2016 Canadian SLP Thread

[sfnslp]

Hi everyone! I got accepted to both UWO and UofT as well, and I have no idea which one to pick.

I have some major concerns:

What I dislike about the program at Western is that they have some of their placements at the same time as their classes. It sounds like a lot of work!! What if you get a placement outside of London?! 

Also, how do the clinical and academic units come together at UWO, if they don't do blocks of class time followed by relevant placements? Like what if you get placements on topics you haven't covered yet or things you're just starting to hear about? I really don't understand UWO's structure. I saw Saturday classes on a friend's schedule, too... Is that for real?!?!  I'd really appreciate it if someone in the program could clarify things for me    

Lastly, how come I keep hearing that people can get external placements in their hometown? During the UWO open house, the coordinator told us multiple times that out of town placements are not guaranteed... I'm from Toronto, so I feel like I can't count on getting placements in the GTA unless I go to UofT. 

I know I sound like I have a lot of doubts about UWO, but I'm not very keen on going to UofT again lol

Thanks in advance!  

 

[lilacism]

6 hours ago, sfnslp said:

Hi everyone! I got accepted to both UWO and UofT as well, and I have no idea which one to pick.

I have some major concerns:

What I dislike about the program at Western is that they have some of their placements at the same time as their classes. It sounds like a lot of work!! What if you get a placement outside of London?! 

Also, how do the clinical and academic units come together at UWO, if they don't do blocks of class time followed by relevant placements? Like what if you get placements on topics you haven't covered yet or things you're just starting to hear about? I really don't understand UWO's structure. I saw Saturday classes on a friend's schedule, too... Is that for real?!?!  I'd really appreciate it if someone in the program could clarify things for me    

Lastly, how come I keep hearing that people can get external placements in their hometown? During the UWO open house, the coordinator told us multiple times that out of town placements are not guaranteed... I'm from Toronto, so I feel like I can't count on getting placements in the GTA unless I go to UofT. 

I know I sound like I have a lot of doubts about UWO, but I'm not very keen on going to UofT again lol

Thanks in advance!  

 

I actually spoke to a current Western SLP student and she confirmed that it is very very difficult (in first year at least) to get a placement in the GTA because U of T holds most of those placement locations for their students. That was a huge deciding factor for me because I would not want to pay for rent in London only to have to pay to commute (or potentially even rent) to another place on top of thatwhen I live in the GTA. I plan on commuting to U of T which will save a lot of money for me so I don't think I could fathom paying so much for Western when there's a much more convenient and cost-effective option. 

However, a big positive for Western and their placements is that they have the on site clinic which makes your first placement very convenient in that you don't have to even go off-campus. I think that would make it a little easier to balance placements and classes being together.

[mogibear]

4 minutes ago, lilacism said:

I actually spoke to a current Western SLP student and she confirmed that it is very very difficult (in first year at least) to get a placement in the GTA because U of T holds most of those placement locations for their students. That was a huge deciding factor for me because I would not want to pay for rent in London only to have to pay to commute (or potentially even rent) to another place on top of thatwhen I live in the GTA. I plan on commuting to U of T which will save a lot of money for me so I don't think I could fathom paying so much for Western when there's a much more convenient and cost-effective option. 

However, a big positive for Western and their placements is that they have the on site clinic which makes your first placement very convenient in that you don't have to even go off-campus. I think that would make it a little easier to balance placements and classes being together.

Oh hey, another commuter! That's exactly my reasoning for U of T, it's going to save a ton of money as opposed to rent in London. If there was a huge difference in how good the programs are, that would be a different story. But they are both great schools with great programs. It's nice to see I'm not the only one! How long would your commute be?

[lilacism]

1 hour ago, mogibear said:

Oh hey, another commuter! That's exactly my reasoning for U of T, it's going to save a ton of money as opposed to rent in London. If there was a huge difference in how good the programs are, that would be a different story. But they are both great schools with great programs. It's nice to see I'm not the only one! How long would your commute be?

