2016 Canadian SLP Thread

[SLP_2016]

Anyone who will be going to UofT for SLP have any adorable options for housing nearby campus? I know the ones in downtown are super expensive so I was wondering if there are any other more affordable options? 

[SLPtoBe333]

Hi all! 
First off, congrats to those accepted and good luck to those on the wait lists!
Regarding accepting: a provisional acceptance will automatically become a firm acceptance if we do not hear from the other schools we are wait listed at, but are we essentially saying that if we do get off that wait list, we choose that school? or will we still have a choice between the two schools should we get off the wait list? 
Additionally, does anyone know if there are any risks associated with provisionally accepting? I'm concerned that by waiting to hear from one school, I will lose the acceptance I have from another! 
Thanks!  

[SLP_a]

On 2016-04-04 at 9:00 PM, SpeechBubble said:

Hey! Thank you! I'm completing my undergrad right now at Western, and will very likely be accepting my offer too! I have lived both in on-campus residence and off-campus so if you need some advice feel free to message me! 

A popular graduate residence is London Hall, which is conveniently about a 3 minutes walk away from Elborn (where the speech clinic is!). There is a lot of student housing near the same area as well, such as off Sarnia Rd (where I am) or down Western Rd  

That's awesome! Let me know if you do accept your offer, it would be great to start a facebook group or something to start getting to know people in the program!

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely look into that, I think that I'm going to try for off-campus so I'll definitely check out that area!

 

[SLP_a]

On 2016-04-04 at 10:06 PM, J Mack said:

Hi SLP_a! I am nearly positive that I am going to accept at Western as well  Woohoo class of 2018! I have also been looking at accommodations there and have been having a lot of luck just looking on Kijiji. Also, Platt's Lane grad housing seems pretty great and my fiancé and I are going to check it out in a couple of weeks when we visit. 

 

Good luck in your searches!

Hey! That's so great! Congrats on your acceptance!! If you end up accepting your offer, let me know!

Thanks for the advice on housing, I'm definitely going to have to take a trip to London to check out the neighbourhood

[SLP_a]

8 hours ago, ssymslp said:

Hi all!

A little late on the draw here but I have also been accepted to Western and I confirmed my acceptance today! So excited!

I did my undergrad at Western so I am excited to be back (went to Brock after graduation for extra schooling, as I am from Niagara - currently completing my CDA Grad Cert in Kingston at St. Lawrence College).

Looking forward to meeting all my fellow classmates and starting this journey! Feel free to give me a shout since I know the school/area.

Hey there! I confirmed my acceptance for Western too! I'm so excited for September!

I'm from Toronto and I don't know very much about London (except that the Western campus is beautiful!). Do you have any advice on housing? Do you have any tips about Western or London?

[lilacism]

On 4/3/2016 at 9:02 PM, klfstudent said:

Me too! But how are we gonna figure out who's from here? Haha 

That is a really good point haha I'm not sure, I wish we had a facebook group or something! 

[Beeee5]

Heard from Vicki at U of A later this afternoon. I was accepted off of the waitlist! Now to decide between Western and U of A... I will be declining my offer from Dalhousie in the next couple of days, so that should make for some good news for someone on the Dalhousie waitlist! 

Edited April 6, 2016 by Beeee5

[J Mack]

Hey guys!

Does anybody know if the programs communicate at all?

I am in a position where I will be accepting at two schools until I can visit my top choice and make sure the program and city works for myself and my partner. I feel bad doing this but I cannot visit my top choice until finals are over, which is past my the two school's offer deadlines. I plan on making a decision by the end of April so I am not holding someone's spot on the waitlist at the school that I end up declining. 

I imagine that I am not the first person who has needed to juggle this but I don't want the schools to find out somehow. Does anybody know anything about this or find themselves in the same position?

Edited April 6, 2016 by J Mack

[RO_SLP]

So I have officially RSVP'd to the U of T's open house on Friday - hope to meet some of you there!

I have also booked a tour with Janet at Western. I'm hoping that after these tours, I'll be able to make a decision...

