Wanting to go to Vet school, but...

[medpup]

Hello All,

I am a 2005 grad with a BA in Biology. I am now looking into vet school. The problem: My GPA is pretty low (cum: 3.3, science/math: 3.0-3.1) and I have zero experience with a vet or anywhere else. The only experience I have is research experience on marine habitats and environmental toxicology.

What can I do?

Should I enroll in a post-bac to enhance my gpa? or Should I just focus on getting experience and get a competitive score on the GRE?

Extra info: I live in NYC and I wouldnt want to attend school too far so I am limited to about 3 schools or so.

Any info would be great!
Thanks
JM

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[tygris]

Hello All,

I am a 2005 grad with a BA in Biology. I am now looking into vet school. The problem: My GPA is pretty low (cum: 3.3, science/math: 3.0-3.1) and I have zero experience with a vet or anywhere else. The only experience I have is research experience on marine habitats and environmental toxicology.

What can I do?

Should I enroll in a post-bac to enhance my gpa? or Should I just focus on getting experience and get a competitive score on the GRE?

Extra info: I live in NYC and I wouldnt want to attend school too far so I am limited to about 3 schools or so.

Any info would be great!
Thanks
JM

Definitely get experience. As much as you can. And to be honest, don't bother applying this year, it will just be a waste of money... unless you want to claim yourself as a reapplicant next year, which may or may not help.
If it's possible, take some grad-level classes (or re-take science classes you did poorly in) *while* getting experience.
As far as staying close to NYC goes... not to sound too discouraging but you can pretty much count Cornell off of your list, even if you are a NY resident - take it from me. I applied there 3 times with similar stats as you and very high GRE's, plus tons of experience in a wide variety of practices and a 4.0 M.S. in Biology... and I didn't even get a waitlist. Cornell doesn't like to see low undergrad grades, that's just how it is. Other surrounding schools may be a better shot... but I don't even know what's close by... Penn? That would probably be a similar situation as Cornell... Tufts, perhaps?
Anyway, that's my two cents, and there have been multiple posts recently about low GPA students thinking about vet school, you should definitely have a look through them

 

[medpup]

Definitely get experience. As much as you can. And to be honest, don't bother applying this year, it will just be a waste of money... unless you want to claim yourself as a reapplicant next year, which may or may not help.
If it's possible, take some grad-level classes (or re-take science classes you did poorly in) *while* getting experience.
As far as staying close to NYC goes... not to sound too discouraging but you can pretty much count Cornell off of your list, even if you are a NY resident - take it from me. I applied there 3 times with similar stats as you and very high GRE's, plus tons of experience in a wide variety of practices and a 4.0 M.S. in Biology... and I didn't even get a waitlist. Cornell doesn't like to see low undergrad grades, that's just how it is. Other surrounding schools may be a better shot... but I don't even know what's close by... Penn? That would probably be a similar situation as Cornell... Tufts, perhaps?
Anyway, that's my two cents, and there have been multiple posts recently about low GPA students thinking about vet school, you should definitely have a look through them

Thanks for your help! Yes I wasn't even thinking about applying this year. I want to focus on getting experience and my grades up. Maybe a graduate program? Who knows but best of luck to you.

Thanks!

 

[zufuss]

Thanks for your help! Yes I wasn't even thinking about applying this year. I want to focus on getting experience and my grades up. Maybe a graduate program? Who knows but best of luck to you.

Thanks!

I'd say if you have an instate school or a school of preference apply to just that school this year at the least. I'm pretty sure you won't get an interview, but you go into their records. Spend the next year getting a good amount of experience and bring up your GRE scores. When you apply next year go ahead and apply to a wider range of schools, but your main school most importantly sees that you are still interested, you applied last year, and most of all you made a big effort to improve your application.

 

[justified]

If you are REALLY interested in becoming a vet you do have other options. You can go to school overseas (like U of Glasgow or Melbourne) but obviously this is going to be very expensive. I know someone who just couldn't get into a North American school but wanted it bad enough that they went abroad.
You can practice in the States once you complete the degree and the NAVLE (board exam) but you should know that you have to complete the hands on component of the exam which is long and very expensive.

 

[katemez]

Actually U. of Glasgow as well as a handful of other international schools are AVMA accredited, so you don't need to fulfill any more requirements after graduate than a graduate of any other AVMA accredited school (in the US or otherwise). I'm at Massey in New Zealand, which I chose to go to not because I wasn't admitted to schools in the US, but because it can be fun and rewarding to live overseas!

But anyway, I realize you're not interested in traveling far from NY... Just wanted to clarify about the overseas-school thing. But it's true, you don't need as much experience over here--they just look at grades and GRE scores.

 

[medpup]

Those are definitely options. I guess I will just have to work on getting experience and go from there.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[birdvet2006]

If you are REALLY interested in becoming a vet you do have other options. You can go to school overseas (like U of Glasgow or Melbourne) but obviously this is going to be very expensive. I know someone who just couldn't get into a North American school but wanted it bad enough that they went abroad.
You can practice in the States once you complete the degree and the NAVLE (board exam) but you should know that you have to complete the hands on component of the exam which is long and very expensive.

Justified,

I also chose overseas due to the life experience and adventure - NOT because I couldn't get into a US school. I never applied to a US vet school and really hate how it can be implied that I am "not good enough for the US schools".

I'm an alumna of the University of Glasgow, an AVMA accredited school. I took the NAVLE and the California State Board Exam and am now a licensed veterinarian.

 

[justified]

Sorry if you take offence to my comment Birdvet.
But as far as I understand, it IS much easier to get into these vet schools as opposed to US schools. I didn't say everyone that goes there is less intelligent. Someone I know couldn't get into any schools here so she headed to Glasgow... that's a fact.