Okay, sounds good. We might be able to give you some pointers in the meantime if you post a full WAMC post. I don’t initially see anything with your GPAs or experience that would keep you from getting an acceptance, so I’m wondering if there is an issue with your school list or a red flag that you’re not aware of.
So I do think part of your issue is your school list. Cornell puts 25% of their admissions decision on the GRE, which is very weak in your case. Penn does require the writing portion of the GRE according to their website, so that could be the problem (unless you were told differently). MSU doesn’t care about the GRE or GPAs, so they tend to care a bit more about diversity of experience than other schools. I do find it odd that you didn’t get any interest from tOSU or VA-MD, which makes me wonder if there is an issue with an LOR or your essays - this is where file reviews could be really helpful. For next cycle, I’d say target schools that don’t consider the GRE and see if you can add a bit of large animal experience. I’d also say that I see almost no experiences or extracurriculars that aren’t animal-related - a lot of schools like to see these to show that you have other interests. See if you can find some things that you enjoy doing that aren’t about animals. Leadership positions of any kind would also be a great addition to your app.
Have your grades over the last 3 semesters seen significant improvement? Specifically, what was your GPA for the last 3 semesters? You posted before, but without additional info, we can’t really give you specific advice.
Unless something has changed in the past 4 years, Penn does not require the written portion of the GRE and often recommends skipping it.
Thanks!! Yea, I knew I shouldn't have applied to Cornell. I did reach out to admissions at Penn and they said I could skip it 🙂
Well, you must be in the S part of STEM. People in the TEM fields all have computers with keypads. All high computing laptops have keypads. LOLA 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
If the vet supervised you as a kennel technician it counts. It's all about the amount and interaction you have with the vets. I've had jobs as a Vet Tech where I rarely saw the vet and was supervised by the lead tech. Spending my days cleaning ears, trimming nails and running lab tests didn't teach me much about being a vet.
Hey! I was referring to Michigan!
Hello
Definitely boost your GPA and get research hours. Also apply to way more schools. The lower your stats are, the larger the number should be. For you I would say at least 10. It’s a lot of money but it’s cheaper than applying to only a few for multiple years in a row. I applied to 11 and while I ended up getting into my IS, it was still a surprise. A lot of schools rejected me even though I thought they’d be easier to get into. You just can’t determine which schools will be easiest to get into just because they were easier one year or another.
@Ainz-Rodriguez I am going to strongly disagree with the advice above that you should apply to a lot of schools because you have lower stats. Apply smarter not broader. Look for schools that accept grade replacement, and consider retaking more classes if you need to. I think there are also some schools that require you have a minimum gpa, but they don’t consider your gpa much after that.
This will probably get moved to what are my chances thread. I'll attempt to help, but everything is pretty vague so I can't give anything but general advice. I have a few questions first. Did you do a file review with your IS last year? If so what did they say? If not DO ONE THIS YEAR! They give the best feedback as they know what they want to see and what you were lacking. As far as your hours are they 1800 hours all in one aspect in vet med? If so diversify your hours if at all possible. Can you do two jobs serve and vet med or even just serve and shadow. You have alot of hours and money is important, but if you plan to apply again I wouldn't leave vet med entirely even if you just shadow once a week it still shows your interest in the profession plus youll need that ELOR next cycle. Research is research and is not veterinary experience especially if not supervised by a veterinarian. Follow the VMCAS flow chart. I would venture a guess to say based on the fact that you got interviews that not having reasearch experience is not holding you back, plus there are people who get in with no research experience at all. You say you feel no research is holding you back from getting interviews from OOS schools but you don't really wasnt to go OOS-did you apply OOS? If so maybe we need to evaluate what schools you applied to in correspondance with your stats. For example if someone has a crummy GRE score and applied to Cornell with an avg GPA I wouldn't expect them to get accepted as Cornell places alot of emphasis on the GRE. Each school has it's own way it makes decisions and certain schools may not be the best option for you. You graduate with your bachelors next spring as in 2020? I wouldn't worry about a masters or LVT until then because there's still a whole other cycle between now and then. Depending on what your GPA is and what you're getting your degree in neither of those may be a good option for your situation.
don't become a tech if you don't want a career as a tech. don't waste tons of money putting yourself through tech school just as a stepping stone for vet school. it's not worth it.
Have you done a file review? If not, do that. We can give our best guess, but the school knows why you have been wait listed both years.
Don’t feel horrible. I got into my IS with what I thought were pretty awful stats. They required the GRE so that helped since mine was on par for the quantitative and above average for verbal, but my GPA was way below average for them. I had a 3.32 according to my university, but a 3.0 according to VMCAS. My last 45 was a 3.70 and 3.45 respectively for how I said my cGPA. I really thought I didn’t stand a chance most places. However, I did have a lot of vet experience (3500 hours) and some research and animal experience. I do think that my interview sealed the deal though. Don’t give up hope. Just try and better the things you CAN help to outweigh the things you can’t.
Over the summer I interned at a shelter clinic that started off as unpaid, but as I gained experience they essentially "promoted" me to being a paid employee. On my application I wrote that I began as an unpaid intern, but became a paid technician when the veterinarian decided that my skills were strong enough to work as an actual employee. I essentially did the same things that I had been doing before being paid, but I also received other opportunities such as being allowed to work by myself in the clinic. Definitely a good thing to differentiate because it shows that the clinic has evaluated your skills and that you're continuing to work in-depth within the veterinary field!
An easy way to list it on a physical resume would be something like (Volunteer: August 2017-December 2018, Paid: January 2019-present)
Do you have any research experience? A professor may be able to write you a stronger LOR if you did research for a bit (if applicable), not to mention research would look good on your app. However, if not, definitely not a big deal. Do you have any professors from small classes who knows you by name (preferable a class which you felt you participated a lot in).
Can I ask for a general range of your GPA? Or if you failed any classes/had any grade replacements/etc? It's ok if not, just curious!
Do you think my stats are competitive enough to apply for OOS schools? It was my understanding that the OOS applicant pool tends to be stiffer competition than the IS applicant pool, and I wasn't sure if it would be a waste of cash to even bother applying for that reason.
Thanks for the advice re: exotic med! I looked up a zoo vet near my hometown and plan on reaching out to see if I can shadow them. I appreciate your help. I was also thinking more LA experience would be helpful to get accepted, but I'm not too sure about that because my ideal career would be small animal focused.
