WAMC : third time applicant

[clementine21]

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I think I will have to reapply this cycle and I’m trying to apply strategically this year as it is my third time. VAMD is my IS and top school, and I was waitlisted to interview this past cycle for reference! Below are my stats :

20F, third time applicant

Degrees : Bachelors in Biology, minor in Bioethics this semester

Current Academics :
Cumulative GPA - 3.47
Science GPA - 3.4
Last 45 - 3.78

Expected Academics :
Cumulative GPA : 3.48-3.5
Science GPA: 3.4-3.5
Last 45 : ~3.8

Veterinary Experience : 4,232 hours (current), 5,100 hours (expected)
• Mixed animal GP, CSR and mixed animal assistant - 3,268 hours
• VAMD ER and ICU, small animal ECC assistant - 810 hours, roughly 870 more expected
• Alpaca farm hand (with veterinarian) - 64 hours

Animal Experience : 6,313 hours (current), 6,600 (expected)
• Equine camp counselor - 42 hours
• Pet sitting - 82 hours
• Competitive equestrian - 3,190 hours (current), 3,480 (expected)
• Equine farm hand - 3,040 hours

Research Experience : 88 hours
• Independent research studying equine breeding priorities amongst sport horse breeders

Awards/scholarships :
• National society of Leadership and Success member
• President of National Honor Society
• Member of National Honor Society
• Excellence in AP US History award
• Lions Club scholarship
• NSF STEM scholarship
• Excellence in Honors English award
• Fire Department scholarship
• Presidential scholarship
• Garden Club scholarship
• Excellence in Spanish II award
• Dean’s list (every semester)
• Honors program student

Licenses and Certifications :
• Canine and Feline Nutrition Certification
• ECC 201 Advanced Certification
• ECC 101 Basic Certification
• RECOVER ALS Certification
• RECOVER BLS Certification

Volunteer : 129 hours
• Special Olympics assistant - 14 hours
• Food pantry - 10 hours
• Tutoring - 40 hours
• Fundraiser volunteer - 10 hours
• Office assistant at sober-living resource office - 55 hours

Extracurriculars : 1,583 hours (current), 1,848 hours (expected)
• President of National Honor Society - 106 hours
• Student Council representative - 380 hours
• Member of choir ensemble - 12 hours
• Piano lessons and competitions - 176 hours
• College honors program - 125 (current), 140 (expected)
• Junior varsity and varsity soccer - 442 hours
• National Society of Leadership and Success member - 91 hours
• Bible study - 252 hours

Employment : 2,165 hours
• Hostess - 300 hours
• Barista - 520 hours
• Office assistant - 1,345 hours

LORs :
1 GP veterinarian
Hopefully 1 ER veterinarian
1-2 advisors
1 technician

Schools I’m considering applying to :
• VAMD (IS)
• Auburn
• Clemson
• Colorado
• Cornell
• Kansas
• LMU (Harrogate and OP)
• Long Island
• Purdue
• Ross (already accepted but declined seat to give myself one more shot at US schools)
• Arizona
• Florida
• Illinois
• Wisconsin
• Western

These schools are my only options due to my prerequisites. I’m not very interested in completing a masters because I don’t want to cut into the federal loans until vet school. I am open to any suggestions and would love to hear where you all think I have the best shot!! Thank you in advance!

 

[mw1356]

a few thoughts:
- wisconsin tends to have a super high OOS GPA average (like 3.9+), so i might take that off your list
- illinois also has a preliminary gpa cutoff but the good news is that they stop considering your gpa if you pass that cutoff. unforch i think the cutoff changes year to year so i can’t say how likely it is you’ll make it to their second round
- i’m not an expert on the holistic schools but i’ve heard colorado and arizona recommended many a time so i would keep those
- clemson and lmu op are very new schools that will likely be dealing with curriculum and facilities growing pains for a bit. obviously nothing wrong with going to a newer school, but just something to consider. of the two, i’d probably go with clemson - it looks like they will have a teaching hospital and they’re also connected to a main college campus which might allow for better student support

overall, your GPAs definitely aren’t “bad” but the experience part of your application is what really shines, so i’d probably focus on schools that are more experience focused/“holistic” 🙂

