2017 Canadian Application Thread!

[Jdmac]

On 10/28/2016 at 6:02 PM, mizuro said:

My sub-average is around 93%. I do have two more courses to go into that calculation, so I think it might lower to 92%. I have no clue what that means on a 4.0 GPA scale since UBC does 4.33 & I have no clue how to convert.

@A_linguist I was wondering if you could talk about the UBC program. I've talked to SLPs and a student that's in the program right now, but I always want to know more (esp. since I'm only applying to Alberta & UBC). Do people still say that is really theoretical over clinical? Is it easy to find a job after coming out of that program?

Also, anyone know what GRE scores are competitive for Alberta? I'm sitting at 160V, 158Q and 5AW. I know that they've talked about GRE scores a couple of years ago on their blog, but that was a couple of years ago. Plus, they're always making the program more competitive...so, let me know if you have heard anything!

When I visited U of A last year a student in the program told me they expect you to be in the top 50th percentile in all three areas. (This isn't official but I have also been hinted at that GRE scores are low on the priority list for application success)

[J Mack]

Hey all! I am a current student at Western and would be happy to help or answer any questions that you have. I know this whole process is really stressful, so get in touch if you need!

[LanguageEnthusiast]

On 2016-10-06 at 10:08 AM, SpeechWannaB said:

Did anyone hear that McMaster will be getting an SLP program for Fall of 2017.

 

http://srs-mcmaster.ca/slp-program-information/

 

That's awesome! Thanks for posting that

[hnabnanaslp]

I have a question to those who are applying for the 2nd, 3rd or n^th time. 

What was the reasons for the rejections to the program?

also, I'm reading other people's posts and it seems like a very high GPA is a must for applying to this program.

do you guys think it's worth it to apply even if i have a GPA of below 3.5? I also have some work/volunteer experience in the related field but not as much as others who have over 100+ hours of volunteer experience.

[mizuro]

Out of curiosity, has anyone applied for the master's funding with CIHR/NSERC/SSHRC? I'm just curious to see if anyone going into the program is planning on doing a master's thesis with the clinical program.

[Bananis]

Hey everyone,

I'll be applying again this year. I only applied to Alberta last year because I only had prereqs for there and my GPA was very low. What I'd like to know is how everyone calculates their GPA? You all seem to know, but don't all the schools calculate it differently? If I look on the chart that ORPAS gives for my school (Regina), I can kind of guess what mine would be, but it's different depending on if I convert each class to 4.0 scale and then average them, or if I average all my percentages and then convert. Also, that's just for ORPAS. It sounds like Alberta is different. How are you all figuring it out?

[kelseymg]

Hey all!

I'm a current second-year student in the SLP program at UAlberta and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Good luck everyone, and have some faith in yourselves!

 

[klfstudent]

On 2016-11-12 at 0:16 PM, Bananis said:

Hey everyone,

I'll be applying again this year. I only applied to Alberta last year because I only had prereqs for there and my GPA was very low. What I'd like to know is how everyone calculates their GPA? You all seem to know, but don't all the schools calculate it differently? If I look on the chart that ORPAS gives for my school (Regina), I can kind of guess what mine would be, but it's different depending on if I convert each class to 4.0 scale and then average them, or if I average all my percentages and then convert. Also, that's just for ORPAS. It sounds like Alberta is different. How are you all figuring it out?

I'm not sure how they do it at Alberta because they never told me what they calculated my GPA to be. I know for ORPAS they convert each class to a 4.0 scale and then average them. 

[A_linguist]

On 08.11.2016 at 7:55 PM, hnabnanaslp said:

I have a question to those who are applying for the 2nd, 3rd or n^th time. 

What was the reasons for the rejections to the program?

also, I'm reading other people's posts and it seems like a very high GPA is a must for applying to this program.

do you guys think it's worth it to apply even if i have a GPA of below 3.5? I also have some work/volunteer experience in the related field but not as much as others who have over 100+ hours of volunteer experience.

From my experience, you don't get any specific reasons for rejection from the universities. They use a generic e-mail that says the usual reasons: it's very competitive, we get a lot of applications and we have a lot of qualified applicants who we cannot offer admission to, etc. I have tried to (politely) request more details, but those have been refused. It is really frustrating, but I guess all you can do is try to make your application more competitive the next year.

If you have a chance to get more volunteer experience with different populations, I would suggest doing that as soon as you can (before the application deadlines). Although most of the programs are heavily weighted towards high academics, it isn't the only factor that they use.

[SLPMaybe]

Question for everyone... I have emailed a professor from last year for a reference, and it has been 13 days (!!) and she hasn't gotten back to me. Can I assume she isn't interested, or is it appropriate to send a follow up email? 

[Jopyon]

Hi, earlier I tried to post this, but I wound up making it into a brand new topic, which I cannot figure out how to delete. (oops!)

In any case I will just paste my original post here:

Applying for my second round at Canadian universities this year, and I noticed that U of T has changed its pre requisites and what they accept for them. I have e-mailed to obtain a form that will allow me to apply with my anatomy course that no longer qualifies (they will continue to accept it until 2018). However, the admissions secretary is insistent that "Research methods" has always been a requirement, and not 2 statistics courses which I am certain was the requirement last year. Is anyone else experiencing this problem? I am going to the information session at the end of this month but wanted to know if anyone else was frustrated at this.

