WAMC w/ Program and Pre-Req Questions

[DakotaLJ]

Hi, everyone! I've been stalking these threads for a long time and finally decided to put myself out there. In addition to evaluating my general stats, I would like to ask for your feedback on the best mixed-animal medicine programs and the Animal Nutrition course requirement for Purdue/Texas A&M. My university does not offer the course and I'm not sure $800 through Oklahoma State is in my financial interest.

In-State (California): UC Davis and Western
Applying (primary interest): UC Davis, Texas A&M, Purdue, Colorado, Oregon and Washington
Applying (secondary): North Carolina, Missouri, Iowa

Cumulative GPA: 3.97
Science GPA: 3.92
Last 45 GPA: 3.84

GRE (Q/V/W): 164/161/4.5 (Could I benefit from retaking?)

Degree:
- Spring 2019: B.S. in Biology - Molecular conc.
- Spring 2017: A.S. in Biological and Physical Sciences

Veterinary Experience:
- 600+ hrs Veterinary Assitant @ Banfield

Animal Experience:
- 150 hrs volunteering at "Hope, Horses, and Kids" a non-profit equine assisted learning facility.
- 100 hrs volunteering at animal shelters
- 50 hrs volunteer off-site for animal shelters @ PetSmart

Extracurricular:
- Served 1 year ICC representative and treasurer for Pre-Vet club
- Member of AMSA (Fall 2015 - Spring 2019) including suitcase clinic volunteer work w/ homeless community ~30 hrs.

Research:
- 300+ hours computational and wet lab molecular research on sex change in fish (CSU Monterey UROC Researchers)
- 60 hours of veterinary research on pneumonia in dairy cattle (UC Davis VMTRC)
- 100 hours of environmental research w/ dairy cattle (UC Davis VMTRC)

Non-Animal Employment (all while a full-time student):
- Chemistry tutor (college) 1 year
- Shift lead @ Papa Murphy's 1.5 years
- Restaurant server and caterer 1 year
- Children's ministry director and counselor 1 summer

Honors and Awards:
- Dean's List each semester from Fall 2015 - Spring 2019
- Summa Cum Laude from CSU Monterey Bay
- $500 COAST research grant recipient
- Currently in research poster competition @ Evolution 2019 fully funded by CSU Monterey

LOR:
- PI from molecular research lab (also an upper division professor)
- PI from UC Davis dairy research
- Small Animal veterinarian @ Banfield (I have three veterinarians from this practice willing to write)

Thank You!! I really appreciate everyone's time and support. I am also trying to get ER experience during my gap year, but is there any other experience you would recommend?

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[MixedAnimals77]

Are you applying this round? If not I'd suggest you do if you're ready-you have decent enough stats. You'll get a great mixed education no matter where you go. With that said keep in mind a true mixed practice on average doesnt pay amazing compared to small animal so be most interested in your IS and schools that you can change residency. Then lastly schools like CSU since your OOS and Western since it's a private school. Keep your costs down and you'll thank yourself later I promise no matter what you do after graduation.

As far as experience try branching out on your vet experience out from Banfield that's only small animal. Think exotics,speciality practices, a mixed practice- it seems a little counterintuitive to say you want to do mixed if you haven't shadowed a practitioner in that field. I think you have a decent shot and if your LORs and essays are strong I think you have a chance.

You have a high enough GPA &gre scores it's kind of up to you if you want to spend the money and take nutrition. Idk if Davis requires it. Personally it wasnt worth it for me to take nutrition as only one school I thought about applying to required it so I just didnt apply to that school-saved myself tuitions +application fees.

 

[DakotaLJ]

Are you applying this round? If not I'd suggest you do if you're ready-you have decent enough stats. You'll get a great mixed education no matter where you go. With that said keep in mind, a true mixed practice on average doesn't pay amazing compared to small animal so be most interested in your IS and schools that you can change residency. Then lastly schools like CSU since your OOS and Western since it's a private school. Keep your costs down and you'll thank yourself later I promise no matter what you do after graduation.

