2022 Canada Admissions SLP thread

[2022aud]

54 minutes ago, 2022slpplease said:

Hey everyone, I thought I'd make a little post about Western's program preview day today for anyone who may have missed it but is still interested in Western for SLP/Aud. 

Most of the information provided was on the program websites, but it was lovely to see the director of communication sciences and also have a Q&A session with students who are in their first and second years in the programs. 

I think the main shocker to me was that there is a mandatory cadaver course. So, you will have to take a course which uses human specimens from individuals who are deceased and have donated these body parts for science. I had no idea about this and I know some people may find this unsettling so I wanted to mention that here to give a heads up. The students during the Q&A portion said that it is normal to feel uncomfortable and you work through it together as a group 

Hi, thanks for bringing this point up! I also was able to attend Western's program preview day. The cadaver course was definitely surprising but I'm glad a lot of students were able to adjust to it.  For those that were admitted last year, they did mention that they didn't get a chance to participate in the actual lab because in-person classes were cancelled so it was through video. I'm assuming class of 2022 would be in-person so it's definitely something to keep in mind. 

I also really enjoyed the first year and second year students being apart of the Q&A. It was nice to see that they were able to get involved in other things like student council or other extra-curricular activities despite having such a packed schedule! 

[2022slpplease]

5 minutes ago, 2022slp said:

Hi, thanks for bringing this point up! I also was able to attend Western's program preview day. The cadaver course was definitely surprising but I'm glad a lot of students were able to adjust to it.  For those that were admitted last year, they did mention that they didn't get a chance to participate in the actual lab because in-person classes were cancelled so it was through video. I'm assuming class of 2022 would be in-person so it's definitely something to keep in mind. 

I also really enjoyed the first year and second year students being apart of the Q&A. It was nice to see that they were able to get involved in other things like student council or other extra-curricular activities despite having such a packed schedule! 

It was really reassuring to hear all the students talk about finding their school-life balance in the program! UofT has been my first choice for a while but the program preview day at Western definitely turned my head! 

[SLPEventually]

17 hours ago, 2022slpplease said:

Hey everyone, I thought I'd make a little post about Western's program preview day today for anyone who may have missed it but is still interested in Western for SLP/Aud. 

Most of the information provided was on the program websites, but it was lovely to see the director of communication sciences and also have a Q&A session with students who are in their first and second years in the programs. 

I think the main shocker to me was that there is a mandatory cadaver course. So, you will have to take a course which uses human specimens from individuals who are deceased and have donated these body parts for science. I had no idea about this and I know some people may find this unsettling so I wanted to mention that here to give a heads up. The students during the Q&A portion said that it is normal to feel uncomfortable and you work through it together as a group 

I was really surprised by this too! What do you think we'll be doing? Like you think that'll be more for general anatomy? Because you would think looking at vocal folds are articulators and things would be best with an individual who can produce speech. 

[2022slpplease]

16 minutes ago, SLPEventually said:

I was really surprised by this too! What do you think we'll be doing? Like you think that'll be more for general anatomy? Because you would think looking at vocal folds are articulators and things would be best with an individual who can produce speech. 

I think they mentioned during the presentation that it would just be cadavers for speech-related anatomy, so probably throat, esophagus, those general regions. 

[SLPwonder]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:25 PM, 2022slp said:

Hi everyone,

For the UofA application, I noticed that the last CASPER test date available is January 27, 2022. Are we able to take the test on this date or would it be too late? It takes 2-3 weeks for the results to be distributed to the school so it'll be past the February 1, 2022 deadline for UofA. Does anyone know if that would be a problem? Thanks in advance for any help!!

Hmmm that's a really good question, I think you should Email Vicki about it because they recently extended the application deadline to Feb 1st so they might have extended CASPer too but forgot to mention it on their website? 

[aud_hopeful6]

Are CVs a new requirement added this year? 

[2nd year Dal Student]

21 hours ago, SLPEventually said:

I was really surprised by this too! What do you think we'll be doing? Like you think that'll be more for general anatomy? Because you would think looking at vocal folds are articulators and things would be best with an individual who can produce speech. 

