OT/PT accepted/waitlist/decline 2020 cycle

[vp33]

4 hours ago, AllyRL said:

Last year they contacted me on April 12 to let me know I was on the waiting list! But this year the website says they send out acceptances in mid May so who knows! 

My roommate is in PT first year at the U of A, and she got her acceptance in early May last year. But I'm sure it varies quite a bit with waitlists and things. I'll ask her tomorrow and see if she has any more details  

[XKIN2019]

On 4/7/2020 at 12:15 PM, PT - U of O said:

I did! I don't really know if i want to go to Ottawa though. I did French immersion from grades 5 to 12, but I'm not fluent, so I don't know if I'd remember everything long-term and it just seems like a lot of extra, unnecessary effort. My GPA is awful though, so I thought Ottawa is probably the only shot I have in Canada this year. My prerequisite grades are all pretty good, I think I did reasonably well on the French test (the cost of which was ridiculous), I have no idea about CASPer, and my résumé is really strong though. I've been working at a bakery-café for 5.5 years, I did a few language exchange programs throughout university, I have over 390 hours volunteering in PT/OT, and I've also been working as a PTA at a LTC home for 6 months now and as a nutrition assistant at our main hospital for 5 months so far. I also have quite a bit of other less relevant volunteer/work experience, so I'm just hoping that they weigh the résumé highly! 

I applied too! I asked the school about pre-requisite grades and they said its just if you have it or not they do not look at grades (I had two classes that satisfied one of the pre-requisits and they said it didn't matter which one I used because they are both over that base average requirement). I'm in the same boat as you if thats any comfort my cgpa is 3.61 :/ but my friend who got in said last year 3.6 is when then offered interviews. Also with the french, all the text books are english and some of the teachers actually teach in english. My friend finished her first year and did school before uni in french and says it really isn't bad. Hope you get in!

[MPTUBC]

Has anyone got a rejection email from UBC PT yet? Acceptances were sent out last Monday and I still haven’t heard back yet. 

[PhysioGS]

2 hours ago, MPTUBC said:

Has anyone got a rejection email from UBC PT yet? Acceptances were sent out last Monday and I still haven’t heard back yet. 

No, not yet. I suppose they didn't want to ruin our long weekend lol

[KTPT]

On 12/21/2019 at 8:47 AM, LMC said:

Applied: McMaster, Western, U of T, Queens (all pt)

Accepted: interview at Mac and U of T

Waitlisted:

Rejected:

GPA: cgpa- 3.98 sgpa-3.99 (from my school) ORPAS sGPA 3.94 cGPA 3.95

Percieved strength of essays/interviews/references: I’m nervous about my essays but think they will end up not being too bad. I have one great reference from the adapted physical activity community who supervised me working over 150 hours with individuals with special needs. My other reference is my honours supervisor but my research has nothing to do with physio. I feel I have a strong GPA but less experience than most because I didn’t decide on physio till my 4th year, do I still have a shot?

You''ll likely get into UfT and Western with those grades no problem. Maybe reach out to people who were successful at the interviews in the past to help for that aspect! 

[KTPT]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:36 AM, jhall_88xc said:

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. 

What's good about getting more experience is that if you do a good job you will get a really good reference letter for your application and they might even help you write your application essays. Also more experience gives you better soft skills, which is a huge part of nailing the Casper and Kira interviews  you need to get into Mac and Queen's. 

[OThopefully23]

Does anyone know if it is required to write the number of hours for each activity/ volunteer experience for the resumes in the OT applications (i.e. queens and u of t)? I noticed many people wrote 600+ etc., but I did not include that in my resume and kept it one bullet point for each.

Also, does anyone know if taking a 3/4 course load would affect the chances of getting into the ot program for ontario schools? i'm worried the 3/4 course load on transcript would be affect my application.

[OThopesdreams]

24 minutes ago, OThopefully23 said:

Does anyone know if it is required to write the number of hours for each activity/ volunteer experience for the resumes in the OT applications (i.e. queens and u of t)? I noticed many people wrote 600+ etc., but I did not include that in my resume and kept it one bullet point for each.

Also, does anyone know if taking a 3/4 course load would affect the chances of getting into the ot program for ontario schools? i'm worried the 3/4 course load on transcript would be affect my application.

