2022 Canada Admissions SLP thread

[SpeechieAlly]

23 hours ago, 2022slpplease said:

LOL me too. I'm just so excited to apply. 

I hope thats the case and I can keep all of them! I have started said, "master" document and have already edited and edited/changed my SOI about 500 times LOL.

I see that you're applying to all the schools I want to, do you have a preference / reasons for applying to each? I am still unsure if I will apply to McMaster but definitely will to UofT and Western and would love to hear other applicants reasons for choosing to apply to those schools. My top choice is UofT and kinda just applying to Western to not put all eggs in one basket but it seemed like last year Western was more difficult to get into. 

Hey!

Sorry my signature is actually from last year, I can't remember how to edit it lol! This year I'm applying to Western and U of Alberta. I was waitlisted at Western so I think with some improvements I stand a fighting chance. U of T and McMaster focus really heavily on grades and that is not my strong suit so I'm not even trying those this time!

[2022slpplease]

14 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Hey!

Sorry my signature is actually from last year, I can't remember how to edit it lol! This year I'm applying to Western and U of Alberta. I was waitlisted at Western so I think with some improvements I stand a fighting chance. U of T and McMaster focus really heavily on grades and that is not my strong suit so I'm not even trying those this time!

All good. I think you go into account settings then signature should be in there. Yes, McMasters cut off last year was insane!! But I wish you luck and hope you get an acceptance this round

[SLPEventually]

What are everyone's thoughts on the personal reference? I have a couple of years of volunteer experience, and the SLP is happy to provide a reference, but it seems that Western doesn't want us to ask any clinical references for letters.

[2022slpplease]

5 hours ago, SLPEventually said:

What are everyone's thoughts on the personal reference? I have a couple of years of volunteer experience, and the SLP is happy to provide a reference, but it seems that Western doesn't want us to ask any clinical references for letters.

I emailed Janet from Western and she said that the personal reference could be from an SLP but it had to be from a professional standpoint and not a student clinician standpoint. 

Personally, I think its best to get one from an SLP because it shows you were able to build a great and professional relationship in a clinical setting. Based on what Janet said, I would just make sure the SLP writing the letter knows to include a professional standpoint. It does kind of suck that she said "not a student clinician standpoint" because that is a large and detailed part of what SLPs could write about those of us who did get SLP related volunteer experience. 

[HanktheTank8]

This is my first time applying, so I am just looking for some clarification about references.

I understand that for the University of Alberta and McGill University my referees are contacted by the school and my referees then send the schools the letters they wrote.

However, I am a bit confused for the process for University of Toronto, Western University and McMaster University. For these schools is it a form they fill out (aka they don’t write a letter)?

Also, since UofT waived the clinical reference requirement for the 2022 cycle, do we only need 2 academic reference letters?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by HanktheTank8

[2nd year Dal Student]

11 hours ago, HanktheTank8 said:

However, I am a bit confused for the process for University of Toronto, Western University and McMaster University. For these schools is it a form they fill out (aka they don’t write a letter)?

Hey! So the ontario schools will be contacted via ORPAS (the online application platform) similar to McGill and Alberta. Also, references will fill out a form AND write a letter. Dont worry, once you put in your referee's info in ORPAS, they will send them exactly what they need to do! 

[SLPEventually]

What do you guys think GPA cutoffs are going to look like this year? You think it's still going to climb from McMaster's 3.90 last year? How did UofT and Western compare in terms of GPA last year?

[2022slpplease]

1 hour ago, SLPEventually said:

What do you guys think GPA cutoffs are going to look like this year? You think it's still going to climb from McMaster's 3.90 last year? How did UofT and Western compare in terms of GPA last year?

I think McMaster's 3.9 will either go slightly higher or lower. It's hard to tell. I do think that online school played a big role in increasing the cut off, maybe with a lot of school going back to in-person this semester that will bring it down? 

As for UofT and Western, I'm not sure how the GPA's differed but Western did get A LOT more applicants than UofT last application cycle. Also Western puts a lot more value on all aspects of the application whereas I think UofT puts more emphasis on sGPA. Recalling from last years thread I remember there were some people who got in with sGPAs in the 3.7's but I dont remember for which schools. 

[SpeechieAlly]

Does anyone know how a course withdrawal looks on your application and how it factors into GPA calculation? Specifically formORPAS and Western. 

[SoaringSLP]

14 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Does anyone know how a course withdrawal looks on your application and how it factors into GPA calculation? Specifically formORPAS and Western. 

I'm not entirely sure how it looks for slp programs but generally, a W isn't factored into GPA calculation as far as I know. The general consensus is that it's best not to have more than 2 W's on one's transcript. I've known others who have said that they've got into graduate school despite having W's on their transcript.

