What are my chances?

[Falina]

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Hi! First time posting on SDN & applying to vet school.

Just wrapping up my VMCAS (I know, a bit late of me, but considering I suffer from "chronic procrastination" I guess it's not a surprise) and I thought I'd post my stat's to get a bit of feed back from those who have gone through this process before. It would give me a better picture of what to expect from schools once I hit "SUBMIT".

Anyways, here are my stat's:

20 yo, MD resident, commuting to Wilson College (in PA).

Major: Biology
Minor: possibly Chem (if I take Bchem II)
Applying to: VMRCVM, Ohio, NC, UPenn, Tufts (UPenn & Tufts are my top 2)

GPA: 3.57
last 45 GPA: 3.45

GRE:
First Attempt
Verbal - 157
Quant - 149
Analytical - 3.5
Second Attempt
Verbal-160
Quant-150
Analytical- 3.5

Vet Hours:
300 Hours - Equine Mobile Vet
100 Hours - Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center
70 Hours - Belize large animal veterinary course (included castrations, vaccinations, cattle pregnancy palpations, ect.)

Animal/ Volunteer Hours:
4000+ Hours - Work at horse barn as a personal care provider.
15 Hours - Volunteer Therapeutic Riding center
80+ Hours: Work with dog breeder/groomer
4000+ Hours - Care for personal pets with various ailments (diabetic cat, diabetic dog, skin allergies and subsequent allergy injections for dogs, deliver medicine to chinchilla)
30 hours: 4-H volunteer for a dog chapter that my sister is in. I assist with obedience classes and show prep

Research:
For my senior project I am starting a two part study aimed at determining whether or not bacterial culture of fecal samples for four genera of bacteria (Streptococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Fibrobacter spp., and Runimococcus spp.) could be used to monitor the microbial environment of a horses hindgut, and in turn the health of their laminae. Essentially, if this proves to be successful, then horse owners could have fecal samples tested regularly and make changes to management based on results before the structural damage of laminitis can develop. A possible collaboration with the Laminitis Institute at UPenn is still up in the air *fingers crossed*

Employment:
Nature Center Camp Counselor: essentially taught kids about local wildlife

Dean's list 4 semesters
In high school, was an officer in FFA and won State for Food Science in 2009

eLOR's:
-Mobile Equine Veterinarian
-Undergrad advisor for 9 semesters/chemistry professor
-Current undergrad advisor/biology professor (my school is small, so I have a class with him almost every semester)
-Research advisor/biology professor (same goes for him, I have had many classes with him)

I'm open to constructive criticism. I realize I probably will not be getting into vet school on my first attempt, and I am planning to apply to Public Health Masters programs as a plan B. Even if I do not matriculate this round, I still plan on improving my credential and reapplying. Anyways, I'm eager to read what you have to say!

Hi Pony Puffle, welcome to SDN!

Sorry for the delay in somebody getting to your post! It was very well written, I must say 🙂

First I have some questions for you:
What is your science gpa?
How many units have you completed so far/how many units do you have left?

Overall I think that you have a decent application, and I wouldn't be surprised if you get some interview requests.

If you happen to not get accepted this year, this is what I would look at for the following year:
-Do everything you can to bring up your gpa while you have the chance. It sounds like you're a senior, so you should have the ability to get your gpa to a 3.6+ and last 45 to 3.5+. I suspect that will help you a lot.
-Each school weighs gpas a little bit differently. Some look at overall gpas, some look at last 45 units, some look at science. I would recommend that you try to focus applications on schools that prefer your highest gpa (which is overall at the moment).

-Your GRE is pretty good. I really like that you took it once and did ok, and then took again and did even better. Schools really like that too. Even so, I would probably recommend that if you have to reapply next year, try your best to raise it again.

-Try to get more veterinary experience. It looks like most of yours are with equine and large animal, so I would recommend that you get some small animal experience. Even just a couple days of shadowing would brighten up that part of your application.

Your research is amazing, by the way. I would definitely try to play that up as much as possible. It's important and applicable, and I think it would be something that schools would really like.

Hope some of that helps!

 

[evilsquirrel]

23 yr old New Jersey resident, graduated with honors
Major: Biology pre-professional
(according to VMCAS)
Science GPA: 3.36
Non-science: 3.7
Cumulative: 3.51
Last 45 (ish): ~3.8 (its hard for me to determine since its more like 47 & I took a course following graduation)

GRE:
Verbal: 154 (62)
Quant: 153 (53)
Writing: 4.5 (78)

Experience - animal
Vet experience (small animal) hours: 2,500 (only 200 hours unpaid)
Wildlife volunteer: 52
Animal laboratory: 392
Dog groomer: 275
Equine stable hand: 1,100

Non-animal
Independent student research: 48
Biology tutor on campus: 150
Microbiology lab tech on campus: 266

Currently employed full time at animal hospital

The only award I have from college is graduating Cum Laude. The other two were scholarships I won in high school from the National Honors society. And most of my community activities were from high school as well. The only ones from college are chemistry club, ultimate club (VP), student gov’t (treasurer) and wildlife society.

Letters of recommendation
2 of the 3 vets I currently work for
My microbiology employer/ molecular biology professor
(and for Cornell only)
Wildlife center employee
Animal laboratory manager

Schools I applied to: Upenn, cornell, Kansas, Virginia Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado and purdue….I don’t have an in state school so I wasn’t taking any chances.


My GREs aren’t good and my GPA isn’t the greatest. Do I even stand a chance of an interview?

 

[Falina]

Hey guys! I've been using SDN for a while but just now made a profile. 🙂
I am not sure about applying to vet school because I don't think I stand a chance to be honest. I would like to go into research so I definitely want to pursue a PhD. I'd like to apply to a DVM/PhD program but like I said, i know my chances are slim. Here are some stats:

Cum GPA:3.5

~1500 hours as a vet tech at a small animal vet clinic
~800 hours bathing dogs at a grooming shop
~500 hours as a kennel tech at my current job. grooming/boarding shop.
~5 hours volunteering at an equine rescue (scooping poop mostly)....
~10 hours of wolf puppy socialization at a wolf preserve. we also helped with a lot of manual labor. that part sucked lol.

-Volunteering in the aquatic greenhouse at school since this past summer. We do a lot of animal husbandry, water chemistry checks, and aquaculture. I'm in charge of maintaining the phytoplankton and copepods and rotifers (I LOVE microbes).

-TAing for micro lab and zoology lab at school currently.

-member of American Society of Microbiology

-member of scuba club

-member of pre-vet society (was VP for 2 semesters before I had my quarter life crisis.)

I haven't taken my GRE yet. I will graduate w my b.s. in Biology in Fall 2014.

What do you guys think- worth going the DVM/PhD route??

Hey Elbie59! Welcome to SDN 🙂

Some questions for you first:
What is your science gpa so far?
Are you a RVT or LVT?
What is your in state school, if you have one?

A 3.5 gpa isn't terrible. I just got accepted to UC Davis on my first application cycle with a 3.5. PhD is more competitive though, as you know, and so you'll probably have to raise your gpa a bit.

Recommendations:
GPA: You are currently in what will be your "last 45 units". Many schools look at your last 45 units gpa when determining admissions. This means that what you do now, grade wise, is incredibly important. This is first and foremost in getting you into vet school.

GRE: you haven't taken it yet and probably won't take it for a while, but I would recommend that you really think about it and plan ahead and study. If I could go back in time I would study more for the GRE.

Experience: it looks like your veterinary experience is limited to small animal. Many schools like seeing a variety of experience over pure hours. (lots of vet students change their focus during vet school, so adcoms want students with a wide variety of experiences to better help them choose what they want to do). So, if it's possible, I would recommend that you try to get experience with other species. Try to go on some rounds with a horse/livestock vet.
Secondly, I know that applying is probably a ways away for you, but make sure that if you're not a RVT or LVT that you don't put "tech" on your application. "Tech" implies extra schooling and a license, and adcoms might not like the misrepresentation. (at my clinic we call assistants "techs" too, so I totally understand using the layman's term).
If it's possible to get any research experience while you're still in undergrad, I'd strongly recommend it.

eLORS: have you picked out who you want to write your recommendation letters? If not, that is something that you should work on now. Try to build a good relationship with professors and vets in preparation for asking them to write you one. Keep in mind that some schools are more specific about their letters: some want 2 from professors and 1 from a vet. Davis wants 2 from vets and 1 from a professor. To be super safe I'd recommend cultivating relationships with 2 of each. Safety nets are always a great thing.

Hope some of this helped, and I hope your time at SDN is informative!

 

[nachomamma]

Firstly, what schools did you apply to this year?

VMRCVM (IS), Penn, Cornell, Tufts, Florida and Ohio State

Even though your GRE scores aren't bad (congrats on the 5.0 by the way, not many people can get that), you can in theory do better. I'd spend a few months studying and rock that thing.

Funny story about the GRE- I've taken it twice, and did EXACTLY the same the second time around. I guess I'm consistent at least?

Thanks for the feedback. I've been feeling COMPLETELY in the dark about whether or not my application is any way competitive. I am definitely concerned about the dip in my last 45, but I am hoping that schools will look more closely at my transcript. I hardly crashed and burned during my last 45, but I did unfortunately get a C in Orgo I which counted for 5 credits. The rest of my last 45 is solid As and Bs so it isn't horrible...at least, I don't think it is😕

 

[Elbie59]

Hey Elbie59! Welcome to SDN 🙂

Some questions for you first:
What is your science gpa so far?
Are you a RVT or LVT?
What is your in state school, if you have one?

A 3.5 gpa isn't terrible. I just got accepted to UC Davis on my first application cycle with a 3.5. PhD is more competitive though, as you know, and so you'll probably have to raise your gpa a bit.

Recommendations:
GPA: You are currently in what will be your "last 45 units". Many schools look at your last 45 units gpa when determining admissions. This means that what you do now, grade wise, is incredibly important. This is first and foremost in getting you into vet school.

GRE: you haven't taken it yet and probably won't take it for a while, but I would recommend that you really think about it and plan ahead and study. If I could go back in time I would study more for the GRE.

