2021 Canadian SLP Thread

[SPCH]

I was accepted off the Dalhousie waitlist last week and declined the offer yesterday so someone should get some good news soon!

[rmaam]

4 hours ago, SPCH said:

I was accepted off the Dalhousie waitlist last week and declined the offer yesterday so someone should get some good news soon!

congrats ! but hey, meanwhile there's NO news about Uottawa's waitlist...  I'm loosing hope to be honest. 

[SpeechieAlly]

On 7/5/2021 at 8:38 PM, SLPabc said:

Hello! When looking for shadowing experience is it better to directly contact speech clinics or individual SLP's?

Hi

Personally I would go the individual route if emails are available. Depending on how big the clinic is sometimes they have a coordinator who arranges these things as part of their job.

[SpeechieAlly]

On 7/6/2021 at 2:24 PM, Speechie43 said:

Hey everyone! just wanted some advice about what I should do. I just graduated from Linguistics and got refused from McMaster and McGill. Next year I’ll be applying to more Uni’s including UofT & Dalhousie. My gpa is 3.33 but my sub-gpa is 3.6. Does anyone know how I can improve my chances to get accepted? Do they look more at the gpa or subGPA? Also, note that I have over 500 hours of experience at an SLP clinic and autistic school. What more can I do to increase my chances? Do I retake courses, or is there something else I can do? Please help! Thanks in advance!

Disclaimer: I haven't been admitted to any school, just an applicant, so my advice is based on my personal experience and info gathered from others

I believe McGill is the only English school that looks at cumulative GPA. With your overall I would probably focus on schools that look at sGPA. sGPA is the best way to improve your chances of getting into a school. McMaster this year offered interviews to those with 3.8+ sGPAs. It appears that most schools really value high grades! Would you consider applying to Western? They are one of the few schools who seem to take students with lower GPAs/high volunteer hours. Take more courses or even a semester if possible to boost your grades-aim for at least 3.7, but 3.8 is much safer.

Make sure your academic reference letters are written by the highest level profs that know you. This isn't as important, but it can edge you just a little bit higher. 

Assuming that the amount of hours is good, I would also take a look at your personal statement. Don't rush it and have more than one person look over it if you can.

 

Hope this helps

[SpeechieAlly]

Can anyone speak to their experience prepping for/taking/etc. CASPer?

[2nd year Dal Student]

On 7/6/2021 at 2:24 PM, Speechie43 said:

Hey everyone! just wanted some advice about what I should do. I just graduated from Linguistics and got refused from McMaster and McGill. Next year I’ll be applying to more Uni’s including UofT & Dalhousie. My gpa is 3.33 but my sub-gpa is 3.6. Does anyone know how I can improve my chances to get accepted? Do they look more at the gpa or subGPA? Also, note that I have over 500 hours of experience at an SLP clinic and autistic school. What more can I do to increase my chances? Do I retake courses, or is there something else I can do? Please help! Thanks in advance!

Going along with what another user said before, I would highly recommend boosting your sGPA as that is what most schools look at! Also, U of T tends to value grades over experience where as Western is the opposite. For example, I had a 3.81 sGPA and 19 volunteer hours. I got immediately accepted to U of T but 4th quadrant wait list at Western. My friend has a 3.7 and way more volunteer hours than me, she got into the first quadrant wait list at western and was eventually accepted! 

Also, I found this out at open houses: Western likes it when you take more relevant classes where at U of T doesnt care, just get the pre recs and they dont consider what else you take. 

At McMaster, I believe this is on their website, but you need over a 3.9 to even get an interview (so top 150 applicant). The sad thing, it goes up every single year. I was so sad when I didnt even qualify that and thought that would set the tone for the rest of my applications, but luckily I was accepted in other places! This may be controversial advice, but I wouldnt recommend applying to McMaster and paying the $200 fee unless you have a sGPA for 3.87 or something.   

If you arent from Alberta/out West, I wouldnt recommend applying there though bc they are required to take a certain high % of locals putting you at the disadvantage. 

Omg this message is so long but one last thing: go to open houses if you havent already. If its online, its more accessible but if its in person, dress semi professional! I went to Western's twice (two years in a row) you get SO much info. Even schools you arent considering going to, just find out more. First time I went to Western's I hung back and asked questions. A prof was so impressed with me that he said "hit me up when you apply, I can proof read your statement of intent." I was like "OH COOL." and a year later, he did just that! I didnt end up getting accepted but he still gave me tips that helped my SOI's for other schools!

