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Successful Applicants—Veterinary

Successful Applicants to Veterinary Programs

Success Stories by Year of Matriculation



2023 Matriculants


Headshot: Gabriel Yunayev

Name: Gabriel Yunayev
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Sociology
Overall GPA: 3.90
Graduation Year: 2023
Matriculation Year: 2023

Q: Which school will you be attending?
A: Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

Q: What drew you to this particular health field?
A: Veterinary medicine was not something I knew I wanted to pursue from a young age. It was a passion that developed in high school when I took my sick dog to my local animal hospital. Seeing the way the veterinarian and his staff worked together to diagnose and treat my dog drew me towards learning more about the veterinary profession.

I also grew up with a lot of animals so naturally this career path started to make more sense. The more research I did about the profession, the more interested I became in it.

I started volunteering to get a better perspective of the realities of the profession and eventually started working as an assistant. What attracts me the most (besides the opportunity to work with animals everyday) is the freedom that comes with a DVM degree. There are so many different fields I can choose to go into under a DVM degree, ranging from small animal medicine, to exotics, to large animal, to lab animal, to food safety, and everything in between.

Q: What extracurriculars did you participate in?
A: I volunteered at a local small animal hospital, Wild Bird Fund, and Gallop NYC. Vet schools like to see a varied number of experiences, so I had most of my hours in small animal general practice and about 100-200 hours in large animal and exotics. The quality of your experiences matters much more than the quantity of them, so it’s important to build meaningful relationships with veterinarians so they can write a strong recommendation letter.

I also was involved in the Pre-Vet Club as well as Hunter’s Pre-Health Mentoring Initiative guiding Pre-Vet students. I also participated in wound healing research with Dr. Xu’s lab at Hunter along with some dog/cat behavioral research at Hunter’s Thinking Dog Center.

Q: How many hours on average did you spend studying for your courses per week?
A: The hours varied per semester; however, I did always have two science classes that took up most of my study time and some general electives to balance out the heavy science material. For me, it was important to block out time to study every day a week before an exam, so that week I was putting in many more study hours than other weeks. I was not one of those students chipping away at the material every day, but I did find that having exposure to new material at least 2 to 3 times a week helped. I also think it’s important to set reasonable goals for the amount of material you want to cover in the time you set aside for studying.

Q: Did you use a test prep course?
A: No, a lot of vet schools are eliminating their testing requirements, so I did not take any standardized tests.

Q: Did you take a GAP year? If so, why?
A: No, the plan was to apply the cycle of my junior year; if I got in, I would go. If I didn’t, I would take a gap year and apply again. I did not want to miss out on applying and taking a gap year and then apply as a first-time applicant and not get in and then have to wait another year. However, if you do not get in on your first time around and decide to take a gap year, make sure to re-evaluate your application and contact the schools that rejected you and ask them to review your application with you. Ask for guidance on how you can improve upon it within the gap year. Even as a first-time applicant, I was contacting schools about how I can better my application, and be a more competitive applicant; also attending virtual roundtables.

Q: What do you consider to be your strengths in your application?
A: My strengths were probably the variation of animal experiences that I had and the research that I did. Research was a topic that was brought up in one of my interviews because vet schools do offer lots of opportunities for students to participate in research projects with faculty.

I also worked as a dental assistant and legal assistant, so having that variety working with people also helped.

Q: Did you apply nationally?
A: I only applied to schools near the East Coast.

Q: How did the Pre-Health Advising Office help you achieve your goals?
A: I was involved with the Pre-Health Office since I was a freshman setting up my Pre-Health File and attending meetings.

In hindsight, that wasn’t really useful because vet schools don’t require a committee letter. However, it did allow me to store my recommendations that I had from professors, and the Pre-Health Office helped me upload them to VMCAS when I was applying. I only started setting up meetings with Kemile about vet schools during my junior year, when we went over requirements for schools and the extra classes I would need to take to fulfill pre-requisites for certain schools.

