview at Mississippi State since my GPA (especially my science GPA) was lower than their average by a decent amount. Hope this helps!

Regarding the GPA, I think it depends too where you apply. This cycle the one school I interviewed with (LIU) told me my GPA could be improved as well as my essays, but Penn said everything was competitive other than my amount of experience (they use the last 45 GPA) so I've been retaking some sciences this summer and looking at schools with a more holistic approach for the most part and the last 45 (and I've gotten lucky to get a vet tech job so I'm getting 35+ hours a week on top of what I already had. So I believe I'm taking good steps to strengthen my application?? Personally traveling to visit campuses is difficult and even scheduling phone calls because of my work schedule (I'm not usually home until after typical office hours or at the very end of office hours), but I've never thought of reaching out to be put in touch with a student. I may use your advice and reach out more with questions via email though if I can. What type of stuff is good to ask?

 

[steadyeddy22]

Regarding the GPA, I think it depends too where you apply. This cycle the one school I interviewed with (LIU) told me my GPA could be improved as well as my essays, but Penn said everything was competitive other than my amount of experience (they use the last 45 GPA) so I've been retaking some sciences this summer and looking at schools with a more holistic approach for the most part and the last 45 (and I've gotten lucky to get a vet tech job so I'm getting 35+ hours a week on top of what I already had. So I believe I'm taking good steps to strengthen my application?? Personally traveling to visit campuses is difficult and even scheduling phone calls because of my work schedule (I'm not usually home until after typical office hours or at the very end of office hours), but I've never thought of reaching out to be put in touch with a student. I may use your advice and reach out more with questions via email though if I can. What type of stuff is good to ask?

Totally get that about the traveling. Then trying to set up a zoom or phone call with a current student might be a great option! I basically just combed through the school’s website and wrote down any questions I had. I asked about work-study options, clubs, if professors were also clinicians, advice about applying, etc. To the current student I just asked them to be honest and also if they had any advice. It was super helpful!

 

[bryanna]

Totally get that about the traveling. Then trying to set up a zoom or phone call with a current student might be a great option! I basically just combed through the school’s website and wrote down any questions I had. I asked about work-study options, clubs, if professors were also clinicians, advice about applying, etc. To the current student I just asked them to be honest and also if they had any advice. It was super helpful!

Thank you so much! I need to make time to look at the schools more in detail. I went through on the VMCAS and basically added any schools I have prereqs for or I’m taking them for. Need to look at more details about the schools to narrow down the list.