What should I do to improve my academic records?

[MonicaR95]

I'm a senior about to graduate in a month from UMD as an animal science major which is awesome and I will be taking a year off before going back to school. I would love to get into a grad program or vet school because I'm still considering it but I'm not sure still. I really want to do wildlife medicine/zoology or conservation medicine this is what I really want to do. My problem is that I will be graduating with a 2.3/ 2.4 GPA and I'm not sure what to do to be able to improve this to get into any schools or programs.

Can someone please help me and be honest with your advice, I know this seems impossible but I'm not good when it comes to taking tests which is what messed me up a lot but I loved learning what I was learning so I would need to improve my technique and get more serious plus I was working two jobs at the same time as a full time student.

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[LetItSnow]

I'm a senior about to graduate in a month from UMD as an animal science major which is awesome and I will be taking a year off before going back to school. I would love to get into a grad program or vet school because I'm still considering it but I'm not sure still. I really want to do wildlife medicine/zoology or conservation medicine this is what I really want to do. My problem is that I will be graduating with a 2.3/ 2.4 GPA and I'm not sure what to do to be able to improve this to get into any schools or programs.

Can someone please help me and be honest with your advice, I know this seems impossible but I'm not good when it comes to taking tests which is what messed me up a lot but I loved learning what I was learning so I would need to improve my technique and get more serious plus I was working two jobs at the same time as a full time student.

Hard to give the most useful advice without more info.

I presume you mean 2.3/2.4 cumulative GPA?

What is your GPA for (typical) pre-reqs? What about your last-45 credit GPA?

Vet schools use different mixes of those GPAs to evaluate people. With a 2.3/2.4 cumulative, you will not be competitive at any school that places an emphasis on cumulative GPA, even if you do very well on the GRE. If your pre-req and last-45 credit GPAs are much better, then there are some schools at which you could be competitive.

Unfortunately, not being good at taking tests won't cut it - you're going to have to prove to a vet school that you can succeed in their program, and whether it seems fair or not, all they have to go off of is your previous performance. So you have to offer them proof you can do well.

Assuming your last-45 and pre-req GPAs are similar, you're probably going to have to a) go back to school and do very well, and then b) target schools that don't care about cumulative GPAs as much. Another option for you may be certain Caribbean schools that tend to have a broader range academically when accepting students (but have a pretty high weed-out rate, as well - so you want to be really darn sure you can succeed in vet school).

I mean, put yourself objectively in the shoes of a vet school person who is evaluating you. The first thing they're going to say is: "Ok, so you struggle with tests. Why did you spend 4 years struggling with them and doing poorly instead of dealing with it after the first or second semester?" That's a perfectly fair question, and "well, I worked two jobs" just isn't going to work as an answer. It might seem perfectly fair to you, but remember, you and the vet school have different perspectives. Your perspective is that the add'l work of the jobs explains your performance. Their perspective is "ok, great, but we need proof you can do well."

You've put yourself in a tough position - you likely can't be competitive right now. However, very little in life can't be fixed. The position you're in just means you're going to have to find a way to get back in some classes and prove to a vet school that you can be a great academic student. I failed out of 3 undergrads with a GPA much more miserable than your GPA. A decade or so later I went back to school and was a 4.0 student. The position you're in can be changed, but it will take an incredible amount of perseverance.

 

[MonicaR95]

Hard to give the most useful advice without more info.

I presume you mean 2.3/2.4 cumulative GPA?

What is your GPA for (typical) pre-reqs? What about your last-45 credit GPA?

Vet schools use different mixes of those GPAs to evaluate people. With a 2.3/2.4 cumulative, you will not be competitive at any school that places an emphasis on cumulative GPA, even if you do very well on the GRE. If your pre-req and last-45 credit GPAs are much better, then there are some schools at which you could be competitive.

Unfortunately, not being good at taking tests won't cut it - you're going to have to prove to a vet school that you can succeed in their program, and whether it seems fair or not, all they have to go off of is your previous performance. So you have to offer them proof you can do well.

Assuming your last-45 and pre-req GPAs are similar, you're probably going to have to a) go back to school and do very well, and then b) target schools that don't care about cumulative GPAs as much. Another option for you may be certain Caribbean schools that tend to have a broader range academically when accepting students (but have a pretty high weed-out rate, as well - so you want to be really darn sure you can succeed in vet school).

I mean, put yourself objectively in the shoes of a vet school person who is evaluating you. The first thing they're going to say is: "Ok, so you struggle with tests. Why did you spend 4 years struggling with them and doing poorly instead of dealing with it after the first or second semester?" That's a perfectly fair question, and "well, I worked two jobs" just isn't going to work as an answer. It might seem perfectly fair to you, but remember, you and the vet school have different perspectives. Your perspective is that the add'l work of the jobs explains your performance. Their perspective is "ok, great, but we need proof you can do well."

You've put yourself in a tough position - you likely can't be competitive right now. However, very little in life can't be fixed. The position you're in just means you're going to have to find a way to get back in some classes and prove to a vet school that you can be a great academic student. I failed out of 3 undergrads with a GPA much more miserable than your GPA. A decade or so later I went back to school and was a 4.0 student. The position you're in can be changed, but it will take an incredible amount of perseverance.

Yes the 2.3/ 2.4 is my cumulative gpa and my final 45 I'm not exactly sure but probably not that well either. But should I go into a post-bacc program or just get an associates to retake these classes?

 

[MonicaR95]

Or should I go into a vet tech program?

 

[Vet_Squared80]

I second what @LetItSnow said. Vet school is very competitive and many schools focus heavily on grades. Some consider cumulative GPA, others don't. Everyone has a different story, but overcoming bad grades isn't impossible. You'll just need to put the hard work in to get it done. Right out of high school, I failed my first semester in college. I wasn't proud of that, but my priorities weren't straight. A bit of life later, I graduated and brought my GPA up significantly. I had to retake a few classes to make myself competitive, but if you're really passionate about the field, a bad GPA can be overcome with a lot of hard work.

There isn't an easy or quick fix and I personally wouldn't encourage starting a new program. I would look at what grades are pulling down your GPA and see if you can retake some of them to replace the poor grades. Some schools require the classes to be taken at a specific level, such as a university, while others will accept the classes from both community colleges and universities, so be sure to check each school's requirements before you invest time and money in retaking anything.

Best of luck.

 

[LetItSnow]

Or should I go into a vet tech program?

Well, I wouldn't recommend a tech program, unless you want to be a tech. If you want to be a DVM, keep things squarely aimed that direction.

So in that sense, post-bacc, masters, or associates degrees could all make sense. Bottom line is that you want to string together a few semesters worth of straight A's, or at least a solid 3.5+ GPA to show them that hey, I really can do this.

It's just gonna take a while since you're basically done with your undergrad career.

So yeah, the advice is hard to hear because it won't be easy. But on the flip side, you <can> do it if you want to invest the time, energy, and money.

The most important thing is to figure out if a) you really want to do it (have you spent time in the vet industry and know what it entails?) and b) what it will take to do better than 2.4/2.5.