What are my chances?

Is all of your veterinary experience small animal?
In addition to what ski said above, NC State also likes to see experience in at least 3 different areas from what I recall, and I know they recommend having LORs from 2 vets. I can't say specifically for the other schools off the top of my head, but I would encourage you to look around at their admission requirements sites to at least make sure you meet their minimums.

 

Hey, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of what my chances are!

GRE- SUPERRR AVERAGE combined 307 (154/153)
Undergraduate GPA:3.36
Last 45: 3.9
Graduate: 3.93 (so far)
Science GPA=? probably around a 3.5 now
B.S. Marine Science, minor Environmental Science-Stony Brook University
M.S. Earth and Environmental Sciences Brooklyn College

Small animal practices, where I mostly assisted with surgeries--- ~1000hours
Small animal practices where I aided with routine care ~940 hours
Horseback riding/volunteering at a horse farm ~150hrs
Crustacean research ~250 hours

Individual research for thesis involving Microcystis aeruginosa (a cyanobacteria that is harmful to both marine and terrestrial life)
~500hours when my thesis is finished

Random experience helping a local french bulldog breeder ~150hours

Hispanic/Irish

4 Years Marching Band
4 Years Pep Band
1 Year Section leader for both!
4 years Marine Science Club
1 year Semester By the Sea Program

I had a strong upwards trajectory, in terms of my GPA. Where good stories are concerned, I certainly have one: Orphaned in late teens after my mother passed away from brain cancer, homeless thereafter. Freshman GPA (around the time of my mom's first brain surgery) ~2.65. Senior year GPA 3.93. Graduate GPA 3.93. So, I think I have a unique narrative, to convey my persistence.

Anyone who answers, I truly appreciate it!
Even if you don't have a wonderful day!

 

What state are you a resident of and where are you applying.

 

Hey! My GPA is also average to poor (cGPA is 3.31, sGPA 3.36, last 45 3.5) but I had a little higher GRE and I’ve been interviewed at Western, invites to tufts and penn, and waitlist at Cornell so I don’t think that your GPA, esp with your super high last 45, will be too much of an issue if you apply smartly and use the explanation statement to your advantage.
If you’re worried about your GRE, you can apply to schools that don’t require them (I know Purdue is one).
You have a lot of vet hours, but it looks like they’re pretty much all small animal. With average GRE + undergrad GPA, I would recommend getting a wider breadth of vet experiences.

Good luck!!

 

Hey, I was wondering if you guys could give me advice on how to proceed forward.
I am 25 years old and graduated with a 2.99 GPA from college. My GRE scores are bad as well (150 in math and 139 in verbal). I gave up at the time on being a vet due to the poor GPA so I went into funeral directing school (dont ask lol) where I currently have a 3.9 GPA after taking 14 classes. These courses dont help me out that much since they are funeral classes but there has been some classes such as Anatomys 1-3, Micro and Pathology that were included all of which I have gotten A's in. My dad is a vet and I have plenty of experience in the field working with him, at an emergency animal hospital and currently another small animal practice. I applied in 2018 and got wait listed for Lincoln Memorial, Midwestern and Virginia-Maryland. The only offer I received was to do pre-vet program at Ross (which sucks because it is another 18k on top of the already extremely high tuition). I did the math and even if I got straight A's in 8 more classes I would still only have a 3.17 GPA assuming I pull that off. My question is basically do I even have a chance to get into a vet school assuming I can spend the whole year taking classes and retaking the GRE. Looking at the volume of applicants all of these schools receive each year makes me think it might be a waste of time for me to continue trying to become a vet. My state does not have a vet school either so it makes my situation even more difficult as I have to compete for a small amount of seats in a huge pool of out of state applicants. I would love to be a vet and am willing to work hard to become one now but I want to be realistic about my situation and chances of getting in.

Note: I had a similar post asking if I should go to Ross or pursue another career but I didnt get into the specifics of where I stand at the moment in terms of academics so I just wanted some advice moving forward.

 

Hiya! If you don't receive a lot of replies here, I would suggest putting this post into the "What are my chances?" thread because it usually gets a lot of activity: What are my chances?
Not sure I have much say here since I'm currently in my first application cycle, but I think retaking classes over the next year or two and looking for schools with a more "holistic" approach to applicants may be your best bet if you're really set on the field. Also certain schools have certain GPA minimums, so make sure you look out for those as well so you don't waste an application somewhere if your GPA isn't over the cut. There are more schools that no longer require the GRE, so unless you really want to retake it and think it's worth it, it would be possible to apply there as well. I would post this into the other thread (and follow the general format provided) so that people reading your post can get a better overall idea of your application!

