What are my chances?

[jahmmhan]

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Hi there, I'll be wrapping the last of my applications right ahead of the Sep 15th deadline. Not much to ask, just looking for a realistic evaluation of my chances for this cycle. I suppose the most glaring weakness in my application is the relatively low quantity of experience hours. Thank you for all of your help!

Male, 20, MA state resident, first time applying
Began first year at Brandeis University
B.S. in Animal Science at Cornell University, expected May 2017

Applying to: Cornell, NC State, Tufts (IS), Washington State, U of Minnesota, UPenn

cGPA: 3.90
Science GPA: 3.94
Last 45 GPA: 3.89

GRE : V 168 (98%)/Q 170 (97%)/W 5.5 (98%)

Veterinary Experience:
Small Animal Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic Surgery and Discharge Volunteer: 75 hours
Shadowing Animal Shelter Veterinarian: 36 hours
Biomedical Labs Research Animal Care Assistant: 114 hours
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Internship: 400 hours

Animal Experience:
Animal Shelter Adoption Floor Volunteer: 140 hours
Research Animal Enrichment Program: 42 hours

Research:
Lab Assistant in Andrew White Lab at Cornell University, 20 hours (just started)

ECs:
Freshman Representative for Brandeis Southeast Asia Club
Member of Cornell Pre-Vet Society
Member of Cornell Astronomical Society
Transfer Representative for Cornell Taiwanese American Society
Vice President for Cornell Taiwanese American Society

Employment:
Information and Borrowing Assistant at Brandeis' Goldfarb Library

LoRs:
Research Animal Vet
Wildlife Vet
Faculty Advisor
Animal Science Professor

 

[VetMed1]

I am having the same dilemma. Been taking a course since last year and have not finished it bc life events have gotten in the way. I called VMCAS today and they said they require a fax by the school to say that it was a year long course and then it should be fine. I don't think it will affect our apps in a negative way, it won't change my GPA by that much.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Ya it is the worst! I just hate having this pending class since it is a retake.... Depending on the grade I receive, it would help my GPA a point or so...

 

[Awapi]

Hi all,

I have a little bit of a different question about adding an explanation statement after submitting based on unforeseen VMCAS issues I discovered after being verified today.

I'm a non-traditional student who graduated undergrad about 10 years ago and have since earned a graduate degree. My undergrad grades were fine, nothing to write home about, but I don't think they would hold me back. My GRE and my graduate school grades are actually pretty good, I also have a 4.0 in some recent post-bacc classes.

Here's my new situation:

In 2001, I was fulltime at my undergrad. A friend and I decided to take an English class at a community college for various reasons, but then found out we didn't need the course so we dropped it. There was a miscommunication which caused the official drop to happen late and I got a WF (web drop fail, which I thought/think was ungraded). Seven years later I took a different course at the same school - so I had only two courses on the transcript from that school, one an "A" in Physics II in 2008 and one a WF in an English Comp class from 2001.

VMCAS "verified" the dropped class as an "F" and included that in my GPAs, etc. which makes my GPA from that school a 2.29 since I only took two courses. It was 15 years ago and it's clear that it's only 2 courses, but I feel like it looks bad. I'm reaching out to VMCAS, but not sure if it can be fixed or if they will fix it. Fortunately, my GPAs for my other schools show that this is not my normal performance, but sheesh!

My "school level" GPAs are as follows:

Undergraduate (10 years ago) 136 hours: 3.31
Undergrad 2 (12 years ago) 4 hours: 3.70
Undergrad 3 (15 years ago) 7 hours: 2.29
Graduate school (3 years ago) 42 hours: 3.80
Post-bacc (within the last year) 7 hours: 4.0

My GRE is 167 V, 163 Q, 5.0

I did not use an explanation statement because I thought that 2.29 would be a 4.0, if you remove that then my GPAs are 3.31, 3.7, 3.8, 4.0, and 4.0 and did not think I needed to draw attention to a web drop from 15 years ago.

All that to get to: do you guys think it's worth even saying anything about since it was 15 years ago, and if so - does anyone here have experience with adding an explanation statement after your application has been submitted?

I realize that my school of choice the best to ultimately ask this question, but I am just wondering about any personal experiences while I'm waiting to hear if VMCAS will change it. I will ultimately decide to reach out to the school or not after I'm sure that the GPA will stand as-is.

Thanks!

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Hi all,

I have a little bit of a different question about adding an explanation statement after submitting based on unforeseen VMCAS issues I discovered after being verified today.

I'm a non-traditional student who graduated undergrad about 10 years ago and have since earned a graduate degree. My undergrad grades were fine, nothing to write home about, but I don't think they would hold me back. My GRE and my graduate school grades are actually pretty good, I also have a 4.0 in some recent post-bacc classes.

Here's my new situation:

In 2001, I was fulltime at my undergrad. A friend and I decided to take an English class at a community college for various reasons, but then found out we didn't need the course so we dropped it. There was a miscommunication which caused the official drop to happen late and I got a WF (web drop fail, which I thought/think was ungraded). Seven years later I took a different course at the same school - so I had only two courses on the transcript from that school, one an "A" in Physics II in 2008 and one a WF in an English Comp class from 2001.

VMCAS "verified" the dropped class as an "F" and included that in my GPAs, etc. which makes my GPA from that school a 2.29 since I only took two courses. It was 15 years ago and it's clear that it's only 2 courses, but I feel like it looks bad. I'm reaching out to VMCAS, but not sure if it can be fixed or if they will fix it. Fortunately, my GPAs for my other schools show that this is not my normal performance, but sheesh!

My "school level" GPAs are as follows:

Undergraduate (10 years ago) 136 hours: 3.31
Undergrad 2 (12 years ago) 4 hours: 3.70
Undergrad 3 (15 years ago) 7 hours: 2.29
Graduate school (3 years ago) 42 hours: 3.80
Post-bacc (within the last year) 7 hours: 4.0

My GRE is 167 V, 163 Q, 5.0

I did not use an explanation statement because I thought that 2.29 would be a 4.0, if you remove that then my GPAs are 3.31, 3.7, 3.8, 4.0, and 4.0 and did not think I needed to draw attention to a web drop from 15 years ago.

All that to get to: do you guys think it's worth even saying anything about since it was 15 years ago, and if so - does anyone here have experience with adding an explanation statement after your application has been submitted?

I realize that my school of choice the best to ultimately ask this question, but I am just wondering about any personal experiences while I'm waiting to hear if VMCAS will change it. I will ultimately decide to reach out to the school or not after I'm sure that the GPA will stand as-is.

Thanks!

I was under the impression that you could not add an explanation statement after submitting...

Does that grade drop your overall GPA a lot? Do you have good science and last 45? Hopefully, even if it does get counted since it was *so* long ago schools don't look to much at it, especially if you took other English classes and did fine in them.

 

[Awapi]

I was under the impression that you could not add an explanation statement after submitting...

Does that grade drop your overall GPA a lot? Do you have good science and last 45? Hopefully, even if it does get counted since it was *so* long ago schools don't look to much at it, especially if you took other English classes and did fine in them.

I'm not sure that you can add one either, but I didn't even want to reach out and check unless I was sure I wanted to pursue it.

I don't think it dropped my overall by more than .05. My last 45 is around a 3.9, overall science around 3.42, graduate science is a 3.75 and my post-bacc science is a 4.0. I didn't need the course because I got AP credit, but I took a couple of English courses after and did well in them.

I think it's probably not worth even asking the school about adding any comments, my more recent performance is strong and I *think* I've proven that is a more accurate and sustained reflection of my capacity. Thank you for making me think about it more! 🙂

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I'm not sure that you can add one either, but I didn't even want to reach out and check unless I was sure I wanted to pursue it.

I don't think it dropped my overall by more than .05. My last 45 is around a 3.9, overall science around 3.42, graduate science is a 3.75 and my post-bacc science is a 4.0. I didn't need the course because I got AP credit, but I took a couple of English courses after and did well in them.

I think it's probably not worth even asking the school about adding any comments, my more recent performance is strong and I *think* I've proven that is a more accurate and sustained reflection of my capacity. Thank you for making me think about it more! 🙂

I wouldn't stress too much about it, especially since it was SO long ago. I'm of the mindset that you are usually better off not bringing attention to those things if you don't need to. I would just have a good explanation for it should it come up in an interview🙂

 

[RedLauren]

*

 

[mht2k3]

Most schools will want to see at least one elor from an academic person


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[LuckySpartan]

LORs/Evaluations:
All 3 are from veterinarians I worked or volunteered directly under. Two are from small animal vets and one is from a zoo vet.

You might want to check with your schools asap, as mht2k3 said, some schools require a LOR from a professor or employer.

 

[RedLauren]

You might want to check with your schools asap, as mht2k3 said, some schools require a LOR from a professor or employer.

Thanks, I have checked each school's requirement. It just states that at least one must be from a veterinarian.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

Thanks, I have checked each school's requirement. It just states that at least one must be from a veterinarian.

From WSU's website:

At a minimum, your application must have the following three evaluations: (1) A veterinarian with whom the applicant has interacted fairly extensively; (2) A current or former academic (e.g., professor, teaching assistant, laboratory instructor, advisor from college) who can speak to the applicant’s academic ability; (3) Individuals (e.g., another DVM, another academic, employer) who can evaluate the oral and written communication skills as well as the scientific background of the applicant.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

I'm just bringing up WSU's requirement because that's the only school I'm familiar with. I guarantee you that others on your list will also require an academic letter.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I am a senior Animal Science major at Sam Houston State University and I am about to submit my application to 16 veterinary schools. I don't know any other pre-veterinary students applying this term to discuss this with, so please be honest with me.

