OT/PT accepted/waitlist/decline 2020 cycle

[HayleyRS]

On 7/11/2020 at 12:07 PM, rrxxccooll said:

Can anyone suggest how to prepare for a CASPer test? Thank you.

I did very minimal preparation and must’ve done quite well as I got accepted into Western. All I did was watch a couple videos on YouTube that talked about how to format answers and I read a few example questions and answers. You want to be weighing the pros and cons for every question; you don’t want to just answer with “I would do ______ because ______” then forget to play devil’s advocate.  

[rrxxccooll]

25 minutes ago, HayleyRS said:

I did very minimal preparation and must’ve done quite well as I got accepted into Western. All I did was watch a couple videos on YouTube that talked about how to format answers and I read a few example questions and answers. You want to be weighing the pros and cons for every question; you don’t want to just answer with “I would do ______ because ______” then forget to play devil’s advocate.  

Where are the example questions and answers?

[PTforlife]

21 hours ago, Ptptptt said:

Where did you see that western’s waitlist went that far? 

My friend was in the 90-130 group and heard back 2 weeks ago! 

[MMZ]

21 hours ago, rrxxccooll said:

Can u give me some example websites?

Youtube has some examples 

[HayleyRS]

4 hours ago, rrxxccooll said:

Where are the example questions and answers?

I just found them on YouTube and Google!  

[Colby1373]

4 hours ago, PTforlife said:

My friend was in the 90-130 group and heard back 2 weeks ago! 

I was on the medium waitlist which was numbers 66-130. So perhaps your friend was on the upper section of the medium waitlist. 

[DreamPT]

I'm currently on the Mac PT waitlist, but I'm thinking proactively, in the case that I do not get accepted this year. I know experiences are a big portion of applications, and although I do have many, I'm looking to get more. Are there any experiences anyone could recommend? Ones that would be considered beneficial and applicable to physiotherapy applications.

Thanks!

[OT-2020]

Has anyone who will be attending Queens for OT received their unconditional offer letter yet or informations about registration. We sent over our final transcripts to ORPAS a while ago so I was wondering what is taking so long

[jhall_88xc]

14 hours ago, DreamPT said:

I'm currently on the Mac PT waitlist, but I'm thinking proactively, in the case that I do not get accepted this year. I know experiences are a big portion of applications, and although I do have many, I'm looking to get more. Are there any experiences anyone could recommend? Ones that would be considered beneficial and applicable to physiotherapy applications.

Thanks!

If you're eligible (and if the program ever actually sees the light of day smh), the Canada Student Service Grant has two volunteer roles with hundreds of positions available from the YMCA listed for both children and senior exercise content creators, at a minimum of 10 hours per week! Check the website (iwanttohelp.org) for more information on the program, which is currently dead in the water. But if things get moving, these would be ideal positions for a PT/OT application! Additionally, you would be eligible for a $1000 grant for every 100 hours volunteered, up to $5000!

[DreamPT]

3 hours ago, jhall_88xc said:

If you're eligible (and if the program ever actually sees the light of day smh), the Canada Student Service Grant has two volunteer roles with hundreds of positions available from the YMCA listed for both children and senior exercise content creators, at a minimum of 10 hours per week! Check the website (iwanttohelp.org) for more information on the program, which is currently dead in the water. But if things get moving, these would be ideal positions for a PT/OT application! Additionally, you would be eligible for a $1000 grant for every 100 hours volunteered, up to $5000!

Thank you! I did apply for those exact positions, hopefully the program starts running again! COVID-19 has definitely presented some challenges for volunteer positions, especially in hospital programs.

[HK2018]

18 hours ago, DreamPT said:

I'm currently on the Mac PT waitlist, but I'm thinking proactively, in the case that I do not get accepted this year. I know experiences are a big portion of applications, and although I do have many, I'm looking to get more. Are there any experiences anyone could recommend? Ones that would be considered beneficial and applicable to physiotherapy applications.

Thanks!

One thing that I would suggest would be to volunteer/ get involved with as many different populations as you can; indigenous, children, elderly, pregnant women ect another avenue that the profession is moving towards is primary prevention... getting involved with local community programs would be a great start for this. You want to try and create a "well rounded" application and particularly for Mac being able to discuss experiences with different populations would be really valuable in the interview. 

Another tip for Mac would be to get as much teamwork and leadership experience as you can, this will tailor your application to the program which has a lot of group based, self directed learning. You want to be able to speak to the fact that you have done and are good at many of the skills you will need to be successful in the program (working with others, leading group projects, facilitating groups ect) 

 

[Strawbaby]

11 hours ago, OT-2020 said:

Has anyone who will be attending Queens for OT received their unconditional offer letter yet or informations about registration. We sent over our final transcripts to ORPAS a while ago so I was wondering what is taking so long

I haven’t gotten anything about an unconditional offer yet, but my SOLUS says I’m a registered student. Have you activated your Queen’s email yet? I’ve gotten a couple emails from the school with a bit of info on registration, but nothing specific to the program. They also said in the most recent email that they would only be communicating with us via our Queen’s email now

[OT-2020]

3 hours ago, Strawbaby said:

I haven’t gotten anything about an unconditional offer yet, but my SOLUS says I’m a registered student. Have you activated your Queen’s email yet? I’ve gotten a couple emails from the school with a bit of info on registration, but nothing specific to the program. They also said in the most recent email that they would only be communicating with us via our Queen’s email now

I did activate it where do I look to see a registered status?

