What in the world do I do with this situation?

[For the Love]

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Here it is: I attended a tiny private school for a year with decent grades. Then I transferred to a larger university, had too much freedom and goofed off too much. I got dropped because of my TERRIBLE grades. I am now at a community college taking some general classes and doing MUCH better grade wise. I plan on returning to the larger university next year and kicking some butt.

I am really feeling like I screwed myself over for any future endeavors though. Even with straight A's (eek!) my GPA wouldn't be terribly pretty. I think when my bf and I crunched the numbers if I got a 3.5 each semester, I could only graduate with a 3.08.


So a few questions:
A) how badly will that GPA cripple my chances of getting into a vet school like Purdue?
B) how badly will the "getting kicked out" portion of my college resume hurt my chances at vet schools? Will they really look down upon that?
C) Pretty much, should I just give up?

Thanks in advance for reading and sharing your thoughts!

 

[that redhead]

So a few questions:
A) how badly will that GPA cripple my chances of getting into a vet school like Purdue?
B) how badly will the "getting kicked out" portion of my college resume hurt my chances at vet schools? Will they really look down upon that?
C) Pretty much, should I just give up?

a) 3.08 is assuming you get a 3.5 for the rest of your semesters, so I'm assuming your GPA is much lower currently. You need at least a 2.5 to apply to most schools, and many are now 3.0. So no matter what your end up with cumulatively, it'll be probably one of the biggest things for you to overcome.

b) Yeah, they'll look down on it, but its effect on your application can be diminished by finishing with as close to straight As as you can get. The better you do, the easier it will be for you to say, "Look, I messed up. But I matured because of it and look at my awesome grades now!"

c) I wouldn't say give up. I would be realistic with yourself, though. You will need to retake a bunch of pre-reqs I'm guessing, get some great GRE scores and make sure the rest of your application is as stellar as it can be. Work hard on an explanation statement about getting kicked out for grades. You don't mention your veterinary experience hours- how are those? Basically, be prepared to work hard to get the grades and continue to build the rest of your application. It may take you a few cycles to get in, but if you work hard it's certainly still achievable! 🙂

 

[dovelover]

Here it is: I attended a tiny private school for a year with decent grades. Then I transferred to a larger university, had too much freedom and goofed off too much. I got dropped because of my TERRIBLE grades. I am now at a community college taking some general classes and doing MUCH better grade wise. I plan on returning to the larger university next year and kicking some butt.

I am really feeling like I screwed myself over for any future endeavors though. Even with straight A's (eek!) my GPA wouldn't be terribly pretty. I think when my bf and I crunched the numbers if I got a 3.5 each semester, I could only graduate with a 3.08.


So a few questions:
A) how badly will that GPA cripple my chances of getting into a vet school like Purdue?
B) how badly will the "getting kicked out" portion of my college resume hurt my chances at vet schools? Will they really look down upon that?
C) Pretty much, should I just give up?

Thanks in advance for reading and sharing your thoughts!

I'm gonna answer these slightly out of order...

C) If becoming a vet is really what you want to do with your life, don't give up! At least not without giving it a good shot first. However that being said, you may want to set yourself up with a back up plan or at least keep an open mind about other career paths. Continue to reevaluate your situation as you go. You may honestly just change your mind.

B) As far as the whole getting kicked out of college thing goes, they will ask you on your VMCAS application if you have ever been dismissed from a college or university. It certainly doesn't look good, but it doesn't automatically disqualify you. You have the opportunity to explain yourself, so if you can explain the reason in a way that makes it sound a bit better than you explained it here (without lying though), that will help. You can also make the point that you've matured a lot since then. Some things you can do to make this a bit better is to focus on taking upper level science courses and doing well in them, as well as taking a fairly full course load. Vet school is very academically challenging, and they want to know that you can handle that course load. If you show how much you've improved, it will go along way to prove that you've matured.

