2024 Canada Prep & Admissions SLP Thread

[Speechie 123]

Congratulations to everyone who received acceptances, you should be so proud of yourselves, i know it has not been easy!

i was rejected from western, ottowa and toronto and have yet to hear from mcgill.

im really shocked by this, its my 3rd time applying, i have worked as an SLPA for the past 2 years at a school for neurodiverse children and at a private clinic, not to mention other great experiences like working in a hospital and volunteering. I received great reference letters, got 4th quartile in casper, wrote an amazing letter of intent, 3.65 gpa in a biology undergrad at concordia, i had also written a letter of extenuating circumstances to explain a drop in my gpa during one semester. I also received all A’s in my prerequisits for the program.

i honestly dont know what else to do and why i am not being accepted. If anyone can provide some insight i would really appreciate it.

 

 

[slpgal890]

Does anyone know if McGill in previous years has sent out acceptances past the initial day offers first come out? 

 

 

[dyinginside69]

8 minutes ago, slpgal890 said:

Does anyone know if McGill in previous years has sent out acceptances past the initial day offers first come out? 

 

 

Hey! I called them yesterday and they said they’ll continue to roll out acceptances/decisions up until Friday. From what I got from it, we’ll know our decisions (acceptance/rejection) by Friday. Not sure about waitlists though. 

[Jasmine_slp]

Anyone else got accepted to Laval? I got into both Laval and Ottawa and I have no idea where I want to go. If someone wants to help, what do you base your decision on to pick a university? Thanks!

[KT-SLP]

Congrats to everyone who got offers/waitlist spots!

Unfortunately I got rejected, but it's my first time applying and I only applied to Western, so I'm not too surprised. I did have some questions about re-applying and improving my application and hoping others have some advice and encouragement... sorry this is such a long post, but it's a complex situation.

I think my biggest weaknesses are my sGPA (3.57), volunteering experience with only 1 population, and I'm missing the phonetics requirement for most schools (I went to Western for my undergrad 2017-2022, and back then their "phonetics" course wasn't in-depth enough). The volunteering I'm sure I can figure out, but for the sGPA/pre-req, I'm a mature student who is also working, so I'm not able to go back to school full-time and can probably only take 1-2 courses a semester. This causes a few problems:

• My grades are sort of all over the place; they were mostly in the 80s, but a few 70s. I also took a half-course after graduating, so I think they averaged out my 3rd year (3.47 at a length of 9). Another course I took in my 4th year really put a ding in my sGPA (2.7, most others were 3.7 with a few 3.3 and 3.9s). If I'm not mistaken, this means I'd need to take 2 full years just to get those poor grades off my sGPA calculation - or do EXTREMELY well in others just to "balance it out" and probably raise my sGPA from like 3.57 to 3.6? Since I'll be going back to school after time away, I'm not confident I could get 4.0s in classes, and I'm still confused about how ORPAS' calculations work; I'm trying to weigh the benefits vs. costs of taking more courses. I really can't tell how much I'll actually be able to boost my GPA. If I took 1-2 courses this fall, would that reduce the "length" of my averaged 3rd year? Has anyone else been in this scenario and can help me understand if this would really have a worthwhile impact on my sGPA?
• If I return to school in the fall for 1 course, I think this also affects my reference letters. Since I've been out of university for more than 5 years, I'm able to submit 2 personal references and 1 academic instead of the reverse. My personal recs (from my boss and volunteering) are incredibly strong, and my 1 academic reference is definitely my weakest. I don't think it's bad, but it's from my thesis supervisor from several years ago who was moving to England while "supervising" me. I worked much more closely with a grad student of theirs and the supervisor themselves, while kind and helpful when they could be, definitely flaked out on a lot of things. I'm sure that reference is pretty generic, and I can't imagine any reference I could get from a prof who teaches me for just 1 class would be any better, especially at the expense of one of my excellent personal references? Has anyone ever been able to make a case to submit 2 personal and 1 academic reference even with a recent course? It honestly feels a little silly that they'd rather have 2 people write about how well I can handle coursework and academics instead of 2 people who can speak to my personal and professional strengths and suitability for the field. Or, any advice for getting a strong reference letter from someone you've only had 1 class with?

Only really being able to apply to Western severely limits my options, but it feels like going back to take the pre-req or trying to boost my sGPA will weaken my application in other ways and put me on the path of having to spend 3 more years just preparing to be able to make a serious, competitive application in an extremely competitive environment. I know it'll be worth it in the long run if I get in, but it's really difficult to think about as a mature student who feels like they're running out of time to make a career change 😔

[slptobeeeeeeeee]

1 hour ago, SarahS1998 said:

Congratulations to everyone who received acceptances, you should be so proud of yourselves, i know it has not been easy!

i was rejected from western, ottowa and toronto and have yet to hear from mcgill.

im really shocked by this, its my 3rd time applying, i have worked as an SLPA for the past 2 years at a school for neurodiverse children and at a private clinic, not to mention other great experiences like working in a hospital and volunteering. I received great reference letters, got 4th quartile in casper, wrote an amazing letter of intent, 3.65 gpa in a biology undergrad at concordia, i had also written a letter of extenuating circumstances to explain a drop in my gpa during one semester. I also received all A’s in my prerequisits for the program.

i honestly dont know what else to do and why i am not being accepted. If anyone can provide some insight i would really appreciate it.

