Grad Cohort Class of 2027

[gradvethopeful]

Hi! I have just finished my master’s degree and am planning to apply via the grad cohort this cycle. I have a few questions that I haven’t seen mentioned/ been able to find answers for elsewhere, and I’m hoping this will be helpful to other grads applying as well!

First: I’ve seen it mentioned that the graduate cohort is designed to attract applicants that will enter the field of veterinary research, and so high research productivity as an applicant is important. Covid restrictions really limited the breadth of my research and ability to publish (I have one first author paper and no other publications), so I’m wondering if it would make more sense for me to apply through the undergrad stream, as I’m more interested in clinical medicine rather than veterinary research anyway.

Second: If I were to apply through the undergrad stream, could my graduate work be counted towards my employment or other types of experience, or would I have to leave it out?

And finally: The first time I applied to the OVC was in my third year of undergrad, and I submitted my courses for approval then but missed the deadline for getting newer courses approved this summer. I’m hoping to use some of them as I was definitely a stronger student towards the end of my degree. I’m wondering if anyone has run into issues using courses taken in the same semesters as an undergraduate thesis as prerequisites? At my university (which has a 3.0/6.0 credit system), the undergraduate thesis course counts for a total of 12 credits split over the year (so 6 credits or the equivalent of 2 courses per semester). While taking it I also took 3 additional courses per semester to make a full course load (15 credits per semester). Has anyone else used similar courses as prerequisites? I was in a full course load but want to make sure the OVC sees it that way as well.

Thanks for any advice you can give!!

[gradvethopeful]

Oh, one more question! The admissions statistics for the last few years seem to show the averages for all applicants, those interviewed, and those accepted for the undergrad pool, but only averages for those who applied and got interviews in the grad cohort. Does this mean that no one was accepted in the grad cohort in these years, or are those stats just not available?

[Deleted]

I am applying to the undergrad cohort this year, but I have looked into this quite a bit as I'm also interested in pursuing research. My main takeaway is that the grad cohort is a bit of a gamble since there are so few spots (5 every year), and not a lot of info on what would be considered competitive from a research output perspective. On the other hand, it is clear that it is much less competitive when it comes to the required undergraduate academic average.

Based on the published statistics, we can say that overall acceptance rates for undergrad and grad cohorts are about the same at 25%. The acceptance rate for interviewed applicants is also the same (50%). But the minimum academic average to receive an interview is much lower for the grad cohort (79.7% vs. 89.9% in 2021). The OVC website previously mentioned that the interview was the main deciding factor on who was admitted in the grad cohort once applicants made it passed the first selection (i.e., they weigh the interview much more heavily and do not use the 35/65 split that is used for the undergrad cohort). This is probably why they do not release statistics for the accepted applicants in the grad cohort, since those numbers wouldn't mean much.

Having said that, to answer your questions...

1. This will depend on your application average. It is relatively easy to know if you are competitive in the undergraduate pool (i.e., if your average is above the previous years admitted average, you will likely get an interview at least). It is much less easy to know if you're competitive in the grad cohort since they don't provide any info on typical research productivity. If your average is >91%, I would say go for the undergrad cohort, but if you're below that you may want to try your luck in the grad cohort. (I'm just guessing here though, it may be that one publication is more than enough to be admitted to the grad cohort).

2. I don't see why not, it is employment/experience just like any other.

3. I have never seen an undergraduate thesis course count for 2.0 credits, but if that is how your university does it, and it is clearly marked on your transcript, I can't imagine OVC would have a problem with it.

4. As mentioned above, they do accept applicants from the grad cohort every year. Academic averages aren't used (or weigh very little) once applicants are selected for interview, so those stats wouldn't be very useful.

Best of luck either way!