Well it's been a couple years since I last posted, and to be honest I had forgotten about this blog. But the time has come for me to start writing again and here is why. When I last left you, my boyfriend had gotten into engineering at the U of A and I had not gotten any interviews to vet school. I decided not to apply again because we were essentially tethered to Edmonton for the next 2-3 years. I know that we could've made it work long distance, but I did not want to go there. So what have I been doing? Well, I told you that my plan B was interior design. So I've been working on a certificate to become an interior decorator, I have 4 courses left to go and will be done in May. It is a part time at night so during the days I have bounced around from job to job. Since graduating I have worked in administration for a home builder, as an assistant to a realtor, a gardener and I started my own small business - Jennifer Medos Homes. *Oh ya, and my boyfriend turned into my fiance who turned into my husband so my name has changed as well.* So that was all OK (just OK) but I started to feel very unsettled this September because my husband is almost done! He is finishing his engineering degree in May. And really, next year I can do anything I want - in any city I want... Hmmm
So I called the U of C to check just how far off I was from getting an interview. Turns out pretty far! Out of 176 eligible students that applied, I was number 168 on the list. Right there at the bottom. The top 128 students were granted an interview. (30 of those students are now halfway done vet school). BUT the good news is that the reason I was so low on the totem pole is because they were counting my very worst semester of university to calculate my GPA. You see, U of C bases its academic evaluation on two things: GPA for the last 4 full terms of university and GPA on 10 prerequisite courses. Because I have now graduated, my last term (Winter 2012) will now replace my grades from (Fall 2009) - thank goodness! So if I were to do nothing but apply again, I would bump myself up quite a few spots just from that. In the interest of transparency, that means I would go from a 3.13 to a 3.3. The minimum GPA of students who were successful applicants last year was a 3.2. This puts me in the running. Unfortunately, there is still this pesky business of these 10 required courses. My overall GPA of the 10 courses is a measly 2.8. The minimum GPA for the 10 last year was 1.9. Why is my GPA for the 10 courses so low? One subject - Chemistry. Chemistry and I are not friends. Ironic because my husband has a masters in organic chemistry. Anyways, if I were to retake just Chem 108 (level 2 inorganic chem), I could bump my 2.8 to a 3 if I could scrap off with a B. (My previous mark in this course was a D+).
SO that's interesting... I am not ready to tell friends and family that I am reapplying to vet school or changing my life plan once more. I am not fully committed. But I feel better than I have in months when I think about spending my life working with animals rather than on homes. Which isn't to say I don't love homes, and I still might need my plan B. But it is exciting that the options are opening up to me again. If I were to go on this crazy journey once more, here are some of my ideas, just to get them out on paper....
- pre vet club at U of A (practice MMIs - multiple mini interviews)
- get a part time job at a mixed practice
- redo chem at University of Athabasca (online)
- treat application like an internship, plan it out in terms with each term dedicated to volunteer work in a different part of the vet industry
- sign up for vet journals, answer ethical questions of the month
- have coffee with a new vet every month, come up with a list of questions to ask them
- start reading journal for stories related to animals, vet practice etc.
Well I think that's it for now. All of this has been tumbling around in my brain and it feels great to get it out. I think that confidence has been a big issue for me and today I feel confident and happy. Hope you are having a great weekend.
