2022 Canada Admissions SLP thread

[VanessaB]

I’m currently completing my master’s degree in another area (school & clinical child psychology). I’ve wanted to be a psychologist for years now, but as I wrote my doctoral SSHRC funding application this fall I realized I’m very interested in language and literacy. I never thought I’d ever consider another masters, but a PhD in my current area of study is also a huge commitment, so I want to be sure. If I don’t get the SSHRC funding for my PhD, I’m considering pursuing SLP, but I need to gather more information and understand what a career in SLP is like. Can someone tell me…what are the reports like? What assessments do you learn and deliver? What do SLPs generally like and dislike about the job? Also, if I went the SLP route, I’m mainly interested in UAlberta as I’d still be close to “home” (Calgary). I’ve noticed the semesters are packed. Do you find you’re always studying? Right now my master’s program is 3 classes per term with a practicum most semesters. As well, we write a thesis. When I look at the SLP curriculum, it’s something like six classes a term, which is wild!! Are you experiencing burnout?!

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by VanessaB

[SLPEventually]

Do you guys have any idea how long it takes from the time ORPAS says it's received a transcript to the time that transcript actually shows up on your account? I want to make sure I used the correct calculation for my GPA - I used the conversion table but just to get the more specific calculation. They say they've got one of my transcripts but it hasn't shown up yet.

[2nd year Dal Student]

4 hours ago, SLPEventually said:

Do you guys have any idea how long it takes from the time ORPAS says it's received a transcript to the time that transcript actually shows up on your account? I want to make sure I used the correct calculation for my GPA - I used the conversion table but just to get the more specific calculation. They say they've got one of my transcripts but it hasn't shown up yet.

I believe they only calculate it after applications are due! Last year, ORPAS posted them in early February, like a month after apps were due.

[SLPEventually]

Just now, Quote_Actual said:

I believe they only calculate it after applications are due! Last year, ORPAS posted them in early February, like a month after apps were due.

Whatttt? Ahhh ok.....so then like if I have an 87 on the 3 scale of the ORPAS conversion table is that like a 3.92? Or still just 3.9? I also have some of my courses on the 7 scale so if I have an A but the grade calculation of the course was an 89 will they distinguish that between other A's or are all A's 3.9?

[SpeechieAlly]

Is anybody not able to use the quote function because of how ads on placed on the website? I've used Firefox mostly.

[2nd year Dal Student]

14 hours ago, SLPEventually said:

Whatttt? Ahhh ok.....so then like if I have an 87 on the 3 scale of the ORPAS conversion table is that like a 3.92? Or still just 3.9? I also have some of my courses on the 7 scale so if I have an A but the grade calculation of the course was an 89 will they distinguish that between other A's or are all A's 3.9?

It depends on how your school reports grades on the transcript. Its great that youre using the conversion table, at the bottom is should tell you which column to use based on your school and that should answer exactly how to convert your 87.

Just a note, if you arent already, make sure you are converting each course into their GPA form and then average that out. DO NOT take your percentage average then covert that one number.

[2nd year Dal Student]

14 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Is anybody not able to use the quote function because of how ads on placed on the website? I've used Firefox mostly.

I use chrome and an ad blocker!! Super helpful. 

[2nd year Dal Student]

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR SGPA

So this was a big stress for me since I wasn't sure how to do it before ORPAS calculated it for me, which unfortunately is a month after applications are due (around February). So I am creating this guideline for how to calculate it yourself and a screenshot of how ORPAS did mine. 

Disclaimer: this is me describing it to the best of my ability and I am pretty sure this is how it works, but I am in no way affiliated with ORPAS and not saying for sure this is correct. Use this as a guideline only!! Okay, here we go

1. Pull up your transcript and make sure you have your grades and the length (one semester = 1.0 credit, 2 semesters = 2.0). Have this for over 20+ credits. 
2. Go to this website and convert each grade to their GPA form. Make sure you are using the appropriate column for your school!  https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/orpas-conversion-table/ 
3. Things get sticky if you didnt take a full course load every year, but have no stress. Lets say that you have calculated 17 credits so far and you need 3 more, except in one semester you took 4 classes. How do you choose what classes to calculate? What you do it convert the 4 classes into GPA form, average them (add together, divide by the amount there is). Now pretend that that average is its own "class" and its worth the remaining credits you need. In this example, it would be worth 3.0. In the screenshot below, I needed 11.0 (from my study abroad year, usually you wont need this many), so that is how much its worth. 
4. So now you should have a list of GPA and their length (i.e. 1.0, 2.0 etc). Next step, multiply the GPA with its weight. 
   1. Ex: 3.7 worth 1.0 --> 3.7 x 1 = 3.7. 4.0 worth 2.0 --> 4 x 2 = 8
5. Now add those numbers together and divide by 20. This is finding the average. 
6. Taa daa! This should be your subGPA

Here is how ORPAS calculated mine. Take note that I dont think the columns are the best organized. For example, Value = Length x GPA. Also, sGPA is Total Value / Length. Anyway, I hope this helps!!

