WAMC- Multiple Applications

[Cats4Lyfe]

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I am a 27F and this last application cycle (2024-2025) was my 5th cycle applying.
I am from Idaho and have primarily applied to WSU as an Idaho or Washington resident. I was waitlisted at WSU on this most recent cycle, which is the furthest I have ever made it in the application process. I applied to multiple other schools on my 1st and 5th rounds of applying, but rounds 2-4 were only WSU. I have received rejections from all of the other schools I applied to every round and no interviews or waitlist spots.

I am moving to Missouri this winter for my husband's job and we will be there for several years (if anyone is looking for a practice manager in the St Louis area, hit me up!). I am hoping to gain residency and to apply in-state at Mizzou. I would rather not do long distance, so other schools are pretty much out of the question for now, although we could move to another state after 2-3 years of living in Missouri depending on how my husband's job pans out, so there is potential for me to apply to a different school in a few years.

In a perfect world, I would love to earn a specialty in theriogenology and to practice mixed animal medicine in a semi-rural area. My current practice is very similar to where I would like to end up working, but I am open to other options, including public health. I am very passionate about large and mixed animal medicine and I don't really see myself working in small animal long term. I condensed a lot of my application so I had less to write, but I am happy to expand on any areas that people have questions about.

Cumulative GPA: 3.03
Science GPA: 3.1
Last 45: 3.849
Undergraduate GPA: 2.83
Graduate GPA: 3.849

Any degrees achieved
BS Biology
Some post bacc coursework in animal science
MPH w/ a Veterinary Emphasis (online through Mizzou)

Veterinary Experience: 11,000+ hours
- Job at my current mixed animal clinic (lead tech, assistant manager, and now practice manager)- 7,000+ hours
- Working & shadowing at several small animal clinics- 4,000+ hours
- Shadowing/interning at several large animal clinics- 100+ hours
- Internship at veterinary diagnostic lab- 60+ hours

Animal Experience: 5,000+ hours
- Breed dogs & show in AKC- 1000+ hours
- Current equine ownership (I own and stand a stallion)- 500+ hours
- Worked on a goat dairy- ~480 hours
- 4-H (equine, goat, rabbit, poultry; president of multiple 4-h clubs)- ~2500 hours
- Zoo volunteer- ~360 hours
- Dog bather in high school- ~80 hours
- Owned multiple exotics growing up (hamsters, guinea pigs, cockatiel, rabbits, etc.)

Research Experience:
- 1 semester of research on camelid diets in undergrad

Awards/scholarships:
- Valedictorian in high school
- Full tuition scholarship to my undergraduate university
- Idaho Pork Producers scholarship
- 4-H county scholarship
- Pageant academic scholarship

Extracurriculars:
- Currently the co-chair of the health committee for my dog breed's parent club
- Active in local dog and horse communities
- In undergrad, I was the Activities Chair and then the President for my school's pre-vet club
- Multiple other extracurriculars in undergrad & high school (dance, piano, clubs, etc.)

Employment:
- Non-vet/animal employment- 1000+ hours working at multiple greenhouses
I have been emailing someone in Mizzou's admissions office and she said that for everything except the cumulative, they cap the gpas when you earn your bachelor's degree. So my last 45, science, and pre-req are significantly lower considering how Mizzou scores them. She said that I received no points for my academic portion of the application as an OOS applicant. However, she did say that if I applied IS, having a 3.0 gpa would automatically grant me an interview, which would give me the chance to have the non-academic portion of my application scored.

Does anyone know if Mizzou has ever accepted an IS applicant with a low gpa? I have no desire to retake any undergraduate/pre-req classes at this point, so that is not an option at this point.

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[bottlenose]

This may be long winded, but I have a few questions/points I want to cover -- sorry in advance.
Other than WSU, which schools have you applied to?

I am asking this question due to your GPA. The 2.8 undergrad GPA is usually lower than the cutoff (3.0) for most schools. I am not super familiar with WSU, but looking at their class statistics their average GPA for the 2029 accepted class is around 3.7, with the lowest being 2.7. Also, schools do weight grad GPA differently than Ugrad, and some may just disregard compared to the prereq/ugrad gpa, unfortunately. Based on this, I believe that it may be a combination of factors keeping you from getting an acceptance:

• Your ugrad GPA, science GPA, possibly prerequisite GPA
• personal statement, supplemental essay strength
• LOR strength

Focusing on your GPA
Being real, I think that you need to cast a broader net regarding the schools you are applying to, focusing on schools that take a holistic view of admissions. I would also consider island schools.

I believe there are also schools that will not include classes from over 6 years ago (I'm thinking Iowa?) if you elect to do that -- but they can not be included into your prereq score. Have you retaken any prereqs? I know that you don't have the desire to retake anything at this time, but I think you should seriously consider it given your science/ugrad GPA.