Exactly! I'll be taking the GO train for about 25 minutes and then walking from Union for about 20 minutes. So about 45 minutes or so. 

[SLP_2016]

Does anyone know about any places to rent in UofT that are off campus , but not too far if taken the subway? 

[RO_SLP]

11 hours ago, sfnslp said:

Hi everyone! I got accepted to both UWO and UofT as well, and I have no idea which one to pick.

I have some major concerns:

What I dislike about the program at Western is that they have some of their placements at the same time as their classes. It sounds like a lot of work!! What if you get a placement outside of London?! 

Also, how do the clinical and academic units come together at UWO, if they don't do blocks of class time followed by relevant placements? Like what if you get placements on topics you haven't covered yet or things you're just starting to hear about? I really don't understand UWO's structure. I saw Saturday classes on a friend's schedule, too... Is that for real?!?!  I'd really appreciate it if someone in the program could clarify things for me    

Lastly, how come I keep hearing that people can get external placements in their hometown? During the UWO open house, the coordinator told us multiple times that out of town placements are not guaranteed... I'm from Toronto, so I feel like I can't count on getting placements in the GTA unless I go to UofT. 

I know I sound like I have a lot of doubts about UWO, but I'm not very keen on going to UofT again lol

Thanks in advance!  

 

I think you brought up some interesting points about UWO! I have a tour planned with Janet next week, so I might ask her about some of these things.

Just curious, can you explain why you aren't wanting to go to UofT again?

[sfnslp]

4 hours ago, SLP_2016 said:

Does anyone know about any places to rent in UofT that are off campus , but not too far if taken the subway? 

Check out viewit, craigslist and kijiji! Also 210 Simcoe St (if I remember correctly) is a condo that's super close to the rehab sciences building. But there are tons of condos around the area, so I'm sure you could walk into any of them and take a look at their bulletin board for rent listings.

 

[SLP555]

Hey!   

I'm not sure if this is way too early   but I'm attending Western and will be looking for a quiet and clean roommate!  It would be awesome to room with one of my classmates.  Message me or reply here if you are also interested  

[speechteach]

This thread has been so helpful! I'm returning to University after 5 years as a kindergarten teacher, so I'm taking a year of prerequisites this fall/winter and will be applying to U of A for 2017. 

 

Has anyone been accepted pending the completion of their prerequisites? I will have 3 left in the winter semester. Thanks!

[J Mack]

14 hours ago, sfnslp said:

Hi everyone! I got accepted to both UWO and UofT as well, and I have no idea which one to pick.

I have some major concerns:

What I dislike about the program at Western is that they have some of their placements at the same time as their classes. It sounds like a lot of work!! What if you get a placement outside of London?! 

Also, how do the clinical and academic units come together at UWO, if they don't do blocks of class time followed by relevant placements? Like what if you get placements on topics you haven't covered yet or things you're just starting to hear about? I really don't understand UWO's structure. I saw Saturday classes on a friend's schedule, too... Is that for real?!?!  I'd really appreciate it if someone in the program could clarify things for me    

Lastly, how come I keep hearing that people can get external placements in their hometown? During the UWO open house, the coordinator told us multiple times that out of town placements are not guaranteed... I'm from Toronto, so I feel like I can't count on getting placements in the GTA unless I go to UofT. 

I know I sound like I have a lot of doubts about UWO, but I'm not very keen on going to UofT again lol

Thanks in advance!  

 

Hey!

It looks as though our placements that occur during classes are all at the in-house clinic and about half a day a week? That might make it more manageable. I know what you mean though about the first spring term where we have to take voice disorders yet I have been told I can travel for that placement? That is a little confusing. The clinical placement page on Western's website is helpful too. I know that coming out of Western SLP, you will have accumulated the most clinical hours compared to any school in the country. I think I saw this on a CASLPA pdf comparing each program. So that is a plus I think! But it depends on what you think is most important. I would imagine that you would not be advised to do a placement in an area that you have not taken a class on yet, but I don't know for sure. I think that every school has to say that out of town placements aren't guaranteed, because technically they are not, but for me for example, I know I will have more choice and less competition getting a placement in my hometown (Winnipeg) because there isn't a program there! My SLP friends had a lot of success getting great placements in Winnipeg and liked that they got to make connections at home. If you are from a city that has a program, than you are right, chances are less I think. I have heard that each program has placement "turf" so if you are from the Toronto area you may have some competition with the Toronto SLP students for placements. If you are willing/wanting to travel somewhere completely different in Canada for placements, than I think you are in the same position at either Western and Toronto. You should go back a page or two and look at umsinger's comment, she is in her first year at Western and will know a lot more than me  

