Hey!
I'm currently a student at Western, and I did my undergrad at Mac - I picked Western because of how established the school is, based on how long it's been around. I know Mac's program is pretty new, which detoured me a bit. The program is likely focused around problem-based learning (because Mac is where the whole PBL thing originated), so I anticipate that it would be a lot of self-directed learning and group work, which isn't necessarily bad in this field. However, I tend to learn better with a more guided approach. Here, the profs will give you the knowledge, examples and theory, then you're expected to apply the knowledge via clinical cases either in the form of individual or group work. I do feel quite confident in the classes I've taken, and quite honestly, in this field, you'll never really feel like you know everything 100%. There will always be people with things you've never seen before.
In terms of environment, everyone here (students and professors) are all there to help you succeed. Notes/resources are shared openly to everyone and everyone is very encouraging and supportive of each other. Professors are incredibly understanding and passionate about what they teach. As for placements, Western is the only school with a on-site clinic. The HA Leeper Clinic is actually in our building and is a fully functioning clinic with speech and hearing services to the public. As SLP students, we have access to clinic resources (e.g. testing/assessment materials etc.) that are helpful to our assignments. We also have first placements in the clinic, with SLPs/clinical supervisors who know what courses we've taken and so they know the extent of our knowledge and help us as they see fit (which is super re-assuring as a novice clinician heading into your first placement).