Essays
Have you had your personal statement read by your family, mentors, maybe people from SDN? A weak personal statement-- a weak "why" can really make or break the decision between you or someone else. I beleive that your experience is the strongest point of your application, and at this point you should have a really strong "why." Think critically about your personal statement, especially if you haven't changed it much in the past 5 years.

LORs
Are you choosing people who will write you a strong letter, who can attest to the skills (I believe they call them competencies) that VMCAS asks for in an LOR? Again, I would think critically about who you are asking. Look at the requirements for a letter writer, and also the competencies that VMCAS asks them to cover.

Utilize the explanation statement
You don't have to answer this here, but why was your ugrad GPA so low? Did anything happen in your life outside of academics, or were you just not ready for the academic rigor? I think that the explanation statement can help you, not harm you, in this situation if there was anything going on that kept you from working at your best.

To be blunt about Mizzou, I think you are asking the wrong question -- it doesn't really matter as much if they have ever accepted anyone with a low GPA, it matters how you have overcame the low GPA, why you want to be a vet, and if you are making your entire application package strong, regardless of GPA. To be blunt, again, and I don't want this to come off wrong--but really think hard about your "why." After 5 cycles, is this something you still want to do?

If yes: I think you need to change how and where you have been applying, to give yourself the best chance of acceptance.

If no: I think, after 5 cycles, I would frankly be over it. But I think you have made a good career for yourself, with or without being a DVM-- you're a freaking PM! That's awesome!

Again, I don't want to say you're wasting your time but only applying to one school each cycle, but you have definitly put yourself at a disadvantage. I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Thanks for the reply!
I will address each of your points.
This last cycle I applied to Minnesota, WSU, Mizzou, Oregon, & Wisconsin. The first cycle I think I applied to all of those schools plus Illinois? I left out that I also applied to Utah State this summer.
The main reason I have limited my applications is due to my husband's schooling. We both applied to multiple schools my first round of applications and then chose to move to Washington because it was my in-state school and had a good PhD program for him. He is about to finish his PhD, which is why I applied to multiple schools this round. We chose Missouri to move to this winter because he has a great post-doc lined up and it is one of the schools I most want to go to. I do not wish to do long distance and I will not make him put his career plans on hold on the off chance that I get in somewhere else and we have to move. In a few years when he completes his post-doc, I can apply to more schools if I am still choosing to apply at that point.

For most of the schools I have looked at, their GPA cutoff is for an overall gpa, not an undergrad gpa. I did take minimum gpa into consideration when I chose which schools to apply to. I will not apply to island schools. That is not an option for me for several reasons, or I would have already applied to them.

I have rewritten my personal statement with a different focus for each application and I have had multiple people read it prior to submitting my applications. LOR writers have been very strong- coworkers of multiple years and professors I have taken multiple courses from (including professors at Mizzou who teach in their vet school).

There were several contributing factors to my low undergrad gpa and I have previously mentioned them in explanation and personal statements, as well as how I have learned and grown from those experiences. On previous file reviews, it was recommended that I show consistent improvement in upper level science courses, which is a contributing factor to why I pursued a masters degree. I also know several people previously on WSU's admissions committee who have reviewed my application for me.

I 100% still want to pursue a DVM. I have worked every other position in the clinic and I have confirmed that is what I want to do. Believe me, I would not be delaying buying a house, having kids, etc. if this was not what I still wanted to do.
I apologize if this comes off a bit salty, but these are all areas that I have already considered and worked on. I can see from your other posts that you have not previously applied. As you age, you will find that priorities change. As much as I want to go to vet school, I am no longer in a position that I was at 21 to move anywhere at the drop of a hat to complete a rigorous degree that costs the equivalent of a mortgage. I have to carefully consider where I apply based on tuition cost, cost of living, and job availability for my husband. I know that applying to fewer schools limits my opportunities, but I have areas that I will not compromise in, including a long distance relationship. I also cannot afford to apply to 10+ schools in one cycle.

I will apply a few more cycles and then I will move on with my life if I have not been accepted. I am mostly looking for feedback from those who have attended Mizzou or similar programs for veterinary school and which schools I would be competitive at if I apply outside of Missouri in a few years.

 

[Alicat9152]

Hey there!
Current VM2 at Mizzou who was an OOS.
Your experience hours are in the competitive realm of applicants which is (unless it was changed) the majority of you score (60% I believe). Your major holdback would be your science and cumulative GPA. Applying IS would give you a better shot than OOS definitely.
Loving the upward trend in your last 45! From here as you are working on your application for this cycle I recommend scheduling a meeting either in person or zoom with Doug Tindall our recruitment coordinator.

Feel free to PM with further questions as well!