What are your reservations at Toronto? I definitely see the appeal of Toronto's layout! My only concern with it is what if you are super interested in one population or a couple of areas, and you find this early on, you are still required to spend your placements how the program wants you to. For me, I wouldn't want to spend 8 weeks doing adult neuro if my passion is child language. I would want to definitely dabble in everything, I think we have to to get our license, but I would want to get the most clinical practice in my area of interest. Western allows you to tailor your placements to suit your interests and future job aspirations I think while making sure you hit your hours in each sub-field.

Edited April 7, 2016 by J Mack

[J Mack]

Here is the pdf comparing schools:

https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-child-studies/sites/ca.centre-for-child-studies/files/uploads/files/university_survey_2008_speech.pdf

Someone pointed out to me that each program provides the same amount of clinical hours, thankfully, so I went back to this pdf to see why I thought that they were all different. The table comparing clinical hours at each school is actually measured in weeks! So one school may span your hours over more weeks but that doesn't mean that you are actually getting more hours. Ah! Sorry to mislead anyone!

[slpppppp]

On April 3, 2016 at 1:32 PM, mogibear said:

There are a few. I found some information about them in the U of T Student Handbook for SLP.

If you want the link to the entire handbook, you can find it here: http://www.slp.utoronto.ca/current-students/mhsc-student-handbook/

 

 

Thanks so much for posting this!

[slpppppp]

For those accepted to UofT- has anyone received their acceptance letter in the mail? Starting to think mine might have got lost! (I'm from Toronto, too!)

[SLPright]

That's the 2008 version of the survey, I'd posted the 2010 one here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5248957/SAC%20university_survey_%202010_speech_0.pdf

This one's measured in days, not weeks. In 2010, U of A was shown as having the most clinical hours. This year, I believe Toronto has 150 days (30 weeks, handbook), UBC has 126 (website), and McGill has approx. 122 days (talked to a current student who estimated that). Not sure about Western, Dal, or Alberta.

Re: deciding on where to go...

I'm a big fan of the unit structure at U of T, as I'd imagine it gives you a better idea of what it's like to work full-time in various settings / with various populations. I'm a little worried about less personal attention at U of T with the larger class size (I've heard there's been some problems with the clinical placement selection process) but I like the overall structure of the program, and personally I love the city and have some close friends there. I did also receive a call from a U of T faculty member asking if I had any questions about the program, but I'm overseas so I missed the call and she just left a voicemail. If you look in the handbook, you also see that their "student council" has positions to plan social events, design SLP-branded clothing, do a yearbook, etc. so I think the student life will be good.

I'd be really surprised if students from any other schools get placements in the GTA considering some of the placements offered to U of T students aren't even in the GTA - supposedly only 2 of your 4 placements may be, but even that's not really guaranteed. A friend who goes there (who was going to have to do a placement in Kingston) acknowledged that sometimes she felt a little envious of the in-house clinics at some of the other schools.

For full-time placements, location also isn't really guaranteed for McGill either. If you're flexible about location, you're more likely to get the population you want, and if you're flexible about population then you're more likely to get the location. As mentioned, McGill does get you started with placements in September of first year so you get exposure really fast. The student I talked to also spoke highly of their two clinical coordinators.