GPA:
Cumulative: 3.24
Science: 4.0
Last 45 Hours: 3.94

GRE:
Quantitative: 153
Verbal: 161
Analytical: 4
Quant + Verbal: 314

Experience:
Veterinary hours: 3992
Animal hours: 718
Total hours: 4710

LORs/Evaluations:
All 3 are from veterinarians I worked or volunteered directly under. Two are from small animal vets and one is from a zoo vet.

Schools I am applying to:
Texas A&M (first choice)
Auburn
Iowa State
Kansas State
Lincoln Memorial
Louisiana State
Michigan State
Oklahoma State
Oregon State
Royal Veterinary College
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Minnesota
Virginia-Maryland College
Washington State

Strengths:
4 years of experience as a veterinary technician in a small animal setting, 860 hours of experience volunteering as a veterinary assistant at a zoo.

Concerns:
Over 75% of my veterinary experience hours are from working at small animal clinics (the remaining is from the zoo). 80% of my animal experience is from my pet sitting / dog walking business, the rest of the hours are from animal science laboratories, caring for goats, and volunteering for a marine conservation group in the Caribbean. I'm not satisfied with my quantitative GRE score so I am retaking it next week (some schools will accept it past Sept 15th, some will not). My weakest point is definitely my cumulative GPA. My first two years of college were mediocre, but I retook every class I made less than a B in. In the last two years I have made all As and one B. I'm also concerned because I don't know if having all 3 LORs from veterinarians is a good thing or a bad thing since my weakest attribute is my cumulative GPA.

Have you already applied to all 16 schools? I would definitely take another look at which ones require an LOR from a professor/advisor. Not having a letter from a professor may not be the best way to go...but its kind of late in the cycle to ask for another letter.

Consider this...maybe instead of applying to all 16 of those schools you should consider applying smart (i.e. especially look at schools that put more emphasis on late 45 GPA and science GPA)? Obviously you can spend your money however you want to but 16 schools IS a lot and you can definitely save money and still maximize your chances.

 

[DVMDream]

I am a senior Animal Science major at Sam Houston State University and I am about to submit my application to 16 veterinary schools. I don't know any other pre-veterinary students applying this term to discuss this with, so please be honest with me.

GPA:
Cumulative: 3.24
Science: 4.0
Last 45 Hours: 3.94

GRE:
Quantitative: 153
Verbal: 161
Analytical: 4
Quant + Verbal: 314

Experience:
Veterinary hours: 3992
Animal hours: 718
Total hours: 4710

LORs/Evaluations:
All 3 are from veterinarians I worked or volunteered directly under. Two are from small animal vets and one is from a zoo vet.

Schools I am applying to:
Texas A&M (first choice)
Auburn
Iowa State
Kansas State
Lincoln Memorial
Louisiana State
Michigan State
Oklahoma State
Oregon State
Royal Veterinary College
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Minnesota
Virginia-Maryland College
Washington State

Strengths:
4 years of experience as a veterinary technician in a small animal setting, 860 hours of experience volunteering as a veterinary assistant at a zoo.

Concerns:
Over 75% of my veterinary experience hours are from working at small animal clinics (the remaining is from the zoo). 80% of my animal experience is from my pet sitting / dog walking business, the rest of the hours are from animal science laboratories, caring for goats, and volunteering for a marine conservation group in the Caribbean. I'm not satisfied with my quantitative GRE score so I am retaking it next week (some schools will accept it past Sept 15th, some will not). My weakest point is definitely my cumulative GPA. My first two years of college were mediocre, but I retook every class I made less than a B in. In the last two years I have made all As and one B. I'm also concerned because I don't know if having all 3 LORs from veterinarians is a good thing or a bad thing since my weakest attribute is my cumulative GPA.

My advice: Don't apply to 16 schools. I say this for a variety of reasons but mainly because 1. It is a lot of money and 2. You will not be able to attend interviews for 16 schools. It just isn't possible. And many schools won't reschedule just because you have another interviewing conflict. So you are going to end up in a situation where you have to pick and choose schools to interview at and basically kiss good bye to some of that money you spent on applications. Now if you have a disposable amount of money, then knock your socks off, but most people don't have a disposable amount of money. And even if you did have a disposable amount of money, who wants to spend it on a vet school application? Save it for something better.

Instead apply smart. You have a solid science and last 45 unit GPA, use that to your advantage. Look at schools that consider those GPA's higher. Since you have 3 LORs from vets, apply to schools that don't require an academic reference. You need to use your strengths to your advantage, if you do that, I don't see any reason for you to have a problem with getting accepted this year.

My last bit of advice: Consider schools that won't leave you in a **** ton of debt. Granted this plays again into the how much money do you have thing mentioned above. Considering that most people pay for vet school with loans, you want your loan burden to be as low as possible. Be sure to apply to your in-state (I am guessing that is Texas A&M), then pick a few cheaper out of state schools. Of course, if you have a magical money tree then, again, knock your socks off and go wherever the hell you want (within reason, don't attend an unaccredited vet school). And send me a seed from that tree... 😉

 

[cheathac]

Just kind of treating it as if I haven't applied yet so looking for ways to improve my application in case I don't get in this cycle!
Cum GPA: 3.76 Science GPA: 3.75 Last 45 3.75
GRE Verbal - 150 Quantitative - 154 AW - 3.0 (ouchie)
LOR's - Physiology Professor, Study Abroad Professor, Pathologist, Lab Animal Vet, Oncologist
Intersted in Pathology
PS: Talked about how my interest started when I loved building connections with animals. I described how I want to become a pathologist and discover new ways in how animals and people are connected.
School's Applied to: Purdue (IS), OK State, Wisconsin, NC State, Washington State, Iowa State, Missouri

Vet Experiences
Diagnostic Lab Histology - 855
Small Animal shadowing - 360
Radiation Oncology -156 and counting
Oncology Assistant- 220
Oncology Volunteer - 112
Large Animal/Equine Purdue VTH - 120
Shadowed bovine/equine vet - 200
Necropsy floor - 60
Boiler Vet camp - 40
Foal Watch - 24
Avian/Exotic Animal Clinic - 10
Small Animal Vet Assistant - 20 and counting
Total: 2,177

Research
Mouse botulinum neurotoxin study - 40
Canine Gait Analysis - 174
Mouse embryo start-up lab (writing SOPs, creating experiments, installing a sentinel program) - 15 hours and counting

Animal Experience
Leader Dog - 315
Humane Society-200
Purdue Small Animal Animal Caretaker - 162
4-H beef cattle - 550
4-H horses - 350
4-H swine - 250
Farm - 1000
4-H Dog - 350
Lab Animal Caretaker - 350
Livestock judging - 200
Kennel Assistant - 5 and counting
Total: 3,732

Other Employment
Subway - 350

Class Experiences
Haiti study abroad
ANSC 245 - large animal management - 50 hrs
Freshman Animal Science Class - TA
ENGL 108 - working with nursing home
Haiti TA

Extracurriculars
4-H - 10 year member, numerous awards, started beef club, various leadership positions, loads of community service
FFA - President, reporter, beef proficiency went to nationals, community service
Heifer International - Club Fundraiser officer, Treasurer
Pre-vet club member, fundraising chair officer, assisted with symposium

Awards
Numerous scholarships, 4-H awards, Dean's List, Writing Showcase Award

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Just kind of treating it as if I haven't applied yet so looking for ways to improve my application in case I don't get in this cycle!
Cum GPA: 3.76 Science GPA: 3.75 Last 45 3.75
GRE Verbal - 150 Quantitative - 154 AW - 3.0 (ouchie)
LOR's - Physiology Professor, Study Abroad Professor, Pathologist, Lab Animal Vet, Oncologist
Intersted in Pathology
PS: Talked about how my interest started when I loved building connections with animals. I described how I want to become a pathologist and discover new ways in how animals and people are connected.
School's Applied to: Purdue (IS), OK State, Wisconsin, NC State, Washington State, Iowa State, Missouri

Vet Experiences
Diagnostic Lab Histology - 855
Small Animal shadowing - 360
Radiation Oncology -156 and counting
Oncology Assistant- 220
Oncology Volunteer - 112
Large Animal/Equine Purdue VTH - 120
Shadowed bovine/equine vet - 200
Necropsy floor - 60
Boiler Vet camp - 40
Foal Watch - 24
Avian/Exotic Animal Clinic - 10
Small Animal Vet Assistant - 20 and counting
Total: 2,177

Research
Mouse botulinum neurotoxin study - 40
Canine Gait Analysis - 174
Mouse embryo start-up lab (writing SOPs, creating experiments, installing a sentinel program) - 15 hours and counting

Animal Experience
Leader Dog - 315
Humane Society-200
Purdue Small Animal Animal Caretaker - 162
4-H beef cattle - 550
4-H horses - 350
4-H swine - 250
Farm - 1000
4-H Dog - 350
Lab Animal Caretaker - 350
Livestock judging - 200
Kennel Assistant - 5 and counting
Total: 3,732

Other Employment
Subway - 350

Class Experiences
Haiti study abroad
ANSC 245 - large animal management - 50 hrs
Freshman Animal Science Class - TA
ENGL 108 - working with nursing home
Haiti TA

Extracurriculars
4-H - 10 year member, numerous awards, started beef club, various leadership positions, loads of community service
FFA - President, reporter, beef proficiency went to nationals, community service
Heifer International - Club Fundraiser officer, Treasurer
Pre-vet club member, fundraising chair officer, assisted with symposium

Awards
Numerous scholarships, 4-H awards, Dean's List, Writing Showcase Award

You have good experiences and good GPAs, so it looks like you have a pretty good shot this cycle. If you have a week area, its probably the GRE, so worst comes to worst I'd probably retake it.

 

[5leafclover]

One upon a lurker...just submitted my application and having a little bit of a mental freak-out, so I'm posting...

