WAMC/ Where should I apply?

[Nottodaysatan821]

Oh, hi!
I am reapplying this cycle. I did work on improving my application but now I am wondering what are the best places I should focus on applying, given my stats?

Schools I want to apply to: Kansas (IS)

After that I am willing to cast a large net and see If I catch anything.
Schools i have met the minimum requirements for are (no particular order):
Midwestern, Colorado State, Virginia- Maryland, University of Arizona, Western, LMU, Purdue, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Georgia State, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, U of Illinois, U of Minnesota, Tufts, Florida State, Cornell, Michigan State, Washington State, Missouri

Also: Louisiana and LIU but I think it's impossible to afford the tuition (OOS LSU) or cost of living (LIU).


cGPA: about 3.4- 3.5 I have to see how this school calculated my GPA
Science GPA: I believe it was ~3.2
Last 45 GPA: Looks like it will be 4.0. Will colleges look into rigor of last 45 credits? I changed my major to general science to graduate faster, so my course load is easier (in my opinion)

GRE: Did terrible. 146/154 3.0
Not sure if I should retake it and risk schools relaxing the requirement this cycle, or focus on retaking a chem course over the summer.

Vet Experiences:
Shadowed a large animal vet (~20 hours)
Watched an orthopedic surgeon do some procedures at the last base (~4 hours)
Shadowed a SA vet at the last base (~200 hours)
Shadowed at Spy Coast Farm for a week (~40 hours)
Will be shadowing at the same clinic over the summer (unsure about hours due to COVID)

Not sure where this goes, but I
Work as animal care assistant in SA clinic but I help out way more with procedures (will have about ~500 hours by September)
Worked as kennel attendant in a different SA hospital (~300 hours)

Animal Experiences:
Horse owner
Dog owner
I work at the stable where I board my horses (~200 hours)

Honors/Awards:
Academic All american for horse judging
I was elected treasurer for two years the the riding club and boarding stable at our last base (it was an interesting experience to run a boarding stable where there was no true owner. Everything had to be voted on and we all had different opinions on horse care)
I was also elected secretary for a year at the same riding club and stable

Letters of recommendation:
(Hopefully) the vet I work for. Graduated from my IS and has a great reputation
Religion professor
Perhaps the kennel manager? Not sure yet

Background info:
Non traditional, Female, KS resident
Set to graduate (finally) December 2020 with a degree in general science. My thoughts, I have the courses I need to apply so I dont want to take out more loans to finish a differnet program unless it leads directly to gainful employment.
My back up plan is going into sonography; perhaps pediatric echocardiography.

Questions
I'm completely up in the air. My husband is in the air force, and I have transferred universities 3 times. I wouldnt change it for the world, but I really had to learn to readjust and reorient quickly to new schools, new teaching styles, new jobs, etc. No worries about finishing a program. If i am lucky enough to get accepted I'm going and I'm staying.
Chemistry killed me. I never failed a course, but I got a C in gen chem 2, O-chem 1 and 2, and biochemistry. I retook gen chem 1 and got an A. I retook O-chem 1 immediately (at a different college) and got a C, again. I am considering retaking Biochem, but am afraid I will do poorly at my current school. In all other courses and prerequisites I have either an A or a B.
I am considering retaking the GRE, but so many schools are going away from that requirement I worry that all that work will be for nothing.

Sorry if this is all over the place. I told myself I was going to stay far away from SDN this cycle. But, here I am, quickly typing out my life story before I head to work.

Give it to me straight, what are my chances? Where is my best bet?

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[brookestgermain]

Hi there!

I applied to Kansas State this last cycle and got accepted (also to CO, MN, and IA) but will be attending Iowa State. I guess a couple of things I would point out is:
1. Apply to your IS (Kansas) at least. You have a better chance there than anywhere else you are going to apply! I see you have some schools on your list that are big about GPAs. Though yours isn't terrible by any means, it may not be competitive for OOS schools that heavily weigh GPA. I'd look into OOS average GPAs for your list before wasting time and money applying there.
2. I personally wouldn't retake the GRE and just not apply places that require it. You likely aren't going to get significantly higher with it and your IS school doesn't require it. Also, the amount of time it takes to study and increase your GRE score significantly could be better spent doing other things to improve your application.
3. (Not super important) One thing that stood out to me in your post is that you said you were a dog and horse owner in your animal experience. Not sure if you're putting that on your VMCAS, but I have received several tips from a few schools saying not to do that (Iowa State the most). Unless it is something significant (you own cattle you manage, horse training operation, etc.) they don't want to see that/don't care and don't want to waste their time reading that.

I'd get some more large animal/veterinary hours, or work on getting your science GPA a little higher. I would also try to find something that is going to make you stand out more than your average applicant (since I see most of your experience is small animal shadowing). My "stand out" was being a veterinary technician at a 24/7 ER for 2 years and my degree was a Bachelor's in veterinary technology. Of course this is just my objective opinion! Good luck!

 

[Nottodaysatan821]

Hi there!

I applied to Kansas State this last cycle and got accepted (also to CO, MN, and IA) but will be attending Iowa State. I guess a couple of things I would point out is:
1. Apply to your IS (Kansas) at least. You have a better chance there than anywhere else you are going to apply! I see you have some schools on your list that are big about GPAs. Though yours isn't terrible by any means, it may not be competitive for OOS schools that heavily weigh GPA. I'd look into OOS average GPAs for your list before wasting time and money applying there.
2. I personally wouldn't retake the GRE and just not apply places that require it. You likely aren't going to get significantly higher with it and your IS school doesn't require it. Also, the amount of time it takes to study and increase your GRE score significantly could be better spent doing other things to improve your application.
3. (Not super important) One thing that stood out to me in your post is that you said you were a dog and horse owner in your animal experience. Not sure if you're putting that on your VMCAS, but I have received several tips from a few schools saying not to do that (Iowa State the most). Unless it is something significant (you own cattle you manage, horse training operation, etc.) they don't want to see that/don't care and don't want to waste their time reading that.

