WAMC? & How to Improve My Application?

[tndmltk]

Hi, I'm applying this cycle and I'm just feeling so insecure about my application. My GPA isn't stellar and my science GPA is even worse, and I don't think I have enough hours to be eye-catching. I don't have any friends who are also applying to vet school and my school doesn't know what to do with me because they only focus on the pre-med/dental kids so I'm hoping posting here and reading through whatever advice might be thrown at me will give me a sense of direction.

Some explanation about my GPA and lack of hours (might get too personal): Both my parents work 15 hrs a day, 7 days of the week. That leaves me to do all the housework, including preparing dinner twice every day (my mom comes home at 10 and my dad comes home at 12 so I prepare dinner twice), doing the laundry (my mom doesn't trust washing machines and thinks the laundromat is too much money so I need to handwash all our clothes), cleaning the house, etc. on top of going to school full time. I'm part of the honors program at my school, which requires me to fulfill a different set of requirements from the school's basic requirements, and I'm majoring in Psychology which adds another set of requirements to the two I already have to fulfill. On top of that, I have vet school pre-reqs. All of these four pre-reqs (basic core, honors, psychology major, and vet schools) do not overlap in coursework. I've been taking 20+ credits every single semester since freshman year in order to make sure I'll get the pre-reqs done and graduate on time, and I've taken classes every summer and winter semester except for once. As of right now, I'm a rising senior and I've completed 149 credits. As for the lack of hours, I live in NYC, which makes it hard to get experience in anything except small animal. Of course, that might sound like an excuse (it kind of is) but housework really bites me in the ass and I work time to time as a tutor in order to bring home extra money for the family which leaves me with very little time to spend on animal experiences. As you can probably tell, my family is not well-off, to the point where I literally begged and cried to the landlord over the phone for him not to raise our rent last year because he wanted to raise it by more than $200 and we just couldn't afford to pay that much every month. I'm applying to about 10 schools this cycle because I want to maximize my chances of getting into any vet school - I don't care which, as long as I get in. I just don't think my family can support me if I don't get in this cycle and have to wait until the next one just to pay hundreds of dollars applying again. On top of that, I'm a DACA recipient so I don't know how stable my status is and how vet schools view DACA students, so I'm really insecure right now about my chances.
Sorry if this is was irrelevant, but I just wanted to defend/give an excuse about my GPA and hours, and rant a bit.

Grades
Cumulative GPA: 3.68
Last 45 GPA: 3.66
Science GPA: 3.46
GRE: Haven't taken it yet, but on mock exams I get around 160 Verbal and 170 Quantitative

Animal Experience
132 hours at a Rabbit Rescue Organization as a Volunteer
264 hours at Shelter A as a Medical Volunteer
412 hours at Shelter B as a Cat Volunteer
776 hours at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center as a Volunteer (currently going on)
480 hours at the same Wildlife Rehabilitation Center as an Intern

Veterinary Experience
400 hours at an Animal Hospital shadowing 3 different vets (currently going on + they are offering me a position as veterinary assistant in the fall)

Research
640 hours at a Fly Genomics Lab (I was in high school for this - will this be a problem?)

Employment Experience
336 hours at a Prep School teaching Biology and SAT English

Extracurricular Activities
Vice-President of the Pre-Vet Club at my school
(never really had time for extra currics because of school, family, and trying to spend more time on gaining animal experience)

Awards:
Dean's List every semester except for one
I got a bunch of awards and scholarships during senior year of high school for academics and music - should I put this on my application?

My average GPA, lack of veterinary hours, and almost non-existent extracurriculars make me so anxious, but as stated above, I just cannot spend another year at home just to spend hundreds of dollars again on applying. My only hope is getting into my in-state school, which is Cornell, but unfortunately it is also one of the most competitive schools to get into.

I'd also appreciate it if anyone knows anything about financial aid in vet school, especially for DACA recipients. The only reason I was able to get through college was because the honors program pays for all my tuition, and it'd be nice to know if I could get any sort of help with tuition, since I don't get federal or state funding.

Thanks for reading this far, and I hope the best for everyone applying!

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[battie]

You're actually not doing too bad all the way around. Your GPA is dead average, your GRE will be pretty average as long as you score what you're getting on practice tests, and your hours aren't too bad.

