somethingcleveraboutspeech
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Posts posted by somethingcleveraboutspeech
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On 1/5/2023 at 10:41 PM, Lucky11 said:
If you don't mind me asking what were your volunteer hours like? My volunteer experience is probably the weakest part of my application due to the pandemic and how hard its been to find volunteer positions. I'm sure many of us can relate. I know that technically it's been waived but I think it still plays a role into the strength of my SOI. I do have some volunteer experience, however, its all with adults and seniors with Aphasia, Dysphasia and Apraxia. Based on previous years I've read that the programs really look for variety and diversity across age groups and disorders in volunteer experiences. Anyone else on the same boat?
Hey - I thought I answered this, but it looks like I didn't. I have about 150 volunteer hours with two different ages but similar populations (adults with aphasia, children with developmental disorders). I was told by the student coordinator at U of T (Robin) that whether or not they even look at the volunteer section of your application depends on the specific person reviewing your application. They really aren't taking it into consideration for the most part. Last year, I put all my work experience into the volunteer section (and wrote in the description that it was paid), but this year I didn't bother. They are really looking at the combination of grades, references, and a kickass statement of intent.
Good luck!
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8 minutes ago, nslp2be said:
Do you mind sharing your SGPA from when you previously applied? And did you ever make the waitlist? Yeah you're right, honestly I don't even want to go to Mac or UofT I just felt like I should just apply everywhere. Or maybe I just want the validation to see if I could get in anyways. But do I really want to donate 100$ to them lol
3.77 in 2021 - waitlisted to U of T and Western, rejected to McMaster
3.82 in 2022 - accepted to both U of T and Western (see my previous post about what happened there... didn't realize I had an outstanding prerequisite to complete).
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6 minutes ago, nslp2be said:
So true! I'm applying to 6, with the application fees of each plus transcript requests, it'll probably be $1000. I'm debating if I should knock McMaster and/or UofT off my list because my GPA isn't very competitive and my grades for their prereqs especially are quite bad lol
Mac is completely grades based. I didn't make the cut the last two years, and my SGPA is lower this year so I'm not even bothering spending the $100. U of T is strongly grades-based too, but they do factor in other things as well.
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5 hours ago, SpeechPath22 said:
Hi guys
this is my second time applying so I am quite familiar with how they calculate sub-GPA. Ultimately, it is calculated on your last 20 credits. So for most students, this is your year 3 & 4 grades. However, for students such as myself who went back to complete extra courses after graduating, they only had to take a couple of my 3rd year classes to make up the 20 credits. In this case, they took the average of all my 3rd year grades , and that became my grade for the remaining courses that make up the 20. Each of the 20 grades is then converted to a gpa calculation (on a 4.0 scale), and then the average of all of those determines what your sub-gpa is. Hopefully this helps!
Do they convert the letter grade or number grade into a gpa calculation? For example, I got an 88% on a course at U of A, which is considered A- at U of A but A elsewhere.
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1 hour ago, NicoleSLP said:
Hi Everyone!
It's my first time applying to SLP programs in Canada and the United States. I am super nervous because I took an extra year as I was suppose to graduate last year and realize how competitive the programs are. I am applying to University of Toronto, Western, McMaster, Uottawa and McGill.
Does anyone know how the sub-GPA is calculated or how they can calculate themselves? Cause I am kind of worried about my GPA cause the last two years of my undergrad my grades have been great (except with one grade that was a C) but because I have to take math to get into the states (i just got my grade back and I passed) but i don't know how it will affect the sub-GPA and if it will be good enough for consideration. I also have a lot of volunteer experience with SLP and in the medical field as well.
I haven't been able to figure out how they calculate SGPA. They post it on ORPAS in February, I believe (someone can correct me if I'm wrong.) At that point, you'll have a better idea of your chances. Your SGPA is the most important factor in getting an interview at McMaster, and it's pretty high up on the list for U of T as well.
Good luck!
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1 minute ago, nslp2be said:
I do the virtual APC group and I haven't had any interaction with an SLP although I'm sure they design the program and activities. I believe its the ACDP group that I think is facilitated by an SLP (tried to get into this one but no space!) But yes I think I'll just keep it as SLP related because it definitely is! Thanks for the feedback!
Ah, maybe you're right! I did the ACDP group. But it's definitely designed/overseen by an SLP so really don't hesitate! Good luck
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2 minutes ago, speechenthusiast said:
I did the after stroke conversation group and the connect and share/hi tech role. I suppose I could put it under the category anyways!
I really think you should. Make sure you talk about it in your SOI, because some of the schools won't even look at the volunteer section.
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Just now, speechenthusiast said:
Oh I've done MODC but I didn't have to meet up with one? What specific program did you do?
I volunteered in the Peterborough group for over a year. It was virtual. We met with the SLP quite often. No matter what, the program is known to be overseen by an SLP. I would not hesitate to put it under SLP/AUD volunteering.
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20 hours ago, nslp2be said:
Question for ORPAS, e.g. for UofT's "volunteer experience in SLP or AUD" should these be only ones where you worked directly with an SLP or AUD or can they just be speech related? For example I included a position with March of Dimes where I work with people with aphasia in a conversation circles, very speech/communication related but there is not an SLP present in the sessions. Wondering if it needs to be moved to "other"
The MODC groups are considered supervised by an SLP. Don't you meet with one periodically?
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1 hour ago, NikolaSLP said:
I had the same problem last year when I took a pre-req at the UofA. The answer depends on the school.
For UofA applications, you only need unofficial transcripts, which should be available to you mid-January from the UofA. From there you can download a copy and upload it to your application.
For the UofT and Western, ORPAS only accepts official transcripts, so you'll have to leave it as IPR, and send the official transcript as soon as you receive it.