First-timer, graduating this spring

Applying: Ohio State, Virginia, Cornell, and Missouri (no IS🙁)

cumGPA: 3.73
sciGPA: 3.72
Last 45 GPA: 3.73
GRE (Q/V/W): 150/162/4.5 (yeah, quant is ugh)

Veterinary:
1,000 SA
65 equine
70 large animal (cows/camelids/equine)

Animal:
5,500 hours working in various barns (horses)

Research:
800 hours working with ruminants (cows and goats), this has been a huge part of my undergrad experience, authorship forthcoming on two papers

Extracurriculars:
Lots of TA experience and tutoring for various biology and chemistry classes
therapeutic riding program
pre-vet club
study abroad (non-veterinary)
dean's list

LORs:
SA veterinarian
Research PI
Professor/advisor

Overall do you think I have a shot? My quant score for the GRE makes me sad, but hoping my better verbal score (90%) balances it out a little? Honesty is appreciated🙂

 

[rockatiel]

I am a senior Animal Science major at Sam Houston State University and I am about to submit my application to 16 veterinary schools. I don't know any other pre-veterinary students applying this term to discuss this with, so please be honest with me.

GPA:
Cumulative: 3.24
Science: 4.0
Last 45 Hours: 3.94

GRE:
Quantitative: 153
Verbal: 161
Analytical: 4
Quant + Verbal: 314

Experience:
Veterinary hours: 3992
Animal hours: 718
Total hours: 4710

LORs/Evaluations:
All 3 are from veterinarians I worked or volunteered directly under. Two are from small animal vets and one is from a zoo vet.

Schools I am applying to:
Texas A&M (first choice)
Auburn
Iowa State
Kansas State
Lincoln Memorial
Louisiana State
Michigan State
Oklahoma State
Oregon State
Royal Veterinary College
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Minnesota
Virginia-Maryland College
Washington State

Strengths:
4 years of experience as a veterinary technician in a small animal setting, 860 hours of experience volunteering as a veterinary assistant at a zoo.

Concerns:
Over 75% of my veterinary experience hours are from working at small animal clinics (the remaining is from the zoo). 80% of my animal experience is from my pet sitting / dog walking business, the rest of the hours are from animal science laboratories, caring for goats, and volunteering for a marine conservation group in the Caribbean. I'm not satisfied with my quantitative GRE score so I am retaking it next week (some schools will accept it past Sept 15th, some will not). My weakest point is definitely my cumulative GPA. My first two years of college were mediocre, but I retook every class I made less than a B in. In the last two years I have made all As and one B. I'm also concerned because I don't know if having all 3 LORs from veterinarians is a good thing or a bad thing since my weakest attribute is my cumulative GPA.

I definitely echo DVMD's advice above about not applying to 16 schools. The only school on your list I can speak for is LSU... they do not look at overall GPA. They use a quantitative ranking system where your last 45 GPA, science GPA (which actually raises with every A you get in an upper level science... they actually added way more classes in for me than I expected on this!) GRE score, and subjective components of your folder are assigned a score. Academics are a very high percentage of this calculation. Your GPA figures and GRE are both above average, even for out of state. They have some stats for 2020 you can check on their website. For LSU in particular i think your chances of making at least the interview cut are pretty high. It is an expensive school to attend as a non res, so that's a consideration.

 

[jcc3sa]

Hi there, I'll be wrapping the last of my applications right ahead of the Sep 15th deadline. Not much to ask, just looking for a realistic evaluation of my chances for this cycle. I suppose the most glaring weakness in my application is the relatively low quantity of experience hours. Thank you for all of your help!

Male, 20, MA state resident, first time applying
Began first year at Brandeis University
B.S. in Animal Science at Cornell University, expected May 2017

Applying to: Cornell, NC State, Tufts (IS), Washington State, U of Minnesota, UPenn

cGPA: 3.90
Science GPA: 3.94
Last 45 GPA: 3.89

GRE : V 168 (98%)/Q 170 (97%)/W 5.5 (98%)

Veterinary Experience:
Small Animal Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic Surgery and Discharge Volunteer: 75 hours
Shadowing Animal Shelter Veterinarian: 36 hours
Biomedical Labs Research Animal Care Assistant: 114 hours
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center Internship: 400 hours

Animal Experience:
Animal Shelter Adoption Floor Volunteer: 140 hours
Research Animal Enrichment Program: 42 hours

Research:
Lab Assistant in Andrew White Lab at Cornell University, 20 hours (just started)

ECs:
Freshman Representative for Brandeis Southeast Asia Club
Member of Cornell Pre-Vet Society
Member of Cornell Astronomical Society
Transfer Representative for Cornell Taiwanese American Society
Vice President for Cornell Taiwanese American Society

Employment:
Information and Borrowing Assistant at Brandeis' Goldfarb Library

LoRs:
Research Animal Vet
Wildlife Vet
Faculty Advisor
Animal Science Professor

What's your iq? 😵 oh, and you'll probably get in everywhere, assuming you don't have any manifestly sociopathic tendencies when interviews roll around

 

[sheltermed]

What's your iq? 😵 oh, and you'll probably get in everywhere, assuming you don't have any manifestly sociopathic tendencies when interviews roll around

Not necessarily true...I've seen several applicants like this get turned down. Perhaps something to do with their personal statements, I don't know for sure. Perhaps too "ordinary."

 

[Awapi]

I wouldn't stress too much about it, especially since it was SO long ago. I'm of the mindset that you are usually better off not bringing attention to those things if you don't need to. I would just have a good explanation for it should it come up in an interview🙂

Random update: I was thinking about it and realized that the main issue was the semantics of how the course drop was listed on my transcript. I decided to reach out to the original school to ask about a grade change to something that VMCAS would also count as ungraded (as was intended by the school) - they reviewed the file and said they could change it with no problem because I had high enough AP scores that I didn't even need to take the course in the first place. They updated the grade in one day and I had a transcript expedited to VMCAS which should arrive today or tomorrow. VMCAS said they will update the GPA once it's received so that 2.29 will be a 4.0 as it is on the transcript 🙂.

 

[Maineroot]

I have been stalking this thread for a year now and having just applied I feel it is a good time to post.

Male from Massachusetts, 21 years old, Graduating in Dec 2016. First time applying.
Cum GPA: 3.67 Science GPA: 3.5 Last 45 3.72
GRE Verbal - 154 (64%) Quantitative - 155 (59%) AW - 5.0 (93%)
LOR's - Wildlife/Exotic Veterinarian, Aquarium Veterinarian, Academic Adviser, Genomics Professor
PS: Talked about finding my love for medicine after care taking for my mother during cancer, how my transition to veterinary medicine began after my cat died from a completely preventable accident, and discussed my thrill for exotics and wildlife due to the breadth of knowledge required and how each case is a research endeavor. I also mentioned how I am excited to learn about small animal medicine because that is where the depth research is, but I focused on other areas of vet med prior to applying so I can explore all the field has to offer.

School's Applied to: Tufts (IS), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cornell, Ohio, Glasgow

Vet Experiences
-Wildlife Hospital and Exotic Pet Clinic - 350 hours as an unlicensed vet technician, 850 hours as an intern
-Aquarium Medical Center Intern assisting vets with surgeries and medical procedures - 350 hours
-Sheep C-Section Shadow in Iceland -10 Hours
-Large Animal Medicine - 20 Hours
-Assistance as a vet tech at Museum of Science - 12 Hours
Total Vet Hours - ~1600 Hours

Research
50 hours working for a research veterinarian studying Caseous Lymphadenitis in sheep, and working with the same veterinarian studying moose parasitology. Research hours will continue to grow throughout the year.

Animal Experience
-Penguin Husbandry Internship at aquarium - 450 hours
-Lambing assistant during lambing season in Iceland 400 hours
-Secretary of Sheep husbandry club at University Farm 800 hours
-Livestock caretaker at local farm 1000 hours
-Livestock caretaker at farm education camp 250 hours
Total: 2900 hours

Other Employment
Resident Assistant for 2 years at College
LGBTQ Services Student Aid at College
Farmhand
Camp Counselor
Life Guard

Class Experiences
Pre-Med Zoology Major
Animal Science Minor
Honors College Member

Volunteer
3 years (1000 hours) in LGBTQ Services

Extracurriculars
Secretary of A Capella group for 3 years
Ultimate Frisbee Intramural team

Achievements
-Contributing Author of published genomics research
-Multiple Scholarships
-Deans List
-Service Award at Aquarium
-Full travel and lodging scholarship to attend and present at the National Collegiate Honors Conference
-Member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society

~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to be honest and discuss my strengths and weaknesses in this app. Also, Wisconsin is my top choice and it is OoS for me. My stats for their specific GPA criteria are: Overall Pre-Reqs 3.5, Last 30 credits 3.65 . I am nervous about my pre req GPA for Wisconsin, so I would appreciate comments on that as well.

 

[Teepster87]

Hey there everyone, 2nd time applicant here (1st application was in 2013, wasn't directly accepted and wasn't entirely sure it was what I wanted to do so I withdrew from waitlist).

Alabama IS (technically, we're military stationed in SC), not interested in Auburn at this point for a lot of reasons.

This round I'm applying to Cornell (previously waitlisted), Wisconsin (previously rejected), NC State, UC Davis, and Washington State (I went to HS in WA and have family there).

BS Biology '14, GPAs all ~3.91
GRE: 163V, 161Q, 5.0 Writing
LoR: OChem professor, Physics professor, ER DVM, Shelter/GP DVM, Holistic DVM

Since my first time applying I've been working full time as a technician (non LVT), but still haven't been able to get any large animal experience despite my efforts and I'm worried about that deficit,

Experience:
1600hr Rural GP (vet)
3000hr Emergency and Specialty Surgery (vet)
700hr Emergency and Referral Service (vet)
2500hr Busy Suburban GP (vet)
1100hr Wildlife (animal, non vet)
500hr Research lab at Emory (non vet)

I really wish I had checked this earlier. This won't be too helpful now that the application cycle is already over, but Michigan State grants IS tuition for honorably discharged veterans AND spouses
A student who, or whose spouse, or parent in the case of a dependent student:
(1) is serving on active duty in the United States Uniformed Services;
(2) is serving in the guard or reserves in one of those reserve components; or
(3) has received an honorable discharge from one of those Services or reserve components

The process to get converted to IS is pretty simple too. If I had been more prepared I would have done it while I was applying to have hopefully been able to compete for a seat in the IS applicant pool.

