Q: Welcome! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your time at Alma College?
A: Hi! My name is Abigail Scharboneau and I graduated with the Class of 2018 with Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in biology and chemistry. Since Alma, I attended the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where in 2022 I graduated with my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. I currently work at State Road Animal Hospital, just outside the city of Alma. I’ve been there for about 1 1/2 years now!
Q: How did Alma College prepare you, academically speaking, for what you found at graduate school and in your professional life?
A: The academics at Alma are not easy, which is a really good thing. The work that I put into getting my degrees at Alma prepared me for the rigors of going into a graduate level program — I was ready to put in the work, and that is half of the challenge. I also found that what I studied in undergrad was very relevant to what I studied in graduate school. Beyond that, I had a lot of interesting experiences. I went to Costa Rica for Spring Term with Dr. Sarah Neumann to study poison dart frogs, and I ended up being asked about it during the graduate school interview process. It’s really beneficial for undergraduates to have something like that on their applications.
Q: Getting into graduate school — the application and the interview process — can be very challenging. What was that experience like for you? Did you find that Alma College prepared you well for that, as well?
A: Absolutely, Alma helped me out a lot. As I was going through the process to apply for grad schools, a lot of them were switching from a one-interview process to doing multiple interviews with a scenario basis. It was new to me and a lot of other people I knew. So, the office that is currently known as the Career and Personal Development Office tapped some alumni to come in and do mock interviews with me, so I could practice. It was a big lift on their part and really helpful to me.
I believe Alma is doing even more now to prepare students for this experience than they were when I was a student. The Pre-Health Professions Committee does an amazing job I think it’s a huge credit to the co-chair of that committee, Dr. Nancy Dopke — a powerful woman in STEM and a wonderful professor. The PHPC gives you that 1-on-1 time that larger universities just can’t offer.
Q: I understand you considered doing undergrad at some larger universities before you chose to come to Alma. What went into that decision?
A: Right! I’m from Dundee, Mich., which is a small town near Ann Arbor. I toured a couple of larger universities for undergrad and found myself completely overwhelmed. The small-school environment was great for me. I made lifelong friends and met my future husband, Spenser Congram ’19, at Alma. It’s a really special place for me personally, but it’s also somewhere that I would recommend to anyone who is considering a career in a pre-health field.
Read more about what our Pre-Health faculty and staff at Alma College do to ensure students get what they need to be successful in grad school and beyond, or learn more about student life at Alma College.
