WAMC - third time applicant, lower gpa

[dogtormanda25]

Hi everyone! I am 23, F, from New York.

Looking for advice. This will be my third time applying. I applied in 2020 when I was a senior during undergrad, took a gap year, then just applied to the 2022-2023 cycle. I got waitlisted to Western this past cycle so I am at least happy I am sort of making some progress.

Cumulative GPA: 2.8 from undergrad, 2.93 currently after retaking classes and grad certificate
Overall science GPA as calculated by VMCAS this past cycle: 2.80
last 45: 3.5

Any degrees achieved: Bachelor's Degree from Penn State in 2021, UF Shelter Medicine Grad Certificate - finished May 2023.

GRE results: N/A Did not take

Veterinary Experience:
- Currently at small animal GP for 2 years as a vet tech/assistant - 5,000 hours
- Volunteering at Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists over the summer (under veterinary supervision) - around 200 hours
- Shadowing at a 24hr small animal emergency hospital - 210 hours
- Shadowing/Interning at a specialty 24hr hospital - 120 hours

Animal Experience:
- Volunteering at a Farm Sanctuary on Sundays for a year - 220 hours
- Volunteer at Therapeutic Horse Rescue - 50 hours

Research Experience: None

Awards/scholarships:
- Honor Roll for 2 quarters in high school
- A bunch of awards for my softball season in high school
- Deans list in undergrad x 3 semesters
- National Honor Society in High school
- Presidential Award for Excellence in High school
- National Society of Leadership and Success - Awarded by University of Florida

Extracurriculars:
- VEG Conference in Colorado
- Penn State Pre-Vet Club
- THON Organization from Sophomore - Senior year in undergrad
- Volunteer for Stuff-A-Bus during thanksgiving season
- Volunteer Religion teacher assistant in high school
- A bunch of softball things during high school and also on a travel team
- High school leadership club and peer support club

Employment:
- Hostess / Cashier at a pizzeria/italian restaurant in high school

Looking for any and all advice. Schools I am considering are: Colorado State, Iowa State, LIU (instate), Mississippi State (considering?), Cornell (Instate), Ohio State, Michigan State, LMU (maybe), UofArizona, Uof Illinois, Upenn, Mizzou, Western, VAMD.

My GPA is mainly tanked due to my freshman & sophomore years. I mainly got Cs, but have a good upward trend of A's and B's from junior year to now. I retook Physics, and general chem for higher grades and I am considering retaking General bio and organic chem.
If anyone is also able to read my personal statement and give me feedback too that would be greatly appreciated !!! TIA <3

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[HorseObsessed]

I just spent a bit scrolling through the successful applicants threads to see if anyone had similar stats to you. I saw one, who was accepted to Michigan State and SGU. Here are the threads if you'd like to look yourself:
Successful Applicants c/o 2025
Successful Applicants c/o 2026
For the most part, admitted students with low GPAs look to be extraordinary elsewhere-- masses of research experience, huge breadth AND depth of veterinary experience, masters degrees and a 4.0 last 45, or long careers in other fields.
I can't speak to your individual schools, but it's been a very slow few days at work so I've been scrolling through a lot of successful applicants threads, and I can say that there are people with your stats that get in but they're definitely not very common.
Keep at it! If you don't get in this cycle, consider seeking research. I have seen a few low GPA students with exceptional research that have gotten in. There are research jobs out there, often in medical center areas, that pay!

 

[miranda920]

Hi everyone! I am 23, F, from New York.

Looking for advice. This will be my third time applying. I applied in 2020 when I was a senior during undergrad, took a gap year, then just applied to the 2022-2023 cycle. I got waitlisted to Western this past cycle so I am at least happy I am sort of making some progress.

Cumulative GPA: 2.8 from undergrad, 2.93 currently after retaking classes and grad certificate
Overall science GPA as calculated by VMCAS this past cycle: 2.80
last 45: 3.5

Any degrees achieved: Bachelor's Degree from Penn State in 2021, UF Shelter Medicine Grad Certificate - finished May 2023.