Experience: it looks like your veterinary experience is limited to small animal. Many schools like seeing a variety of experience over pure hours. (lots of vet students change their focus during vet school, so adcoms want students with a wide variety of experiences to better help them choose what they want to do). So, if it's possible, I would recommend that you try to get experience with other species. Try to go on some rounds with a horse/livestock vet.
Secondly, I know that applying is probably a ways away for you, but make sure that if you're not a RVT or LVT that you don't put "tech" on your application. "Tech" implies extra schooling and a license, and adcoms might not like the misrepresentation. (at my clinic we call assistants "techs" too, so I totally understand using the layman's term).
If it's possible to get any research experience while you're still in undergrad, I'd strongly recommend it.

eLORS: have you picked out who you want to write your recommendation letters? If not, that is something that you should work on now. Try to build a good relationship with professors and vets in preparation for asking them to write you one. Keep in mind that some schools are more specific about their letters: some want 2 from professors and 1 from a vet. Davis wants 2 from vets and 1 from a professor. To be super safe I'd recommend cultivating relationships with 2 of each. Safety nets are always a great thing.

Hope some of this helped, and I hope your time at SDN is informative!

My science GPA is a 3.7 right now. I'm hoping it stays high.... lol
I'm really concerned it will plummet now that i'm taking all science classes. ugh how do you guys stay on top of grades?!

I live in FL right now BUT my husband is in the process of applying to grad school and is looking into auburn and university of georiga, so those are the 2 i've been looking at for vet school. UGA only accepts a few OOS students a year, so i probably don't have a chance there. Auburn accepts 40 (yay!). I believe i'd be considered OOS there because I won't have lived there for a year prior to applying.

I have started studying for the GRE because I've heard how difficult it is. When would be a good time to take it if I plan on applying to start Fall of 2015?

My experience is mostly in small animal except my like 5 whole hours scooping poop at the equine rescue. I am volunteering in the aquatic greenhouse at school and we have animals like turtles, crabs, corals, fish obviously. I'm hoping this also gives me a little bit more edge.

No, I am not a RVT/LVT. I suppose i would be considered a vet assistant, but we too called those vet techs at that clinic. I will definitely keep that straight in the application process.

Next semester I am actually doing research with a professor involving quantitative ecology. I don't know EXACTLY what that entails, but probably number crunching of data from his ecological research. he studies snails here in Florida.

I do have several people in mind for my LORs. 2 vets (from the same clinic though), and a few professors that I have developed some good relationships with.

 

[Boojie222]

Hello Everyone! I have used this site as a resource for quite a while, and was hoping to get some advice on my application. I am a non-traditional student, with a not so great GPA. I am starting to wonder if vet school is even in the cards for me, and was hoping to get some advice from people who have gone through, or are currently going through this process. I am planning on applying next cycle, and was hoping to apply to Davis, Oregon State, and Washington State.

31 yr old female
California resident
Senior at a state college

Cum GPA: 3.3
Science GPA: 3.3-3.4
Last 60 units: 3.4


GRE: Have not taken yet- I'm planning to this spring

Vet Hours:
-3,000 hours as a RVT at a shelter/ low cost clinic
-7,000 hours as a veterinary assistant at a small animal general practice
-200 hours large animal experience in veterinary technician classes (was unsure if I can include this)
-2 week long trips with RAVS as a professional volunteer

Research:
I just started working on a research project this semester, and will prob have around 500 hrs at the time of my application.

eLOR
- 2 small animal veterinarians
- 1 college professor

I am starting to get a little anxious because my GPA is not where I would like it to be. I thought I could do one more semester to improve it, but just found out that because of a unit cap, I will not be able to (I have acquired a lot of units over the last 13 years 🙂) I was just wondering if you guys who have been through this process think there is a realistic chance I could get into a US school? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Falina]

My science GPA is a 3.7 right now. I'm hoping it stays high.... lol
I'm really concerned it will plummet now that i'm taking all science classes. ugh how do you guys stay on top of grades?!

I live in FL right now BUT my husband is in the process of applying to grad school and is looking into auburn and university of georiga, so those are the 2 i've been looking at for vet school. UGA only accepts a few OOS students a year, so i probably don't have a chance there. Auburn accepts 40 (yay!). I believe i'd be considered OOS there because I won't have lived there for a year prior to applying.

I have started studying for the GRE because I've heard how difficult it is. When would be a good time to take it if I plan on applying to start Fall of 2015?

My experience is mostly in small animal except my like 5 whole hours scooping poop at the equine rescue. I am volunteering in the aquatic greenhouse at school and we have animals like turtles, crabs, corals, fish obviously. I'm hoping this also gives me a little bit more edge.

No, I am not a RVT/LVT. I suppose i would be considered a vet assistant, but we too called those vet techs at that clinic. I will definitely keep that straight in the application process.

Next semester I am actually doing research with a professor involving quantitative ecology. I don't know EXACTLY what that entails, but probably number crunching of data from his ecological research. he studies snails here in Florida.

I do have several people in mind for my LORs. 2 vets (from the same clinic though), and a few professors that I have developed some good relationships with.

Awesome science gpa! Keep that up as much as you can 🙂

To keep myself motivated I'd usually just stop and think "do I want to be lazy tonight, or do I want to get into vet school?". That usually kept me on track.

Florida is kind of known for liking GRE scores. The last accepted class had an average 78% verbal score and 74% quantitative.
From what I've read, schools often like students retaking the GRE at least once. And ETS makes you wait at least a month in between tests. So I would probably schedule one for early summer, and then another in late summer/early fall maybe. That way you'd have time to study between them if need be.

The research sounds cool, I hope that turns out to be an interesting experience for you 🙂

 

[epivetlove]

And ETS makes you wait at least a month in between tests. So I would probably schedule one for early summer, and then another in late summer/early fall maybe.

Close, but now you can take it sooner than that. Straight from the ETS site:

"You can take the GRE revised General Test once every 21 days, and up to five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period. This applies even if you canceled your scores on a test taken previously."

I think scheduling one earlier in the year, then leaving the majority of the summer months to study if it needs to be retaken is excellent advice. Just keep in mind that the test is $185 now, with 4 free score reports, then $25 for every other report thereafter. The test fee is only likely to rise, too...I believe I paid $160 when it was first revised in 2011. Not a huge leap, but when it comes to applying, even small costs seem to add up quickly.

 

[Falina]

Close, but now you can take it sooner than that. Straight from the ETS site:

"You can take the GRE revised General Test once every 21 days, and up to five times within any continuous rolling 12-month period. This applies even if you canceled your scores on a test taken previously."

I think scheduling one earlier in the year, then leaving the majority of the summer months to study if it needs to be retaken is excellent advice. Just keep in mind that the test is $185 now, with 4 free score reports, then $25 for every other report thereafter. The test fee is only likely to rise, too...I believe I paid $160 when it was first revised in 2011. Not a huge leap, but when it comes to applying, even small costs seem to add up quickly.

Ah ok, last year they had to be 30 days apart. 21 is much better!
Thanks for the info 🙂

 

[Elbie59]

Awesome science gpa! Keep that up as much as you can 🙂

To keep myself motivated I'd usually just stop and think "do I want to be lazy tonight, or do I want to get into vet school?". That usually kept me on track.

Florida is kind of known for liking GRE scores. The last accepted class had an average 78% verbal score and 74% quantitative.
From what I've read, schools often like students retaking the GRE at least once. And ETS makes you wait at least a month in between tests. So I would probably schedule one for early summer, and then another in late summer/early fall maybe. That way you'd have time to study between them if need be.

The research sounds cool, I hope that turns out to be an interesting experience for you 🙂

Falina,
That is a good way to stay motivated! I get so caught up in how excited I am for the future that it's hard for me to realize I am not there yet, and will have to work hard to get there!

Holy cow, those are ridiculous scores! I've never known anyone who's gotten scores that high. Wow, no pressure, right?

I read the post after this that says the test can be taken every 21 days. I think taking it the beginning of the year is a great idea actually. That way I can gauge my next test date/study habits around that experience. Not knowing what to expect is partly why it's so nerve-racking i think.

I admire you all so much- anyone who gets into vet school is practically a god in my eyes. I feel like it's a near impossible feat.

 

[swingnsave]

Hey guys, I figure it's about time I post my stats so far and get some constructive feedback on my chances and pointers since I'll be applying next cycle. Not really proud of my current academic stats, but that's where you guys come in with giving me the cold, hard truth and I'm ready for it because I don't have much longer to prepare myself. Thank y'all in advance!

Currently a Junior at a university in TX
California Resident (could apply for residency in TX this year… but still debating if I want to stay here over summer)

I see myself applying to UC Davis, TAMU, Tufts, Florida, CSU, UTK, Mizzou

Please feel free to suggest different/other schools that would favor my stats.

Overall GPA: 2.91 (can get it close to 3.5)
Science GPA: 3.0 (can get close to 3.4)
Hoping to give my last 45 GPA a high number

I have about 50 credits left, mostly in the sciences.

Planning to take GRE in January.

Vet Experience:
300 hrs Shelter Med (Apprx 500 by time of app)
20 hrs various SA Hospitals (just got a different SA shadowing "yes" and will start in a couple weeks.. hoping it goes well)


Animal Experience:
200 hrs SPCA
130 hrs Wildlife Rehabilitation Intern
10 hrs equine

Research:
Starting next week I'll be assisting with snake/toad field and lab research!! Hoping to have at least 100 hrs.