I did the same! For my volunteer experiences I included the timeline of my commitment (ex. September 2019- May 2020) but not the hours, unless the organization required that I keep track of my hours, then I included it within my bullet point (ex. Spent 600 hours volunteering). I didn't bother to include the number of hours for every commitment, because it would be a pretty broad estimate! I did mention how frequently I volunteered in the bullet point (ex. weekly). 

I ended up using the full two pages for my resumes. I'm not sure how I am going to revamp them next year if I don't get in, as I have no space left. 

[OThopefully23]

4 minutes ago, OThopesdreams said:

I did the same! For my volunteer experiences I included the timeline of my commitment (ex. September 2019- May 2020) but not the hours, unless the organization required that I keep track of my hours, then I included it within my bullet point (ex. Spent 600 hours volunteering). I didn't bother to include the number of hours for every commitment, because it would be a pretty broad estimate! I did mention how frequently I volunteered in the bullet point (ex. weekly). 

I ended up using the full two pages for my resumes. I'm not sure how I am going to revamp them next year if I don't get in, as I have no space left. 

Thats great, i just put the timeline.. and used one and a quarter page for my resume. Didn't indicate how frequently I volunteered. 

[kinestudent23]

What were the dates last year that applicants heard back from Dal? Early May is very vague...

[OT1996]

6 hours ago, OThopefully23 said:

Does anyone know if it is required to write the number of hours for each activity/ volunteer experience for the resumes in the OT applications (i.e. queens and u of t)? I noticed many people wrote 600+ etc., but I did not include that in my resume and kept it one bullet point for each.

Also, does anyone know if taking a 3/4 course load would affect the chances of getting into the ot program for ontario schools? i'm worried the 3/4 course load on transcript would be affect my application.

Hey, I can answer the course load question since in my undergrad I did take 3-4 classes and I called the schools to ask. UofT and Western do look at course loads but Queens and McMaster do not. UofT asks that you explain in your application why you had the reduced load and Western actually has a special consideration form that you can fill out. Im not sure about your situation and if you only took a reduced load in one semester, but mine was all throughout my undergrad so I needed to explain. You might want to call them to ask about it (it may or may not affect your application based on how many times you were on a reduced course load)

[hopeIbeOT]

1 hour ago, OT1996 said:

Hey, I can answer the course load question since in my undergrad I did take 3-4 classes and I called the schools to ask. UofT and Western do look at course loads but Queens and McMaster do not. UofT asks that you explain in your application why you had the reduced load and Western actually has a special consideration form that you can fill out. Im not sure about your situation and if you only took a reduced load in one semester, but mine was all throughout my undergrad so I needed to explain. You might want to call them to ask about it (it may or may not affect your application based on how many times you were on a reduced course load)

Were we supposed to fill out a form during the application? I don’t think I saw this type of form in the ORPAS applications, thanks!!

[OThoping2]

4 minutes ago, hopeIbeOT said:

Were we supposed to fill out a form during the application? I don’t think I saw this type of form in the ORPAS applications, thanks!!

I saw a section in western ot about writing any irregularities but I didn’t see the form either. I also wasn’t aware Toronto asked us to that so I didn’t in my application, so I’m worried it would affect my application as I took 2/3 courses in some semesters.

[OThoping2]

7 minutes ago, hopeIbeOT said:

Were we supposed to fill out a form during the application? I don’t think I saw this type of form in the ORPAS applications, thanks!!

I didn’t see an application from western either but I remember there was a section to write about irregularities in the application. I didn’t know about Toronto.. I’m worried because I took 2/3 courses in some semesters and didn’t explain... 

[OT1996]

2 hours ago, OThoping2 said:

I saw a section in western ot about writing any irregularities but I didn’t see the form either. I also wasn’t aware Toronto asked us to that so I didn’t in my application, so I’m worried it would affect my application as I took 2/3 courses in some semesters.

 

2 hours ago, hopeIbeOT said:

Were we supposed to fill out a form during the application? I don’t think I saw this type of form in the ORPAS applications, thanks!!

You don't have to but the admissions coordinator from Western emailed me the special consideration form. I never ended up applying to Western anyways though. Basically I was told that if there is continuous reduced course load throughout undergrad your application might be flagged (for Western) and to submit that special consideration form along with supporting documentation. It wasn't on ORPAS, it was a form that you would have had to request from them and email it back separate from the application. Again this was because I had a reduced load almost every semester of undergrad. Last year, I applied to Toronto and was rejected despite having a good GPA and I felt it *may* have been because of that, that's why I made sure to explain it this time in my application. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys I just wish I had this information myself when I applied last year. 