Thank you! Very helpful. I am only applying to Ontario universities - I'll leave it as IPR and hope the grade comes back before they review my application since it's going to affect my SGPA quite a bit!
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Hi all,
Always stressful that student affairs coordinators are on break during this time in the application season!
Anybody have any insight on this? I took a prereq course at UAlberta in the fall. The grade will not be available until Feb, so I'm obviously waiting to send in the transcript until then. Should I put IPR on the application? Or mark it as completed?
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Hi! Just to piggy back on this - some schools, like U of T, might not even look at the volunteer section since they waived the requirement. It completely depends on who is reviewing the app. STRONGLY recommend putting any relevant volunteer information into the SOI.
ALSO, I can't seem to find info about this on the website - does the employer reference need to be a current employer? Thank you!
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On 12/13/2022 at 12:09 PM, ElsaNotFrozen said:
Hey! could you tell us which prereq it was? I found UofT's prereqs to be very specific (had to redo phonetics even though I've done it twice in my undergrad) whereas Western's accepts more of a variety of things. Also UofT not accepted prereqs specifically related to speech/language is dumb
(i.e. Anatomy & Physio for speech/language or Human Dev for speech/lang etc)
Don't worry about what prereq it was - it was totally an avoidable error on my part, if I would have looked at U of T's very clear list more carefully. I think I just looked at the wrong line. The prereq was accepted for Western and McMaster but not U of T. Actually, it was accepted for a different prerequisite but not the one I needed it for
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On 12/9/2022 at 12:03 AM, egall said:
Ugh that’s so unfortunate! If you don’t mind sharing what was the prerequisite you didn’t have? Or why the one you thought qualify didn’t?
And yes, third referee can be employerIt's a phonetics course. For some reason, I thought my intro to linguistics course would qualify (I think I looked at the wrong line of the spreadsheet. Totally my error, and an easily avoidable one at that! The problem is that I was accepted even though I did not take the course, and it was not clear to me in my acceptance letter that there was course that I hadn't taken. Therefore, I thought I had already done everything I needed to do!
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Hey friends - third time applying and in a pretty unique position. I was accepted to both Western and UofT and confirmed with UofT. However, my offer of admission was rescinded because there was an incomplete prerequisite that I had no idea about! So let this be a warning: 1) double and triple check that each course satisfies the prereq that you think it does! 2) Read your offer of admission very carefully! It's actually a bit obscure.
AMA!
Also - Anyone know if our third referee an employer this year again?
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Does anybody know of anyone who has ever begged their way into the program after taking the wrong prerequisite after being accepted on conditions??
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Anybody still on this thread?
Was LINA01 from U of T taken off the prerequisite list for phonetics for U of T prerequisites??
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Hi all,
not exactly about admissions, but does anyone know the in-class time commitments for Western, MacMaster, and U of T? Like, how many hours per week is in lecture/class?
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sGPAs posted on ORPAS today... I know that this year and last year there was more weight put on the sGPA for U of T and Western, but you really never know what will make or break your application even on a year where they aren't considering volunteering experience! Good luck everyone... There's nothing we can do to change our fates at this point, we just have to sit back until April 1.
And with that... I'm going to do my best to stay off this forum until then!
- SoaringSLP, SLPEventually, Natalie SLP and 2 others
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Hi everyone! For those of you who applied to U of T through ORPAS... Have your transcripts been submitted yet? I know there's still 10 days until they're due, but I'm getting nervous!
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1 hour ago, speechietobe23 said:
Hi everyone,
Hope you are all doing well! Quick question about the Western application!
1. We are able to use the same full year course to fulfil both the Human Anatomy/Physiology and Life/Biomedical/General Sciences requirement?
2. ORPAS has the option to submit 2 courses for the Human Anatomy/Physiology requirement. Is this a glitch? I feel like it was mentioned in the open house but I can't remember!
Thanks in advance for any clarification!
Hi,
1. yes you can
2. an earlier post says that Janet told them it was a glitch in the system. I only entered one course for the Anatomy/Physiology requirement, and ORPAS says that section of the application is complete.
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23 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:
Hey! I'm applying this year and it looks like the reference letter request is sent right when you upload transcripts and pay. A couple of my references are received even though I haven't submitted anything additional yet.
Ah, I misread the post you are replying to and thought you were talking about ORPAS! Sorry!
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1 hour ago, SoaringSLP said:
Hi there, first time applicant here! In terms of what I did, I wrote slightly different versions of my personal statement for the schools I'm applying to. This was mainly because I know Western wants us to focus more on demonstrating to them what our experiences and skillset is. I talked less about ambitions and got straight to the point about the unique experiences and skills I have. The body of the statements were pretty much the same but the way I went into the letter in explaining my reasoning for picking SLP was a bit different since Western was clear that they want to read less about our ambitions. The very ends of the letters were completely different as they also want us to write about why we want to attend that specific school. I've known people last cycle whose letters for different schools were completely identical except for that very last part. I decided to write slightly different versions because I know Western changed up their prompt this year and were more vehement about what they're looking for (previously, it was the same exact prompt as UofT's). When in doubt, I think it's better to rely on the instructions in the prompt and cater it as much as you can to the specific school you're applying to. It for sure is extra work but better to be as polished as you can.
Very helpful answer! Thank you so much.
Good luck!
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Repeat and first time applicants applying to Ontario universities... Do you suggest writing two different letters of intent for each school? They each write something a bit different about what they're looking for in it. Last year I submitted identical letters, essentially only changing the names of the schools.
Very interested in hearing your thoughts...
2023 Canada Admissions SLP thread
in Speech-Language Pathology Forum
Posted
Did anyone answer you yet? I took it