AVC 2014! Getting close!!!

[DrFrekels]

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Vet school applications should come with a prescription for Zoloft.

I love this quote. Thanks Conquette22, it is so true!

I wanted to wish everyone good luck! I also wanted to say congratulations to those who were accepted! I interviewed as an international applicant in March and was accepted. 😀

I am so proud and excited to be apart of the AVC Class of 2014! I'll be joining some of you later this year and I truly look forward to it! 😍

 

[sarebear3]

I just emailed Jack. Hopefully I didn't overwhelm him.

I have a quick question! Maybe you might be able to get back to me before he does!

I hate using this course as example 😛 The physics course I took was 6 credits. On my transcript, it says 71 for the first half and 68 as a final grade. Does AVC count the 71 or 68? (Bombed it because I got sick and something had to give in case any of you were wondering 😛)

Dumb chem and dumb physics 😛 Well, chem isn't going to kick my butt next year! I LOVED physics and wish I could retake it... but the only other physics course we have is the exact same course, only you need calculus to do the work 😡

mhlaur: how did you end up not needing organic?
Anthro/soc is the same thing... I was wondering if it counts as two courses or only one.

Was this a full year course? or was it considered to be marked individually on both halves. If it was full year, you should only have one mark on your transcript which I would assume to be the mark they take. If you have two marks then I believe they would take the average of both?

 

[Coquette22]

Just e-mailed Jack to get a file review done sometime this week. I have a feeling I already know what they'll say, but it's nice to know for sure.

 

[168135]

Was this a full year course? or was it considered to be marked individually on both halves. If it was full year, you should only have one mark on your transcript which I would assume to be the mark they take. If you have two marks then I believe they would take the average of both?

I recently found out that when they go to calculate my GPA at my university, they use both grades. It was a full year course but on my unofficial transcript, one shows up under "midterm" and the final shows up under "final".

 

[Newfie Girl]

Any word Sarebear???

 

[sarebear3]

Any word Sarebear???

Scratch that, its a no 🙁

 

[Coquette22]

Scratch that, its a no 🙁

🙁 So sorry to hear this. You, me and scarcely heard will rock the C/O 2015! 😀

Jack said my average and my GRE were above average, but my interivew, experience and extra-curriculars were all below average. Time to start making some phone calls.

 

[168135]

Jack said my average and my GRE were above average, but my interivew, experience and extra-curriculars were all below average. Time to start making some phone calls.

Do you mind me asking what you had for extra-curriculars and experience? You can PM me if you want.

When I emailed Jack, I told him what I had for vet/animal experience and that I had a TON of extracurriculars and other work experience... enough to fill that extracurricular page twice

 

[Coquette22]

Have PMed you, SH.

Just had a very reassuring e-mail from Dr. Singh. I was near the cut-off, interview was okay (it'll be better next year!) but not brilliant, and I lost points on my extra-curriculars. Onwards and upwards!

 

[168135]

Jack did the academic evaluation for me. I'm short a math requirement. If I get 5/5 for the GRE (top 20%), then I'll be granted an interview. I'm going to call him in a little bit to get some clarification. My average for the 19/20 courses is a 79.2% but when I take my upper level chemistries, it will only go up. I wonder if they look at your fall grades before granting interviews... I think that'll be my only hope. I'm going to go study now 😛

 

[cowhugger]

Cowhugger, I have some good news for you - I got in, but am planning to defer. I want to finish my Honours degree, mostly because I'd like to know if research is for me, but also because I love my project (researching nesting saw-whet owls, boreal owls and american kestrels in NS). I applied a year early - I wasn't expecting to get accepted on my first try!

I don't know if it was because of you or not, roughleggedhawk, but I was the first alternate.... AND I GOT IN!! 🙂 🙂

 

[roughleggedhawk]

YAYYYYYY Cowhugger! I don't think that was me. I did e-mail Jack to let him know I wanted to defer; he asked me to write a letter to the admissions committee for official approval, which I am doing this week. It was probably someone who declined their seat.