For those of you who have chosen to attend Western or U of T, do you mind sharing your reasoning? Thanks!

[mogibear]

5 minutes ago, RO_SLP said:

So I have officially RSVP'd to the U of T's open house on Friday - hope to meet some of you there!

I have also booked a tour with Janet at Western. I'm hoping that after these tours, I'll be able to make a decision...

For those of you who have chosen to attend Western or U of T, do you mind sharing your reasoning? Thanks!

I will be there on Friday too! I would also be very interested in why people are choosing one of these over the other. I'm pretty sure I'm leaning toward U of T but it would be nice to know what other people are thinking to help them decide.

[J Mack]

1 hour ago, mogibear said:

I will be there on Friday too! I would also be very interested in why people are choosing one of these over the other. I'm pretty sure I'm leaning toward U of T but it would be nice to know what other people are thinking to help them decide.

 

2 hours ago, RO_SLP said:

So I have officially RSVP'd to the U of T's open house on Friday - hope to meet some of you there!

I have also booked a tour with Janet at Western. I'm hoping that after these tours, I'll be able to make a decision...

For those of you who have chosen to attend Western or U of T, do you mind sharing your reasoning? Thanks!

Hey guys! I am 99% sure that I will be attending Western instead of the other schools (U of T being one of them) for a few reasons. I am moving from Winnipeg, which is a pretty affordable city to live in and so for my fiancé and I, London seems more similar in terms of cost of living than Toronto. I really like how the class size at Western is 37 rather than 50 at Toronto. Also, getting a call from a faculty member at Western after acceptances went out was really nice and gave me chance to connect with the program on more of a personal level. Friends of mine who are out of grad school just keep telling me to create a simple life for myself during my program so that I am not distracted and can focus easier on school. Coming from Winnipeg, Toronto is a big and busy city! There are coupe of other reasons why I prefer Western like the fact that my fiancé's mother's boyfriend has all of his family in the area and so they will come visit more and also the teaching clinic at Western is a huge plus!

A lot of this is just personal preference and I think that all of the other schools in Canada are great! You just have to decide what is most important to you I suppose  Good luck!!

 

[SpeechGal]

Does anyone know how many people are the waitlist for UWO and UoT?

[J Mack]

8 minutes ago, SpeechGal said:

Does anyone know how many people are the waitlist for UWO and UoT?

I have heard 60 at Western but am not sure about Toronto.

[mogibear]

51 minutes ago, J Mack said:

 

Hey guys! I am 99% sure that I will be attending Western instead of the other schools (U of T being one of them) for a few reasons. I am moving from Winnipeg, which is a pretty affordable city to live in and so for my fiancé and I, London seems more similar in terms of cost of living than Toronto. I really like how the class size at Western is 37 rather than 50 at Toronto. Also, getting a call from a faculty member at Western after acceptances went out was really nice and gave me chance to connect with the program on more of a personal level. Friends of mine who are out of grad school just keep telling me to create a simple life for myself during my program so that I am not distracted and can focus easier on school. Coming from Winnipeg, Toronto is a big and busy city! There are coupe of other reasons why I prefer Western like the fact that my fiancé's mother's boyfriend has all of his family in the area and so they will come visit more and also the teaching clinic at Western is a huge plus!

A lot of this is just personal preference and I think that all of the other schools in Canada are great! You just have to decide what is most important to you I suppose  Good luck!!

 

Thanks for sharing! It seems like a lot of people are choosing based on personal reasons, which I think are totally valid. For me, I live only a 45 min GO train ride away from the downtown Toronto campus. So U of T gives me the option to commute for even just the first year or so if I want, and that way I can live at home and save money. London seemed like a cool adventure for me but I think practicality is pretty important. I went to U of T for my undergrad and I loved it there, I'm excited about the idea of going back.