A) People get into vet school with GPAs lower than 3.08! It's not easy, but doable. And don't settle for trying to get 3.5s each semester. Aim for something higher. Not necessarily 4.0s every semester--that's very unlikely and thus very discouraging, but figure out how well you expect to be able to do, and aim a little bit higher. You might not reach it, but if you're really driven to be a vet, I bet you can make it happen. And if you can't, you may want to reevaluate whether you think you'll be able to handle vet school. You can also improve your academics by kicking ass on the GRE! The beauty is, you can retake it as many times as you want, and most schools only count your best scores from each section, regardless of whether they were taken from the same day.

And of course, you can make up for so-so academics by having awesome experience. I don't know what sort of experience you may already have. Get at least one, maybe two really in depth long term experiences (preferably at least one in your area of interest) and fill in with as many quality hours as you can in other areas. Quality and breadth of experience are generally considered more valuable than quantity (but it varies by school), however you're probably going to have to bring a fair number of hours to the table to make up for a less than ideal academic background.

Lastly, you have to be careful about which schools you apply to. Some are more willing than others to overlook bad GPAs. Some schools on the other hand have minimum GPA requirements to even get your application considered, or will only move a certain top percentage of GPAs on to the experience review section. So you have to do some research on the evaluation processes at individual schools. Some even have grade forgiveness where they don't include courses taken more than X number of years ago--I don't know how long ago these bad grades occurred for you. I don't know where Purdue falls on the spectrum of caring about GPAs, as I've never seriously looked into going there. You'd have to do a bit of research.

You've got a lot of work ahead of you, and it might take you awhile, but if this is what you really want to do with your life, don't give up without at least giving it your best shot first!

 

[For the Love]

That is more optimistic than I expected! Thank you very much!

 

[GrizzlyBear11]

Hello,

Stick your chin up and put yourself through hell to get yourself where you want to be. My grades were SO bad my freshman year I almost got kicked out! We're talking VERY low and not just a "pre-vet B idea of low."

I pulled my **** together like it sounds you did and ended up getting between 3.4s and 3.88s following spring semester of sophomore year and all following semesters.

1. Kick butt in science classes/pre-req classes
2. Maybe major in something unconventional for a pre-vet student and excel at it, this is what I did in addition to proving myself in the science field. I got a B.A. in English.
3. LOTS of extra-curriculars and not just animals, I was in women's council and was a radio dj for example while playing tennis and doing all of the vet related things.
4. Positive attitude
5. Just have an upward trend, it's easier to stay at the top of the mountain if that's where you start from instead of climbing it, during my interviews those interviewing me seem very impressed by such a turn around

I have now already been accepted to Kansas State and am still waiting to interview with 2 schools

Good luck and trust me if I can do it, you can do it. 😀

 

[hygebeorht]

As my momma used to say, it takes a lot of attaboys to make up for one oh s**t. You are really going to have to be on point and demonstrate that you learned something from the school of hard knocks, but don't despair yet. I think if you persist in working hard and bringin' home the grades, your slipup may just become part of the narrative of things you had to learn how to do as you prepared for vet school.

If I were you, I'd make a part of my personal statement or my whole statement of explanation about how although many straight A applicants to vet school don't yet know how to fail and deal with temptation and challenge, you already know how to pick yourself back up.

So get to pickin' yourself back up! 🙂

 

[nyanko]

If I were you, I'd make a part of my personal statement or my whole statement of explanation about how although many straight A applicants to vet school don't yet know how to fail and deal with temptation and challenge, you already know how to pick yourself back up.

I wouldn't phrase it that way though.

i.e. leave out the remarks about what other people do or don't know how to deal with.

 

[hygebeorht]

I'll have to respectfully disagree, nyanko. If phrased carefully, it could be an important point:

"Some veterinary students may find themselves struggling as they adjust to the rigors of a professional courseload, and many who have always been high achievers may not know how to handle the stress of poorer grades despite their strong efforts. My experiences have taught me the flexibility to adjust my expectations, and the ability to seek help when it is warranted."

I think that would be a smart addition to an explanatory statement. It shows self-awareness and turns a weakness into a strength.

