clinical experience for wcvm

[havegoalachieved]

hi there

I'm a sophomore taking pre-vet courses for WCVM. I have done 12 courses in my first year and this summer semester, and I plan to complete the pre-vet courses in 2 years. My study was intense and didn't allow me to volunteer at a vet clinic during the fall and winter semester. I'm volunteering at a clinic once a week in this summer as well as working on a research associated with food animal product at the university for my living. My major is animal science that hopefully can help me to gain some credits for WCVM. I don't have as much clinic experiences as other applicants' although I have a clear perspective about my future. I'm determined for my goal with no doubt, but my clinical experience and the issue that I'm not an anglophone concern me. My GPA is 3.92, and hopefully I can boost my GPA to 4.00 by the date when I submit my application. Will I stand a chance? Will I be turned down if I have an accent or my conversational English is not as fluent as other anglophone applicants?

no offense to any brutal honesty. Thank you for your time on reading my thread

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[LetItSnow]

hi there

I'm a sophomore taking pre-vet courses for WCVM. I have done 12 courses in my first year and this summer semester, and I plan to complete the pre-vet courses in 2 years. My study was intense and didn't allow me to volunteer at a vet clinic during the fall and winter semester. I'm volunteering at a clinic once a week in this summer as well as working on a research associated with food animal product at the university for my living. My major is animal science that hopefully can help me to gain some credits for WCVM. I don't have as much clinic experiences as other applicants' although I have a clear perspective about my future. I'm determined for my goal with no doubt, but my clinical experience and the issue that I'm not an anglophone concern me. My GPA is 3.92, and hopefully I can boost my GPA to 4.00 by the date when I submit my application. Will I stand a chance? Will I be turned down if I have an accent or my conversational English is not as fluent as other anglophone applicants?

no offense to any brutal honesty. Thank you for your time on reading my thread

An anglophone is one who speaks English. I presume you speak it and it just isn't your first language, since you are able to type well enough in English.

Nobody will care as long as you speak it well enough to communicate effectively. Having an accent will not be an issue.

 

[Coquette22]

Is this Saskatchewan WCVM or California WCVM? Not that I think it would really matter either way as long as you're fluent in English, but especially if it's Saskatchewan, no one should care. We had several Francophones both in class and as professors. We had a pair of South African profs. We had a Japanese student in my class. We had a German. We had a surgical prof from Taiwan.

 

[havegoalachieved]

An anglophone is one who speaks English. I presume you speak it and it just isn't your first language, since you are able to type well enough in English.

Nobody will care as long as you speak it well enough to communicate effectively. Having an accent will not be an issue.

thank you for your reply Dr. Letitsnow

I thought anglophone meant that a person who speaks English as his/her first language. English isn't my first language, and I am still struggling with it. I'm very anxious about my insufficient clinical experience and my conversational English

 

[katashark]

You can always get more clinical experience. You have time.

 

[havegoalachieved]

Is this Saskatchewan WCVM or California WCVM? Not that I think it would really matter either way as long as you're fluent in English, but especially if it's Saskatchewan, no one should care. We had several Francophones both in class and as professors. We had a pair of South African profs. We had a Japanese student in my class. We had a German. We had a surgical prof from Taiwan.

Thank you for your reply Dr. Coquette22

yes, your assumption is correct. I'm talking about Saskatchewan WCVM. My English is not very fluent especially when I'm nervous or I don't know how to express my point. Most the time people don't have an issue with understanding what I say. I'm practicing to articulate every single word

 

[havegoalachieved]

You can always get more clinical experience. You have time.

Thank you for your reply Katashark

actually I don't have time. I'm going to apply for WCVM this year. I know it is a little rush, but I just want to get into vet school as soon as possible

 

[LetItSnow]

thank you for your reply Dr. Letitsnow

I thought anglophone meant that a person who speaks English as his/her first language. English isn't my first language, and I am still struggling with it. I'm very anxious about my insufficient clinical experience and my conversational English

Omg. Just LIS or LetItSnow. None of that doctor crap here.

Your typed English is great. If you speak it anywhere near as well, it will not be a roadblock for you. I wouldn't be too anxious.

 

[twelvetigers]

If you have an accent, you might have to deal with people going, "What? I'm sorry? Come again?" more than others, but I don't think it will present a huge hurdle for you. Especially given that you type better than plenty of native speakers (by a fair bit).

Hopefully people are always nice about it, too. I like to remind myself that I only speak one language, so criticizing someone about how they speak their second language is kinda stupid.

 

[havegoalachieved]

Omg. Just LIS or LetItSnow. None of that doctor crap here.