Regardless - congratulations!

 

[mr1985]

Jack did the academic evaluation for me. I'm short a math requirement. If I get 5/5 for the GRE (top 20%), then I'll be granted an interview. I'm going to call him in a little bit to get some clarification. My average for the 19/20 courses is a 79.2% but when I take my upper level chemistries, it will only go up. I wonder if they look at your fall grades before granting interviews... I think that'll be my only hope. I'm going to go study now 😛

Fall grades do count for an interview.

By the way, for the GRE, you'll get a raw score and a percentile score for each of the three sections. At AVC, they don't look at your raw score at all. They just take your three percentile scores and average them. Jack told me that if your average is over 60th percentile, you should get 5/5 on GRE.

 

[168135]

Fall grades do count for an interview.

By the way, for the GRE, you'll get a raw score and a percentile score for each of the three sections. At AVC, they don't look at your raw score at all. They just take your three percentile scores and average them. Jack told me that if your average is over 60th percentile, you should get 5/5 on GRE.

Thanks 🙂

So, as long as nothing goes drastically wrong next year, I have a shot at an interview! My biggest fear was not having the grades to get an interview. I'm so giddy!!

 

[fourfootfriend]

YAYYYYYY Cowhugger! I don't think that was me. I did e-mail Jack to let him know I wanted to defer; he asked me to write a letter to the admissions committee for official approval, which I am doing this week. It was probably someone who declined their seat.

Regardless - congratulations!

Hi roughleggedhawk.
I just found this blog. I'm an AVC student and my best friend got wait listed this year. I was just curious if you're a NS student because I think she's high on the list and you're deferral could be what got her in.
I deferred myself so I could finish my degree and I definitely do not regret it...it's nice to finish important things sometimes

 

[mhlaur]

Just remember that for every person that defers, that's one less seat available for next year's applicants. Four years ago NS had 11 seats in the program but only 9 got in because 2 had deferred from previous year. That means only 18 were interviewed, whereas this year they interviewed I think 36.

 

[roughleggedhawk]

Hi fourfootfriend,

Yes, I am from NS, but I don't think my deferral was officially accepted just from an e-mail to Jack, so my deferral probably doesn't have anything to do with anyone getting called off the waitlist yet.

I definitely want to finish my degree, and I'm only halfway through my research for my Honours thesis. I'm going out in the field again for the next couple of days, collecting data on nesting habitats of kestrels and owls in the highlands of Cape Breton. How could I not finish such an awesome project? 🙂

And mhlaur, yeah, it does make it a little harder for next year's applying group. But it sure is exciting to have a bunch of people find out all at once that they're going to vet school!

 

[Coquette22]

Scarcelyheard: Did Jack say anything about science courses without a lab counting as electives?

 

[Muzo]

Scarcelyheard: Did Jack say anything about science courses without a lab counting as electives?

Science courses without a lab can definitely count as electives. Even if they're not 'core' courses or less than 6 years old, they still count 🙂

 

[168135]

I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I called him once the other day and he wasn't in. I've been too busy to call again. Only one of my science courses doesn't have a lab but since they choose the courses with the higher marks? when it comes to elective, it didn't make the cut.

 

[168135]

I'm not sure whether to post this here, post it in the other AVC thread or make an entirely new thread.

I have no clue what I should take next year 🙁 I called Jack because he did a file review. I asked him what he thought I should be taking next year and he said that they won't give students that kind of advice. For example, my chemistry marks are very low (60 and 64 in general chem, 57 in organic 🙁). He said that some students won't benefit from taking upper level chemistries because they struggle with it too much. They're better off taking pre-req courses that they know they can do well in (for me, I can improve a humanities mark and an english mark). I retook organic in the spring... raised it to a 71, but I was working two jobs and volunteering while taking it. I'm registered for biochemistry and organic II next year. I heard that organic II is brutal. I'm scared if I stay in it, I won't do as well as I'd like, but I'm scared that if I up my marks in another area, it won't be enough of a push to guarantee me for an interview.