GRE results: N/A Did not take

Veterinary Experience:
- Currently at small animal GP for 2 years as a vet tech/assistant - 5,000 hours
- Volunteering at Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists over the summer (under veterinary supervision) - around 200 hours
- Shadowing at a 24hr small animal emergency hospital - 210 hours
- Shadowing/Interning at a specialty 24hr hospital - 120 hours

Animal Experience:
- Volunteering at a Farm Sanctuary on Sundays for a year - 220 hours
- Volunteer at Therapeutic Horse Rescue - 50 hours

Research Experience: None

Awards/scholarships:
- Honor Roll for 2 quarters in high school
- A bunch of awards for my softball season in high school
- Deans list in undergrad x 3 semesters
- National Honor Society in High school
- Presidential Award for Excellence in High school
- National Society of Leadership and Success - Awarded by University of Florida

Extracurriculars:
- VEG Conference in Colorado
- Penn State Pre-Vet Club
- THON Organization from Sophomore - Senior year in undergrad
- Volunteer for Stuff-A-Bus during thanksgiving season
- Volunteer Religion teacher assistant in high school
- A bunch of softball things during high school and also on a travel team
- High school leadership club and peer support club

Employment:
- Hostess / Cashier at a pizzeria/italian restaurant in high school

Looking for any and all advice. Schools I am considering are: Colorado State, Iowa State, LIU (instate), Mississippi State (considering?), Cornell (Instate), Ohio State, Michigan State, LMU (maybe), UofArizona, Uof Illinois, Upenn, Mizzou, Western, VAMD.

My GPA is mainly tanked due to my freshman & sophomore years. I mainly got Cs, but have a good upward trend of A's and B's from junior year to now. I retook Physics, and general chem for higher grades and I am considering retaking General bio and organic chem.
If anyone is also able to read my personal statement and give me feedback too that would be greatly appreciated !!! TIA <3

Hi there! I had similar stats and I’m going to be starting my first year at Michigan State in a couple weeks!

You can find my stats in the most recent successful applicants thread!

My advice to you is make sure your LOR are excellent, obviously you can’t read them before they are submitted but really choose vets/professors that know you and your goals well.
I truly believe having my graduate advisor write my letter made a huge impact. (He also is a veterinarian too!)

Second, retake pre-req courses you got a C or lower in. For schools that do full replacement of grades, this will help you tremendously. I retook a few courses at my local CC!

Unless things have changed, Mississippi State and tOSU require a 3.0 cGPA for your application to be evaluated. However, Mississippi State does grade replacement in their calculations so see if you meet that with any retakes. I don’t know about tOSU. So just be aware of that before you submit, it would be unfortunate to be disqualified after paying the app fees.

Best of luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

 

[dogtormanda25]

Hi there! I had similar stats and I’m going to be starting my first year at Michigan State in a couple weeks!

You can find my stats in the most recent successful applicants thread!

My advice to you is make sure your LOR are excellent, obviously you can’t read them before they are submitted but really choose vets/professors that know you and your goals well.
I truly believe having my graduate advisor write my letter made a huge impact. (He also is a veterinarian too!)

Second, retake pre-req courses you got a C or lower in. For schools that do full replacement of grades, this will help you tremendously. I retook a few courses at my local CC!

Unless things have changed, Mississippi State and tOSU require a 3.0 cGPA for your application to be evaluated. However, Mississippi State does grade replacement in their calculations so see if you meet that with any retakes. I don’t know about tOSU. So just be aware of that before you submit, it would be unfortunate to be disqualified after paying the app fees.

Best of luck! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Hi! Thank you for responding and congrats on Michigan State!! I have gotten feedback from schools that my LOR's were great, so I am going to continue to use those the same this year. My undergrad advisor was my advisor, professor for 2 courses, and he is a veterinarian as well! I have done retakes of prerequisite classes that I didn't do so well in for higher grades. I am planning on retaking Organic Chemistry in August through Doane, even though it won't count toward my GPA after the application is submitted.