It can be due to a lot of reasons. One of my friends believes that he got rejected for a master's program (not SLP) because of the reference letters. He kept a copy of them because he ended up not applying to one of the schools. Sadly one of the referees whom he took a class from and got an A+ literally expressed her confusion as to why my friend would look for a reference letter from her. She didn't say any good stuff about my friend. This can be part of the reason. 

It can also be about what every school values the most. For example, UofT and UBC value research experiences more, UofA values EDI experiences and overall profile more, etc. 

From what you said, I think your profile is pretty competitive, so I have no idea what has gone wrong. 

BUT, from someone in another thread, being rejected doesn't mean you're not good enough or SLP isn't for you. Sometimes you're just unlucky, with a lot of highly competitive applicants applying in the same cycle. 

[Live Laugh Lobe]

25 minutes ago, KT-SLP said:

Or, any advice for getting a strong reference letter from someone you've only had 1 class with?

I can't answer all your questions but I do have some thoughts on the reference letters. This may not be super up to date info since I applied back in 2021, but for my application, my reference letters were pretty weak lol. I cant even remember who wrote them for me. I went to York, and my smallest 4th-year class had 60 people in it. I enjoyed my time there but did not make any close relationships with any profs. I am pretty sure I asked profs that I only had one class with. And in the end I got several acceptances! So all in all, I think that references, at least when I applied, were not heavily weighted.

My guess from talking to classmates and scrolling these forums every year since my application cycle, grades and diverse volunteer experience are the key things. And my educated guess is that Western prioritizes experience over grades which I think works in your favour. I had like 14 hours of aphasia volunteering and I got accepted to Western Aud but 4th quadrant waitlist and eventual rejection from Western SLP...and I think getting more than 14 hours is hopefully manageable 😅 

In the end, I think its great that you're weighing various factors. It's not easy to figure out what direction you want to take your life in. SLP is a wonderful career, but there are many great ones out there as well. SLP may be worth pursuing or there may be better paths that suit your situation better. Im wishing you positive vibes and luck!! 

[Speechie 123]

13 minutes ago, slptobeeeeeeeee said:

It can be due to a lot of reasons. One of my friends believes that he got rejected for a master's program (not SLP) because of the reference letters. He kept a copy of them because he ended up not applying to one of the schools. Sadly one of the referees whom he took a class from and got an A+ literally expressed her confusion as to why my friend would look for a reference letter from her. She didn't say any good stuff about my friend. This can be part of the reason. 

It can also be about what every school values the most. For example, UofT and UBC value research experiences more, UofA values EDI experiences and overall profile more, etc. 

From what you said, I think your profile is pretty competitive, so I have no idea what has gone wrong. 

BUT, from someone in another thread, being rejected doesn't mean you're not good enough or SLP isn't for you. Sometimes you're just unlucky, with a lot of highly competitive applicants applying in the same cycle. 

My reference letters were strong… thats the thing. 

[Live Laugh Lobe]

12 minutes ago, slptobeeeeeeeee said:

He kept a copy of them because he ended up not applying to one of the schools.

He was able to see what they wrote about him!? Thats awful that a prof would do that IMO... 

Its "funny" timing that I just suggested that maybe reference letters arent that important 😅 This goes to show how unpredictable it is in knowing what the schools are looking for and think its wild how secretive they are about it 😅 Adds so much unnecessary stress

[kristinaaa]

Has anyone gotten any emails from McGill today?

[speachy]

1 minute ago, kristinaaa said:

Has anyone gotten any emails from McGill today?

nope... still anxiously waiting!!

[torrislp]

51 minutes ago, KT-SLP said:

Congrats to everyone who got offers/waitlist spots!

Unfortunately I got rejected, but it's my first time applying and I only applied to Western, so I'm not too surprised. I did have some questions about re-applying and improving my application and hoping others have some advice and encouragement... sorry this is such a long post, but it's a complex situation.