Extracurriculars:
D-1 Athlete in women's golf (currently on my 3rd yr)
Student Alumni Association
Pre-Vet Society (Secretary)
Environmental Awareness Club
Alpha Lamda Delta
LeaderShape Graduate
Make A Difference Day
Adopt-A-Beach
Red-Ribbon Week Speaker (3rs)
HEB Thanksgiving Server
5k for Children's Hospital

Hobbies:
Guitar
Piano
Knitting
Painting
(all self taught)

Awards:
Athletic Directors Student-Athlete Award
Multiple Student-Athlete awards in HS
Dean's List 2 semesters
PGA Minority Golf Collegiate Championship Scholarship
some others I can't think of right now

 

[Falina]

23 yr old New Jersey resident, graduated with honors
Major: Biology pre-professional
(according to VMCAS)
Science GPA: 3.36
Non-science: 3.7
Cumulative: 3.51
Last 45 (ish): ~3.8 (its hard for me to determine since its more like 47 & I took a course following graduation)

GRE:
Verbal: 154 (62)
Quant: 153 (53)
Writing: 4.5 (78)

Experience - animal
Vet experience (small animal) hours: 2,500 (only 200 hours unpaid)
Wildlife volunteer: 52
Animal laboratory: 392
Dog groomer: 275
Equine stable hand: 1,100

Non-animal
Independent student research: 48
Biology tutor on campus: 150
Microbiology lab tech on campus: 266

Currently employed full time at animal hospital

The only award I have from college is graduating Cum Laude. The other two were scholarships I won in high school from the National Honors society. And most of my community activities were from high school as well. The only ones from college are chemistry club, ultimate club (VP), student gov’t (treasurer) and wildlife society.

Letters of recommendation
2 of the 3 vets I currently work for
My microbiology employer/ molecular biology professor
(and for Cornell only)
Wildlife center employee
Animal laboratory manager

Schools I applied to: Upenn, cornell, Kansas, Virginia Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado and purdue….I don’t have an in state school so I wasn’t taking any chances.


My GREs aren’t good and my GPA isn’t the greatest. Do I even stand a chance of an interview?

Hello and welcome Evilsquirrel 🙂

I think you stand a very good chance of getting an interview!

You have a decent gpa.. Lots of vet experience hours too, and the research is great. Your GREs aren't super high, but plenty of people get accepted with scores similar to yours.

If you happened to not get in this year, I'd recommend focusing your applications towards schools that use the last 45 gpa, since that is by far your best gpa.
I'd also try to get a bit more variety in your vet experience, maybe by doing some rounds with an equine vet or something.

Honestly though, I think you'll be ok 🙂

 

[evilsquirrel]

Hello and welcome Evilsquirrel 🙂

I think you stand a very good chance of getting an interview!

You have a decent gpa.. Lots of vet experience hours too, and the research is great. Your GREs aren't super high, but plenty of people get accepted with scores similar to yours.

If you happened to not get in this year, I'd recommend focusing your applications towards schools that use the last 45 gpa, since that is by far your best gpa.
I'd also try to get a bit more variety in your vet experience, maybe by doing some rounds with an equine vet or something.

Honestly though, I think you'll be ok 🙂

Awh, thank you! I've been getting really nervous. I know several people who had a much higher GPA than I did who got rejected (no idea what their GRE scores were). I don't think they had nearly as much experience. I've been trying to get into contact with an exotic animal vet but unfortunately the nearby zoo shut down due to fires.

 

[Falina]

Awh, thank you! I've been getting really nervous. I know several people who had a much higher GPA than I did who got rejected (no idea what their GRE scores were). I don't think they had nearly as much experience. I've been trying to get into contact with an exotic animal vet but unfortunately the nearby zoo shut down due to fires.

It can be really disconcerting to read about people with 3.9 gpas getting rejected and the like. I felt the same way.
Just know that there are a lot of things on applications that we can't judge. Maybe that valedictorian has only observed for 200 hours, while you've actually have thousands of hands on experience. Because they have fewer hours, maybe their recommendation letters were weaker (didn't have as strong of a relationship with the vet). Maybe their personal statement wasn't convincing?

At the end of the day all you can really do is try to make your application as good as you can and cross your fingers. 🙂

 

[LetItSnow]

Hey guys, I figure it's about time I post my stats so far and get some constructive feedback on my chances

Hey Swings.

You already know what you need to do academically, so that's a non-issue (as far as critiquing).

I would consider trying to find some more veterinary experience; maybe LA or equine. If the shadowing thing you're starting soon works out well and turns into something regular, that would probably be fine instead.

I think it's especially important when the academic side is more weak that the experience section jumps out and screams 'good candidate'.

On the other hand, if you can get to 3.5 and 3.4 then it's not such a big deal. Those are perfectly reasonable GPAs.

 

[DVMDream]

Swings, definitely what LIS said and I would say really, really focus on getting those grades up. Also, just to be completely honest CSU is going to be a huge stretch... they flat out told me in my file review that my GPA (3.6 something at the time) was not going to work and I would need to get a master's. Other than that, all they mentioned was more diverse experience. From my experience with CSU, it appears as if they focus on grades a lot more than they claim to on their website, but that is just my personal experience from 2009/2010 application cycle.

I would definitely suggest trying to get some diversity in your experience too, even if it is just riding with an equine vet for a few hours, at least it shows that you are branching out to different areas.

I think your biggest thing is the grades, to be honest. I would work on that as hard as you can and try to up the experience hours some just to offset the grades. Also, rock out the GRE as that can help to offset grades too. Your extracurriculars are great as well, so hopefully those will catch an adcoms attention.

Hope this helps some. I'm not going to say your grades are horrible, people do get accepted with those GPAs, but as someone who had a 3.49 GPA while applying (a 3.6 the first application cycle); it is very hard (or was for me) for the schools to look past that.

 

[swingnsave]

Hey Swings.

You already know what you need to do academically, so that's a non-issue (as far as critiquing).

I would consider trying to find some more veterinary experience; maybe LA or equine. If the shadowing thing you're starting soon works out well and turns into something regular, that would probably be fine instead.

I think it's especially important when the academic side is more weak that the experience section jumps out and screams 'good candidate'.

On the other hand, if you can get to 3.5 and 3.4 then it's not such a big deal. Those are perfectly reasonable GPAs.

Swings, definitely what LIS said and I would say really, really focus on getting those grades up. Also, just to be completely honest CSU is going to be a huge stretch... they flat out told me in my file review that my GPA (3.6 something at the time) was not going to work and I would need to get a master's. Other than that, all they mentioned was more diverse experience. From my experience with CSU, it appears as if they focus on grades a lot more than they claim to on their website, but that is just my personal experience from 2009/2010 application cycle.

I would definitely suggest trying to get some diversity in your experience too, even if it is just riding with an equine vet for a few hours, at least it shows that you are branching out to different areas.

I think your biggest thing is the grades, to be honest. I would work on that as hard as you can and try to up the experience hours some just to offset the grades. Also, rock out the GRE as that can help to offset grades too. Your extracurriculars are great as well, so hopefully those will catch an adcoms attention.

Hope this helps some. I'm not going to say your grades are horrible, people do get accepted with those GPAs, but as someone who had a 3.49 GPA while applying (a 3.6 the first application cycle); it is very hard (or was for me) for the schools to look past that.

Thank you LIS and DVMD.

I will probably cut out CSU then.. 😛 which saves $$ anyway

I'm working hard on my grades, and I will be studying for the GRE pretty much all winter break. I'm saving up for a car next semester so I can get more vet/animal experience. There is like one bus here for public transportation here and it sucks and my friends have much better things to do on weekends than drive me 30 mins to a vet clinic.

I have a sea turtle volunteer thing set up this summer, and I will focus on getting some LA experience as well to make up for lack of stellar grades. 🙂

 

[orca2011]

Thank you LIS and DVMD.

I will probably cut out CSU then.. 😛 which saves $$ anyway

I'm working hard on my grades, and I will be studying for the GRE pretty much all winter break. I'm saving up for a car next semester so I can get more vet/animal experience. There is like one bus here for public transportation here and it sucks and my friends have much better things to do on weekends than drive me 30 mins to a vet clinic.

I have a sea turtle volunteer thing set up this summer, and I will focus on getting some LA experience as well to make up for lack of stellar grades. 🙂

I know when I applied to Tufts, they mentioned that they put a great deal of emphasis on academics. If you can bring up your GPA to that 3.5, I think applying to them is within reason, especially if you back it up with solid GRE scores. I had around a 3.5 and interviewed in my first cycle and flat out rejected my 2nd for not taking the GRE a 3rd time.I took the old GRE, so I'm not sure sharing my scores would be particularly helpful.

 

[swingnsave]

I know when I applied to Tufts, they mentioned that they put a great deal of emphasis on academics. If you can bring up your GPA to that 3.5, I think applying to them is within reason, especially if you back it up with solid GRE scores. I had around a 3.5 and interviewed in my first cycle and flat out rejected my 2nd for not taking the GRE a 3rd time.I took the old GRE, so I'm not sure sharing my scores would be particularly helpful.

Thank you orca, do you remember the percentages you scored in? Maybe that could give me an idea. If not I'll just look when they have updated stats. Im putting a lot of hope into my GRE scores, so I'll make sure to update come January or February

 

[orca2011]

Thank you orca, do you remember the percentages you scored in? Maybe that could give me an idea. If not I'll just look when they have updated stats. Im putting a lot of hope into my GRE scores, so I'll make sure to update come January or February

I'd probably have to look at my old reports. If I pull up my scores now online, the %s are a bit lower because of the differences between the two tests. Currently, my verbal is at 70%, Q is at 49% and Writing is at 93%. Pretty sure when I took the old test, they were all at least in the 60 percentile. Verbal and Writing were definitely higher (want to say 70 and 80 percentiles respectively), while I think Quant was around 69%.

 

[swingnsave]

I'd probably have to look at my old reports. If I pull up my scores now online, the %s are a bit lower because of the differences between the two tests. Currently, my verbal is at 70%, Q is at 49% and Writing is at 93%. Pretty sure when I took the old test, they were all at least in the 60 percentile. Verbal and Writing were definitely higher (want to say 70 and 80 percentiles respectively), while I think Quant was around 69%.

Ok thank you I'll keep this all in mind and I'm sure I'll change where I apply as my stats become more solid in where I stand

 

[belugal]

Hello!

I have been trying to avoid this but now that all of my supplementals are done I couldn't help myself. I am 22 and would like to go into wildlife or zoological medicine.

