WAMC - non-trad looking for advice!

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[BlackCatsRuleTheWorld]

Should I even consider applying this year or just wait? I’m leaning no, since I think it’ll be hard for me to get a great LOR from a vet before the fall.

I would wait until next year! Your plan sounds great and I don't think there's a need to rush it at all.

• Any vet schools you think would be good to apply to based on my stats? I don’t have the lab for microbio or public speaking and am not interested in moving out of the US. Open to anywhere but as a queer POC honestly would not feel super comfortable living in some states.

Your list looks solid to me. Your GPA is competitive and once you get your vet experiences up you should have a good shot at those schools.

• Where can I strengthen my application? Vet hours in general is a given. I’m in an urban area so getting LA experience is pretty difficult. One vet clinic agreed to let me shadow only for a couple of days but there isn’t much else around without some pretty long commutes

Definitely go shadow there for a couple days! After those few days if you want to go back and they like you, you might be able to get more hours there. Your animal experience is varied so that is a plus. Also the interpreter positions you listed I would put under general volunteering unless you were doing husbandry for the animals.

Btw on your application don't shy away from talking about your non-vet experiences, particularly your large amount of experiences in public health. That is completely applicable and I'm sure there's a lot that you learned there that will greatly benefit you as a veterinarian I think you're in a very good position with your plan. With your essay you'll probably want to explain what made you want to switch from public health into vet med. Make sure to include all of your experiences on your application, you have a lot of assets there! Even if you can lowball your shadowing hours from college that could be helpful showing exposure to the field. Have you checked your emails, calendars, etc, anything that could help you find out a general ballpark (ie 10 hours vs 50 vs 100 hours) of those hours?