 

[Tech_Penguin]

As silly as it sounds, you should get 22 more research hours to surpass the 100 hour minimum. After 100 hours of each category, you max out your points. Maybe just ask one of the faculty if they need help with data analysis

EDIT: I was referring to VAMD

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have you had your application profile reviewed? I ask because the first, most trivial, point that stood out to me is that you are a 20-y.o. 3x applicant. Your age shouldn't be an issue, but your maturity could be??? You can't list all your high school awards and honors... pick the most important ones.

I also think your community service hours are remarkably low for a reapplicant. I understand having to work for education, but having fewer than 50 hours per activity is easily ignorable. I agree with getting at least 100 hours of research experience if you can.

 

[pp9]

Have you had your application profile reviewed? I ask because the first, most trivial, point that stood out to me is that you are a 20-y.o. 3x applicant. Your age shouldn't be an issue, but your maturity could be??? You can't list all your high school awards and honors... pick the most important ones.

I also think your community service hours are remarkably low for a reapplicant. I understand having to work for education, but having fewer than 50 hours per activity is easily ignorable. I agree with getting at least 100 hours of research experience if you can.

This is actually an interesting thing to point out because how were you applying when you were 17/18? Did you apply with all AP/dual enrollment credits or something the first one or two times? How much of your degree/transcript is based off of AP courses, if so?

Aside from that, my first thought is that your GPAs aren't competitive enough. I don't think it's your experience. Written portions might also be playing a role as well.

 

[apoptosis09]

Research Experience : 88 hours
• Independent research studying equine breeding priorities amongst sport horse breeders

Can you expand on what "Independent" means and what sort of project this was? my instinct reading this and the number of hours makes me think this was a self- guided project or part of a class, which may not count.

I agree with above that more research would be great, not only for the hours on your app, but because a research advisor can potentially provide a strong LoR and attest to critical thinking and reasoning skills. However it sounds like you're graduating soon, so that may be difficult.

LORs :
1 GP veterinarian
Hopefully 1 ER veterinarian
1-2 advisors
1 technician

Is the technician an employer and/or a shiny, glowing, gushing LoR? If no, consider removing it. Keep in mind only 3 letters are considered in your application; they should be the best possible 3 you have access to in terms of relevance and quality. I picked my research advisor, the vet I worked 1:1 the most with, and the director of a horse rescue I put years of time into, as I felt each would highlight a different strength of my application as well as would have high individual quality.

Overall I'm seeing a lot of high quantity (# of experiences) but low quality (duration/ depth of experience) and suspect this may be holding you back.
Since you have this summer at least before next cycle, consider taking the time to really commit yourself to 1-2 things in your community rather than nickel and diming a bunch of different things.

 

[clementine21]

Have you had your application profile reviewed? I ask because the first, most trivial, point that stood out to me is that you are a 20-y.o. 3x applicant. Your age shouldn't be an issue, but your maturity could be??? You can't list all your high school awards and honors... pick the most important ones.

I also think your community service hours are remarkably low for a reapplicant. I understand having to work for education, but having fewer than 50 hours per activity is easily ignorable. I agree with getting at least 100 hours of research experience if you can.

I was 19 the first time I applied, and I only applied to have a “trial run” with the application process. I did dual enrollment in high school, so I was able to apply to a few schools with prerequisites I had already completed. After I was rejected my first cycle, I did a file review with VAMD and was told my only issue was my cumulative GPA. The admissions director told me my experience section earned “100 points” in their review as I met specific hour thresholds, my essays were strong, and my LORs were all great as well. I do think my age was likely a factor too. I’m hoping this cycle it will be less of an issue since I will be 21!

I was informed to include EVERY experience and honor from my freshman year of high school through my senior year of college. Is this not true?

I agree that my community service hours are lacking! I have already started reaching out to different programs near by to volunteer. Thank you so much for your advice!!