 

[JRod94]

Hi Everyone! I figured that I would ask the community and see what y'all think. It gives me heart palpitations looking at this site because I'm so nervous but what the heck! Here are my stats:

Female from Florida, 22. Graduated April 2016. First time applying.
Cum GPA: 3.68 Science GPA: 3.72 Last 45 3.93
GRE Verbal - 161 (88%) Quantitative - 154 (55%) AW - 5.5 (98%)
LOR's - Mixed Animal Vet. (Current Employer), Shelter Vet., Primary Investigator I worked under for research, Biology Department Head (Previous Employer), and Biology Professor.

School's Applied to: Auburn, Cornell, UC Davis, Mississippi State, UGA, UF, UPenn, Tennessee

Vet Experiences
-Mixed Animal Hospital - 400 Hours as a Vet. Tech. (Uncertified/ Ongoing)
-Animal Shelter- 130 Hours (Ongoing)
-Equine Hospital - 42 Hours
-Other Smaller Vet Experiences.
Total: 600 Hours
P.S. I know that this + animal experience hours will probably be my weakest point in the application. But I didn’t pursue veterinary medicine until my senior year at university. So all of these hours I’ve accumulated in under one year.

Research
250 Hours working with the College of Medicine on my own research project dealing with neuroanatomy of the songbird.

Animal Experience
-Animal Husbandry on Research - 75 Hours
-Shark Tagger- 20 Hours
-Wildlife volunteer- 11 Hours (Ongoing)
-Other small things
Total: 130 Hours

Other Employment
Laboratory Manager for Biology Department
Laboratory Teaching Assistant
Lifeguard

Volunteer
560 Hours as a certified Emergency Medical Technician; Worked with my university on their ambulance service.

Extracurriculars
Water Polo Player for University (4 years)
Water Polo Player High School (4 Years)
Hispanic Honor Society Member
Pre-Vet Club Member

Achievements
-Dean’s List
-President’s List
-Graduated Cum Laude


Thank you!!!! 🙂 And good luck to all!!

 

[wheekyspice]

Hi everyone! So I actually don't plan to apply until the 2018 application cycle, but I'm wondering about how strong my app will be once I get there.

I graduated a little over a year ago with a BA in English. Basically only took the bare minimum in science/math during undergrad - long story short, I've always naturally been a words person more than a numbers person, and I pursued what I was good at. Vet med has been a dream of mine since childhood, but I assumed early on that any science-heavy career wasn't something I could succeed in. Anyway, I've recently decided that's BS, so I've been researching vet school and I'm all set to start taking prereqs at my local community college in the spring. I'll be done with everything I need in Summer or Fall 2018.

I know that vet school gets a lot of nontraditional applicants, so as long as I manage a good science GPA I'm not worried that my undergrad major will work against me. My main concern is that I haven't pursued any formal animal/vet experience until right now (again tied back to the whole "conditioned to think I don't belong in science careers" mess). I'm going to start volunteering at an animal shelter/adoption center next month. They have an affiliated clinic, so that will hopefully turn into some vet experience hours. I'm also looking into contacting some vets in different specialities to ask about shadowing. I have a full time job (and will soon be taking classes in the evening), so I'm not sure how my animal and vet experience hours will look two years from now. I'm just going to get as many as I can in the free time that I do have.

My question is whether accumulating all of my experience in two years will hurt my application. I'm worried that this will look like I'm applying on a whim or suggest that I don't have real dedication to the field. Can anyone offer insight into how admissions committees will look at this aspect of my app? How serious of a weak point is it? Did anyone else decide to pursue a stifled dream in vet med late in the game and accumulate all of their experience in a somewhat short time like this?

Thanks for any input, friends! And best of luck to everyone who applied this cycle!

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Hi everyone! So I actually don't plan to apply until the 2018 application cycle, but I'm wondering about how strong my app will be once I get there.

I graduated a little over a year ago with a BA in English. Basically only took the bare minimum in science/math during undergrad - long story short, I've always naturally been a words person more than a numbers person, and I pursued what I was good at. Vet med has been a dream of mine since childhood, but I assumed early on that any science-heavy career wasn't something I could succeed in. Anyway, I've recently decided that's BS, so I've been researching vet school and I'm all set to start taking prereqs at my local community college in the spring. I'll be done with everything I need in Summer or Fall 2018.

I know that vet school gets a lot of nontraditional applicants, so as long as I manage a good science GPA I'm not worried that my undergrad major will work against me. My main concern is that I haven't pursued any formal animal/vet experience until right now (again tied back to the whole "conditioned to think I don't belong in science careers" mess). I'm going to start volunteering at an animal shelter/adoption center next month. They have an affiliated clinic, so that will hopefully turn into some vet experience hours. I'm also looking into contacting some vets in different specialities to ask about shadowing. I have a full time job (and will soon be taking classes in the evening), so I'm not sure how my animal and vet experience hours will look two years from now. I'm just going to get as many as I can in the free time that I do have.

My question is whether accumulating all of my experience in two years will hurt my application. I'm worried that this will look like I'm applying on a whim or suggest that I don't have real dedication to the field. Can anyone offer insight into how admissions committees will look at this aspect of my app? How serious of a weak point is it? Did anyone else decide to pursue a stifled dream in vet med late in the game and accumulate all of their experience in a somewhat short time like this?

Thanks for any input, friends! And best of luck to everyone who applied this cycle!

I didn't decide on vet med until about 2.5 years ago. All my veterinary and research experience was accumulated in that time period. If you work hard and get good experiences, it won't hurt you.

 

[scott1818]

Hi everyone! So I actually don't plan to apply until the 2018 application cycle, but I'm wondering about how strong my app will be once I get there.

I graduated a little over a year ago with a BA in English. Basically only took the bare minimum in science/math during undergrad - long story short, I've always naturally been a words person more than a numbers person, and I pursued what I was good at. Vet med has been a dream of mine since childhood, but I assumed early on that any science-heavy career wasn't something I could succeed in. Anyway, I've recently decided that's BS, so I've been researching vet school and I'm all set to start taking prereqs at my local community college in the spring. I'll be done with everything I need in Summer or Fall 2018.

I know that vet school gets a lot of nontraditional applicants, so as long as I manage a good science GPA I'm not worried that my undergrad major will work against me. My main concern is that I haven't pursued any formal animal/vet experience until right now (again tied back to the whole "conditioned to think I don't belong in science careers" mess). I'm going to start volunteering at an animal shelter/adoption center next month. They have an affiliated clinic, so that will hopefully turn into some vet experience hours. I'm also looking into contacting some vets in different specialities to ask about shadowing. I have a full time job (and will soon be taking classes in the evening), so I'm not sure how my animal and vet experience hours will look two years from now. I'm just going to get as many as I can in the free time that I do have.

My question is whether accumulating all of my experience in two years will hurt my application. I'm worried that this will look like I'm applying on a whim or suggest that I don't have real dedication to the field. Can anyone offer insight into how admissions committees will look at this aspect of my app? How serious of a weak point is it? Did anyone else decide to pursue a stifled dream in vet med late in the game and accumulate all of their experience in a somewhat short time like this?

Thanks for any input, friends! And best of luck to everyone who applied this cycle!

I graduated with a Bachelors in Public Relations. I only had a little over 2 years to take pre-reqs and get experience. I have about ~1500 hours of diverse vet experience as well as some research experience. I don't think it will at all hurt you that you're just starting now. They just want to see you do well in the pre-reqs and get a good introduction to the veterinary world by getting experience in the field. I think accumulating hundreds of diverse hours, no mater how quickly you do so, shows you're committed and still passionate about becoming a vet.

So focus hard on getting amazing grades in the pre-reqs and get as much experience as you can. It's not all about quantity. 400 diverse and in-depth hours tops 1400 hollow hours, in my book at least. I made the mistake of focusing all my time on getting vet hours, that my pre-req grades suffered, and I'm still trying to come back from that.

 

[Coopah]

Hi everyone! So I actually don't plan to apply until the 2018 application cycle, but I'm wondering about how strong my app will be once I get there.

I graduated a little over a year ago with a BA in English. Basically only took the bare minimum in science/math during undergrad - long story short, I've always naturally been a words person more than a numbers person, and I pursued what I was good at. Vet med has been a dream of mine since childhood, but I assumed early on that any science-heavy career wasn't something I could succeed in. Anyway, I've recently decided that's BS, so I've been researching vet school and I'm all set to start taking prereqs at my local community college in the spring. I'll be done with everything I need in Summer or Fall 2018.

I know that vet school gets a lot of nontraditional applicants, so as long as I manage a good science GPA I'm not worried that my undergrad major will work against me. My main concern is that I haven't pursued any formal animal/vet experience until right now (again tied back to the whole "conditioned to think I don't belong in science careers" mess). I'm going to start volunteering at an animal shelter/adoption center next month. They have an affiliated clinic, so that will hopefully turn into some vet experience hours. I'm also looking into contacting some vets in different specialities to ask about shadowing. I have a full time job (and will soon be taking classes in the evening), so I'm not sure how my animal and vet experience hours will look two years from now. I'm just going to get as many as I can in the free time that I do have.

My question is whether accumulating all of my experience in two years will hurt my application. I'm worried that this will look like I'm applying on a whim or suggest that I don't have real dedication to the field. Can anyone offer insight into how admissions committees will look at this aspect of my app? How serious of a weak point is it? Did anyone else decide to pursue a stifled dream in vet med late in the game and accumulate all of their experience in a somewhat short time like this?

