I would like to apply for the ontario veterinary college at the university of guelph at the end of my second year. They listed these as the prereq courses for admission:

Biological Sciences - 1.5 credits (with recommended emphasis on animal biology; one course must be a cell biology)
Genetics - 0.5 credits
Biochemistry - 0.5 credits
Statistics - 0.5 credits (requires a Calculus prerequisite to take the Statistics course)
Humanities/Social Sciences - 1.0 credits (In selecting these courses from among those acceptable, the prospective veterinary student should consider topics such as ethics, logic, critical thinking, determinants of human behaviour and human social interaction.)





So including this semester I would have taken

BIO 1A03, 1AA3
CHEM 1A03, 1AA3
KIN (Anatomy) 1Y03, 1YY3
ANTHRO 1Z03
MATH 1LS3
PHYSICS 1L03
PSYCH 1X03


So I was just wondering whether I am taking the correct courses to take the need prereq courses in my second year to apply for OVC. I have looked at the mcmaster program websites and the OVC admission requirement sites and have just gotten really confused and I would like someone to help me out.

It looks like you still need to take:
- Animal Phys
- Cell Bio
- Genetics
- Bio Chem
- 3 units of Soc Sci or Humanities. The Phys Anthro course doesn't seem to meet the requirements listed (it isn't behaviour, ethics or location-based at all).

I assume your first year courses do give you the pre-reqs to take the classes above; however you may need to see what courses are needed to take the ones I mentioned. i.e. do you only need first year bio classes or do you need second year ones.

Your best bet is to contact the Vet program at Guelph directly, especially for the Anthro course.

looks good...

Biological sciences, next year you will have to take cell bio (BIO 2B03) for which you have the prereq - and perhaps (as posted above) you may need bio 2A03 (animal phys)

you will need to take genetics, for which you also have the prereq

you will also need to take organic chemistry next year so that you can take biochem 2ee3 - this will satisfy the biochem requirement

and im not too sure about the humanities/soc sci courses - not sure what courses fit into this category.

I get the impression that ANY course from soc sci or humanities counts, but that they recommend that you take courses falling into one of those categories, but then again what do they mean by "acceptable"...??

Originally Posted by nh999

I get the impression that ANY course from soc sci or humanities counts, but that they recommend that you take courses falling into one of those categories, but then again what do they mean by "acceptable"...??

I'm not sure, either. Generally when departments suggest something it is for a reason, which is why I suggested to contact the department.

also you will have to write the MCAT - so make sure you take the necessary courses for this. I would be careful with physics 1l03, as this may/may not give you the necessary knowledge for the mcat.


check out this page and download the pdf - it gives u a list of comparable UofGuelph courses which you can compare to Mac courses.

http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/future/dv...ions/academic/

Thanks for the helps so far guys. I'm still worried that my MATH 1LS3 would not let me take the STATS next year though. But hopefully it does

Originally Posted by Jeff.Tam

Thanks for the helps so far guys. I'm still worried that my MATH 1LS3 would not let me take the STATS next year though. But hopefully it does

According to the information you provided, you need to take a Statistics course that requires a Calculus prerequisite. Mac only offers one statistics course with a calculus prerequisite (STATS 2D03). In order to take Stats 2D03, you need to take Math 1AA3. I would suggest taking Math 1AA3 during the summer.

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1882.html

I'm applying for OVC too!

Others have covered most of your questions, but to clarify:
You will not be applying at the end of second year - but rather after the first term of third year. So, you still have one term of third year to fulfill any academic prerequisties.
Also, for social science/humanities course - though there is a recommended emphasis on human behaviour, many courses fulfill that requirement (check the OVC site for preapproved prerequisties from UofGuelph and see what is comparable at McMaster)

I would suggest taking:
Stats 2B03, Bio 2C03 (Genetics), Bio 2B03 (Cell Bio), Chem 20A3 (Organic Chem), Biochem 2EE3 (Biochemistry) and another biology course (either 2F03, 2A03 or 2D03) as a minimum next year - and a couple social science/humanities courses.
You can get your course list preapproved from Guelph by sending them a transcript

That, along with a course or books, should adequately prepare you for MCATs.

The advice i got is to really focus on the volunteering and vet experience though - trying to get to as many different fields as possible (Farming, exotic, avian, wildlife/zoo, cat and dog, small animal, research etc.)

Good luck

I'm in third year, and I just applied in January =). Like Mel said, you do have to wait until third year to apply. I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was 9 years old, and I have the admission requirements memorized!

Everybody has basically said everything there is to say. Make sure you plan ahead so you have a free summer (most likely the summer after 2nd year) to do the MCAT. You can go on the OVC site and see the average scores of people who got in last year later on when you are writing the MCAT so you know "where to aim". A good MCAT score can really help your application (since when you apply, they determine whether or not you get an interview based on a score they give you based on last 2 semesters completed + 8 prerequisite courses + MCAT score) so I really reccomend taking a summer off to study for it.

