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Post by Gradstudent on Jun 20, 2022 6:14:01 GMT -5
To those grad students who were admitted this year or previous years, I’m just wondering how many publications you had and what your overall stats were. Trying to see how to improve my application this year.
I had a 91 average, 4th quartile in Casper, my research was involved in a clinical trial, but I only had 2 published publications and 2 submitted publications since gene therapy research is slow. I’m assuming there wasn’t enough diversity or hours in my experience, but it’s hard to gauge since I don’t know many grad applicants to compare.
Any suggestions?
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Post by stethoscope on Jun 20, 2022 23:43:48 GMT -5
Can't believe I finally got in, I'm so excited!
I was looking at the list of supplies and was wondering: is the stethoscope we get from the OVMA usable, or should I just go ahead and buy a reasonable Littmann?
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Post by orca on Jun 21, 2022 7:41:44 GMT -5
It is usable for physical exams. Kinda hard to listen to large animals hearts, but you can probably just wait till 4th year to get a nice Littman.
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Post by stethoscope on Jun 21, 2022 14:17:17 GMT -5
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Post by turtle on Jun 21, 2022 15:51:28 GMT -5
- you can buy many things second hand, like steel toes, extra coveralls, and expired suture, from a phase 4 on OVC classifieds - buy your own quick-read thermometer because the one the school offers is way too slow especially in phase 2 where your OSCEs are timed. Make sure it's in celsius - the veterinary anatomy flashcards and/or colouring books upper years will try to pawn off are not helpful lol - the school will always provide gloves for labs - buy your coveralls slightly oversized bc the barn is freezing during winter and you will want room for a sweater underneath - you will need a wrist watch or fob watch because you aren't allowed to use your phone during OSCEs
and most importantly
- do not buy the school scrubs. They will tell you you have to buy them bc they're a particular colour or something but they are not particularly comfortable and remarkably unattractive. You can wear your own scrubs during labs. If so inclined buy scrubs in "ciel blue" to match the student scrubs. They will tell you you need to buy the scrubs but by phase 2 75% of our class was wearing their own scrubs to lab. Buy scrubs you can tuck into your pants bc it's required for surgery
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Post by currentovcstudent on Jun 21, 2022 22:37:57 GMT -5
just wanted to add, the free stethoscope you get from ovc is perfectly fine! Don't stress about spending money on one right now, or even in fourth year. I could still hear murmurs, etc with the free one. You can always get a better one when you start working. And re the watches, make sure it's one you can easily hold in your hand, you're not allowed to wear them for ~safety~ reasons for large animal.
(also for future posters/those with questions--save stuff like this for other threads, as this one is for people seeking solace during hard times of ovc admissions (I've had to go through a rejection myself, it really truly sucks), and I don't think it's fun for everyone to read stuff like this). Take care of yourselves <3
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Post by stethoscope on Jun 22, 2022 1:25:38 GMT -5
Thank you to all three of you, and I do apologize for posting this in the wrong place!
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Post by Help? on Jun 22, 2022 14:44:13 GMT -5
This was my second rejection. This year I managed to get an interview however I think my interview went poorly. I have a 91.4 average and got 4th quartile on my casper but that’s hard to gauge as they don’t give you an exact score. I am conflicted about going back to school to upgrade my marks even more. I’m scared that next year a 91 won’t even get me an interview anymore. Any insight is helpful feeling very defeated.
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Post by OVC2026! on Jun 22, 2022 14:51:09 GMT -5
This was my second rejection. This year I managed to get an interview however I think my interview went poorly. I have a 91.4 average and got 4th quartile on my casper but that’s hard to gauge as they don’t give you an exact score. I am conflicted about going back to school to upgrade my marks even more. I’m scared that next year a 91 won’t even get me an interview anymore. Any insight is helpful feeling very defeated. You could always wait until the stats come out but from what I’ve seen in this forum i think the lowest average to get an interview and the lowest average to get admitted were both lower than last year. I think Casper helped level the playing field. If you think your interview went poorly I would recommend some kind of coaching so that you can ace it next year. With marks on the lower side, it’s really important to have your BIF/references/Casper/interview all be as good as absolutely possible. If it makes you feel any better I was admitted this year with a very similar average to you but I practiced for hours and hours for both my casper and my interview and felt they both went great. I know people who interviewed with high 90 averages who did not get admitted so the interview matters more than you probably think!