Thanks for any input, friends! And best of luck to everyone who applied this cycle!

Something you might want to consider is emergency clinics. I also work a full time job and that's how I got ALL my vet experience (wouldn't recommend) but they are open at all hours and are usually short handed so you get to do a lot instead of just watch. Do great in prereqs and you'll do great!

 

[carouseller]

Reposted below

 

[carouseller]

Something you might want to consider is emergency clinics. I also work a full time job and that's how I got ALL my vet experience (wouldn't recommend) but they are open at all hours and are usually short handed so you get to do a lot instead of just watch. Do great in prereqs and you'll do great!

Hey Coopah, how would you recommend researching for this sort of work? Thank you!

 

[Coopah]

Hey Coopah, how would you recommend researching for this sort of work? Thank you!

Well I literally called every vet within a thirty mile radius. Google is your friend. They are usually busy so when they say they'll call you back give it a day or two then follow up.

 

[wheekyspice]

Something you might want to consider is emergency clinics. I also work a full time job and that's how I got ALL my vet experience (wouldn't recommend) but they are open at all hours and are usually short handed so you get to do a lot instead of just watch. Do great in prereqs and you'll do great!

I hadn't thought of that, thanks! Google tells me there are several in my area, so it looks like I *will* be able to fit vet hours into my schedule. In the slot where I used to fit sleeping.

On another note, how did you go about reaching out to clinics about shadowing/volunteering? Did you just cold call them and ask whether they needed volunteer help?

 

[Coopah]

I hadn't thought of that, thanks! Google tells me there are several in my area, so it looks like I *will* be able to fit vet hours into my schedule. In the slot where I used to fit sleeping.

On another note, how did you go about reaching out to clinics about shadowing/volunteering? Did you just cold call them and ask whether they needed volunteer help?

More or less, I call and told them that I was a pre-veterinary student and that I had liability insurance through my school (look into this) and I was wondering if they had any availability for volunteers. Most just ignored me or said they would call back but never did. Eventually I was accepted as an unpaid intern at an emergency clinic and have been there over a year. Unfortunately I still haven't gotten any large animal experience because of my schedule and lack of large animals in the area.

 

[carouseller]

Hey guys, I hope you don't mind if I bump my question since we got off on another topic right after I posted. My apologies if this is not allowed, I can remove it if its against the rules or anything.

Hello all!

I have a pretty straightforward, hopefully short question for you all. I'm a non-traditional, post-bacc student (just turned 24, so probably younger than average for non-traditional but a little too old to be a traditional student).

My undergraduate degree was in an unrelated subject to vet stuff and below average, but since then I've gotten my rear in gear about what I want to do and now split my time between working as a toxicologist assistant, shadowing a vet, and going back to school to focus solely on science.

Here are my stats:

* Undergrad CUM GPA: 2.98 (give or take .02).
* Current science GPA 3.5 (overall trend is way up here--I planned poorly my first semester but collected a 3.7 and 3.8 in my last two upper-level bio classes).

Relevant Work:
* Toxicologist's research assistant since June 2016 (part time work, approx 20-25 hrs/week. I do my best to work with my boss to get as much science experience out of this as possible). This was initially a paid summer internship, but my boss decided to keep me on due to (1) need and (2) my good work.
* 5 hrs/week veterinary shadowing at a small animal clinic (looking to increase to twice a week depending on my schedule for next quarter); this should be set for ~6 months.
* Also looking into a wildlife rehab internship for next summer, funding providing, and any other opportunities coming my way.

Additional information:
* "Education interpreter" at the aquarium in my city in high school (tell people about animal exhibits and animal facts, clean exhibits, feed animals, etc.)
* Server/baker in a small bakery in my hometown in high school (first job!)
* History writing internship in undergrad (summer, unpaid)
* 9 months as a teaching assistant at an elementary school post-graduation.
* Language tutor (Russian) in my undergrad.
* Major hobbies are baking, backpacking/hiking, video games, podcasts, knitting...lots of making stuff. As you can see, my interests are all over the place!

School choices: I am a Washington State resident and WSU will be my first choice, but I haven't focused in on many others at this point. Do I look OK for their requirements, given that I'm an in-state resident?

So, what's your take on this? Where can I improve the most? I have at least 2 years left of solely working on science classes and am giving them absolutely everything I got, with great results so far.

Lastly, my biggest fear: am I completely boned due to my undergrad GPA? I know there are allowances due to health issues (which was my problem), but it feels like it could come off like a weak excuse to me.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[katashark]

Hey guys, I hope you don't mind if I bump my question since we got off on another topic right after I posted. My apologies if this is not allowed, I can remove it if its against the rules or anything.

Hello all!

I have a pretty straightforward, hopefully short question for you all. I'm a non-traditional, post-bacc student (just turned 24, so probably younger than average for non-traditional but a little too old to be a traditional student).

My undergraduate degree was in an unrelated subject to vet stuff and below average, but since then I've gotten my rear in gear about what I want to do and now split my time between working as a toxicologist assistant, shadowing a vet, and going back to school to focus solely on science.

Here are my stats:

* Undergrad CUM GPA: 2.98 (give or take .02).
* Current science GPA 3.5 (overall trend is way up here--I planned poorly my first semester but collected a 3.7 and 3.8 in my last two upper-level bio classes).

Relevant Work:
* Toxicologist's research assistant since June 2016 (part time work, approx 20-25 hrs/week. I do my best to work with my boss to get as much science experience out of this as possible). This was initially a paid summer internship, but my boss decided to keep me on due to (1) need and (2) my good work.
* 5 hrs/week veterinary shadowing at a small animal clinic (looking to increase to twice a week depending on my schedule for next quarter); this should be set for ~6 months.
* Also looking into a wildlife rehab internship for next summer, funding providing, and any other opportunities coming my way.

Additional information:
* "Education interpreter" at the aquarium in my city in high school (tell people about animal exhibits and animal facts, clean exhibits, feed animals, etc.)
* Server/baker in a small bakery in my hometown in high school (first job!)
* History writing internship in undergrad (summer, unpaid)
* 9 months as a teaching assistant at an elementary school post-graduation.
* Language tutor (Russian) in my undergrad.
* Major hobbies are baking, backpacking/hiking, video games, podcasts, knitting...lots of making stuff. As you can see, my interests are all over the place!

School choices: I am a Washington State resident and WSU will be my first choice, but I haven't focused in on many others at this point. Do I look OK for their requirements, given that I'm an in-state resident?

So, what's your take on this? Where can I improve the most? I have at least 2 years left of solely working on science classes and am giving them absolutely everything I got, with great results so far.

Lastly, my biggest fear: am I completely boned due to my undergrad GPA? I know there are allowances due to health issues (which was my problem), but it feels like it could come off like a weak excuse to me.

Thanks so much for your help!

What's your last 45 GPA?
How many vet and animal hours do you have? It honestly seems like not that many, so you need more experience in that. How many weeks did you do research? You should tell us how many hours you have total at this moment. It's great to have an upward trend in your grades. You have 2 years left to bring up that cumulative GPA. For WSU, you should check your stats against the requirements and figure out what Tier you are in. Your undergrad GPA is a bit low for sure, but really improve other areas of your application - hours and last 45 GPA for sure. You can also apply to schools that heavily weight the last 45 credits as options other than WSU.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Hey guys, I hope you don't mind if I bump my question since we got off on another topic right after I posted. My apologies if this is not allowed, I can remove it if its against the rules or anything.

Hello all!

I have a pretty straightforward, hopefully short question for you all. I'm a non-traditional, post-bacc student (just turned 24, so probably younger than average for non-traditional but a little too old to be a traditional student).

My undergraduate degree was in an unrelated subject to vet stuff and below average, but since then I've gotten my rear in gear about what I want to do and now split my time between working as a toxicologist assistant, shadowing a vet, and going back to school to focus solely on science.

Here are my stats:

* Undergrad CUM GPA: 2.98 (give or take .02).
* Current science GPA 3.5 (overall trend is way up here--I planned poorly my first semester but collected a 3.7 and 3.8 in my last two upper-level bio classes).

Relevant Work:
* Toxicologist's research assistant since June 2016 (part time work, approx 20-25 hrs/week. I do my best to work with my boss to get as much science experience out of this as possible). This was initially a paid summer internship, but my boss decided to keep me on due to (1) need and (2) my good work.
* 5 hrs/

Hey guys, I hope you don't mind if I bump my question since we got off on another topic right after I posted. My apologies if this is not allowed, I can remove it if its against the rules or anything.

Hello all!

I have a pretty straightforward, hopefully short question for you all. I'm a non-traditional, post-bacc student (just turned 24, so probably younger than average for non-traditional but a little too old to be a traditional student).

My undergraduate degree was in an unrelated subject to vet stuff and below average, but since then I've gotten my rear in gear about what I want to do and now split my time between working as a toxicologist assistant, shadowing a vet, and going back to school to focus solely on science.

Here are my stats:

* Undergrad CUM GPA: 2.98 (give or take .02).
* Current science GPA 3.5 (overall trend is way up here--I planned poorly my first semester but collected a 3.7 and 3.8 in my last two upper-level bio classes).

Relevant Work:
* Toxicologist's research assistant since June 2016 (part time work, approx 20-25 hrs/week. I do my best to work with my boss to get as much science experience out of this as possible). This was initially a paid summer internship, but my boss decided to keep me on due to (1) need and (2) my good work.
* 5 hrs/week veterinary shadowing at a small animal clinic (looking to increase to twice a week depending on my schedule for next quarter); this should be set for ~6 months.
* Also looking into a wildlife rehab internship for next summer, funding providing, and any other opportunities coming my way.

