Hello everyone,
I need some advice or any feedback. I graduated from college in May 2017. I know that I have wanted to pursue veterinary medicine for a while however I know that my current GPA (2.9) would not allow for me to gain admission into my in-state school and I know that if I can not do that then I probably won't be admitted into an out of state school. I also believe that my science GPA is probably around the same as my cumulative GPA and don't really think my last 45 hours have been any better. I have retaken some of the science courses and math courses at a community college (due to financial purposes) and did better the second time around, BUT I do not believe it is enough. I am set to take my GRE in about 2 months and know that that is also considered.
I have worked at a veterinary clinic for an accumulation of 4 years, however I was recently told that although it may count as animal experience, it does not count as hours shadowing/observing a vet. I have tried to email some of the schools and get some feedback or recommendation, but have not heard back from any of them.
I am wondering at this point due to my GPA should I apply for a master's, a certificate program, retake courses?
I would wholeheartedly appreciate any feedback from anybody facing the same situation or has been in that situation, or current students in programs about what you guys did to get to where you are! thank you so much!
I was in the same boat as you. I had a relatively low cumulative GPA by doctorate-level program standards and desperately needed a change in career and wholeheartedly wanted to be a veterinarian. My recipe is by no means a "one size fits all" plan for success, but it worked for me:
I concentrated on programs that, academic wise, only look at your last 45 hours, your prerequisite GPA, and GRE score and began to retake prerequisite classes based on common prerequisites between the schools. I know that Minnesota, Kansas State, and Louisiana State are such schools and have been told that Michigan State ends academic evaluation of your file if your prerequisite GPA is over 3.0, meaning that if you have a 3.1 you are on a level playing field with applicants with a 4.0 academic-wise - you just need to kill it in the interview and on the rest of your application. I did not apply there so I do not know this for certain; maybe someone else can clarify it for you.
Over the course of two years I took as many classes as my job would allow. I work full-time at a veterinary facility (I have relatively few shadowing hours FYI - maybe 100) so 8 hours classroom hours or so per semester/summer sessions was all I could muster with most classes being done at a local 4-year but a few at a 2-year in town for financial reasons. I likely could have taken more hours but I wanted an A in everything so I slightly scaled back to ensure I had ample time to devote to the coursework. It was still very rough at times and I had quite a few sleepless nights but it is 100% doable - I truly felt my drive to become a veterinarian powered me through times where the old me with no direction would have given up long before.
Flash forward to this application cycle: I applied to several schools that look at your whole body of collegiate work in addition to your prerequisites as well as schools that look at your last 45 hour GPA and prerequisite GPA. I knew it would be tough at the cumulative GPA schools but thought I still might have a decent shot so I applied. Lo and behold, I was rejected by all the cumulative GPA schools BUT received interview invites to the other programs.
To date, I have had two interviews, one interview to go, one acceptance, and still waiting to hear from the other program.
If I can do it, anyone can do it. You just have to be devoted to what you are doing and never give up, which I don't foresee you doing if this is truly your dream. It will require a lot of planning, looking a programs to see how they rank applicants, and then execution of your plan.
To sum it all up: I did a great deal of research, methodically re-took classes based on common prerequisites of the programs of which I intended to apply, made sure to do well in said classes, and made my GRE as competitive as possible (took 2x, first time 300, second 310).
Have you actually applied? Or just thought that your GPA would exclude you from your state school? Rejections, and badly as they hurt in real-time, give you the opportunity to see where you can get better. Most schools will provide feedback as to why you didn't gain acceptance and that can be used to bolster your application for the subsequent cycle.
Last thing - I do not think that just because you cannot get into your state school that you aren't competitive anywhere else. A lot goes into each school's evaluation process and all schools are different. Cast your net as wide as you feel comfortable doing!
Best of luck!