2021 Canadian SLP Thread

[CCSLP94]

57 minutes ago, Want2BeAnSLP said:

Does anyone know the exact date McGill sends out acceptances? I know their website says mid-March but I was wondering if anyone knew what date it was in previous years? Getting tired of checking non-stop and would love to have a firmer date lol

Last year, the first acceptance to McGill posted in our forum was on March 11. I was told that the year before was March 14.

[coco_SLP]

2 hours ago, Want2BeAnSLP said:

Does anyone know the exact date McGill sends out acceptances? I know their website says mid-March but I was wondering if anyone knew what date it was in previous years? Getting tired of checking non-stop and would love to have a firmer date lol

 

1 hour ago, CCSLP94 said:

Last year, the first acceptance to McGill posted in our forum was on March 11. I was told that the year before was March 14.

This! It seems like they're super consistent with releasing them the second or third week of March, and also I just wanted to add that they've often called people first (before sending an email) which can take a while since they need to get through everyone, so it seems like in the past it's sometimes taken them a day or two to get all of the acceptances out  so if you see people post on here they've got accepted, don't be too discouraged right away as they might have just not got to you, if you happen to be accepted. The grad apply portal seems to update after they've contacted the accepted people.

[SpeechieWannaB]

I've gotten like 4 emails from the U of A in less than 24 hours TOTALLY unrelated to my application... pretty sure someone is trying to drive me mad ? #cruel 

[coco_SLP]

22 minutes ago, SpeechieWannaB said:

I've gotten like 4 emails from the U of A in less than 24 hours TOTALLY unrelated to my application... pretty sure someone is trying to drive me mad ? #cruel 

Ah that's crazy! Are you a student there right now or something?

[Wugs]

For those of you applying to U of A not currently living in Edmonton, do you plan to live on Res or rent off-campus? 

[SpeechieWannaB]

19 minutes ago, coco_SLP said:

Ah that's crazy! Are you a student there right now or something?

Yes. I'm an open studies student finishing a pre req., but I'm also an alumna. Apparently I'm still on their email list for undergrad stuff too, so I'm seeing a barrage of junk mail due to it being so close to the start of the month ?

[coco_SLP]

20 minutes ago, Wugs said:

For those of you applying to U of A not currently living in Edmonton, do you plan to live on Res or rent off-campus? 

If I get in, I think I'd be living off-campus as it seems much more affordable than residence by looking at their website and comparing it to the rental prices. 

What about you?

 

12 minutes ago, SpeechieWannaB said:

Yes. I'm an open studies student finishing a pre req., but I'm also an alumna. Apparently I'm still on their email list for undergrad stuff too, so I'm seeing a barrage of junk mail due to it being so close to the start of the month ?

Oh haha, my school is the same way. Always on Mondays it seems for me, because we get a covid-update, an email from the president, an email from the faculty, the department, etc... Non-stop dinging! One of these days soon it could be something else though  

How did you like your time at UA? Like the campus, services, faculty, etc. if you don't mind me asking?

[neuroling]

28 minutes ago, Wugs said:

For those of you applying to U of A not currently living in Edmonton, do you plan to live on Res or rent off-campus? 

I was planning on off-campus if that's where I end up - it's a central campus anyways and it does seem cheaper than res 

[Em98]

40 minutes ago, Wugs said:

For those of you applying to U of A not currently living in Edmonton, do you plan to live on Res or rent off-campus? 

I go to the U of A now and rent a house off campus. I have friends who lived in the upper year res and renting off campus gets you a nicer place for a similar price. It might be getting a bit cheaper too since there are two apartment buildings being built right by my house (about a 5 minute walk to Corbett hall where speech is) but I don't know if they'll be finished in time for September. 

1 hour ago, SpeechieWannaB said:

I've gotten like 4 emails from the U of A in less than 24 hours TOTALLY unrelated to my application... pretty sure someone is trying to drive me mad ? #cruel 

Haha same! They've started sending out like 5 emails a week, I'm scared I won't even notice if I get an email about speech ?

