Reehab Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 For those that have extensive volunteering experiences, did you plan from highschool or take a couple years off after undergrad to get such experiences? I started volunteering in 2016 in undergrad, did a fifth year and graduated in June (have this year off), and I still haven't accumulated nearly as many hours/volunteer experiences as some have on here. My grades are good but I am really starting to wonder if I have a chance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhall_88xc Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 2 hours ago, Reehab said: For those that have extensive volunteering experiences, did you plan from highschool or take a couple years off after undergrad to get such experiences? I started volunteering in 2016 in undergrad, did a fifth year and graduated in June (have this year off), and I still haven't accumulated nearly as many hours/volunteer experiences as some have on here. My grades are good but I am really starting to wonder if I have a chance Personally, I've been volunteering since high school with different groups that I've been passionate about (e.g. the Canadian Cancer Society after my grandmother had a bout with colon cancer), but never really "planned" to use this experience so to speak, it was just a by-product. As others have said on this forum, I don't think the amount of hours are extremely significant after you have enough to check the requirements (30-40 hours in most cases), as long as you can speak to how the experience has helped you develop as a person and practice skills you'll use as a PT/OT! I've also seen in a few places that PT application scores take anywhere from 50-75% of their weight from GPA, so as long as you can write well your application should be just as strong with the experience you do have! Side note regarding PTA experience: Last summer I decided I wanted to apply to PT but was lacking much direct PT experience, so I started sending out emails to local clinics asking about potential opportunities. I probably emailed 8-10 clinics (most of which didn't respond at all) before finally getting a lucky break with one clinic who was willing to take me on for up to four hours a week. As a result, the direct PT related hours started to build up quick, but it took some digging and persistence to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kin2019 Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 Hi everyone! First year Dal OT here. Spent 76 hours a day on here during 2019 admissions and willing to answer any questions about Dalhousie applications Good luck to all! PTPTPT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastcoastpt Posted January 1, 2020 Report Share Posted January 1, 2020 (edited) Hope this info helps future applicants! Applied + (PT or OT?): PT- Queen's, McMaster, Western, Dalhousie (IP)Accepted: Queen's, Mac, Western, DalWaitlisted:Rejected:GPA: (ORPAS) c-gpa 3.88, s-gpa 3.9. (Dal)s-gpa 4.02 Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Feeling fairly confident in my essays, built on 350 hours as a student therapist, 2 physiotherapy placements and extensive volunteering with diverse populations (youth, disabled, elderly, elite athletes). Should have strong references, one from my honours thesis supervisor who has taught me 3 courses and the second from a sport PT who I shadowed for two semesters. Edited May 29, 2020 by eastcoastpt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah31 Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 Applied + (PT or OT?): UBC, U of A, Manitoba, Western, McMaster, Toronto, Dalhousie (All OT)Accepted: U of A, U of TWaitlisted: DalRejected: UBC (post-interview), U of M (interview waitlist), McMaster (interview waitlist), WesternGPA:c-gpa and s-gpa: cGPA ~3.4, sGPA ~3.85 (4/4.5 for Manitoba)Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: I have over 500 hours working with children with disabilities. Have completed a research based Master's and will get very strong references from that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinestudent23 Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 Applied + (PT or OT?): Queen's, Mac, Dalhousie (All PT)Accepted:Waitlisted:Rejected:GPA:c-gpa and s-gpa: cGPA ~3.4, sGPA 3.75 Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Second time applying. Worked in LTC as a PTA assistant for over a year, worked at the hospital for 3 months on a contract as a PTA and was exposed to neuromuscular and cardio-respiratory physio. 100 of hours at private clinic. Athletic therapist of University soccer team. 2 amazing references from the PT I worked under and my undergrad thesis supervisor, 3rd one was a prof that I was unsure how good of a reference he'd give me. Heading to the UK if I do not get in this run. Am praying for Queen's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhall_88xc Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 3 hours ago, kinestudent23 said: Applied + (PT or OT?): Queen's, Mac, Dalhousie (All PT)Accepted:Waitlisted:Rejected:GPA:c-gpa and s-gpa: cGPA ~3.4, sGPA 3.75 Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Second time applying. Worked in LTC as a PTA assistant for over a year, worked at the hospital for 3 months on a contract as a PTA and was exposed to neuromuscular and cardio-respiratory physio. 100 of hours at private clinic. Athletic therapist of University soccer team. 2 amazing references from the PT I worked under and my undergrad thesis supervisor, 3rd one was a prof that I was unsure how good of a reference he'd give me. Heading to the UK if I do not get in this run. Am praying for Queen's. Was the third reference only for Dal's application? I have two academic references for Dal that I feel are strong, but am unsure if you can use two academic references in the ORPAS system? (I currently have only one academic and one professional for ORPAS, but two academic and one professional for Dal). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTplox Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 Applied + (PT): Queens, Western, Toronto, and McMaster (all PT).Accepted:Waitlisted:Rejected:GPA: cGPAa 3.33 and sGPA 3.86Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: PT experience: Long term care (geriatric), physiotherapy clinic (adults & pediatrics), clinical research (older adults), and exercise assistant (independent active older adults). Non-PT experience: Club President of a club, Vice President Communications of a club, Founder of a club, and Team Leader for student mentorship program at my school. Strong reference from Professor I worked in the lab for 2.5 years and a strong reference from my long term care supervisor. UPDATE: just wrote CASPer and feeling decent about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rehabdream Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 On 12/20/2019 at 8:38 PM, Reehab said: Hey, how did you calculate your UBC average? They told me that they don't release the conversion scales/tables to the public (for OT program). I go to UBC, so I just took my prereqs of stats, anatomy, physiology, and psych, + last 30 credits and calculated the average for Prereqs, last 30, and combined! