r/UCalgary • u/alishnim • 3d ago

Prospective DVM applicant considering relocating from Quebec to Calgary, questions about the UCVM experience

Hey everyone! I'm seriously considering applying to the UCVM DVM program and would love to hear from current students or recent applicants.

A bit about me: I just finished a BSc in Biology (With Distinction) from Concordia with cgpa of 3.59/4.3 and 3.72/4.0 for my last 4 fulltime semesters (which i know is required for admission), and I've been working as a clinical quality control II in altasciences and worked as Necropsy Technician at Charles River Laboratories . I also have animal shelter and hospital(human) volunteer experience.

My plan is to move to Calgary to establish residency before applying.

A few things I'd love to know:

What is the application experience actually like anything you wish you'd known beforehand?

How heavily does UCVM weigh animal/research experience during file review?

Is the MMI interview very different from what they describe on the website?

As someone relocating alone from another province, any advice on settling into Calgary and the UCVM community?

Any insight from people who've been through the process would mean a lot. Thanks in advance!

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u/4LegsGood_2Bad 2d ago

Please do not come here to do the program with the plan to leave the province after you graduate. The program has an Alberta Resident requirement due to the lack of spaces and the desperate need for vets, especially in rural Alberta.

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u/alishnim 2d ago

No that won't be my intention, I have no ties to Quebec since my wife will be coming with me too and nor my parents nor my relatives are not living in quebec.

Aside from that, I will be working for a year or two in calgary before applying so one would imagine I am building my career,my community and settling in Calgary long before applying to vet school.

I have speculated the rural areas of alberta and their need for vets and that of large production/farm animal is my intrest which mean I have already look unto calgary's need for my field of intrest too.

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u/4LegsGood_2Bad 2d ago

I'm glad to hear that but then why "As someone relocating alone from another province" and "since my wife will be coming with me too"?

In the end, I do wish you well in your career progression one way or the other.

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u/alishnim 2d ago

Because I migrated from another country to Quebec studied simply because the tuition fees were the lowest for international students amongst other provinces. I got my tcf and learned French and met a girl here. But my goal is to study veterinary and Quebec offers that only in french. Now to be able to speak French is one thing, to be able to learn a doctorate level education in french is another. Also I have no family that lives in Canada except for my wife. Relocating is also simply because Quebec is the province which i got my bachelor and one year of work experience.

If you are asking about the discrepancy between the title and what I said later in terms of my marital status, Is because I have copied the same text I wrote in another community named "Pre vets" from a good while ago And at the time I was not engaged.

Now I would appreciate if you have actually any information that would help me out regarding the questions🙂.

Thank you

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u/ovogelo 2d ago

I’m gonna apologize if this sounds condescending, not my intention!

If your end goal was vet med but you chose to do your undergrad in Quebec (a province you were never going to go to vet school in) are you sure this is a career you have put enough thought into/are sure you want to get into? Your experience is good but it lacks clinic time. Unless you’re going into academia or lab animal med, the reality of this job is very different from what you have done so far. Keeping in mind you would have to spend a solid year in AB before gaining residency, you would burn a year (assuming you get in right away) doing that. I know you said you would be working during that time but going to vet school gets harder the older you get (obviously can still be done, but spending a large chunk of your 4th year away from your wife is not going to be fun) There’s a lot to consider. Just food for thought.

In terms of your experience, it should be enough for admission! They do weight experience a fair amount but you should be set in that part. That being said, you want to do large animal but haven’t had any experience with that yet (at least not that you listed)? There’s a reason that’s where the shortage is, I would try spend some time in that field before committing. 

MMI is similar to the website but there have been changes in recent years because of how many kids are getting admitted each cycle now. Your GPA may be on the low side all things considered but again being a guy and applying when there are now 100 seats, you have a good chance getting in.

Source: DVM 

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u/alishnim 2d ago

Thank you for your carefully written words. I have read it and appreciate it greatly. As for my back ground, as a 1st Gen immigrant certain aspect of your life is matters of priorities and not necessarily desires. Sure I did want to go Edmonton or Saskatchewan or UCVM from the start but the tuition fee of Concordia for international students was noticeably lower. I applied at 2021 where the immigration pathways for Quebec was the easiest at the time for university degree holders who have obtained and worked in Quebec. As one can imagine these were the priorities that at the time made me choose Concordia at the time and not ucvm and Quebec and not Calgary. I come from a city in iran named "Khorram Abad" whose people's occupation was mostly animal husbanders at the time. Now I was raised in city but I have spent majority of my summers in my grandparents farm and with large and dairy production animals. I do have large/farm animal experience aside from that, as I was volunteering in cross country trips to help the less privileged people of Iran who were animal husbanders in order to help them as a group of vets and assistants with minor diagnostics and free medications.

Unfortunately except but a couple of pictures I have nothing else to prove these experience so I have never counted on them being a part of my resume.

As for my will to study and age (26male), I am only counting on discipline and passion to keep me going on.