undergrad at other universities???

[christinelynn]

I'm currently in highschool, and will be applying to my undergrad university in the next few months.
My top three choices are University of Toronto, Mcmaster, and Guelph.
I plan to eventually apply to OVC obviously
I've heard that it is easier to get into OVC if you take your undergrad at Guelph, because they prefer to "choose from their own". Is this true?
I know on the website it says that they have no special preference for Guelph students, but I've heard otherwise.
Does OVC still accept a lot of students from UT and Mac?
I already work at an animal hospital and have taken a co-op, so I have a good start experience-wise, and my marks are good so I'm not to worried about not getting into my undergrad program.
If anyone has some advice it would be greatly appreciated!!!!! ;D ;D

[vmurthy]

There really is no priority given to students applying from Guelph. What ends up happening is a lot of students from UoGuelph apply to the OVC, while there tends to be fewer applicants from other schools- which is why Guelph can seem overrepresented at times. It really depends on the applicant pool you're in.

A benefit of going to Guelph is that some of the programs make you take all the prerequisite courses anyway, so you have less to worry about. The other benefit is that no matter what program you're in, since you take courses at UoGuelph, you don't have to deal with the extra hassle of having OVC admissions check if your pre-req courses meet their requirements during your application process.

One more benefit is that there are more vet-med related opportunities available on campus here. There are quite a few volunteer opportunities at the OVC for UoG students (Foal Watch, Junior Sx, etc). The downside is the competition here is very tight for those spots.

Lastly, you *may* be able to familiarize yourself with the campus or some of the profs that you might want to do research with down the road if you're at UoG. But if you are really keen on even that, you could spend a summer doing research here. There are programs that allow you to do research at other schools if thats your area of interest.


So there you have it. Those are the main reasons why most people go through UoG before applying to the OVC.

That said, you can certainly get all the experience outside of Guelph, and having your courses approved before you begin the admissions process is just another step you have to take while planning your course selection for undergrad.

Pick your undergrad school because of the city, the courses, the campus, etc. Don't worry too much the OVC yet. If you're committed, no matter where you go for undergrad, you'll find your way here eventually

[dreizehn]

Hey christinelynn,

It seems to be a relatively common rumour that UofG students are preferred; I myself went to other universities for my undergrad and heard that talk as well. However, as vmurthy said, there really is no preference in the admission process as to where you did your undergrad.

I posted a response to someone with a similar concern in another thread; here's the link if you want to take a look: fvc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=admissions&action=display&thread=6406&page=2 (in my post under the section heading "ANALYSIS OF ADMISSION STATISTICS (i.e., is any group unfairly favoured?)"). If you're a numbers person and want to look at the admission stats, there's also a spreadsheet of mine in that post summarizing all the posted admission stats: docs.google.com/open?id=0B08j-U1CX9S9M1FTeXdjdEFWVDg


With that said, vmurthy posted a good response, so there's nothing much I can really add. I'd go along with saying attending UofG could potentially be helpful in terms of the environment, as well as courses being more clearly laid out for you, BUT you can also get most if not all of the same opportunities while at many other universities, you may just have to work a bit harder to organize them. Like vmurthy said, when choosing your undergrad school the most important consideration is to make sure it is a good fit for you personally; if you're happy at your undergrad school, you're more likely to do better academically, which in turn will help your future application to the OVC. I attended a few different universities during undergrad and, from that, can really attest that the student body, general atmosphere, courses, and town you're living in will have a significant impact on both your personal wellbeing and how well you do academically.

One final thing I will add is that if you choose an external university, make sure you plan well ahead when choosing the courses you take, and early on get in contact with the OVC admissions people (currently Deanna Lundmark) regarding course approvals, as these can easily take several months to complete. As a non-UofG student, I found this the most stressful/frustrating part of the process, though this was partly because I made the decision to attend OVC quite late in my undergrad career.

Best of luck with your future!