The University of Sydney

For competitive programs, many universities will only accept applications from students who have studied within the last 10 years. Universities want to make sure the knowledge that students have is still relevant and that students are prepared to take on additional studies. If you’ve studied more than 10 years ago, consider the following options:

1. Complete another degree
If you haven’t completed a degree within the last 10 years and your program of choice requires it, you’ll need to complete another degree. For some universities, this may mean you can complete a master’s (or bachelor’s) degree in Canada and then apply again.

University of Sydney DVM – You must be able to provide evidence that you’ve passed the prerequisite subjects with at least credit average by showing the official transcript with final mark. There is some flexibility for applicants who have stayed in scientific academia.

University of Melbourne DVM – If you graduated more than 10 years ago, you’ll be required to demonstrate your capacity for continued study. Typically, this would mean demonstrating that your knowledge of the prerequisite subjects are still current by having achieved a mark of at least 70% in each of those subjects within the last three years.

University of Queensland BVSc – Qualifications completed more than 10 years ago may be considered as basis for admission to undergraduate or postgraduate programs; however, credit will not be granted for studies completed more than 10 years ago.

2. Complete additional studies and re-apply

University of Sydney DVM

Must complete another degree – Where there are more than one completed degrees, the best GPA will be used. GPA is calculated over the entire duration of the degree and all years of study are weighted equally. Results from completed honours and postgraduate coursework degrees are included in the GPA calculation. Incomplete degree results will not be included. The discipline of the degree is not considered during the ranking process.

University of Melbourne DVM

Complete additional upper-level science courses – The University of Melbourne will consider upper-year science subjects (300- and 400-level courses), rather than cumulative GPA. Melbourne weights their science GPA 75:25 toward the 400-level subjects, meaning your 400-level courses are weighed 3 times as much as your 300 level. Subjects can be taken outside a degree (non-award) will be considered. Courses must be science subjects Melbourne defines a science subject as a subject dealing with the scientific basis of physical or biological sciences, but not including social sciences such as sociology, human behavior, history of science, economics, philosophy (including philosophy of science), and anthropology. This list is indicative and not comprehensive.

If your GPA does not meet the minimum requirement for veterinary medicine, we’re not able to submit the application.

University of Melbourne DVM

• Complete additional upper-level science courses – The University Melbourne will consider upper-year science subjects (300- and 400-level courses), rather than cumulative GPA. Melbourne weights their science GPA 75:25 toward the 400-level subjects, meaning your 400-level courses are weighed 3 times as much as your 300 level. Subjects can be taken outside a degree (non-award) will be considered. Courses must deal with the scientific basis of physical or biological sciences, but not including social sciences such as sociology, human behavior, history of science, economics, philosophy (including philosophy of science), and anthropology. This list is indicative and not comprehensive.

University of Sydney DVM

• Must complete another degree – For the University of Sydney’s DVM program, where there are more than one completed bachelor’s degrees, the best GPA will be used. GPA is calculated over the entire duration of the degree and all years of study are weighted equally. Results from completed Honours and postgraduate coursework degrees are included in the GPA calculation. Incomplete degree results will not be included. The discipline of the degree is not considered during the ranking process.

Undergraduate veterinary degrees (Sydney BVB/DVM and UQ BVSc)

• Take college/university studies – The GPA requirement is lower for applicants with a year of more of post-secondary studies (uni or college).

Consider another program
If you’re interested in working with animals, but the other options won’t work for you, consider completing a degree in veterinary technology, zoology, animal or environmental conservation, etc. instead, as long as your GPA meets the minimum requirements.

If you haven’t taken courses in the required prerequisite areas, but you are still interested in applying to the program, you will need to make up for this course on your own.

Enroll in the missing prerequisite(s)
You’ll need to provide a transcript showing that you have enrolled in the missing prerequisite(s) before we can submit your application to the university. This will allow the university to proceed with your primary assessment. Once you’ve successfully completed your course(s), you’ll need to provide a final transcript so the university can complete your assessment.

Melbourne and Sydney DVM

• Take an intro-level university course – Generally, introduction courses work best for the prerequisite requirements as they cover a broad range of understanding.

University of Queensland BVSc

• Take a high school-level calculus course – Many students do so either through summer school, at another institution, or online. Keep in mind, the course must be a full calculus course. Pre-calculus and math courses which cover only some calculus content will not suffice.
• Take an intro-level college or university calculus course – You will need to provide the course outline for this subject for a prerequisite assessment to confirm comparability. Read more about overseas equivalents for UQ’s Bachelor of Veterinary Science. Be sure to provide the course outline before you enroll! We can ask UQ to assess a course before an app is submitted to confirm the course will meet the requirements.
• Take a course through Unilearn – Offers a self-paced online course, Senior Mathematics (UNL32), which satisfies the Mathematics B prerequisites requirement as noted in the Bridging Subject table. The Unilearn course allows you to enroll at any time and typically takes 18–26 weeks to complete.