Where were you planning on applying? That does matter.

As far as DACA goes, that would be a question for the financial aid departments of those schools (unless someone on here is a DACA recipient as well and can shed light on everything).

Add anything and everything to all categories. If schools don't care about it, they'll simply eliminate it from the application.

The AAVMC data on Cornell applicants for last cycle showed there were about 9.5 applicants per available seat. But if you just consider in state applicants, that number drops to 4 or 5 applicants per in state seat (the bar graphs are kinda hard to read, so take those numbers with a grain of salt). I'm not seeing anywhere on Cornell's site what their averages are for in state students, but they are still your best shot regardless.

 

[tndmltk]

You're actually not doing too bad all the way around. Your GPA is dead average, your GRE will be pretty average as long as you score what you're getting on practice tests, and your hours aren't too bad.

Where were you planning on applying? That does matter.

As far as DACA goes, that would be a question for the financial aid departments of those schools (unless someone on here is a DACA recipient as well and can shed light on everything).

Add anything and everything to all categories. If schools don't care about it, they'll simply eliminate it from the application.

The AAVMC data on Cornell applicants for last cycle showed there were about 9.5 applicants per available seat. But if you just consider in state applicants, that number drops to 4 or 5 applicants per in state seat (the bar graphs are kinda hard to read, so take those numbers with a grain of salt). I'm not seeing anywhere on Cornell's site what their averages are for in state students, but they are still your best shot regardless.

Thanks for the reply. Right now I have Colorado, UC Davis, Cornell, Minnesota, UPenn, Georgia, Tufts, Ohio, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. My top choices are Cornell (IS), UC Davis, Tufts, and UPenn.

 

[Lupin21]

Thanks for the reply. Right now I have Colorado, UC Davis, Cornell, Minnesota, UPenn, Georgia, Tufts, Ohio, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. My top choices are Cornell (IS), UC Davis, Tufts, and UPenn.

georgia at least may not be a wise choice as they only accept a few OOS (out of state) students and they need to be exceptional.

Otherwise, much of this involves being able to stand out on paper. The lack of Extracurriculars is actually the weakest point I see, as you need to be able to have an outlet from vet med and you need to show you explored fields outside of vet med but still found it to be the profession that you wish to pursue despite all the downfalls. Think hard on what it is that makes you want to be a vet and what unique perspectives you can provide that make you an asset to diversify a class and the profession in general. Good luck!

 

[Lupin21]

Oh dear, and funding is non existent as well for vet school. Loans sustain you and you will be working with an income based repayment after graduation. This is one of the major issues in vet med currently. I recommend you also spend some time looking through the would you do it again threads for more on this and other issues facing us these days,

 

[tndmltk]

georgia at least may not be a wise choice as they only accept a few OOS (out of state) students and they need to be exceptional.

Otherwise, much of this involves being able to stand out on paper. The lack of Extracurriculars is actually the weakest point I see, as you need to be able to have an outlet from vet med and you need to show you explored fields outside of vet med but still found it to be the profession that you wish to pursue despite all the downfalls. Think hard on what it is that makes you want to be a vet and what unique perspectives you can provide that make you an asset to diversify a class and the profession in general. Good luck!

Ah, I see. Thank you so much for that info.

Oh dear, and funding is non existent as well for vet school. Loans sustain you and you will be working with an income based repayment after graduation. This is one of the major issues in vet med currently. I recommend you also spend some time looking through the would you do it again threads for more on this and other issues facing us these days,

Haha yeah I guess I'll just need to worry about getting into vet school right now, and worry about the money later. Thanks, I'll definitely look through those threads!

 

[SkiOtter]

Haha yeah I guess I'll just need to worry about getting into vet school right now, and worry about the money later. Thanks, I'll definitely look through those threads!

Tbh I’d look into the money aspect first... vet school is 25-60k per year JUST in tuition, depending on if you’re in state or out of state. And then you have to factor cost of living too, which varies greatly between schools depending on the area. If you can’t get money to pay for the schooling, don’t waste thousands applying and interviewing.

 

[JaynaAli]

Haha yeah I guess I'll just need to worry about getting into vet school right now, and worry about the money later. Thanks, I'll definitely look through those threads!

