Being from AZ I'm looking at WICHE schools like WSU, CSU, UC Davis, and OSU and then some schools on the east coast like NCSU. How about you?!
21 year old female-AZ resident
Hoping that my breadth of experience will make up for my very average GPA, but would definitely appreciate any words of wisdom!
Undergrad: Major in Veterinary Science, Minors in Biochemistry and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
cGPA: 3.50
SciGPA: 3.49
Last 45 GPA: 3.80
GRE: Taking in June, but took an extensive prep course so I'm feeling good about it
Veterinary Experience:
3500 hours- Small Animal Emergency/Specialty Veterinary Assistant
600 hours- General Practice Small Animal Kennel Tech/Veterinary Assistant
100 hours- Equine General Practice and Surgery
100 hours- Wildlife Veterinary Volunteer on South-African Veterinary Expedition
40 hours- Large Animal/Equine Practice
40 hours- Bovine dystocia assistant and preg checks under veterinarian supervision
40 hours-Volunteer Veterinary Mission Trip in Mexico
50 hours- High School Veterinary Camp that included large animal AI, vaccinations, surgical experience, and veterinary skills labs
Certified Veterinary Assistant through high school program
Research Experience:
40 hours- assisting with surgery, tissue collection, and care of ovine specimens for research involving embryonic pancreas development and response to heat stress
Animal Experience:
5000 hours- Western Horsemanship lessons and competitions, as well as care for my own horses
500 hours- Western Horsemanship Riding Instructor using my personal horse
60 hours- Raising 3 orphaned Yorkshire piglets including bottle feeding, castration, and veterinary care
20 hours- Wildlife care volunteer at Wildlife Rehabilitation
20 hours- Equine Therapeutic ranch volunteer
20 hours- Horse rescue volunteer
10 hours- Bovine heart dissection teaching assistant
10 hours- Night-shift farrowing assistant
10 hours-Sow AI breeding assistant
40 hours- High School Livestock Judging
eLORS:
Emergency Vet
Equine Vet
Large Animal Vet/Professor
Anatomy and Physiology Professor (Also a DVM)
Research Supervisor
Veterinary Assisting Program Teacher
Honors:
1st in the Nation at National FFA Veterinary Science Competition
1st in State at AZ FFA Veterinary Science Competition for 3 consecutive years
3rd in State at AZ FFA Horse Evaluation Competition
2nd High Placing Individual at High School State Mock Trial Competition
University of Arizona Wildcat Excellence Scholarship
Hope I. Jones Veterinary Scholarship
National FFA Zoetis Veterinary Scholarship
Dean's List for multiple semesters
Activities:
Pre-Veterinary Club Member
Arizona Global Health Project Member and Veterinary Service Trip Leader
Science Camp/Children's Museum Veterinary Volunteer
High School FFA Veterinary Science Alumni Coach
Arizona State Veterinary FFA Student Chair and Event Coordinator
Homeless Shelter Volunteer- handing out pet food/supplies
Interest:
Emergency Mixed Practice and Surgery
No kidding, we can't all have perfect 4.0s
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You've actually made something inside of me click. You understand, I can read it and I can feel your emotion as you typed it. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you telling me this from a personal experience. I'll take this one with me and try harder. I think since it's so fresh is why I'm feeling this way. I'm hoping this summer I will be up and motivated like never before.
I think you've got a great shot at a lot of schools! It's just that UC Davis is so numbers focused and won't even look at your experiences. They just take quantify everything. I'm sure you'll do great for more holistic schools! I wish you the absolute best of luck!
I think they were a freshman and junior level animal science class.
No kidding, we can't all have perfect 4.0s
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That's awesome!! Those are all such great schools
First I'm going to STRONGLY disagree with the advice you were given to major in agriculture. Major in whatever you want, even basket weaving, as long as you get the pre-reqs for vet school and do well overall, but especially in the sciences and pre-reqs. I'd recommend selecting a major that you enjoy, you will do well in, and allows for a "plan B" if vet school ends up not happening for whatever reason.
Absolutely I would think they would consider your most recent coursework as the neon light that you would be an excellent student. However, I can't imagine that you MUST major in agriculture to be a large animal vet. I would definitely talk to some large animal people on here with equine focus @Filly Bay? Care to weigh in? The general consensus around here is do whatever you need to in undergrad to accumulate the smallest amount of debt. It sounds as though you're well on your way to doing that, and I commend you for doing so well in your classes since returning to school. Also, thank you for your service.