Some Australian veterinary programs require animal-handling experience as part of their entry requirements:

Sydney BVB/DVM
Requires 5 days of animal-handling experience, which can be part of a paid position, volunteer work, or part of a courses. On the supplementary application, you’ll need to briefly describe your experience and outline the specific tasks/experiences you gained.

Sydney DVM
Requires a minimum of 28 days of relevant work and animal-handling experience. A substantial portion of this must have been completed within 2 years prior to application. You’ll need to include supporting documents for experience, e.g., reference letters, certificates, or forms that provide evidence of the number of hours you worked or volunteered.

Consider applying to the following intake
What a difference a year can make! If you lack animal-handling experience, consider gaining some in the following areas:

• Animal production industries such as sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, horses, and poultry
• Veterinary clinical practice
• Other relevant animal-industry experience including government bodies, charities, and research organizations

Some examples of what the committee might look for in an applicant include

• breadth of experience across a variety of species, or depth of experience in a particular species;
• research experience;
• overall experience and length of experiences;
• commitment and interest in the profession; and
• rural experiences.

Introduction courses work best for the prerequisite requirements because the universities are looking for a wide range of understanding and not necessarily specific content often covered in the higher-level courses.

For the University of Melbourne’s DVM prerequisites, the university has done a pre-assessment on biochemistry courses at some Canadian universities. The university has only pre-assessed courses for their medicine, dentistry, and physiotherapy programs, and not for the DVM, although it gives DVM applicants an idea of which courses will likely be approved for the DVM biochemistry prerequisite. Melbourne does not do a pre-assessment for the general biology/cell biology prerequisites; however, typical biology and cellbiology courses don’t seem to have issues meeting the requirements.

The University of Sydney does not pre-assess courses for any of the prerequisite areas. If you are curious you can compare the course content of your courses to Sydney’s courses with the links provided in the table below.

DVM Prerequisite requirement – University of Sydney Unit that meets this requirement

• General chemistry (physical and inorganic) – CHEM1111 Chemistry 1A or CHEM1911 Chemistry 1A (Advanced)
• Organic chemistry – CHEM1112 Chemistry 1B or CHEM1912 Chemistry 1B(Advanced)
• Biology – BIOL1006 and/or BIOL1007
• Biochemistry – VETS1032 or BCMB2001 or BCMB2002

Applicants must have completed certain prerequisite units of study at bachelor’s degree level to be eligible for entry into the DVM programs.

Applicants are asked to submit official course outlines to prove that they’ve completed these program prerequisites. These prerequisites are assessed by the university to determine whether they fit their requirement and the universities use these official course outlines to do this assessment.

The university will be looking for the detailed course outlines, such as the ones that are handed out at the beginning of the course which must contain a lecture schedule. If you do not have these on hand, please contact the faculty from which you undertook these courses.

Undergraduate-entry Programs

UQ BVSc
Applicants will be assessed primarily on their academic achievement in their final year of high school or cumulative average in their post-secondary studies if they have a year or more of studies. Admissions for the BVSc program run on rolling admissions, which means applications are assessed in the order they are received, and applicants are assessed against the requirements and not against other applicants.

Sydney BVB/DVM
Sydney’s BVB/DVM program assesses applicants primarily on their academic achievement in their final year of high school or cumulative average in their post-secondary studies if they have a year or more of studies. The applicant’s commitment to the health and welfare of animals will also be considered in the assessment. Applications are assessed on a rolling admissions basis and applicants are assessed against the requirements and not against other applicants.

Graduate-entry Programs

Melbourne DVM
Selection into the Melbourne DVM will be primarily based on your upper-year science subjects (300- and 400-level courses), rather than cumulative GPA. Melbourne weights their science GPA 75:25 toward the 400-level subjects, meaning your 400-level courses are weighed 3 times as much as your 300 level.

Melbourne defines a science subject as a subject dealing with the scientific basis of physical or biological sciences, but not including social sciences such as sociology, human behavior, history of science, economics, philosophy (including philosophy of science), and anthropology. This list is indicative and not comprehensive.

Applicants with a 75% average and above in these courses should apply. In ranking applications, Melbourne’s Selection Committee will consider your prior academic performance and your personal statement.

Admissions for this program run on a rolling-admissions basis, which means applications are assessed in the order they are received, and applicants are assessed against the requirements and not against other applicants.

Sydney DVM
The GPA is calculated over the entire duration of the bachelor’s degree and all years of study are weighted equally. Only results from completed bachelor’s and postgraduate coursework degrees are included in the GPA calculation. Sydney does not consider the discipline of the bachelor’s degree during the ranking process.

Admissions run on a pooled-application process, where applicants are pooled and assessed against one another after the application deadline. Applicants who have achieved the minimum GPA (and other admission requirements) are then ranked on academic performance. Entry is highly competitive in this program so meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee entry. The higher your GPA, the better your chances of receiving an offer.

Melb DVM: Applicants with a 77% average and above

Syd DVM: Applicants with a 85% average and above

UQ BVSc: Applicants with previous university studies: 75% average and above; directly from high school: 88% average and above

Syd BVB +DVM: 85%–86% average and above (this program is for high school graduates only)