WAMC- low/not diverse vet hours

[jkily]

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Hi everyone! This is my first time applying to vet school, and I'm currently the only person I know irl right now who is applying this cycle, so I'm a little nervous and would love some feedback so I can feel a little bit less alone on this whole process. I have also been developing a bad habit lately of comparing myself to the talented people all over this forum, so knowing where I stand from a stranger's perspective would definitely be appreciated!

Stats:
- 3.7 sGPA
- 3.8 last 45 GPA
- Will graduate in 2026 with a bachelor's in Integrative Biology (I transferred from a CC, so I didn't have much time to obtain a minor)
- GRE: not taken

Veterinary Experience:
- 683 hours as a Veterinary Assistant in a small animal/exotic clinic (current job)

Animal Experience:
- 3 years as a self-employed dog sitter
- 1 1/2 years working at Petco as cashier/animal caretaker
- 1 1/2 years working in a neuroscience lab as a vole colony manager (current job)

Extracurriculars:
- Pre-Vet club member
- Biology club member
- MESA-TRiO STEM program member

LORs:
- 2 DVMs (both specialists in rabbit/rodent medicine)
- 1 from the P.I in my lab
- (maybe) 1 from my organic chemistry professor

Degrees (both obtained while in CC):
- Associate Degree in Science for Transfer (highest honors)
- Associate Degree in Liberal Arts (highest honors)

It feels rather lackluster considering that I don't have any awards or a billion different experiences. Plus, I am the only person in my family as of right now in this field, so getting clinical experience has been a little difficult since I have had to find these connections mostly on my own. However, I am currently applying to volunteer at a wildlife rehab center or a farm, but I have received no responses as of now. Thank you so much everyone for your help!

 

[vampyrica]

Where are you from? What's your instate? Where are you applying?

 

[JaynaAli]

In addition to vampyrica’s questions, knowing your cumulative GPA is also helpful.

Your science and last 45 seem competitive, even for OOS at most places probably, but that could change based upon your cumulative GPA. Your experience hours are lower side but potentially okay, but I do think you would really benefit from more diversity if all of your hours are at a single place. Only a small percentage of applicants are going to have some sort of familial connection to the field, so that really isn’t an excuse for not having hours; people have to work to find opportunities and that’s not uncommon.

Also, you mention something about a PI but don’t have anything included about research experience so it’s hard to know how much that would factor in.

 

[Cowsrcool]

I second what everyone else says above but also think you could diversify your hours and increase them overall. Many schools want you to have hours in all categories so small animal, large animal, equine, exotics, etc.. what are your current interests? Of course you don’t need crazy hours in EVERY category but I do believe it is doing yourself a disservice to not gain experience in more aspects of vet med before committing to this field long term. Hours as an assistant are great! And not trying to discourage you but around 600 hours isn’t that high and for it to be your only vet experience category, I think you should expand! just keep building on that and expanding to more areas. More well rounded experience will lead to you having more well rounded LORs, essays, etc. which make you stand out to a committee. Also would love to know more about your research experience? Is this an aspect of vet med you enjoy and how many hours in that category

 

[indysadventures]

Hi everyone! This is my first time applying to vet school, and I'm currently the only person I know irl right now who is applying this cycle, so I'm a little nervous and would love some feedback so I can feel a little bit less alone on this whole process. I have also been developing a bad habit lately of comparing myself to the talented people all over this forum, so knowing where I stand from a stranger's perspective would definitely be appreciated!

Stats:
- 3.7 sGPA
- 3.8 last 45 GPA
- Will graduate in 2026 with a bachelor's in Integrative Biology (I transferred from a CC, so I didn't have much time to obtain a minor)
- GRE: not taken

Veterinary Experience:
- 683 hours as a Veterinary Assistant in a small animal/exotic clinic (current job)

Animal Experience:
- 3 years as a self-employed dog sitter
- 1 1/2 years working at Petco as cashier/animal caretaker
- 1 1/2 years working in a neuroscience lab as a vole colony manager (current job)

Extracurriculars:
- Pre-Vet club member
- Biology club member
- MESA-TRiO STEM program member

LORs:
- 2 DVMs (both specialists in rabbit/rodent medicine)
- 1 from the P.I in my lab
- (maybe) 1 from my organic chemistry professor

Degrees (both obtained while in CC):
- Associate Degree in Science for Transfer (highest honors)
- Associate Degree in Liberal Arts (highest honors)

It feels rather lackluster considering that I don't have any awards or a billion different experiences. Plus, I am the only person in my family as of right now in this field, so getting clinical experience has been a little difficult since I have had to find these connections mostly on my own. However, I am currently applying to volunteer at a wildlife rehab center or a farm, but I have received no responses as of now. Thank you so much everyone for your help!

