2021 Canadian SLP Thread

[Em98]

14 minutes ago, slpgenie said:

I’d love to know as well! PM me if you prefer

Same!

[2021speechie]

28 minutes ago, Em98 said:

Same!

To be honest, myself and two of my good friends received waitlist emails from McGill today & our stats are completely different. I would try not to worry so much about who has what stats & just be patient & see what happens (easier said than done I know!).

I think one thing McGill really emphasizes is research & thats the only thing that none of us had a lot of experience with... So maybe you have a better chance if you have lots of research experience? But for reference, one girl had no SLP experience, one girl had some with kids, and I had 300ish hours with various age groups. We all had pretty high GPAs (all got MMIs at Mac). Two of us are fluent in French. 

I'm just trying to say that there are so many little factors that they will value with different applications you will drive yourself crazy trying to figure out if you got in or not... I'm sure you will hear soon.

Good luck! I hope you get some good news!

[slpeventually127]

1 hour ago, SpeechGirl1212 said:

Those of you that got on the McGuill waitlist, congratulations! Do you mind sharing some of your stats? Might ease some stress of others who are still waiting for an acceptance or rejection  

I was also waitlisted at McGill unfortunately. 

I have taken 2 directed research courses, volunteer in a different lab and received a research scholarship last spring/summer. I have volunteer experience related to SLP as well as other volunteer experience. I also played a varsity sport, served on the Board of Athletics and took part in a mentorship program. I was a member of a couple clubs at my university too. My subGPA was a 3.81

I hope this helps! Good luck to everybody!

[MelissaFuture SLP]

Does mcgill calculate GPA's the same as other schools like Ontario OR Dal?

[coco_SLP]

2 minutes ago, MelissaFuture SLP said:

Does mcgill calculate GPA's the same as other schools like Ontario OR Dal?

No, they're different. The main difference is McGill looks at cumulative GPA, not sub-GPA like all the other schools. Secondly, Dal uses a 4.3 scale, and while ORPAS uses a 4.0 scale like McGill, they are different. The main difference is that for McGill, an A/A+ distinction doesn't exist, so anything 85% or higher is considered 4.0, whereas ORPAS has 3.9 for an A and 4.0 for A+ for the most part (although not every school's conversion lines up perfectly with this). 

Dal's can be found here -> https://www.dal.ca/campus_life/academic-support/grades-and-student-records/grade-scale-and-definitions.html

McGills can be found here -> https://www.mcgill.ca/continuingstudies/grades-and-gpa

ORPAS can be found here -> https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/orpas-conversion-table/

Hope this helps!

[MelissaFuture SLP]

with u of a's 3.3 gpa requirement, is that cumulative or sub?

[neuroling]

2 minutes ago, MelissaFuture SLP said:

with u of a's 3.3 gpa requirement, is that cumulative or sub?

Sub, but be mindful of the fact that it's calculated using the last 60 credits, not based on # of courses like ORPAS  

https://www.ualberta.ca/communications-sciences-and-disorders/programs/msc-in-speech-language-pathology/admissions/admission-requirements/index.html

[MelissaFuture SLP]

Do you know how many people applied to U of A last year or this year?

[coco_SLP]

41 minutes ago, MelissaFuture SLP said:

Do you know how many people applied to U of A last year or this year?

I believe last month someone said Vicki told them they got around 200 this year. I think they typically get around 150-200, but don't quote me on it! I don't know for sure, just going off of previous posts.

[Loly694]

Hi Everyone! Just thought I would jump in here. I am a Western student and have been applying to SLP grad schools for THREE YEARS. This year I applied to Western, McMaster, McGill, Dalhousie. I have been waitlisted at UWO twice now, and rejected from McMaster twice with no interview. 

Some Stats:

• I have a 3.5 sGPA
• 350+ volunteer hours (children in school, children with disabilities, adults with aphasia, adults with autism)
• An honors bachelor degree in psychology from UWO
• A graduate certificate in Autism and Behavioural Sciences from Fanshawe

I haven't heard anything from McGill yet, but I know other people have been waitlisted with higher GPAs than me, so I am assuming I have been rejected? 

