Applying this 2026 cycle (What are my chances?)
Hello! I am planning on applying for this upcoming 2026 cycle. I was really confident with my application, but I got a C+ for physics and a B+ for biochemistry last quarter.. my dog unexpectedly passed away right before finals week and honestly that whole week was a blur. I ended up failing my exams, but I thankfully passed both classes as I did well on all my exams before finals. I plan on taking a different physics course over the summer at a community college to average out my physics GPA, and I hope to explain my situation in the VMCAs application. My stats and the schools I want to go to are listed below, thank you!
undergraduate: UC Davis
cGPA: ~3.8 (if I end with all A's this quarter, if not it will be around 3.75-3.78)
sGPA: ~3.8 (could lower based on how I perform this quarter)
last 45 units: ~3.860 (could lower based on how I perform this quarter)
vet schools: UC Davis (in-state, low-income family), Western, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Ohio, Iowa, Cornell, Kansas, North Carolina
vet clinical hours: ~2000hrs (small animal vet technician, mostly paid)
reptile zoo volunteer: ~75hrs (plan on getting more this summer)
other animal volunteer: ~225hrs
non-animal volunteer: ~400hrs
non-animal work: ~290hrs
research with marine invertebrates: ~650hrs (mostly paid)
- presented my research at SICB Oregon conference and 2 times Davis conference
(I hope to get into an equine vet clinic as a volunteer this summer, but not guaranteed)
LORs:
- vet from small animal
- PI from research
- postdoc from research