WAMC: Illinois? Too Average?

[fluffysheep]

Hello! I am soon to be 22 years old, female, in-state for Illinois. My dream is to be a mixed animal vet, leaning towards a focus on large animals.


Applying to: Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri, Washington, Dublin, Massey

Cumulative GPA: 3.69
Science GPA: ~3.48
Last 45: 3.89

Any degrees achieved: Bachelor’s of Animal Science May 2021
Courses Left: I still need to take Biochem this fall.

GRE results: Q/V/W: N/A because the schools that I'm applying to don't require it. Unless it's better to take it anyways?

Veterinary Experience:

• SA 360 hours at one clinic
• Hopefully about to start working at a mixed animal clinic, so I should have at least 200 LA by the deadline, maybe up to 500

Animal Experience:

• 50 hours swine research lab studying PRRSV, taking care of pigs
• 200 hours beef cattle internship (calving & processing, administering medications, running through chute, etc.)
• 100 hours equine reproduction intern (stallion collection, semen processing & evaluation, mare insemination, foaling & foal watch)
• 32 hours sheep class TA (teaching handling, basic info & tools to undergrads)
• 32 hours various lab coursework with dairy & beef cattle, horses, chickens
• 800 Small animal & small exotic mammals as a kennel attendant at SA clinic
• 8 hours on a small, organic farm caring for sheep, goats, chickens, and one lovely pig
• Should I include ownership of guinea pigs for 13 years? I have breeding experience as well.

Research Experience:

• N/A

Awards/scholarships:

• Dean’s List 2x

Extracurriculars:

• D2 Women’s Rugby for 2 years, captain for 1 semester
• University Academic Quadrathlon Participant (3rd place team but I had a blast!)
• Community college Chemistry & STEM club 2 years
• Community college Biology club founder & secretary for 1 year
• Amigurumi crochet enthusiast
• Weight lifting, running, being outdoors
• Certificate in AI in Medicine along with learning basic programming (Python, JavaScript)

Employment:

• N/A; is it odd that I haven’t worked outside of animal fields?

I worry that my application is too average in all respects. I have a decent GPA and decent experiences, but I’m not sure if I stand out much on paper. I am hoping that my essay will be able to better describe my ambitions and career goals. WAMC? Any suggestions on other places to apply to? I appreciate any and all help!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[battie]

N/A because the schools that I'm applying to don't require it. Unless it's better to take it anyways?

According to Illinois's website, they'll lower the weight of the GPAs with a GRE score. With where your GPAs are at, you'd need to score above the 63% to make it worth taking. Whether or not it's worth the money is essentially up to you.

is it odd that I haven’t worked outside of animal fields?

Not at all. I've known plenty of people who never had a non-animal job through vet med. Likewise, it will not hurt your application if you ended up getting a non-animal job.

Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri, Washington, Dublin, Massey

As long as your phase 2 stuff let's you shine, Illinois is a good choice.

North Carolina may be more difficult depending on their admissions processes. It has a high applicant to seat ratio, so may want to reconsider based on where you sit with them and the number of out of state seats they offer.

The rest of the schools I'm not sure on. I always recommend applying to schools where you're at or above the averages, where they have a high number of out of state seats, and there aren't a lot of applicants. Any reason your local midwest schools (Iowa, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Ohio, Michigan) aren't on your list?

 

[fluffysheep]

According to Illinois's website, they'll lower the weight of the GPAs with a GRE score. With where your GPAs are at, you'd need to score above the 63% to make it worth taking. Whether or not it's worth the money is essentially up to you.

Not at all. I've known plenty of people who never had a non-animal job through vet med. Likewise, it will not hurt your application if you ended up getting a non-animal job.

As long as your phase 2 stuff let's you shine, Illinois is a good choice.

North Carolina may be more difficult depending on their admissions processes. It has a high applicant to seat ratio, so may want to reconsider based on where you sit with them and the number of out of state seats they offer.

The rest of the schools I'm not sure on. I always recommend applying to schools where you're at or above the averages, where they have a high number of out of state seats, and there aren't a lot of applicants. Any reason your local midwest schools (Iowa, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Ohio, Michigan) aren't on your list?

Thank you for the response! Life has been a little crazy or I would have responded to you more timely. The OOS tuition for a lot of the midwest schools seem to be quite pricey to me, which is the main thing driving me away from them. I have been considering whether or not to apply for Michigan and Iowa, as I've heard really positive things about both from a couple of vets that I've worked for.

Do you have any advice/wisdom on how I can make my phase 2 for Illinois shine? I would love to go to my in-state, but I'm not sure if I have the amount of experiences and diversity that they want.

 

[battie]

The OOS tuition for a lot of the midwest schools seem to be quite pricey to me, which is the main thing driving me away from them. I have been considering whether or not to apply for Michigan and Iowa, as I've heard really positive things about both from a couple of vets that I've worked for.

While alumni perspective is important, I would take it with a grain of salt. While I had a good experience at Illinois, I know of others who did not. If you're going to add schools to your list, I would recommend using the AAVMC public data and add schools with a high OOS seat count and a low applicant number (which would honestly elimate Purdue of the midwest schools).

Do you have any advice/wisdom on how I can make my phase 2 for Illinois shine? I would love to go to my in-state, but I'm not sure if I have the amount of experiences and diversity that they want.

Hype up those experiences in your VMCAS. Your experience is more varied than mine was as far as animal goes (though mine was pretty unique). Your personal statement and the extra essay are good places to shine as well.

 

[BijaTroubleLotion]

According to Illinois's website, they'll lower the weight of the GPAs with a GRE score. With where your GPAs are at, you'd need to score above the 63% to make it worth taking. Whether or not it's worth the money is essentially up to you.

Not at all. I've known plenty of people who never had a non-animal job through vet med. Likewise, it will not hurt your application if you ended up getting a non-animal job.

As long as your phase 2 stuff let's you shine, Illinois is a good choice.

North Carolina may be more difficult depending on their admissions processes. It has a high applicant to seat ratio, so may want to reconsider based on where you sit with them and the number of out of state seats they offer.

The rest of the schools I'm not sure on. I always recommend applying to schools where you're at or above the averages, where they have a high number of out of state seats, and there aren't a lot of applicants. Any reason your local midwest schools (Iowa, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Ohio, Michigan) aren't on your list?

Hello,

I was wondering how you would calculate what you need to score above for the GRE based on your GPA? I am also conflicting in whether i should report my GRE scores or not because essentially it can take off the weight on my GPA. I was also wondering how you would calculate average composite GRE percentiles. Do you just add the quant and verb and divide it by 2? Thanks in advance!