 

[bottlenose]

This last cycle I applied to Minnesota, WSU, Mizzou, Oregon, & Wisconsin. The first cycle I think I applied to all of those schools plus Illinois? I left out that I also applied to Utah State this summer.

Have you heard anything back from USU? They may be a great option moving forward.

Again, I do think that re-taking ugrad courses would benifit you, if you have not already. If nothing else, VMCAS will avg those grades, which will only help you. I know you said that wasn't an option, but if you are right by mizzou anyway, why not try?

I apologize if this comes off a bit salty, but these are all areas that I have already considered and worked on.

Then why not include the information in your original post, or on the mizzou hopefuls thread post asking just the mizzou question? You left out significant information in your original post, of which helps understanding your situation. If you're just going to tell me "ugh I already know this" when leaving out information, then why post in WAMC?

I can see from your other posts that you have not previously applied. As you age, you will find that priorities change. As much as I want to go to vet school, I am no longer in a position that I was at 21 to move anywhere at the drop of a hat to complete a rigorous degree that costs the equivalent of a mortgage

Please don't try to act like you are much much more mature than me and I will get it when I get older. I'm not 21 either! I have waited until now to even apply at all because I have believed, since my first semester at ugrad, that I would never get in. I have put my entire life on hold too, and worked for years since then to make my application as strong as possible. Just because I haven't applied, doesn't mean I don't know every damn thing about this process, unfortunately.
I have paid for this in my personal life, of which is out of the scope to get into, but I know how frustrating it can be to keep putting off significant life events for this.
You have areas that you will not compromise in, and that has led to the 5+ application cycles, point blank period. I do wish you luck!

 

[Cowsrcool]

Unfortunately I do think you need to cast a wider net in applying to more schools. It’s a grueling and horrible process (as you know) and applying 5+ times is going to run you dry financially, mentally, emotionally, etc.. Would you consider living apart from your partner in a state near Missouri? Like applying to programs and schools around that location even could cast you a wider net. I’d recommend programs that don’t make immediate GPA cutoffs / have more holistic view as your last cycle unfortunately was to all programs with VERY few oos seats and high gpa cutoffs. I do think moving to Missouri and applying IS could be good for you, but if DVM is your end goal that you aren’t willing to give up, I’d definitely apply to more than one school. Or at least have a limit to the amount of cycles you are willing to apply for at this moment before giving a break for more reevaluation and maybe your partners plans change.

 

[JaynaAli]

I’ll be the outlier and say that I don’t see a problem with applying selectively as long as you realize and accept that your changes may be low and you may not get in. It’s okay to be choosy. Others might not go that route, and it may be stressful and expensive applying over and over, but its valid.

I tried to find an actual grading rubric online for Mizzou, but other than reading they weigh 40% academics and 60% the rest in their phase 2, I didn’t see much. I do think it’s good that having a 3.0 cumulative will get you at least to the point where they review your whole app and that probably gives you the best chance you’ve had, but you probably still have a very uphill battle, especially if they’re not going to really consider your graduate classes and most of their focus is on undergrad courses and cumulative. Obviously you have extensive experience (and hello fellow dog show person!) so hopefully that being strong gives you a chance, but I would go into it with low expectations since their stats say their average accepted student GPA is like a 3.7. But it’s hard to say anything for sure without knowing more details about how they judge and rank students. A lot of it may come down to what other students stats are too.

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

I’ll be the outlier and say that I don’t see a problem with applying selectively as long as you realize and accept that your changes may be low and you may not get in. It’s okay to be choosy. Others might not go that route, and it may be stressful and expensive applying over and over, but its valid.

I tried to find an actual grading rubric online for Mizzou, but other than reading they weigh 40% academics and 60% the rest in their phase 2, I didn’t see much. I do think it’s good that having a 3.0 cumulative will get you at least to the point where they review your whole app and that probably gives you the best chance you’ve had, but you probably still have a very uphill battle, especially if they’re not going to really consider your graduate classes and most of their focus is on undergrad courses and cumulative. Obviously you have extensive experience (and hello fellow dog show person!) so hopefully that being strong gives you a chance, but I would go into it with low expectations since their stats say their average accepted student GPA is like a 3.7. But it’s hard to say anything for sure without knowing more details about how they judge and rank students. A lot of it may come down to what other students stats are too.

It's honestly just as stressful an expensive applying to a whole bunch of schools. Both approaches have their challenges.

Anywhere in particular you would recommend I apply based on my stats?

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Have you heard anything back from USU? They may be a great option moving forward.

Again, I do think that re-taking ugrad courses would benifit you, if you have not already. If nothing else, VMCAS will avg those grades, which will only help you. I know you said that wasn't an option, but if you are right by mizzou anyway, why not try?

