AVC Applicants c/o 2015

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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I was poking around their website and it looks like there is a TON of research going on! As a lab animal person that's pretty exciting :) I've also looked up the area and what its like and I would love to be able to get out of this dirty, unsafe, overcrowded city into somewhere more breathable. The fact that PEI looks absolutely breathtaking scenically is icing on the cake.

I tried to find some SDNers who are current students but I can't seem to find any names. I'd love to ask about the program and how they like it/professors/curriculum, etc. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't let myself get too enchanted just yet :rolleyes:
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I did a quick scan of the AVC 2014 threads. Cowhugger, DrFrekels, mr1985, and mhlaur were accepted last year and are now first years. Might be worth a pm to one of them?
 
Hey everyone,
I'm a current 2nd year at AVC. I'm an international student, from Massachusetts. I really love it here, it's a very friendly environment and everyone is extremely supportive. I love the area because I'm a country girl and don't really like cities, so Charlottetown is perfect. If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask here or pm. Good luck to all those appying!
 
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Does anyone know what the cutoff is for an interview?

When calculating your pre-req average, the highest mark you can get is a 93, correct?

I plugged in my recent grades and apparently I raised my pre-req average by 6 points... which seems like too big of a leap. I wonder if I'm doing it right.
 
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Hi everyone,
I recently received an e-mail stating that I meet all of the requirements, but that some of my pre-reqs are from over 6 years ago. AVC would like a detailed letter explaining why. Did anyone else receive this letter? If so, how are you responding? I really don't know what else to say except that I'm a non-trad applicant and who finished my bachelors a few years ago and just have been working since. Is that what they are looking for? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
alexmack said:
Hi everyone,
I recently received an e-mail stating that I meet all of the requirements, but that some of my pre-reqs are from over 6 years ago. AVC would like a detailed letter explaining why. Did anyone else receive this letter? If so, how are you responding? I really don't know what else to say except that I'm a non-trad applicant and who finished my bachelors a few years ago and just have been working since. Is that what they are looking for? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I had to write a letter explaining why one of my pre-requisite courses was taken in a semester that wasn't considered "full time" (per the guidelines listed on the website). I was honest about my situation at the time and I'm assuming the reason was acceptable because when I received my email confirming my application was complete, the only mention of unfulfilled pre-reqs was the courses I'll be taking this spring. I would write the letter and be as clear, detailed and honest as possible.
 
alexmack said:
Hi everyone,
I recently received an e-mail stating that I meet all of the requirements, but that some of my pre-reqs are from over 6 years ago. AVC would like a detailed letter explaining why. Did anyone else receive this letter? If so, how are you responding? I really don't know what else to say except that I'm a non-trad applicant and who finished my bachelors a few years ago and just have been working since. Is that what they are looking for? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would say that they want to know why you didn't apply to vet school earlier and/or why now. Also assure them that you still know the material and explain why you don't think you need to re-take them. Hopefully you did well in them. Otherwise, if you do have to re-take them and apply again, you can only improve your chances. I re-took 9 of the 10 science courses and boosted my chances by getting higher grades this time. I also had to send a letter asking them to take my organic chem mark from 15y ago rather than taking it again. You have to convince them to accept those grades I guess.
 
scarcelyheard said:
Does anyone know what the cutoff is for an interview?

When calculating your pre-req average, the highest mark you can get is a 93, correct?

I plugged in my recent grades and apparently I raised my pre-req average by 6 points... which seems like too big of a leap. I wonder if I'm doing it right.
Click to expand...

I was told at NSAC by the adviser there that yes, the highest that would be counted is a 93. I don't think there's a cut-off per se, I think they just take the highest 30-34 applicants to offer interviews to (in the case of Nova Scotia).
 
I have nooo idea where I stand.

This summer, he said my pre-req average was a 79.21, with one pre-req outstanding. I took my grades and tried to figure it out myself. I couldn't get close to that number. If I used 100 in my calculation, I got 78. If I used 93 in my calculation, I got 81. So I'm doing something wrong.