 

[clementine21]

This is actually an interesting thing to point out because how were you applying when you were 17/18? Did you apply with all AP/dual enrollment credits or something the first one or two times? How much of your degree/transcript is based off of AP courses, if so?

Aside from that, my first thought is that your GPAs aren't competitive enough. I don't think it's your experience. Written portions might also be playing a role as well.

I was 19 the first time I applied! I did dual enrollment in high school, so I was able to apply to a few schools with prerequisites I had already completed. I didn’t expect any acceptances that cycle, but I had to opportunity to learn how to apply, better understand the process, and complete file reviews, so I took advantage of that. None of my transcript is AP courses - I have ~45-50 credits of community college courses from dual enrollment, and the other ~75 are from a 4-year university. Thank you for your feedback!!

 

[clementine21]

As silly as it sounds, you should get 22 more research hours to surpass the 100 hour minimum. After 100 hours of each category, you max out your points. Maybe just ask one of the faculty if they need help with data analysis

Good to know!! Thank you so much!

 

[clementine21]

a few thoughts:
- wisconsin tends to have a super high OOS GPA average (like 3.9+), so i might take that off your list
- illinois also has a preliminary gpa cutoff but the good news is that they stop considering your gpa if you pass that cutoff. unforch i think the cutoff changes year to year so i can’t say how likely it is you’ll make it to their second round
- i’m not an expert on the holistic schools but i’ve heard colorado and arizona recommended many a time so i would keep those
- clemson and lmu op are very new schools that will likely be dealing with curriculum and facilities growing pains for a bit. obviously nothing wrong with going to a newer school, but just something to consider. of the two, i’d probably go with clemson - it looks like they will have a teaching hospital and they’re also connected to a main college campus which might allow for better student support

overall, your GPAs definitely aren’t “bad” but the experience part of your application is what really shines, so i’d probably focus on schools that are more experience focused/“holistic” 🙂

Thank you so much!!

 

[clementine21]

Can you expand on what "Independent" means and what sort of project this was? my instinct reading this and the number of hours makes me think this was a self- guided project or part of a class, which may not count.

I agree with above that more research would be great, not only for the hours on your app, but because a research advisor can potentially provide a strong LoR and attest to critical thinking and reasoning skills. However it sounds like you're graduating soon, so that may be difficult.

Is the technician an employer and/or a shiny, glowing, gushing LoR? If no, consider removing it. Keep in mind only 3 letters are considered in your application; they should be the best possible 3 you have access to in terms of relevance and quality. I picked my research advisor, the vet I worked 1:1 the most with, and the director of a horse rescue I put years of time into, as I felt each would highlight a different strength of my application as well as would have high individual quality.

Overall I'm seeing a lot of high quantity (# of experiences) but low quality (duration/ depth of experience) and suspect this may be holding you back.
Since you have this summer at least before next cycle, consider taking the time to really commit yourself to 1-2 things in your community rather than nickel and diming a bunch of different things.

My research was self-guided with assistance from my genetics professor and pre-vet advisor, who did write me a letter of recommendation. The research wasn’t part of a class, but it was part of my school’s honors program requirement in which we present research in our senior year. I would definitely like to gain more research experience though, so I will start seeking some opportunities!!

The LOR from the technician is very strong and I do think it is likely helpful. She is a senior technician and she has worked extremely closely with me.

I am planning on adding more community service hours this semester and through the summer, and hopefully some research as well. Thank you so much for your input!!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm finishing up the newest SDN How to Get Into Veterinary School Guide, but I am citing data from the AAVMC's most recent analysis of the application cycle (2019 incoming class). Things might have changed after the pandemic, but some patterns among applicants are insightful.

 

[ali9280]

I was informed to include EVERY experience and honor from my freshman year of high school through my senior year of college. Is this not true?

I included every single experience, including when I started shadowing a local vet consistently at 13 lol. Another one was that I shadowed a different vet for about 4 hours, and I wasn't sure if it was enough to put down on my application. Well, it turned out that one of the faculty that interviewed me knew that vet! So, I definitely don't think it hurts to include everything on there!