I had emailed UWO in 2019 and 2020 to ask why I was waitlisted

• 2019: Improve your prerequisite course marks (which I did for the next application- took 2.5 more credits)
• 2020: Told to improve my letter of intent. Was also told I was in the "4th quadrant" of the waitlist, but wasn't told how many people were on the waitlist. However, I have heard rumors the waitlist is generally about 100 people long. 

[SpeechieWannaB]

11 hours ago, coco_SLP said:

I believe last month someone said Vicki told them they got around 200 this year. I think they typically get around 150-200, but don't quote me on it! I don't know for sure, just going off of previous posts.

She said verbatim to my husband over the phone "approximately 200 applicants this year". This was just after the Feb 1st cutoff, so should be fairly accurate. ?

[neuroling]

42 minutes ago, Loly694 said:

Hi Everyone! Just thought I would jump in here. I am a Western student and have been applying to SLP grad schools for THREE YEARS. This year I applied to Western, McMaster, McGill, Dalhousie. I have been waitlisted at UWO twice now, and rejected from McMaster twice with no interview. 

Some Stats:

• I have a 3.5 sGPA
• 350+ volunteer hours (children in school, children with disabilities, adults with aphasia, adults with autism)
• An honors bachelor degree in psychology from UWO
• A graduate certificate in Autism and Behavioural Sciences from Fanshawe

I haven't heard anything from McGill yet, but I know other people have been waitlisted with higher GPAs than me, so I am assuming I have been rejected? 

I had emailed UWO in 2019 and 2020 to ask why I was waitlisted

• 2019: Improve your prerequisite course marks (which I did for the next application- took 2.5 more credits)
• 2020: Told to improve my letter of intent. Was also told I was in the "4th quadrant" of the waitlist, but wasn't told how many people were on the waitlist. However, I have heard rumors the waitlist is generally about 100 people long. 

Hey! Thank you for sharing, this is helpful information  did they specify how you could improve your LOI? If you feel comfortable sharing 

Edited March 12, 2021 by neuroling

[coco_SLP]

1 hour ago, Loly694 said:

Hi Everyone! Just thought I would jump in here. I am a Western student and have been applying to SLP grad schools for THREE YEARS. This year I applied to Western, McMaster, McGill, Dalhousie. I have been waitlisted at UWO twice now, and rejected from McMaster twice with no interview. 

Some Stats:

• I have a 3.5 sGPA
• 350+ volunteer hours (children in school, children with disabilities, adults with aphasia, adults with autism)
• An honors bachelor degree in psychology from UWO
• A graduate certificate in Autism and Behavioural Sciences from Fanshawe

I haven't heard anything from McGill yet, but I know other people have been waitlisted with higher GPAs than me, so I am assuming I have been rejected? 

I had emailed UWO in 2019 and 2020 to ask why I was waitlisted

• 2019: Improve your prerequisite course marks (which I did for the next application- took 2.5 more credits)
• 2020: Told to improve my letter of intent. Was also told I was in the "4th quadrant" of the waitlist, but wasn't told how many people were on the waitlist. However, I have heard rumors the waitlist is generally about 100 people long. 

Hey! Thanks for providing that info. I hope this year can be the year for you. In regards to McGill, as far as I can tell they haven't sent out any rejections or acceptances yet, so hang in there! However I also want to point out that you say your subGPA is 3.5, but just a heads up that McGill uses cumulative GPA, so depending on what that is for you that could be a factor to consider as well. They mention on their site that the average GPA of admitted students is around 3.8, and while you are below that I've definitely heard of people getting in with below a 3.8 who had plenty of experience. It sounds like you have a bunch of that, as well as a relevant grad certificate. I've also heard they value research a bit, so if you happen to have done an Honours thesis/project for your degree or have any other experience with it from your courses or volunteer hours, then you'd definitely be a good candidate to consider, I think! 