Then why not include the information in your original post, or on the mizzou hopefuls thread post asking just the mizzou question? You left out significant information in your original post, of which helps understanding your situation. If you're just going to tell me "ugh I already know this" when leaving out information, then why post in WAMC?

Please don't try to act like you are much much more mature than me and I will get it when I get older. I'm not 21 either! I have waited until now to even apply at all because I have believed, since my first semester at ugrad, that I would never get in. I have put my entire life on hold too, and worked for years since then to make my application as strong as possible. Just because I haven't applied, doesn't mean I don't know every damn thing about this process, unfortunately.
I have paid for this in my personal life, of which is out of the scope to get into, but I know how frustrating it can be to keep putting off significant life events for this.
You have areas that you will not compromise in, and that has led to the 5+ application cycles, point blank period. I do wish you luck!

USU ranks most of their application on undergraduate gpa with a very tiny percentage for anything outside of undergraduate. I was rejected from USU a month or so ago.
I have been sick all week, so I am a bit crankier than normal. It just feels a little like you came in, named some obvious things and then because I don't want to drop everything and apply to a million schools each cycle, you questioned if my desire to attend vet school was real. I posted in WAMC because I wanted input from people who have seen applicants with similar stats and where those people have been accepted.

The main reason I am hesitant to retake pre-reqs is because I having $40k in debt from my masters degree. Going to school full time and working full time was a huge sacrifice and I have to start paying those loans soon. I enjoyed my masters and it opened up additional career options, so it was worth the time and the debt to me. Apart from the slight chance of getting me into vet school, retaking pre-req courses doesn't do much for me. If I don't get into vet school, that is a lot more debt to retake courses that will not further my career, compared to my masters degree. It is hard to justify when I already have student debt payments looming. Like my masters, a dvm would come with increased earning potential and is worth the debt to me. There is no increased earning potential from retaking pre-req courses if I still don't get into vet school.

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Unfortunately I do think you need to cast a wider net in applying to more schools. It’s a grueling and horrible process (as you know) and applying 5+ times is going to run you dry financially, mentally, emotionally, etc.. Would you consider living apart from your partner in a state near Missouri? Like applying to programs and schools around that location even could cast you a wider net. I’d recommend programs that don’t make immediate GPA cutoffs / have more holistic view as your last cycle unfortunately was to all programs with VERY few oos seats and high gpa cutoffs. I do think moving to Missouri and applying IS could be good for you, but if DVM is your end goal that you aren’t willing to give up, I’d definitely apply to more than one school. Or at least have a limit to the amount of cycles you are willing to apply for at this moment before giving a break for more reevaluation and maybe your partners plans change.

I am open to applying to more schools in 2-3 years. I would be willing to do around a year long distance, but probably not much longer than that. It would be expensive to live in 2 different locations and I need the support system my husband provides. My husband's goal is to be a professor, so unless we want to do long distance for a longer period of time, we need to be in a city with a good program for him. We are both willing to commute up to an hour. In the case of Mizzou, if I get in, we will both have an hour commute to our schools.

Are there any schools you would recommend based on my stats? I narrowed my applications to the schools I applied to based on which ones accepted my pre-reqs and also had good post-doc programs for my husband. I agree that they were not ideal for my stats. There were a few more that I could have applied to based on my pre-reqs, but we eliminated them because they did not have a program for my husband, they were not somewhere we could imagine living (Long Island and a few others), or they were schools that I have not heard great things about. It was also a large chunk of money to apply to more than 5 schools.

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

I am open to applying to more schools in 2-3 years. I would be willing to do around a year long distance, but probably not much longer than that. It would be expensive to live in 2 different locations and I need the support system my husband provides. My husband's goal is to be a professor, so unless we want to do long distance for a longer period of time, we need to be in a city with a good program for him. We are both willing to commute up to an hour. In the case of Mizzou, if I get in, we will both have an hour commute to our schools.

Are there any schools you would recommend based on my stats? I narrowed my applications to the schools I applied to based on which ones accepted my pre-reqs and also had good post-doc programs for my husband. I agree that they were not ideal for my stats. There were a few more that I could have applied to based on my pre-reqs, but we eliminated them because they did not have a program for my husband, they were not somewhere we could imagine living (Long Island and a few others), or they were schools that I have not heard great things about. It was also a large chunk of money to apply to more than 5 schools.

I will say that I realized as I was filling out Wisconsin's supplemental, I realized that they have pretty much no equine repro at their school. That is a big deal breaker for me. I still would have gone if I had gotten in, but that is another factor I have been considering and part of why I wanted to attend both WSU and Mizzou so badly.
It looks like the University of Illinois is less than 3 hours from St Louis, so that isn't too terrible.

 

[JaynaAli]

Anywhere in particular you would recommend I apply based on my stats?