It doesn't seem like many people here are mentioning UBC, but I've had an extremely positive impression from dealing with them.  It sounds like they give more attention to individuals. I have a friend who's known for a while that she's more interested in adults than children so they've worked out her next placement so she could do that instead. It broke my heart a little bit to decline there (Sue, the graduate program assistant, is so kind), but I've lived in Vancouver for most of my life and wanted a change of scenery. I feel like they're quite strong for research as well.

I didn't research Alberta, Western, or Dalhousie as thoroughly (mostly because of personal reasons as I've never been to the cities they're in), but I wasn't a fan of how Alberta and Dalhousie seems to be mostly theory/coursework the first year followed by the majority of your practicum hours later on. I wanted something more integrated.

As other people have mentioned though, all the Canadian programs are really strong so I feel like there's no wrong choice!

Anyone else who's decided on U of T, feel free to PM me and we can be Facebook friends.  

[kelseymg]

1 hour ago, SLPright said:

Re: deciding on where to go...

I didn't research Alberta, Western, or Dalhousie as thoroughly (mostly because of personal reasons as I've never been to the cities they're in), but I wasn't a fan of how Alberta and Dalhousie seems to be mostly theory/coursework the first year followed by the majority of your practicum hours later on. I wanted something more integrated.

As other people have mentioned though, all the Canadian programs are really strong so I feel like there's no wrong choice!

 

As a student at the U of A I can talk a bit about the layout of the program and availability of placements.
It's true that the first 2 terms focus on class work but the U of A is making great changes to their program to give students a more integrated experience.
Half of the fall and winter semesters were "integration weeks". This means that the focus was on understanding how the information in our classes relate and how to use this in practice. Integration weeks often included activities where we worked with clients. Future students should expect even more integration among their classes. 
Learn more about integration (and our incredible profs) here... http://rehabilitation.ualberta.ca/news/2016/march/integration-blocks-teach-speech-language-pathology-students-practical-skills

The layout of the U of T program really intrigued me at first but once I realized that they didn't have an in-house clinic and that the chances of me having to travel or move for placements and thus potentially pay rent for more than one place at a time concerned me. The U of A gives students a lot of experience at the in-house clinic. All external placements are completed at the end of the degree which I considered to be a positive because this allows me to move home in January of the second year and complete my external placements there. 

If you are like me and from a province that does not have an SLP program there is a good chance that you will be able to complete your external placements there. It is trickier for students from BC and Ontario to get placements back home because the programs in these provinces get first dibs. 

Happy to answer any questions people have about the U of A.

[SpeechBubble]

I've just accepted my offer to Western! Hopefully this helps somebody on the wait-list at UofT. Any other Western speechies on here feel free to PM me and lets start a facebook group or something (I'm also a Western undergrad so I can answer some questions about living/campus/etc). 

[RO_SLP]

21 hours ago, rachelfreed said:

For those accepted to UofT- has anyone received their acceptance letter in the mail? Starting to think mine might have got lost! (I'm from Toronto, too!)

Yes I did!

[sfnslp]

On April 7, 2016 at 1:15 PM, RO_SLP said:

I think you brought up some interesting points about UWO! I have a tour planned with Janet next week, so I might ask her about some of these things.

Just curious, can you explain why you aren't wanting to go to UofT again?

I spoke to Janet a few days ago and she cleared up a lot of things for me. There are no Saturday classes. There are only 2 placements at the same time as classes, but they would be on days when our course load is lighter and there are only 2 hours a week for 10 weeks. Both of those placements will also be at the in-house clinic - though the 2nd one may be elsewhere in London.

 

Well... I'm not looking forward to going to UofT as I did my undergrad there AND I'm from Toronto. Going to UofT would mean a 40-50min commute for me (one way). The TTC is super unreliable and there's always something wrong, especially during rush hour. After 1st semester, I'd have 9am classes and it's going to be a mission to commute with all the delays and emergency alarm activation. I also don't love the atmosphere at UofT. It's a commuter school and you have to make an extra effort to feel a part of things. I don't want to relive that again. Plus, the class size is bigger at UofT. There's also no cadaver for physio and anatomy. Lastly, the catchment area is HUGE and 1 of my 4 placements will probably be in the fancy and prestigious downtown hospitals. If I get a placement in the edges of the catchment area, then I'd have to rent a place there and that would be a waste of money.