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Post by 112112321 on Jun 22, 2022 20:33:16 GMT -5
To those grad students who were admitted this year or previous years, I’m just wondering how many publications you had and what your overall stats were. Trying to see how to improve my application this year. I had a 91 average, 4th quartile in Casper, my research was involved in a clinical trial, but I only had 2 published publications and 2 submitted publications since gene therapy research is slow. I’m assuming there wasn’t enough diversity or hours in my experience, but it’s hard to gauge since I don’t know many grad applicants to compare. Any suggestions? Hi there, I am a grad student that got in last year (it took me three attempts, one in the undergrad pool and two in the grad pool, so I 100% feel your pain and disappointment right now). I had two published papers (both first author), three in progress (two first author, one a co-author), and six conference presentations. My undergrad average was in the mid 80s and my grad average was in the high 80s. I had a lot of food animal experience, and a good amount of equine and small animal experience. The say research productivity is important, but it should be noted that every year the people who are interviewed/admitted in this cohort have large variations in their research productivity, so it is really hard to gauge what is "needed". The pool varies a lot year to year and everyone is typically competitive. I am sorry things didn't work out for you this time around. <3 I am just wondering if you got an interview this year? Apparently, in the grad cohort, once you are in the interview stage, its the deciding factor of admission. So if you got an interview this year, your productivity/stats were probably okay.
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Post by Help? on Jun 23, 2022 7:49:42 GMT -5
This was my second rejection. This year I managed to get an interview however I think my interview went poorly. I have a 91.4 average and got 4th quartile on my casper but that’s hard to gauge as they don’t give you an exact score. I am conflicted about going back to school to upgrade my marks even more. I’m scared that next year a 91 won’t even get me an interview anymore. Any insight is helpful feeling very defeated. You could always wait until the stats come out but from what I’ve seen in this forum i think the lowest average to get an interview and the lowest average to get admitted were both lower than last year. I think Casper helped level the playing field. If you think your interview went poorly I would recommend some kind of coaching so that you can ace it next year. With marks on the lower side, it’s really important to have your BIF/references/Casper/interview all be as good as absolutely possible. If it makes you feel any better I was admitted this year with a very similar average to you but I practiced for hours and hours for both my casper and my interview and felt they both went great. I know people who interviewed with high 90 averages who did not get admitted so the interview matters more than you probably think! Thank you so much for the tips. I know I have to work on my interview but I’m just scared that I won’t be able to get another one this year if the averages keeps on increasing. 😢
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Post by lowenger on Jun 27, 2022 8:12:51 GMT -5
Hi. You will be getting all this information once everyone has accepted their offers. My summer student Keira will be in touch. She will tell you what you need to purchase and what we will be supplying.
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Post by guest122 on Jul 16, 2023 21:28:48 GMT -5
just wondering how those of you who got in on their second, third, fourth application improved your application? Did you ever feel like you were at a standstill? (e.g., could not think of more you could do?) thanks!!
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Post by ovcstudent on Jul 16, 2023 22:01:10 GMT -5
just wondering how those of you who got in on their second, third, fourth application improved your application? Did you ever feel like you were at a standstill? (e.g., could not think of more you could do?) thanks!! Hey! After my first and second applications, i went back to school for full time semesters to improve my grades. i also just ensured i branched out with volunteering ie wildlife, or large animal! Hope this helps
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Post by guest321 on Jul 17, 2023 13:35:50 GMT -5
just wondering how those of you who got in on their second, third, fourth application improved your application? Did you ever feel like you were at a standstill? (e.g., could not think of more you could do?) thanks!! Hey! After my first and second applications, i went back to school for full time semesters to improve my grades. i also just ensured i branched out with volunteering ie wildlife, or large animal! Hope this helps Was it just improving marks? Or did you also gain more experience, practiced more for Casper and interview? Thanks anyone else too?
