2017 Canadian Application Thread!

[SLPMaybe]

@hopefulspeechie52 Thanks! Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one, but I'm sure they have so many requests to go through 

[hopefulspeechie52]

@SLPMaybe yea for sure, while I was on the phone with her I just asked her if she would be able to locate the email and or keep track of it. That way she knows someone is waiting on a response 

[princesst]

For our transcripts, do we just use the transcript request on ORPAS? I have it set to send after this fall term but was wondering if that's all I have to do? Or do I also have to contact the registrar's office at my uni and request that they send it? 

[hopefulspeechie52]

@princesst hey, I believe as long as you use the transcript request on ORPAS that's all you have to do because they will contact the registrar on their end. I used the transcript request for my teacher's college application (also on ouac) and it sent through smoothly

[Bananis]

@hopefulspeechie52  Hey, I don't see anywhere to do transcripts requests on there... I'm not an Ontario school btw if that matters. I've put in everything but all the prerequisites and the extra documents like CV and whatever. But I've filled out all the school information and everything else. I already have one school sending transcripts by mail, but the other I'll have to wait for this semester to be over. But where is this transcripts request page?? I'm so confused by this system haha

[hopefulspeechie52]

@bananis hmm, on my application there is a tab called "Transcripts" and once I'm there I can press the "request transcript" button where my school would be responsible for sending my transcript to ORPAS, on the transcript request, it does not ask for imformation about the school, just my student number and when I want the grades to be released. I would call ORPAS to see if there's anything else we're missing.

[Bananis]

@hopefulspeechie52  I just don't have that option anywhere. I attached a screenshot but maybe I should just call ORPAS. I'm already emailing them about a whole bunch of other issues so it's really annoying haha

[princesst]

2 hours ago, hopefulspeechie52 said:

@princesst hey, I believe as long as you use the transcript request on ORPAS that's all you have to do because they will contact the registrar on their end. I used the transcript request for my teacher's college application (also on ouac) and it sent through smoothly

Perfect! That's what I thought but I was a little paranoid and began doubting myself haha, thank you for taking the time out to reply! 

I'm also thinking about applying to teacher's college or doing my masters of teaching if I dont get into slp this year! Good luck!! 

[hopefulspeechie52]

1 hour ago, Bananis said:

@hopefulspeechie52  I just don't have that option anywhere. I attached a screenshot but maybe I should just call ORPAS. I'm already emailing them about a whole bunch of other issues so it's really annoying haha

hmm, my transcript area already has my university listed on there because I already inputted that in my post secondary information tab. If you've already done that and it's not appearing I would definitley just call orpas so you can get a quick response. 

[Bananis]

@hopefulspeechie52 Thanks, I guess I'll call after the weekend. Are you an Ontario school though? I wonder if that's why it's not showing up for me. I'm in Sask.

[hopefulspeechie52]

42 minutes ago, Bananis said:

@hopefulspeechie52 Thanks, I guess I'll call after the weekend. Are you an Ontario school though? I wonder if that's why it's not showing up for me. I'm in Sask.

hey, yes, I am in an Ontario school. It could be that, but it should at least detect the school since you already put it in the post secondary information tab.

[SLPMaybe]

@Bananis I also had to do a transcript request for an out of province school and at first I was so confused, but the transcript request page on ORPAS is only for Ontario schools! Otherwise, you have to request the transcript directly from the school and have them send it to ORPAS

[speechie_3423]

Hey I'm trying to figure out how UBC calculates GPA. My university uses a 9 point grading scale rather than GPA, so would UBC convert each of my percentage grades into their gpa scale and then calculate the average of all those values, or would they calculate an average percentage from all my grades and then convert that one percentage to their gpa scale? Thanks!

[mizuro]

@speechie_3423 I'm from UBC, and to my knowledge, they average your percentages first then convert it to a 4.33 GPA scale. We don't actually use the GPA scale, and everyone talks about their grades in terms of percentages (ie. I keep hearing that having an 85% average is important). Hope that helps!

[Mattycat]

I'm so glad there's a Canadian SLP 2017 Thread!  

Hi. I'm in my 4th year at U of T, doing a Human biology and Psychology double major, have a cGPA of 3.6 and a sub GPA of 3.7 (the bio courses killed my GPA ) with about 200 hours of SLP volunteer experience with different populations (school kids, kids with autism, adults with aphasia), but no research experience. All my prerequisites are complete with a grade of 3.7+, but mainly 4.0's. I only made the decision to apply to SLP last year and have been trying the get my personal statements, references, and application together while finishing up with school. I will be applying to U of T, McMaster, Western, and McGill. 

Does it look like I have a chance of getting in to any of the schools? Any feedback would very much appreciated!