I saw that Mississippi requires a 3.0 overall, but they didn't say anything on the website about retakes, which is frustrating. tOSU is 3.0 overall as well and I don't think they do retakes.

 

[Georgethecat]

Hi! Thank you for responding and congrats on Michigan State!! I have gotten feedback from schools that my LOR's were great, so I am going to continue to use those the same this year. My undergrad advisor was my advisor, professor for 2 courses, and he is a veterinarian as well! I have done retakes of prerequisite classes that I didn't do so well in for higher grades. I am planning on retaking Organic Chemistry in August through Doane, even though it won't count toward my GPA after the application is submitted.

I saw that Mississippi requires a 3.0 overall, but they didn't say anything on the website about retakes, which is frustrating. tOSU is 3.0 overall as well and I don't think they do retakes.

Copied from Miss State Vet Med website​

GPA Requirements​

A minimum overall GPA of 3.00 is required. For purposes of calculating GPA, MSU CVM does not use the plus/minus grading system. Each GPA is calculated using the traditional 4.0 scale with grades of “A” earning a student four quality points per credit hour. The overall GPA consists of all college/university courses taken at any accredited institution including graduate coursework. The prerequisite GPA consists of college/university courses that meet MSU CVM’s required prerequisite courses. If a course is repeated, the lower grade will be removed from the GPA and the highest grade will be used to compute both the overall and prerequisite GPAs.

Selection of the Class | Vet Med

Academic assessments will take place once the application has been verified by VMCAS, all supporting documents have been received, and the supplemental application fee has been paid. Applicants who meet the minimum academic requirements are sent to the MSU CVM Admissions Committee for the...

www.vetmed.msstate.edu

Hope that helps.

 

[dogtormanda25]

Copied from Miss State Vet Med website​

GPA Requirements​

A minimum overall GPA of 3.00 is required. For purposes of calculating GPA, MSU CVM does not use the plus/minus grading system. Each GPA is calculated using the traditional 4.0 scale with grades of “A” earning a student four quality points per credit hour. The overall GPA consists of all college/university courses taken at any accredited institution including graduate coursework. The prerequisite GPA consists of college/university courses that meet MSU CVM’s required prerequisite courses. If a course is repeated, the lower grade will be removed from the GPA and the highest grade will be used to compute both the overall and prerequisite GPAs.

Selection of the Class | Vet Med

Academic assessments will take place once the application has been verified by VMCAS, all supporting documents have been received, and the supplemental application fee has been paid. Applicants who meet the minimum academic requirements are sent to the MSU CVM Admissions Committee for the...

www.vetmed.msstate.edu

Hope that helps.

Thank you for this !!!

 

[JaynaAli]

I don’t know a lot about most of the programs you say you’re considering, but CSU gets in excess of like 3500 OOS apps a year for 40-50 seats. I did see on their website that the GPA range of admitted students (with no provided division for IS/OOS) was like 2.85-4.0 so I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I think you’re probably an extreme long shot for such a competitive program. I don’t say that to drag you down, but you asked for advice and I think your GPA may limit your chances at such a competitive program. But applying to CSU just to see what happens is cool if you’ve got the funds to apply.

If I were you, I’d go through all the school websites and make absolutely sure you meet minimum GPA requirements. Don’t waste your money applying to somewhere that will just toss your app because you don’t meet a GPA cutoff. Take some time reading admitted student stats on their sites and here on SDN. It’s not impossible to get in with a GPA below 3.0, but it is more difficult and you need to apply smartly. Find those schools that replace grades for retakes and all that. But you’ll need to do a lot of searching websites to apply to places you have the best chance of getting in.

 

[dogtormanda25]

Update: I decided to apply to CSU, Cornell, Iowa, Lincoln Memorial, LIU, Michigan, UofA, UMN, Upenn, VAMD, and Western this year. Considering LSU since i saw their requirements changed ?? I also want to mention that my GPA with my retake grades is a 3.17 and my prereq GPA for michigan made a 3.0 🥹 Hoping all goes well this time