Future Changes to Admissions?

[Deleted]

Hi all,



There's been a lot of discussion about the issues with the current admissions at OVC on this forum. I'm not at Guelph so I'm not in the loop at all, but I was wondering if any vet students or Guelph undergrads know whether OVC is considering (or would ever consider) updating their admissions?



A lot of professional programs (medical and dental schools...) are moving towards less strict/specific admission criteria as universities realize that there are many paths that may lead one to consider a career in those areas, and that very specific course and degree requirements may be a deterrent for otherwise excellent candidates (see for example the admissions for the MD program at UofT: applymd.utoronto.ca/md-application-2020-2021-cycle-updates). OVC on the other hand has some of the most strict rules that honestly don't seem to serve much of a purpose other than stress out candidates and exclude students with non-traditional backgrounds.


Having said that, if any current OVC/UofG students have any input on the following questions, it would be greatly appreciated!

1. Is there any chance that we will see an increase in the number of spots offered each year? It has been stuck at 100 (for undergraduate applicants) since at least 2008!!! For reference, Ontario's population has increased +15% and the number of spots available in medical schools in Ontario has increased by +12% in that same time period. I realize this is probably a very political issue between OVC, OVMA and the provincial government in order to prevent excessive competition, but I really think an increase is overdue!

2. Of course, the issue of grade inflation... At some point differences in averages >90% don't mean much anymore. There must be a better way to evaluate students' academic performance. Any word on this? Especially with some universities that only offer letter grades, once converted to percentages a student with perfect marks may not even qualify for an interview within a year or two.

3. Relevant to question 2, will they ever change their prerequisites and their use of the last 2 semesters? As I mentioned at the beginning, these very strict requirements may exclude a certain number of applicants, and at the same time it's not obvious to me that they provide any benefit. Also, using the last 2 semesters instead of a student's cumulative GPA just serves to encourage students to continue taking semesters past their degree to try and improve their average, which isn't very fair (only an option for more privileged students) and is also very wasteful for all those students that don't make it. There are other possible mechanisms, such as removing the worst semester or the worst few courses, that make using the cumulative GPA a much fairer and representative measure.

4. Do you think Casper will be maintained even without COVID restrictions in place?

5. What would the timeline be like for changes to the admissions procedure? I imagine OVC would give one or two year notice to allow students to plan and adapt to the new requirements?

Thanks!

[anonymous23]

Jun 28, 2021 2:48:44 GMT -5 @wadeli said:

Hi all,



There's been a lot of discussion about the issues with the current admissions at OVC on this forum. I'm not at Guelph so I'm not in the loop at all, but I was wondering if any vet students or Guelph undergrads know whether OVC is considering (or would ever consider) updating their admissions?



A lot of professional programs (medical and dental schools...) are moving towards less strict/specific admission criteria as universities realize that there are many paths that may lead one to consider a career in those areas, and that very specific course and degree requirements may be a deterrent for otherwise excellent candidates (see for example the admissions for the MD program at UofT: applymd.utoronto.ca/md-application-2020-2021-cycle-updates). OVC on the other hand has some of the most strict rules that honestly don't seem to serve much of a purpose other than stress out candidates and exclude students with non-traditional backgrounds.


Having said that, if any current OVC/UofG students have any input on the following questions, it would be greatly appreciated!

1. Is there any chance that we will see an increase in the number of spots offered each year? It has been stuck at 100 (for undergraduate applicants) since at least 2008!!! For reference, Ontario's population has increased +15% and the number of spots available in medical schools in Ontario has increased by +12% in that same time period. I realize this is probably a very political issue between OVC, OVMA and the provincial government in order to prevent excessive competition, but I really think an increase is overdue!

2. Of course, the issue of grade inflation... At some point differences in averages >90% don't mean much anymore. There must be a better way to evaluate students' academic performance. Any word on this? Especially with some universities that only offer letter grades, once converted to percentages a student with perfect marks may not even qualify for an interview within a year or two.

