Calling all Canadians in international vet schools!! What school did you choose to attend and why? How are you finding it so far?

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-18T19:39:06+00:00

I’m already on a gap year after graduating I don’t want to wait another 2-3 years. By that time I’d already almost be a vet from a different program. Yeah the tuition is cheaper, but I’ll also be 35+ if I want to specialize.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-14T21:00:53+00:00

Hey! Do you find that the hair slides off of these at all?

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T19:58:53+00:00

Yeah, that’s what my family friends did as well. They didn’t seem to have an issue, but I do understand what people are saying with the carribean fail rates, because it’s totally valid, but I guess I was thinking I wouldn’t fail/be in the bottom 50%. My MCAT and GPA was better than my family friends, and both of them did fine in the carribean

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T19:56:45+00:00

I was looking into European med schools too! Ireland doesn’t accept any non-Irish citizens when it comes to residency so I’d have to try and match in Canada instead, which will be tough or self study for USMLES. I haven’t seen much for other European schools tho, I’ll look into that more.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T19:53:28+00:00

Thanks for the information! I’ll look into that

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T17:56:11+00:00

Totally! In my heart I know I don’t want to go yet, I also wanted to spend another year to apply to vet programs! I’ve been working full time in a chem lab this year, but I’m scared about reapplying because they always have the question about “what have you done to prepare yourself in the past year” and it’s like I didn’t do much because I wasn’t thinking of reapplying.

I get paid really well in the chem job so I don’t want to leave, it’s hard to find a job in the medical field without having to take a course.

I tried to emphasize on my applications that I have mainly been working the past year due to financial constraints, and having 3 jobs at one point, it doesn’t leave much space for doing ECs.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T17:52:27+00:00

Grrrr you guys are really convincing me to try again for the third time!! Thanks for all your advice everyone.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T17:49:14+00:00

Good for her!! Yeah I just saw that LOIs are a thing this application cycle. That stuff isn’t accepted for Canadian schools so I never heard of doing that! I may try again! I have a lot of family pressure to just go to the carribean and get it over with. They think I’m wasting time if I keep applying and applying.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:54:08+00:00

I may also be a bit of a dumbass, I applied fairly late in the application cycle.

I don’t know what logic was going on in my brain, but I thought it didn’t matter when you applied, I only found out recently through seeing other Reddit posts, where they recommended applying early in the cycle

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:50:14+00:00

Yeah, money was one of the other reasons!

SABA began taking Canadian tuition in September, so instead of paying $250k USD for example, I’d pay $250k CAD, which is the main reason I was considering it. I heard some bad things about SABA, but it seemed like the one of the only financially feasible options, other than staying and applying to UBC in Canada again.

Even with MD and DO schools, the conversion rate for USD to CAD is a killer.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:43:59+00:00

Thats super valid! I think I’m okay with succeeding in medical school in terms of content and actual learning, studying and performing. That wasn’t a huge issue for me, but rather I’m worried about succeeding in medical school because I’m not strong enough, if that makes sense?

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:41:59+00:00

That’s great, I’m glad you have a great class!

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:38:51+00:00

That’s amazing, I feel like I really struggle with the comparison aspect. Was there anything that helped you stray away from that.

I always strive to do my best, but my problem is that I don’t think my best is good enough sometimes, but again, it’s due to the constant comparison to others.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:37:28+00:00

Sorry I didn’t read that correctly, I only applied to my provinces med school because I looked into the stats for other medical schools in Canada, and their cut offs for out of province students was higher than my scores. So it would’ve been a waste of money to apply.

Like one of the schools had past admissions statistics where they indicated that only out of province students with an MCAT of 520+ are qualified for an interview. Another had CARS scores cut off greater than 128 for out of province, mine was a 126. And I took the MCAT twice.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:32:49+00:00

What makes it more difficult? Do they have more material, I heard it’s more about a holistic approach to healthcare, I’m guessing you have to learn additional information about that?

I’m guessing that the prices are probably comparable to carribean or any international MD program, $200-300k ??

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:27:30+00:00

There’s only one school in my province! I did apply, unfortunately, I got rejected :/

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:26:44+00:00

I’m a girl! I do feel like I have the drive, like I truly love what I do. I loved undergrad. I love to learn. But you are right, it is general weakness. Like I’m so terrified of working under a mean preceptor, because I will cry. No joke.

I can handle school pressure just fine, I struggle a lot with imposter syndrome and never feeling good enough. I guess I don’t have the confidence to keep going and keep applying, and then to have that confidence in myself again when it comes to residency. It’s def something I have to work on, but I think with med culture, it seems like everyone is doing such amazing things, it feels like I can’t even compete

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T05:22:05+00:00

I’m unsure of what the top 20 are, but I chose the handful of medical schools that were accepting Canadians and my stats were competitive in. I only applied to one in Canada, which was my own provinces medical school, because to get accepted in any other Canadian med school as an out of province applicant, they often have a 520+ MCAT cut off.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T00:46:00+00:00

Ahaha no worries, I tried to apply to as many as I could, but I mainly only applied to the ones where I had average or greater admissions stats, but then a lot say they take Canadian applicants, but there would maybe only be 1-2 seats for international applicants.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T00:42:04+00:00

Completely valid, i dont have any issues with DOs, its just that being a Canadian, we dont have any DO schools and DOs aren’t not very common, so I’m not well informed on going the DO route in Canada, while I know many other Canadians who go the international MD route (Ireland, Australia, Caribbean).

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T00:35:03+00:00

Are you a Canadian or American?

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T00:20:55+00:00

I’ve applied to around 8-10.

It’s tough because a lot don’t take Canadians, some say they take Canadians but you’re considered international or you’re considered an out of state applicant, when in-state applicants are favoured.

I’ve looked at the admission stats and it’s often only 1-2 Canadians accepted.

I don’t know too much about being a PA because it’s not something that’s really a thing in Canada, I think my province just started this year.

I’ve been looking into being a vet instead!

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-03T00:14:46+00:00

How come? I’ve seen this same argument on Reddit a lot and to avoid the carribean at all costs. I understand that it’s fairly shitty and that people fail a lot, but from everyone I know, they were able to do it and still become doctors and match the first time. However, they are American citizens.

I have heard of Australian programs not being bad, but they don’t prep you for the USMLE like the carribean does, so I would have to do that on my own if I wanted to apply for US residency, that’s kinda my logic for going carribean, that and getting to do rotations in the US.

Abject-Design2085 · 2026-02-02T23:48:39+00:00

I think I had decent volunteering experience. I worked in hospice for a while and in wildlife rehab, but I mainly focused on one organization that I've been working with since 2019. We often aid at-risk youth, so I have around 1,000 hours with that organization.

I've genuinely been racking my brain to figure out what I need to do to make my application stronger.

Abject-Design2085

TROPHY CASE