[SpeechieAlly]

On 10/5/2021 at 12:50 PM, SoaringSLP said:

I'm not entirely sure how it looks for slp programs but generally, a W isn't factored into GPA calculation as far as I know. The general consensus is that it's best not to have more than 2 W's on one's transcript. I've known others who have said that they've got into graduate school despite having W's on their transcript.

Thanks for your response! I just received a grade back that I am definitely not thrilled about so I'm considering all plans of action.

[SpeechieAlly]

Did anybody else attend the U of Alberta application info session at OASIS this year? What do you think about her recommendations? I thought it was weird that they would consider hobbies on a resume. I didn't think anyone included that anymore!

[SpeechieAlly]

For U of Alberta, would it be appropriate to have a 2 page resume?

[SLPEventually]

Would anyone feel at all interested in looking over each other's statement of intent? Or if not does anyone have any tips/resources/want to share theirs with me? I went to the library to see if they had anyone that could help me edit mine but no dice. I didn't get in last year and want to fix any mistakes I've made. 

[DreamingofSpeech]

Hi all!

I'm currently a first year student at UofT (in the middle of midterm season no less haha) and I found this forum very useful when I applied so I'm here to offer some help if anyone needs/wants it.

For reference, I got into UofT on my third (!) try. I was waitlisted to Western twice, although I don't know what quadrant or if I would have been offered a spot last year if I didn't give up my waitlist position to accept UofT. 

Don't be shy if you have any questions. And just to make it easier, please reply to my posts to ask instead of via private message that way I don't have to carry on multiple private convos (unless it's super private obv).

Happy application season! :) :) 

[2022slpplease]

11 hours ago, DreamingofSpeech said:

Hi all!

I'm currently a first year student at UofT (in the middle of midterm season no less haha) and I found this forum very useful when I applied so I'm here to offer some help if anyone needs/wants it.

For reference, I got into UofT on my third (!) try. I was waitlisted to Western twice, although I don't know what quadrant or if I would have been offered a spot last year if I didn't give up my waitlist position to accept UofT. 

Don't be shy if you have any questions. And just to make it easier, please reply to my posts to ask instead of via private message that way I don't have to carry on multiple private convos (unless it's super private obv).

Happy application season!

Thank you so much! Would you feel comfortable sharing your stats? Did they change from the 1st and 2nd time you applied from the 3rd? 

[DreamingofSpeech]

4 hours ago, 2022slpplease said:

Thank you so much! Would you feel comfortable sharing your stats? Did they change from the 1st and 2nd time you applied from the 3rd? 

Hey!

Sure, no problem. First time I applied my sGPA was about 3.55 (all rejections). Went up to 3.69 the second time (3 rejections, 1 waitlist). I got my sGPA up to 3.81 eventually (2 rejections, 1 waitlist, 1 offer).

Not sure if it matters, but I was up to 355 hours of volunteering for the third application. I did include these in my apps and in my letter of intent but I'm not sure if they're still doing that this year.

Hope that helps

[jec]

50 minutes ago, DreamingofSpeech said:

Hey!

Sure, no problem. First time I applied my sGPA was about 3.55 (all rejections). Went up to 3.69 the second time (3 rejections, 1 waitlist). I got my sGPA up to 3.81 eventually (2 rejections, 1 waitlist, 1 offer).

Not sure if it matters, but I was up to 355 hours of volunteering for the third application. I did include these in my apps and in my letter of intent but I'm not sure if they're still doing that this year.

Hope that helps

Great, to know this info. Thanks so much. Assuming you already had all prereqs taken care of, on what basis did you choose courses to up your sGPA with and how many courses did you take each of those two years to up the sGPA?

[DreamingofSpeech]

46 minutes ago, jec said:

Great, to know this info. Thanks so much. Assuming you already had all prereqs taken care of, on what basis did you choose courses to up your sGPA with and how many courses did you take each of those two years to up the sGPA?

If i remember correctly I was still completing prereqs and degree requirements the first time I applied. I was doing an online stats course and an in person research methods course. My GPA between that winter application and the next one reflected the grades in my final semester before convocation and because it was my fifth year I only completed 2.5 credits instead of the usual 5 per year.  

The extra courses I took (some through UofT as a non-degree, some through Athabasca online) were really just out of general interest and what I thought might be relevant or helpful for later on. I know some people just add a lot of "bird courses" and I don't think that affects your app at all. I personally did not want to spend all the extra money on courses that I wouldn't enjoy or wouldn't further my knowledge.

To go from the 3.69 to the 3.81 I had to take 4 courses and finish with a 90+ in each one. My phonetics course from previous years expired for that cycle so one of these courses was to fulfill that prereq.

I know it's a lot of info, I hope that's what you were looking for.

