2016 Canadian SLP Thread

[tillersaurus]

Just now, SpeechBubble said:

Emerging from lurkdom: I have been accepted to both Western and UofT! So unbelievably excited....I couldn't even say anything but "thankyouthankyouthankyou" when Western called to congratulate this morning!  I have no idea which program I will be choosing yet....Any advice on program/ location / general atmosphere would be so greatly appreciated. Is anyone else going to the UofT open house on April 8th/ scheduling a tour at Western?  

They're calling?! I went out drinking last night so I'd still be awake at 1:30 when the website updated, so I need to find a good way to get rid of my awful hangover voice if they're calling. Thank you so much for the heads up, hahaha

[tillersaurus]

Oh, and I just got this e-mail from Western:

Dear Student,

A new offer letter is available for you in the Student center with a revised deadline for acceptance. The original letter indicated that you had five business days to accept your offer or it would expire. You actually have until April 15th 2016 to accept your offer as indicated on the program offer letter. We apologize for any confusion. Kind Regards,
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

[hopetobeSLP]

Received a reply from Janet at Western, I am in the top half of the waitlist... Does anyone know the number of spots on the waitlist this year? I think I read on another forum that in previous years it was around 60? 

For those of you who got in, Congratulations! For those of us on the waitlist, we still have a chance let's continue to be positive and look at the glass half full!  

[speechies]

58 minutes ago, SpeechBubble said:

Emerging from lurkdom: I have been accepted to both Western and UofT! So unbelievably excited....I couldn't even say anything but "thankyouthankyouthankyou" when Western called to congratulate this morning!  I have no idea which program I will be choosing yet....Any advice on program/ location / general atmosphere would be so greatly appreciated. Is anyone else going to the UofT open house on April 8th/ scheduling a tour at Western?  

hi speech bubble congrats on both your acceptances ! I was privileged to work with two SLPs who owned a therapy business. One went to western the other to uoft.apparently western is more paediatric focused and they have an in house clinic. Uoft is more adult/research focused and they have affiliations with lots of hospitals in the toronto area

[speechies]

1 minute ago, speechies said:

hi speech bubble congrats on both your acceptances ! I was privileged to work with two SLPs who owned a therapy business. One went to western the other to uoft.apparently western is more paediatric focused and they have an in house clinic. Uoft is more adult/research focused and they have affiliations with lots of hospitals in the toronto area

if you need any more info just msg! Mind you everything I know is from word of mouth from therapists

[Hopeful_SLP]

If anyone has information about Dalhousie or Toronto, I would love to chat! I want to in work with adults so both programs interest me. Any insight?

[J Mack]

2 hours ago, speechies said:

Waitlisted at U of T!! If anyone wants to give up their spot that would be great haha!

Accepted at Toronto! But just gave up my spot. Hopefully this helps you out! Good luck

[Beeee5]

I have heard really good things about the program at U of A and it is way closer to home for me, which makes the cost of relocating a lot more affordable. I would be really excited to move across the country and experience living farther east if I do end up at Western. And I have also heard great things about their program as well. I would be curious to know if it is still true that they often have difficulty finding placements for people... Anyone know? I also find it very frustrating that U of A won't give people an idea of where they are on the waitlist... It makes it feel as if there are still so many unknowns for me at this point. 

[slpppppp]

Anyone else who got accepted to Western get a call from them? I saw above an earlier poster got one but wondering if anyone else did. I haven't received anything. Congratulations to everyone on their acceptances!

[sjvwl]

11 minutes ago, rachelfreed said:

Anyone else who got accepted to Western get a call from them? I saw above an earlier poster got one but wondering if anyone else did. I haven't received anything. Congratulations to everyone on their acceptances!

I missed a call from them this morning while at a lab meeting! I just listened to the voicemail and it was just a simple congrats from Janet. It's nice that they called... I would have been so awkward on the phone if I had answered though. haha

[sjvwl]

Accepted into UofT! I will be declining my spot. Best of luck to people on the waitlist  

[Speech1234]

1 hour ago, Speechiequeen said:

I'm also going to be turning down my seat at Western for those of you on the waitlist there. Am also so so torn between McGill and Toronto. Would be happy to hear any advice on the two programs!!

I am going to turn down my seat at Toronto too so that means one more spot will be open! 

I chose McGill for the location and the small class size. Also students will be exposed in the clinical settings staring the fall, so that's very exciting too

 

[sjvwl]

On 30/03/2016 at 9:30 AM, paidean said:

For those of you who have been accepted to multiple programmes, how did/will you decide which to attend? Obviously there are personal factors that contribute to your decision, but are there are specific things you've heard about the different schools that would swing your decision one way or another? I don't feel like I have a good grasp of the reputations of the individual programmes. 

