WAMC low GPA and high GRE

[deleted1025512]

Edited 4/8/2020:
Hi! I plan to apply this upcoming cycle to Colorado, Midwestern, Cornell, Penn, Tufts, Arizona, and several international schools.

Cumulative GPA: 3.41
Science GPA: 3.24
Last 45: 3.56
GRE: 168 V/167 Q/5.5 AW
Resident: Arizona

Vet Hours: (will be around 1600 when applying)
880 -- veterinary technician at dog, cat, and rabbit practice in Downtown Phoenix
70 -- veterinary technician at mixed animal practice in rural Vermont
30 -- shadowing at small animal practice with veterinary dermatologist in rural New Hampshire
190 -- internal medicine and surgery veterinary technician at huge specialty practice
8 -- shadowing horse vet in rural Vermont
50 -- wildlife medicine intern at wildlife conservation center (we don't have a vet every day, so I'm guessing I'll get maybe 100 hours vet experience from this and the rest will be animal)

Animal Hours: (Roughly 4500 when applying)
100 -- petsitting (if this counts)
4000 -- worked as assistant manager of an animal sanctuary in high school (not sure if I can put this if it ended in 2017?)
250 -- wildlife medicine intern at wildlife conservation center working with native Arizona wildlife (will be about 300 at time of application)

Research:
300 -- research assistant in frog evolution lab (with about 25 hours of frog handling experience)
~100 -- research assistant in gross anatomy lab at my college's medical school working on comparative anatomy projects
Undergraduate thesis in frog evolution and behavior

Letters of Recommendation:

1. Veterinarian from first tech job who I've known since I was 11 and has been my mentor since I was 17
2. Biology professor/PI who taught me in my first biology class in college where I got a C+; he is now my research advisor and just taught me in another class in which I received an A
3. Anatomy professor who taught my comparative gross anatomy class and with whom I'll be doing comparative anatomy research in the spring
4. Pre-vet advisor/endocrinology professor
5. Hospital director at specialty/emergency hospital
6. Employer at conservation center

Extracurriculars
Pre-Vet Society President
Pre-Vet Coordinator for Pre-Med Club
General chemistry TA
Evolution TA
General chemistry tutor
Registered Yoga Teacher
Wilderness First Aid/CPR certified

Awards/Scholarships
Two terms of general research grants
One term of computer science research grant (for computational biology)

Degrees at time of application
BA in Biology in progress

Other Factors:
Interest in SA surgery. I would also like to volunteer at a wildlife center as a vet.
There is essentially no pre-vet presence at my school. There are maybe 3 other pre-vet students but only 5 students have gone to vet school from my college in the last 10 or so years. I've been trying to build up the program (website, mentoring, shadowing), but it's hard to do so alone.

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[battie]

The prestige of your school will have very little bearing on making up for below average grades. What you need to do is cater your school list to what gives you the best chance.

Just as an example, you have CSU on your list. Half their class is out of state, which helps you. However, they had 15 applicants per seat last cycle, which really is a big knock against you.

If your goal is to get into vet school, look at the AAVMC public data on the schools and evaluate your chances with each school based on how many out of state students they accept, how many people apply there each year, and how well your stats fit them.

As a note on Arizona, simply be prepared for a wild ride. Vet school is insane and I personally could not imagine doing it all in 3 years. Arizona residents have the advantage of in state tuition at least. But if you're their first class, yall will face challenges unlike any other first class.

 

[fingerscrossed687]

Hello! We actually have similar circumstances. I also went to an Ivy and applied this cycle. My cGPA is a bit higher than yours at a 3.51 and my last 45 is also higher at around a 3.9, but our science GPAs are quite similar. In my perspective going through this cycle and apps, having an Ivy education looks impressive on paper, but I think it doesn't really help you so much in the admissions process. I've gotten my far share of rejections this cycle and didn't even get an interview to my IS. However, I have received 5 interview offers in total, including one from my top choice, so keep your hopes up. That being said, I would try to diversify your hours. Try to get more large animal hours in a veterinary setting and maybe even some food animal too. Since you haven't taken the GRE, I would put a lot of effort into studying for this. A really great GRE score can help you much more than going to an Ivy (IMO). Your research experience is definitely a plus! Vet school admissions can be quite daunting, but I think you have a good solid foundation.

 

[deleted1025512]

Hello! We actually have similar circumstances. I also went to an Ivy and applied this cycle. My cGPA is a bit higher than yours at a 3.51 and my last 45 is also higher at around a 3.9, but our science GPAs are quite similar. In my perspective going through this cycle and apps, having an Ivy education looks impressive on paper, but I think it doesn't really help you so much in the admissions process. I've gotten my far share of rejections this cycle and didn't even get an interview to my IS. However, I have received 5 interview offers in total, including one from my top choice, so keep your hopes up. That being said, I would try to diversify your hours. Try to get more large animal hours in a veterinary setting and maybe even some food animal too. Since you haven't taken the GRE, I would put a lot of effort into studying for this. A really great GRE score can help you much more than going to an Ivy (IMO). Your research experience is definitely a plus! Vet school admissions can be quite daunting, but I think you have a good solid foundation.

Thanks for this! My GPAs will definitely go up since I've been steadily improving throughout undergrad. I'm studying intensely for the GRE right now so hoping that will go well too. My issue getting food animal/equine experience has mostly been that Dartmouth is in the middle of nowhere so the few vets we do have that see large animals do farm calls up to two hours away which can be hard to manage. I appreciate your advice a lot. Good luck with your interviews!

 

[fingerscrossed687]

Thanks for this! My GPAs will definitely go up since I've been steadily improving throughout undergrad. I'm studying intensely for the GRE right now so hoping that will go well too. My issue getting food animal/equine experience has mostly been that Dartmouth is in the middle of nowhere so the few vets we do have that see large animals do farm calls up to two hours away which can be hard to manage. I appreciate your advice a lot. Good luck with your interviews!

No problem If you have any other questions during the application process, feel free to reach out!

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I'm not sure that having lower grades but being at an Ivy really helps much. Possibly? a little at some schools, but when your competing against many 3.7+ GPAs I'm not sure where you go to school makes that much of a difference. That said, your grades really aren't impossibly low. I think you just need to apply smart. CSU is on your list...they take a lot of OOS students. As an example, Ohio also has a huge class and takes half out of state. Cornell might be a hard one. Plus, they don't interview so you don't get that benefit. If I were you, I'd do some more research about the specific schools your interested in and how they weigh applicants to see if it matches with your own strengths. It would also be to your advantage to look at schools that emphasize last 45 more than cumulative because that is your strongest GPA. Your hours look pretty good. Not a huge amount of diversity, but plugging your research experience will help a lot. It also seems like you have a good bit of extracurriculars, which can also be a strength.

Personally, I would be wary of being the first class at Arizona (plus three years...vet school is hard enough in 4...), but I get that it's going to be your instate.

 

[deleted1025512]

I edited this post to include my recent GRE scores and some updated experiences if anyone happens to look at it!