How Competitive Are SLP Programs (In Canada, Specifically)?

[butt0n]

Hi guys!

I'm currently considering speech-language pathology as an alternative to clinical psychology, and I was wondering, generally, how competitive SLP programs are. I'm in Canada, so if you're able to speak specifically about Canadian programs, that would be great. Also, if anyone has any insight as to what kinds of things are most important for a strong application (research experience, clinical experience, GPA, etc.) that would also be incredibly helpful!

Thanks in advance!

[futureSLPhopefullylol]

I have no clue about Canada, but in America SLP master's programs are extremely competitive. Most people say that a well rounded applicant is what is most sought-after but I'd say that GPA (ESPECIALLY GPA within  communication sciences & disorders major/courses) is what is most important. If your GPA is low, you will have an uphill battle in your applications. For example, my GPA and GRE were strong but I'm pretty sure my letters of rec were average and my resume/in-field experience was quite minimal-- yet I was still accepted into a program that only takes about 20-30% of applicants and was invited to interview at another school (still waiting to hear back from many more schools). If my grades were low I would have had to offset that with amazing letters of rec and would have had to have tooooons more on my resume. 

There isn't really a way to get a ballpark average on how many people are accepted yearly, so the best way to a assess your chances is to look up schools you are interested in on ASHA EdFind and check the stats those schools accept for their Master's program. I used that to get averages of school acceptances rates by dividing "# of admission offers" by "# of applications received" and was able to find out which schools that I was interested in are more highly competitive than others. One school I applied to accepts only about 8% of applicants.  Another I applied to accepts over 50%. 

 

Yes, it's a competitive field but in my opinion that is a good thing because it means we are getting competent clinicians to serve others and it adds to the prestige of this career choice. 

[klfstudent]

I'm a current student in a Canadian school and can tell you that Canadian schools are also very competitive. This website shows the breakdown of requirements, and how many applicants there were last year and spots available for this year based on school. I would guess depending on the school that admission is 10-20% of applicants. https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/orpas-program-requirements/ Also, all of those things you listed are important in the application! Every school weights it a little differently.