First time applicant applying to NCSU (IS), Ohio St., Florida, Oregon St., Kansas St., and VMRC
Graduated - B.S. Zoology
Senior, second degree - Interdisciplary Studies
Cum GPA - 3.76
Last 45, science/pre-req - approx. 3.72 depending on the school

GRE
Verbal - 156 (70)
Quant - 155 (61)
Writing - 4.0 (54)

Veterinary Experience/Research
270 hrs - Exotics including reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and a few birds in a public facility
260 hrs - Small animal at two hospitals.
60 hrs - VIDA trip to Costa Rica (small animal and some large animal)
20 hrs - Food/equine
90 hrs - Research on reptile/amphibian treatments
60 hrs - Current research developing educational materials for wildlife interactions

Animal Experience
530 - sea turtle rehab hospital, including a few (10) hours shadowing marine mammal trainers
300 - large cat rescue intern
76 - promotion of animal agriculture, includes experience with livestock
50 - volunteer at hog farm
65 - pet sitting
60 - poultry experience with 4-h and a camp at NCSU (high school)
50 - Bug collection (I didn't want to add much classroom experience, but it seemed like a great experience to include)

Employment
Mentor for freshmen science majors (1 year)
Tutoring (1 semester)

Honors/Awards
Academic - deans list 6 semesters, a few honors societies, a few scholarships
Completion of college honors program
Fundraising award from American Cancer Society
Rehabilitation Beginners Class Completion Certificate
Tradition Keeper Award
4-H Honor Club

Community Activities - a lot of service projects, 3 major clubs in which I served as an officer, camp councilor, leadership conferences, intramural and hs sports, etc

ELORS
Exotic animal vet
Professor (Veterinary degree and PhD)/research mentor
Administrator/research mentor/club advisor

Do I stand a chance at getting an interview?

 

[cadisestrama]

Hello!

I have been trying to avoid this but now that all of my supplementals are done I couldn't help myself. I am 22 and would like to go into wildlife or zoological medicine.

First time applicant applying to NCSU (IS), Ohio St., Florida, Oregon St., Kansas St., and VMRC
Graduated - B.S. Zoology
Senior, second degree - Interdisciplary Studies
Cum GPA - 3.76
Last 45, science/pre-req - approx. 3.72 depending on the school

GRE
Verbal - 156 (70)
Quant - 155 (61)
Writing - 4.0 (54)

Veterinary Experience/Research
270 hrs - Exotics including reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and a few birds in a public facility
260 hrs - Small animal at two hospitals.
60 hrs - VIDA trip to Costa Rica (small animal and some large animal)
20 hrs - Food/equine
90 hrs - Research on reptile/amphibian treatments
60 hrs - Current research developing educational materials for wildlife interactions

Animal Experience
530 - sea turtle rehab hospital, including a few (10) hours shadowing marine mammal trainers
300 - large cat rescue intern
76 - promotion of animal agriculture, includes experience with livestock
50 - volunteer at hog farm
65 - pet sitting
60 - poultry experience with 4-h and a camp at NCSU (high school)
50 - Bug collection (I didn't want to add much classroom experience, but it seemed like a great experience to include)

Employment
Mentor for freshmen science majors (1 year)
Tutoring (1 semester)

Honors/Awards
Academic - deans list 6 semesters, a few honors societies, a few scholarships
Completion of college honors program
Fundraising award from American Cancer Society
Rehabilitation Beginners Class Completion Certificate
Tradition Keeper Award
4-H Honor Club

Community Activities - a lot of service projects, 3 major clubs in which I served as an officer, camp councilor, leadership conferences, intramural and hs sports, etc

ELORS
Exotic animal vet
Professor (Veterinary degree and PhD)/research mentor
Administrator/research mentor/club advisor

Do I stand a chance at getting an interview?

I think you have a very good chance at getting an interview. Your GPA is really good and your experiences are pretty diverse. You have a lot of extra-curricular activities as well. And I'm sure your PS and LORs are awesome. Your GRE score is pretty good, though your quantitative score is a little on the low side, but I don't think it should affect your chances since it's only one part of your entire application. 🙂

 

[Brettz]

Hi guys,

I'm a first-time applicant, applying to Cornell (IS), UC Davis, UPenn, UWisconsin, and CSU. I know that some of my stats are above average and I don't want to discourage anyone with less competitive stats (one of the things I can't stand about this forum), but I also lack in certain areas, especially veterinary experience. I have one more supplemental to do, so naturally I'm obsessing a little bit while playing the waiting game. I'm just interested in getting some opinions from you guys.

I attend Stony Brook University (NY)
Biology major, Music minor

Cum GPA: 3.59
Last 45: 3.99
Science GPA: 3.67

GRE: Verbal 163, 89% ; Math 164, 91% ; Writing 4.0, 54%

200 hours volunteering at a small animal clinic under an internal medicine specialist (these hours were accumulated from June-August just before applying)
40 hours volunteering at a spay/neuter clinic - feline & canine (also accumulated just before applying)
400 hours interning at a wildlife rehab center
~300 hours caring for reptiles & raptors at the same rehab center
135 hours doing research quantifying stranded sea turtle stomach contents

6 letters of eval: Vet from clinic (IM specialist), Coordinator of spay/neuter clinic, Wildlife rehab intern supervisor, Research supervisor, Neurobiology professor (ranked #1 in his class), Supervisor at the library I've worked at for about 4 years (~17 hours a week)

Other info: I attended a good music school for my first year of college and I have an extensive music background, which I wrote about in the explanation section of VMCAS

Thanks guys!

Also, if you have any input about the student life at the schools I'm applying to (whether you go there now or not) I would love to hear about it. I'm really looking for an exciting college experience in an active (hopefully urban) environment.

 

[DVMDream]

Hi guys,

I'm a first-time applicant, applying to Cornell (IS), UC Davis, UPenn, UWisconsin, and CSU. I know that some of my stats are above average and I don't want to discourage anyone with less competitive stats (one of the things I can't stand about this forum), but I also lack in certain areas, especially veterinary experience. I have one more supplemental to do, so naturally I'm obsessing a little bit while playing the waiting game. I'm just interested in getting some opinions from you guys.

I attend Stony Brook University (NY)
Biology major, Music minor

Cum GPA: 3.59
Last 45: 3.99
Science GPA: 3.67

GRE: Verbal 163, 89% ; Math 164, 91% ; Writing 4.0, 54%

200 hours volunteering at a small animal clinic under an internal medicine specialist (these hours were accumulated from June-August just before applying)
40 hours volunteering at a spay/neuter clinic - feline & canine (also accumulated just before applying)
400 hours interning at a wildlife rehab center
~300 hours caring for reptiles & raptors at the same rehab center
135 hours doing research quantifying stranded sea turtle stomach contents

6 letters of eval: Vet from clinic (IM specialist), Coordinator of spay/neuter clinic, Wildlife rehab intern supervisor, Research supervisor, Neurobiology professor (ranked #1 in his class), Supervisor at the library I've worked at for about 4 years (~17 hours a week)

Other info: I attended a good music school for my first year of college and I have an extensive music background, which I wrote about in the explanation section of VMCAS

Thanks guys!

Also, if you have any input about the student life at the schools I'm applying to (whether you go there now or not) I would love to hear about it. I'm really looking for an exciting college experience in an active (hopefully urban) environment.

I am not entirely certain as to why you even typed out the bolded part above. Yes, some of your stats are a bit above "average" but why do you have to emphasize this? Also, why mention that it might discourage others? Also, I have never seen anyone intentionally discourage someone for having less than "average" stats, so to say you "can't stand" that about this forum is very odd to me. It indicates to me that you haven't really read the forums here. Also you are indicating you can't stand something about these forums whilst asking us to give you honest feedback, which really isn't going to make anyone have the desire to give you feedback.


That aside, I will give you feedback because I am feeling nice. Your GPA's are right around the average for most vet schools, science GPA might be a bit on the high end of average, last 45 GPA is above average and is really good. Your GRE scores are good as well.

You have a decent number of hours volunteering in a veterinary situation. I would suggest, if you can, maybe trying to get some more and, if possible, branching out to get equine or food animal experience. I would say that compared to many applicants your hours here are going to probably be less, but you have already indicated that you know this.

You do also have some variety in working with wildlife and exotics as well as doing some research, this is also good.

Overall, I say you have an ok shot at getting an interview. I do suggest trying to get a few more veterinary hours if possible. Also, I don't know much in the way of any extracurriculars that you did as you didn't post any, other than mentioning going to a music school. But hopefully you have some good extracurriculars or hobbies that were also on your application as those look good as well.

And my final suggestion, if you are going to ask people for help, it would be wise to not say something negative about them.

 

[Brettz]

I am not entirely certain as to why you even typed out the bolded part above. Yes, some of your stats are a bit above "average" but why do you have to emphasize this? Also, why mention that it might discourage others? Also, I have never seen anyone intentionally discourage someone for having less than "average" stats, so to say you "can't stand" that about this forum is very odd to me. It indicates to me that you haven't really read the forums here. Also you are indicating you can't stand something about these forums whilst asking us to give you honest feedback, which really isn't going to make anyone have the desire to give you feedback.


That aside, I will give you feedback because I am feeling nice. Your GPA's are right around the average for most vet schools, science GPA might be a bit on the high end of average, last 45 GPA is above average and is really good. Your GRE scores are good as well.

You have a decent number of hours volunteering in a veterinary situation. I would suggest, if you can, maybe trying to get some more and, if possible, branching out to get equine or food animal experience. I would say that compared to many applicants your hours here are going to probably be less, but you have already indicated that you know this.

You do also have some variety in working with wildlife and exotics as well as doing some research, this is also good.

Overall, I say you have an ok shot at getting an interview. I do suggest trying to get a few more veterinary hours if possible. Also, I don't know much in the way of any extracurriculars that you did as you didn't post any, other than mentioning going to a music school. But hopefully you have some good extracurriculars or hobbies that were also on your application as those look good as well.

And my final suggestion, if you are going to ask people for help, it would be wise to not say something negative about them.