I started my VMCAS application May of my junior year and that summer I had booked a lot more appointments with Kemile to look over my personal statement, supplemental essays, and experience descriptions. It was nice to have these appointments to set goals for what I needed to complete each week and chip away at the large amount of writing and editing required. Kemile really helped me with cutting down my character count while getting my point across.

Q: What advice do you have for others?
A: As cheesy as it sounds, the best advice I could give is to be yourself, have an idea of who you want to become in veterinary medicine and be confident in your application. Also, if a school gives you a supplemental prompt that allows you to be creative to get to know who you are outside of veterinary medicine, don’t hold back because you want to come off as a better candidate.

As someone who was trying to get veterinary experience during the pandemic, I had to hear a lot of “nos” from clinics so, I just kept taking my dog to his vet and kept asking to volunteer until I got a “yes.” The point is, do whatever you need to do to get your foot through the door.

I know it can be difficult to shadow a doctor because you’re trying not to be in their way in such a fast-paced environment but choose your moments wisely to ask questions about cases. A lot of the times the doctor is happy to answer while they are charting, so don’t be afraid to ask.

I got a very unique experience because we were doing curbside appointments, so there were a lot more learning opportunities for me.

Academically, make sure that your GPA is competitive. As much as I hate it, a lot of schools filter you out by GPA first. Since many vet schools are taking out standardized tests, GPA carries a heavier weight.

I also think it’s important to have a general idea of what you want to do in veterinary medicine. I know that it may be hard to find out where you’ll fit in within the realm of veterinary medicine, but having a general idea of what you’re interested in and making yourself more familiar with that particular field would be to your advantage.

Lastly, do not compare yourself to others. I did not really know anyone who was applying to vet school when I was applying, and I am grateful for it because I wasn’t constantly comparing myself to them or questioning if I was enough. You are interested in this field because you want to help animals, and whatever path gets you there is the path meant for you!


Headshot: Jasmine He

Name: Jasmine He
Major: Biochemistry
Minor: Psychology
Overall GPA: 3.74 (3.72 at time of application)
Graduation Year: 2023
Matriculation Year: 2023

Q: Which school will you be attending?
A: University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine.

Q: What drew you to this particular health field?
A: When I was nine years old, my family rescued my dog, Munchi, from an abusive household, and not long after he was welcomed into our family, he was sick with bronchitis. I wanted more than anything to know specifically what his condition was, how to treat it, and how to support him. I have always loved science and animals, and I quickly realized that veterinary medicine is the place at which my passions dovetailed. I began working in general practice clinics, learning more about what veterinary medicine entails, and eventually began working at in emergency medicine. Working in an ER setting, I saw many animal trauma and abuse cases, and I decided that I want to advocate for the animals who cannot voice their pain in words.

Q: What extracurriculars did you participate in?
A: I was an intern at Brooklyn Heights Veterinary Hospital, a receptionist at Sheepshead Bay Veterinary Group, a volunteer at Animal Haven Shelter, a volunteer for GallopNYC, a volunteer for PositiveTails, and a veterinary assistant at Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group (VERG). Outside of veterinary medicine, I am a research assistant in Dr. Alexandratos' lab here at Hunter. I am also a private academic tutor for a student with special needs. While waiting to hear back from veterinary medical schools, I became a volunteer crisis counselor at Crisis Text Line, and I was able to speak about this experience during my interviews.

Q: How many hours on average did you spend studying for your courses per week?
A: It varied; I could spend anywhere from 15-20 hours studying a week if I had an exam, or around 10 hours per week if I did not have any midterms coming up.

Q: Did you use a test prep course?
A: No.

Q: Did you take a GAP year? If so, why?
A: No.