And for the stats course, what sucks for people who are in 1st and 2nd year now is that the only stats course that seems to have a calculus prequisite is STATS 2D03, which requires MATH 1AA3 .. which means you have to take MATH 1AA3 (oh god lol that didn't go well for me) AND STATS 2D03 but luckily that one isn't too bad if you're decent at math and calculus. Before, when I was in first year, they had a course called STATS 1CC3 which just required *HIGH SCHOOL CALCULUS* (I asked a lady at OVC, she said high school calc is okay too as a prereq to the course), which was easy as hell. Unfortunately I didn't realize I could use this course until MUCH later after I had already taken STATS 2D03 and suffered through MATH 1AA3 so ... yes =(. They cancelled STATS 1CC3 the year after I took it so I think you'll have to take STATS 2D03 =(.

For the biochem course, like somebody suggested, 2EE3 is your best bet. Easy 10 or 11 AT LEAST if not a 12. Cell bio .. 2B03 is a breeze. For the bio "with emphasis on animal bio", take 2A03. It kind of sucks now that Wilson teaches it but it's a good course to take whether or not you want to go to vet school anyway. For the third bio course, just take biology courses you are INTERESTED in, and then when it's time to apply, pick the one you did best in. For genetics, take 2C03, as already mentioned. I did badly in 2C03 beacuse I slacked so now I'm taking a health sci genetics course in case I don't geti n this year, so I can use it as my genetics prereq next year.

For the socsci/humanities courses, you can look at the courses they allow UGuelph students to take to fulfill this prerequisite for OVC. There are some really random courses under that list (even like economics and stuff) so just take whatever you arei nterseted in and feel like you'd do well. I took a lot of socsci/humanities courses because I felt like it and now I'm just going to pick whateer I did best in to apply with that mark. ECON 1B03 and 1BB3 are pretty easy. Although they have a "reccomended emphasis", in the end, whether or not you took a course that they reccomended isn't gonig to factor into your score .. which determines whether or not you get an interview. The mark factors into the score, not what you took. Either way, send your transcript + course description to Deanna Lundmark anyway in second year to make sure you're taking what you need to take.

What you're atking in first year seems to be fine, since you're taking the prerequisites you need to get into the second year courses taht you need for OVC. But you'll probably have to take MATH 1AA3 in the summer, and I would reccomend CHEM 2OA3 too, for many reasons (if you're going into a bio major you'll need it anyway lol plus the MCAT tests on orgo and it's nice to know about it already). Taking it in the summer is easy (I took it in the summer).

I'm an exec of PAWS @ Mac and we're actually bringing in somebody from OVC to give a talk at McMaster. Send me a message if you're interested and I can let you know when she's coming. We also do stuff like volunteer with horses, and walk dogs at the SPCA, so let me know if you're niterested in that too.

Anyway everybody sort of covered what I meant to say already anyway lol just felt like adding my two cents! Good luck and hopefully we'll all get in =).

Thanks for the help on everything everybody. I will be doing some volunteering work and vet experience over the summers but doing MATH 1AA3 over the summer wouldn't be possible since I come from hong kong =P

But i think i could still apply for it with my MATH 1LS3 course so thats not too bad. Bad point is that I suck completely at math though like.....i get 10s/11s for my other subjects and i'll probably get like a 3/4 for math....

Originally Posted by Jeff.Tam

Thanks for the help on everything everybody. I will be doing some volunteering work and vet experience over the summers but doing MATH 1AA3 over the summer wouldn't be possible since I come from hong kong =P

But i think i could still apply for it with my MATH 1LS3 course so thats not too bad. Bad point is that I suck completely at math though like.....i get 10s/11s for my other subjects and i'll probably get like a 3/4 for math....

Be careful, in order to Stats 2D03 (which is the only stats that has a calculus prerequisite at McMaster) - you need to have Math 1AA3. And, in order to get into Math 1AA3 - you need to either have Math 1A03 or a 10 in Math 1LS3.

I know.....I have no idea how I'm going to get past that yet. But I did do high school calculus so technically I have the prereq for MATH 1A03 and as long as I pass that, I can do MATH 1AA3

math 1aa3 brings back horrid memories for me lol, i do hope its better now.

Originally Posted by Jeff.Tam

Thanks for the help on everything everybody. I will be doing some volunteering work and vet experience over the summers but doing MATH 1AA3 over the summer wouldn't be possible since I come from hong kong =P

But i think i could still apply for it with my MATH 1LS3 course so thats not too bad. Bad point is that I suck completely at math though like.....i get 10s/11s for my other subjects and i'll probably get like a 3/4 for math....

haha the distance will definitely be a problem :p Since you are going to have to wait until third year to apply, you can always take Math 1AA3 next year (i.e., second year), and then take Stats 2D03 in 3rd year.

Originally Posted by SciMania

math 1aa3 brings back horrid memories for me lol, i do hope its better now.

I am taking Math 1AA3 right now, and it doesnt seem that bad. There is a lot of help available and the professors/TAs are really great.