I also want to point out that apparently a U of T professor called for me last night - I was at work so I didn't get it, but he left his number and I will call him tonight probably. That made me feel a LOT better about the school because I was so impressed that Professor Orange called from Western, the faculty seems so nice there. I'm hoping to find just as many nice people at Toronto! And while 50 students seems like a lot, it will still be much smaller than the undergrad classes I was used to

[RO_SLP]

1 hour ago, J Mack said:

 

Hey guys! I am 99% sure that I will be attending Western instead of the other schools (U of T being one of them) for a few reasons. I am moving from Winnipeg, which is a pretty affordable city to live in and so for my fiancé and I, London seems more similar in terms of cost of living than Toronto. I really like how the class size at Western is 37 rather than 50 at Toronto. Also, getting a call from a faculty member at Western after acceptances went out was really nice and gave me chance to connect with the program on more of a personal level. Friends of mine who are out of grad school just keep telling me to create a simple life for myself during my program so that I am not distracted and can focus easier on school. Coming from Winnipeg, Toronto is a big and busy city! There are coupe of other reasons why I prefer Western like the fact that my fiancé's mother's boyfriend has all of his family in the area and so they will come visit more and also the teaching clinic at Western is a huge plus!

A lot of this is just personal preference and I think that all of the other schools in Canada are great! You just have to decide what is most important to you I suppose  Good luck!!

 

37 minutes ago, mogibear said:

Thanks for sharing! It seems like a lot of people are choosing based on personal reasons, which I think are totally valid. For me, I live only a 45 min GO train ride away from the downtown Toronto campus. So U of T gives me the option to commute for even just the first year or so if I want, and that way I can live at home and save money. London seemed like a cool adventure for me but I think practicality is pretty important. I went to U of T for my undergrad and I loved it there, I'm excited about the idea of going back.

I also want to point out that apparently a U of T professor called for me last night - I was at work so I didn't get it, but he left his number and I will call him tonight probably. That made me feel a LOT better about the school because I was so impressed that Professor Orange called from Western, the faculty seems so nice there. I'm hoping to find just as many nice people at Toronto! And while 50 students seems like a lot, it will still be much smaller than the undergrad classes I was used to

Thank you both for sharing! It helps to hear others' perspectives and reasoning. It's also nice to hear that a lot seems to surround personal reasons, rather than school/curriculum - shows that either school would be a good choice!

 

[mogibear]

47 minutes ago, RO_SLP said:

Thank you both for sharing! It helps to hear others' perspectives and reasoning. It's also nice to hear that a lot seems to surround personal reasons, rather than school/curriculum - shows that either school would be a good choice!

 

I know what you mean, I started worrying that it was silly to choose U of T just because it's closer, but the more I think about I know it's valid. There's no point racking up for debt when Western wouldn't really have any advantage over Toronto. They both look like amazing schools, so I don't think there's a 'wrong' choice. They are both fantastic. Western I definitely think would have the student life right there for you and it would be easy to get involved. But I think Toronto has just as much culture, you just need to look harder to find it

The one thing about U of T is that I really do like the structure of the program - completing an academic unit on one general area, immediately followed by a placement in that area. I know I learn really well this way, applying things fresh from learning about them. I think this will really help me. The Western program seems a little less clear cut, but that may work better for others!

[speechies]

2 hours ago, J Mack said:

I have heard 60 at Western but am not sure about Toronto.

Hello,

I have heard 30 at Toronto. 

[J Mack]

1 hour ago, mogibear said:

Thanks for sharing! It seems like a lot of people are choosing based on personal reasons, which I think are totally valid. For me, I live only a 45 min GO train ride away from the downtown Toronto campus. So U of T gives me the option to commute for even just the first year or so if I want, and that way I can live at home and save money. London seemed like a cool adventure for me but I think practicality is pretty important. I went to U of T for my undergrad and I loved it there, I'm excited about the idea of going back.