I'm afraid you misunderstand what I'm saying. I did not intend to say anything negative about anyone on this forum, nor about anyone in general. I never said that I've seen anyone on the forum intentionally discourage someone for any reason. All I am saying is that I have found that it's an unfortunate result inherent in this process of comparing stats that some applicants may get discouraged by seeing someone else with "better" stats, especially when this person is questioning the merits of his/her own stats on a forum. At least I know that I've felt this. In fact, I have friends that tell me to keep away from the forum for this reason. I was just trying to be sensitive to others, seeing that this is a very stressful time for all of us.

Thanks for giving me your feedback. I really appreciate it. It seems like honest, objective advice, which is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[BlackDog17]

I'm afraid you misunderstand what I'm saying. I did not intend to say anything negative about anyone on this forum, nor about anyone in general. I never said that I've seen anyone on the forum intentionally discourage someone for any reason. All I am saying is that I have found that it's an unfortunate result inherent in this process of comparing stats that some applicants may get discouraged by seeing someone else with "better" stats, especially when this person is questioning the merits of his/her own stats on a forum. At least I know that I've felt this. In fact, I have friends that tell me to keep away from the forum for this reason. I was just trying to be sensitive to others, seeing that this is a very stressful time for all of us.

Thanks for giving me your feedback. I really appreciate it. It seems like honest, objective advice, which is exactly what I was looking for.

So calling extra attention to the fact that your gpa is higher than theirs is helping? 😏

No one here is intentionally discouraging. For the most part, this is an extremely supportive group (if you don't believe me, go check out the crap that goes down on the pre-allo forums). But no one here is going to sugarcoat things either. If someone posts with lousy stats, you're not doing them any favors telling them that they're a special snowflake and they can have anything they want as long as they wish for it hard enough. They're just going to waste time and money getting rejected, so how does that help them? That's why this thread exists: to provide honest criticism and advice to those who ask for it. No one is required to post here. No one is even required to read it. If someone is that insecure about themselves, they can just move on to other threads.

 

[Brettz]

So calling extra attention to the fact that your gpa is higher than theirs is helping? 😏

No one here is intentionally discouraging. For the most part, this is an extremely supportive group (if you don't believe me, go check out the crap that goes down on the pre-allo forums). But no one here is going to sugarcoat things either. If someone posts with lousy stats, you're not doing them any favors telling them that they're a special snowflake and they can have anything they want as long as they wish for it hard enough. They're just going to waste time and money getting rejected, so how does that help them? That's why this thread exists: to provide honest criticism and advice to those who ask for it. No one is required to post here. No one is even required to read it. If someone is that insecure about themselves, they can just move on to other threads.

I already explained that I don't think anyone is intentionally discouraging. And I'm not sure why you're talking about sugarcoating. You're distorting my point and arguing with a straw man. The reason I said what I said is because I know what it feels like to see someone's post say "Do you think I even have a shot at all?" (or something along those lines) when they have great stats. Them questioning their credentials which are better than mine gets me a little down about my own application. Call me insecure, whatever. While I don't have great stats by any means, I still felt that questioning my stats required some justification. I was just trying to avoid leaving anyone feeling down about themselves the way I have felt in the past. Think of it as a disclaimer or even an apology for posting because that's how I was thinking about it. I didn't want to post my stats but my obsession with being evaluated in this time of high tension got the better of me. Obviously I could've done a better job of it but I didn't realize how much attention that sentence would get.

 

[DVMDream]

I already explained that I don't think anyone is intentionally discouraging. And I'm not sure why you're talking about sugarcoating. You're distorting my point and arguing with a straw man. The reason I said what I said is because I know what it feels like to see someone's post say "Do you think I even have a shot at all?" (or something along those lines) when they have great stats. Them questioning their credentials which are better than mine gets me a little down about my own application. Call me insecure, whatever. While I don't have great stats by any means, I still felt that questioning my stats required some justification. I was just trying to avoid leaving anyone feeling down about themselves the way I have felt in the past. Think of it as a disclaimer or even an apology for posting because that's how I was thinking about it. I didn't want to post my stats but my obsession with being evaluated in this time of high tension got the better of me. Obviously I could've done a better job of it but I didn't realize how much attention that sentence would get.

I see what you are saying. I understand, you see someone post with 4.0 GPA's and suddenly your 3.5 seems pathetic, but you have to remember that they aren't posting their stats to be discouraging to anyone. It isn't an intentional thing and even if someone has 4.0 GPA's across the board, that doesn't mean that they don't want an honest evaluation of the rest of their application and often times if people leave out pieces of the application when asking for an evaluation we will ask them that information, so they would have to give the GPA's at some point any way. Applying to vet school is intimidating whether you have a 3.0 or a 4.0. I think the sentence just had the opposite effect you were intending it to have, it drew more attention to the fact that your stats are maybe slightly higher than some other peoples'. I was just confused as to why you said you can't stand that this forum is discouraging, as I have never seen anyone be discouraging around here. We are very supportive but I am also not going to tell someone with a 3.0 GPA that getting into vet school is going to be a piece of cake, because it won't be. So while my suggestions and opinion to someone with a 3.0 GPA might seem "discouraging", it is just an honest response. It seemed odd that you said you can't stand something about the forum, but then ask for honest review from us. I do see what you meant though and I will admit when I was applying and someone with a 4.0 GPA would ask for opinions on their stats, I would roll my eyes a bit, but then I would read on and realize that my veterinary experience was much greater than theirs, or my GRE was stronger or something. I think we get too caught up in looking at the GPA and forget to recognize the rest of the application, someone with a 4.0 can still get rejected and they have every right to be nervous about their application, just as much as I did when I applied with my 3.47. Also, as hard as it is, stop comparing stats NOW, because it will only drive you insane (this is for everyone). I really find that there is no rhyme or reason to this whole application process and sometimes it really is just a shot in the dark. Personally, I still think they tape all applications to a wall, then go get really drunk come back and throw 100 darts at the wall, the 100 applications hit, get accepted.

 

[AceZinneX]

Hi - joined several years back when I was still doing my undergrad and asked for some advice. Several years later, I'm back to do the same, but I guess in a more "get your things together" kind of way. I wanted to be a vet since I was a child, but I didn't really apply myself to the fullest and it is back to bite me.

Being absolutely realistic, I know I will have a 99.9% (with the last 0.01% as an otherwise lucky break) of being rejected, hence I'm asking to see if I should even bother attempting to try and continue down this career path, or just call it done here and figure out what else to do. I took an intro class to vet tech, but from that I could tell it isn't for me - I much rather be more involved with the diagnostics (which legally only vets can do).

Planning to apply in the upcoming 2014 summer, I will be a 24 years old first time applicant.

BS in Physiology and Neuroscience at UCSD
Cum. GPA: 3.251
Last 45 GPA: ~3.14
Science GPA: ~2.98
(Last two I have to somewhat guess. I didn't have a full 45 units in my last year and counted the GPA from the last quarter of year 3. Science GPA accounted for all science classes from all my years. Had AP credits that jumped a few lower div classes)

Taking GRE in Dec.

Only recently have I found some experience - maybe I wasn't looking right, but a lot of the clinics in the Bay Area tends to only allow people already accepted into vet school to work. LA experience is a bit hard too given they are farther from the city and currently I do not have a reliable mean of transportation for distant travels.

12 hours a week at a small general practice - maybe around 122 hours thus far
18 hours a week at an emergency/specialty hospital - about 72 hours thus far
Given 30 hours a week, I'm approximating about 1500-1600 hours by summer if I continue as is.

3 letters: hopefully 1 from the general practice, one from an ER doctor, and one from a specialist doctor.

Again, I know as of now (and by summer) I will have a 99.9% of rejection. My GPA is not competitive at all and that is too late to change, and I'm not sure how big of a wild card the GRE can be. I can rack up more experience over another year, but will that change much? I'm not sure what is the maximum number of times to apply either - give up after one rejection? Two? Three or more? Furthermore, all of these time I'm volunteering - I'm not getting any cash income, which harms me whether I get accepted or not. Realistically, do I even have a chance in 2 or 3 years (hopefully before I'm 30)? Or is it just better to stop now and hopefully find another career path?

 

[hpequalslove]

Hi - joined several years back when I was still doing my undergrad and asked for some advice. Several years later, I'm back to do the same, but I guess in a more "get your things together" kind of way. I wanted to be a vet since I was a child, but I didn't really apply myself to the fullest and it is back to bite me.

Being absolutely realistic, I know I will have a 99.9% (with the last 0.01% as an otherwise lucky break) of being rejected, hence I'm asking to see if I should even bother attempting to try and continue down this career path, or just call it done here and figure out what else to do. I took an intro class to vet tech, but from that I could tell it isn't for me - I much rather be more involved with the diagnostics (which legally only vets can do).

Planning to apply in the upcoming 2014 summer, I will be a 24 years old first time applicant.

BS in Physiology and Neuroscience at UCSD
Cum. GPA: 3.251
Last 45 GPA: ~3.14
Science GPA: ~2.98
(Last two I have to somewhat guess. I didn't have a full 45 units in my last year and counted the GPA from the last quarter of year 3. Science GPA accounted for all science classes from all my years. Had AP credits that jumped a few lower div classes)

Taking GRE in Dec.

Only recently have I found some experience - maybe I wasn't looking right, but a lot of the clinics in the Bay Area tends to only allow people already accepted into vet school to work. LA experience is a bit hard too given they are farther from the city and currently I do not have a reliable mean of transportation for distant travels.

12 hours a week at a small general practice - maybe around 122 hours thus far
18 hours a week at an emergency/specialty hospital - about 72 hours thus far
Given 30 hours a week, I'm approximating about 1500-1600 hours by summer if I continue as is.

3 letters: hopefully 1 from the general practice, one from an ER doctor, and one from a specialist doctor.

