STRATEGIC APPLICATION OF GRADES/SEMESTERS
YES: If you drop a course this semester, thereby bringing it under the requirements for being considered a full-time semester (i.e., under 2.5 credits / 5 courses), then this current semester and all courses therein would
NOT be valid to submit as part of a future DVM program application (i.e., it wouldn't count for anything vis-à-vis a DVM application, and you could use your previous semester, Fall 2012, as one of the "
Previous Two Acceptable Semesters")
Honestly, I think this is a good question on a strategy that I
don't think enough applicants give sufficient thought to or at least keep in mind. Sometimes part-way into a semester you already know it isn't going to turn out like you'd hoped (for a
wide variety of possible reasons, and sometimes completely beyond your control), and there's
no reason why you need to let this negatively affect your application to the DVM program. Now, is this "unfair" or "sneaky" in any way? I
certainly don't think so. This approach doesn't violate any of the rules outlined for applying to OVC, and is a strategy available to all applicants in the undergrad cohort. Due to the nature of the application process, admissions is only able to evaluate you on a small snapshot of your academic history, so it's up to you to make sure that what they see really is your best. Really, this is just a variation on choosing courses to fulfill the pre-req requirements for which I think most everybody chooses 8 courses in which they know they can do really well.
As for whether it would "
look bad"?
Not at all. By it's nature of being deemed an "unacceptable semester" it wouldn't even be
considered in your application, so it won't look like
anything (i.e., for all intents and purposes for a DVM program application, it will have no effect). In trying to make the application process as fair and objective as possible, it all just comes down to
numbers: your marks for your pre-reqs and last two semesters for
ACCEPTABLE semesters
ONLY.
YOUR APPLICATION THIS YEAR
I don't know for certain, but I would
think since you have started the application (i.e., applying via the UofG internal transfer form or with a OUAC 105D form) that this
WOULD count as one of your four available attempts, even if you decide to back out now. It's such a specific question though that for a truly definitive answer you'd need either an official opinion (i.e., if Ms. Lowenger comments on it here, or if you fire a question off to Ms. Lundmark (though at this time of the year, I'm guessing Ms. Lundmark is exceedingly busy and might take quite a while to respond)) or to hear from someone who has personal experience doing the same thing.
Now, I can't just leave it at that without commenting a bit further. First off, I'm so sorry to hear that a vet reference you were counting on has not materialized.
However, if this is truly the
only thing theoretically stopping your application at this point in time (i.e., you met the deadlines for your MCAT score, OUAC 105D form or internal transfer form, and application fee; you are confident you have a strong application; and you still
want to proceed with the application process), then I would seriously
make all efforts possible to get that final vet reference letter before the deadline. I know it doesn't sound like much considering how much time I'm sure you've put into getting experience thus far, but you
DO still have a month before the reference letters are due. If I were you, and it's only not having one more vet reference that's holding you back, I'd start contacting
every vet in your area ASAP to see if one would be willing to take you on as a volunteer to gain some concentrated experience and prove yourself as a good candidate for the veterinary profession over the next month.
Explain your situation: don't just say you're looking for a quick reference letter, but
explain how you have had a reference unexpectedly become unavailable (you didn't say specifically why, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it was unexpected and for an unforeseeable reason), and see if they would consider helping you out by taking you on as a volunteer so you can
prove yourself deserving over the next month to get that final reference letter. At the same time, be
tactfully up front that you
do need a reference letter so you wouldn't surprise them at the end. This would require a
large time commitment from you (i.e., depending what your courses are like, you might have to drop some to focus more on this), as I would definitely look at working with the vet
AT LEAST several days a week for ideally the entire day (though as much time as possible and they would be willing to have you for would be best. This also depends on the vet and how much time he/she needs to form a qualified opinion of you). When I look at this, it would definitely be a sacrifice of a lot of time and quite probably also several courses for this semester, but the flip side is having to wait
another whole year to apply...
If you're looking for vets, a few comments I would have:
- If you are comfortable working with/around large animals, I know that a LOT of large animal vets are quite happy to have someone tag along with them (and much more open to it than I have found at a lot of companion animal practices, plus the number of people looking to shadow/volunteer with them is generally lower); it's pretty much always useful to have another set of hands when doing farm calls. (maybe I'm slightly biased since I'm more of a large animal kind of person, but this has been my experience)
- If you know anybody who knows a vet, see if they could talk to him/her on your behalf to see if they could get you in the door so you can volunteer your time to prove yourself deserving of a reference letter.
- Are they any other vets you have worked/volunteered with in the past who might be qualified to write a reference letter?
- The CVO has a listing of veterinarians that you can search by many features (e.g., town, animal type, etc.), from which I'm sure you could find a large number of vets in your area (www.cvo.org/imis15/CVO/Public_Register/PublicRegister/PublicRegister.aspx)
I guess my whole motivation for this is that if you already have
everything else in place (i.e., pre-reqs, competitive grades+MCAT, animal/vet experience, etc.), then it would be a real shame to not proceed just because of a
single reference letter,
ESPECIALLY when they really just come into the process as a
flag (i.e., it's really just your marks, MCAT, and interview score that actually determine your final ranking, and the reference letters just come in to flag out people who, for whatever reason, the reference has a negative opinion of and/or has indicated would not be a good candidate for the DVM program/profession. As such, for all intents and purposes, a
decent reference letter achieves the
same thing as a glowing reference letter, so long as both have a generally favourable opinion of you and believe you to be a good candidate for the DVM program/profession).
I'm sure you've already considered many of these things yourself, but I couldn't really leave this post without trying to offer you my advice on the situation (for what it's worth), and maybe the thought that you could still make your application work this year...
Best of luck with whatever path you take!