I also want to point out that apparently a U of T professor called for me last night - I was at work so I didn't get it, but he left his number and I will call him tonight probably. That made me feel a LOT better about the school because I was so impressed that Professor Orange called from Western, the faculty seems so nice there. I'm hoping to find just as many nice people at Toronto! And while 50 students seems like a lot, it will still be much smaller than the undergrad classes I was used to

There you go! Sounds like your mind is made up  Toronto sounds like such a good fit for you. I wish I was that close to any program  There are no programs within a 12 hour drive from Winnipeg, in Canada at least. And if you know that you love U of T, than you know you will enjoy your time as grad student there! That is so great that Toronto made some calls. I didn't know about that because I already declined there, but that is such a nice touch! All the schools should do that. And yes, good point! Your class of 50 will still feel small. At U of Winnipeg where I went, my classes were usually 50 and under so that is what I am used to. Oh! I have to add that if I accepted at Toronto, I would have to take human anatomy this spring (may and june) and I am getting married july 2! No thanks ahah! That is not how I want to spend the month before the big day lol! 

Good luck in your decisions!

Edited April 6, 2016 by J Mack

[hopetobeSLP]

3 hours ago, J Mack said:

I have heard 60 at Western but am not sure about Toronto.

I received a response email today stating that there are around 50 people on the waiting list at Western this year!

[klfstudent]

17 hours ago, J Mack said:

Hey guys!

Does anybody know if the programs communicate at all?

I am in a position where I will be accepting at two schools until I can visit my top choice and make sure the program and city works for myself and my partner. I feel bad doing this but I cannot visit my top choice until finals are over, which is past my the two school's offer deadlines. I plan on making a decision by the end of April so I am not holding someone's spot on the waitlist at the school that I end up declining. 

I imagine that I am not the first person who has needed to juggle this but I don't want the schools to find out somehow. Does anybody know anything about this or find themselves in the same position?

My guess is that you won't be able to accept both U of T and Western since they're both Ontario schools on ORPAS, but they probably wouldn't know if you accepted U of A. I'm in a similar situation and plan on accepting U of A because I don't want to make a decision before the U of T open house. I also feel bad but I'm going to make a decision hopefully right after the open house. 

[RebeccaMac15]

Hey everyone,

I am a current first year student in S-LP at Dalhousie. If anyone has questions regarding the program at Dal, feel free to send me a private message and I'll do my best to reply.

-Rebecca

[Aud2016]

30 minutes ago, RebeccaMac15 said:

Hey everyone,

I am a current first year student in S-LP at Dalhousie. If anyone has questions regarding the program at Dal, feel free to send me a private message and I'll do my best to reply.

-Rebecca

Hey Rebecca if possible, do you know anyone who can answer questions about the audiology program at dal?

Edited April 7, 2016 by Aud2016

[RebeccaMac15]

38 minutes ago, Aud2016 said:

Hey Rebecca if possible, do you know anyone who can answer questions about the audiology program at dal?

I don't know of anyone who uses grad cafe and I don't want to distribute anyone's emails, but if anyone has audiology questions, feel free to message me and I can ask my classmates and report back. The S-LP and Audio students take all the same classes in year 1.

[J Mack]

4 hours ago, klfstudent said:

My guess is that you won't be able to accept both U of T and Western since they're both Ontario schools on ORPAS, but they probably wouldn't know if you accepted U of A. I'm in a similar situation and plan on accepting U of A because I don't want to make a decision before the U of T open house. I also feel bad but I'm going to make a decision hopefully right after the open house. 

Hey kjfstudent! Thanks for your reply. You are totally right, I even confirmed with Janet. I was a little scared to ask her but she said that ya, the schools don't communicate about this stuff and you can't (firm?)accept at both Toronto and Western. She said it is totally reasonable and fine to accept at two school if it means you are given more time to really evaluate your options  Phewf!!

[klfstudent]

17 minutes ago, J Mack said:

Hey kjfstudent! Thanks for your reply. You are totally right, I even confirmed with Janet. I was a little scared to ask her but she said that ya, the schools don't communicate about this stuff and you can't (firm?)accept at both Toronto and Western. She said it is totally reasonable and fine to accept at two school if it means you are given more time to really evaluate your options  Phewf!!

Good to know, that makes me feel better!