[SpeechieWannaB]

18 minutes ago, coco_SLP said:

 

oh haha, my school is the same way. Always on Mondays it seems for me, because we get a covid-update, an email from the president, an email from the faculty, the department, etc... Non-stop dinging! One of these days soon it could be something else though  

How did you like your time at UA? Like the campus, services, faculty, etc. if you don't mind me asking?

The campus is beautiful in the fall ? 

Part of the dentistry building is under construction, so some parts are a bit of an eye sore temporarily. But overall, I loved it.

I've never lived on campus, so I can't really speak to the quality of living arrangements or anything.... 

I was in education before, so the faculty was awesome and VERY personable. A great experience all around.

Speaking to the Comm. Sci. and Disorders team, I've worked with Dr. Trelani Chapman in her Child Language and Lit Lab on campus, and she's amazing! Also, I've interacted with Sandy Diedew (the SLP mentor for the on-site speech clinic for masters students in Corbett Hall) when my kiddo went through the spring speech clinic. Honestly, I've heard SO many great things about the department from many of my SLP friends/work related acquaintances that I'm excited for the opportunity to learn from them. Fingers crossed ?

[coco_SLP]

26 minutes ago, SpeechieWannaB said:

The campus is beautiful in the fall ? 

Part of the dentistry building is under construction, so some parts are a bit of an eye sore temporarily. But overall, I loved it.

I've never lived on campus, so I can't really speak to the quality of living arrangements or anything.... 

I was in education before, so the faculty was awesome and VERY personable. A great experience all around.

Speaking to the Comm. Sci. and Disorders team, I've worked with Dr. Trelani Chapman in her Child Language and Lit Lab on campus, and she's amazing! Also, I've interacted with Sandy Diedew (the SLP mentor for the on-site speech clinic for masters students in Corbett Hall) when my kiddo went through the spring speech clinic. Honestly, I've heard SO many great things about the department from many of my SLP friends/work related acquaintances that I'm excited for the opportunity to learn from them. Fingers crossed ?

This is really good to hear! Thank you for sharing, I'm glad to hear so many good things about it. Also it sounds like you've got some really good experience as well, so best of luck with your application!  

[SpeechieWannaB]

8 minutes ago, coco_SLP said:

This is really good to hear! Thank you for sharing, I'm glad to hear so many good things about it. Also it sounds like you've got some really good experience as well, so best of luck with your application!  

Thanks so much! Praying it's "enough" lol.

Best wishes to you, too! Perhaps we will cross paths someday ?

[senate]

Can't log into U of Alberta GSMS portal since yesterday. Anyone else facing the same issue? Says "invalid login".

[coco_SLP]

5 hours ago, senate said:

Can't log into U of Alberta GSMS portal since yesterday. Anyone else facing the same issue? Says "invalid login".

Mine is letting me right now! But I think I saw a thing the other day saying the site was going to be down for a few days for maintenance, I can't remember the exact dates but it should be up soon again, if not already.

[tazm]

For anyone who applied with volunteer hours, did you still get your SLP to write a reference letter?

[MHTherapy]

2 minutes ago, tazm said:

For anyone who applied with volunteer hours, did you still get your SLP to write a reference letter?

Yes, I got my SLP to provide a clinical reference letter, although the requirement was waived this year! 

[Wuglette]

19 minutes ago, tazm said:

For anyone who applied with volunteer hours, did you still get your SLP to write a reference letter?

No.  At first I had misunderstood Western's statement, and I thought that they wouldn't accept references from SLPs at all, and so I lined up my current boss to be my professional reference and used her for all of the schools asking for professional references. I didn't realise until later that I could have still asked an SLP to serve as my professional reference. I am hoping that they don't see this as a bad thing! 