 

not helpful but being a funeral director, for those who can stomach it, is such a good job and $$$$

 

Hi,

So I am about to finish my undergrad and I'm having a sort of crisis. My GPA is quite low for a pre-veterinary major and I regret not being so diligent with my school work in the past years. I know that applying for veterinary school would have been futile especially with the GPA I currently have, so I withheld from applying. I wondered if I should do a post-bacc program to raise my academic GPA or if I should spend my time looking for an internship/shadowing opportunity. I'm spending my last semester working hard to raise what I can of my GPA but other than that, I'm unsure of my future. Any guidance?

Thank you

 

We'll need to have more info to give specific advice.

- what is your overall gpa, science gpa, and ~ last two semesters? Do you have an upward trend? A 'low' gpa can mean a lot of things.

- what is your IS school?

- how much vet experience do you have?

- what post-bacc programs have you been looking at - will they help with the job market if you DON'T end up going to vet school? How much will they add to your debt?

 

(Last 45 is generally about last 3 semesters. 2 semesters would be ~30)

 

Two semesters didn't seem quite right, so I gave it a sguiggle.

 

As somebody who had a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, and even lower last 45 and pre-req GPAs, I can tell you what I did... I am currently on my 5th time applying.

I took one year of post-baccalaureate classes (retaking 24 credits of pre-req classes I received the worst grades in). After that, I received an interview and was wait listed at U of MN(this was my third time applying). My pre-req GPA was around 3.4 with a last 45 of 3.5.

As soon as I received that wait list notification, I enrolled in an MPH program. During my 4th year of applying (MPH had just started so this was only listed as "in progress" course work), I received one interview (MSU) and was waitlisted there and at my IS (Wisconsin).

With the completion of my first year of the MPH, I am now on my 5th time applying. My pre-req GPA is around 3.5 with a last 45 of 3.75. So far, I have interviews with Minnesota and Purdue; I am waiting to hear from Illinois and MSU regarding interviews; I am waiting to hear from Wisconsin regarding admission; and I have been rejected by Cornell.

During all of this time, I have been working full-time at an emergency and specialty center. Also, I have retaken the GRE (157, 157, 4.5), and gained additional experiences.

TL;DR: Re-take pre-reqs, consider a master's degree, gain experience. I know it's very generic, but if you have any questions, message me! I would be happy to go further into detail.

 

Hello!!!

I will be applying this May and I wanted some advice on how to improve my application. I want to apply to tOSU, Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn, Missouri, Cornell.

20 year old female, Ohio resident

GPA cumulative: 6.69
Science GPA: 3.63
GRE(Q/V/W): 146/153/?-not sure of writing score yet, I just took the test a couple days ago.

Will be graduating with B.S. Zoology in winter 2019

Veterinary Experience:
Assistant at a spay/neuter clinic attached to a shelter-Assist with surgery duties as well as shelter rounds ~1,800 hours so far.
Volunteer at vaccine/testing clinics- ~30 hours
Shadowed at a small animal private practice 100 hours
Shadowed at an equine only clinic 20 hours
Ride-alongs with large animal vet 20 hours

Animal Experience:
Volunteer at Farm Animal Rescue- probably ~300 hours (did it for 2 years for 1-2 hours in the morning before I went to school/work)
Therapeutic Horse Riding Facility-volunteer- 50 hours
Animal Protective League volunteer-30 hours
Foster Mom to multiple litters of kittens and a HW positive dog-maybe like 600 hours or so-probably more because I had each group for like 3 months each
Volunteer at wildlife sanctuary-20 hours
Raised quail in high school-45 hours
Horseback riding lessons from age 6-14- 100+ hours?, I got a lesson ~2 times a month through the years

Research:
Semester long observational study on squirrel behaviors ~50 hours
Salamander distribution project ~15 hours

School Involvement:
Pre-Veterinary Club-have held officer positions
Biological Scholars Program

Awards:
Deans List all semesters
STEM scholarship
Honors college
Certified frog watcher

Other things:
Volunteer at reading camps for 3rd graders during the summer
Participate in local bird count

Any advice would be great! I know my GRE sucks and I definitely will be retaking it! I want to become a mixed animal vet and work in an underrepresented area or work as a shelter veterinarian. I have found I really love working in low-income areas and helping the animals in those locations.

Thanks in advance!

 

Uh?

 

I'm assuming she meant 3.69?

 

They’re nowhere near each other on keyboards though
That’s why confusion

 

Lol yes I meant 3.69.

 

Isn't 6 right above the 3 on the keypad? I have a tablet, so I don't have a keypad anymore.

 

A KEYPAD?!?!?! Does any computer have one of those anymore if it’s not a desktop with a full keyboard???
I know at least mine doesn’t even have a keypad and hasn’t since at least 2007. But the numbers are in a line above the letters like a tablet’s keyboard is

 

Uh... my laptop has one and it's not even that old.