Your typed English is great. If you speak it anywhere near as well, it will not be a roadblock for you. I wouldn't be too anxious.

well, hopefully it won't be impolite to address you LetItSnow

I used to be speaking crappy English when I landed on Canada, so that's why I assume that people may judge my academic ability by my conversational English. This idea implanted so deep in my mind that can not be shaken off all along. People I have met said that they don't have difficulty in understanding what I said, but I think they were just nice to me. My English is the only thing I am not confident about

 

[havegoalachieved]

If you have an accent, you might have to deal with people going, "What? I'm sorry? Come again?" more than others, but I don't think it will present a huge hurdle for you. Especially given that you type better than plenty of native speakers (by a fair bit).

Hopefully people are always nice about it, too. I like to remind myself that I only speak one language, so criticizing someone about how they speak their second language is kinda stupid.

yes you are right Dr.Twelvetigers

I will be very nervous when I run into people with confused face after I expressed my idea. My professor I am working with suggested that I shouldn't self-correct my grammatical mistakes constantly during a conversation with people because it will expose my weakness with my conversational English. I'm trying to ignore my grammatical mistakes when I notice that I spoke incorrectly. I can be fluent if I don't care whether I make my grammatical mistakes or not.

back to the topic, I am considering to only volunteer with one certain vet, but she only works in the clinic once a week. Other vets are kinda standoffish and not willing to actively help pre-vet students like myself. Now I'm stuck and have no way to get through this difficulty.

 

[twelvetigers]

yes you are right Dr.Twelvetigers

I will be very nervous when I run into people with confused face after I expressed my idea. My professor I am working with suggested that I shouldn't self-correct my grammatical mistakes constantly during a conversation with people because it will expose my weakness with my conversational English. I'm trying to ignore my grammatical mistakes when I notice that I spoke incorrectly. I can be fluent if I don't care whether I make my grammatical mistakes or not.

back to the topic, I am considering to only volunteer with one certain vet, but she only works in the clinic once a week. Other vets are kinda standoffish and not willing to actively help pre-vet students like myself. Now I'm stuck and have no way to get through this difficulty.

The only way to get better at speaking English is by speaking English. So just keep on having conversations. If you don't mind my asking, what is your native language? I'm just curious.

What day does the one vet work? Can you just come that specific day? Can you find another clinic to shadow on some other days?

 

[havegoalachieved]

The only way to get better at speaking English is by speaking English. So just keep on having conversations. If you don't mind my asking, what is your native language? I'm just curious.

What day does the one vet work? Can you just come that specific day? Can you find another clinic to shadow on some other days?

my native language is Chinese. I volunteer in the clinic every Saturday because I work on weekdays as well as the vet is only available on Sat. I believe she has a full time job somewhere else. I am considering to ask if I can volunteer with her in the clinic where she is working full-time. It sounds awkward, but I want to give it a try. I am an independent student, so I have to work for living. I envy those who can volunteer in a vet clinic over the whole summer. I don't feel like spending one more year just for building more experiences. I don't know if my insufficient experience will be a factor that causes me less competitive to other applicants

 

[twelvetigers]

my native language is Chinese. I volunteer in the clinic every Saturday because I work on weekdays as well as the vet is only available on Sat. I believe she has a full time job somewhere else. I am considering to ask if I can volunteer with her in the clinic where she is working full-time. It sounds awkward, but I want to give it a try. I am an independent student, so I have to work for living. I envy those who can volunteer in a vet clinic over the whole summer. I don't feel like spending one more year just for building more experiences. I don't know if my insufficient experience will be a factor that causes me less competitive to other applicants

Going from Mandarin to English or from English to Mandarin has to be one of the hardest language transitions out there. Kudos to you for learning it as well as you have!

There's no harm in asking her about volunteering where she works. Tell her you enjoy shadowing her. The worst she can do is say no.

What other experience do you have besides this clinic, any? How many hours do you have? Is you application (GPA, GRE) good otherwise?

 

[LetItSnow]

well, hopefully it won't be impolite to address you LetItSnow

I used to be speaking crappy English when I landed on Canada, so that's why I assume that people may judge my academic ability by my conversational English. This idea implanted so deep in my mind that can not be shaken off all along. People I have met said that they don't have difficulty in understanding what I said, but I think they were just nice to me. My English is the only thing I am not confident about

Not impolite at all. I'm just a forum member like anyone.

I honestly think you'll be fine (with regards to language)!

 

[havegoalachieved]

Going from Mandarin to English or from English to Mandarin has to be one of the hardest language transitions out there. Kudos to you for learning it as well as you have!

There's no harm in asking her about volunteering where she works. Tell her you enjoy shadowing her. The worst she can do is say no.

What other experience do you have besides this clinic, any? How many hours do you have? Is you application (GPA, GRE) good otherwise?