After inputting two new grades, those numbers jumped to 79.63 or 85.62. Bascially I have no idea what I'm doing. Most of my marks are low-mid 80s, so the 85 makes no sense. The 79.63 doesn't seem high enough. It's also kinda heart breaking.

*sigh*

I'm just stressed!

If chemistry didn't keep kicking my butt, I'd be fine! lol

I'd also be less stressed if I knew someone with similar grades who has gotten an interview, besides that girl with the 77.
 
scarcelyheard said:
After inputting two new grades, those numbers jumped to 79.63 or 85.62. Bascially I have no idea what I'm doing. Most of my marks are low-mid 80s, so the 85 makes no sense. The 79.63 doesn't seem high enough. It's also kinda heart breaking.
Click to expand...

Without seeing them, I can't comment on your accuracy, but for the discrepancy between yours and his... are you weighting them? The 4 biology courses are worth 15/50 and the other 16 are worth 35/50.
 
Yeah, that's how I'm weighting them.

I'll take the average of the 4 animal science: 82.5%
Multiply by 30 (because it's 30/100 right? or 15/50)
Divide by 93 (or do I divide by 100?)
And I get my mark out of 30.
Do the same with the 70.
Add them together.
And it's off :p

Oh well. Maybe he's counting a course that I didn't think to count or something.
 
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You edited while I was posting, LOL.

I don't know how they handle the 93 vs anything higher, because it means that everyone's averages top out at 93, which doesn't seem right. I don't know if they do it x/93. Because x/93 and x/100 give me very different averages.
 
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Sorry about that :/

Topping out at 100 doesn't make much sense if the highest mark you can get is a 93. But 93 inflates my marks waaaayyy too much. I think it's out of 100. Just something isn't working for me, and I cannot for the life of me get the average that Jack got. Doing it out of 100 gives me a lower average than what he says. It probably has to do with the fact that I only have 19/20 pre-reqs. He may have done something different to accommondate that.
 
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scarcelyheard said:
Yeah, that's how I'm weighting them.

I'll take the average of the 4 animal science: 82.5%
Multiply by 30 (because it's 30/100 right? or 15/50)
Divide by 93 (or do I divide by 100?)
And I get my mark out of 30.
Do the same with the 70.
Add them together.
And it's off :p

Oh well. Maybe he's counting a course that I didn't think to count or something.
Click to expand...

There's no reason to divide by 93 in any of your calculations.
the '93 cap' only means that every mark you plan to use in your admission average that is between 90-100 automatically is turned in to a 93..
Once the 90-100's are turned into 93's, it's a straightforward weighted average calculation
:)
 
My average is only 79.6.

I think I'm going to apply to the vet tech program at NSAC this year.

I just realized that if I do not go back to school when I graduate... bad things will happen :(

I wonder if any of the tech credits can be used on my vet school application. If so, I can continue to up my grades and keep applying... and when I'm finished, I know I'll have a job that I like.

My chemistry marks are the only thing dragging me down... and I don't have the resources or the money to get out of that rut. I could go and get a masters, but I don't think it's going to make me happy.

ETA: Thinking of applying for the Animal Behavior and Welfare Msc at Guelph. There doesn't seem to be many course-based masters in Canada.
 
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How is everyone calculating your marks?? Did you ask all of your profs, like if you got an A (85-90%) or an A- (80-85%) how do you know exactly what you got? Will the AVC tell you what your score is if you ask?
 
Our school gives out number grades, so it was easy for me to stick them in excel and figure out what my pre-req average is.

Jack MacDougall will do academic evaluations if you ask. I had one done for me this summer. He told me my average for my 4 biology courses and my overall pre-req average. He told me what pre-reqs I had left to get. If I had a fax number, he would have sent the details to me, but I didn't. I decided to ask him what animal biology courses he used to calculate my biology average and he told me.
 