I go to Dal and we dont have a full course on it but a few labs. So we had a session where we got into groups and were given a full brain and half a brain. Then we were given a packet and had time to try and identify features. A supervisor also went around and gave us more info. Then he took a brain and volunteer students were able to slice it if they wanted and he would show us the structures layer by layer.

We had another larynx lab where we held and identified features of a trachea and that whole area, looking at the vocal folds and such. during these, we also got a glance at cadavers.

I dont believe its mandatory and our professor really emphasized that he wanted everyone to feel okay and comfortable and to talk to him prior or during about any concerns. 

[2022slpplease]

On 11/28/2021 at 6:55 PM, damaei said:

Are CVs a new requirement added this year? 

Not sure which schools/programs you are referring to but at Westerns program preview day for SLP/AUD they spoke about this. They said it was not required but we have the option to attach one to your application. This is something new they added

[SoaringSLP]

Has anyone looked into the Ontario graduate scholarship? I remember it being discussed at UofT's info session and I'm looking into it now but I've very confused on the application process for it.

[2022slpplease]

Hey everyone! I was wondering if you could give me advice on a small detail for my SOI. 

I recently found out the head of the research lab I work for is affiliated with the SLP program at UofT (so amazing!) I decided to swap out “I work at ____ university’s auditory research lab” with “I work at __professors name’s__ auditory research lab” 

do you think I should make this same swap in my SOI for western (I.e. professors name instead of my university’s name)? The head of the lab has done some really important work in the field of SLP/Aud so it could definitelty be an advantage in my application that I work alongside him but I’m not sure if this will be weird if the faculty at Western have never heard of him. 

[SLPEventually]

So I'm taking a couple of courses at Athabasca to increase my GPA, and I've found that I can condense courses if I take some time off work and get an individual course done really quick. I'm thinking I still have time to do one more class and it'll put my gpa at a pretty advantageous position. Do you guys think if I submit my transcript request like January 1st it should be ok? Even if it doesn't come by the 7th ORPAS says transcripts must be there by Jan 30th. Or do you think I might be pushing my luck a little too much? What's the latest you would submit a transcript request?

[SpeechieAlly]

On 11/30/2021 at 4:46 PM, 2022slpplease said:

Hey everyone! I was wondering if you could give me advice on a small detail for my SOI. 

I recently found out the head of the research lab I work for is affiliated with the SLP program at UofT (so amazing!) I decided to swap out “I work at ____ university’s auditory research lab” with “I work at __professors name’s__ auditory research lab” 

do you think I should make this same swap in my SOI for western (I.e. professors name instead of my university’s name)? The head of the lab has done some really important work in the field of SLP/Aud so it could definitelty be an advantage in my application that I work alongside him but I’m not sure if this will be weird if the faculty at Western have never heard of him. 

Hi!

Is this researcher recognized at all in the industry? I think regardless of the answer it's still better to include it as it shows awareness of figures in the field. Just my two cents!

[SpeechieAlly]

On 11/29/2021 at 11:43 AM, Quote_Actual said:

I go to Dal and we dont have a full course on it but a few labs. So we had a session where we got into groups and were given a full brain and half a brain. Then we were given a packet and had time to try and identify features. A supervisor also went around and gave us more info. Then he took a brain and volunteer students were able to slice it if they wanted and he would show us the structures layer by layer.

We had another larynx lab where we held and identified features of a trachea and that whole area, looking at the vocal folds and such. during these, we also got a glance at cadavers.

I dont believe its mandatory and our professor really emphasized that he wanted everyone to feel okay and comfortable and to talk to him prior or during about any concerns. 

Interesting! At the Western program day they definitely emphasized that it was mandatory and you could not get out of it.

Personally I find it super exciting! I've attended the program day at least twice in the past and I don't recall this course being mentioned. Does anyone know if this is a course or if they just only started mentioning it in the program day? Maybe after feedback from current students?

[SpeechieAlly]

Does anyone have advice for taking CASPer?

I'm preparing for the test and it terrifies me lol. I can't imaging giving sufficient answers for the 3 questions in only 5 minutes!

[2022slpplease]

6 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Hi!

Is this researcher recognized at all in the industry? I think regardless of the answer it's still better to include it as it shows awareness of figures in the field. Just my two cents!

