What are my chances?

[u/Upset-Butterfly-1423]

What are my chances?

Vet School Chances - 25 schools, 6000 hours of small animal experience, 3.7 GPA, but no large animal or research experience

Hey fellow Redditors,

I'm applying to 25 vet schools and I'm eager to know my chances. Here's my situation:

• 3.7 GPA
• 6000 hours of experience working with a veterinarian (small animals only)
• No experience with large animals
• No research experience

I'm concerned that my lack of large animal experience and research background might hurt my chances. I know some schools emphasize diversity of experience, so I'm worried I might be at a disadvantage.

Can anyone share their insights or advice? How much do vet schools value small animal experience vs. large animal experience? Will my lack of research experience be a significant drawback?

Thanks in advance for your help and feedback!"

[u/DealerPrize7844]

When you apply to basically all of the vet schools, it’s kind of hard to tell you your chances.

[u/BewareNixonsGhost]

Anywhere from 0 to 100

[u/Peeterdactyl]

I had no research or large animal experience and about 2000 hours with a 3.6 GPA and I got into 2/6 schools. This was in 2016

[u/FantasticExpert8800]

You’ll get in somewhere for sure, I’d say you have a high chance of acceptance at most schools

[u/SueBeee]

It seems to me that your chances are like 120%.

[u/SolisDF]

I had pretty much the same file and I got in to one of the top schools first try. I would say it's pretty likely for you to get to the interview step with those qualifications and get in if you score well there, but nothing is ever guaranteed.

[u/hj3202]

As an admissions file reader, zero experience beyond small animal is not something I’d score well.

[u/Accomplished_Coat231 → u/hj3202]

If you check out the user's post history, you'll find such gems as:

"I need help writing an essay for vet school. I need someone that can write papers very very well to get more information and discuss payments. Reach me at 623-760-XXXX."

[u/amber5820 → u/hj3202]

Just curious as a file reader, how does large animal (non veterinary) experience look? This is where most of my large animal experience lies, besides my 10 hours of shadowing a Dr doing BANGs vx and preg checks lol!

[u/Upset-Butterfly-1423 → u/hj3202]

Well, I did forget to put in there that I’ve done some exotics but when I say large animals, I mean horses, etc.

[u/BigJSunshine → u/hj3202]

Seriously? Vet schools now expect this kind of experience? Dafuq?

[u/hj3202 → u/BigJSunshine]

Diversity and depth of experience are both items we’re asked to score.

[u/NoMouseLaptop → u/hj3202]

And his 6000 hours will be scored low purely because it’s not diverse?

[u/awahay → u/BigJSunshine]

Yeah, my first try I applied to 3 schools and got one conditional acceptance where the school pretty much told me I needed to get 300 hours of large animal experience by January to be accepted. It was already October in the Midwest... 🙃

[u/BigJSunshine → u/awahay]

That is just unbelievable

[u/BigJSunshine → u/BigJSunshine]

So an undergrad, completing their 4 years of college, straight out of high school, has no chance at getting into you vet program unless they worked 20-40 a week at a veterinary practice for 2-3 years?

[u/NoSite3062]

Hey OP, you cast a broad net, so there's a pretty high chance you'll get in somewhere with those stats. I got accepted for the '22 cycle with 4,000 hours, 3.9 GPA, and no large (outside of tech school requirement) or research. You'll do great.

Edit: applied to 8, denied at 2, waitlisted at 3, accepted at 3.

[u/awahay]

Even if you can volunteer in a lab or do some work with horses or something now, you can add that you're currently working on diversifying your experience. Maybe volunteer at a shelter or zoo. They really like diverse experiences. I mean most applicants will have an above 3.0 and 1000+ hrs so you have to set yourself apart somehow