I used to volunteer for non profit organization with animals such as SPCA and NEW HOPE DOG RESCUE; I'm not sure if those experiences count. I didn't do GRE, but I graduated from high school with 85% on average. My GPA is 3.92, and I was supposed to have my GPA higher if I took an elective course serious. I thought the WCVM admission evaluates applicants only based on the academic achievement on the required courses. I got a C+ in that course that lowers my GPA. I was very silly about it

 

[havegoalachieved]

Not impolite at all. I'm just a forum member like anyone.

I honestly think you'll be fine (with regards to language)!

I'm ok with writing and reading. I'm trying to improve my conversational English. Hopefully I don't screw up in the interview

 

[LetItSnow]

I'm ok with writing and reading. I'm trying to improve my conversational English. Hopefully I don't screw up in the interview

Seriously, don't worry about nitpicking yourself to death on grammar and whatnot. It will be fine. Very few people judge a non-native speaker for their grammar, because everyone understands that learning a language is tough. As long as your meaning is clear, I bet that will be good enough.

What people <will> judge you on are the same things they judge anyone else on - your posture, how well you engage with them non-verbally, your attitude, etc.

Smile. Be outgoing. Be personable. Don't criticize yourself or anyone else. Don't let your anxiety over the language barrier rob you of the chance to make a good NON-VERBAL impression.

This sorta falls into the "what can you do about it anyway?" category. Improve the things you can (experience, grades, etc.) and don't sweat the things you can't. I mean, just by virtue of living and functioning "in English" you'll improve, but it's not something you can easily attack directly, so I wouldn't focus on it.

I really think you'll be fine, based on reading your posts. Very best of luck!

 

[havegoalachieved]

Seriously, don't worry about nitpicking yourself to death on grammar and whatnot. It will be fine. Very few people judge a non-native speaker for their grammar, because everyone understands that learning a language is tough. As long as your meaning is clear, I bet that will be good enough.

What people <will> judge you on are the same things they judge anyone else on - your posture, how well you engage with them non-verbally, your attitude, etc.

Smile. Be outgoing. Be personable. Don't criticize yourself or anyone else. Don't let your anxiety over the language barrier rob you of the chance to make a good NON-VERBAL impression.

This sorta falls into the "what can you do about it anyway?" category. Improve the things you can (experience, grades, etc.) and don't sweat the things you can't. I mean, just by virtue of living and functioning "in English" you'll improve, but it's not something you can easily attack directly, so I wouldn't focus on it.

I really think you'll be fine, based on reading your posts. Very best of luck!

what a helpful advice. Body language is also a part of communication as well. One of my strength is humour although I still have no idea why people think that I am funny. Even I speak crappy English that is not a problem to make an English native speaker laugh

 

[TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo]

I used to volunteer for non profit organization with animals such as SPCA and NEW HOPE DOG RESCUE; I'm not sure if those experiences count. I didn't do GRE, but I graduated from high school with 85% on average. My GPA is 3.92, and I was supposed to have my GPA higher if I took an elective course serious. I thought the WCVM admission evaluates applicants only based on the academic achievement on the required courses. I got a C+ in that course that lowers my GPA. I was very silly about it

WCVM determines who gets an interview based on grades. However, after the interview it is ranked as a combination of your grades, your interview, your experience, and your references.

I would highly recommend getting as much experience as you can, and especially get a bit of large animal experience. Of those I know, the ones that have gotten in have had significant experience in diverse settings.

There are WCVM/UCVM threads every year. c/o 2021 hasn't been started yet, but if you look at the ones from past years this sort of stuff is discussed in detail.

 

[havegoalachieved]

WCVM determines who gets an interview based on grades. However, after the interview it is ranked as a combination of your grades, your interview, your experience, and your references.

I would highly recommend getting as much experience as you can, and especially get a bit of large animal experience. Of those I know, the ones that have gotten in have had significant experience in diverse settings.

There are WCVM/UCVM threads every year. c/o 2021 hasn't been started yet, but if you look at the ones from past years this sort of stuff is discussed in detail.

Hi BeautifulBritishColumbia

I'm working with my professor who is an expert of cattle as well as a large animal veterinarian in his home country. We are working on a project associated with beef products; he educated me with a lot of experiences about how to evaluate cattle carcasses and how to raise cattle. I'm wondering if those experiences count. I used to live in Vancouver, but I had a hard time finding volunteer opportunity with animals in Van; not to mention those volunteer opportunities that provide me vet clinic experiences.

 

[katashark]

Thank you for your reply Katashark

actually I don't have time. I'm going to apply for WCVM this year. I know it is a little rush, but I just want to get into vet school as soon as possible

Well, if you don't get in and it's because of lack of experience, then, you will be forced to have time to improve that. Why are you in such a rush? Vet school will still be there.