[OT-2020]

3 hours ago, Strawbaby said:

I haven’t gotten anything about an unconditional offer yet, but my SOLUS says I’m a registered student. Have you activated your Queen’s email yet? I’ve gotten a couple emails from the school with a bit of info on registration, but nothing specific to the program. They also said in the most recent email that they would only be communicating with us via our Queen’s email now

When did you receive emails? Are you talking about the one they sent when we first got admission offers?

[OT-2020]

8 minutes ago, OT-2020 said:

When did you receive emails? Are you talking about the one they sent when we first got admission offers?

I see it now nevermind:)

[OT-2020]

4 hours ago, Strawbaby said:

I haven’t gotten anything about an unconditional offer yet, but my SOLUS says I’m a registered student. Have you activated your Queen’s email yet? I’ve gotten a couple emails from the school with a bit of info on registration, but nothing specific to the program. They also said in the most recent email that they would only be communicating with us via our Queen’s email now

Under “my academics” and “my program” it says masters of science in OT. Im assuming thats what you mean as a registered status?

[Strawbaby]

20 minutes ago, OT-2020 said:

I did activate it where do I look to see a registered status?

Log into SOLUS & scroll to the bottom of the page under Admissions, if you click “view status”, it should say that you’ve accepted your offer of admission with the correct program & career (graduate). As long as nothing is pending or unofficial on your SOLUS, then I think you’re fine. The school just seems to be a bit slow with rolling all of this out thus far

[inshallahpt]

Hey y'all, honestly kinda feel out of place but have been waiting to post here for some time. 

Might sound a little weird, but I've been following this websites application forums for the past 2 years, just seeing what people were doing and what got them in and rejected.

And I cant help but feel a little hopeless. I go to York for kine and have about a year and a half worth of credits to go. I calculated what marks would be counted in my ORPAS official, so far it would be a 3.81 or so probably but there is still a few courses to go, one B+ and the ship may start to sink . 

But I just wanted some council from y'all. After I broke my neck in an accident, failed so much of my first and second year, and now staying back for another 2 in my undergrad, I just really want this so bad. I study so much but just cant seem to make A+s no matter what, even As take everything I have and more, but I fear that my efforts will be for naught if I get a rejection, I'm fighting to just keep at the cut off in Ontario so I can stay with my family because they all need me to be around. Idk it's just when I see so many of you guys get 3.9+  so many hours and nice referees and still get rejected its like, whats the fkng point anymore?

If anyone ever been somewhere similar to me right now, what would you tell yourself? 

Lots of love, 

A guy doing his best

[OT98765]

3 hours ago, inshallahpt said:

Hey y'all, honestly kinda feel out of place but have been waiting to post here for some time. 

Might sound a little weird, but I've been following this websites application forums for the past 2 years, just seeing what people were doing and what got them in and rejected.

And I cant help but feel a little hopeless. I go to York for kine and have about a year and a half worth of credits to go. I calculated what marks would be counted in my ORPAS official, so far it would be a 3.81 or so probably but there is still a few courses to go, one B+ and the ship may start to sink . 

But I just wanted some council from y'all. After I broke my neck in an accident, failed so much of my first and second year, and now staying back for another 2 in my undergrad, I just really want this so bad. I study so much but just cant seem to make A+s no matter what, even As take everything I have and more, but I fear that my efforts will be for naught if I get a rejection, I'm fighting to just keep at the cut off in Ontario so I can stay with my family because they all need me to be around. Idk it's just when I see so many of you guys get 3.9+  so many hours and nice referees and still get rejected its like, whats the fkng point anymore?

If anyone ever been somewhere similar to me right now, what would you tell yourself? 

Lots of love, 

A guy doing his best

Honestly I never looked at these forums until after I applied because I knew the pressure of seeing what everyone else was doing and comparing them to myself would just break me. It sounds like you have been through a lot, and admissions committees see all of that as well. You have an (although unfortunate) incredible experience to reflect on and sounds like you have real motivations for wanting to go down the path you're going down, which to me and to a lot of admissions committees is much more authentic. I applied to all PT and OT schools in Ontario with a sub GPA of 3.76 and got offered two OT spots and high waitlisted (top 40 for both) on two PT schools. But I didn't really decide what I wanted to do until half way through my 3rd year, so I had much less time to raise my poor second year grades and get good practical experience (especially since I live in a rural community and needed to spend my summers working to pay for school). I know it can seem so disheartening at times but honestly just try to block out this forum, it is so easy to become fixated on what others are doing or how you stack up. It sounds to me like you care a great deal and have a lot of passion, both being incredibly valuable and important for this career which does not go unnoticed! Best of luck to you in your apps in the future and for your remaining years of undergrad! 