My academic advisor had calculated my average out before I started this semester to give me an idea of what grades I was aiming for and what my chances were. It was just the median number given for each letter other than an A+. So A+ = 93, A = 87, A- = 82 and so on... hope everyone had a merry christmas/happy holidays :)
 
scarcelyheard said:
Our school gives out number grades, so it was easy for me to stick them in excel and figure out what my pre-req average is.
.
Click to expand...

Scarcelyheard, I believe that if the school gives you number grades, you still have to convert them to letters and then into the median numbers to get an accurate score - I heard this is what they do witgh your application. Use the UPEI link posted by Coquette and you might find your score changes a bit.
 
Anyone know what the average grade was from previous years to be invited for an interview?

I received an email from Jack saying 3 or 4 people deferred from last year, meaning 6 or 8 spots for interviews are no longer available..:S
 
gorg said:
Anyone know what the average grade was from previous years to be invited for an interview?

I received an email from Jack saying 3 or 4 people deferred from last year, meaning 6 or 8 spots for interviews are no longer available..:S
Click to expand...

It varies depending on where you're applying from..
are you international? or if not, what province?

And I don't think you're necessarily 100% right in saying that when 3 ppl defer there will be exactly 6 less interview spots.
What Jack said to me (and this may be different for me because there are such a small number of NL seats) is that if there are several applicants who have very similar marks+gre ranking near the revised interviewee number cutoff, then they might offer interviews to more than twice the number of seats offered.

A small detail, but I figured I'd let you know. Of course its not always a good thing to have more interviewees for a reduced number of seats.. But that might be the case sometimes


On a sidenote:
I'm so nervous around now because the Atl province applicant numbers were posted on the NSAC facebook page on January 15th of last year!
NSAC students, please post those province numbers here as soon as you find them out.
:thumbup:
 
When I spoke to Jack last year he told me that the average grade of those who get an interview is about 83% and the average grade for those who get in is around 86-87%. But I mean who knows this could change from year to year.
 
My biochem prof made a mistake calculating my grade for my final, so it went up a three points :D
I'll take whatever I can get.

That 86-87% is a blow to the chest though. I keep thinking about that girl with the 77 average who got accepted and it gives me hope.

80.22 now... it's slowly creeping up...
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alexmack
Hi everyone,
I recently received an e-mail stating that I meet all of the requirements, but that some of my pre-reqs are from over 6 years ago. AVC would like a detailed letter explaining why. Did anyone else receive this letter? If so, how are you responding? I really don't know what else to say except that I'm a non-trad applicant and who finished my bachelors a few years ago and just have been working since. Is that what they are looking for? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for advice That Redhead and Mhlaur! I tried to make as detailed and to "the point" of a letter as possible hopefully it will be fine. Sorry it took so long to get back, I was away for the holidays..really nice to think about something else for a change!
 
I figured I would post this information on here in case someone comes along who is interested.

If you decide to go to grad school, AVC does ask you for your transcripts. Although you cannot use those grades to calculate your average, they do look favorably upon it if you are granted an interview.

I'm still debating whether to do more undergrad courses next year or to do a masters... but eh... I have some time to figure that out.
 
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Can any Atl Canada ppl tell me how long it took for (computerized) GRE scores to reach AVC after writing them?
 
Less than two months to go!!!

NFLD: I'm not sure how long mine took because ETS screwed it up.
 
Here's some news for you news-hungry AVC applicants :cool:
2011:
10 Nfld, 20 PEI, 33 NB, 57 NS



NL has the highest ratio of applicants to seats (since only 2 seats this year) :(

I can't say this is heartening for lonely old NL residents like me :scared:

I've got two potential ways to respond to this:

A) depression, recoil, and accept that there's little hope and it's going to take 3-4-5 years before i might get in even if i do keep trying

B) realize that I had better start working my ass off immediately and get involved in as many activities as possible, in preparation for next year's app cycle, meanwhile preparing well for a potential interview in april/may. I also might want to consider moving to PEI before this september in addition.


