Which one is better?

[Gemgrrrl]

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I have read that many schools prefer students who have taken at least 15-credits a semester, for at least the last 3 semesters. I am a nontraditional student with a job at a vet clinic and children. Unfortunately because of my family obligations I can't take that kind of courseload and work more than a few hours per week. I have been taking at least 12 credits a semester, but I don't know that I could add another class and maintain my grades. I also have a stellar professional resume with a LOT of leadership experience from before I went back to school.

My question is which one would I be better off focusing on? I am listing my stats below.

GPA: 3.53
GRE: haven't taken yet

Animal Experience:

500 hours vet assistant in small animal clinic
200 hours student research working with mice, rats, hamsters, rabbits and chinchillas.
150 hours wildlife rehab work
1000 + hours training therapy dogs
6,000 + hours small animal care as owner of a pet sitting company for 3 years.
spent 10 summers working on a dairy farm milking and caring for cows

Any thoughts, experience in this area is greatly appreciated!

 

[wildcatj]

It's a little bit of a tough situation, but I think I would say stick with the 12cr semesters and keep your grades up especially if you work a fair number of hours. I can imagine that adcoms might say that the family obligation thing isn't going to change, so how are you going to manage another 10+cr at vet school, but since you're also working in addition to that, I would say you have a pretty decent explanation. This may be something that you want to bring up in your explanation section when you apply. Explain your lower course load, the importance of spending time with your family, and that you know you'll be replacing your time working with more credits of courses. Definitely see what other people say too though, because I'm really not sure if this is good advice or not.

 

[orca2011]

I'm not non-traditional but I've always been under the impression that for those with families, full time jobs, etc, that they are more understanding what's going on if you explain it all in your application. You have a ton of other things going on that can work in your favor especially if you're doing all that while maintaining good grades in the courses you are taking.

Also, it is just a recommendation and is there to show that you can meet the demands that come with vet school courses. I took 16-20 credits throughout undergrad and honestly, the vet school course is still ridiculously demanding despite the fact that I took a high course load, worked PT and did club sports and clubs throughout undergrad. I might not find it as overwhelming as others because I kept myself that busy, but it's definitely exhausting.

I'm sure some of the nontradiational students can give you more advice though.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Just check where you want to apply.

I can't recall which school, but one of those midwest schools REQUIRE a full workload or they don't count your courses. Ridiculous I know.

Otherwise, for the most part as a non-traditional, don't worry about it. I never had more than 8 credits in a quarter and it was not an issue anywhere I applied (penn, tufts, UCdavis, Colorado).

 

[bunnity]

Also bear in mind that credits at school A are not the same as school B so don't worry what other people are taking!

 

[Maschka1]

Just check where you want to apply.

I can't recall which school, but one of those midwest schools REQUIRE a full workload or they don't count your courses. Ridiculous I know.

Otherwise, for the most part as a non-traditional, don't worry about it. I never had more than 8 credits in a quarter and it was not an issue anywhere I applied (penn, tufts, UCdavis, Colorado).

its Missouri- apparently they are not very non-trad-student friendly, or at least that is the impression I got through my correspondence with them. I would email a few schools of interest and ask them about their admissions criteria.

 

[Tonkamoo]

Just make sure when you choose what schools you apply to you look at how they evaluate their applicants and what they value in prospective students. As mentioned above - some places like Missouri really don't seem to want non-traditional students. However when I applied I found plenty of schools that valued a previous career, and understood that working while taking classes might be equally challenging to just taking a full courseload. For example CSU asks you to list how many hours you worked beside your gpa and course load for each semester you studied.
I also shied away from applying to schools that only offered interviews based on numbers (like gpa, gre etc) as opposed to evaluating the whole applicant.

However if you must stay in-state, or only want to go to a specific school due to family etc, then make sure to talk to them early and see what they recommend.

Personally - my undergrad degree was in an unrelated field, I then worked for 5 years and took the majority of my pre-reqs one or two at a time while working full time and getting experience hours when I could I got into a few different schools. (And I had a lower overall GPA than you)

 

[Gemgrrrl]

Just make sure when you choose what schools you apply to you look at how they evaluate their applicants and what they value in prospective students. As mentioned above - some places like Missouri really don't seem to want non-traditional students. However when I applied I found plenty of schools that valued a previous career, and understood that working while taking classes might be equally challenging to just taking a full courseload. For example CSU asks you to list how many hours you worked beside your gpa and course load for each semester you studied.
I also shied away from applying to schools that only offered interviews based on numbers (like gpa, gre etc) as opposed to evaluating the whole applicant.

Great advice. Thank you!