I’m not familiar enough with how the various schools consider graduate degrees to have any strong suggestions. But obviously you’d want to find/focus on those that will factor that in since your performance in those grad classes was much better than in the undergrad courses. Off the top of my head though, I’m not sure which places do really factor that in.

 

[pp9]

Are there any schools you would recommend based on my stats?

Are you open to Michigan State? Their academic eval is based off of last 45 and prereqs only. If your prereq GPA is higher than your overall science, you might have really good odds there. Academic Requirements

Any other school with a similar approach would probably be a good school for you to consider.

or they were schools that I have not heard great things about.

Every school has it's drama. Take all gossip you hear with a grain of salt, unless the school is in legit accreditation peril (only one US school is at this time).

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Are you open to Michigan State? Their academic eval is based off of last 45 and prereqs only. If your prereq GPA is higher than your overall science, you might have really good odds there. Academic Requirements

Any other school with a similar approach would probably be a good school for you to consider.


Every school has it's drama. Take all gossip you hear with a grain of salt, unless the school is in legit accreditation peril (only one US school is at this time).

My prereq and undergrad gpas are basically the same unfortunately. My hesitance with Michigan is that it is incredibly expensive out of state. They do have a program for my husband and I like the are. will have to check but I also think there may be one prereq they require that I don’t have?

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Are you open to Michigan State? Their academic eval is based off of last 45 and prereqs only. If your prereq GPA is higher than your overall science, you might have really good odds there. Academic Requirements

Any other school with a similar approach would probably be a good school for you to consider.


Every school has its drama. Take all gossip you hear with a grain of salt, unless the school is in legit accreditation peril (only one US school is at this time).

My concerns were less about accreditation issues and more about schools that are not very supportive of their students. That is another reason I have really liked WSU and Mizzou. Both are incredibly supportive of their students from what I have seen and experienced.

 

[pp9]

Both are incredibly supportive of their students from what I have seen and experienced.

I would still take that with a grain of salt. Context would be helpful, not that I think you need to delve into it on this thread necessarily. Because...

I’ll be the outlier and say that I don’t see a problem with applying selectively as long as you realize and accept that your changes may be low and you may not get in. It’s okay to be choosy. Others might not go that route, and it may be stressful and expensive applying over and over, but its valid.

I'm with Jayna here in that if you want to be choosy for any reason you want, absolutely do that because it's your life, but acknowledge that you are potentially boxing yourself out of an acceptance. I would need concrete evidence as to why/how a school isn't supporting students before writing them off. With having been around here for over a decade, the most outspoken students are the ones digging their own graves but blaming it on the schools.

My hesitance with Michigan is that it is incredibly expensive out of state.

Absolutely fair. So then I would look at whatever other schools out there look at the last 45 and only one other - I think a school that considers all three GPAs might end up ranking you too low in the pool since you have 2/3 GPAs low, but that would also depend on each school's admissions approach.

And just to verify - your 3.1 science GPA is after considering any grad-level courses that would be considered science?

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

I would still take that with a grain of salt. Context would be helpful, not that I think you need to delve into it on this thread necessarily. Because...

I'm with Jayna here in that if you want to be choosy for any reason you want, absolutely do that because it's your life, but acknowledge that you are potentially boxing yourself out of an acceptance. I would need concrete evidence as to why/how a school isn't supporting students before writing them off. With having been around here for over a decade, the most outspoken students are the ones digging their own graves but blaming it on the schools.


Absolutely fair. So then I would look at whatever other schools out there look at the last 45 and only one other - I think a school that considers all three GPAs might end up ranking you too low in the pool since you have 2/3 GPAs low, but that would also depend on each school's admissions approach.

And just to verify - your 3.1 science GPA is after considering any grad-level courses that would be considered science?

Yes, that gpa is with grad courses. I retook several chemistry courses in undergrad and just had a really rough time, so my entire science based masters has barely touched my science and my cumulative gpas. I was hoping that the masters would show consistency in my upper level course work, as referenced in several file reviews. It got me an interview and a waitlist position at WSU, but nothing beyond that.

 

[pp9]

Yes, that gpa is with grad courses. I retook several chemistry courses in undergrad and just had a really rough time, so my entire science based masters has barely touched my science and my cumulative gpas. I was hoping that the masters would show consistency in my upper level course work, as referenced in several file reviews. It got me an interview and a waitlist position at WSU, but nothing beyond that.

Also worth considering schools that allow you to delete coursework under certain circumstances. There are multiple schools that do this, but I'm most familiar with UofI myself - you can petition them to delete courses 6+ years old, or to delete an entire semester. You'd have to repeat any prereqs that would be deleted.