As far as experience try branching out on your vet experience out from Banfield that's only small animal. Think exotics, specialty practices, a mixed practice- it seems a little counterintuitive to say you want to do mixed if you haven't shadowed a practitioner in that field. I think you have a decent shot and if your LORs and essays are strong I think you have a chance.

You have a high enough GPA &gre scores it's kind of up to you if you want to spend the money and take nutrition. Idk if Davis requires it. Personally, it wasn't worth it for me to take nutrition as only one school I thought about applying to required it so I just didn't apply to that school-saved myself tuitions +application fees.

Yes, I am applying this round and am currently working on my personal statements. I understand, that mixed animal medicine pays less but I would love the ability to work on large animals outdoors as well as directly with clients for SA education/outreach. Correct, Western is one of my IS but I have no interest in applying. I should also have mentioned that I am speaking to a recruiter regarding the HPSP scholarship and that my hometown is in an FDA need area for vets. These are options I am thoroughly considering.

For experience, it does seem a little counterintuitive, but I did conduct research with a dairy vet and had several conversations with her. I am currently living in a more urban area, but am still looking for more of this experience. For Animal Nutrition, it is not considered required but a "bonus" by Texas A&M which is my second choice. The application states they will add an additional 6 points to your profile if it is completed.

 

[SkiOtter]

FWIW, I took the OK State online/correspondence nutrition class and it wasn’t too terribly difficult. If you’re motivated you could probably get the whole thing done in like 2-2.5 months. If A&M or Purdue are cheaper OOS options that you would be a good candidate for, it could be worth the tuition savings if you got in and didn’t get into your IS. IIRC once you make it to interviews for Davis, admissions decisions are only based on your MMI interview.

 

[blueheeler]

For Animal Nutrition, it is not considered required but a "bonus" by Texas A&M which is my second choice. The application states they will add an additional 6 points to your profile if it is completed.

Where did you get your information from? Texas A&M requires Animal Nutrition for matriculation into the program. Also, you only get the extra 6 points added to your application if you complete all the prerequisites before you submit your application.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Your stats are strong, but I would definitely be careful saying your interest is mixed animal with no mixed animal experience. That could be a bit of a turn-off for schools.

Def don’t take the GRE again.

 

[isocitrate dehydrogenase]

Your stats are strong, but I would definitely be careful saying your interest is mixed animal with no mixed animal experience. That could be a bit of a turn-off for schools.

Def don’t take the GRE again.

I strongly agree with this- enjoying working with large animals in a research/non-clinical context does not guarantee you will enjoy large (and by extension, mixed) animal clinical practice

 

[DakotaLJ]

Where did you get your information from? Texas A&M requires Animal Nutrition for matriculation into the program. Also, you only get the extra 6 points added to your application if you complete all the prerequisites before you submit your application.

I received that information directly from Texas A&M @ https://careercenter.tamu.edu/Documents/PSA/Handouts/Veterinary-Medicine . However, I do realize that it may be too late to complete the course for this cycle.

 

[DakotaLJ]

Your stats are strong, but I would definitely be careful saying your interest is mixed animal with no mixed animal experience. That could be a bit of a turn-off for schools.

Def don’t take the GRE again.

I strongly agree with this- enjoying working with large animals in a research/non-clinical context does not guarantee you will enjoy large (and by extension, mixed) animal clinical practice

So, do I list my interest as small animal medicine despite a desire to learn/pursue more? From my understanding small animal is pretty impacted and I wanted to be more transparent with my end career goal.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

So, do I list my interest as small animal medicine despite a desire to learn/pursue more? From my understanding small animal is pretty impacted and I wanted to be more transparent with my end career goal.

Just don’t say it’s your definite only interest. I think it’s okay to say that you still want to explore the potential for a career in mixed animal. Talk about how your research has impacted that.