I'm going to say it's debatable on whether those ag classes will help you long term, but it for sure won't help you if you don't do well in some classes because you are in a major you don't like. Vet school will teach you what you need to know to be a competent vet. There are vet students who go in knowing nothing about cows, having never even touched a cow, and some of them are now rockstar bovine vets. Doing well and getting the necessary pre-reqs should be your main focus.I think his intention was more, what would benefit me toward the large animal field.. more knowledge in that realm, or something to that effect. He did explain that I could have any degree, but also mentioned that my studies being online wouldn't benefit me as much as the in-person classes would. At any rate, I would definitely appreciate any advice in that regard!
Thank you everyone for the responses thus far. I will definitely be getting a hold of Academic and see what they have to say.
I posted my stats a couple months ago and thought I would repost them to see if anyone has additional insight/advice for me!
29 years old. North Carolina resident (originally from New Hampshire though). 4th time applicant this cycle (YIKES!)
B.S. in Biomedical Science and Microbiology minor in 2013
Overall GPA: 3.28
Science: 3.16
Last 45: 3.49
I'm retaking my GRE at the end of June.
Veterinary Experience:
Small Animal Clinic: ~ 5000 (as a veterinary assistant at 2 animal hospitals)
Small Animal/Bird/Wildlife/Exotic Clinic: ~6000 (worked here for 4 years)
State's Veterinary Diagnostic Lab: ~300 (as a Microbiology lab assistant)
Animal Experience:
Kennel and Doggie Daycare Supervisor: ~10,000+
Horseback Riding for 15+ years
Barn/lesson Volunteer at a Therapeutic Riding Center: ~200
SPCA Barn Volunteer: ~30
Wildlife Center Volunteer: ~20
Fostering/socializing stray kittens (last summer and this summer)
Research:
Evaluated the water quality of drinking water at the public water works for a semester for my Aquatic Microbiology class
Work Experience:
Library Assistant
TA for General Microbiology lab during my undergraduate
Awards:
Dean's List for 2 semesters
Canine CPR and First Aid Certified
Extracurricular:
Agility handler with my rescued border collie mix
Equestrian Team in high school
Fish keeping
Choir Singer for 10+ years
My only concern is my below-average GPA which is LOW. I'm planning on retaking 3 prerequisites that I got C's in (General Biology I, General Chemistry I, and Organic Chemistry I) over the course of the summer. Additionally, I just got accepted into the B.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Science program at Oregon State University Ecampus as a post-baccalaureate student starting this summer as my main focus is wildlife medicine.
I'm planning to apply to NCSU (IS), Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, Michigan, and maybe Colorado this time around. Are there any others I should possibly consider to apply smartly to?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi all, first time poster here so hopefully I'm doing this the correct way,
I, like many of you, have wanted to be a vet since I was a little kid. I'm currently an undergrad working towards a bachelor of science in zoology and have a year and a half left (including 10 pre-reqs to complete [my university gives labs a separate grade than their corresponding lectures, so I counted labs and lectures as separate classes here]: microbio, microbio lab, college physics I lab, ochem 1, ochem 1 lab, ochem 2, ochem 2 lab, college physics 2, college physics 2 lab, and biochem).
Currently my GPA is kind of going down the toilet. I had three jobs last semester and although I had a really light course load (12 credits) I ended up dropping one class for a W because I was juggling three jobs at the time, but my other classes still suffered (for instance I got a D in physics 1 and a C in evolution which was an easy class- I just couldn't juggle the coursework on top of work). This semester didn't get much better: I am taking 4 classes, all 3 credits but the 2 that are pre-reqs are probably going to be Ds or low Cs at best, with the other two being Bs or As. My cumulative GPA right now (not including this spring semester since grades are yet to be posted- I'm in the middle of finals at the moment) is a 3.188 and my science GPA is somewhere right around a 3.0 I think(?). I have several bad grades on my record and I think to Ws (C in gen. bio 2, C in algebra, C in pre-calc, C in animal phys, C in calc, D in stats, D in physics 1, and a C in evolution).
Planning on taking the GRE later this summer and have started studying with a Kaplan book that has online quizzes, practice exams, vocabulary words, and a paper practice exam. I took Kaplan's diagnostic exam and scored 149 Quantitative and 150 Verbal, which I feel pretty decent about considering I had not studied at all yet.