He said I should take courses that will let me earn my degree and not take courses based on getting into vet school. I only need 18 credits of Biology to graduate. With my remaining 12 credits, I can take whatever the heck I want... right now that's organic, biochem, stats II and religion.

*End rant*

I didn't realize that AVC was so "lax" compared to some of the other schools I've read about. I've been looking at schools into other schools. They won't accept Cs in any pre-reqs and want you to retake it. I had a list of steller references which I knew would boost my app, but AVC doesn't do that.

So I'm starting to get a little nervous. Outside of SDN, I know three people who got into AVC... all three of them had awesome marks. One had all of her marks in the 90s except for one! Another applied when the minimum number of vet hours was still in place. She had excellent marks and the minimum amount of experience.

I've got a lot of work to do!

Maybe I should take a communications course... in my nervousness, I asked Jack how he was doing twice *headdesk* I can't be doing that in the interview.

Okay, this is really the end of my rant.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[CritterDocIT]

Maybe I should take a communications course... in my nervousness, I asked Jack how he was doing twice *headdesk* I can't be doing that in the interview!

LOL, awww! I'm sure he understands that you're nervous. I took a communications course; in all seriousness, it may not be a bad idea. In most cases, it's an easy A, and it really helped me gain confidence with public speaking. Good luck!

 

[mr1985]

For example, my chemistry marks are very low (60 and 64 in general chem, 57 in organic 🙁).

I'd say you should look at taking food science courses. Dal has a whole food science program (although they're fazing out the undergrad program) and some of the other universites in NS offer some courses. I know food chemistry at some universities (including NSAC and Dal) counts as your organic chem credit (or as a general chem elective if you do better in organic). I also took food analysis and it counted as a chem elective. Chemistry is my weak point too and I did well in both food chem and food analysis, so I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

I didn't realize that AVC was so "lax" compared to some of the other schools I've read about. I've been looking at schools into other schools. They won't accept Cs in any pre-reqs and want you to retake it.

I'd say that's a good thing for people like you and me. I got in with a 66 in organic, but my other courses compensated.

Another applied when the minimum number of vet hours was still in place. She had excellent marks and the minimum amount of experience.

Again, I'd say this is a good thing. Everyone who applied probably had the minimum hours back then. Now hours are worth 10% and you have a chance to make your experience better than other people's (ie., compensate for any less-than-ideal grades). Jack said they like variety more than tons of hours in one place. Call Fundy Vets and do some large animal observing. Hope for Wildlife is always looking for volunteers too. Also, if you ask nicely and are persistent, you might be able to shadow the vet who looks after the wildlife some time.

 

[168135]

Thanks for the advice mr1985 🙂

My university doesn't have any food science courses. We have nutrition and public health courses. The only thing I see that is somewhat related would be Food Quality 😛

Thanks for the advice on where to get experience. My experience is somewhat varied now... volunteered at a mixed practice and small practice, volunteered at two animal shelters, and did research on snails. Right now, I'm doing the VIDA trip in August and will be helping out with adoption drives through the SPCA. I also have done more than 10 extra curriculars in the past 5 years. I just have to keep looking for more opportunities and keep my grades up. Most of my other courses are in the mid-80s.

I doubt I'm going to pull 60s in my remaining chemistry courses, so my average is only going to up. I used to hate chemistry because I never understood it. I told myself that I wasn't going to let it kick my butt again. I bought Organic Chemistry as a second language and now that I understand it, I really like it. When I retook organic I, I got an 85 in the lab and an 80 on the final, but did poor on the midterm (51% on the in-class, 82 on the take-home which equaled 60%). The prof's tests were pretty easy... short answer and mc, which the organic II prof does not use on her tests!

Hope for Wildlife looks awesome, and it's not too far from my hometown. Thanks for passing that along 🙂

I'm getting nervous about applying