Edited July 7, 2021 by Quote_Actual

[2nd year Dal Student]

45 minutes ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Can anyone speak to their experience prepping for/taking/etc. CASPer?

BMO (the test prep company, not the bank lol) had a really short, pleasant and straight forward book. Usually I cant do textbooks because I get bored, but they hate the CASPer and its comical and entertaining how they arent shy about it. Like they call the creators some names and its bold seeing that its a like an official published book lol.

I took it after some prep (definitely not enough) and I didnt feel great after. Probably a big reason I was waitlisted at McGill tbh. BUT, here is my biggest piece of advice: know how to eloquently say "I dont know, but here is how I will find out." This is 1000% what I wish I knew before taking it. They throw some really specific and ethically ambiguous circumstances at you. Sometimes, in that 5 min you have to answer it, you legit dont know the perfect thing to do. The sign of a good professional is someone who can admit limits in their knowledge yet are resourceful in overcoming it. This wont be the answer to every question of course, but it will be good to know how to say something like, "validate their emotions, honestly tell them that I dont know the answer at the moment, but I am here for them and will contact x qualified person/resource to help us out."  

[SpeechieAlly]

46 minutes ago, Quote_Actual said:

BMO (the test prep company, not the bank lol) had a really short, pleasant and straight forward book. Usually I cant do textbooks because I get bored, but they hate the CASPer and its comical and entertaining how they arent shy about it. Like they call the creators some names and its bold seeing that its a like an official published book lol.

I took it after some prep (definitely not enough) and I didnt feel great after. Probably a big reason I was waitlisted at McGill tbh. BUT, here is my biggest piece of advice: know how to eloquently say "I dont know, but here is how I will find out." This is 1000% what I wish I knew before taking it. They throw some really specific and ethically ambiguous circumstances at you. Sometimes, in that 5 min you have to answer it, you legit dont know the perfect thing to do. The sign of a good professional is someone who can admit limits in their knowledge yet are resourceful in overcoming it. This wont be the answer to every question of course, but it will be good to know how to say something like, "validate their emotions, honestly tell them that I dont know the answer at the moment, but I am here for them and will contact x qualified person/resource to help us out."  

Amazing advice thanks you! I’ll look for it!

[Wugs]

22 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Can anyone speak to their experience prepping for/taking/etc. CASPer?

I took the practice one a lot of times, timing myself and developing a strategy for how long to aim for for each answer. I also made sure to reflect on some experiences I might draw on for any questions that ask about those. For the most part, it’s just getting a good handle on test and performance anxiety. You have to practice “shaking it off” between sections if you didn’t quite make the time limit for the last section, so you have an overall great chance for the next section. It was a good experience, let me know if you have any questions!

[rmaam]

Hey guys ! I'm getting pretty worried about the waitlist at U Ottawa... Does anyone know anybody who got through SLP at U Ottawa in July ? I've heard that in August, it's not really common to get accepted...

Please feel free to dm or respond to me over here. I'm very worried and kinda loosing hope

thanks

[SoaringSLP]

On 7/5/2021 at 8:38 PM, SLPabc said:

Hello! When looking for shadowing experience is it better to directly contact speech clinics or individual SLP's?

I can only speak towards my own experiences since others may vary but I found it quite difficult when reaching out to speech clinics and individual SLPs. Obviously I feel like an important factor to consider is where you're located, as I live in the greater toronto area I've found it's quite hard to find clinics and individual SLPs that are open to volunteers and students shadowing them. I've had better luck reaching out to organizations that provide programs and services for individuals with communicative disorders such as march of dimes, aphasia institute, babbling babies etc. These programs are often in need of volunteers and are used to prospective slp students reaching out to them. Probably not exactly the answer you were looking for but hopefully you have better luck than I did when reaching out.