I have shadowed 8 veterinarians so far (will be shadowing 3 more over the summer) in multiple disciplines (small animal, large animal, shelter med, cancer specialty, and zoo med), but I don't have a large amount of hours yet (roughly 100, but I can get that up more over the next school year).
At this time I have about 2,000 hours of animal experience through working as a resident volunteer at a conservation center for gibbons, interning as a zookeeping at two zoos, volunteering on a dairy farm in high school, volunteering at the front desk of an animal shelter, volunteering to walk dogs at an animal shelter, working as a kennel assistant at a veterinary hospital (still doing), and working in a research lab on campus taking care of birds (also still doing)- so these numbers will be increasing as well. And that isn't even including personal animal experience, either.
As far as research goes, I have 3 hours of observational research from the conservation center and will have somewhere around 1,000 hours from the research lab job by the time that is finished with. I am also conducting my own research study over the summer through the lab I work in with the goal of getting a publication by next spring (2018).
I am a Minnesota resident. The schools I am considering are: U of MN, U of Madison-Wisconsin, NC State, CO State, Washington State. I am particularly interested in exotics (which is where I have most of my animal and vet experience from so far) and so NC State is probably my top choice, or Madison because I've heard they offer a bit more than other schools in terms of primate medicine.
Ideally, I will be done with undergrad in fall 2018, so I would like to apply next summer (summer 2018). I have an idea of who I am going to ask for eLORs (a vet I worked closely with and still communicate with from a zoo I interned at, my supervisor at my research job who knows me pretty well through work, and possibly a vet at the hospital I am currently a kennel assistant at).
Let me know if you need any other info to make your assessment! And thank you in advance for reading this long post. I truly appreciate it.
Hi all, first time poster here so hopefully I'm doing this the correct way,
I, like many of you, have wanted to be a vet since I was a little kid. I'm currently an undergrad working towards a bachelor of science in zoology and have a year and a half left (including 10 pre-reqs to complete [my university gives labs a separate grade than their corresponding lectures, so I counted labs and lectures as separate classes here]: microbio, microbio lab, college physics I lab, ochem 1, ochem 1 lab, ochem 2, ochem 2 lab, college physics 2, college physics 2 lab, and biochem).
Currently my GPA is kind of going down the toilet. I had three jobs last semester and although I had a really light course load (12 credits) I ended up dropping one class for a W because I was juggling three jobs at the time, but my other classes still suffered (for instance I got a D in physics 1 and a C in evolution which was an easy class- I just couldn't juggle the coursework on top of work). This semester didn't get much better: I am taking 4 classes, all 3 credits but the 2 that are pre-reqs are probably going to be Ds or low Cs at best, with the other two being Bs or As. My cumulative GPA right now (not including this spring semester since grades are yet to be posted- I'm in the middle of finals at the moment) is a 3.188 and my science GPA is somewhere right around a 3.0 I think(?). I have several bad grades on my record and I think to Ws (C in gen. bio 2, C in algebra, C in pre-calc, C in animal phys, C in calc, D in stats, D in physics 1, and a C in evolution).
Planning on taking the GRE later this summer and have started studying with a Kaplan book that has online quizzes, practice exams, vocabulary words, and a paper practice exam. I took Kaplan's diagnostic exam and scored 149 Quantitative and 150 Verbal, which I feel pretty decent about considering I had not studied at all yet.
I have shadowed 8 veterinarians so far (will be shadowing 3 more over the summer) in multiple disciplines (small animal, large animal, shelter med, cancer specialty, and zoo med), but I don't have a large amount of hours yet (roughly 100, but I can get that up more over the next school year).
At this time I have about 2,000 hours of animal experience through working as a resident volunteer at a conservation center for gibbons, interning as a zookeeping at two zoos, volunteering on a dairy farm in high school, volunteering at the front desk of an animal shelter, volunteering to walk dogs at an animal shelter, working as a kennel assistant at a veterinary hospital (still doing), and working in a research lab on campus taking care of birds (also still doing)- so these numbers will be increasing as well. And that isn't even including personal animal experience, either.
As far as research goes, I have 3 hours of observational research from the conservation center and will have somewhere around 1,000 hours from the research lab job by the time that is finished with. I am also conducting my own research study over the summer through the lab I work in with the goal of getting a publication by next spring (2018).
