Hi everyone! I am starting my junior year in undergrad and I will be applying to vet school next fall for the class of 2026! Below are my stats and some info about me, please feel free to offer any advice or suggestions that you think would make my application stronger! I just finished Organic Chemistry and Physics, and my GPA suffered slightly, so I am hoping to bring it up this semester. Thank you so much in advance for any feedback you have to offer!
19 year old South Carolina resident, will be applying fall of 2021
Schools I am looking at applying to: UGA, Mississippi, Auburn, Penn, UF, NC State, Virginia-Maryland
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Animal and Veterinary Sciences (Pre-Veterinary Concentration) - will graduate spring of 2022
Cumulative GPA: 3.73
GRE: I have not taken the GRE yet, I will be taking it next spring/summer before applying!
Veterinary Experience:
- 910 hours at small animal practice (payed employee)
This was a great first job for me! I did appointments, surgery intakes, surgery discharges, shadowed lots of surgeries (spays/neuters/amputations/mass removals/laceration repairs), gave injections as directed by the doctor, drew blood for heartworm tests and bloodwork (in-house and send-out), place IV catheters, anal glands, nail trims, extubatne patients after surgery, etc.
- 42 hours at small animal practice (payed employee- this is my current job that I just started!)
AAHA and Fear Free Certified Clinic
I do dental cleanings, set up anesthetic monitoring devices (blood pressure cuff, EKG, pulse oximeter), monitor anesthesia during procedures and chart every 5 minutes, draw blood, place IV catheters, assist veterinarians during appointments
- I am trying to find an large animal or equine vet that I can shadow or intern with during this school year so that I have more large animal hours!
Animal Experience:
- Equine - 3,000 hours
Taking riding lessons, leasing horses, showing horses, riding on my school's IHSA equestrian team for 2 years
- Canine - 400 hours
Pet sitting in high school and college, walking dogs
- Dairy Cow - 30 hours
Pet sat for my friend's 2 dairy cows. Refill food and water, fly spray morning and evening
- Livestock Animals (Intro to Animal Science course during freshman year of undergrad) - 20 hours
Visit poultry, sheep, swine, dairy, beef, and equine farms that my university owns and operates and learn basic husbandry of each species (freeze brand cattle, ear tag cattle, trim sheep hooves, etc.)
- Swine (One semester long livestock course that I took during freshman year of undergrad) - 45 hours
I was assigned one pig to care for throughout the semester. I went to the farm weekly to feed the pigs, clean their pens, bathe my pig, and learn how to show my pig. I learned a lot about swine management and production. At the end of the semester, we hosted a livestock exhibition show where I showed my pig for a livestock judge.
- Rabbits - 50 hours
Volunteering at a domestic rabbit rescue that takes in dumped and abandoned rabbits, rehabilitates, and rehomes them. I went to the rescue every weekend to clean each of the rabbits cages and refill their food and water (usually around 30-40 rabbits). I played with and worked with the rabbits that needed to be socialized before being adopted and conducted "meet-and-greets" to help match potential adopters with rabbits that may be a good fit for them. I ended up adopting a rabbit of my own from this rescue! (I only have 50 hours because this rescue is near my university and I had to come home due to COVID, so I will begin volunteering there again when school starts again!)
Research:
- Veterinary Pseudoscience: 15 hours (I just started this project over the summer and will be working on it for the next 4 semesters until I graduate.)
This research is with my Organic Chemistry professor. Based on my experience and interactions with clients in the clinics that I have worked at, I realized that there are many misconceptions regarding basic pet care and that many pet owners are misinformed by false information spread on the internet and social media. For my project, I have created two surveys (one for cat owners and one for dog owners) that have 20-30 basic pet care questions on them. These questions are all true/false and have been checked and verified by two DVMs that I work for to ensure that they contain legitimate information. Once the surveys are finished (they are in their final stages), we will distribute them to the public. Once we get our target number of responses, we will analyze the data that we collect from our survey responses to create a patient education program for pet owners in hopes to create more informed, educated pet owners that will have better relationships with their veterinarians.
Awards/Honors:
- South Carolina Life Scholarship Recipient
- John C. Shelley Memorial Scholarship Recipient (Departmental Scholarship)
- Albin S. Johnson Memorial Scholarship (Departmental Scholarship)
- Dean's List (4 out of 4 semesters)
- American Red Cross Adult CPR/AED Certified
- American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid Certified
Extracurriculars:
- FFA Secretary (junior year of high school)
- FFA Vice President (senior year of high school)
- Competing member of my university's IHSA riding team (2 years)
- Treasurer of my university's IHSA riding team (1 year)
- Women in Animal and Veterinary Sciences Living Learning Community Member (1 year)
- Women in Animal and Veterinary Sciences Living Learning Community Mentor (1 year)
- Pre-Veterinary Club at my university (1 year)
19 year old South Carolina resident, will be applying fall of 2021
Schools I am looking at applying to: UGA, Mississippi, Auburn, Penn, UF, NC State, Virginia-Maryland
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Animal and Veterinary Sciences (Pre-Veterinary Concentration) - will graduate spring of 2022
Cumulative GPA: 3.73
GRE: I have not taken the GRE yet, I will be taking it next spring/summer before applying!
