Non-traditional applicant, non-competitive GPA, lots of experience
Hey everyone, I’m new to this sub but I’m hoping to get some feedback on where I stand with my application.
I’m 29F graduated in 2018 with 2 bachelors (bio sci, sustainability) with a 3.47gpa, last 45 credits gpa of ~3.72. I know my overall gpa isn’t super competitive and my school used the +/- system so I think VMCAS might calculate my gpa to be lower. I don’t even know how to go about calculating my sci gpa because I don’t know which of my sustainability courses to count as environmental science.
That being said, I have extensive hours of well-rounded animal experience. In college I was a research assistant at my university’s insect lab. I also volunteered/interned at a couple wildlife rehab/sanctuaries, and was an aquarium diver.
Since graduating, I’ve worked full time as a vet tech in small animal, rehab, some equine, emergency/specialty, and non-clinical research. Most recently however, I’ve decided to slow down to really consider my career path forward and have been simply doing pet sitting/dog walking.
Overall my approx experience hours are: Animal = 1511 Vet = 7440 Research = 4822
(I also come from marginalized backgrounds if that has any relevancy. Please don’t attack me for mentioning this just want to cover all my bases.)
I’ve been working really hard on my application and have strong recommenders from my vet tech jobs lined up. Ive also made a point to list my non-animal related extracurricular/hobbies. I’ve just completed my explanation statement and am working on my personal. As a non-traditional applicant I can’t help but to worry about where I stand or how I should best approach my application. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks for taking the time to read this!
Posted Jul 9, 2025, 11:19 PM UTC