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Post by Keep trying :) on Jul 17, 2023 15:49:37 GMT -5
Hey! After my first and second applications, i went back to school for full time semesters to improve my grades. i also just ensured i branched out with volunteering ie wildlife, or large animal! Hope this helps Was it just improving marks? Or did you also gain more experience, practiced more for Casper and interview? Thanks anyone else too? First try I was rejected without an interview, I was still in school, I finished my degree and my admission average went from 89 to a 92%, my experiences stayed the same but I did have a bit of experience from large animal + companion. Received an interview the 2nd time but got rejected. 3rd time, I kept my marks the same but practiced for my interview a lot. This was the first time I wrote CASPER though. I reviewed some practice questions to get the hang of Casper and I practiced my typing speed. I also started volunteering more with wildlife and exotics . If you are satisfied with your average, I would not recommend going back to school as you never know if you can improve your marks or not. If you end up doing poorly, you would have to drop the whole semester and it would be a waste of money.
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be kind to yourself
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Post by be kind to yourself on Jul 17, 2023 21:08:19 GMT -5
I got in on my second try, mostly by improving my marks. I got a tutor the second time around to try and improve my interview score, but ironically I performed worse in that area despite feeling better prepared. Ultimately it was the grade improvement that got me in. But regardless, please don't stop trying. I know so many people who get accepted into ovc on their third, fourth try, and they will make better vets than some of those who got accepted on their first try (not to discredit those that do, just don't think of yourself as less than if you dont <3). Expanding your experiences is more valuable for you than your application, unfortunately OVC doesn't place much weight on that. Also for those experiencing rejections--it sucks. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be angry, to feel hurt. Your feelings are valid. And I'm sending you so many hugs. People try to say a lot, and it feels empty because unless they've gone through it, they don't get it. So just remember for every 100 that get in, there are 100+ that don't. You are not alone, and you are worthy and incredible and accomplished.
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Post by ovcstudent on Jul 19, 2023 15:50:49 GMT -5
Hey! After my first and second applications, i went back to school for full time semesters to improve my grades. i also just ensured i branched out with volunteering ie wildlife, or large animal! Hope this helps Was it just improving marks? Or did you also gain more experience, practiced more for Casper and interview? Thanks anyone else too? Improving marks was the biggest part. I only wrote the casper once, and had the interview on my third try, but it really was getting my marks up and volunteering at places thatinterested me!
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Post by Question OVC on Jul 21, 2023 20:55:17 GMT -5
Hey everyone! I heard about the new Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program that’s being offered in collaboration with Guelph at lake head university. Does anyone know what this means for vet school applicants? Will we have to apply separately to lakehead? Or will it’s already be placed under consideration when applying to OVC? I don’t think there’s any concrete details yet but was wondering if anyone knew more about this new program and deadlines etc.
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Post by current OVC on Jul 21, 2023 21:56:52 GMT -5
Hey everyone! I heard about the new Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program that’s being offered in collaboration with Guelph at lake head university. Does anyone know what this means for vet school applicants? Will we have to apply separately to lakehead? Or will it’s already be placed under consideration when applying to OVC? I don’t think there’s any concrete details yet but was wondering if anyone knew more about this new program and deadlines etc. From what I know so far it is only for students 100% sure in becoming a rural community veterinarian, you'd also be learning about the indigenous community. There are 20 spots for this. Your first 2 years is spent at Lakehead while the last 2 would be at OVC and your externship is in Northern Ontario. Because of this I assume it would be a different applicant pool but I would reach out to the OVC admissions about this.
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