Veterinary Experience:
- 910 hours at small animal practice (payed employee)
This was a great first job for me! I did appointments, surgery intakes, surgery discharges, shadowed lots of surgeries (spays/neuters/amputations/mass removals/laceration repairs), gave injections as directed by the doctor, drew blood for heartworm tests and bloodwork (in-house and send-out), place IV catheters, anal glands, nail trims, extubatne patients after surgery, etc.
- 42 hours at small animal practice (payed employee- this is my current job that I just started!)
AAHA and Fear Free Certified Clinic
I do dental cleanings, set up anesthetic monitoring devices (blood pressure cuff, EKG, pulse oximeter), monitor anesthesia during procedures and chart every 5 minutes, draw blood, place IV catheters, assist veterinarians during appointments
- I am trying to find an large animal or equine vet that I can shadow or intern with during this school year so that I have more large animal hours!
Animal Experience:
- Equine - 3,000 hours
Taking riding lessons, leasing horses, showing horses, riding on my school's IHSA equestrian team for 2 years
- Canine - 400 hours
Pet sitting in high school and college, walking dogs
- Dairy Cow - 30 hours
Pet sat for my friend's 2 dairy cows. Refill food and water, fly spray morning and evening
- Livestock Animals (Intro to Animal Science course during freshman year of undergrad) - 20 hours
Visit poultry, sheep, swine, dairy, beef, and equine farms that my university owns and operates and learn basic husbandry of each species (freeze brand cattle, ear tag cattle, trim sheep hooves, etc.)
- Swine (One semester long livestock course that I took during freshman year of undergrad) - 45 hours
I was assigned one pig to care for throughout the semester. I went to the farm weekly to feed the pigs, clean their pens, bathe my pig, and learn how to show my pig. I learned a lot about swine management and production. At the end of the semester, we hosted a livestock exhibition show where I showed my pig for a livestock judge.
- Rabbits - 50 hours
Volunteering at a domestic rabbit rescue that takes in dumped and abandoned rabbits, rehabilitates, and rehomes them. I went to the rescue every weekend to clean each of the rabbits cages and refill their food and water (usually around 30-40 rabbits). I played with and worked with the rabbits that needed to be socialized before being adopted and conducted "meet-and-greets" to help match potential adopters with rabbits that may be a good fit for them. I ended up adopting a rabbit of my own from this rescue! (I only have 50 hours because this rescue is near my university and I had to come home due to COVID, so I will begin volunteering there again when school starts again!)
Research:
- Veterinary Pseudoscience: 15 hours (I just started this project over the summer and will be working on it for the next 4 semesters until I graduate.)
This research is with my Organic Chemistry professor. Based on my experience and interactions with clients in the clinics that I have worked at, I realized that there are many misconceptions regarding basic pet care and that many pet owners are misinformed by false information spread on the internet and social media. For my project, I have created two surveys (one for cat owners and one for dog owners) that have 20-30 basic pet care questions on them. These questions are all true/false and have been checked and verified by two DVMs that I work for to ensure that they contain legitimate information. Once the surveys are finished (they are in their final stages), we will distribute them to the public. Once we get our target number of responses, we will analyze the data that we collect from our survey responses to create a patient education program for pet owners in hopes to create more informed, educated pet owners that will have better relationships with their veterinarians.
Awards/Honors:
- South Carolina Life Scholarship Recipient
- John C. Shelley Memorial Scholarship Recipient (Departmental Scholarship)
- Albin S. Johnson Memorial Scholarship (Departmental Scholarship)
- Dean's List (4 out of 4 semesters)
- American Red Cross Adult CPR/AED Certified
- American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid Certified
Extracurriculars:
- FFA Secretary (junior year of high school)
- FFA Vice President (senior year of high school)
- Competing member of my university's IHSA riding team (2 years)
- Treasurer of my university's IHSA riding team (1 year)
- Women in Animal and Veterinary Sciences Living Learning Community Member (1 year)
- Women in Animal and Veterinary Sciences Living Learning Community Mentor (1 year)
- Pre-Veterinary Club at my university (1 year)