🙂 (See the smiley? Please don't misread my tone. Again. 🙂 )

 

[LetItSnow]

I'll have to respectfully disagree, nyanko. If phrased carefully, it could be an important point:

"Some veterinary students may find themselves struggling as they adjust to the rigors of a professional courseload, and many who have always been high achievers may not know how to handle the stress of poorer grades despite their strong efforts. My experiences have taught me the flexibility to adjust my expectations, and the ability to seek help when it is warranted."

I think that would be a smart addition to an explanatory statement. It shows self-awareness and turns a weakness into a strength.

🙂 (See the smiley? Please don't misread my tone. Again. 🙂 )

Nyanko is right, imo. No matter how tactfully you try and word that it sounds arrogant and condescending, just by virtue of the fact that you're comparing yourself in a superior way to other applicants. You want the facts to state that for you; if you state it yourself it sounds pompous. The best applicants for jobs (and really, that's what this is) aren't the ones that say "I'm better than X because...." It's the ones who say "You want to hire me because...." Subtle difference, but the one approach emphasizes that you view it as a competition. The other emphasizes that you have something to offer.

And honestly, if I read the words you wrote, I'd say "Wow. This person is planning to do poorly. They're already talking about adjusting their expectations downward." I know you were just using that as an example, but ... I wouldn't go that route. *shrug*

 

[bunnity]

Everyone struggles with some aspect of vet school. To imply otherwise makes it sound like you don't know what you're in for and that you think you're better than other people.

 

[KCgophervet]

I'll have to respectfully disagree, nyanko. If phrased carefully, it could be an important point:

"Some veterinary students may find themselves struggling as they adjust to the rigors of a professional courseload, and many who have always been high achievers may not know how to handle the stress of poorer grades despite their strong efforts. My experiences have taught me the flexibility to adjust my expectations, and the ability to seek help when it is warranted."

I think that would be a smart addition to an explanatory statement. It shows self-awareness and turns a weakness into a strength.

🙂 (See the smiley? Please don't misread my tone. Again. 🙂 )

Nyanko is right, imo. No matter how tactfully you try and word that it sounds arrogant and condescending, just by virtue of the fact that you're comparing yourself in a superior way to other applicants. You want the facts to state that for you; if you state it yourself it sounds pompous. The best applicants for jobs (and really, that's what this is) aren't the ones that say "I'm better than X because." It's the ones who say "You want to hire me because." Subtle difference, but the one approach emphasizes that you view it as a competition. The other emphasizes that you feel you have something to offer.

Perhaps phrasing it in a way that makes no comment on other students, but more along the lines of "Adjusting to a professional courseload is surely a new level of rigor, and my experiences have taught me the flexibility to adjust my expectations, and the ability to seek help when it is warranted." Making note of your experience facing new challenges without commenting on the experiences of others...

 

[LetItSnow]

Perhaps phrasing it in a way that makes no comment on other students, but more along the lines of "Adjusting to a professional courseload is surely a new level of rigor, and my experiences have taught me the flexibility to adjust my expectations, and the ability to seek help when it is warranted." Making note of your experience facing new challenges without commenting on the experiences of others...

You could go that way if you felt it was a smart move, like hygebeorht does, but I would react poorly to it if I were evaluating the statement. To me that line sounds like you don't have the confidence to believe that you can do well.

I think the best personal statements are the ones that let your actual experiences speak for themselves. It's one thing to <claim> that your experiences have taught you blah blah blah. It's another thing to just say "Hey look. Here's what I did. This is what it taught me. Here's the evidence to prove it." (And that last part is crucial.) Anything else is just vague unsubstantiated claims.

 

[KCgophervet]

You could go that way if you felt it was a smart move, like hygebeorht does, but I would react poorly to it if I were evaluating the statement. To me that line sounds like you don't have the confidence to believe that you can do well.

I think the best personal statements are the ones that let your actual experiences speak for themselves. It's one thing to <claim> that your experiences have taught you blah blah blah. It's another thing to just say "Hey look. Here's what I did. This is what it taught me. Here's the evidence to prove it." (And that last part is crucial.) Anything else is just vague unsubstantiated claims.

I guess I was thinking if it was brought up in an interview type setting, or someone asked specifically about it. I'd probably agree with you about the PS, stating the facts and so on.