Edited December 5, 2016 by Mattycat

[hopefulspeechie52]

18 minutes ago, Mattycat said:

I'm so glad there's a Canadian SLP 2017 Thread!  

Hi. I'm in my 4th year at U of T, doing a Human biology and Psychology double major, have a cGPA of 3.6 and a sub GPA of 3.7 (the bio courses killed my GPA ) with about 200 hours of SLP volunteer experience with different populations (school kids, kids with autism, adults with aphasia), but no research experience. All my prerequisites are complete with a grade of 3.7+, but mainly 4.0's. I only made the decision to apply to SLP last year and have been trying the get my personal statements, references, and application together while finishing up with school. I will be applying to U of T, McMaster, Western, and McGill. 

Does it look like I have a chance of getting in to any of the schools? Any feedback would very much appreciated!

Hey! your description sounds a lot like mine, so if anyone could respond that would be great! Since I'm also applying, I can't say much other than you meet all the requirements and more. In terms of the sub GPA, how did you calculate that?

[Mattycat]

19 hours ago, hopefulspeechie52 said:

Hey! your description sounds a lot like mine, so if anyone could respond that would be great! Since I'm also applying, I can't say much other than you meet all the requirements and more. In terms of the sub GPA, how did you calculate that?

Hi! Being in fourth year, technically my "last 20 courses" aren't complete. They said they go backwards into your 2nd year if you are still completing your undergraduate while applying. I took from this that they will take marks from my fourth year and go back to the beginning of my third year. For me specifically, I have 16 half-course credits from these periods. The missing 4 half courses will be taken from the "annual GPA" of second year (so my second year GPA will count as the grade for 4 of my courses. This is basically what I've been told by others too. I am not 100% sure of this so someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong.

This is directly from the OUAC/ORPAS site:

How is my sub-GPA calculated?

The sub-GPA is based on the 10 most recent undergraduate courses, the equivalent of 20 ORPAS course lengths, even if:

• the courses did not count toward a degree
• the courses were not taken at the university where a degree was awarded

This additional calculation will include supplemental courses (summer, part-time, intersession, correspondence). Failed courses are also included.

Courses without a numeric/alpha grade or any other non-convertible grade will not be included in the calculation (i.e., PASS grade designations).

The sub-GPA is calculated by adding the ORPAS converted grades and course lengths beginning with the most recent grouping/duration, to a total of 20 ORPAS course lengths. Where course grades/lengths must be extracted from a full term to make up the 20 course grades/lengths required, the average of the next grouping/duration of ORPAS GPA values will be used. In the situation, where “Full-time”, “Supplementary” and “Semester” durations exist for the same year, the “Supplementary” grades will be used first, then “Semester” and then “Full-time”.

This calculation will include the current year’s fall terms final

[hopefulspeechie52]

4 hours ago, Mattycat said:

Hi! Being in fourth year, technically my "last 20 courses" aren't complete. They said they go backwards into your 2nd year if you are still completing your undergraduate while applying. I took from this that they will take marks from my fourth year and go back to the beginning of my third year. For me specifically, I have 16 half-course credits from these periods. The missing 4 half courses will be taken from the "annual GPA" of second year (so my second year GPA will count as the grade for 4 of my courses. This is basically what I've been told by others too. I am not 100% sure of this so someone PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong.

This is directly from the OUAC/ORPAS site:

How is my sub-GPA calculated?

The sub-GPA is based on the 10 most recent undergraduate courses, the equivalent of 20 ORPAS course lengths, even if:

• the courses did not count toward a degree
• the courses were not taken at the university where a degree was awarded

This additional calculation will include supplemental courses (summer, part-time, intersession, correspondence). Failed courses are also included.

Courses without a numeric/alpha grade or any other non-convertible grade will not be included in the calculation (i.e., PASS grade designations).

The sub-GPA is calculated by adding the ORPAS converted grades and course lengths beginning with the most recent grouping/duration, to a total of 20 ORPAS course lengths. Where course grades/lengths must be extracted from a full term to make up the 20 course grades/lengths required, the average of the next grouping/duration of ORPAS GPA values will be used. In the situation, where “Full-time”, “Supplementary” and “Semester” durations exist for the same year, the “Supplementary” grades will be used first, then “Semester” and then “Full-time”.

This calculation will include the current year’s fall terms final

Yes, from what I am told, they will technically look at second year, second semester grades since thats how far 10 full credits goes. I wish there was some calculator to be honest...

[slpbee]

Hey everyone,

I am a second round applicant applying to U of A, McGill, Western, Dal, and McMaster. 

I was wondering for anyone applying to McGill, how did you upload your CV to your online application? I can't seem to find anywhere to do so!

[slpmads]

Hey, has anyone done or is in the progress of presenting research posters at research conferences? I am wondering where I can place this on the ORPAS application. The only place I can think of is under "other volunteer experiences"!

