AVC/UPEI c/o 2025 Applicants

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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Me too, I'm waitlisted at PEI and South Dakota and am anxiously waiting! I'm already dreading having to begin VMCAS again soon. Good luck to you all!
 
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SprucetheGoose said:
Hi there! I have a couple of questions for any current/past students willing to chime in (or future students who know the answers)! An international perspective would be helpful for questions 1 and 7!

1) Would any of you be able to comment on the price/ease of process for acquiring health insurance? Also, have you or anyone you know needed to use the healthcare services in PEI? What is the availability of health services on the island?
2) Do students get to use UPEI facilities or engage in UPEI activities? Like using the fitness center/gym or participating in intramurals? What kinds of activities or clubs are available for vet students? (This is not super important, but good to know!)
3) Are there opportunities for students to work at the vet hospital? Can first years spend time shadowing at the hospital?
4) Is the style of teaching mostly lecture-based for the first couple of years? How do you like the teaching style?
5) Are there study abroad opportunities?
6) Are there research opportunities?
7) Were there any surprise costs/obstacles when moving to PEI as an international?

I know this is a lot! If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would really appreciate it! Thanks!!
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I'm a little late to the party on answering this, but I am a second year going into third year international student.
1. Yes the health insurance can be a bit pricey, but if you are an international student, it's basically just added into your tuition and makes barely a dent in it. I have medications that I've had to get refilled here and sometimes the UPEI health services are booked up, but they are pretty good at fitting you in, especially around our busy schedules.
2. We have access to all UPEI things as we are technically UPEI students. One of my classmates has continued on with UPEI's track during all 2 years as a vet student. We have a lot of clubs and before covid, they were all very active. It was hard to go a week without lunch lectures and wet labs happened fairly frequently as well. Because of covid, things were a little weird this year, but based on our low numbers on the island, we are hoping to get back to a sense of normalcy next year (including in person lectures).
3. As was mentioned by someone else, we do get 2 mandatory ICU shifts during each semester, but you can sign up for other shifts that are not already filled as well. We don't really have too much opportunity to shadow because of how many students are typically there (ICU shifts, rotations, interns, etc) but over the summer you can apply to be a technician in the hospital. Many people do this and love the experience.
4. The first year is very lecture based, with the exception being anatomy, which has some very hands on labs. If it weren't for covid, the first years this year would have been in lab twice a week, but they were only able to be there once a week this year. Systemic path usually has labs that are in person and hands on, but again covid had to ruin that. Clinical skills is a course you start taking in 2nd semester of first year and continue on for the rest of your years and that is where you get to learn the true hands on stuff. I personally love the majority of our professors. They really care about you as a person. I still see my first year professors in the hallways sometimes and they'll ask me about my bunnies or how this and that are going, because as much as they care about us as students, they care about us as people and want us to succeed.
5. There are a few summer abroad programs, but it's pretty standard practice to not really study abroad during your core years (1-3). This is because different schools teach different things at different times and it would be really hard to ensure that you are learning everything necessary to be a successful vet.
6. AVC has a really strong research program over the summer that many students apply to and enjoy thoroughly. It's called VETSRA and definitely look into it if you are interested in research.
7. I know someone mentioned winter tires, but this honestly depends on where you are from and the type of vehicle you are driving. I am from Minnesota and my winters tend to be much worse than here, and I drive an SUV. So for me, all season tires are perfectly fine. Cost of living can be pretty reasonable here, but start looking for a place to live ASAP if you get in because PEI is in a bit of a housing crisis. Food can be a little pricier here as everything has to be brought onto the island (aside from some meats and potatoes).

Overall, PEI is a great and very welcoming place. We tend to build a strong family within our classes because of how small the class sizes are.

I hope this helps and please don't hesitate to ask anything else!
 
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HotTamale25 said:
I just got in this morning! It sounded like they are still working their way down the waitlist though. Super excited to attend next year. Does anyone know if there is like a facebook or groupme or something?
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Congrats!!! If you donā€™t mind me asking, what do you mean it sounded like they are still working their way through the list?
 
WanderLust99 said:
Congrats!!! If you donā€™t mind me asking, what do you mean it sounded like they are still working their way through the list?
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I had to give an answer by the end of the day and it seemed like there were a few others she was waiting on to respond. Nothing official, of course, just a feeling I kind of got. I may be wrong though so take that with a grain of salt
 
HotTamale25 said:
I just got in this morning! It sounded like they are still working their way down the waitlist though. Super excited to attend next year. Does anyone know if there is like a facebook or groupme or something?
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They are supposed to make a facebook group but I'm guessing they're waiting until everyone is in. I created a thread on sdn for class of 2025 if you're interested.
forums.studentdoctor.net

UPEI AVC c/o 2025 accepted

Hi everyone! I wanted to make a thread where everyone from the c/o 2025 can get to know each other. I am an international first time applicant from TN, USA. I also applied to UTCVM, LMU, Ross U, and U of Edinburgh. I'm so excited to start this journey with all of you!
forums.studentdoctor.net forums.studentdoctor.net
 
Congrats to all of you accepting offers! AVC now has a facebook group for the class of 2025. The link is on the welcome page but I thought I'd post it here. I'm so excited to meet everyone!

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
Did anyone else in Atlantic provinces get the welcome video today? I assume that was just a mass email to everyone with interviews?
 