And just as an aside, you really can’t know what you want until you have some experience anyway. I originally wanted to be an equine vet, spent time with an equine vet at a pre-vet and realized it was definitely not what I wanted to do. If you commit to mixed animal firmly in your essays, all it takes is one person in an interview to ask “how do you know you want to be a mixed animal vet if you have no experience with it?”

 

[SkiOtter]

I received that information directly from Texas A&M @ https://careercenter.tamu.edu/Documents/PSA/Handouts/Veterinary-Medicine . However, I do realize that it may be too late to complete the course for this cycle.

That website says 6 points if ALL of your prereqs are completed, not just for having nutrition completed. They also require either animal nutrition OR feeds and feeding. It’s not a suggestion. I think you’re reading/interpreting something incorrectly.

 

[blueheeler]

I received that information directly from Texas A&M @ https://careercenter.tamu.edu/Documents/PSA/Handouts/Veterinary-Medicine . However, I do realize that it may be too late to complete the course for this cycle.

Okay, I think you misunderstood the handout. I went to Texas A&M for my undergraduate degree and received the same handout. We were always told the 6 extra points is for completion of all prerequisites before you submit your application. It’s not just for completing animal nutrition, which is a requirement unless you take ANSC 318 (feeds and feeding) at A&M. I’m not sure if there is an equivalent course to ANSC 318 for students who don’t go to A&M. Definitely email Yolanda about that!

I just want to make sure you get everything sorted out before you apply to TAMU. I think you have a strong application and a good chance of interviewing.

 

[DakotaLJ]

That website says 6 points if ALL of your prereqs are completed, not just for having nutrition completed. They also require either animal nutrition OR feeds and feeding.

Okay, I think you misunderstood the handout. I went to Texas A&M for my undergraduate degree and received the same handout. We were always told the 6 extra points is for completion of all prerequisites before you submit your application

Okay, I guess I should have been more clear initially. I understand that the points are not only for the animal nutrition component BUT that is the only course I am missing from the requirements list. So, if I completed that course I’d effectively have all the pre-reqs and would receive 6 extra points. My underlying question is “Are the 6 extra points worth ~$800 and now 2.5 months of cramming?”.

 

[DakotaLJ]

Just don’t say it’s your definite only interest. I think it’s okay to say that you still want to explore the potential for a career in mixed animal. Talk about how your research has impacted that.

I definitely see where you guys are coming from and can try to rephrase it in my essays. Would it be okay to say something like “...This research study led me to develop a greater understanding of food animal medicine and expanded my career goals ... My interests are now developing from a mixed-animal perspective because ... in small animal medicine.” (Paraphrased from my statements)

 

[blueheeler]

Okay, I guess I should have been more clear initially. I understand that the points are not only for the animal nutrition component BUT that is the only course I am missing from the requirements list. So, if I completed that course I’d effectively have all the pre-reqs and would receive 6 extra points. My underlying question is “Are the 6 extra points worth ~$800 and now 2.5 months of cramming?”.

Oh yeah that makes sense. Honestly every point counts. I went to the admissions workshop this past May for A&M. The cutoff between an acceptance vs a waitlist position comes within a tenth of a point. Having said that, I think your GPAs will carry you far since A&M really cares about grades/gre scores.

 

[Lupin21]

You should definitely phrase it that you would be interested in mixed animal due to your research, but you cannot make the leap that it in any way represents general practice. They are going to ask you about the expected life style of being on call 24/7 for your clients, how well you understand herd health and responsible antibiotic use, pay, etc. Also, you have worked with dairy cattle, so that is going to be very different than beef cattle depending on where you end up in the country.

If you are only interested in dairy, then Davis and Wisconsin etc are better schools for that. Otherwise, Kansas, MIzzou, and OKState could be good options but work more with beef. Still some dairy, but not nearly as much. Your grades will be a major factor for getting into OKState, and they are good at making mixed animal vets. But the OOS is something to consider there. COL is cheap as all get out, but the price tag for all OOS is painful. haha