WAMC as Canadian applicant with high GPA and low vet experience?

[Viscernable]

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Nova Scotia resident. I've planned to attend AVC since I was 10. Going anywhere else is 2.5-4 times as expensive and I love Atlantic Canada and the college itself so always had my heart set on it. I knew it was likely I would have to apply multiple times but that always felt doable - it's just more time to explore diverse experiences, volunteer, and make myself a stronger candidate. Actually getting rejected this year and analyzing what I can do to improve for next year made me rethink this. 20% of the admissions score is from the interview and 20% from personality testing, so you can spend as much time and work as hard as you want in school and getting experience, and of course that helps a lot, but in the end it all comes down to whether the interviewers like you in the 15 minutes you talk with them and if your answers to some of the most inane, strangely-worded true-false questions you've ever encountered are "right" or not. Everyone given an interview has high grades, so those 4 years of hard work turn into maybe a 5% advantage over the average interviewed applicant. I don't want to keep rolling the dice and hoping I do better next year, so I'm planning to also apply to SGU, Ross, and whichever U.S. vet schools I have the best chance at (and ideally are the cheapest, but they're all horrifyingly expensive hahaha x_x).

Cumulative GPA: 4.0
science GPA: 4.0
last 45: 4.0

Any degrees achieved: BScH Biology

GRE results: 167 Q/170 V/4 W

Veterinary Experience:
- 270 hours shadowing equine and small animal (about 75% equine and 25% small animal) and helping with equine calls (stuff like handling horses for xrays, dental, inseminations, ultrasounds, neurological/gait exams; developing xrays and handling the ultrasound (as in: pushing three buttons on the machines); cleaning/carrying equipment), all at one practice
- that's it
- I'm trying

Animal Experience:
- 270 hours volunteering on equine hunter-jumper breeding and training farm (mostly mucking stalls, grooming, feeding, tacking, and catching horses but also got to do cooler stuff like socializing foals and habituating them to halters and grooming)
- 310 hours cat care and dog care at shelter
- 8 hours cat care volunteer with feral cat TNR
- 250 hours volunteering at vet clinic (In high school, no direct contact with animals b/c liability. I was mostly doing laundry and mopping floors and the vet techs showed me cool veterinary stuff and how to handle animals. Not vet experience since I rarely even saw a vet for more than a couple minutes at a time - they spent most of their time in appointments and I was volunteering in the back with the technicians and assistants)
- maybe 500 hours equestrian activities (probably a low estimate. Took weekly lessons most weeks from 2011 to 2016. 1 hour riding and 1+ hour tacking/grooming/feeding/etc)
- 225 hours working with and maintaining lab colony of polychaete worms (included in research hours below)
- does VMCAS want me to list catsitting from junior high? Not sure if that's too trivial/long ago

Research Experience: 560 hours researching regeneration in polychaete worms (and many, many, many more writing my honours thesis) (paid employment)

Awards/scholarships:
- Dean's list 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
- Medals awarded to student graduating from faculty of sciences and to student graduating with BSc in Biology with highest average, prize to woman graduating with highest average
- 9 other scholarships/awards

Extracurriculars:
- president for 3 years of very small student vegetable gardening club
- 11 years competitive cheerleading
- 1 year club rugby
- some 40-50 hours volunteering in community outreach club
- 45 hours volunteer instructor in program for young adults with disabilities
- 10 hours so far volunteering in organization helping people leaving abusive situations to move

Employment:
- 5 semesters as teaching assistant (stats, zoology, botany)
- one summer working at Subway

TLDR which schools does a Canadian (I'm a U.S. dual citizen so I think I can apply to Lincoln-Memorial, too) with good academics but low experience have the best chance at? Also what on earth do I do to get more experience hours at the moment I'm sending my resume and cover/begging letter to local vets but even without a pandemic it seems like no one can take on any volunteers/shadows for liability reasons. I'm just praying I get an internship with a wildlife rehab center

 

[FijianVet]

Hey, so I am going to give you my honest opinion: Your cumulative, science, and last 45 GPA hours are great, and I think you would have a really good chance in the U.S schools too. I would try to increase the amount of veterinary experience hours, but I have heard that at least for some of the U.S Veterinary Medicals will decrease the amount of hours required for this upcoming VMCAS Cycle due to COVID-19. I'm also not sure if you will have to submit course equivalency forms to any of the U.S Veterinary Medical Schools since you attended your undergraduate in Canada. When I applied to Ontario Veterinary College, I had to submit course equivalency forms to make sure I had the proper coursework completed. You may have to check with the individual U.S Veterinary Medical Schools.

Have you thought about applying to other Canadian Veterinary Medical Schools like Ontario Veterinary College or Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan. I know that OVC is really competitive from personal experience, but your GPA, experience, and letters of recommendation can probably get you an interview.

For U.S schools, I know that The Ohio State University admits the most out of state students, so you may have a good chance applying there and then after 1 year, you are allowed to get in-state tuition. I also know that these schools allow you to switch to in-state tuition after 1 year: Missouri, UC Davis, Washington State, and North Carolina. But these schools also admit less out of state students, but there is still a chance. I believe there are more Veterinary Medical Schools that allow you to switch after 1 year and earn resident tuition.