Edited October 27, 2021 by Quote_Actual

[pls_SLP]

Hi everyone, 

I hope you are all doing well. 

I was thinking of also applying to other programs on the side of SLP, such as Audiology and Occupational Therapy, but I was wondering whether this may cause my references to have to write multiple letters for me? 

Has anyone applied to multiple programs with the same professors? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[2022slpplease]

On 10/26/2021 at 8:09 PM, Quote_Actual said:

I believe they only calculate it after applications are due! Last year, ORPAS posted them in early February, like a month after apps were due.

So does this mean that it wont say "received" on ORPAS until we submit the entire application? 

[DreamingofSpeech]

1 hour ago, 2022slpplease said:

So does this mean that it wont say "received" on ORPAS until we submit the entire application? 

It will show as received before the application closes once they've processed it. They won't release your subGPA calculation until after applications close but if I remember you should be able to see a copy of the transcript that was uploaded once it shows up as received.

[2022slpplease]

2 minutes ago, DreamingofSpeech said:

It will show as received before the application closes once they've processed it. They won't release your subGPA calculation until after applications close but if I remember you should be able to see a copy of the transcript that was uploaded once it shows up as received.

Thanks for the clarification! Do you know where we would find the copy of the transcript once its received? 

[DreamingofSpeech]

Just now, 2022slpplease said:

Thanks for the clarification! Do you know where we would find the copy of the transcript once its received? 

No worries  I believe it appears on the academic history page I think, it's a "view" button if I remember.

[2022slpplease]

19 hours ago, Quote_Actual said:

 

1. Things get sticky if you didnt take a full course load every year, but have no stress. Lets say that you have calculated 17 credits so far and you need 3 more, except in one semester you took 4 classes. How do you choose what classes to calculate? What you do it convert the 4 classes into GPA form, average them (add together, divide by the amount there is). Now pretend that that average is its own "class" and its worth the remaining credits you need. In this example, it would be worth 3.0. In the screenshot below, I needed 11.0 (from my study abroad year, usually you wont need this many), so that is how much its worth. 

 

 

Hey Thank you so much for this! I actually have only taken 4 courses most of my semesters since I have co-op which doesn't count towards the GPA & have taken summer courses. Do you know if they would take an average of your most recent semester, average of least recent semester, or an average of a full year (e.g. all of 3rd year if you're applying in 4th year since we're not done the winter semester yet). 

[SLPEventually]

4 hours ago, 2022slpplease said:

Hey Thank you so much for this! I actually have only taken 4 courses most of my semesters since I have co-op which doesn't count towards the GPA & have taken summer courses. Do you know if they would take an average of your most recent semester, average of least recent semester, or an average of a full year (e.g. all of 3rd year if you're applying in 4th year since we're not done the winter semester yet). 

It would be the furthest back semester they'd average because they want the 20 most recent courses.

[2nd year Dal Student]

22 hours ago, pls_SLP said:

Has anyone applied to multiple programs with the same professors? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Yes! I applied to 7 programs last year, 5 in SLP and 2 in Audiology. I had the same references write letters for both. There were some overlap between the two programs, but there were some sections that they had to write twice. So I let my references know and thanked them for that.

Personally, my references didnt know me very well so I had to outline exactly what I wanted them to say. So I just did that for the additional paragraphs that they had to write. I hope it didnt add too much more work for them, but its not like they said no and in the end I got accepted to both programs!! 

Edited October 28, 2021 by Quote_Actual

[aud_hopeful6]

Does anyone have any foreign volunteer experiences that they are going to add on the application?

Did you guys only add the Site address and the postal code? I was wondering if I had to enter additional info such as email address or phone number just in case they want to reach out to contact them. 

[speechiestudent]

does anyone know if for UofT and Western if we can add work experience under volunteer experience?