Again, I know as of now (and by summer) I will have a 99.9% of rejection. My GPA is not competitive at all and that is too late to change, and I'm not sure how big of a wild card the GRE can be. I can rack up more experience over another year, but will that change much? I'm not sure what is the maximum number of times to apply either - give up after one rejection? Two? Three or more? Furthermore, all of these time I'm volunteering - I'm not getting any cash income, which harms me whether I get accepted or not. Realistically, do I even have a chance in 2 or 3 years (hopefully before I'm 30)? Or is it just better to stop now and hopefully find another career path?

If this is what you truly want to do and the only thing you can imagine yourself doing in the future, I say still go for it. True, your cum GPA and science GPA are a tad lower than average but that doesn't automatically throw you out of the running at certain schools. Do you have a general idea of the schools you'd like to apply to (don't forget that some schools have different pre-req requirements that you may not have met yet)? I think if you continue gathering experience like you're doing now, you'll have a chance, again depending on schools you apply to. Some tend to weigh GPA more heavily than others (Davis, CSU are the immediate ones I've dealt with) while others really consider experience. That being said, I would really try to get an even broader experience load. Have you considered trying to get a position as a research assistant? With your BS degree already completed that could be something to make a little extra money AND gain research experience. How about wildlife rehab centers or raptor centers or sanctuaries? Do you have any available in the area to volunteer at? That'd add a nice mix for you especially if getting LA experience in your area is as difficult as you describe.

I would also advise studying hard for the GRE in December, as if you do a strong job on that it could possibly balance out your lower GPA.

So what I'm ultimately saying is, you have a chance. You have several months to accumulate lots of experience, strong relationships with potential LoRs, and to study for the GRE. Continue to work hard, become a diverse applicant, and maybe you can even take a few more upper division science classes to boost the GPA if you have the time and resources for it.

 

[hpequalslove]

Hi guys,

I'm a first-time applicant, applying to Cornell (IS), UC Davis, UPenn, UWisconsin, and CSU. I know that some of my stats are above average and I don't want to discourage anyone with less competitive stats (one of the things I can't stand about this forum), but I also lack in certain areas, especially veterinary experience. I have one more supplemental to do, so naturally I'm obsessing a little bit while playing the waiting game. I'm just interested in getting some opinions from you guys.

I attend Stony Brook University (NY)
Biology major, Music minor

Cum GPA: 3.59
Last 45: 3.99
Science GPA: 3.67

GRE: Verbal 163, 89% ; Math 164, 91% ; Writing 4.0, 54%

200 hours volunteering at a small animal clinic under an internal medicine specialist (these hours were accumulated from June-August just before applying)
40 hours volunteering at a spay/neuter clinic - feline & canine (also accumulated just before applying)
400 hours interning at a wildlife rehab center
~300 hours caring for reptiles & raptors at the same rehab center
135 hours doing research quantifying stranded sea turtle stomach contents

6 letters of eval: Vet from clinic (IM specialist), Coordinator of spay/neuter clinic, Wildlife rehab intern supervisor, Research supervisor, Neurobiology professor (ranked #1 in his class), Supervisor at the library I've worked at for about 4 years (~17 hours a week)

Other info: I attended a good music school for my first year of college and I have an extensive music background, which I wrote about in the explanation section of VMCAS

Thanks guys!

Also, if you have any input about the student life at the schools I'm applying to (whether you go there now or not) I would love to hear about it. I'm really looking for an exciting college experience in an active (hopefully urban) environment.

I'm just going to ignore all the statements that people have issues with and give you advice on a few of the places you applied to as well since I know some about the Ithaca, Madison, and Fort Collins. If you're looking for an urban environment, I would say Madison is your best bet. But hey, I'm biased because that's where I am now 🙂. Fort Collins is also awesome, as I went to CSU for undergrad so I would say those two are the best places to live out of your list... but also, heavily biased over here. Feel free to PM me about those three if you want.

I think you have a better chance at Cornell and UW, but I'm not as sure about CSU and Davis as I know they're crazy about GPA but your super strong last semester GPA (lots of science classes?) might make up for that, same with your GRE. You're pretty well balanced with experience, but your scattered experience hours may not end up helping as much as it might seem like you don't know what you want to go into unless you made that very clear in your application.

 

[DVMDream]

If this is what you truly want to do and the only thing you can imagine yourself doing in the future, I say still go for it. True, your cum GPA and science GPA are a tad lower than average but that doesn't automatically throw you out of the running at certain schools. Do you have a general idea of the schools you'd like to apply to (don't forget that some schools have different pre-req requirements that you may not have met yet)? I think if you continue gathering experience like you're doing now, you'll have a chance, again depending on schools you apply to. Some tend to weigh GPA more heavily than others (Davis, CSU are the immediate ones I've dealt with) while others really consider experience. That being said, I would really try to get an even broader experience load. Have you considered trying to get a position as a research assistant? With your BS degree already completed that could be something to make a little extra money AND gain research experience. How about wildlife rehab centers or raptor centers or sanctuaries? Do you have any available in the area to volunteer at? That'd add a nice mix for you especially if getting LA experience in your area is as difficult as you describe.

I would also advise studying hard for the GRE in December, as if you do a strong job on that it could possibly balance out your lower GPA.

So what I'm ultimately saying is, you have a chance. You have several months to accumulate lots of experience, strong relationships with potential LoRs, and to study for the GRE. Continue to work hard, become a diverse applicant, and maybe you can even take a few more upper division science classes to boost the GPA if you have the time and resources for it.

I am going to disagree with a lot of this.

AceZinneX, being completely honest with you, your GPA's are low, very low and not just "a tad lower than average". You need to rock out the GRE, study now and study hard because it very well could help you out some. Also, look into schools that don't weigh GPA as much, however, keep in mind that they all do still put a decent amount of weight into the GPA, some are just slightly less than others. Rock out that GRE and then look at schools that heavily weigh GRE scores. Also, you may want to consider doing some type of a master's program or a post-bacc with a heavy upper level science load and do REALLY WELL in it. That will help to prove that you have the ability to take on a heavy load of intense science courses.

Honestly, 1500-1600 hours of vet experience is what you said you would have and that is good, average is usually about 500 hours, so you will be above that. If you can get some experience with horses or food animals that would be great as many schools like to see a variety of experience.

I am not going to tell you that this is impossible to do, because other people have been accepted with similar stats, but I am going to tell you that this will be extremely difficult for you. It isn't going to be a walk in the park and you are going to need to do something to prove to the adcoms that you can handle the veterinary curriculum, whether that is a master's, post-bacc or if just doing extraordinary on the GRE will be enough.

Also, no one can tell you when to stop applying. I applied three times in a row and got accepted after the third try, I know some people have done 4, 5 or even 7 application cycles. Only you know when enough is enough, that is a personal choice for you to make.

I wish you the best of luck, but know that it might prove to be a difficult task and that you may be better off not applying for vet school and instead going for a post-bacc or master's first, rocking that out and then applying after that. There is also the option of applying now and if you happen to not get accepted, get the feedback from the schools to see what they recommend you doing. Many of the schools are very helpful in providing feedback in how to best strengthen your application and their responses will be much better than anything that we can tell you.

 

[AceZinneX]

Thank you hpequalslove and DVMDream.

It is rather unfortunate that I am in CA, and, as hpequalslove has mentioned, the schools here will weight heavily on GPA, so I will probably have to look out of state.

That said, perhaps I will return again after I get my GRE score, and contact a few school for feedbacks. Nice to get honest truth from people - at least the chance isn't zero. I'll have to hunt around for experience like hpequalslove recommends, or look to go back for some classes as DVMDream said.

 

[hpequalslove]

I am going to disagree with a lot of this.

AceZinneX, being completely honest with you, your GPA's are low, very low and not just "a tad lower than average". You need to rock out the GRE, study now and study hard because it very well could help you out some. Also, look into schools that don't weigh GPA as much, however, keep in mind that they all do still put a decent amount of weight into the GPA, some are just slightly less than others. Rock out that GRE and then look at schools that heavily weigh GRE scores. Also, you may want to consider doing some type of a master's program or a post-bacc with a heavy upper level science load and do REALLY WELL in it. That will help to prove that you have the ability to take on a heavy load of intense science courses.

Honestly, 1500-1600 hours of vet experience is what you said you would have and that is good, average is usually about 500 hours, so you will be above that. If you can get some experience with horses or food animals that would be great as many schools like to see a variety of experience.

I am not going to tell you that this is impossible to do, because other people have been accepted with similar stats, but I am going to tell you that this will be extremely difficult for you. It isn't going to be a walk in the park and you are going to need to do something to prove to the adcoms that you can handle the veterinary curriculum, whether that is a master's, post-bacc or if just doing extraordinary on the GRE will be enough.

Also, no one can tell you when to stop applying. I applied three times in a row and got accepted after the third try, I know some people have done 4, 5 or even 7 application cycles. Only you know when enough is enough, that is a personal choice for you to make.

I wish you the best of luck, but know that it might prove to be a difficult task and that you may be better off not applying for vet school and instead going for a post-bacc or master's first, rocking that out and then applying after that. There is also the option of applying now and if you happen to not get accepted, get the feedback from the schools to see what they recommend you doing. Many of the schools are very helpful in providing feedback in how to best strengthen your application and their responses will be much better than anything that we can tell you.

Very true, you have good points. I was probably trying to be a little too nice - not the best thing for this particular thread. This is what happens when I try to procrastinate studying for four upcoming tests... GPA is very VERY important for many schools, the biggest thing I was trying to get across is that it's not the only factor. My GPA was lower than average but I made up for it with a diverse array of experience, which is something that is more of an immediate fix for next year's application cycle whereas the MS and other degree options require several years. I know a lot of people who, when they didn't get in to their top choice vet school like CSU, did an MS program and were accepted after graduating with a higher GPA than what they had when they first applied during undergrad. Anyways, best of luck and look for those experiences!

 

[Puffins]

.

 

[LetItSnow]

So what do you think? How can I make myself a better candidate and does that necessarily involve graduate school?

I think that if you write a good application and get excellent references, you probably don't need to do a lot to make yourself a better candidate. Your GPAs are somewhere around average, but your recent trend is upwards, which is good. You have a really neat variety of experiences, some great extracurriculars ....