NSzoo123 said:
Did anyone else in Atlantic provinces get the welcome video today? I assume that was just a mass email to everyone with interviews?
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I'm from NS and I got it too, I was wondering the same thing! Also got the information for my student ambassador... I did not get anything like that last year and I was on the waitlist
 
Naomi97 said:
I'm from NS and I got it too, I was wondering the same thing! Also got the information for my student ambassador... I did not get anything like that last year and I was on the waitlist
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They likely werenā€™t prepared last year because covid was brand new.
 
Does anyone know how many Atlantic applicants are interviewed?
 
Naomi97 said:
I'm from NS and I got it too, I was wondering the same thing! Also got the information for my student ambassador... I did not get anything like that last year and I was on the waitlist
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Student ambassadors are something they introduced this year because of covid. Itā€™s a nice way for you to connect to someone here at AVC and a platform to ask any questions you might have!
 
MNrabbitgirl25 said:
Student ambassadors are something they introduced this year because of covid. Itā€™s a nice way for you to connect to someone here at AVC and a platform to ask any questions you might have!
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Oh thank you! I just found it confusing they will send us that info prior to the decision being made
 
NSzoo123 said:
Oh thank you! I just found it confusing they will send us that info prior to the decision being made
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I can understand that. I think for them it was important to give you guys access to the school without having physical access, as you canā€™t come in for actual interviews!
Wishing you all the best of luck though!
 
I was just wondering if there were any NLers who recently went over their application with Tracy? I had a call with her yesterday and am feeling kind of discouraged. I found out that my grades were too low and now need to replace a few courses.
 
jporter said:
I was just wondering if there were any NLers who recently went over their application with Tracy? I had a call with her yesterday and am feeling kind of discouraged. I found out that my grades were too low and now need to replace a few courses.
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Did you get in touch with her to set that up? I havenā€™t spoken to her yet but Iā€™m pretty worried Iā€™m in a similar situation. Some courses are tough to replace and I canā€™t wait ten years until they renew
 
Hopeful_futuredogtor said:
Did you get in touch with her to set that up? I havenā€™t spoken to her yet but Iā€™m pretty worried Iā€™m in a similar situation. Some courses are tough to replace and I canā€™t wait ten years until they renew
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Yes! I emailed her and asked if we could set up a time to go over my application. It was pretty helpful! Just a little disappointed now šŸ˜©
 
Anyone else finding the wait for admissions decisions feeling extremely long? šŸ¤”How did you all (Atlantic residents) feel the interviews went?
 
jbigel01 said:
Anyone else finding the wait for admissions decisions feeling extremely long? šŸ¤”How did you all (Atlantic residents) feel the interviews went?
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Yes Iā€™m finding myself quite impatient šŸ˜… interview went really well!
 
jbigel01 said:
Anyone else finding the wait for admissions decisions feeling extremely long? šŸ¤”How did you all (Atlantic residents) feel the interviews went?
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Making applicants wait until <2 months before they have to move to let them start to plan where they are going to live (residence, city, province, and for some of us country), how they are going to get themselves and their things there, what theyā€™re doing and where theyā€™re working and/or learning is frankly ridiculous. We are people with lives who need to plan for the future and the admissions schedule for domestic students at AVC and other Canadian vet schools is absolutely disrespectful of that. No other kind of professional school to my knowledge makes all their applicants wait this long, and they obviously have the capacity to move the timeline up since they do it for international students.
 
Hi all! I emailed Tracy asking if she had a better idea of when offers will be sent out. She said the admissions committee is meeting Thursday morning so she is hoping to send offer letters out Friday and Monday. Just wanted to share the information šŸ™‚
 
jbigel01 said:
Hi all! I emailed Tracy asking if she had a better idea of when offers will be sent out. She said the admissions committee is meeting Thursday morning so she is hoping to send offer letters out Friday and Monday. Just wanted to share the information šŸ™‚
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Thanks so much for sharing!!
 
For those that are anxiously waiting for their emails: you all deserve this, you all worked hard to get to this point, and donā€™t forget how much you fought to get here. Many wonā€™t get the answer they hope for but donā€™t give up, try again and take your year to improve your application, your interview skills, and build your experience. I got MANY rejections letters (6 in total) I understand the frustration and the anger and confusion but keep going, itā€™s worth it! When you finally get in you will be SO thankful that you didnā€™t give up, you wonā€™t even care that it took you longer than planned to get to vet school.

For those that get good news, congrats in advance, donā€™t forget that you worked hard to get here and enjoy the moment. Itā€™s so easy to get swept up in it and rush to get ready for school, enjoy your acceptance, and get excited for your next adventure!
 
DaisyRiver said:
For those that are anxiously waiting for their emails: you all deserve this, you all worked hard to get to this point, and donā€™t forget how much you fought to get here. Many wonā€™t get the answer they hope for but donā€™t give up, try again and take your year to improve your application, your interview skills, and build your experience. I got MANY rejections letters (6 in total) I understand the frustration and the anger and confusion but keep going, itā€™s worth it! When you finally get in you will be SO thankful that you didnā€™t give up, you wonā€™t even care that it took you longer than planned to get to vet school.

For those that get good news, congrats in advance, donā€™t forget that you worked hard to get here and enjoy the moment. Itā€™s so easy to get swept up in it and rush to get ready for school, enjoy your acceptance, and get excited for your next adventure!
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Thank you! We really are anxiously waiting! Glad to hear it is worth it šŸ™‚
 
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