[jec]

14 minutes ago, DreamingofSpeech said:

If i remember correctly I was still completing prereqs and degree requirements the first time I applied. I was doing an online stats course and an in person research methods course. My GPA between that winter application and the next one reflected the grades in my final semester before convocation and because it was my fifth year I only completed 2.5 credits instead of the usual 5 per year.  

The extra courses I took (some through UofT as a non-degree, some through Athabasca online) were really just out of general interest and what I thought might be relevant or helpful for later on. I know some people just add a lot of "bird courses" and I don't think that affects your app at all. I personally did not want to spend all the extra money on courses that I wouldn't enjoy or wouldn't further my knowledge.

To go from the 3.69 to the 3.81 I had to take 4 courses and finish with a 90+ in each one. My phonetics course from previous years expired for that cycle so one of these courses was to fulfill that prereq.

I know it's a lot of info, I hope that's what you were looking for.

Very helpful, thank you! What do you mean that your phonetics course had expired?

[DreamingofSpeech]

11 minutes ago, jec said:

Very helpful, thank you! What do you mean that your phonetics course had expired?

It was listed on the approved prereq form as expiring in 2021. This only happened bc my linguistics credits were from the French department.

[jec]

2 hours ago, DreamingofSpeech said:

If i remember correctly I was still completing prereqs and degree requirements the first time I applied. I was doing an online stats course and an in person research methods course. My GPA between that winter application and the next one reflected the grades in my final semester before convocation and because it was my fifth year I only completed 2.5 credits instead of the usual 5 per year.  

The extra courses I took (some through UofT as a non-degree, some through Athabasca online) were really just out of general interest and what I thought might be relevant or helpful for later on. I know some people just add a lot of "bird courses" and I don't think that affects your app at all. I personally did not want to spend all the extra money on courses that I wouldn't enjoy or wouldn't further my knowledge.

To go from the 3.69 to the 3.81 I had to take 4 courses and finish with a 90+ in each one. My phonetics course from previous years expired for that cycle so one of these courses was to fulfill that prereq.

I know it's a lot of info, I hope that's what you were looking for.

Hi there, another question related to this response.... I'm curious to know which courses you chose that were in the general interest category and may be helpful for later on. I'm wondering about whether to do that or retake some prereq courses I already have in an effort to boost the grade. Thanks again!

[DreamingofSpeech]

2 hours ago, jec said:

Hi there, another question related to this response.... I'm curious to know which courses you chose that were in the general interest category and may be helpful for later on. I'm wondering about whether to do that or retake some prereq courses I already have in an effort to boost the grade. Thanks again!

I did two psych courses, one on autism spectrum disorders and one on adult development (because I'm leaning towards working with adults in the future). I also ended up taking a linguistic anthropology course but that was more because I got last pick for classes as a non-degree student but I ended up really liking it and a lot of the things I learned have changed the way I think about language. 

I honestly can't say much about the benefits of retaking prereq courses.. if you met the minimum grade idk if it would make a big difference, but if you're looking to increase your prereq average and your sGPA at the same time it might be a good option!

[jec]

7 hours ago, DreamingofSpeech said:

Hey!

Sure, no problem. First time I applied my sGPA was about 3.55 (all rejections). Went up to 3.69 the second time (3 rejections, 1 waitlist). I got my sGPA up to 3.81 eventually (2 rejections, 1 waitlist, 1 offer).

Not sure if it matters, but I was up to 355 hours of volunteering for the third application. I did include these in my apps and in my letter of intent but I'm not sure if they're still doing that this year.

Hope that helps

Hi again, were you surprised that you were not given an offer by Western either the first or the second time, though your waitlist would likely have converted? I've heard they are more into experience than sGPA and it would seem you satisfied that with all the volunteering, plus had a decent sGPA. Also, besides Western and U of T what were the other unis you applied to? Thank you!!!

[DreamingofSpeech]

1 hour ago, jec said:

Hi again, were you surprised that you were not given an offer by Western either the first or the second time, though your waitlist would likely have converted? I've heard they are more into experience than sGPA and it would seem you satisfied that with all the volunteering, plus had a decent sGPA. Also, besides Western and U of T what were the other unis you applied to? Thank you!!!

I think the first and second time I applied I had this idea, which is very common actually, that Western was the "easy" school to get into. That's definitely not the case at all. I was nervous going into my second time still under a 3.7 because that seemed to be the very minimum that people were getting in with so I can't say I was entirely surprised. And the first year I was waitlisted I saw someone get in with a higher GPA and only the minimum 14 hours while I has 280+ at the time. It's very frustrating but it made me realize that the letter of intent and references probably made a bigger difference than I thought. 

I also applied to McGill and McMaster. The GPA cutoff for Mac seems to get higher every year so I was never offered an interview.