You can look through this Factors When Picking a Vet School Google Doc created by Elkhart, it may help you in deciding on which schools to apply to.
This website from VIN helps students compare the costs between Veterinary Medical Schools: VIN Foundation Cost of Education Map

Personally, I think with your high GPA, I would try to apply to U.S schools or the other Canadian Schools first before going to a Caribbean Veterinary Medical School since you would be moving further and it maybe more costly, although there is nothing wrong with going to a Caribbean School like Ross or SGU (You get an AVMA accredited DVM in the end). I hope this helps.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Honestly, with your grades, if you got just a little more veterinary experience and practiced your interview skills (I assure you there is a lot of method to most schools madness and they aren't just ranking your interview haphazardly...if interviewing isn't your strong suite, it's definitely something you can get better at). I'd say you could have a good chance at US schools with similar modifications...you can certainly apply with Ross or SGU but I don't think you really need to. IMO, if I was you, I'd do a file review with AVC, get more veterinary experience, and maybe practice interview questions if you think that's a weak part of your app. AVC is your cheapest option by far I'm sure...don't take on the crazy extra debt if you don't need to, especially when you aren't dealing with the uphill battle of improving grades. Also, talk up your research experience. Schools love that.

 

[Viscernable]

Thanks so much for the responses! I haven't heard back on my file review yet but I'm assuming I did badly on both the interview and personality test. The personality test is what frustrates me since that's not... something I can work on... and honestly I've seen Buzzfeed quiz questions that gave more insight on personality. But thanks for the encouragement and suggestion to practice interviewing. I felt like I did as well as I could have on my interview; I thought my answers were fine (I know they weren't scintillating or anything, but I thought they were decently insightful and I didn't hesitate or struggle to answer) but the interviewers clearly were unimpressed. I'm not good at connecting with people and have about the charisma of a dead fish (I have no problem with interacting with people professionally and having a good relationship with my co-workers, I'm just bad at getting close with people or making much of a first impression) so I've been feeling pretty discouraged about my ability to improve on my interview but I'll try getting feedback on practice interviews next cycle

OVC would be my second choice of school, but unfortunately the Canadian residency system means the only Canadian school I can apply to is AVC. I still really, really want to go to AVC but more than that I just want to go to any accredited vet school. TBH I was seriously considering just giving up on getting into AVC or U.S. schools and applying to SGU for January 2021, but I feel more hopeful now so I'll just use SGU as my safety school for September 2021 applications. Ohio isn't an option since I'm missing too many prereqs

I've got a spreadsheet in progress on all the US schools (non-resident cost, prereqs I would need [I stupidly never considered prereqs for other schools when choosing courses since I never considered applying anywhere besides AVC. Also, public speaking and animal nutrition courses didn't exist at my university. Why is public speaking even a prereq jesus christ you have to give presentations in most courses and shouldn't the interview and letters of recommendation show that you have professional communication skills ok whatever], non-resident seats:applicant ratio, average admitted GPA, GRE, and experience if listed, and admissions score formula/how admissions are decided) but it's slow-going, especially since information from different sources doesn't always seem to line up. I have a lot of admissions sites to read to fill out how each school makes admissions decisions .

Any suggestions of which schools put more emphasis on grades?

 

[mmmdreamerz]

Thanks so much for the responses! I haven't heard back on my file review yet but I'm assuming I did badly on both the interview and personality test. The personality test is what frustrates me since that's not... something I can work on... and honestly I've seen Buzzfeed quiz questions that gave more insight on personality. But thanks for the encouragement and suggestion to practice interviewing. I felt like I did as well as I could have on my interview; I thought my answers were fine (I know they weren't scintillating or anything, but I thought they were decently insightful and I didn't hesitate or struggle to answer) but the interviewers clearly were unimpressed. I'm not good at connecting with people and have about the charisma of a dead fish (I have no problem with interacting with people professionally and having a good relationship with my co-workers, I'm just bad at getting close with people or making much of a first impression) so I've been feeling pretty discouraged about my ability to improve on my interview but I'll try getting feedback on practice interviews next cycle

OVC would be my second choice of school, but unfortunately the Canadian residency system means the only Canadian school I can apply to is AVC. I still really, really want to go to AVC but more than that I just want to go to any accredited vet school. TBH I was seriously considering just giving up on getting into AVC or U.S. schools and applying to SGU for January 2021, but I feel more hopeful now so I'll just use SGU as my safety school for September 2021 applications. Ohio isn't an option since I'm missing too many prereqs

I've got a spreadsheet in progress on all the US schools (non-resident cost, prereqs I would need [I stupidly never considered prereqs for other schools when choosing courses since I never considered applying anywhere besides AVC. Also, public speaking and animal nutrition courses didn't exist at my university. Why is public speaking even a prereq jesus christ you have to give presentations in most courses and shouldn't the interview and letters of recommendation show that you have professional communication skills ok whatever], non-resident seats:applicant ratio, average admitted GPA, GRE, and experience if listed, and admissions score formula/how admissions are decided) but it's slow-going, especially since information from different sources doesn't always seem to line up. I have a lot of admissions sites to read to fill out how each school makes admissions decisions .