 

[JaynaAli]

Also worth considering schools that allow you to delete coursework under certain circumstances. There are multiple schools that do this, but I'm most familiar with UofI myself - you can petition them to delete courses 6+ years old, or to delete an entire semester. You'd have to repeat any prereqs that would be deleted.

Mizzou is one that allows courses more than 6 years old to be deleted, so this does have some merit for OP if they’re looking at Mizzou. Especially so if they’re unsuccessful on this first attempt as a MO IS applicant and need to improve somehow for future applications. I totally understand not wanting to invest money in repeating courses and wanting to spend that on a plan B (which I do think is smart, but at this point you may have to do both to get past the initial academic hurdle to get the rest of your app evaluated many places or to be as competitive as possible), but if the husband is a postdoc, is he is considered an employee? Looks like Mizzou does half off tuition for employees, spouses, and their dependents, which would make retaking courses much more affordable if so. That still does require time and money investment so maybe it’s not an option OP wants to pursue and that’s cool, but it’s definitely something to consider more and may make more sense now than it did in previous years.

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Mizzou is one that allows courses more than 6 years old to be deleted, so this does have some merit for OP if they’re looking at Mizzou. Especially so if they’re unsuccessful on this first attempt as a MO IS applicant and need to improve somehow for future applications. I totally understand not wanting to invest money in repeating courses and wanting to spend that on a plan B (which I do think is smart, but at this point you may have to do both to get past the initial academic hurdle to get the rest of your app evaluated many places or to be as competitive as possible), but if the husband is a postdoc, is he is considered an employee? Looks like Mizzou does half off tuition for employees, spouses, and their dependents, which would make retaking courses much more affordable if so. That still does require time and money investment so maybe it’s not an option OP wants to pursue and that’s cool, but it’s definitely something to consider more and may make more sense now than it did in previous years.

I graduated from my undergrad in 2019, so at this point most of my prereq coursework is over 6 years old. I don't really see a way around that unless I spend the next year or two retaking every single prereq unfortunately.
My husband is going to be at WashU, not Mizzou, so I won't qualify for that discount. I believe he would be considered an employee at WashU, so I may look into what tuition would cost there.

I just feel a little frustrated with the whole situation. I worked my butt off during my masters and I'm glad I got it, but I did not realize that so many schools outside of WSU would care so little about the coursework done during my masters. I was really hoping to get into WSU and I was so excited when I got an interview, but I ended up with a waitlist spot instead of an acceptance.

I did some math and it looks like my Mizzou prereq gpa is somewhere around 3.5 if they do not average courses for that gpa and only take the highest grade. So there is room for improvement there, but not tons. If they do average each prereq grade, I am not sure that retaking my lowest courses will really do that much more for my gpa. Mizzou requires biochem with an ochem prereq, but does not actually require you to list prior chemistry courses as prereqs, so that is a much higher prereq gpa than it would be for other schools. My last 45 including my masters is great, but my last 45 of my undergrad is not good since it does not count any post bac or graduate coursework for Mizzou.

It feels like there is very little I can do to improve my gpa and my chances of getting in if a school averages prereq grades and does not look at graduate coursework. It is very demoralizing.

 

[pp9]

It feels like there is very little I can do to improve my gpa and my chances of getting in if a school averages prereq grades and does not look at graduate coursework. It is very demoralizing.

Well, there is, but you have said you don't really want to continue to repeat courses. That's completely fine, but then you need to face the reality check that you may not be getting into vet school at the schools you've chosen. With that said, you've gotten a waitlist! Being waitlisted is an achievement, even if it doesn't feel that way, especially considering that you hadn't gotten this far in the first four cycles. Have you talked to the WSU admissions advisor? They have what appears to be a quite thorough questionnaire in order to request an admissions appointment, so that implies the discussion might be very personalized and in depth. How did your interview go? Can you objectively say it couldn't have gone better?

It's a longstanding myth that a master's degree will help you (significantly) in vet school admissions. At best, your master's will count as your last 45 and contribute to science (if applicable) and cGPAs (school dependent). I don't believe there is a single school that grants 'bonus points' to those with a master's. So in that regard, it's no different than repeating or taking additional courses, but then you also need to be specifically choosing schools that weigh a master's heavily in the last 45.

I'm going to quote myself from another thread. People with low GPAs need to be extremely strategic with school choice. When you are banking on a master's to get you in, you need to be even more strategic. I'm not actually seeing anything on WSU's website that states how they handle a master's, so idk what we're dealing with here.