All in all I think you just need to make sure your application is very well put together. And then rock whatever interviews you get.

 

[Puffins]

I think that if you write a good application and get excellent references, you probably don't need to do a lot to make yourself a better candidate. Your GPAs are somewhere around average, but your recent trend is upwards, which is good. You have a really neat variety of experiences, some great extracurriculars ....

All in all I think you just need to make sure your application is very well put together. And then rock whatever interviews you get.

Thanks, LIS! That's very encouraging and I appreciate your response 😀

 

[ducktoller]

Hi Puffins,

You are applying NEXT fall right? One year (two semesters) is plenty time. Not to boast, but if you really try hard and be smart with studying, you can totally do it! I went from a GPA of 3.17 to 3.45 in one year, in 10 courses with two part time jobs/volunteer. So where you're at right now is already pretty impressive. Your last 45 GPA shows an increasing trend as well, so I know you can do it!. You've also got a great range of experience that I'm sure any applicant would be jealous about- shows you are really interested in the overall role of the profession. 🙂
For the GRE, realistically I need to tell you now that it might take more than one try to get the mark you want, so plan for a few more test taking days after your December one. Not that it's extremely difficult, but the whole situation is very unfamiliar (computer test, can't bring your pen/pencil in, no water, 4 hour exam) that just aggravates any existing exam stress you might have.

Good luck!

 

[Puffins]

Hi Puffins,

You are applying NEXT fall right? One year (two semesters) is plenty time. Not to boast, but if you really try hard and be smart with studying, you can totally do it! I went from a GPA of 3.17 to 3.45 in one year, in 10 courses with two part time jobs/volunteer. So where you're at right now is already pretty impressive. Your last 45 GPA shows an increasing trend as well, so I know you can do it!. You've also got a great range of experience that I'm sure any applicant would be jealous about- shows you are really interested in the overall role of the profession. 🙂
For the GRE, realistically I need to tell you now that it might take more than one try to get the mark you want, so plan for a few more test taking days after your December one. Not that it's extremely difficult, but the whole situation is very unfamiliar (computer test, can't bring your pen/pencil in, no water, 4 hour exam) that just aggravates any existing exam stress you might have.

Good luck!

Thanks, Duck! That's right, I'm applying next fall. I'm envious of your GPA jump! I have completed 150 credits at this point so it takes a lot of As to move my GPA. I appreciate the advice about the GRE. If it's anything like the SAT/ACT, I'll need to take it a few times before I "get" it. I'm hoping a class will help!

 

[Acadia2014]

Hey guys, here are my stats:

BA in biological sciences (chem minor), 3.7 GPA (3.66 science)
Currently a post-bacc at the NIH (under a DVM)
GRE: 161 verbal, 155 quantitative, 4 analytic

I'm leaning towards biomedical research after vet school.

Vet experience:
110+ hours at a SA practice (assisted during appts, ran/prepared lab work, observed surgeries)
2000+ hours working with laboratory animals at the NIH (restraint techniques, IM/IP/Sub-q injections, blood draws from sup vena cava, intraocular, lymph node extraction, observation of necropsies)

Research experience:
750+ hours at an NIH summer internship (molecular biology--nonmuscle myosin and tropomyosin)
500+ hours doing an undergrad thesis (mammalian cell culture, proteomics)
4000+ hours of virus culture and titration, possible 1st and/or 2nd authorship on scientific papers

Animal experience (besides animal ownership/dog walking/pet sitting):
400+ hours as a secretary at a dog grooming shop
750+ hours as a farm assistant (this experience includes some minor medical treatment of cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens)
400+ months as an animal care intern at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (was lucky enough to be able to observe surgeries and hydrotherapy as well. also designed/built a physical therapy "wheelchair" for rabbits infected with E. cuniculi)
6+ months working at a pet store

Letters from:
my current PI (a DVM)
my undergraduate research adviser
my mentor/PI from my NIH summer internship
the SA vet I worked for
my immunology/microbiology prof

One caveat: I transferred schools after my second year at a very unconventional school that does not provide letter grades (instead does narrative evaluations). More than half of the schools I intended to apply to (including my IS) said that they would not consider my application without all of those evaluations being converted into grades, something that my first school says is against policy. The saddest part is that I took all but one of my pre-requisites at my new school... I ended up applying to the three schools that did not have a problem with my unconventional transcript (fortunately, this list includes my top choice): UPenn, Cornell, and Tufts.

What are my chances? Thanks in advance!

 

[LetItSnow]

One caveat: I transferred schools after my second year at a very unconventional school that does not provide letter grades (instead does narrative evaluations). More than half of the schools I intended to apply to (including my IS) said that they would not consider my application without all of those evaluations being converted into grades, something that my first school says is against policy. The saddest part is that I took all but one of my pre-requisites at my new school... I ended up applying to the three schools that did not have a problem with my unconventional transcript (fortunately, this list includes my top choice): UPenn, Cornell, and Tufts.

What are my chances? Thanks in advance!

This one seems tough, because I suspect a lot of it depends on the cohesiveness of your application. If you indicated that your interest is future research work (which is what I'd assume looking at your info), then it all dovetails nicely and I think you're in great shape to be an excellent candidate.

If, on the other hand, you said you want to go into clinical work or something ... then people are going to scratch their heads.

But very generally speaking, it certainly looks reasonable.

 

[Acadia2014]

This one seems tough, because I suspect a lot of it depends on the cohesiveness of your application. If you indicated that your interest is future research work (which is what I'd assume looking at your info), then it all dovetails nicely and I think you're in great shape to be an excellent candidate.

Thanks! I did indicate that I wanted to go into research, so hopefully there will be no head-scratching.

 

[EngrSC]

Ok, it's about time I post here. I could definitely use some constructive criticism from the experts 😉

I'm a non-trad and will be 26 next month.
I graduated in 2010 with a BS in aerospace engineering and a minor in math. My cGPA was 2.8 😱, which I know will be my biggest hurdle.
Most of my lower grades were in engineering classes (I really didn't enjoy my studies at all) so my science GPA is 3.6ish and increases with each prereq I take.
I haven't formally taken the GRE yet but I took a simulated practice test and scored ~50th percentile verbal (OUCH!) and ~75th percentile quant. I want to do some serious studying before I take it for real.

I've mentioned in the forums before that I've had GI issues my whole life (runs in my family) and I had my gallbladder removed the summer before college and things went downhill from there. I went through pretty much every GI test during undergrad and everything came back normal. I developed a lot of anxiety surrounding my GI issues and regarded food as the enemy. I definitely felt crappy more days than I felt good and bad episodes would leave me useless for 2-5 days. Right after I graduated I tried cognitive behavioral therapy and tackling my anxiety made a huge difference. My former therapist teaches a masters class on CBT and every semester I'm a guest speaker in her class to give future therapists the patient perspective. I also spent about a year working extensively with a dietician to get my diet back on track and started getting acupuncture. My primary care doc (integrative medicine) referred me to a vascular neurologist because my bad episodes involved vertigo and the neuro diagnosed them as abdominal migraines 😵 and had me try taking a low dose tricyclic antidepressant which has done wonders (and which several of my family members are now on as well!). It's been a little over 2 years since my last major episode - I get mild symptoms occasionally but they're not severe enough to interfere with my daily life. I'm not sure how to present all that in a non-excuse type way but it was a huge part of my life and is partially responsible for my interest in medicine.

I work full time as a mechanical engineer and I've been with my company for almost 5 years now (first 2 years were as an intern). I started getting experience in the veterinary field 2 years ago in a SA ER. It was a little intense as a starting point so I got a part time job in a SA GP (5 doctors) that I absolutely love. I've got ~150 hours in SA ER and ~1100 hours in SA GP (I work equally in the back as a vet asst, as a room tech, & in reception). Recently I found a LA vet willing to let me shadow her, I just need to schedule some vacation from my engineering job so I can take her up on it.

In 2008 I became involved in dog and cat rescue groups and served on the board of the dog rescue as the adoption director. Essentially I received all of the applications and walked each family through the approval and adoption process. Several of my board member colleagues and I left to start a new organization that mainly focused on one breed but had the flexibility to take in others as well. I'm a founding member of that non-profit and served a term (2 years) on the board as the adoption director ... I was completely burned out after 4 years of working rescue full throttle and decided to take step back. I am still semi-involved, just not on the board. The last year and a half I've been on the the board of a non-profit that provides funding to people who's animals need non-routine medical care that they can't afford. I'm on the triage committee so I work directly with applicants to obtain funding. I've got 5000+ hours with all of this rescue/non-profit stuff.

A few other random things ... I've played piano since I was 5 (I took ~12 years of lessons), I love running and spinning, I'm an aquarium hobbyist, I've done a little bit of sheep herding with an Australian Cattle Dog foster, I grew up riding horses (casually - just trail riding), and I love reading.

I've been chipping away at my prereqs a little at a time. Due to working 2 jobs (FT engineer, PT vet asst), I can only take 2 lecture classes or 1 lecture + lab in a given semester. So far I haven't gotten anything less than an A ... it's amazing the difference it makes when you feel good physically and study what you enjoy! I don't think I will be ready to apply until I'm 29/30 years old and I am only focusing on Western. My husband is career Navy so the places he can move are limited plus we own a house here. We live about 2 hours from Western and I have family I could stay with during the week so we wouldn't have to financially support 2 households. Also, he rolled his GI bill over to me and that will cover the full tuition for 4 years as long as I go to a CA school (i.e. Davis or Western).

I'm unsure of the best plan of attack academically at this point. Take my prereqs then apply (if I continue getting A's then my cGPA will be 3.0-3.1ish), pursue a second bachelor's in a biological science, pursue a master's (if I could even get into a program), etc. I expect it to take a few cycles to get in, in which case I plan on doing a file review to improve for the next go-around.

Thanks for reading and providing input! 🙂

 

[wolfpackprevet]

Okay everyone, I'm way too twitchy waiting to handle this. I swore I wouldn't do it, but I'm caving.