[MissSLP]

On December 7, 2016 at 9:14 AM, brisimpson said:

Hey everyone,

I am a second round applicant applying to U of A, McGill, Western, Dal, and McMaster. 

I was wondering for anyone applying to McGill, how did you upload your CV to your online application? I can't seem to find anywhere to do so!

I think once you click 'submit' on your application, you're then taken to a page and prompted to upload your CV and unofficial transcripts. 

This is based on information from past threads in this forum, so I'm not 100% sure, but it does makes sense as there's no where to upload it with the application! It wouldn't hurt to email them to confirm, just in case  

[Jopyon]

On 11/8/2016 at 9:55 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.

Hey there, 

 

I applied last year and my GPA was about a 3.48. At that time I had about 200+ hours of volunteer experience, some of which was shadowing, and 3 courses in communication disorders. I felt that my statement of intent was comparable to others who had been accepted. My recommendation would be to register for Non-degree courses and bump up your GPA as applying is really costly.

[SLPright]

Hi everyone! I'm a first-year SLP student at U of T right now. I know the application period is really stressful so I'm here to offer to answer any questions you want to ask. I think I'm in the somewhat unique position of having applied to all 6 Canadian programs last year (McMaster is new) and accepted to 5. I'm hesitant about sharing my stats since I'd been prepping for SLP for a long time, so I think my stats are higher than the minimum (at least, for all but one school haha) and I don't want to freak you guys out.

Re: disorganized profs, I had ORPAS receive one of my references almost 2 weeks late (Jan 21, deadline was Jan 8) and it was fine. As others mentioned, ORPAS doesn't actually send the application until at least a few weeks later.

On 11/28/2016 at 10:41 AM, JessieBear said:

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?

Yes, definitely include these. It never hurts to show that you're well-rounded!

On 12/2/2016 at 6:27 PM, Bananis said:

@hopefulspeechie52  Hey, I don't see anywhere to do transcripts requests on there... I'm not an Ontario school btw if that matters. I've put in everything but all the prerequisites and the extra documents like CV and whatever. But I've filled out all the school information and everything else. I already have one school sending transcripts by mail, but the other I'll have to wait for this semester to be over. But where is this transcripts request page?? I'm so confused by this system haha

As I think you've figured out now, this section of ORPAS is ONLY for requesting transcripts for Ontario schools. None of my universities were, so I had to go the each uni's site and request to send transcripts to ORPAS (the address should be in the ORPAS instruction manual).

[SLPMaybe]

13 hours ago, SLPright said:

Hi everyone! I'm a first-year SLP student at U of T right now. I know the application period is really stressful so I'm here to offer to answer any questions you want to ask. I think I'm in the somewhat unique position of having applied to all 6 Canadian programs last year (McMaster is new) and accepted to 5. I'm hesitant about sharing my stats since I'd been prepping for SLP for a long time, so I think my stats are higher than the minimum (at least, for all but one school haha) and I don't want to freak you guys out.

Re: disorganized profs, I had ORPAS receive one of my references almost 2 weeks late (Jan 21, deadline was Jan 8) and it was fine. As others mentioned, ORPAS doesn't actually send the application until at least a few weeks later.

Yes, definitely include these. It never hurts to show that you're well-rounded!

As I think you've figured out now, this section of ORPAS is ONLY for requesting transcripts for Ontario schools. None of my universities were, so I had to go the each uni's site and request to send transcripts to ORPAS (the address should be in the ORPAS instruction manual).

Hey SLPright,

Since you clearly have experience in writing multiple statements of intent, I just wanted to ask if you have any tips? I have written both of mine and edited them a thousand times but I'm still not sure that I've written what they're looking for. Beyond answering the questions they ask, is there anything specific I should try to include?

Thanks!

[SLPright]

@SLPMaybe When I got an SLP student to edit my statement, she recommended cutting out a bunch of the generic stuff I had about why I wanted to be an SLP, since a lot of people are going to write very similar things and it eats up your word count. I still wrote about why I want this career, but I tried to make it more unique to me as an applicant.

Talk about the tangible things that you've done and what you learned or demonstrated from that experience. People can say anything about their own attributes and reasons for why they think they'd be good for the program, but tangible evidence to back it up makes your statement much stronger. I think ORPAS didn't take resumes/CVs last year so I also mentioned awards in my statement. It's good to include why you're interested in a particular school as well - shows that you've done your research and have a compelling reason for choosing their program.

Don't be afraid to write about non-SLP things either. For Dalhousie the prompt was simply just "Describe your most valuable learning experience" and I chose to write about something that's not at all related to SLP (volunteering with my uni's student union) but I talked about the qualities and skills I gained from that and how that would be relevant to SLP.