EDIT: Not that I use it, but it's there.

 

Huh
I haven’t seen one in YEARS that has had one. Like no one in my family or my friends who’s laptops I’ve seen

 

With the shift to 16:9 (widescreen) laptops, even the 15" class of laptops have room for a numpad 'cuz more horizontal room.

Also, SkiOtter turned into cdoconn or I'm really that sleep-deprived.

 

@SportPonies

 

Blame WW.

 

Hi

 

I'm in New York.
Pending accreditation I'm applying to LIU
Then also Cornell, Dublin and maybe a few others.

 

Are you applying this next cycle? Your first post doesn't specify. If so I wouldn't hold out hope on LIU being able to accept a class that is anywhere near AVMA accrediation considering University of Arizona has been trying to get a vet school open for what over 5 years or more now and has been unsuccessful. With your experience my advice to you is apply to Cornell then apply to your cheapest options ones that allow you to switch residency ie-NC,WA, Mizzou (if you have a chance*meet their course requirments/ I don't think Mizzou takes into account post-bac courses). Apply to schools that will consider your post-bac courses as not all will. Double check your prereqs and how each school evaluates. Apply to your cheapest options. Spend some time researching different schools to apply to. Overall you seem to have a decent application. Perhaps try to gain some food animal experience if possible. Otherwise schools that account for last 45 credit GPA are good to look into.

ETA: LIU isn't even on the AVMA's list of schools to visit for accrediation purposes in the first half of 2019 and they want to accept their first class based on the article I read by this fall and be accredited*provisional until they graduate their first class. Not realistic in any way imo.

 

https://www.avma.org/professionalde.../colleges/pages/coe-upcoming-site-visits.aspx
LIU Post scores veterinary-accreditation coup
Long Island University building vet school despite staff cuts and declining enrollment

As MixedAnimals said, LIU is not scheduled for a COE visit prior to the 2019-2020 application cycle. Even if they scheduled one for June, the results won't be up till July at the earliest. That would leave only 2 months for recruitment during that application cycle. I don't see any schools opening up admissions with only 2 months remaining before the application due date, and that's if the AVMA grants provisional accreditation. The full report won't be available until March. Even then, it sounds like there are problems outside the prospective vet school that may influence LIU opening a school, regardless of what the AVMA says.

 

A little off-topic, but... oof. I had heard a rumor abou LIU looking into a possible veterinary school, but didn't know that the school itself was in such dire straits. Have to be honest: I can't see that ending well. And, of course, there are no future plans for an actual teaching hospital anywhere.

Can we also stop using the rural veterinarian "shortage" as justification to build new schools? Opening new schools to solve a problem that, while it does exist, is a multifaceted, complex issue brought about largely by a massive difficult-to-change factor (the poor salary and lifestyle of working in those areas most in need not attracting new graduates with six-figure debts that can't be reasonably serviced on that low pay). I'm increasingly beginning to think that the only way to really tackle it is to either reform how veterinary education is done in this country, offer much better education subsidises (like, 50-100% CoA) for those wanting to practice in underserved locations, or just slashing veterinary school tuition all across the board.

Opening new schools, on its own, will not help and only further serves to drive more potential rural large animal/equine/mixed animal people into small animal practice because they can't afford to live halfway decently and still make loan payments on that sort of pay, further oversaturating the market and taking jobs away from those who actually really want to do small animal. It just exacerbates the problem that these schools are claiming to be able to solve in the first place. We already have more than enough veterinarians in this country; the issue is distribution.

Sorry for the off-the-cuff rant. It's been a long week and I'm just really annoyed by this entire thing. I wish the AAVMC would put their foot down for once.

 

LIU actually already had a site visit in August 2018... that article you posted bats even mentions it

They won’t know if they qualify for “reasonable assurance” until the spring though. So it’s not totally impossible they could start enrolling students during the next cycle.

LIU accreditation decision slated for spring

 

Ooh interesting. I didnt see that in my search. But yes I also agree with @Elkhart about shortage doesn't equal opening more schools. Particularly one in the middle of a metropolis like NYC. Definitely isn't going to solve the rural/food animal issue. If you go look at the stats for my admitted year on VMCAS break down 60% was for companion animal and 20% other with only 20% admitted actually even remotely interested in rural/food practice. Of course this is only one piece not figuring in debt but regardless I digress. Also if we keep opening schools that means more graduates competing for jobs and unfortunately I think our market is more limited than medical doctors because of economic and what people are willing to do/spend currently so at what point do we have a surplus of grads without a job and a giant load of debt?

 

I was under the impression they would need one more site visit to get the provisional accreditation, but I also may be insane.

 

May be?

 

No midterms Oreos for you now!

 

Yo we're oos students. we are definitely insane. you can't NOT be