A lot of General Questions Regarding the OVC (Panicking!)

[toomuchstress]

Hi so I'm a third year Bio student and I'm hoping to apply to Guelph's OVC as I'm sure a lot of you people are and i had some questions because stuff's happened and I would like some answers to help calm me down. Any help is much appreciated.

So first of all, I plan on applying after my fourth year. So if I don't get in the first attempt and apply again, will they still take my fourth year as my last two full time semesters?

Also if anyone in the GTA knows good places to gain vet experience and animal experience or animal-unrelated volunteer opportunities of any kind PLEASE let me know.

And lastly I just finished up my last semester of 3rd year courses and it would seem that I failed a course (Virology). I haven't gotten a final mark yet so not really official but I wanted to know if this would make my full time semester null and void? I do not plan on using this course as a prereq and I will be applying after my fourth year, not this one.

Any and all help is appreciated, and I hope this forum is still active!

[Current DVM student]

Take a deep breath! Yes, they will take your two most recent full time semesters as long as they are eligible (at least 2.5 credits, no repeat/overlap with previous courses). If your fourth year meets these criteria, they will be used for that part of the admissions calculation.
In terms of failed courses, it will not make your semester void (ie. they will still consider it as long as the above is true about the semester as a whole) but it will likely significantly affect your application average and I would not recommend applying until virology is no longer part of your last two full time semesters. This means you should make sure your fourth year semesters are both eligible so they don't even see this one.

Remember that applications for domestics are submitted in the fall (November-ish deadline) so you will have the fall semester after fourth year to either take another semester to try to bump grades, or to go and get work experience. Essentially, with the failed virology course and your current application plan, you will be in a good position to apply in November 2020, for admission in September 2021.

Lots of time to breathe between then and now. Good luck!

[vethopeful1]

Definitely look into wildlife rehabilitation centres who are always looking for volunteers. For vet clinics, call, email, visit all of the clinics you can, odds are one will allow you to come in for some shadowing! Thats how I got most of my volunteer placements.