In my opinion, this is 100% the backwards way to approach this. If DACA recipients are not eligible for governmental loans and you are not independently wealthy, you may have a very difficult time funding/repaying loans for a veterinary education. Most US vets that take out loans use an income based repayment plan that is done through the federal loan system that caps your payments at a certain percent of your income. You may be eligible/able to get private loans, but these loans do not (as far as I have seen) offer income-based plans and the repayment terms for these are far less flexible and much more difficult to deal with when looking at a DVM's debt to income ratio. They typically have higher interest, higher payments, and things like that. I'm not trying to completely dissuade you from vet med, especially if that is what you want to do, but you seem to be in a unique situation that could amplify the already difficult financial outlook faced by the veterinary field. I think you'd be far better served to figure out the financial options available to you now before you get too far into the application process. Figure out what options may be the cheapest for you. It would be heartbreaking to get accepted only to realize that you can't actually afford to pay for school and are ineligible for federal loans. You also don't want to take a 'head in the sand' approach and just think you'll figure it out after graduation...I've seen many vets who are struggling with loan payments and it definitely seems to affect them, their mental health, and very likely contributes to the outrageoutly high suicide rate in our profession.

Again, I'm not trying to be overly bleak and completely dissuade you, but just urging you to be as aware of things as possible going forward since you have a unique situation. Get in contact with the schools and ask questions as needed and see what they say. Best of luck.

 

[deleted676737]

Definitely agreed that you should discuss your situation with financial aid offices at the schools that you're interested in. Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that you will find someone here who has dealt with DACA in terms of attending a US vet school and how that may impact the availability of federal loans. If it turns out that you can't take out those federal loans, then you may be forced to turn to private loans in order to fund your education... which is a whole other kettle of fish, quite frankly, especially in terms of repayment. Many of those private lenders do not offer income-based repayment options. This could be a financial death sentence for you if you aren't very careful. Trying to pay back vet school levels of debt on a federal income-based repayment plan is difficult enough with current salaries in the profession being what they are; I cannot even begin to imagine how much harder it would be if that weren't an option.

Please do not just "worry about the money later". That money is what is (sometimes literally) killing so many young vets and vet students in this country. Talk to a professional who will be more adept at navigating a situation like yours and can give you the most accurate answer. Go into this as informed as you possibly can be.

 

[genny]

Haha yeah I guess I'll just need to worry about getting into vet school right now, and worry about the money later. Thanks, I'll definitely look through those threads!

First off, applying to more schools does not necessarily increase your chances for admission. Second, I don't think you're eligible for federal financial aid, so most veterinary schools are going to be out of reach unless you've got a pretty large bank account somewhere. Most people going to vet school are financing their tuition and living expenses with federal loans. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/financial-aid-and-undocumented-students.pdf

But I think you're in one of the few states where you might still be able to get help. New York passed a law enabling DACA students to get state financial aid. Cornell has some people to help you navigate the process so please email them to talk about the process: DACA, Undocumented Applicants, and Green Card Applicants | Financial Aid

From what I can tell, most states that have something similar to NY offer aid to students who attended high school or some college there or reside there for a period of time - so Washington, California, Texas, and Oklahoma could be possibilities if you move. I would encourage you to contact the schools you are interested in directly. The will have the best answers for you.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from applying this year - I just think you have to be really smart about which schools you apply to. Why waste money applying to a school you can't afford? Cornell for sure, but beyond that, you should probably look for schools that offer scholarships that you might qualify for. For example, ISU's (my alma mater) list is here but it's kind of bleak given that OOS tuition is about 40k a year and the biggest awards are only 8-10k: Scholarships | Iowa State University

 

[SkiOtter]

But I think you're in one of the few states where you might still be able to get help. New York passed a law enabling DACA students to get state financial aid. Cornell has some people to help you navigate the process so please email them to talk about the process: DACA, Undocumented Applicants, and Green Card Applicants | Financial Aid

That link looks like it’s for undergrads, unfortunately. It doesn’t look like they mention anything about professional/grad students :\

 

[genny]

That link looks like it’s for undergrads, unfortunately. It doesn’t look like they mention anything about professional/grad students :\

Yeah, they don't have a page just for graduates, but I figure the contact info there is a good jumping off point.