I don't see how 8 credits towards your science GPA only (which is the case with Illinois) would be significant when you consider how many credits you probably have. I guess you'd have to really hit the books and figure out what every single GPA you could possibly have is (as in, what are your GPAs when you have grades 6+ years old deleted, 1st year deleted, retakes averaged/replacing old grades, etc) to know if those 8 credits would be that significant. Compared to Michigan State, which iirc, takes your master's GPA in place of your 'last 45' if you have enough credits. I think it would be far more impactful to have a potential 4.0 as your last 45 (when that school only considers prereqs and last 45) than to have two 4.0'd 4 credit courses in your science GPA, but that's without knowing what all of your possible academic stats are. Not to say you shouldn't apply to Illinois, but just an example of two schools that approach master's credits very differently.

Also here is the full thread to read through for more context: WAMC - Previous Low GPA, Currently in Post Bac Program & RVT

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Well, there is, but you have said you don't really want to continue to repeat courses. That's completely fine, but then you need to face the reality check that you may not be getting into vet school at the schools you've chosen. With that said, you've gotten a waitlist! Being waitlisted is an achievement, even if it doesn't feel that way, especially considering that you hadn't gotten this far in the first four cycles. Have you talked to the WSU admissions advisor? They have what appears to be a quite thorough questionnaire in order to request an admissions appointment, so that implies the discussion might be very personalized and in depth. How did your interview go? Can you objectively say it couldn't have gone better?

It's a longstanding myth that a master's degree will help you (significantly) in vet school admissions. At best, your master's will count as your last 45 and contribute to science (if applicable) and cGPAs (school dependent). I don't believe there is a single school that grants 'bonus points' to those with a master's. So in that regard, it's no different than repeating or taking additional courses, but then you also need to be specifically choosing schools that weigh a master's heavily in the last 45.

I'm going to quote myself from another thread. People with low GPAs need to be extremely strategic with school choice. When you are banking on a master's to get you in, you need to be even more strategic. I'm not actually seeing anything on WSU's website that states how they handle a master's, so idk what we're dealing with here.


Also here is the full thread to read through for more context: WAMC - Previous Low GPA, Currently in Post Bac Program & RVT

Will repeating courses really help me if schools are only averaging the grades in their prereq gpa? If I retake a course I got a C in and get an A, then the result will average out to a B. If I retake a prereq that I got a B in and get an A, then it will average out to a B+/A-. In that case, it does not seem like my prereq gpa will increase much if I retake courses, which is my concern.

I have had several file reviews in the past with WSU, but they no longer perform them due to the high number of applicants. A masters degree was specifically recommended in one of my file reviews and the waitlist position shows me that they did appreciate that I took their advice.
I did feel very good about my interview. I feel that some of my answers could have been a little more polished, but I said everything I wanted to say and got my points across.
I know someone on the OOS admissions committee for WSU and several former committee members. I have had them review my application and they all said it looks great apart from my undergrad gpa, but my masters has shown considerable improvement and demonstrates that I have been able to handle more rigorous courses. I felt really good about this application overall and was really hoping to get into WSU this year. They ended up only pulling one IS person off the waitlist unfortunately.

Aside from WSU and Michigan State, are there any other schools you know of that weigh last 45 of a masters heavily?

 

[pp9]

Will repeating courses really help me if schools are only averaging the grades in their prereq gpa? If I retake a course I got a C in and get an A, then the result will average out to a B. If I retake a prereq that I got a B in and get an A, then it will average out to a B+/A-. In that case, it does not seem like my prereq gpa will increase much if I retake courses, which is my concern.

I have had several file reviews in the past with WSU, but they no longer perform them due to the high number of applicants. A masters degree was specifically recommended in one of my file reviews and the waitlist position shows me that they did appreciate that I took their advice.
I did feel very good about my interview. I feel that some of my answers could have been a little more polished, but I said everything I wanted to say and got my points across.
I know someone on the OOS admissions committee for WSU and several former committee members. I have had them review my application and they all said it looks great apart from my undergrad gpa, but my masters has shown considerable improvement and demonstrates that I have been able to handle more rigorous courses. I felt really good about this application overall and was really hoping to get into WSU this year. They ended up only pulling one IS person off the waitlist unfortunately.

Aside from WSU and Michigan State, are there any other schools you know of that weigh last 45 of a masters heavily?

It would still, but to my point above, you would be better off choosing schools that replace grades for the reason you've pointed out here. I would only recommend repeating prereqs you've gotten C's in, I don't think repeating B's is worth it usually.

Sorry, I read back and realized I was not very clear in my phrasing. I would be scouring the website of each school you'll consider (and reaching out to them directly if you don't find your answer) to see what school's don't utilize all of your master's credits. I bring up UofI to point out that they only take 8 credits of your master's and apply it to only your science GPA (they only look at the cGPA and sGPA, so that implies the master's won't affect your cGPA?) vs. Michigan, which will essentially just use your master's GPA for your last 45. Otherwise, I am under the impression that a master's degree is applied to the last 45 and cGPA (and probably the VMCAS science GPA, depending on what the degree was in), but many schools don't specify this on their websites. So I would verify. And this is exactly why a master's is not the admissions hack many people think it is.