I think my biggest weaknesses are my sGPA (3.57), volunteering experience with only 1 population, and I'm missing the phonetics requirement for most schools (I went to Western for my undergrad 2017-2022, and back then their "phonetics" course wasn't in-depth enough). The volunteering I'm sure I can figure out, but for the sGPA/pre-req, I'm a mature student who is also working, so I'm not able to go back to school full-time and can probably only take 1-2 courses a semester. This causes a few problems:

• My grades are sort of all over the place; they were mostly in the 80s, but a few 70s. I also took a half-course after graduating, so I think they averaged out my 3rd year (3.47 at a length of 9). Another course I took in my 4th year really put a ding in my sGPA (2.7, most others were 3.7 with a few 3.3 and 3.9s). If I'm not mistaken, this means I'd need to take 2 full years just to get those poor grades off my sGPA calculation - or do EXTREMELY well in others just to "balance it out" and probably raise my sGPA from like 3.57 to 3.6? Since I'll be going back to school after time away, I'm not confident I could get 4.0s in classes, and I'm still confused about how ORPAS' calculations work; I'm trying to weigh the benefits vs. costs of taking more courses. I really can't tell how much I'll actually be able to boost my GPA. If I took 1-2 courses this fall, would that reduce the "length" of my averaged 3rd year? Has anyone else been in this scenario and can help me understand if this would really have a worthwhile impact on my sGPA?
• If I return to school in the fall for 1 course, I think this also affects my reference letters. Since I've been out of university for more than 5 years, I'm able to submit 2 personal references and 1 academic instead of the reverse. My personal recs (from my boss and volunteering) are incredibly strong, and my 1 academic reference is definitely my weakest. I don't think it's bad, but it's from my thesis supervisor from several years ago who was moving to England while "supervising" me. I worked much more closely with a grad student of theirs and the supervisor themselves, while kind and helpful when they could be, definitely flaked out on a lot of things. I'm sure that reference is pretty generic, and I can't imagine any reference I could get from a prof who teaches me for just 1 class would be any better, especially at the expense of one of my excellent personal references? Has anyone ever been able to make a case to submit 2 personal and 1 academic reference even with a recent course? It honestly feels a little silly that they'd rather have 2 people write about how well I can handle coursework and academics instead of 2 people who can speak to my personal and professional strengths and suitability for the field. Or, any advice for getting a strong reference letter from someone you've only had 1 class with?

Only really being able to apply to Western severely limits my options, but it feels like going back to take the pre-req or trying to boost my sGPA will weaken my application in other ways and put me on the path of having to spend 3 more years just preparing to be able to make a serious, competitive application in an extremely competitive environment. I know it'll be worth it in the long run if I get in, but it's really difficult to think about as a mature student who feels like they're running out of time to make a career change 😔

Oftentimes if you reach out and ask for feedback from the schools, they will be able to provide feedback on your application. I know that UofT isn't doing that this year, but it never hurts to see if other schools may be willing to discuss what they recommend for you for the next cycle. 

[kristinaaa]

8 minutes ago, speachy said:

nope... still anxiously waiting!!

Literally! I spend my days just reloading my emails lol😆 

[ElsaNotFrozen]

1 hour ago, Jasmine_slp said:

Anyone else got accepted to Laval? I got into both Laval and Ottawa and I have no idea where I want to go. If someone wants to help, what do you base your decision on to pick a university? Thanks!

I'm in first year at UOttawa you can msg me if you have questions!

[KatieHSLP]

Hey guys congrats to everyone who has offers! I got offers for UofT, Western and McMaster. I am not from Ontario and would love if anyone knows more about the areas these schools are or has any advice/more knowledge on the differences for the schools! 

[KT-SLP]

17 minutes ago, Live Laugh Lobe said:

I can't answer all your questions but I do have some thoughts on the reference letters. This may not be super up to date info since I applied back in 2021, but for my application, my reference letters were pretty weak lol. I cant even remember who wrote them for me. I went to York, and my smallest 4th-year class had 60 people in it. I enjoyed my time there but did not make any close relationships with any profs. I am pretty sure I asked profs that I only had one class with. And in the end I got several acceptances! So all in all, I think that references, at least when I applied, were not heavily weighted.

My guess from talking to classmates and scrolling these forums every year since my application cycle, grades and diverse volunteer experience are the key things. And my educated guess is that Western prioritizes experience over grades which I think works in your favour. I had like 14 hours of aphasia volunteering and I got accepted to Western Aud but 4th quadrant waitlist and eventual rejection from Western SLP...and I think getting more than 14 hours is hopefully manageable 😅 

In the end, I think its great that you're weighing various factors. It's not easy to figure out what direction you want to take your life in. SLP is a wonderful career, but there are many great ones out there as well. SLP may be worth pursuing or there may be better paths that suit your situation better. Im wishing you positive vibes and luck!! 

Thank you so much for your response! This is good to hear and definitely gives me a new perspective. While I'm sure programs want to feel confident that applicants know the field and will be good professionals, I think I've been underestimating that their most immediate concern is that you can successfully complete the program itself. That's probably why they heavily prefer academic references, even if they feel one-dimensional.