[OThopefully23]

3 hours ago, OT1996 said:

 

You don't have to but the admissions coordinator from Western emailed me the special consideration form. I never ended up applying to Western anyways though. Basically I was told that if there is continuous reduced course load throughout undergrad your application might be flagged (for Western) and to submit that special consideration form along with supporting documentation. It wasn't on ORPAS, it was a form that you would have had to request from them and email it back separate from the application. Again this was because I had a reduced load almost every semester of undergrad. Last year, I applied to Toronto and was rejected despite having a good GPA and I felt it *may* have been because of that, that's why I made sure to explain it this time in my application. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys I just wish I had this information myself when I applied last year. 

Do you mind me asking what your gpa was for U of T last year?

[IslandPTgal]

do you guys think that programs may be online in the fall? Because it seems as if the covid-19 is going to be ongoing throughout the summer and into the fall, if not longer...I am just curious to see what will happen with schools

[maybePT]

36 minutes ago, IslandPTgal said:

do you guys think that programs may be online in the fall? Because it seems as if the covid-19 is going to be ongoing throughout the summer and into the fall, if not longer...I am just curious to see what will happen with schools

Depends on the situation, we dont really have control. I hope we can start normally

[FuturePT2020]

35 minutes ago, IslandPTgal said:

do you guys think that programs may be online in the fall? Because it seems as if the covid-19 is going to be ongoing throughout the summer and into the fall, if not longer...I am just curious to see what will happen with schools

I really, really hope not... Physical Therapy is such a hands on profession and I feel it's imperative that we learn in class. 

 

It'll be interesting to see what they do, and when they notify us of their plans. Personally, I think that they will go the online route, but that's just my own feeling. 

[natOT]

3 hours ago, IslandPTgal said:

do you guys think that programs may be online in the fall? Because it seems as if the covid-19 is going to be ongoing throughout the summer and into the fall, if not longer...I am just curious to see what will happen with schools

I feel like they will be online. Trudeau said basically life won't go back to normal until there's a vaccine, which is probably at LEAST 12-18 months away. I can't imagine that by Fall they'll allow hundreds/thousands of students together on campuses. I really hope I am wrong, but I am not holding my breath. 

[GivinPTaShot]

Anyone have any study/practice tips for the UoT CAP? Shared experiences from those who have done it before (obviously without revealing specific questions)? I realize this is the first year they are running it online, but I'm assuming the exam format will not change dramatically. At least being in self isolation give us lots of time for prep:) 

[PTbound07]

2 hours ago, natOT said:

I feel like they will be online. Trudeau said basically life won't go back to normal until there's a vaccine, which is probably at LEAST 12-18 months away. I can't imagine that by Fall they'll allow hundreds/thousands of students together on campuses. I really hope I am wrong, but I am not holding my breath. 

I was thinking the September start will be pushed to January. The first term of physio is really hands on, you can't do it online until you get to physiology/ethical content 

[natOT]

3 minutes ago, PTbound07 said:

I was thinking the September start will be pushed to January. The first term of physio is really hands on, you can't do it online until you get to physiology/ethical content 

Maybe they'll move the curriculum around so that September you could do courses that require less hands-on experience like you said. I assume OT would be the same (which is what I'm applying for). 

[ptstudent96]

2 minutes ago, PTbound07 said:

I was thinking the September start will be pushed to January. The first term of physio is really hands on, you can't do it online until you get to physiology/ethical content 

Currently at U of T physio. I don't imagine they push the semester because they can shift the learning around. For example, we are currently learning the content for neurology and then when we are able to meet up again we will do a boot camp of the hands on skills. Thus, I think they will start in September and teach content that can be taught online and then catch up with hands on skills later in the year once you classes can resume on campus! Best of luck with the application!

[ptstudent96]

49 minutes ago, GivinPTaShot said:

Anyone have any study/practice tips for the UoT CAP? Shared experiences from those who have done it before (obviously without revealing specific questions)? I realize this is the first year they are running it online, but I'm assuming the exam format will not change dramatically. At least being in self isolation give us lots of time for prep:) 

It's a very straight forward test. They just want to see mainly that you can think. Expect CASPer like/reasoning type of questions. Additionally, expect some personal questions. Would recommend going through your resume/experiences and highlighting what you learned from each of those experiences.