 

Don't get me wrong though! UofT is an amazing school, with an international reputation. If I end up going there, I know I'll be in good hands and surrounded by amazing profs and students. I'm just having some personal dilemmas as mentioned above.

Edited April 9, 2016 by sfnslp

[sfnslp]

On April 7, 2016 at 1:15 PM, RO_SLP said:

On April 7, 2016 at 4:49 PM, J Mack said:

Hey!

It looks as though our placements that occur during classes are all at the in-house clinic and about half a day a week? That might make it more manageable. I know what you mean though about the first spring term where we have to take voice disorders yet I have been told I can travel for that placement? That is a little confusing. The clinical placement page on Western's website is helpful too. I know that coming out of Western SLP, you will have accumulated the most clinical hours compared to any school in the country. I think I saw this on a CASLPA pdf comparing each program. So that is a plus I think! But it depends on what you think is most important. I would imagine that you would not be advised to do a placement in an area that you have not taken a class on yet, but I don't know for sure. I think that every school has to say that out of town placements aren't guaranteed, because technically they are not, but for me for example, I know I will have more choice and less competition getting a placement in my hometown (Winnipeg) because there isn't a program there! My SLP friends had a lot of success getting great placements in Winnipeg and liked that they got to make connections at home. If you are from a city that has a program, than you are right, chances are less I think. I have heard that each program has placement "turf" so if you are from the Toronto area you may have some competition with the Toronto SLP students for placements. If you are willing/wanting to travel somewhere completely different in Canada for placements, than I think you are in the same position at either Western and Toronto. You should go back a page or two and look at umsinger's comment, she is in her first year at Western and will know a lot more than me  

What are your reservations at Toronto? I definitely see the appeal of Toronto's layout! My only concern with it is what if you are super interested in one population or a couple of areas, and you find this early on, you are still required to spend your placements how the program wants you to. For me, I wouldn't want to spend 8 weeks doing adult neuro if my passion is child language. I would want to definitely dabble in everything, I think we have to to get our license, but I would want to get the most clinical practice in my area of interest. Western allows you to tailor your placements to suit your interests and future job aspirations I think while making sure you hit your hours in each sub-field.

Hey!

I will definitely look into the CASLPA pdf you've mentioned  

You're right about the Winnipeg placements. No matter where you go, you'll get amazing placements at home if you want to! I'm from Toronto though, so I'm not as lucky.

I hear that you want do most of your placements in child language, but keep in mind that the governing body for SLPs requires students to do placements for a certain number of hours in certain areas. So no matter where you go, they will make sure you get those areas covered, even if you are not planning to work with that population later on. But yes, it's true that certain programs like UWO will give you more flexibility and you could probably do your longer/extra placements in the field(s) that you want!

 

I just replied to someone else's comment about my reservations about UofT, so you can read that (I don't want to annoy everyone by repeating myself). 

 

[SLP_a]

6 hours ago, SpeechBubble said:

I've just accepted my offer to Western! Hopefully this helps somebody on the wait-list at UofT. Any other Western speechies on here feel free to PM me and lets start a facebook group or something (I'm also a Western undergrad so I can answer some questions about living/campus/etc). 

That's awesome!! We should definitely start a facebook group! I'd love to chat about campus, housing etc.   I just PM you!

[klfstudent]

Those who accepted Alberta: Has anyone started a Facebook group yet? If not PM me and we should start one!

[lilacism]

Just accepted my offer to Toronto! I think the current first year class is supposed to make our Facebook group, but if anyone who has also accepted at Toronto wants to PM me, we can add each other!

Edited April 10, 2016 by lilacism

[klfstudent]

University of Alberta Class of 2018 feel free to join our Facebook group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/215907785450936/

[tillersaurus]

Anyone going to McGill this fall, message me! I'll add you on Facebook  

[Beeee5]

Accepted the offer from U of A so there will be a spot opening at Western!