I am very much interested in research as well as clinical training, so I feel the most drawn to Dal, UWO, and U of A, but beyond what I've read on their websites I'm not sure how I would pick between them (unless there was a substantial difference in potential funding -- not likely!). I know that Dal is three years versus 2.5 at U of A (with thesis), but that difference is fairly negligible to me in the long run.

I guess I'm just interested in hearing about your decisions and rationales for said decisions, and hopeful that I might glean some insight from your experiences.  

I can't remember where I originally found this document, but CASLPA surveyed all the programs 6 years ago and put out a review comparing them all side by side. I am having troubles finding a simple way to access it again. I think I found it here http://docplayer.net/1496201-Canadian-association-of-speech-language-pathologists-and-audiologists-university-programs-in-speech-language-pathology-2010.html

I am happy to email my pdf if you message me!

I only applied to 4 of the 6 English programs. I nixed UBC because of the prereqs and McGill because I couldn't fit a third stats course into my schedule.

My top choices were UofT and UofA. But I am from Edmonton and have a great support system here, so I am going to be attending UofA in the fall.

 

[SLP_2016]

Just got accepted to both Western and Toronto!
I am still very indecisive about which school to pick. Could anyone list their reasons for choosing either Toronto or Western and why?

Thank you!
 

[J Mack]

4 hours ago, SpeechBubble said:

Emerging from lurkdom: I have been accepted to both Western and UofT! So unbelievably excited....I couldn't even say anything but "thankyouthankyouthankyou" when Western called to congratulate this morning!  I have no idea which program I will be choosing yet....Any advice on program/ location / general atmosphere would be so greatly appreciated. Is anyone else going to the UofT open house on April 8th/ scheduling a tour at Western?  

Hey! Congrats! I am going to do a tour at Western in April, Janet has been very nice about it

[J Mack]

2 hours ago, Beeee5 said:

I have heard really good things about the program at U of A and it is way closer to home for me, which makes the cost of relocating a lot more affordable. I would be really excited to move across the country and experience living farther east if I do end up at Western. And I have also heard great things about their program as well. I would be curious to know if it is still true that they often have difficulty finding placements for people... Anyone know? I also find it very frustrating that U of A won't give people an idea of where they are on the waitlist... It makes it feel as if there are still so many unknowns for me at this point. 

I am also weighing U of A and Western, so I know how you feel. I have also heard some concerning things about placements at Western, but looking at their program layout, I think it will be okay. So, most of the first year you are at their in house clinic = guaranteed spot, then the first spring placement off campus doesnt have to be in London so think about how many people will travel home for their placement and then the rest of the summer, I will probably be doing this. So for those staying in London, there are more placements because of that alone! And then in year 2, same thing, you are guaranteed a place at the in house clinic and then there is an off campus London placement, where I could see things get tricky because everyone has to stay in London for this one. But after that, you have your final placement and can do it anywhere = lots of people will go home I imagine.

This is just my reasoning, hope it helps!

[J Mack]

1 hour ago, rachelfreed said:

Anyone else who got accepted to Western get a call from them? I saw above an earlier poster got one but wondering if anyone else did. I haven't received anything. Congratulations to everyone on their acceptances!

I also got a call! I am sure yours is coming today

[J Mack]

Hey everybody! When I got a call from Western this morning, I asked the person calling a bunch of questions: (a professor who I am sorry to say I cant even remember the name of, I was so shocked to get the call):

Here is what she said about the focus of Western versus Toronto: Western has always had a reputation of being strong in child-language while Toronto, speech and motor. Western has 3 profs right now doing child language and autism research alone. She also said though that they have great profs and classes in the all the other field areas.

In terms of how they pick applicants: They take GPA very seriously, especially prereqs. She said that most applicants are arts students and are strong in their ling and psych, but they also want to see good grades in the sciences (human phys and anatomy) because medical SLP is tough. They look very closely at the clincal references and she even mentioned a few details from mine = shows that every question they ask your references they actually care about. They also care about the academic references because she said that they dont want students that only have high grades, but also those that profs can speak to about their strong overall character and people skills. Lastly, they look at your letter of intent to see if you have strong writing skills, which they want, and if you seem to have a sense of what you are getting yourself into haha, her words. They dont want students to be accepted and then really struggle she basically said.

So ya! I know all of you know the admission requirements, which I pretty much just listed here, but I thought her details on them were helpful and will help someone else out!

