UWO's Master of Professional Education in Educational Psychology/Special Education/Inclusive Education

[GC03]

Hi guys,

 

I'm new to the forums so sorry for any errors on my part. I'm just seeking information on a new program that has been introduced at UWO. If any of you know anyone whose applied or can provide information on this program I'd really appreciate it. From what I can tell this program has only been introduced in the last year or so which is why I'm hesitant. It's a M.P.Ed. and based on the information on the website, there are two clusters you can specialize in:

 

1) Applied Behaviour Analysis

2) Teaching Students with Exceptionalities

 

I was interested in applying to specialize in the ABA cluster.

https://www.edu.uwo.ca/graduate-education/professional_programs/mped-aba.html#aba

 

More specifically, I was concerned about the quality of education, how challenging the courses are and any limitations to the online learning set up they have. 

 

A little about myself: I graduated from UofT with a BSc. I completed a double major in Psychology and Exceptionality in Human Learning. Unfortunately my GPA wasn't competitive enough so upon graduating I was not accepted to a MA program in Clinical Psych as I had hoped and due to some administrative issues out of my control I wasn't even considered for my back up program I had applied to. 

 

A few weeks after graduation I stumbled upon a Graduate Certificate Program at Seneca in Autism and Behavioural Sciences. Many other colleges offer the same program with the same name but from what I was told at Orientation the instructors, quality of education and is different and Seneca's match rate is better but who knows. I was always interested in behavior therapy in undergrad but at the time (as in 2 years ago), UofT didn't offer many behaviour based or specifically ABA related psych courses and the ABA field seemed really limited so I never pursued gaining any experience in the area and never gave it a thought again till I graduated. I've completed all the courses for the program and am almost done completing my placement hours and will graduate in June 2014.

 

So far I have enjoyed the program although I wish it was a bit more challenging. But maybe going from a university to college setting is making me think that way. Anyways, I'm glad I decided to complete this program because it allows me to work in the field right after I graduate. But to move up in the ranks and become a Senior Therapist or Program Coordinator certain institutions such as CAMH and hospitals require you to be a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) or at least be a Board Certified Assistant Behaviour Analyst (BCaBA). But for a BCBA title you need a MA degree (doesn't have to be limited to a psych related MA but that's what I'm interested in), which brings me to this program. 

 

There aren't many ABA focused MA programs in Canada from respectable Universities so when I found this program I was really interested and was hoping to apply. My undergrad GPA is again, not competitive but my GPA for the Graduate Certificate program is very high. The post grad program overlaps significantly with the UWO M.P.Ed. program I'm interested in and I've done great so far (CGPA 3.8ish right now) so I was hoping that could make up for my undergrad GPA being not so great and prove that I would excel in this program. In undergrad, I had a lot of personal issues coupled with the fact that I attended UTM which is known to have tough-marking profs/TA's, so my CGPA took a hit and I could not recover. But with my professional experience from completing my placement hours and letters of reference from my supervisors coupled with a better GPA in a post-grad program that is very similar theoretically to this program, I feel as though I would excel in this program and have a shot at getting accepted. 

 

Another aspect that I found interesting about this program is that its available online. I think besides the supervised placement thats required at the end of the program, the entire program is accessible online which is big deal for me because I will be working at the same time and live no where near UWO. Relocating is not really an option for me.

 

So yeah, that was a long post but I do hope anyone with any valuable info can help me. Or if you have any other info about ABA grad programs that will help me grow professionally I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[papillonbleu22]

Hi GC03,

I just stumbled on this post. It's too bad you weren't able to get the advice you were looking for at the time.

Although it's been a while since you posted this, I'm curious... What did you end up doing?

I'm actually in a very similar situation as the one you described here. I would love to get some advice from you.

I hope you're still out there! Thanks!

Hi guys,

 

I'm new to the forums so sorry for any errors on my part. I'm just seeking information on a new program that has been introduced at UWO. If any of you know anyone whose applied or can provide information on this program I'd really appreciate it. From what I can tell this program has only been introduced in the last year or so which is why I'm hesitant. It's a M.P.Ed. and based on the information on the website, there are two clusters you can specialize in:

 

1) Applied Behaviour Analysis

2) Teaching Students with Exceptionalities

 

I was interested in applying to specialize in the ABA cluster.

https://www.edu.uwo.ca/graduate-education/professional_programs/mped-aba.html#aba

 

More specifically, I was concerned about the quality of education, how challenging the courses are and any limitations to the online learning set up they have. 

 

A little about myself: I graduated from UofT with a BSc. I completed a double major in Psychology and Exceptionality in Human Learning. Unfortunately my GPA wasn't competitive enough so upon graduating I was not accepted to a MA program in Clinical Psych as I had hoped and due to some administrative issues out of my control I wasn't even considered for my back up program I had applied to. 

 

A few weeks after graduation I stumbled upon a Graduate Certificate Program at Seneca in Autism and Behavioural Sciences. Many other colleges offer the same program with the same name but from what I was told at Orientation the instructors, quality of education and is different and Seneca's match rate is better but who knows. I was always interested in behavior therapy in undergrad but at the time (as in 2 years ago), UofT didn't offer many behaviour based or specifically ABA related psych courses and the ABA field seemed really limited so I never pursued gaining any experience in the area and never gave it a thought again till I graduated. I've completed all the courses for the program and am almost done completing my placement hours and will graduate in June 2014.

 

So far I have enjoyed the program although I wish it was a bit more challenging. But maybe going from a university to college setting is making me think that way. Anyways, I'm glad I decided to complete this program because it allows me to work in the field right after I graduate. But to move up in the ranks and become a Senior Therapist or Program Coordinator certain institutions such as CAMH and hospitals require you to be a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) or at least be a Board Certified Assistant Behaviour Analyst (BCaBA). But for a BCBA title you need a MA degree (doesn't have to be limited to a psych related MA but that's what I'm interested in), which brings me to this program. 

 

There aren't many ABA focused MA programs in Canada from respectable Universities so when I found this program I was really interested and was hoping to apply. My undergrad GPA is again, not competitive but my GPA for the Graduate Certificate program is very high. The post grad program overlaps significantly with the UWO M.P.Ed. program I'm interested in and I've done great so far (CGPA 3.8ish right now) so I was hoping that could make up for my undergrad GPA being not so great and prove that I would excel in this program. In undergrad, I had a lot of personal issues coupled with the fact that I attended UTM which is known to have tough-marking profs/TA's, so my CGPA took a hit and I could not recover. But with my professional experience from completing my placement hours and letters of reference from my supervisors coupled with a better GPA in a post-grad program that is very similar theoretically to this program, I feel as though I would excel in this program and have a shot at getting accepted. 

 

Another aspect that I found interesting about this program is that its available online. I think besides the supervised placement thats required at the end of the program, the entire program is accessible online which is big deal for me because I will be working at the same time and live no where near UWO. Relocating is not really an option for me.

 

So yeah, that was a long post but I do hope anyone with any valuable info can help me. Or if you have any other info about ABA grad programs that will help me grow professionally I'd appreciate it. Thanks!