3. Relevant to question 2, will they ever change their prerequisites and their use of the last 2 semesters? As I mentioned at the beginning, these very strict requirements may exclude a certain number of applicants, and at the same time it's not obvious to me that they provide any benefit. Also, using the last 2 semesters instead of a student's cumulative GPA just serves to encourage students to continue taking semesters past their degree to try and improve their average, which isn't very fair (only an option for more privileged students) and is also very wasteful for all those students that don't make it. There are other possible mechanisms, such as removing the worst semester or the worst few courses, that make using the cumulative GPA a much fairer and representative measure.

4. Do you think Casper will be maintained even without COVID restrictions in place?

5. What would the timeline be like for changes to the admissions procedure? I imagine OVC would give one or two year notice to allow students to plan and adapt to the new requirements?

Thanks!

In terms of your grade question, many people do not perform well in the first year or two of their undergraduate degree. Using the last two semesters makes it easier and less stressful for students, as they do not have to worry about their previous grades having a large affect on their application. The veterinary profession has a lot of memorization, as you have multiple species to know and understand, unlike other programs where it is just one. As a result, the prerequisites are in place to ensure that students have a proper background and understanding that will help them succeed and make their 4 years of schooling slightly easier if they have already taken courses to give a baseline understanding.

In terms of other universities, many students I know that applied from other schools were given a numerical grade for their OVC application by asking professors and others at their respected university, so OVC would be able to use this for their calculation.

The use of CASPer and increasing the class limit is something that I doubt anyone knows, and that is up to the OVC and other organizations to decide, and is not worth gossiping over.

Personally, I find the admission cycle to be mostly fair, although my only complaint would be that it would be more fair to interview everyone above a certain average (ie. 85+). This would make cycles more fair, as this would prevent the cycles from getting even higher averages. Having a set cutoff would enable students to know where they need to be, instead of having to guess.

[Guest0]

I would disagree that OVC has "some of the most strict rules." I am a student with a non-traditional background, and the fact that OVC does not require a specific degree for an application was a godsend for me, who transitioned to veterinary medicine from a totally different industry. The fact that they only look at prerequisites and the last two semesters made it possible for me to make the transition easily, as I only had to go back to take two semesters of undergrad courses to fulfil those prerequisites. I would not consider the requirement for 8 broad course subjects, within which there are many course options, to be strict at all. I also found that the people working in admissions were very helpful when I was planning out which undergrad courses I would need to take to make sure my application would be acceptable.

The UofT Med requirements that you say are lenient look very similar to the OVC requirements. They require 4 one-semester-long life science course, and 2 one-semester-long humanities courses. This is 6 prerequisites vs 8 for OVC. UofT Med also has recommendations to take stats and English which may or may not influence admissions decisions. UofT Med school also requires the MCAT, and 3 years of completed undergraduate study vs 2 for OVC. If you consider the UofT Med requirements accommodating, then I think you have to admit that the OVC requirements are accommodating as well.

The admissions requirements will not stay static until the end of time - of course they will evolve to address the needs of the profession and the province, and they will try to make them more fair and equitable for students as well. I don't know specifically how they will change but I am sure they will. When they changed them in the past, I do believe they gave a grace period to allow people to adapt.

The main purpose of my post is to say that I would not consider the requirements as they exist now to be exclusionary or strict. Rather, I found them very reasonable and highly accommodating for non-traditional applicants.

[Hopeful-student]

Honestly I’m really glad they don’t look at cGPA. Universities that look at cGPA are basically saying “if you go through a rough time and mess up at some point in your life, you can NEVER recover from it and be a good doctor/vet/etc”. I personally went through a tough time time that really impacted my grades in second and third year to the point that I can never do anything that requires cGPA; but I overcame that stage of my life, finished my forth year really strong and now getting a second degree (2 years) and all my grades from past year have been great and finished all my pre-reqs for OVC as well. I’m glad this system gives us a chance to recover and not let one or two bad years be the end all be all of our career. Also, Im not privileged at all I use OSAP my parents have not spent a dollar in my university education.