Doctor of Vet Med

[thestral-]

Hi all,

Currently a BSci jaffy hoping to get into dvm and I have a few questions for successful applicants or just anyone who can help
- There's a sample course plan for the animal health and disease major (vet bioscience specialisation) and on it they recommended doing the subject 'Techniques in Molecular Science' and I was wondering if it was worth doing? Is it relatively easy to get marks in?
- In the selection criteria for dvm it says, while not compulsory, having experience working with animals is helpful. Does having work experience boost your application? Does anyone happen to know if vet clinics allow shadowing, or volunteering? Or would I be better off looking to volunteer at animal shelters?
- What % should I aim to bring my WAM up to, to have a really good chance of being accepted into dvm?
- For anyone who's gotten into dvm, and doesn't mind saying, what sort of grades/marks did you get in your subjects? What subjects (other than the prereqs) from BSci did you find was helpful when you got to dvm?
- Is selection for the animal health and disease major vet bioscience specialisation purely on grades?
Majorly slacked off in the first sem and my grades/wam payed the price, it's sinking in how much I need to up my game to have a chance for dvm, so any and all tips would be extremely appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance!

[kingfisher]

- There's a sample course plan for the animal health and disease major (vet bioscience specialisation) and on it they recommended doing the subject 'Techniques in Molecular Science' and I was wondering if it was worth doing? Is it relatively easy to get marks in?
Can't tell you about the subject (have a look at the subject reviews on here) but I believe as long as you do first year bio and biochem you can do any subjects you like, the study plan is just to give you ideas.
- In the selection criteria for dvm it says, while not compulsory, having experience working with animals is helpful. Does having work experience boost your application? Does anyone happen to know if vet clinics allow shadowing, or volunteering? Or would I be better off looking to volunteer at animal shelters?
Honestly I think most of the application is your marks but if they're deciding between the last few people they'll look at experience. From what I've heard they really like large animal experience as a lot of people have small animal experience. Not all clinics will allow shadowing but it's definitely worth asking, and if you can't find anywhere then volunteering would still be really helpful (if not to boost your application just to boost your animal handling skills).
- What % should I aim to bring my WAM up to, to have a really good chance of being accepted into dvm?
It varies from year to year but around 81-82+ gives you a good chance at a CSP while high 70's + should give you a shot at full fee. They weight your marks 75:25 towards any level 2 subjects (so bad marks in first year shouldn't have too much of an impact) and they only count science subjects, so unfortunately you can't take easy breadth subjects to boost your WAM
- For anyone who's gotten into dvm, and doesn't mind saying, what sort of grades/marks did you get in your subjects? What subjects (other than the prereqs) from BSci did you find was helpful when you got to dvm?
I won't go into my marks but I had a H1 average when I applied. Subjects I thought helped were physiology (preferably animal but human probably would have been ok as well), principles of microbiology and immunology (would highly recommend as people struggle with these a lot), pharmacology (some of this content is repeated by the same lecturers in DVM1 so definitely a head start!) and some subjects like companion animal biology and animals in society are interesting and a bit helpful.
- Is selection for the animal health and disease major vet bioscience specialisation purely on grades?
Pretty much   You do write a personal statement and like I said they might look at it if they're deciding between the last few people (they rank you based on your score and only take the top 70-80).
Majorly slacked off in the first sem and my grades/wam payed the price, it's sinking in how much I need to up my game to have a chance for dvm, so any and all tips would be extremely appreciated.
Like I said, they weight your marks so the subjects you do in second year are worth a lot more, so don't stress too much yet!! Personally I found it a lot easier to study and do well in subjects that were more animal/veterinary related, so when you get the chance pick subjects that sound interesting and hopefully that helps !

[thestral-]

- There's a sample course plan for the animal health and disease major (vet bioscience specialisation) and on it they recommended doing the subject 'Techniques in Molecular Science' and I was wondering if it was worth doing? Is it relatively easy to get marks in?
Can't tell you about the subject (have a look at the subject reviews on here) but I believe as long as you do first year bio and biochem you can do any subjects you like, the study plan is just to give you ideas.
- In the selection criteria for dvm it says, while not compulsory, having experience working with animals is helpful. Does having work experience boost your application? Does anyone happen to know if vet clinics allow shadowing, or volunteering? Or would I be better off looking to volunteer at animal shelters?
Honestly I think most of the application is your marks but if they're deciding between the last few people they'll look at experience. From what I've heard they really like large animal experience as a lot of people have small animal experience. Not all clinics will allow shadowing but it's definitely worth asking, and if you can't find anywhere then volunteering would still be really helpful (if not to boost your application just to boost your animal handling skills).
- What % should I aim to bring my WAM up to, to have a really good chance of being accepted into dvm?
It varies from year to year but around 81-82+ gives you a good chance at a CSP while high 70's + should give you a shot at full fee. They weight your marks 75:25 towards any level 2 subjects (so bad marks in first year shouldn't have too much of an impact) and they only count science subjects, so unfortunately you can't take easy breadth subjects to boost your WAM
- For anyone who's gotten into dvm, and doesn't mind saying, what sort of grades/marks did you get in your subjects? What subjects (other than the prereqs) from BSci did you find was helpful when you got to dvm?
I won't go into my marks but I had a H1 average when I applied. Subjects I thought helped were physiology (preferably animal but human probably would have been ok as well), principles of microbiology and immunology (would highly recommend as people struggle with these a lot), pharmacology (some of this content is repeated by the same lecturers in DVM1 so definitely a head start!) and some subjects like companion animal biology and animals in society are interesting and a bit helpful.
- Is selection for the animal health and disease major vet bioscience specialisation purely on grades?
Pretty much   You do write a personal statement and like I said they might look at it if they're deciding between the last few people (they rank you based on your score and only take the top 70-80).
Majorly slacked off in the first sem and my grades/wam payed the price, it's sinking in how much I need to up my game to have a chance for dvm, so any and all tips would be extremely appreciated.
Like I said, they weight your marks so the subjects you do in second year are worth a lot more, so don't stress too much yet!! Personally I found it a lot easier to study and do well in subjects that were more animal/veterinary related, so when you get the chance pick subjects that sound interesting and hopefully that helps !

Legend! This was super helpful, thank you so much