lower division grades

[staythecourse]

how much (if any?) do veterinary colleges look at your lower division academics.

I am about to transfer to a university next fall where i know i will be starting all over again, GPA wise. But i have had a rocky community college career until maybe 3 semesters ago when i actually started becoming serious. While i have good marks for most of my transfer required courses, my horrible academic past still follows me.will this be something of a problem later on?

thanks.

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[pressmom]

Those grades will count in your overall GPA, but vet school also look for an upward trend, so don't give up. You can use the explanation statement in your VMCAS to calculate a last 45 hours and show the upward trend and explain what changed in your study habits, life, goals, etc. that caused your grades to improve.

 

[adOggy07]

I had the same issue! I was at a community college for 3 years before I transferred to a university and my overall GPA was pretty low. Around 2.8 if I remember correctly. Once I transferred, I definitely knew I had to put my butt into gear! I made my education my number one focus and got mostly A's and some B's for the rest of my 2 years of college. So my GPA at the university was 3.8. That boosted my overall GPA to a 3.4.

All the schools are a little different in gaging their applicants, so it depends on the school whether or not your improvement will make a significant impact on your app. Like Pressmom said, you can use the explanation portion of the VMCAS application to explain your circumstances and show how much you learned from the experience and have changed as a student.
Don't forget about your letter of recs too. Get to know your professors and the vet that you work with well so they can write you an awesome letter. Do volunteer work and try to get experience in different areas to show your diversity!

So definitely don't give up! Because I definitely didn't and although I don't know if I'll surely get in for the 2008 class, I'm looking forward to my interviews! I have one so far with Kansas State in January.

GOOD LUCK!!