[tazm]

Just now, Wuglette said:

No.  At first I had misunderstood Western's statement, and I thought that they wouldn't accept references from SLPs at all, and so I lined up my current boss to be my professional reference and used her for all of the schools asking for professional references. I didn't realise until later that I could have still asked an SLP to serve as my professional reference. I am hoping that they don't see this as a bad thing! 

I don't think they would! I also was confused by their statement. I understand covid has made it hard for people to get volunteer hours but most of the schools say the students with hours wont have that as an advantage which I also think is not fair as some of us spent years getting the hours

[SpeechieWannaB]

6 hours ago, senate said:

Can't log into U of Alberta GSMS portal since yesterday. Anyone else facing the same issue? Says "invalid login".

Mine just let me in... might have been the maintenence issue (as suggested)? Is it working now? 

[onaspeechcrayz]

47 minutes ago, tazm said:

For anyone who applied with volunteer hours, did you still get your SLP to write a reference letter?

Yes, I submitted just for Western. UofT was not accepting a clinical reference. 

Also, I would love to get you opinions on this: Do you think schools will till take into account the amount of volunteer experience in making their admission decisions? Or do you think they truly don't care if we have any?

[Wuglette]

1 minute ago, onaspeechcrayz said:

Yes, I submitted just for Western. UofT was not accepting a clinical reference. 

Also, I would love to get you opinions on this: Do you think schools will till take into account the amount of volunteer experience in making their admission decisions? Or do you think they truly don't care if we have any?

I don't know about the other schools, but I asked UofT directly and they said that clinical experience/volunteering would not have any influence on their admission decisions unfortunately. 

[neuroling]

58 minutes ago, tazm said:

For anyone who applied with volunteer hours, did you still get your SLP to write a reference letter?

I got a letter of reference from an SLP. I had asked her in 2019 or early 2020 (can't remember) and their site indicated that it was ok if you had made prior arrangements. 

3 minutes ago, Wuglette said:

I don't know about the other schools, but I asked UofT directly and they said that clinical experience/volunteering would not have any influence on their admission decisions unfortunately. 

Wow, that's pretty crazy! If anyone has asked Western the same thing I'd love to know what they said

Edited March 4, 2021 by neuroling

[Owl.on.a.Slide]

3 minutes ago, onaspeechcrayz said:

Yes, I submitted just for Western. UofT was not accepting a clinical reference. 

Also, I would love to get you opinions on this: Do you think schools will till take into account the amount of volunteer experience in making their admission decisions? Or do you think they truly don't care if we have any?

I think it'd be extremely unfair for them not to consider volunteering experiences at all. As tazm mentioned, some people spent years accumulating hundreds of hours. Hypothetically, Covid would have affected those that did not do any volunteering up until March 2020, which would have been a bit late to start. Also it made it harder but not impossible to get hours (I'm still doing online volunteering), so the fair thing would be to give it less weight.

[CCSLP94]

5 minutes ago, onaspeechcrayz said:

Yes, I submitted just for Western. UofT was not accepting a clinical reference. 

Also, I would love to get you opinions on this: Do you think schools will till take into account the amount of volunteer experience in making their admission decisions? Or do you think they truly don't care if we have any?

My guess would be that it will not really play a role except in extreme circumstances. For example, let's say there are 2 applicants who are considered perfectly equal in every other way but one has volunteer experience and one doesn't. In that case, I might guess that they would choose the one with volunteer hours over the one without.

[onaspeechcrayz]

1 minute ago, slp2020ab said:

I think it'd be extremely unfair for them not to consider volunteering experiences at all. As tazm mentioned, some people spent years accumulating hundreds of hours. Hypothetically, Covid would have affected those that did not do any volunteering up until March 2020, which would have been a bit late to start. Also it made it harder but not impossible to get hours (I'm still doing online volunteering), so the fair thing would be to give it less weight.

I agree with you. I started volunteering in second year and have still continued to volunteer during the pandemic. All-together, I have upwards of 200 hours. but get how it could be hard for some people who haven't gotten many hours yet.