I think I like option B better, even if it does require a lot more work :) :thumbup:
 
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Yikes, that's a hell of a jump for NL! :eek: 3 seats for 7 last year and 2 seats for 10 this year.

Definitely take option B. :) I didn't get in last year on my first round, and looking back I know that I wasn't a competitive applicant. But they told me I was close to the cut off, and I worked my butt off and I feel like I have a much better shot this year.
 
New Foundland said:
B) realize that I had better start working my ass off immediately and get involved in as many activities as possible, in preparation for next year's app cycle, meanwhile preparing well for a potential interview in april/may. I also might want to consider moving to PEI before this september in addition.
Click to expand...

I'm working on plan B now :thumbup:
 
Where was this information posted originally?
 
Writing my first GRE tomorrow morning :confused:

I had initially planned on writing it in early Feb, but didnt realize how risky that would have been until a week ago.

Don't ask how much study I did :laugh:
Let's just say I don't expect to do amazing on it.
I just hope Jan 20th to February 28th is enough time for the scores to reach AVC

I'm sure I could find this info elsewhere.. but does anyone know if it might be useful to pay to have them send out a second copy of the scores to AVC as soon as they become available?
Or would there be too much of a delay on an extra report request that it would make it useless?
any help?
 
ETS says that extra reports are sent 5 business days after you order them, plus a week to get to the vet college... It might not be worth it. Your original scores will hopefully be there around the 11th, so I'd give them a call around then. If they aren't there by about the 15th, then I'd call ETS and see what's up. Chances are they got lost, and ETS won't charge you to resend them. That leaves about 2 weeks for them to get sent, which should be enough. An email to AVC at that point to explain it would probably be a good idea though ("Sorry, ETS lost my scores, they're being resent"). But hopefully that doesn't happen!

And good luck! :D:xf:
 
Interview Feb 17th!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm from Maryland.
 
Congrats!!! Oh boy, the waiting begins for the rest of US applicants. ;)
 
that redhead said:
Congratulations! I'm from Maryland too :) They're still waiting on my spring registration information, so I'm not really expecting to hear anything until next week. Did you get an email?
Click to expand...

Yes, I woke up to the e-mail in my inbox this morning. Good luck!!!
 
Hope your GRE went well New Foundland :)
Eeek, it's starting!! Good luck to all the foreigners!
 
Congratulations ninjacat! Here's hoping the rest of the applicants "from away" hear good news soon too!
 
Good luck guys!!! :D

Meanwhile... back in the maritimes... my shot at getting in this year is very slim because of my grades. I've decided to apply for a masters. I'm debating whether to do a thesis-based masters (possibly involving trematodes) or to do the course-based animal behavior and welfare masters. I don't care if vet school doesn't look at my marks... I don't want to go to a school that isn't a good fit for me and take more undergrad courses just to slightly increase my chances of getting in. All of my biology courses are in the 79-91 range... with the way AVC calculates your mark, it's hard to improve upon that. Even if I do, my poor chemistry marks are still going to drag it down.

I can't take any more chem courses without taking calculus and I don't want to take any more chem courses. I can still improve my physics mark and one of my english marks... but eh... I kind of want to do something next year that's going to bring me a step closer to getting a job that makes me happy. To me, that means pursuing my education.

I haven't given up though! I'm going to keep trying :D If rejected, the first item on my agenda is to re-take that darn GRE... I'm going to give myself the entire summer to study for it.

Just realizing this has been a positive step for me... whenever I would get a mark back that wasn't in the 90s, I'd say to myself "There goes my dream of becoming a vet!" Four years later... I have the grades and the support to do a masters... so why not give it a try?
 
Interview in March!!!!! Does anyone know what the interview process is like for them? :p
 
Hey,

I'm in the class of 2014 and used SDN a TON before I moved out here from California, so wanted to make myself available if anyone had questions about life on the island, at AVC, the interview, etc. I had so many questions during the whole process, so feel free to use those of us that went through it already. :)
 
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