[15itspossibleslp]

Hello everyone, I am wondering if anyone understands how U of A calculate the sGPAs? Also my courses are from U of M with a 4.5 scale, how would they convert it to the U of A 4.0 scale. Thank you very much!

[SLPEventually]

3 hours ago, speechiestudent said:

does anyone know if for UofT and Western if we can add work experience under volunteer experience?

They're not looking at volunteer experience because of COVID

[Loki_Odinson]

Hello Guys!!

I want to wish good luck to everyone applying this year!

I had a question in regards to UBC's SLP program. I am planning on taking AUDI 402 with them as an unclassified student to satisfy their anatomy prerequisite. I am currently enrolled at UBC as an unclassified student but cannot seem to enrol in the class. The class is not full (has 3 spots remaining) but it is unreleased (I also have no idea what this means). I have emailed many people and also left voicemails but have not heard back. If anyone here was or is currently enrolled in the class, how did you go about doing so? Any kind of help or information will be greatly appreciated!

Pav

[pls_SLP]

1 hour ago, SLPEventually said:

They're not looking at volunteer experience because of COVID

https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/orpas-western/#csd-covid

I think you still have the opportunity to describe any volunteer experience! When looking at Western, for instance, the website says, "clinical volunteer hours will not be required, but you will still have an opportunity to describe any other volunteerism or relevant paid work already completed."

I guess they may skim over your volunteer experience, assuming you have already completed hours in the past? 

[SLPEventually]

46 minutes ago, pls_SLP said:

https://www.ouac.on.ca/guide/orpas-western/#csd-covid

I think you still have the opportunity to describe any volunteer experience! When looking at Western, for instance, the website says, "clinical volunteer hours will not be required, but you will still have an opportunity to describe any other volunteerism or relevant paid work already completed."

I guess they may skim over your volunteer experience, assuming you have already completed hours in the past? 

 

Edit - Never mind I'm dumb haha, I see there is a section for volunteer experience you can add. I don't know about putting work experience there, but you could weave it into your statement of intent if you can't. 

 

1. An explanation of why you have chosen SLP as a career, demonstrating your knowledge of the profession and its scope of practice.
2. A description of what you will bring to the SLP profession (e.g., strengths, experiences, attributes, leadership skills and/or abilities).
3. A brief explanation of why you have chosen to apply to the SLP program at Western University.

Edited October 29, 2021 by SLPEventually

[Loly694]

Hi Everyone?, 

This is my fourth year applying to SLP, so I am a bit of a pro at this now, haha. Here are my stats if you find that helpful. I'm an open book so let me know if you have questions. 

1st Application: Applied to UWO for SLP

• 3.3sGPA
• 160 volunteer hours
• Honours psychology degree
• Waitlisted

2nd Application: Applied to UWO and McMaster for SLP. 

• 3.4sGPA
• 266 volunteer hours
• Waitlisted at UWO, rejected from McMaster without interview. 

3rd Application: Applied to UWO, McMaster, McGill, Dalhousie for SLP and UWO, Dalhousie, and Queens for OT. 

• 3.5sGPA
• 550 volunteer hours
• Post-graduate certificate in Autism and Behavioural Sciences. 
• Rejected from UWO, McGill, Queens for all programs, and waitlisted at Dalhousie for SLP and OT. 

4th Application: Applying to UWO for SLP and Applied Behaviour Analysis. 

• 3.6sGPA
• 686 volunteer hours
• Hons. psych degree and post-grad certificate in autism 
• Full-time instructor therapist (someone who does therapy with people who have autism)

My tips from experience 

1.  Apply to as many schools as possible. Don't put all your eggs in one basket like I did originally.
2. The biggest thing I have learned is DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY. I am 110% confident in my ability to succeed as an SLP. I have no doubts. And I am sure many of you would also be fantastic SLPs. But unfortunately, there are hundreds of other applicants that look even more fabulous on paper (Which is all the school sees) and they can only choose a handful of them. The school doesn't get to follow you around and see how amazing you are.  I know my sGPA is not as competitive as others, but there are factors that go into that, that I could write a whole book about explaining. But my sGPA does not reflect my work ethic or intelligence. A rejection does not mean that you aren't good enough. Genuinely. It is a problem with the system, not with you. I hope you take that to heart and stay positive??

[2022slpplease]

Hey everyone! For the course description uploads through SAM, are you uploading the syllabi, or screenshots of course descriptions from the syllabi? 

Also, we only upload the course description for the prerequisites correct? (not all courses)

TIA  

Edited October 31, 2021 by 2022slpplease