[JessieBear]

Hello everyone!

So the statement of intent word limit for both U of T and Western is 3000 words. I have written about half of mine so far. Just wondering if admissions will expect most applicants to write up to 3000 words or if it looks better to have less since you are more concise and to the point. Thoughts? 

[MissSLP]

57 minutes ago, JessieBear said:

Hello everyone!

So the statement of intent word limit for both U of T and Western is 3000 words. I have written about half of mine so far. Just wondering if admissions will expect most applicants to write up to 3000 words or if it looks better to have less since you are more concise and to the point. Thoughts? 

Hi JessieBear,

The limit is 3000 characters, not 3000 words - a very big difference!!! I actually assumed 3000 words when I first looked at it too.

That probably answers your question

[JessieBear]

3 minutes ago, MissSLP said:

Hi JessieBear,

The limit is 3000 characters, not 3000 words - a very big difference!!! I actually assumed 3000 words when I first looked at it too.

That probably answers your question

OMG wow. I can't believe I misread that. Thank goodness for you correcting me. 

[MissSLP]

1 hour ago, JessieBear said:

OMG wow. I can't believe I misread that. Thank goodness for you correcting me. 

I know - a huge difference between 3000 words and 3000 characters, right? I'm having trouble condensing mine down to fit the limit!

How is everyone else doing with the letters of intent?

[mizuro]

@jopyon Although I'm not applying to U of T this year, I initially was going to. I was going to take the anatomy course but decided that I won't do it this year unless I don't get into west coast schools. From what I remember, they've always asking for a research methods and a stats course. It used to be lumped together, but I guess they treat it as separate categories now?

[JessieBear]

In the personal submissions section there is a spot for "other volunteer experiences", which is separate from "volunteer experiences in SLP or AUD". What types of things do you guys think are acceptable in this other category? I have volunteered with international students at my university (mentorship), at my psychology undergraduate research event, and took notes for students with disabilities. Is it okay for me to include these things even though they aren't directly related to speech pathology?

[hopefulspeechie52]

Hi guys! just thought I would join this feed since I will also be applying in the upcoming cycle. My top choices are U of T, McMaster and Western. I will be at about 100 hours of SLP experience, and I'm still working out my GPA. to answer you @Jopyon, I know that u of T used to require 1 full credit in stats so they clumped the stats and research methods courses there. Now, it's half stats and half research methods. I just had a question regarding references, I have a prof who has agreed to write my reference however he is asking for other information on the side, which I give to him through email, but he seems very disorganized and never answers back to email, but in his office hours he told me to send his info in on ORPAS so now the damage is done and I must stick with him. What will happen if the january 6 deadline rolls in and he hasn't completed it yet?

 

 

Thanks

[A_linguist]

@JessieBear I think you should put all of your volunteer experience on your application. I believe that it shows breadth of character and can only benefit your application. 

@hopefulspeechie52 I think that he is probably really busy but has the reference thing sorted. When I have sent in applications before, especially during the end of term and into finals, all of my references got them done and in on time. I had a similar experience with some of the profs, but they always pulled through. If you're really worried, just pop in during office hours and give a friendly reminder. If you feel that another professor can write a stronger reference, then I would consider switching. But if not, give it a bit of time

[speechie2017]

@hopefulspeechie52 I had the same problem last year when I applied. If you are really unsure about this prof and want someone else you actually can call ORPAS and tell them and they will remove him from your references. One of my references were late last year and ORPAS told me that the schools will not know as they don't send the applications to the schools until late February. This being said, the process was a bit different last year as references where mailed in manually not via email so the process may have changed this year. 

[hopefulspeechie52]

@A_linguist @speechie2017 thanks for your responses guys  I do have one last office hours with him tomorrow, so I have printed the information that he requested from me, and wrote the due date, my email, and the date that orpas should have emailed him on. I wouldn't doubt this prof if he wasn't so disorganized. I'm just anticipating the panic I would be in when it's like january 3 and he hasn't sent it in yet, and he isn't answering any emails haha. I called orpas and they said I need to email them if I have a problem with one of the references and they would need to remove it on their end. 

 

If any of you guys have any questions regarding the application process, I would be happy to help because I have been doing research on this program for about 3 years. 

[Bananis]

Is anyone filling out ORPAS and getting You have not added a participating postsecondary institution in your "Academic Background". under the transcripts section?? I have entered my schools into the education section and I can't find anywhere else to enter anything... What does that mean and do I have to do anything? Because the transcripts will be sent directly to ORPAS.

[hopefulspeechie52]

@Bananis Hey, do you get that message after submitting the transcript request? I haven't gone that far yet. I think you should call orpas to be on the safe side

 

[SLPMaybe]

Has anyone else submitted a request form for a course to be used as a prerequisite at U of T? I submitted it almost a month ago and am surprised that it is taking so long for them to get back to me  

[hopefulspeechie52]

@SLPMaybe Hi, I noticed it took them a while to get back to me, but they're honestly so backed up with their system so I just called admissions (Sarah) and she opened the email and gave me a date as to when they'll get back to me by. Calling is the best way to get it done.