WAMC? Looking for input, especially from people who've been accepted to Dublin or RVC!

[isocitrate dehydrogenase]

Hello all,

I'm applying to Dublin and RVC now and I was hoping for some input on how well I might fare in the admissions process. I'm feeling comfortable about my grades as well as with the diversity/quality of my experience but frankly I don't have very many hours. To put this into context, my geographic location wasn't very conducive to getting a lot of hours at any one place so I figured if I could get really high grades and make the most of what opportunities were available, I still might do OK in the admissions process. Anyways these are what my stats look like and I would appreciate any input from previous successful candidates. Also if anybody is wondering why I'm not applying to US schools, its because I can't fit the english prereqs in before the deadline to apply, although I might do an extra semester to get them if neither school works out.


Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Science GPA: 4.0
Last 45 semester GPA: 4.0


Vet Experience (total ~700):
~600 hours at 2 small animal clinics
~ 100 in specialist referral hospital

Animal Experience (total ~ 220)
~120 at a riding facility
~ 30 with foals
~70 as a farmhand (poultry, swine and cattle)

Research (~580)
~400 doing clinical research (will have paper published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association with my name as a contributing author)
~100 doing pharmaceutical research for small animals (also will have paper published)
~80 with dairy calves

Extracurriculars (~210)
~40 working with political refugees
~ 120 working with special needs children
~ 20 at an afterschool program
~30 helping with Frosh week

Also I'm a freelance musician in my spare time so I don't know where to put that or if I should even put it. I do performances at restaurants/coffee shops and I do get paid (depending on the location) but it's mostly a "for fun" sort of thing.

Awards/Honors:
Deans list every semester
College Role of Distinction for maintaining a high average throughout undergrad
Dean's Scholarship for having one of the highest averages in my undergraduate year
Entrance Scholarship for university for good high school grades

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[SkiOtter]

If you have an in state school, I would HIGHLY recommend taking that extra semester and applying there instead. You will save TONS of money (I’m talking HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars) in tuition by taking an extra semester for the English. There are also a handful of US schools that will allow you to switch residency after your first year, also saving you tons of money. I would strongly urge you to wait and apply to US schools, particularly an in state if you have it and any schools that allow residency changes.
Are the English requirements the only classes you would not have completed by the September application deadline? Most schools will allow 2-3 in progress prerequisites at the time of application, as long as you have them completed by the end of the spring semester before starting school.

 

[isocitrate dehydrogenase]

If you have an in state school, I would HIGHLY recommend taking that extra semester and applying there instead. You will save TONS of money (I’m talking HUNDREDS of thousands of dollars) in tuition by taking an extra semester for the English. There are also a handful of US schools that will allow you to switch residency after your first year, also saving you tons of money. I would strongly urge you to wait and apply to US schools, particularly an in state if you have it and any schools that allow residency changes.
Are the English requirements the only classes you would not have completed by the September application deadline? Most schools will allow 2-3 in progress prerequisites at the time of application, as long as you have them completed by the end of the spring semester before starting school.

Hey, thanks for the heads up! I’m not from the US actually so I’ll be paying a hefty amount either way. I will look into the changing residency thing though but I’m not sure if that would apply if I’m not a US citizen/permanent resident.

 

[SkiOtter]

Hey, thanks for the heads up! I’m not from the US actually so I’ll be paying a hefty amount either way. I will look into the changing residency thing though but I’m not sure if that would apply if I’m not a US citizen/permanent resident.

Well then I would recommend going to whatever school that you can get cheaper tuition at for being a resident wherever you live
If you’re Canadian/UK/EU and have a school where tuition would be dirt cheap and like $10k USD a year, DO IT vs paying ~50k USD a year. The debt to income ratio is too high in this profession to be taking on extreme amounts of debt if you have an option to get a much lower tuition bill. If you don’t get into a school where you’d be considered a resident, sure go to a school where you’re not one, but I’d highly recommend trying for one where you can get cheaper tuition.

 

[isocitrate dehydrogenase]

Well then I would recommend going to whatever school that you can get cheaper tuition at for being a resident wherever you live
If you’re Canadian/UK/EU and have a school where tuition would be dirt cheap and like $10k USD a year, DO IT vs paying ~50k USD a year. The debt to income ratio is too high in this profession to be taking on extreme amounts of debt if you have an option to get a much lower tuition bill. If you don’t get into a school where you’d be considered a resident, sure go to a school where you’re not one, but I’d highly recommend trying for one where you can get cheaper tuition.

Yeah tuition is definitely not fun- I am applying to my "local" school (not via VMCAS though) as well and it'd be great if I get in but I am trying to broaden my options a bit because the competition is for vet school is literally like the hunger games