 

 

[RO_SLP]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to this board… I just got accepted to Western and U of T! I'm also very unsure about which program to choose. Any input is appreciated :).

[umsinger]

Hi Everyone,

I am a current first year student in the SLP program at Western. A year ago today I was in your shoes, awaiting an acceptance letter. I love the program here and would be happy to answer any questions about it - if you would like a student's perspective. I can't speak to the other programs because I don't attend them! Please send me a private message and we can chat!

Congrats everyone!

 

 

[lilacism]

Is anyone who was accepted at U of T planning on going to the open house? 

[klfstudent]

24 minutes ago, lilacism said:

Is anyone who was accepted at U of T planning on going to the open house? 

I probably will! 

[Magoo4U]

I got accepted to U of T and Western - but I've opted for McGill.  I just declined Toronto and it was almost physically painful to do! (The paranoid voice in my head keeps saying, "What if McGill changes their mind???") But hopefully someone else can benefit from the spot at Toronto - yay! I also want to decline Western, but something funky with their website isn't letting me do it. Anyone else having this problem? It says "Select which program you want to accept/decline" but then there's nothing to select. I tried a new browser, but that didn't work, either. I'll send them an email and see what they say. (I don't mind sounding like a tool who can't use technology now that I know I don't need to impress them as much - LOL!) Congrats to everyone who got in - and to those on the waitlists, more spots are on the way! Sending positive vibes your way!

[umsinger]

9 hours ago, J Mack said:

I am also weighing U of A and Western, so I know how you feel. I have also heard some concerning things about placements at Western, but looking at their program layout, I think it will be okay. So, most of the first year you are at their in house clinic = guaranteed spot, then the first spring placement off campus doesnt have to be in London so think about how many people will travel home for their placement and then the rest of the summer, I will probably be doing this. So for those staying in London, there are more placements because of that alone! And then in year 2, same thing, you are guaranteed a place at the in house clinic and then there is an off campus London placement, where I could see things get tricky because everyone has to stay in London for this one. But after that, you have your final placement and can do it anywhere = lots of people will go home I imagine.

This is just my reasoning, hope it helps!

Since I'm in the program at Western, I thought I would clarify some things about clinical placements.

Your first clinical placement will be at the in-house clinic from January-April of your first year. It could be in pediatric speech and language, fluency, voice, or neuro depending on your individual trajectory (which you will have an opportunity to discuss in the fall with our Clinical Placement Coordinator)

The second placement for the majority of students is a full-time external placement (may and june). This can be in London, your home town, or wherever you would like to go. We do have some issues getting placements in the GTA, but that is because the U of T gets priority for their student's placements in those areas. It's not impossible to get a placement in the GTA, but it is tricky. The remaining students remain in the in-house clinic and do a full-time placement and have the option to assist with our summer fluency camp. Whether you stay in-house or go external depends, once again, on your individual trajectory.

In the fall of your second year, you will do your second in-house clinic placement. If you were in-house during the summer, you will have an external placement in London or the surrounding area (depending on your access to a vehicle)

New for our class in 2017 will be the full-time month long external January placement. This replaces the former January-April placement in second year. This allows for even more full-time experience. This can be done anywhere in Canada, and since most people go home for winter break, most are opting to stay in their home town to do this placement.

Then there is a condensed final semester (February - April)

And of course, there is one more final full-time external placement once you are done classes.

Our clinical placement coordinator does an excellent job at working individually with students to build a placement trajectory with their interests in mind. You will get a very balanced clinical experience and the opportunity to work with many different populations. Also, the in-house clinic is a fully functional clinic, meaning that you work with real (not simulated) clients in a structured and supportive environment.

 

hope that clears things up!

 

 

 

[Magoo4U]

On April 1, 2016 at 10:54 PM, eagerlee said:

I'm in the same position of having accepted McGill's offer, but excited to hear from the Ontario schools anyway.

A lot of McGill/Concordia students rent in Shaughnessy village, NDG, and Saint-Henri! Those are good places to consider in the search. The McGill Ghetto aka "Milton-Parc" is a bit of an undergrad party area but very popular. The Plateau and Westmount have some ok-priced apartments but those are not "cheap" areas. Also the monthly bus/metro pass for students (under 25) is only $50. Yay!

To those who have accepted an offer from McGill, were you able to log into Minerva? It wasn't working for me...

And to those waiting on results, good luck!!:)

Thanks, Eagerlee! That's super helpful! I'll be going there in May to look around, so hopefully I can check out those areas.

(I haven't tried logging into Minerva yet - still juggling with other things - but I'll let you know if it works!)