Additional information:
* "Education interpreter" at the aquarium in my city in high school (tell people about animal exhibits and animal facts, clean exhibits, feed animals, etc.)
* Server/baker in a small bakery in my hometown in high school (first job!)
* History writing internship in undergrad (summer, unpaid)
* 9 months as a teaching assistant at an elementary school post-graduation.
* Language tutor (Russian) in my undergrad.
* Major hobbies are baking, backpacking/hiking, video games, podcasts, knitting...lots of making stuff. As you can see, my interests are all over the place!

School choices: I am a Washington State resident and WSU will be my first choice, but I haven't focused in on many others at this point. Do I look OK for their requirements, given that I'm an in-state resident?

So, what's your take on this? Where can I improve the most? I have at least 2 years left of solely working on science classes and am giving them absolutely everything I got, with great results so far.

Lastly, my biggest fear: am I completely boned due to my undergrad GPA? I know there are allowances due to health issues (which was my problem), but it feels like it could come off like a weak excuse to me.

Thanks so much for your help!

Without sugar coating your Cummulative is low. That being said your science isn't bad at all and with two years left you can get that higher and improve your cummulative as well. Focus on getting as many A's as you possibly can. Focus on having a really high last 45. You might have to apply strategically (look at schools that don't look at cummulative GPA), but you can definitely make this happen with some hard work.

 

[carouseller]

What's your last 45 GPA?
How many vet and animal hours do you have? It honestly seems like not that many, so you need more experience in that. How many weeks did you do research? You should tell us how many hours you have total at this moment. It's great to have an upward trend in your grades. You have 2 years left to bring up that cumulative GPA. For WSU, you should check your stats against the requirements and figure out what Tier you are in. Your undergrad GPA is a bit low for sure, but really improve other areas of your application - hours and last 45 GPA for sure. You can also apply to schools that heavily weight the last 45 credits as options other than WSU.

* Vet and animal hours: This is something I'll need to calculate entirely since I'm still early on in the application process--my target is about 2 to 2.5 years from now, so likely applying for the 2018 or 2019 cycle. As of right now for vet hours, I definitely have under 100. But I also literally started shadowing for the first time about 3 weeks ago. If I stay on track with hours I'll have about 400 by this time next year, but I'm also looking into taking on another shadowing position to diversity my experience (hopefully a full day/7 or 8 hours on a weekend day). My goal is over 1000 with small animals and maybe 400 with large, but that may ultimately be a stretch since I take classes straight through the summer and work. I am also logging my hours completely and noting surgeries, things learned that day, facts about the animals (everything from medicines administered, surgeries performed, etc. Trying to be detailed and get off to a good start there). I also have old(er) experience volunteering at a cat-only shelter about two years ago, but really didn't keep track of my hours at all. I would have to do a major estimation there, but I will be logging it down.

* Research work: approx. 13 weeks, approx 4 hours a day/5 days a week, putting me at around 220 hours.

* Unfortunately don't have my last 45 GPA, but I can probably calculate it and get back to you guys.

More importantly than that, I'm pretty much ONLY taking science classes right now--that is, my cum 3.5 GPA is just for this school, and just in science classes. Is it really important that I take unrelated classes like english or electives or somesuch to boost my unrelated GPA?

* Note for WSU by the way, 3.7 puts you in Tier 1 and I am currently in Tier 2 (3.5), so I hope to yank myself up into that or beyond--I know I have it in me if I really work my ass off.

PS - I really appreciate the encouragement by the way! There are times I feel like I'm kidding myself as to whether I can get in to vet school. Thank you both for the honest assessment.

 

[katashark]

* Vet and animal hours: This is something I'll need to calculate entirely since I'm still early on in the application process--my target is about 2 to 2.5 years from now, so likely applying for the 2018 or 2019 cycle. As of right now for vet hours, I definitely have under 100. But I also literally started shadowing for the first time about 3 weeks ago. If I stay on track with hours I'll have about 400 by this time next year, but I'm also looking into taking on another shadowing position to diversity my experience (hopefully a full day/7 or 8 hours on a weekend day). My goal is over 1000 with small animals and maybe 400 with large, but that may ultimately be a stretch since I take classes straight through the summer and work. I am also logging my hours completely and noting surgeries, things learned that day, facts about the animals (everything from medicines administered, surgeries performed, etc. Trying to be detailed and get off to a good start there). I also have old(er) experience volunteering at a cat-only shelter about two years ago, but really didn't keep track of my hours at all. I would have to do a major estimation there, but I will be logging it down.

* Research work: approx. 13 weeks, approx 4 hours a day/5 days a week, putting me at around 220 hours.

* Unfortunately don't have my last 45 GPA, but I can probably calculate it and get back to you guys.

More importantly than that, I'm pretty much ONLY taking science classes right now--that is, my cum 3.5 GPA is just for this school, and just in science classes. Is it really important that I take unrelated classes like english or electives or somesuch to boost my unrelated GPA?

* Note for WSU by the way, 3.7 puts you in Tier 1 and I am currently in Tier 2 (3.5), so I hope to yank myself up into that or beyond--I know I have it in me if I really work my ass off.

PS - I really appreciate the encouragement by the way! There are times I feel like I'm kidding myself as to whether I can get in to vet school. Thank you both for the honest assessment.

It's fine to do an estimate. You can be conservative. I definitely didn't log my hours with that much detail, but to each their own. You are just starting, so you'll be fine in 2-2.5 years with experience if you stay on top of it. Try to get a variety of different experience as well. They'll see your nonscience gpa from vmcas, but it's rarely a deciding factor. Stay focused, but you can also take nonsciences that you are interested in so that you have a bit of a boost. Tier 1 doesn't guarantee you anything, but it's a good jumping off point.

 

[kayed12]

Hello,

I am new to this website. I want to tell you about my situation very quickly. I went to undergrad, graduated class of 2016 with 3.3 overall GPA. I majored in Sports Medicine and had a science GPA/major GPA of 2.9 (low I know). Not until nearing graduation did I finally find my direction and that was to apply to vet school. All undergrad I was looking to make that decision to keep my focused...however it came a little late. My grades aren't horrible but need work.

SO, quickly applied and got into post-bacc programs in pre-health knowing I could take the science classes necessary for vet school. I am now enrolled. I will be completing the following

Cell Bio
Physics 1&2
Ochem 1&2
Micro Bio
Biochemistry
Genetics

8 science classes in total which will raise my science GPA. In terms of vet/animal experience:

500 animal hours- humane society work, TNR, fostering, wildlife, cat offsite programs
50 or less vet hours- shadowing mainly

Very low numbers. Good news is I don't want to apply until the 2018 cycle (meaning if accepted I would be class of 2023)

I really want to take my time, do well in my classes, study for GRE, gain lots of experience in these next two years before application time.

Does anyone have any tips for me? What would you do in my case? What would you do if you could RE-DO what you did? Any words of wisdom I will take. I am alone in this; I do not know any other pre-vets.

Thank you for listening 🙂

 

[deleted676737]

Hello,

I am new to this website. I want to tell you about my situation very quickly. I went to undergrad, graduated class of 2016 with 3.3 overall GPA. I majored in Sports Medicine and had a science GPA/major GPA of 2.9 (low I know). Not until nearing graduation did I finally find my direction and that was to apply to vet school. All undergrad I was looking to make that decision to keep my focused...however it came a little late. My grades aren't horrible but need work.

SO, quickly applied and got into post-bacc programs in pre-health knowing I could take the science classes necessary for vet school. I am now enrolled. I will be completing the following

Cell Bio
Physics 1&2
Ochem 1&2
Micro Bio
Biochemistry
Genetics

8 science classes in total which will raise my science GPA. In terms of vet/animal experience:

500 animal hours- humane society work, TNR, fostering, wildlife, cat offsite programs
50 or less vet hours- shadowing mainly

Very low numbers. Good news is I don't want to apply until the 2018 cycle (meaning if accepted I would be class of 2023)

I really want to take my time, do well in my classes, study for GRE, gain lots of experience in these next two years before application time.

Does anyone have any tips for me? What would you do in my case? What would you do if you could RE-DO what you did? Any words of wisdom I will take. I am alone in this; I do not know any other pre-vets.

Thank you for listening 🙂

What is your IS school, if you have one?

A 3.3 cumulative GPA isn't the end of the world; I was accepted with lower than that, but I had significantly higher last 45 hours and science GPAs. It's hard to give you much really specific advice because you haven't taken a lot of your pre-reqs yet... just make sure you aim for those As and buff up your science GPA as much as possible. It'll also help your cumulative out slightly but don't expect a dramatic increase there since you've already graduated and have invariably already attained lots of credits. Organic chem and physics are probably the hardest ones for most people, so take care there and seek tutoring or other assistance if you need it.

You clearly already know what's next in terms of experience: you need more hours. Probably a minimum of 500 or so, although I think most applicants are in the range of 1000+ now. And make sure that you get varied experience, too; there's a wide variety of careers within the veterinary profession, so take the time to explore as many as you can without spreading yourself too thin. Animal hours seems to vary a lot more among applicants--some are accepted with very few while others are accepted with thousands upon thousands. The vet experience is far more important, though, so I'd focus on that mainly.

Maybe ask some faculty and see if you can jump on a small project or two so that you have something to put down for the Research Experience section. It's not absolutely necessary, but it would help you out.

 

[kayed12]

What is your IS school, if you have one?

A 3.3 cumulative GPA isn't the end of the world; I was accepted with lower than that, but I had significantly higher last 45 hours and science GPAs. It's hard to give you much really specific advice because you haven't taken a lot of your pre-reqs yet... just make sure you aim for those As and buff up your science GPA as much as possible. It'll also help your cumulative out slightly but don't expect a dramatic increase there since you've already graduated and have invariably already attained lots of credits. Organic chem and physics are probably the hardest ones for most people, so take care there and seek tutoring or other assistance if you need it.