I'd get some more large animal/veterinary hours, or work on getting your science GPA a little higher. I would also try to find something that is going to make you stand out more than your average applicant (since I see most of your experience is small animal shadowing). My "stand out" was being a veterinary technician at a 24/7 ER for 2 years and my degree was a Bachelor's in veterinary technology. Of course this is just my objective opinion! Good luck!

I forgot to mention, mainly because I was rushing, that I worked in an environmental toxicology lab for 2 years. I participated in tons of different studies concerning the development of different fish and frogs once exposed to varying concentrations of a known toxin. The work was interesting, I did tons of necropsies, ran parameters, and a lot of husbandry. Do you think this would help me stand out?

The work itself was interesting but the work environment was not the best or else I would ask for a LOR.

 

[MixedAnimals77]

Schools I want to apply to: Kansas (IS)
After that I am willing to cast a large net and see If I catch anything.
Schools i have met the minimum requirements for are (no particular order):
Midwestern, Colorado State, Virginia- Maryland, University of Arizona, Western, LMU, Purdue, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Georgia State, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, U of Illinois, U of Minnesota, Tufts, Florida State, Cornell, Michigan State, Washington State, Missouri

Also: Louisiana and LIU but I think it's impossible to afford the tuition (OOS LSU) or cost of living (LIU).
-To add to this off your list above CSU, Western, and Midwestern all have COA more than LSU per VIN VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map so might consider taking those schools off your list cost wise.

-You have alot of schools listed I would try to narrow them down some due to the fact yeah applications are expensive, but then any interview travel as well plus some of those end up overlapping so you wouldn't be able to attend one putting that school application as a waste. Basically just double check the interview schedules of the schools before spending all the time and money to apply to all of them-you can look at their previous dates to get an idea of when they have interviews.

cGPA: about 3.4- 3.5 I have to see how this school calculated my GPA
Science GPA: I believe it was ~3.2
Last 45 GPA: Looks like it will be 4.0. Will colleges look into rigor of last 45 credits? I changed my major to general science to graduate faster, so my course load is easier (in my opinion)
-Depends on the school how they evaluate last 45. For example Iowa puts a heavy emphasis on their last 45. WSU goes for a more holistic approach.

GRE: Did terrible. 146/154 3.0
- This isn't terrible. Your quant is right about avg and your total score is 300 which iirc is about avg. Plus most schools don't take into account writing. I have heard whisperings of CASPer for some schools now so would want to double check those requirements.

Not sure where this goes, but I
Work as animal care assistant in SA clinic but I help out way more with procedures (will have about ~500 hours by September)
Worked as kennel attendant in a different SA hospital (~300 hours)
-This would be vet hours

Letters of recommendation:
(Hopefully) the vet I work for. Graduated from my IS and has a great reputation-doesn't matter their reputation, but more what they write.
Religion professor
Perhaps the kennel manager? Not sure yet
-if you're reapplying this cycle I'd recommend asking all your people ASAP so they have plenty of time. Just a courtesy to them.

For your tox lab definitely include it, don't sweat about getting that LOR if the environment wasn't good. Nothing is more damaging than a poor LOR. Not sure if it'll make you stand out persay, but in general I think the notion of standing out because of an experience isn't necessarily true. What matters is your time in those experiences coupled with your ability to articulate your understanding of the profession and strong LORS. An application can look amazing experience wise but get rejected because of poor essays or LORs.

Also I would contradict the advice of brookes as WSU specifically wants to know everything. Literally. Did you donate clothes-include it. Enjoy hiking- include it. If the schools don't want that information they'll disregard it. Schools want to know you're a person outside of animals/vet med. But when listing ownership experience don't over inflate hours which tends to be the issue. Like typical dog owner you could say maybe 2 minutes/day feeding&watering them over their life unless they have a serious health condition you help manage. AKA don't include the hour walk you take them on everyday.

Also here's WSU tier breakdown so you can see where you fall for them in getting an interview https://dvm.vetmed.wsu.edu/admissions/academic-criteria

 

[Nottodaysatan821]

First, thank you both so much for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate the help! I really have to think over all this great advice. It sure is a stressful time, but I hope to be more successful this time around!

Also, if anyone else sees this thread and has a suggestion on which schools I should focus on, I am still in the process of deciding and would love more pointers!

 

[Georgethecat]

Would recommend that you contact all of the schools you are interested in and see how they classify military spouses. Some vet schools offer instate status to military spouses and that would be a huge benefit in tuition paid and might also place you in the in state pile of applicants (generally easier to get in as IS as opposed to OOS).

Just letting you know that the vet schools in Georgia and Florida are located at the University of Georgia (not Georgia State) and the University of Florida (not Florida State). Historically UGA has taken very few OOS students (15), but there has been talk of enlarging the class of 2025 so I would confirm that.

Start a spreadsheet with all of the relevant information for each school: pre-req's required, # of OOS spots, tuition and COL, avg gpa's, how the gpa's are calculated, etc.

How gpa's are calculated can vary HUGELY between schools. All depends on if they allow grade replacement or average all attempts. Some schools calculate science gpa using all science and math classes taken. Others, UGA for example, only count their specific science and math pre-req's in the science gpa.

Sorry I don't have anything more specific for you. Your overall stats are decent. Try to determine which schools best match up with your application strengths (last 45 gpa for example) and put a lot of effort into your essays. Best of luck to you!