Any suggestions of which schools put more emphasis on grades?

I think that it sounds like getting feedback on your interview style and practicing questions would be very beneficial. There’s even practice questions on here somewhere. My pre-vet club did practice interviews which was helpful. I wouldn’t be surprised if most interviews this coming year are via zoom, so that’s something else to factor in.

Ohio only has four actually prerequisites: Biochem, Micro, Physiology, and Communication. Everything else is flexible science classes, etc. Not that I’m telling you to apply there...but just so you know. It’s a big class (162) and half is out of state.

Also, don’t underestimate the importance of communication. That’s 80% of being a veterinarian

 

[WonderingStudent]

Also, public speaking and animal nutrition courses didn't exist at my university.

I know that schools that I have looked at with an animal nutrition requirement accept the course even if it was taken online (probably because a lot of undergrad institutions don’t offer this course). Even if schools near you don’t offer the course, you can still take it to complete the requirement albeit you would have to pay for taking an additional course.

 

[Viscernable]

Ohio only has four actually prerequisites: Biochem, Micro, Physiology, and Communication. Everything else is flexible science classes, etc. Not that I’m telling you to apply there...but just so you know. It’s a big class (162) and half is out of state.

Also, don’t underestimate the importance of communication. That’s 80% of being a veterinarian

I managed to miss half of these, lol. To apply to Ohio and to schools that require physics I'd need to take 2 semesters physics with lab, 2 semesters physiology (Ohio requires 5 credits), and communication/public speaking if it were just 1 semester physiology I'd do it but I'm hesitant to do two since I'm hoping for an internship this fall.

I know that schools that I have looked at with an animal nutrition requirement accept the course even if it was taken online (probably because a lot of undergrad institutions don’t offer this course). Even if schools near you don’t offer the course, you can still take it to complete the requirement albeit you would have to pay for taking an additional course.

Yeah, I plan to take online courses to fill prerequisites. I will for sure be doing two semesters physics with lab (planning to start the UNE course as soon as I get confirmation from schools I plan to apply to that they accept it) and I'm considering doing public speaking, animal nutrition, and/or physiology depending on where I decide to apply.

 

[BigCats]

I managed to miss half of these, lol. To apply to Ohio and to schools that require physics I'd need to take 2 semesters physics with lab, 2 semesters physiology (Ohio requires 5 credits), and communication/public speaking if it were just 1 semester physiology I'd do it but I'm hesitant to do two since I'm hoping for an internship this fall.

Yeah, I plan to take online courses to fill prerequisites. I will for sure be doing two semesters physics with lab (planning to start the UNE course as soon as I get confirmation from schools I plan to apply to that they accept it) and I'm considering doing public speaking, animal nutrition, and/or physiology depending on where I decide to apply.

I'm applying to Ohio and you only need 1 semester of physiology if it covers all systems! I know their website says 5-10 credits but I'm assuming that's just based off of their own courses, since when you look at their prerequisites on VMCAS to assign your courses to them, they only require at least 3 credits, which is good since I took just a 3-credit course!

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I managed to miss half of these, lol. To apply to Ohio and to schools that require physics I'd need to take 2 semesters physics with lab, 2 semesters physiology (Ohio requires 5 credits), and communication/public speaking if it were just 1 semester physiology I'd do it but I'm hesitant to do two since I'm hoping for an internship this fall.

Yeah, I plan to take online courses to fill prerequisites. I will for sure be doing two semesters physics with lab (planning to start the UNE course as soon as I get confirmation from schools I plan to apply to that they accept it) and I'm considering doing public speaking, animal nutrition, and/or physiology depending on where I decide to apply.

OSU doesn't require physics, but it can be counted under the science electives requirement

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I'm applying to Ohio and you only need 1 semester of physiology if it covers all systems! I know their website says 5-10 credits but I'm assuming that's just based off of their own courses, since when you look at their prerequisites on VMCAS to assign your courses to them, they only require at least 3 credits, which is good since I took just a 3-credit course!

Yeah, they will evaluate a class syllabus for you and let you know if it's covered...I took a physiology class and then a separate repro phys class to cover all the systems.

 

[DaisyRiver]

Hello! I’ve been accepted to AVC this year, after having applied several times and getting three interviews. It’s tough, but your grades are awesome and it’s likely just the interview. Myself and my friends all scored poorly on our first interview and personality test and scored above average the years after (our grades held us back and we both went back to upgrade). So practice your interview skills, it was also likely a really tough applicant pool this year too.

 

[omgitsallyd]

Hi! With your stats I would definitely look in to UC Davis. To be chosen for an interview they look at GPA, GRE quantitative score, eLORS, and one other thing i’m spacing on but I had similar scores to you and am heading there in the fall! They also offer residency changes after freshmen year meaning you’re only paying one year of OOS tuition. I hope this helps )