Help match me to schools and chance me! [Animal Science major; 3.78 UW GPA, 1450 SAT, OH resident]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Chance and match me please!

Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Ohio
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
  • First generation

Cost Constraints / Budget
Cost is relatively important due to vet school costs.

Intended Major(s)

Animal Sciences

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.78
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.2
  • College GPA: DUAL ENROLLMENT STUDENT - 4.0
  • Class Rank: 64/425
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1450 SAT

List your HS coursework

Bold is college/ccp

  • English: Composition I, Composition II, Intro to Literature, Intro to Poetry
  • Math: Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, College Algebra, Intro to stats
  • Science: Advanced Biology, Advanced Chemistry, Intro to Bio, Bio I, Bio II
  • History and social studies: World History, American History, American Government, Intro to Psychology, Psychopathology
  • Language other than English: Spanish I, Spanish II
  • Visual or performing arts: 1 year of marching band, 1 year of concert band
  • Other academic courses: Naval Science I, Naval Science II, Naval Science III, Communication

Extracurriculars

  • 2 years varsity swimming
  • 3 years of JROTC
  • Veterinary shadowing (2 years)
  • 13 years of horseback riding
  • 2 years of key club
  • 200+ hours of community service
  • 2 years of writing letters to first responders (every holiday)

Other
GPA dipped due to bilateral PAO surgeries freshman year, graduating a year early, began her college coursework at 13

Schools
Applying to: Ohio State, Findlay, Ohio University, University of Kentucky, Purdue, Texas A&M

I am an Ohio resident and will qualify for WOS scholarship if I go to a state school and DEA benefits.

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All of these are potential admits except for Purdue due to being an OOS applicant. Ohio State & Findlay are the best bets for for budget. Though Findlay is private, they do offer competitive scholarships that you could end up winning. So next April, comparing financial aid offers, which will end up being the more cost-effective option, since you are planning to go to veterinary school? That’s the unknown. University of Kentucky offers a few OOS scholarships but unless you win a full-ride, you are likely going to opt for in-state. In the case of Texas A&M, I’m not sure if they even offer any full-rides to OOS.

It could be in your best interest to retake if you can score a 1500 or higher solely to make you more competitive for grants & scholarships.

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What is your budget? Can you afford all of these?

Saying - it’s important due to vet school tells me little. Do you have a #?

No calculus??

I would say you’ll get into all, except maybe A&M but these are different price points.

If you want a lower price point, add Mississippi State and WVU. They will both be in the 20s all in.

Good luck.

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Hi! I actually meant war orphan scholarships, not out of state

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I understood that. Does this make schools that are OOS on your list (Purdue, Texas A&M, Kentucky) financially reasonable options, assuming you aren’t awarded any institutional merit or need-based aid?

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If UK is affordable for you, they do have a very strong Equine Science program. Are you thinking of riding on an equestrian team in college? If so, be aware that the competition for UK’s IHSA team is fierce- they have around 70 kids try out for a limited number of slots, and very experienced riders sometimes don’t make the team. However, there are plenty of opportunities for students to ride at private barns, or join UK’s eventing/polo/rodeo teams. Otterbein and Findlay also have high vet school acceptance rates and big, active riding teams. Oberlin College is a wonderful option for STEM, gives merit aid and has both English and western IHSA teams. For pre-vet, don’t overlook smaller schools, if you think they might be a good fit. UK does have the Gluck Equine Research Center, which could offer some cool research opportunities.

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I didn’t realize Equine. Miami (OH) has a Zoology major. I know they have a horse barn/riding team and recreational riding.

Might this be a good in state suggestion?

I don’t think one needs to be animal science, per se, to be pre vet.

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Yes, Miami would be another great suggestion to check out! I’ve heard their barn/equine facilities are gorgeous, too- if OP wants to continue riding in college

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It might be a budget breaker, but if you have a particular interest in equine studies, you should definitely look at Colorado State. Not only is it a strong program with incredible facilities, but it is run by Temple Grandin and you are just down the street from the vet school.

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I may have missed it but I read OP again - where does it say Equine ?

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If you are up for New England, UVM, UNH are often known for pre-vet / animal science programs…both award merit for OOS state students and have a lot of hands-on opps.

The lack of pre-calc or calc may give them pause for a science major though and also lack of physics (though that is less of an issue).. I still think your test scores will make up for that.

Both have some sort of equestrian teams…

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Closer to home Mich State seems to rate highly and has great merit.

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yes! that is a good one too for this.

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I always forget about that one! I am so overwhelmed, personally, by schools that big it drops from my mind:)

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If you are serious about becoming a veterinarian, this is very wise. Our older daughter is a veterinarian (graduated about 1 1/2 years ago). She mentioned a few times that most of the students in her DVM class were taking on way too much debt. Minimizing cost is very wise unless your parents are fine with taking on the full cost of 8 years of university (which is not most of us).

She by the way loves it. Being a veterinarian is a lot of work, animals will die (and you will also save quite a few), and you will get yucky in various ways. To me it looks like you already have enough relevant experience to know this.

Also your experience with animals is very good, and makes me believe that you are indeed serious about being a DVM and have a good chance to stick with this. I like the fact that you have some large animal experience.

Ohio State has a very good DVM program and a very good pre-vet program. I think that it is a very good choice.

I agree with others that UK, UVM, and UNH are all very good for pre-vet students. However, I would not spend significantly more compared to tOSU to attend one of these other schools.

And students in very good DVM programs come from a huge range of undergraduate universities.

One more thing that might be worth mentioning: Your stats are very similar to our daughter’s high school stats. She found the pre-vet / premed classes to be challenging (the required pre-vet classes are the same as required premed classes), but was able to pull off an undergraduate GPA that was okay to apply to DVM programs. She then was very successful in admissions to various DVM programs. She and I both think that her experience with animals (big ones and little ones), and her experience in veterinary situations, and the associated letters of reference, are what helped her the most in terms of DVM admissions. You already have quite a bit of relevant experience, many years, and will likely get more when you are an undergraduate student. Continuing to get experience in a veterinary medical environment will help you.

As such, you can expect that some pre-vet classes will be tough. However, it is worth the effort. You do not need to ace every class.

By the way, I thought that calculus was included in the required premed / pre-vet classes, although I am not sure. Our daughter did take calculus and physics with calculus. Calculus depends a lot on all of its prerequisites, and I didn’t think that I saw all of the calculus prerequisites in your list of classes taken. You might need to fix this at some point.

Correct. A wide range of majors is possible.

Correct. At some point I did attend / watch an equestrian competition where both UNH and UVM were competing.

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In addition, Colorado offers an accelerated 3-year DVM program for eligible students. Saved both time & money.

Rowan (NJ) University’s Schreiber School of Veterinary Medicine is another one which offers an accelerated (3+4) track. Rowan is a state school, housing NJ’s only Vet School. It is located not too far from Philadelphia. The Screiber accelerated DVM program is a conditional direct admit program, pending maintaining certain prescribed academic standards.

Cornell and Lincoln Memorial in Florida also offer accelerated DVM programs.

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