[SLPabc]

On 7/10/2021 at 11:03 AM, SoaringSLP said:

I can only speak towards my own experiences since others may vary but I found it quite difficult when reaching out to speech clinics and individual SLPs. Obviously I feel like an important factor to consider is where you're located, as I live in the greater toronto area I've found it's quite hard to find clinics and individual SLPs that are open to volunteers and students shadowing them. I've had better luck reaching out to organizations that provide programs and services for individuals with communicative disorders such as march of dimes, aphasia institute, babbling babies etc. These programs are often in need of volunteers and are used to prospective slp students reaching out to them. Probably not exactly the answer you were looking for but hopefully you have better luck than I did when reaching out.

Thank you for these recommendations! I'll definitely check those out 

[SpeechieDream]

Hello everyone! I am hoping to gather some advice from you all. If faced with a decision between U of A or UBC which school would you choose? I would love to hear your reasons, opinions, pros/cons. I am deciding between both schools at the moment. Thanks!!

[15itspossibleslp]

Hello everyone, I am wondering if U of Alberta rounds up the sGPA calculation or do they use two decimal places. Because when I tried to use their GPA calculator it just rounds up, I am not sure if thats just the system or it is different once you apply. Also, do you guys think U of Alberta heavily considers sGPA? I might be at around 3.5- 3.6 when I finish this fall before the next application. Is this a good enough GPA? Thank you!

[Luck26]

On 7/19/2021 at 9:03 PM, SpeechieDream said:

Hello everyone! I am hoping to gather some advice from you all. If faced with a decision between U of A or UBC which school would you choose? I would love to hear your reasons, opinions, pros/cons. I am deciding between both schools at the moment. Thanks!!

I chose between UBC and McMaster in the end I picked UBC because it is where I want to practice and that’s where I wanted to build contacts and connections for after graduation. 

I guess I’m just highlighting my thought process that although programs are different they all get people to the same point so I focused on some of the facets beyond the school 

 

 

[SLP2020!!]

Hello! Has anyone got accepted off of the 3rd quadrant of the Western waitlist yet?  

[EmSLP2021]

Anyone hear from Dal's waitlist lately? Really starting to lose hope

[Wugs]

On 7/23/2021 at 9:59 AM, thisislife15 said:

Hello everyone, I am wondering if U of Alberta rounds up the sGPA calculation or do they use two decimal places. Because when I tried to use their GPA calculator it just rounds up, I am not sure if thats just the system or it is different once you apply. Also, do you guys think U of Alberta heavily considers sGPA? I might be at around 3.5- 3.6 when I finish this fall before the next application. Is this a good enough GPA? Thank you!

Hello! Yes, this is a fine sGPA to apply with. I personally know of people who have gotten in with GPAs in this range. I believe this year GPA was only used as an entrance requirement, and had to be above 3.3 and aside from that was not as heavy of a criterion as it had been for previous years. I'm not sure if it'll be the same going forward but it's something to consider!

[Owl.on.a.Slide]

20 hours ago, SLP2020!! said:

Hello! Has anyone got accepted off of the 3rd quadrant of the Western waitlist yet?  

I think it's stuck at the very first part of the 2nd quadrant . Time to make a 2022 thread lol.

[KSpeech]

Hi, does anyone know if schools consider pre-requisite GPA separately from sub-GPA? More specifically, when ORPAS asks to manually input your prerequisite and add the grade associated, what is it's purpose in terms of selecting an applicant?

[Wugs]

On 8/16/2021 at 9:51 AM, KSpeech said:

Hi, does anyone know if schools consider pre-requisite GPA separately from sub-GPA? More specifically, when ORPAS asks to manually input your prerequisite and add the grade associated, what is it's purpose in terms of selecting an applicant?

Yes I believe they do! I know for sure UBC does and likely U of A as well. 

[2nd year Dal Student]

Hey everyone, a few days ago someone got off of the SLP waitlist at Dal. Guess they are still accepting people!

[KSpeech]

Has anyone started a 2022 thread? 

[SpeechieAlly]

19 hours ago, KSpeech said:

Has anyone started a 2022 thread? 

Haha, that’s what I came here to ask!

[15itspossibleslp]

Hi everyone just wondering for those who have tried to apply at U of Alberta, for the prerequisites is it okay to take a course that is ongoing especially a spring course? My situation is that I am planning to apply for Fall 2022 intake in which the deadline for the application will probably be in January 2022, I need one prerequisite that is offered in the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, I think I want to take it in Spring 2022, how would this affect my prerequisites when the application and acceptance begins, since this class might finish in June 2022. Thank you!