I have just over 100 hours volunteering with adults with aphasia, so it's also great to hear that was enough experience to be competitive in AuD applications (even though I know it was 2021 so things may have changed). I wanted to apply to AuD as well this year but I really didn't have much exposure to the field and didn't seriously consider it until too close to the deadline. The positive side of all this is I have more time to shadow and explore both SLP and Aud.

Out of curiosity, I'm assuming based on your username that you ended up accepting and going into Aud? If so, would you mind if I DM'd you sometime with questions about the field and your grad school experience?

Thanks again for the good vibes and good insights. All the best! ❤️

[Sliptop]

2 minutes ago, KatieHSLP said:

Hey guys congrats to everyone who has offers! I got offers for UofT, Western and McMaster. I am not from Ontario and would love if anyone knows more about the areas these schools are or has any advice/more knowledge on the differences for the schools! 

Downtown Toronto is an ideal location I’m picking UOFT as well message me we could be classmates. Hamilton is a really shit area tbh so McMaster was always my last choice

[Wau-Wau]

Hi everyone just an update for UofT acceptances. ORPAS offers were available right at 12 am-midnight, and official acceptance letters were emailed at 5am; & I received a personal phone call from a professor at the SLP masters program of UofT to congratulate me and answer any questions I had. I believe they mentioned the acceptance phone call is a new thing for UofT this year.

[cornpop15]

2 minutes ago, Sliptop said:

Downtown Toronto is an ideal location I’m picking UOFT as well message me we could be classmates. Hamilton is a really shit area tbh so McMaster was always my last choice

I live in Hamilton right now and I just want to say I love it here!!! All my friends love Mac (for speech and other programs) and Hamilton has a great community for arts, nature, queer community, food, and more, so don’t knock it till you try it  most students don’t leave the immediate campus neighborhood but there’s so much to explore

[Kay02]

Congrats to everyone who's been accepted!! I got waitlisted at Western, which I'm not too mad about since it's my first time applying. I received the waitlist email at 1:25am, and it says that they "do not release information related to your exact position on the waiting list". I know people from last year's thread were given info about which quadrant they were in, so I'm wondering if it's worth asking? I also read that they put about 100 people on the waitlist, is that true? What's the movement usually like for the waitlist? 

[buggybug]

2 minutes ago, Wau-Wau said:

Hi everyone just an update for UofT acceptances. ORPAS offers were available right at 12 am-midnight, and official acceptance letters were emailed at 5am; & I received a personal phone call from a professor at the SLP masters program of UofT to congratulate me and answer any questions I had. I believe they mentioned the acceptance phone call is a new thing for UofT this year.

I was accepted to UofT and Western. Western phoned me this morning, was a little awkward though haha. I didn't receive a phone call from UofT but I completed my undergrad there so I received an email on my utoronto account. Exciting that they phoned you as well! Congratulations!

[slpgal890]

8 minutes ago, KatieHSLP said:

Hey guys congrats to everyone who has offers! I got offers for UofT, Western and McMaster. I am not from Ontario and would love if anyone knows more about the areas these schools are or has any advice/more knowledge on the differences for the schools! 

Congratulations!

If you're comfortable, do you mind sharing your stats? GPA / Experience? or am I able to PM you?

[speechgirlie]

Disappointed because I have been waitlisted for UofT and McMaster, and totally rejected from Western.

As a student with a 3.88 SubGPA, over 600 hours of volunteer experience in diverse settings and 2 great academic references, I am shocked. I have no idea what went wrong  Hopeful that the waitlist will move but not overly optimistic. 

[KT-SLP]

11 minutes ago, KatieHSLP said:

Hey guys congrats to everyone who has offers! I got offers for UofT, Western and McMaster. I am not from Ontario and would love if anyone knows more about the areas these schools are or has any advice/more knowledge on the differences for the schools! 

I live in London and went to Western for my undergrad - I'd be happy to answer any questions you have, either here or through DMs.

2 minutes ago, Kay02 said:

Congrats to everyone who's been accepted!! I got waitlisted at Western, which I'm not too mad about since it's my first time applying. I received the waitlist email at 1:25am, and it says that they "do not release information related to your exact position on the waiting list". I know people from last year's thread were given info about which quadrant they were in, so I'm wondering if it's worth asking? I also read that they put about 100 people on the waitlist, is that true? What's the movement usually like for the waitlist? 

I think someone had a similar question last year and another person pointed out that Western's very careful with their language - they won't release the exact position, but I think they'll still give you the "rough" position, aka the quadrant. Definitely worth at least asking. Unfortunately I don't know the size of the waitlist, but it's possible they might tell you that, too.

[Sliptop]

12 hours ago, SLPboi2000 said:

Congrats everyone! Got accepted into Western and Mac :)) Anyone have any insights to help choose between the two programs?

Which school are you leaning towards?