IMO admissions people are telling applicants to get a master's because it's a way to add on high-level course credits that (in theory) will have higher GPAs. So yes, that helps your cGPA, last 45, and sGPA, but so would repeating prereqs/other courses. And by repeating prereqs, you are boosting the prereq GPA too. Because again, a master's otherwise does not in and of itself get you extra consideration for any school afaik. Now, some schools look at VMCAS science, others look at prereq, some schools look at both. So you need to know your school to know what GPAs of yours they are looking at. For someone with your stats, I would think that a school that looks at science and/or prereq and last 45 only would be your best bet.

Unfortunately WSU is one of the schools that is not quite as transparent about their admissions process as others. If they are still considering academics when making final decisions, my guess is that your experiences/other got you an interview but your GPAs kept you waitlisted.

 

[Cowsrcool]

Did you complete your masters before this recent application cycle? As someone who also applied with a masters (both during working towards it and after completion), some schools don’t tell you this out right but they will not consider your masters courses until the masters is completely finished, regardless of how far along you are in the program. For example tufts does this and when I was working towards my masters they said none of my courses taken during that time were to be considered in ANY of my gpas: cumulative, science, last 45 etc. so I essentially was applying without a masters to them. They only factored in those courses once I had completed the degree in full

 

[pp9]

Did you complete your masters before this recent application cycle? As someone who also applied with a masters (both during working towards it and after completion), some schools don’t tell you this out right but they will not consider your masters courses until the masters is completely finished, regardless of how far along you are in the program. For example tufts does this and when I was working towards my masters they said none of my courses taken during that time were to be considered in ANY of my gpas: cumulative, science, last 45 etc. so I essentially was applying without a masters to them. They only factored in those courses once I had completed the degree in full

Oooo I’ve never thought of this. Someone needs to figure out who else does it this way. Seems wacky to take students that don’t have a bachelor’s, but then tell grad students their work doesn’t count without the degree in hand, but what do I know

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Oooo I’ve never thought of this. Someone needs to figure out who else does it this way. Seems wacky to take students that don’t have a bachelor’s, but then tell grad students their work doesn’t count without the degree in hand, but what do I know

I have never heard that before but I also didn’t know until I emailed Mizzou that they capped their last 45 at the completion of an undergraduate degree. Gotta love those unspoken rules and fine print 🙄

I graduated from my masters in May 2025. So this last application cycle was without a full masters degree and gpas that were a touch lower than what I listed above because I didn’t have quite as many graduate credits.

 

[pp9]

I have never heard that before but I also didn’t know until I emailed Mizzou that they capped their last 45 at the completion of an undergraduate degree. Gotta love those unspoken rules and fine print 🙄

I graduated from my masters in May 2025. So this last application cycle was without a full masters degree and gpas that were a touch lower than what I listed above because I didn’t have quite as many graduate credits.

Oof. Yeah. Another example of why it's important to check with the schools. Many schools have an FAQ section on their websites, but they rarely go into depth about how they approach things. I would think, in both examples here, that such information should be on their website.

 

[Cowsrcool]

Oooo I’ve never thought of this. Someone needs to figure out who else does it this way. Seems wacky to take students that don’t have a bachelor’s, but then tell grad students their work doesn’t count without the degree in hand, but what do I know

Yep! I had no clue when I was applying and still finishing and only figured it out bc tufts specifically emailed me asking if my degree was completed and said if it wasn’t they wouldn’t be using any of my TWO YEARS worth of classes in my GPAs. Like even though I had been done with my didactic portion of my thesis program for over 6 months they said if the degree wasn’t conferred they didn’t count. I was livid lol but not surprised bc I never am surprised by these schools anymore. Was mostly upset bc I had emailed every school and asked about how they factored in masters work and tufts specifically did NOT mention it to me in the original response to my question. I was only informed AFTER submitting all my fees and such 😞 which just felt like a money grab to me

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

Yep! I had no clue when I was applying and still finishing and only figured it out bc tufts specifically emailed me asking if my degree was completed and said if it wasn’t they wouldn’t be using any of my TWO YEARS worth of classes in my GPAs. Like even though I had been done with my didactic portion of my thesis program for over 6 months they said if the degree wasn’t conferred they didn’t count. I was livid lol but not surprised bc I never am surprised by these schools anymore. Was mostly upset bc I had emailed every school and asked about how they factored in masters work and tufts specifically did NOT mention it to me in the original response to my question. I was only informed AFTER submitting all my fees and such 😞 which just felt like a money grab to me

I am also no longer surprised. I do feel that much of the lack of transparency from schools is a money grab.