I am a Minnesota resident. The schools I am considering are: U of MN, U of Madison-Wisconsin, NC State, CO State, Washington State. I am particularly interested in exotics (which is where I have most of my animal and vet experience from so far) and so NC State is probably my top choice, or Madison because I've heard they offer a bit more than other schools in terms of primate medicine.
Ideally, I will be done with undergrad in fall 2018, so I would like to apply next summer (summer 2018). I have an idea of who I am going to ask for eLORs (a vet I worked closely with and still communicate with from a zoo I interned at, my supervisor at my research job who knows me pretty well through work, and possibly a vet at the hospital I am currently a kennel assistant at).
Let me know if you need any other info to make your assessment! And thank you in advance for reading this long post. I truly appreciate it.
I'm just pretty pumped everyone so far has chosen the same answer because we're all sassy af
upHi all, first time poster here so hopefully I'm doing this the correct way,
I, like many of you, have wanted to be a vet since I was a little kid. I'm currently an undergrad working towards a bachelor of science in zoology and have a year and a half left (including 10 pre-reqs to complete [my university gives labs a separate grade than their corresponding lectures, so I counted labs and lectures as separate classes here]: microbio, microbio lab, college physics I lab, ochem 1, ochem 1 lab, ochem 2, ochem 2 lab, college physics 2, college physics 2 lab, and biochem).
Currently my GPA is kind of going down the toilet. I had three jobs last semester and although I had a really light course load (12 credits) I ended up dropping one class for a W because I was juggling three jobs at the time, but my other classes still suffered (for instance I got a D in physics 1 and a C in evolution which was an easy class- I just couldn't juggle the coursework on top of work). This semester didn't get much better: I am taking 4 classes, all 3 credits but the 2 that are pre-reqs are probably going to be Ds or low Cs at best, with the other two being Bs or As. My cumulative GPA right now (not including this spring semester since grades are yet to be posted- I'm in the middle of finals at the moment) is a 3.188 and my science GPA is somewhere right around a 3.0 I think(?). I have several bad grades on my record and I think to Ws (C in gen. bio 2, C in algebra, C in pre-calc, C in animal phys, C in calc, D in stats, D in physics 1, and a C in evolution).
Planning on taking the GRE later this summer and have started studying with a Kaplan book that has online quizzes, practice exams, vocabulary words, and a paper practice exam. I took Kaplan's diagnostic exam and scored 149 Quantitative and 150 Verbal, which I feel pretty decent about considering I had not studied at all yet.
I have shadowed 8 veterinarians so far (will be shadowing 3 more over the summer) in multiple disciplines (small animal, large animal, shelter med, cancer specialty, and zoo med), but I don't have a large amount of hours yet (roughly 100, but I can get that up more over the next school year).
At this time I have about 2,000 hours of animal experience through working as a resident volunteer at a conservation center for gibbons, interning as a zookeeping at two zoos, volunteering on a dairy farm in high school, volunteering at the front desk of an animal shelter, volunteering to walk dogs at an animal shelter, working as a kennel assistant at a veterinary hospital (still doing), and working in a research lab on campus taking care of birds (also still doing)- so these numbers will be increasing as well. And that isn't even including personal animal experience, either.
As far as research goes, I have 3 hours of observational research from the conservation center and will have somewhere around 1,000 hours from the research lab job by the time that is finished with. I am also conducting my own research study over the summer through the lab I work in with the goal of getting a publication by next spring (2018).
I am a Minnesota resident. The schools I am considering are: U of MN, U of Madison-Wisconsin, NC State, CO State, Washington State. I am particularly interested in exotics (which is where I have most of my animal and vet experience from so far) and so NC State is probably my top choice, or Madison because I've heard they offer a bit more than other schools in terms of primate medicine.
Ideally, I will be done with undergrad in fall 2018, so I would like to apply next summer (summer 2018). I have an idea of who I am going to ask for eLORs (a vet I worked closely with and still communicate with from a zoo I interned at, my supervisor at my research job who knows me pretty well through work, and possibly a vet at the hospital I am currently a kennel assistant at).
Let me know if you need any other info to make your assessment! And thank you in advance for reading this long post. I truly appreciate it.
I don't think it goes away.Thanks! I made it along with my first post EVER here today and I'm not sure how to take it down now. My bad
It's okay, it's a lovely addition to the "What are my chances?" thread. Reminds me that I should've gone into underwater basket weaving!