Q: What do you consider to be your strengths in your application?
A: I would consider my application strengths to be my time and dedication to veterinary medicine. My exploration of the field began when I was 16 years old, and I have been consistent ever since. Another aspect of my application that I believe schools really appreciated was my research experience and my desire to conduct research as a future veterinarian. The One Health principle guides the research initiatives at many vet medical schools; this is the idea that the health of people is closely connected to and interdependent on the health of animals and the environment. My research aligns with the principle of One Health, as the Alexandratos' Lab focuses on water remediation and sustaining water resources.

Q: Did you apply nationally?
A: I applied to eight schools: four on the East Coast, two in the Midwest, and one in the West. I also applied to the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London.

Q: How did the Pre-Health Advising Office help you achieve your goals?
A: The Pre-Health Advising Office helped me achieve my goals by guiding me through the VMCAS application, editing my personal statement and supplemental essays, as well as doing mock-interviews after my application was submitted.

Q: What advice do you have for others?
A: Find a balance between your academic studies and extracurricular activities. As a vet assistant at VERG, I worked for 10 hours a week. I knew that I would need to excel in my studies if I wanted to be a competitive applicant. At the same time, working with animals continued to remind me why I was pursuing veterinary medicine and, in turn, provided me with motivation for my studies.

Applying to veterinary schools is incredibly intimidating because you are competing with many other applicants who have wanted to pursue this profession since childhood and have unique experiences. My advice under these circumstances is to surround yourself with people who believe in you, and believe in your dreams, and as you tell your story, remember that all you need is one vet medical school to believe in your potential.


2020 Matriculants


Headshot: Alexa Magsuci

Name: Alexa Magsuci
Major: Psychology
Overall GPA: 3.74
Graduation Year: 2020
Matriculation Year: 2020

Q: Which school will you be attending?
A: University of Pennsylvania–School of Veterinary Medicine.

Q: What drew you to this particular health field?
A: As many of my family are nurses, I grew up always thinking I was going to become a nurse as well. However, I decided I wanted to become a veterinarian when I took an animal behavior class in my senior year of high school. Part of the class was held at the Bronx Zoo every other week and the other part involved taking care of the animals in the classroom; it was then that I realized I was fascinated with studying animals.

Q: What extracurriculars did you participate in?
A: I worked as a dogwalker for Wag! Co. and as a veterinary assistant at the Animal Medicine and Surgery of Little Neck Veterinary Hospital. I also volunteered at the Animal Haven Shelter, the New York Aquarium, and in Hunter's Psychology Department's Electric Fish Lab. I was also a member of the Hunter College Women's Swimming and Diving Team.

Q: How many hours on average did you spend studying for your courses per week?
A: It varied.

Q: Did you use a test prep course?
A: No.

Q: Did you take a GAP year? If so, why?
A: No.

Q: What do you consider to be your strengths in your application?
A: Being a Yalow Scholar, a student athlete, and having research experience definitely strengthened my application. Being on the women's swim team for four years shows dedication and strong time management skills. I also took on the role of captain in many senior year showing leadership and reliaibility. Conducting research not only added to my animal experience, but also showed me other fields of working with animals. Having research on my application showed that I was willing to broaden my horizons when it came to experiences and that I understood more aspects of veterinary medicine such as animal welfare.

Q: Did you apply nationally?
A: No, I applied to schools near the East Coast of the U.S.

Q: How did the Pre-Health Advising Office help you achieve your goals?
A: N/A

Q: What advice do you have for others?
A: Being on the pre-heatlh track requires perseverance and resilience. There will probably be many obstacles and many times when you feel like giving up, but if medicine is something you really want to practice, you will find a way to keep going until you reach yur goal. I strongly believe that gaining experience in your respective field will make it or break it when deciding if what you're pursuing is right for you. Finally, never be afraid of asking for help, whether from peers, teachers, or graduates because I personally could not have done it without the immense support that I received on my journey.

If you need any advice on veterinary school applications or in general, please don't hesitate to contact me at alexa.magsuci95@myhunter.cuny.edu!


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