So I'd say keep your hopes up until you hear back for sure

[Want2BeAnSLP]

No acceptances yet for McGill? I find this process extremely odd. I don't see why they would send out waitlist offers ahead of acceptances/rejections. 

[coco_SLP]

Just now, Want2BeAnSLP said:

No acceptances yet for McGill? I find this process extremely odd. I don't see why they would send out waitlist offers ahead of acceptances/rejections. 

Yeah, I think everyone finds it a bit strange that waitlists are first. However, last year McGill contacted a bunch of people on the 11th (acceptance calls) then went radio-silent and didn't contact anyone again until the 16th (acceptance emails, rejections, and waitlists), so there is the possibility we might not hear from them about acceptances/rejections until next week still. 

[SLP_hopeful123]

2 minutes ago, Want2BeAnSLP said:

No acceptances yet for McGill? I find this process extremely odd. I don't see why they would send out waitlist offers ahead of acceptances/rejections. 

I'm wondering the same thing... Maybe they did send out acceptances, but none of us in this forum are a part of that accepted group? ? 

[Luck26]

1 hour ago, SLP_hopeful123 said:

I'm wondering the same thing... Maybe they did send out acceptances, but none of us in this forum are a part of that accepted group? ? 

Based on the stats of the people who got waitlisted I'm waiting for my rejection. It seems crazy that the the standard is so high! 

[SLP2020!!]

Hello!

I called McGill for an update and admin actually told me decisions have not been made yet/finalized and that offers will only be sent via email, no phone call. They are hoping to send offers out Monday she told me! Goodluck everyone  

[Loly694]

3 hours ago, neuroling said:

Hey! Thank you for sharing, this is helpful information  did they specify how you could improve your LOI? If you feel comfortable sharing 

Hi! UWO is not specific. When I ask for feedback they are EXTREMELY general, and therefore not very helpful. So no, I wasn't given any specific feedback on my letter of intent, but they said it just needs to grab the reader's attention more. 

[neuroling]

3 minutes ago, Loly694 said:

Hi! UWO is not specific. When I ask for feedback they are EXTREMELY general, and therefore not very helpful. So no, I wasn't given any specific feedback on my letter of intent, but they said it just needs to grab the reader's attention more. 

ahh, gotcha. Thank you for getting back to me  I have also heard that their waitlist is massive, so it makes sense that their feedback might need to be general, but also frustrating for you. I hope that this year goes well for you, it sounds like you are a really good candidate

[coco_SLP]

50 minutes ago, SLP2020!! said:

Hello!

I called McGill for an update and admin actually told me decisions have not been made yet/finalized and that offers will only be sent via email, no phone call. They are hoping to send offers out Monday she told me! Goodluck everyone  

Thanks for this info!

For those of you who received a waitlist email yesterday, would you mind sharing what time you received the email at? I'm curious if it's an automatic email that was all sent at the same time to all of those individuals who received one, or if they sent them individually one at a time. I think this might give an idea on how they might do it on Monday/next week. 

Maybe I'm just overthinking/eager, haha ?

[Wuglette]

28 minutes ago, coco_SLP said:

Thanks for this info!

For those of you who received a waitlist email yesterday, would you mind sharing what time you received the email at? I'm curious if it's an automatic email that was all sent at the same time to all of those individuals who received one, or if they sent them individually one at a time. I think this might give an idea on how they might do it on Monday/next week. 

Maybe I'm just overthinking/eager, haha ?

I received the email at 9:02AM. Try not to stress too much! ?

[anitnelav]

Hi everyone! I just got an acceptance email from McGill! 

[coco_SLP]

9 minutes ago, anitnelav said:

Hi everyone! I just got an acceptance email from McGill! 

I just received one as well! I am freaking out my goodness! Congratulations to you as well!

[MelissaFuture SLP]

For the people who got accepted, would you mind sharing your cumulative average?