Animal Science major, Spanish minor
Overall GPA: 3.82
Last 45 GPA: 3.75
Pre-Req (for NCSU): 3.74

GRE: 158 V, 158 Q

Research:
575 hrs in colic research and in NSAID efficacy research -- paid

Animal Experience:
68 food animal (more now, but only since submitting VMCAS -- working with sheep and goats, probably an extra few hundred)
50 small animal
2500 equine -- working student, competitive rider, etc.

Clinical:
280 small animal
120 exotic/wildlife in India
300+ equine, most spent shadowing alongside 4th years, some in private practice

Extracurriculars:
APVMA treasurer
Pre Vet VP, Social Chair
Alpha Zeta
Honors Program
TA for Anatomy of domestic animals for a year
1 year employed by university housing

I way underestimated my hours, but I wouldn't be able to handle it if I thought I overshot, so I just went really safe.

eLORs:
Pre-vet advisor/professor with whom I TA'd/veterinarian (she's all of these...)
Employer/Veterinarian (who I both shadowed under and did my research with)
Equine veterinarian I shadowed

I applied equine focus and I applied to LSU, UTK, OhioSU, Auburn, and, surprise, NCSU. I really want NCSU, because it's my in-state.

 

[jenkxo]

Hey Everyone!
Any comments definitely appreciated! This was my first application cycle and I have never been so nervous! 😕

22 yr old, female, Wisconsin resident
Applying to: Wisconsin, UPenn & Georgia
Major: (Currently attending a quarter based private school- Depaul University) Concentration health science (not graduating with a degree) just meeting the prereqs! However I have been enrolled in college since I was 18 so I have a lot of credits other then my prerequisites!
GPA:(according to VMCAS)
Science GPA: 3.21
Non-science: 3.44
Cumulative: 3.12
Last 45 (ish): ~3.4
** Mentioned in my personal statement that I have continuously been working on average 25 hours a week since high school while in college.

GRE:
My writing portion was a 4.0
And the rest of the GRE was on the lower (45th/30th percentile) 😳

Vet Experience (all paid positions) (unless stated):
Kennel Assistant (my first job when I was 18): 680 hours
Vet Receptionist/Assistant (small animal hospital):950 hours
Ambulatory Equine Vet Shadow (non-paid): 12 hours
Equine Hospital (non-paid): 50 hours of shadowing experience
Outpatient Vet Assistant (VCA) (small animal) : 790 hours
Surgical Assistant (small animal) (at one of Chicago largest veterinary hospitals and specialty centers) scrubbing in with surgeons on a daily basis: 390 hours on my application however I am still currently employed and will be until I get into vet school!
I also put on my application that I will be doing a 50 hour internship in the emergency department at the hospital I work at during the winter time

Other veterinary related experience:
Volunteering at a shelter while I lived in California for 3 years: 2000 hours
Program Animal Intern at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach California: 240 hours (I worked with a hawk, porcupine, iguana and other small reptiles)

Other misc. experiences:
CE credit through VCA: 50 hours

Research/Employment Experience/Honors/Awards:
Didn't list anything in these category
Mentioned in my explanation statement that I was excepted into research programs at my school, but couldn't do it because I need to work to support myself. Also, all my employment was done at an animal hospital with a veterinarian.

Community Experience:
While in high-school I volunteered at my local human hospital (bring patients ice and water, answering phones, helping people get to where they need to be ect.) 100 hours
Currently I am the President of my Pre-Vet Club (We have about 15 girls)
I was also an active member for a year in the pre-vet club before I became president.
I also attended the APVMA symposium at the University of Florida last year with the pre-vet club.

Some of my concerns (what I attempted to defend in my explanation statement):
I dropped Chemistry 2 twice at two different colleges, I originally took Chem at a college during the summer, and when I attempted to transfer it over to the other two schools I felt the programs where completely different and I had to drop them both. However, this past summer I took Chemistry 2 and physics at the same time and I got a B in both courses while working part-time as well.
I also failed Calculus my first quarter at Depaul, it was my first quarter at calculus has always been tough for me, I could have withdrew however I wanted to stick with it (didn't realize what that meant for my GPA or would have done it) however, I am re-taking the class now and I will have a B in calculus!

In my personal statement I talked about how after I graduated high school, I moved out to California on my own. I also have been working and supporting myself since then!

I also hope this gives hope to those who are also applying with lower stats! 😀

 

[epivetlove]

Hey Everyone!
Any comments definitely appreciated! This was my first application cycle and I have never been so nervous! 😕

22 yr old, female, Wisconsin resident
Applying to: Wisconsin, UPenn & Georgia
Major: (Currently attending a quarter based private school- Depaul University) Concentration health science (not graduating with a degree) just meeting the prereqs! However I have been enrolled in college since I was 18 so I have a lot of credits other then my prerequisites!
GPA:(according to VMCAS)
Science GPA: 3.21
Non-science: 3.44
Cumulative: 3.12
Last 45 (ish): ~3.4
** Mentioned in my personal statement that I have continuously been working on average 25 hours a week since high school while in college.

Welcome to the forums! I'm a first-time applicant myself, so please take my comments with a huge grain of salt. I think you're grades are decent. Your science GPA is on the lower end. That'll be a hurdle to overcome. I have the same hurdle. The same goes for your cGPA. Not great, but not terrible, either. It's definitely doable. Just continue to bust out As whenever possible (especially in your science courses), since many schools like to see an upward trend and the sciGPA is usually a bit easier to change than cGPA due to amount of credits. If you end up applying again next cycle, be sure to pick schools that focus on last 45 hours and/or that take the repeated grade. This can be extremely helpful! 🙂

As for GRE, those are not super great percentiles. It's been posted here time and again that 75th+ is ideal and Quantitative (and sometimes Writing) is generally weighed heavier than Verbal. Mileage will vary depending on school. But I definitely recommend retaking it if you don't get accepted this time around.

Your experience is fantastic, I think. Never hurts to keep getting hours and more exposure, though.

I can't really speak for the schools you've applied to, since I never researched those. I know for Georgia, though, that the amount of OOS students accepted is small (13 admitted from a pool of 500+ last cycle) and GPAs tend to be 3.5+ for all three (science, cumulative, last 45). That said, stranger things have happened! Sometimes admissions into vet school is a little wonky...at least from all the threads I've obsessed over, haha.

I'll have my fingers crossed for you! Hope you hear some good news soon. 🙂

 

[JazzTuck]

Hey guys!! Figured I'd post here to see what you all think about my chances at Tufts! I just applied to Tufts this year, and if I don't get in I am planning on applying to Florida (OOS), Tufts (OOS), Iowa State (contract), Illinois (OOS), and Wisconsin (OOS) next cycle. I decided to go for vet school my senior year of undergrad, so I have had to piece together a few prereqs since I graduated in 2011, and I have also gained all of my vet experience hours over the last 2.5 years. Thanks in advance!!

24 year old female, 1st time applicant, CT resident
BA in Biology (May 2011) from Colorado College (small liberal arts school in Colorado Springs)
GPAs
GPA (overall): ~3.81
Last 45 GPA (including post bachelor's course work): ~3.95
Science GPA: ~3.85
Tufts prereq GPA: 3.76

GRE

1st and only attempt
V 161 (87%), Q 156 (65%), W 4.5 (78%)
Veterinary Experience

1,600 hours vet assistant in a small animal ER/specialty practice
80 hours vet assistant in a small animal GP

Animal Experience
2,500 hours working student at a horse stable
300 hours pet sitting for dogs, cats, rabbits, and horses
100 hours horseback riding teacher in college
20 hours Tufts AVM (mixed animal)
3,000+ hours horseback riding
500 hours college equestrian team

Extracurriculars/awards/community service
Graduated cum laude
Dean’s list most semesters
90th+ percentile on ETS biology exam (a test my school required biology majors to take senior year)
Top 5% of high school class
Excellence in AP Biology & US history awards in high school
NHS & French honor society in high school
Alpha Lambda Delta
Political canvassing fall 2008
College equestrian team all four years (captain junior & senior years)
Intramural broomball college senior year
New Student Orientation trip to New Mexico freshman year of college
Community service trip tp San Diego spring break freshman year of college
Community service group in high school
Field hockey all four years of high school (JV captain and MVP junior year)
Therapeutic riding center volunteer in high school
Colorado College choir all four years
Chorus & wind ensemble (clarinet) in high school
Study abroad (Sydney, Australia) junior year of college
Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) regional champion 2009 & 2010
Qualified for IHSA Nationals 2009

eLORS
1 from my undergraduate advisor/ecology professor
1 from biochemistry professor
1 from ER vet I work with
Personal Statement
A bit about my journey in vet med…how I didn’t decide on a career in vet med until my senior year of undergrad despite a lifelong interest in animals and the natural sciences. Discussed two scenarios that stand out to me in my experiences as a vet assistant and pet-sitter that embody why I want to be a vet and why I will make an excellent one.
Other info
Explained my undergrad’s unique curriculum – we operate on a block system, so each student takes one class at a time in 3.5 week blocks. There are four blocks per semester and eight blocks per year. It's weird but I liked it a lot! I also explained that I suffered a severe knee injury in June of 2012 and therefore was out of work/school for 6 months total while recovering from the injury and two surgeries.

Thanks guys!!! 🙂

 

[Lupin21]

It all looks great, Jazz. Should probably at least get you interviews, so just start boning up on your in person charisma and intelligent speaking skills and you should be set. Seeing as you have a high verbal GRE score, I imagine you will do just fine. Good Luck!

 

[JazzTuck]

It all looks great, Jazz. Should probably at least get you interviews, so just start boning up on your in person charisma and intelligent speaking skills and you should be set. Seeing as you have a high verbal GRE score, I imagine you will do just fine. Good Luck!

Thank you very much, Lupin21! It definitely helps to hear I have a shot from someone who's been through the process (aka not my grandma 🙄). If I do get an interview, hopefully my nerves don't screw it up!! Don't let that GRE verbal score fool you, either...I have no clue how I managed to do that well, but I took it and ran haha!!