Thank you for your opinion I feel like he is definitely more recognized in the audiology community. He also is affiliated with McMaster but, with Western being a little further away I'm not sure if they'd know of him. 

[thespeechdream]

8 hours ago, SpeechieAlly said:

Does anyone have advice for taking CASPer?

I'm preparing for the test and it terrifies me lol. I can't imaging giving sufficient answers for the 3 questions in only 5 minutes!

hey! honestly the best advice I could give you is practice your typing! When I took the exam last year, I had spent a good few months trying to work on my typing skills by taking typing tests that are available online and also timing myself doing practice CASPER questions. I would also recommend to do the practice test available on the website a night before your test and then just take a breather before your actual test. 

For the actual test, I would recommend that you don't pay too much attention to grammar and sentence structure, they really don't care about that stuff as long as it makes sense. Additionally, just remember to ask yourself it what the question is asking is ethical in real life. If you can answer that with a reason as to why its unethical/ethical, you got the full marks for the question.

[TSRGO]

Hello guys! I'm a final-year public health student at Ryerson University.

I would like to invite international students in Canada to complete a 10-minute online study survey. The study concerns the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on international post-secondary students in Canada. It is looking for 200 participants. Thank you so much for your help!!!

Survey: https://forms.gle/6fxzXhT2Ak3Q8PG88 

Website: https://www.covid-19researchprojectatryersonu.com/ 

Edited December 2, 2021 by TSRGO

[2022aud]

On 11/28/2021 at 3:18 PM, SLPwonder said:

Hmmm that's a really good question, I think you should Email Vicki about it because they recently extended the application deadline to Feb 1st so they might have extended CASPer too but forgot to mention it on their website? 

Hi! Thanks for your reply. Yes, I did end up emailing Vicki and she said taking the test on this date is fine. Just in case anyone was wondering! 

[aud_hopeful6]

https://discord.gg/Nkp52QWu

 

I made a discord group chat for people applying to aud/slp this year!  feel free to join

[SpeechieAlly]

On 12/1/2021 at 11:19 PM, 2022slpplease said:

Thank you for your opinion I feel like he is definitely more recognized in the audiology community. He also is affiliated with McMaster but, with Western being a little further away I'm not sure if they'd know of him. 

I say go for it! Unless it puts your over the character limit haha

[2022slpplease]

Does ORPAS organize the volunteer experiences in the correct order for you? 

Im not sure if the most recent to least recent order should be by the start date or end date. I have overlapping dates for volunteer experiences so I'm a little confused what to do. For example I have one volunteer experience that went from April 2021-September 2021, but another that went from January 2021-October 2021. I'm not sure which would be considered most recent. 

[Want2BeAnSLP]

Just so everyone knows, uofa also has a cadaver component to their anatomy course. I think it’s pretty common in programs now.

[SpeechieAlly]

On 12/4/2021 at 2:25 PM, 2022slpplease said:

Does ORPAS organize the volunteer experiences in the correct order for you? 

Im not sure if the most recent to least recent order should be by the start date or end date. I have overlapping dates for volunteer experiences so I'm a little confused what to do. For example I have one volunteer experience that went from April 2021-September 2021, but another that went from January 2021-October 2021. I'm not sure which would be considered most recent. 

Are you submitting a resume? I don't think it really matters which way you do it in this circumstance as long as you are consistent throughout the application.

[hopefulslper]

On 11/27/2021 at 8:45 AM, damaei said:

does anyone know what Janet means by professional/personal standpoint not a student/clinicial viewpoint for the reference letters? How should I describe this to the Audiologist writing the ref letter for me?

Hi, I asked this same question last week and got a reply from janet that said this: it is a bit tricky for sure. Your referee would speak to your professionalism, work ethics, punctuality, etc. Just not speaking about your clinical abilities

 

[hopefulslper]

On 11/24/2021 at 9:45 PM, SpeechieAlly said:

Hi

The 21 days is just to upload your transcripts and pay the application fee. You can upload the CV/statement of intent/course list any time after the app has been submitted until the deadline. Hope this helps!

(This is my first year applying, so, disclaimer)

Thank you!