You clearly already know what's next in terms of experience: you need more hours. Probably a minimum of 500 or so, although I think most applicants are in the range of 1000+ now. And make sure that you get varied experience, too; there's a wide variety of careers within the veterinary profession, so take the time to explore as many as you can without spreading yourself too thin. Animal hours seems to vary a lot more among applicants--some are accepted with very few while others are accepted with thousands upon thousands. The vet experience is far more important, though, so I'd focus on that mainly.

Maybe ask some faculty and see if you can jump on a small project or two so that you have something to put down for the Research Experience section. It's not absolutely necessary, but it would help you out.

Hi thank you so much for your response. I live in CA so Davis and Western are my in-state schools.

Additional question, I have one year of paid work in a cancer research lab, although it had nothing to do with animal work is that still helpful? Also, besides shadowing a vet how can I get vet experience? Is it important for this vet experience to be paid?

 

[deleted676737]

Hi thank you so much for your response. I live in CA so Davis and Western are my in-state schools.

Additional question, I have one year of paid work in a cancer research lab, although it had nothing to do with animal work is that still helpful? Also, besides shadowing a vet how can I get vet experience? Is it important for this vet experience to be paid?

When you fill out VMCAS, there is a section specifically for employment experience, so you can put your research work in there... although that would probably actually fit better in the research experience section if you were involved in the actual research.

Your vet experience absolutely does NOT have to be paid. I had almost 2000 hours of vet experience when I applied and I wasn't given a single cent for it; I worked unrelated jobs on the side to support myself through undergrad. If you really need the money, then perhaps look into vet tech job openings or asking around about paid opportunities, but shadowing is just as valid an experience as any other.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

* Vet and animal hours: This is something I'll need to calculate entirely since I'm still early on in the application process--my target is about 2 to 2.5 years from now, so likely applying for the 2018 or 2019 cycle. As of right now for vet hours, I definitely have under 100. But I also literally started shadowing for the first time about 3 weeks ago. If I stay on track with hours I'll have about 400 by this time next year, but I'm also looking into taking on another shadowing position to diversity my experience (hopefully a full day/7 or 8 hours on a weekend day). My goal is over 1000 with small animals and maybe 400 with large, but that may ultimately be a stretch since I take classes straight through the summer and work. I am also logging my hours completely and noting surgeries, things learned that day, facts about the animals (everything from medicines administered, surgeries performed, etc. Trying to be detailed and get off to a good start there). I also have old(er) experience volunteering at a cat-only shelter about two years ago, but really didn't keep track of my hours at all. I would have to do a major estimation there, but I will be logging it down.

* Research work: approx. 13 weeks, approx 4 hours a day/5 days a week, putting me at around 220 hours.

* Unfortunately don't have my last 45 GPA, but I can probably calculate it and get back to you guys.

More importantly than that, I'm pretty much ONLY taking science classes right now--that is, my cum 3.5 GPA is just for this school, and just in science classes. Is it really important that I take unrelated classes like english or electives or somesuch to boost my unrelated GPA?

* Note for WSU by the way, 3.7 puts you in Tier 1 and I am currently in Tier 2 (3.5), so I hope to yank myself up into that or beyond--I know I have it in me if I really work my ass off.

PS - I really appreciate the encouragement by the way! There are times I feel like I'm kidding myself as to whether I can get in to vet school. Thank you both for the honest assessment.

That's nice that WSU will but you in a higher tier for a higher science GPA. Definitely could work in your favor if you can get your science GPA up (You can!). Not totally familiar with the school/how they do admissions but if its your instate, definitely do what you have to!

I'd focus on the prerequisites if I were you (so if English is a prerequisite for any of the schools you want to apply to than my answer would be yes, if not, I wouldn't bother).

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Hello,

I am new to this website. I want to tell you about my situation very quickly. I went to undergrad, graduated class of 2016 with 3.3 overall GPA. I majored in Sports Medicine and had a science GPA/major GPA of 2.9 (low I know). Not until nearing graduation did I finally find my direction and that was to apply to vet school. All undergrad I was looking to make that decision to keep my focused...however it came a little late. My grades aren't horrible but need work.

SO, quickly applied and got into post-bacc programs in pre-health knowing I could take the science classes necessary for vet school. I am now enrolled. I will be completing the following

Cell Bio
Physics 1&2
Ochem 1&2
Micro Bio
Biochemistry
Genetics

8 science classes in total which will raise my science GPA. In terms of vet/animal experience:

500 animal hours- humane society work, TNR, fostering, wildlife, cat offsite programs
50 or less vet hours- shadowing mainly

Very low numbers. Good news is I don't want to apply until the 2018 cycle (meaning if accepted I would be class of 2023)

I really want to take my time, do well in my classes, study for GRE, gain lots of experience in these next two years before application time.

Does anyone have any tips for me? What would you do in my case? What would you do if you could RE-DO what you did? Any words of wisdom I will take. I am alone in this; I do not know any other pre-vets.

Thank you for listening 🙂

Welcome to SDN!🙂

You definitely have time and a lot of prerequisites to take, which is in your favor to show vet schools that you can handle the upper level science classes. If I were you, I'd work hard, not spread myself too thin, and get A's in as many of those classes as possible.

Obviously veterinary experience is important and I'd definitely recommend getting some more hours and maybe diversify a little. Research can always add to an application. I wouldn't do ANYTHING at the expense of grades. 2.9 science is low, as you know, so definitely get A's. You can make up for less experience with grades. The opposite is not as often true.

Ultimately, if you want this, you can do it! SDN-ers are ways willing to help/offer advice. Good luck!

 

[Maineroot]

Hi everyone I am bumping my post because it seems mine was skipped over, hope that's okay! I just applied a couple of weeks ago.

Male from Massachusetts, 21 years old, Graduating in Dec 2016. First time applying.
Cum GPA: 3.67 Science GPA: 3.5 Last 45 3.72
GRE Verbal - 154 (64%) Quantitative - 155 (59%) AW - 5.0 (93%)
LOR's - Wildlife/Exotic Veterinarian, Aquarium Veterinarian, Academic Adviser, Genomics Professor
PS: Talked about finding my love for medicine after care taking for my mother during cancer, how my transition to veterinary medicine began after my cat died from a completely preventable accident, and discussed my thrill for exotics and wildlife due to the breadth of knowledge required and how each case is a research endeavor. I also mentioned how I am excited to learn about small animal medicine because that is where the depth research is, but I focused on other areas of vet med prior to applying so I can explore all the field has to offer.

School's Applied to: Tufts (IS), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cornell, Ohio, Glasgow

Vet Experiences
-Wildlife Hospital and Exotic Pet Clinic - 350 hours as an unlicensed vet technician, 850 hours as an intern
-Aquarium Medical Center Intern assisting vets with surgeries and medical procedures - 350 hours
-Sheep C-Section Shadow in Iceland -10 Hours
-Large Animal Medicine - 20 Hours
-Assistance as a vet tech at Museum of Science - 12 Hours
Total Vet Hours - ~1600 Hours

Research
50 hours working for a research veterinarian studying Caseous Lymphadenitis in sheep, and working with the same veterinarian studying moose parasitology. Research hours will continue to grow throughout the year.

Animal Experience
-Penguin Husbandry Internship at aquarium - 450 hours
-Lambing assistant during lambing season in Iceland 400 hours
-Secretary of Sheep husbandry club at University Farm 800 hours
-Livestock caretaker at local farm 1000 hours
-Livestock caretaker at farm education camp 250 hours
Total: 2900 hours

Other Employment
Resident Assistant for 2 years at College
LGBTQ Services Student Aid at College
Farmhand
Camp Counselor
Life Guard

Class Experiences
Pre-Med Zoology Major
Animal Science Minor
Honors College Member

Volunteer
3 years (1000 hours) in LGBTQ Services

Extracurriculars
Secretary of A Capella group for 3 years
Ultimate Frisbee Intramural team

Achievements
-Contributing Author of published genomics research
-Multiple Scholarships
-Deans List
-Service Award at Aquarium
-Full travel and lodging scholarship to attend and present at the National Collegiate Honors Conference
-Member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society

~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to be honest and discuss my strengths and weaknesses in this app. Also, Wisconsin is my top choice and it is OoS for me. My stats for their specific GPA criteria are: Pre-Reqs 3.5, Last 30 credits 3.65 . I am nervous about my pre req GPA for Wisconsin, so I would appreciate comments on that as well.

 

[katashark]

Hi everyone I am bumping my post because it seems mine was skipped over, hope that's okay! I just applied a couple of weeks ago.

Male from Massachusetts, 21 years old, Graduating in Dec 2016. First time applying.
Cum GPA: 3.67 Science GPA: 3.5 Last 45 3.72
GRE Verbal - 154 (64%) Quantitative - 155 (59%) AW - 5.0 (93%)
LOR's - Wildlife/Exotic Veterinarian, Aquarium Veterinarian, Academic Adviser, Genomics Professor
PS: Talked about finding my love for medicine after care taking for my mother during cancer, how my transition to veterinary medicine began after my cat died from a completely preventable accident, and discussed my thrill for exotics and wildlife due to the breadth of knowledge required and how each case is a research endeavor. I also mentioned how I am excited to learn about small animal medicine because that is where the depth research is, but I focused on other areas of vet med prior to applying so I can explore all the field has to offer.

School's Applied to: Tufts (IS), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cornell, Ohio, Glasgow

Vet Experiences
-Wildlife Hospital and Exotic Pet Clinic - 350 hours as an unlicensed vet technician, 850 hours as an intern
-Aquarium Medical Center Intern assisting vets with surgeries and medical procedures - 350 hours
-Sheep C-Section Shadow in Iceland -10 Hours
-Large Animal Medicine - 20 Hours
-Assistance as a vet tech at Museum of Science - 12 Hours
Total Vet Hours - ~1600 Hours

Research
50 hours working for a research veterinarian studying Caseous Lymphadenitis in sheep, and working with the same veterinarian studying moose parasitology. Research hours will continue to grow throughout the year.