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HannahT Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 Applied: Dalhousie, UofA, Queens, Toronto, and McMaster (all OT).Accepted:Waitlisted: QueensRejected: McMaster, UofA, and UofTGPA:c-gpa 3.32 3.31 and s-gpa 3.55 3.50Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Nervous about my GPA but... I have worked as an OTA at the largest kids rehab hospital in Canada for the past year and have some great references. Also I feel as though my letter of intent and essay turned out well. Good luck everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT1996 Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 For people who applied to UofT, Queens, and Western OT. Did you use the exact same essay from UofT/Queens for Western? Western asks the questions a bit differently so im not sure what theyre looking for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm55 Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 1 hour ago, OT1996 said: For people who applied to UofT, Queens, and Western OT. Did you use the exact same essay from UofT/Queens for Western? Western asks the questions a bit differently so im not sure what theyre looking for... I had similar essay for all three schools but I changed it a bit for western to answer their questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT OT HOPEFUL Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 Applied: PT: UFT & Western OT: McMaster, UFT & Western Accepted: Waitlisted: Rejected: GPA:c-gpa= 3.56 3.57 and s-gpa= 3.84 3.86 Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Volunteered at Physio clinic and have work experience conducting ergonomic assessments. I feel like my essays are good but I don’t know I can never be sure about my written skills. References are strong. What do you guys think of my chances? Does anyone know where on ORPAS we see our GPA and when this will be up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptmandem Posted January 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 can someone confirm if OUAC referece ID given after submitting PT applications is suffice ? Cause on CASPer, it has a section to fill in for ORPAS and OUAC. I heard they are both the same but just wanted to confirm. Thanks in adavance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhysioShmysio Posted January 9, 2020 Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 15 hours ago, ptmandem said: can someone confirm if OUAC referece ID given after submitting PT applications is suffice ? Cause on CASPer, it has a section to fill in for ORPAS and OUAC. I heard they are both the same but just wanted to confirm. Thanks in adavance Yes I believe they are both the same. There is a post concerning this on the CASPer website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhysioShmysio Posted January 9, 2020 Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 Applied + (PT or OT?): All PT - U of T, McMaster, Queens, Western Accepted:Waitlisted:Rejected:GPA:c-gpa and s-gpa: cGPA = 3.89 sGPA = 3.93Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: I have volunteered at 2 different private clinics for about 250 hours combined. I have also been a student trainer for a varsity team for the last 2 years for about 200 cumulative hours. I believe the strongest experience I have is working as a PSW for children with disabilities over the last 2 years for a total of 1300 hours. I feel as though my personal statements are quite strong but it is hard to tell how they will be seen by the admissions committee. One of my references is from a PT I shadowed this past summer and the other is from my thesis supervisor who I have also taken a number of additional classes with. overall feeling I have done the most I could have done for this first admissions cycle and am just praying the stars align! Good luck everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptmandem Posted January 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2020 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetiteTea Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 Applied: (All PT) UofT, Western, Queen's, McMasterAccepted: Western, Queen'sWaitlisted:Rejected: UofT, McMasterGPA: cGPA: 3.63 and sGPA: 3.83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT/PT_Hopeful Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 Applied + (PT or OT?): UofT (OT+PT), Western (OT+PT), McMaster (OT), Queens (OT)Accepted:Waitlisted:Rejected:GPA: sGPA=3.99 and cGPA=3.72Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Feel pretty good about my personal submissions - talked about a range of experience gained through co-op work terms. References should be good too. CASPer is tough to comment on but I don't think it went badly. Nervous about McMaster's MMI and UofT's CAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoccerGirl27 Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Hello all, I was just curious if anyone is applying into OT McGill? How competitive is it? I read that the class avg for 2019 admission into OT was 3.51... I'm very worried my GPA won't be high enough (it's a 3.43 now).. Does anyone know someone that got into McGill with an avg GPA? Thanks in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT OT HOPEFUL Posted January 28, 2020 Report Share Posted January 28, 2020 Hey guys! Does anyone know if University of Toronto sends out confirmation emails after ORPAS submission for PT? I received one for Western (for activating student center) but not sure about UFT. Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT-InTheMaking-2020 Posted January 29, 2020 Report Share Posted January 29, 2020 applied + (PT or OT?): OT: Western, Queen's, UofT and McMaster (UofT is my first choice)Accepted:Waitlisted:Rejected:GPA:c-gpa 3.52 and s-gpa 3.75 ^.^ I hope we all get in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT-InTheMaking-2020 Posted January 30, 2020 Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 On 1/8/2020 at 8:02 AM, OT1996 said: For people who applied to UofT, Queens, and Western OT. Did you use the exact same essay from UofT/Queens for Western? Western asks the questions a bit differently so im not sure what theyre looking for... I wrote the exact same because theyre technically asking for the same thing but Western is structuring it/helping you with what should be included. Technically the same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT/PT_Hopeful Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 ORPAS calculated GPAs are up if anyone is interested. The deadline to report any problems is February 16th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMC Posted January 31, 2020 Report Share Posted January 31, 2020 Thanks for the update, hope everyone is getting excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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