I think, honestly, aside from other questions brought up in this thread, I would have concerns about your lack of leadership/employment/volunteer experience, especially when you remove everything involving veterinary medicine. Schools want to see that you’re a well-rounded individual with a nuanced understanding of the world and how it influences medical practice!

As Jayna has said, I also agree that you cannot expect that everyone getting experience in this field is doing so via familial connections. I literally cold-called or cold-emailed places, including CSU’s Flint Animal Cancer Center - until someone said yes (they said yes BTW, though I recognize I was very lucky to be able to afford to travel to shadow there!). Further, this experience unlocked other experiences that I truly believe helped me fully understand my passion for oncology and veterinary medicine, as well as create a competitive application that ultimately helped me get into vet school.

All this to say - Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! Ask doctors you trust for recommendations for other clinics that you could visit even to shadow, you never know what a connection will unlock.

ETA: depending on which schools you're applying to, you're going to need an academic recommendation!

 

[Cowsrcool]

I think, honestly, aside from other questions brought up in this thread, I would have concerns about your lack of leadership/employment/volunteer experience, especially when you remove everything involving veterinary medicine. Schools want to see that you’re a well-rounded individual with a nuanced understanding of the world and how it influences medical practice!

As Jayna has said, I also agree that you cannot expect that everyone getting experience in this field is doing so via familial connections. I literally cold-called or cold-emailed places, including CSU’s Flint Animal Cancer Center - until someone said yes (they said yes BTW, though I recognize I was very lucky to be able to afford to travel to shadow there!). Further, this experience unlocked other experiences that I truly believe helped me fully understand my passion for oncology and veterinary medicine, as well as create a competitive application that ultimately helped me get into vet school.

All this to say - Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! Ask doctors you trust for recommendations for other clinics that you could visit even to shadow, you never know what a connection will unlock.

I second and emphasize this to the 100th degree!!! If you don’t have employment experience you need to get that. I’m a firm believer my bartending job through college set me up with the people skills and organization tools I will need in vet school and as a veterinarian. Not that you have to be a bartender to have these, but just having any job working with people is so beneficial! It’s a LIE that vets become vets bc they hate people (some do) but you HAVE to be able to work with people to do this job. And not to say you have to go out and get a service job. I just know schools are looking for experiences in life that can directly translate to having an understanding of the world around you and how you can apply those understandings to the veterinary field. Good luck!

 

[indysadventures]

I second and emphasize this to the 100th degree!!! If you don’t have employment experience you need to get that. I’m a firm believer my bartending job through college set me up with the people skills and organization tools I will need in vet school and as a veterinarian. Not that you have to be a bartender to have these, but just having any job working with people is so beneficial! It’s a LIE that vets become vets bc they hate people (some do) but you HAVE to be able to work with people to do this job. And not to say you have to go out and get a service job. I just know schools are looking for experiences in life that can directly translate to having an understanding of the world around you and how you can apply those understandings to the veterinary field. Good luck!

Agreed!

IMO, the most important job I've had thus far was my work as an educational researcher at a large urban school district - not only do I think that the work I did directly correlates to the work I will do as a future veterinarian, but it also taught me a lot of coping mechanisms (in stressful, underfunded environments) as well as provided countless real-world lessons about disparity, inequities, research design/methodology/challenges, structural racism, etc. And honestly, in meetings with schools before applications, as well as during interviews, it was THIS experience, alongside my volunteer work in schools, that schools seemed the most interested in. This isn't to say that OP - or anyone for that matter - should seek out experiences/jobs that they have no interest in, simply for vet school. It's more a general rambling message that any job outside of vet med and working with people can really advance your opinions and understanding of the world around you - OP should use this to their benefit.

Though, OP, now that I'm looking at your experience, it looks like you may have full-time (or part-time) research experience ??? TBH, when in VMCAS, I would put that under research experience, it will be more impactful than in animal experience. I had several schools tell me to make sure I put important experiences that had dual classifications with animal experience into another category, because animal experience is often way over-exaggerated (hours-wise) and thus overlooked. For example, I was told to reclassify my therapy dog experience from animal experience to volunteer. I'd do the same with your research experience if I were you.