Animal Experience
-Penguin Husbandry Internship at aquarium - 450 hours
-Lambing assistant during lambing season in Iceland 400 hours
-Secretary of Sheep husbandry club at University Farm 800 hours
-Livestock caretaker at local farm 1000 hours
-Livestock caretaker at farm education camp 250 hours
Total: 2900 hours

Other Employment
Resident Assistant for 2 years at College
LGBTQ Services Student Aid at College
Farmhand
Camp Counselor
Life Guard

Class Experiences
Pre-Med Zoology Major
Animal Science Minor
Honors College Member

Volunteer
3 years (1000 hours) in LGBTQ Services

Extracurriculars
Secretary of A Capella group for 3 years
Ultimate Frisbee Intramural team

Achievements
-Contributing Author of published genomics research
-Multiple Scholarships
-Deans List
-Service Award at Aquarium
-Full travel and lodging scholarship to attend and present at the National Collegiate Honors Conference
-Member of Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society

~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to be honest and discuss my strengths and weaknesses in this app. Also, Wisconsin is my top choice and it is OoS for me. My stats for their specific GPA criteria are: Pre-Reqs 3.5, Last 30 credits 3.65 . I am nervous about my pre req GPA for Wisconsin, so I would appreciate comments on that as well.

Your app seems very solid.

 

[singhb09]

Hi all! I haven't posted much here but I frequently lurk and with invitations due soon in the next few months I thought I'd give it a go. My application is pretty average at best but I applied to A LOT of schools due to getting some unexpected scholarship money and really wanting a shot at getting in this year.

First Time Applicant, 25 y/o male, CA resident. Bachelor's in Biology.

Schools applied to: Davis, Western, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Mizzou, Aunurn, UGA, VMRCVM, Illinois, Washington, Oregon

Cum GPA: 3.46
Sci GPA: 3.39
Last 45: 3.64

Pre-req GPA ranges from 3.4-3.7ish depending on the school.

GRE: 1st attempt -- Q 150 (39%) V 157 (72%) A 4.0 (82%)
2nd -- Q 153 (51%) V 159 (82%) A 5.5 (98%)

LORs:

-LA vet who was also my professor, did a lot of Hands-on LA work with him.
-Pre-Vet program director at Pierce college
-SA vet at my former hospital
-Exotic/Avian vet I shadowed for around a year
-Former research advisor/Assistant dean of biology at CSU Northridge
-Former entomology professor

Veterinary experience

-Veterinary Assistant (SA) ~2300 hours; began as kennel tech but given the high volume nature of the clinic I had to learn to do everything from blood draws to dentals
-Volunteered shadowing an exotics/avian/wildlife vet ~600 hours
-Charity spay/neuter clinic ~50 hours
-Shadowing the LA vet on the campus farm, was able to administer injections, intubate, do blood draws on a variety of species ~350 hours
- Shadowed the veterinarian and lab animal techs at a large biomedical research institute ~400 hours

Animal experience:

-Shelter volunteer ~ 110 hours
-Volunteered at an equine rescue~30 hours
-Assistant at a dog training and boarding facility ~700 hours

Research:

-Was a part of the Laboratory of Comparative and Integrative Herpetology on campus. Participated in original research on Mediterranean House Geckos. Consisted of running a variety of physiological experiments and is still underway after my time there. Did not work on the project long enough to be a main author when it's published (next year hopefully) but will receive an acknowledgement lol. ~ 750 hours
-As a part of the same lab, would collect and curate specimens for use in the classroom setting for vertebrate biology courses ~100 hours
-Assisted a masters candidate with preliminary research on Red Eyed Tree Frogs. We injected frogs IP with GnRH to induce spermatogenesis, spermeated the frogs and then analyzed the sperm count via fluorescence microscopy. Purpose of the research was to develop a useful method for Captive breeding to use in other species who are facing endangerment. ~250 hours

Non animal employment:

-Cashier and eventual supervisor on campus where I received my bachelors ~ 5 years
- In home supportive care assistant for my disabled mother. ~10+ years, unsure of the exact amount.

EC:

Long distance running
Pre-vet club
Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Reading Club (BEER Club) on campus

Achievements:

Multiple deans lists
Audubon society conservation award
Bank of America Writer's Award
Scholarship I received for working with the sheep on campus and demonstrating humanitarian qualities

I know my GPA and GRE will drag me down but I'm hoping some schools will consider other aspects of my application!

 

[coffeelauren]

Hi all! I haven't posted much here but I frequently lurk and with invitations due soon in the next few months I thought I'd give it a go. My application is pretty average at best but I applied to A LOT of schools due to getting some unexpected scholarship money and really wanting a shot at getting in this year.

First Time Applicant, 25 y/o male, CA resident. Bachelor's in Biology.

Schools applied to: Davis, Western, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, Mizzou, Aunurn, UGA, VMRCVM, Illinois, Washington, Oregon

Cum GPA: 3.46
Sci GPA: 3.39
Last 45: 3.64

Pre-req GPA ranges from 3.4-3.7ish depending on the school.

GRE: 1st attempt -- Q 150 (39%) V 157 (72%) A 4.0 (82%)
2nd -- Q 153 (51%) V 159 (82%) A 5.5 (98%)

LORs:

-LA vet who was also my professor, did a lot of Hands-on LA work with him.
-Pre-Vet program director at Pierce college
-SA vet at my former hospital
-Exotic/Avian vet I shadowed for around a year
-Former research advisor/Assistant dean of biology at CSU Northridge
-Former entomology professor

Veterinary experience

-Veterinary Assistant (SA) ~2300 hours; began as kennel tech but given the high volume nature of the clinic I had to learn to do everything from blood draws to dentals
-Volunteered shadowing an exotics/avian/wildlife vet ~600 hours
-Charity spay/neuter clinic ~50 hours
-Shadowing the LA vet on the campus farm, was able to administer injections, intubate, do blood draws on a variety of species ~350 hours
- Shadowed the veterinarian and lab animal techs at a large biomedical research institute ~400 hours

Animal experience:

-Shelter volunteer ~ 110 hours
-Volunteered at an equine rescue~30 hours
-Assistant at a dog training and boarding facility ~700 hours

Research:

-Was a part of the Laboratory of Comparative and Integrative Herpetology on campus. Participated in original research on Mediterranean House Geckos. Consisted of running a variety of physiological experiments and is still underway after my time there. Did not work on the project long enough to be a main author when it's published (next year hopefully) but will receive an acknowledgement lol. ~ 750 hours
-As a part of the same lab, would collect and curate specimens for use in the classroom setting for vertebrate biology courses ~100 hours
-Assisted a masters candidate with preliminary research on Red Eyed Tree Frogs. We injected frogs IP with GnRH to induce spermatogenesis, spermeated the frogs and then analyzed the sperm count via fluorescence microscopy. Purpose of the research was to develop a useful method for Captive breeding to use in other species who are facing endangerment. ~250 hours

Non animal employment:

-Cashier and eventual supervisor on campus where I received my bachelors ~ 5 years
- In home supportive care assistant for my disabled mother. ~10+ years, unsure of the exact amount.

EC:

Long distance running
Pre-vet club
Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Reading Club (BEER Club) on campus

Achievements:

Multiple deans lists
Audubon society conservation award
Bank of America Writer's Award
Scholarship I received for working with the sheep on campus and demonstrating humanitarian qualities

I know my GPA and GRE will drag me down but I'm hoping some schools will consider other aspects of my application!
.

I think that's a great application tbh. you're experience is great and you seem to have a little of everything (and a lot of basic small animal clinic experience!)- geckos, horses, LA. impressive!

 

[katashark]

Hi all! For anyone feeling so inclined, how do you think I shape up for these 5 schools and what are the best ways to enhance my application if I don't get in this year? Also, if you can think of other schools that align better with my stats feel free to let me know. Thank you for any input!

Applying to: Michigan State (IS), Mizzou, Illinois, UTennesse and Wisconsin.

Female-24.
B.S in Zoology 2014. MSU.
Masters in Cell and Molecular Biology. Graduating 2017. Non-thesis.

cGPA: 3.42
sGPA: 3.4ish depending on the school
Last 45: 3.37
Last 18: 3.85 (MSU lets you use last 18 credits if you are in a Master's program thankfully!)

GRE: V:156, Q:150, W:4.

455hr Animal Experience: Zoo docent, volunteer at a horse barn, volunteer at a greyhound kennel.
370hr Veterinary: Worked as an assistant in a small animal clinic, shadowed a veterinary ophthalmologist, large/food animal vet and zoo vet.
810hr Research: Two labs. Venom evolution lab with an independent project (undergrad). 2nd lab is in endometrial oncology (graduate). Hopefully starting a project soon!

Potentially helpful extra curriculars: Graduate Assistant for a lab techniques course. Lifeguard. Played and coached water polo during undergrad.

eLOR: Vet ophthalmologist, Lab PI, nucleic acids/scientific communications professor and an employer.

I decided to do the masters after my experience in the venom ecology lab where I fell in love with the subject but had very little experience. Additionally, undergrad GPA was okay but I had a REALLY bad last semester of senior year... Anyway, my interests thus far are in ophthalmology and pursing research.

If you don't get in this cycle, I'd work on retaking any prereqs you can to try to get your gpa up. You could also retake the GRE for a higher quantitative score. You could also have more veterinary hours. If you don't get into any schools, ask for a file review and they will tell you what they want to see happen.

 

[singhb09]

.
I think that's a great application tbh. you're experience is great and you seem to have a little of everything (and a lot of basic small animal clinic experience!)- geckos, horses, LA. impressive!

Thank you! I'm hoping my diverse set of experiences help me stand out a bit!