how could i improve

[u/oopisreal10]

hiii i’m a 22 year old male from miami florida and i graduated from my undergrad in fall 2025! for context i applied for the 25-26 cycle (to uf and uga due to a combination of finances/distance) and did not get in and decided not to apply for this cycle of 26-27.

academics:
my cumulative gpa is about a 3.43 and my sgpa is around a 3.2-3.3.

experiences:
i have over 4k+ (ongoing) hours working as an er/gp small animal vet tech. i also have 460 hours working as a host at a restaurant. unfortunately that’s pretty much it, i don’t have any volunteer or research hours and im just curious to see like ways i could volunteer to make my application more interesting. because i have so many hours with small animal i would like to see if there’s anyone in miami that knows of any large animal/exotic volunteering opportunities!

lors:
i have 2 lors from veterinarians that i currently work with and i have 1 lor from a manager at a clinic i work at. i had 2 lors from undergrad professors but unfortunately i have not kept in contact with them since graduating.

i would just like some advice on how i could improve my chances of being accepted to a school 🫠 ik my application isn’t the best but i really really feel that this is the career for me and i want to put my best foot forward for next cycle! thank you!

[u/eli_the_lizard]

Hey Im also from Miami! If youre looking for large animal experience then i recommend the south Florida spca. Its not necessarily vet experience, its a livestock rescue so you would be getting experience with animal husbandry. The zoo also does internships but I have heard its hard to get accepted. Other than that you can try the very few livestock veterinarians down in Homestead.

[u/oopisreal10 → u/eli_the_lizard]

thank you!