[AlliPT]

3 hours ago, inshallahpt said:

Hey y'all, honestly kinda feel out of place but have been waiting to post here for some time. 

Might sound a little weird, but I've been following this websites application forums for the past 2 years, just seeing what people were doing and what got them in and rejected.

And I cant help but feel a little hopeless. I go to York for kine and have about a year and a half worth of credits to go. I calculated what marks would be counted in my ORPAS official, so far it would be a 3.81 or so probably but there is still a few courses to go, one B+ and the ship may start to sink . 

But I just wanted some council from y'all. After I broke my neck in an accident, failed so much of my first and second year, and now staying back for another 2 in my undergrad, I just really want this so bad. I study so much but just cant seem to make A+s no matter what, even As take everything I have and more, but I fear that my efforts will be for naught if I get a rejection, I'm fighting to just keep at the cut off in Ontario so I can stay with my family because they all need me to be around. Idk it's just when I see so many of you guys get 3.9+  so many hours and nice referees and still get rejected its like, whats the fkng point anymore?

If anyone ever been somewhere similar to me right now, what would you tell yourself? 

Lots of love, 

A guy doing his best

Hey! So depending on the schools you want to apply to, you have different ways of communicating your experiences. For example, queens PT has a section to discuss PT related experience (volunteering, shadowing, work, etc.), and a separate section for leadership experience! Get yourself on some committees (student council, deans council), many committees only require you to meet like once or twice per semester, and dont require a ton of time commitments! Volunteer to schedule open lab practice if you have it, if there are community volunteer events, do those, or if there is one subject you're great at, volunteer to tutor other students! These are all things you can write about! For western, it even gives you a spot to discuss "achievements" and these can be anything from a publication, a scholarship, to OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. This is a benefit in your case! You can briefly discuss how you've overcome challenges. 

Mac does a video interview allowing you to discuss experiences. U of T uses references and the CAP and casper. 

 

While GPA matters, dont let it ruin your optimism. If you develop a great resume/application for 2021 and dont get in, then spend the following year taking 2-4 courses to upgrade your GPA. A few 90s go a long way. I saw one girl who is in PT at one school say it took her 3 years to get in. Others it takes 2 or 3 application cycles. Just because you dont get in first try doesnt mean you're doomed. It's also expensive but you could look internationally! Many go to Ireland

 

beat of luck! 

[ABPT]

6 hours ago, inshallahpt said:

Hey y'all, honestly kinda feel out of place but have been waiting to post here for some time. 

Might sound a little weird, but I've been following this websites application forums for the past 2 years, just seeing what people were doing and what got them in and rejected.

And I cant help but feel a little hopeless. I go to York for kine and have about a year and a half worth of credits to go. I calculated what marks would be counted in my ORPAS official, so far it would be a 3.81 or so probably but there is still a few courses to go, one B+ and the ship may start to sink . 

But I just wanted some council from y'all. After I broke my neck in an accident, failed so much of my first and second year, and now staying back for another 2 in my undergrad, I just really want this so bad. I study so much but just cant seem to make A+s no matter what, even As take everything I have and more, but I fear that my efforts will be for naught if I get a rejection, I'm fighting to just keep at the cut off in Ontario so I can stay with my family because they all need me to be around. Idk it's just when I see so many of you guys get 3.9+  so many hours and nice referees and still get rejected its like, whats the fkng point anymore?

If anyone ever been somewhere similar to me right now, what would you tell yourself? 

Lots of love, 

A guy doing his best

Apply to all schools that you are eligible for.  I put all my eggs in one basket and only applied to 1 school 3x because other schools had different pre-reqs which I did not have and I also wanted to be closer to my family. After graduating Kin, I did 1 year of upgrading my GPA, worked full time for a while and then went into nursing this past year after getting rejected the second time. I did so well in my nursing courses (and I worked my ass of...studying harder than when I was in kin, sacrificing a lot of my social life), and thought that since I did so well, I'd try to apply once more. Did not think I would get in but I did. It took everything out of me to achieve A's but I was willing to do it. 
Working and doing a nursing placement in between applications made a huge difference with my confidence in my interview because I could relate a lot to my experiences. 

It might've taken me longer to get in and I could've given up and just chose my backup career but I didn't. It wasn't easy for me, it took many years of disappointment, uncertainty and frustration. If it's something that you really want, you will be persistence and keep trying. Failing the last 2 times has taught me a lot. Keep in mind that GPA isn't everything, sometimes it's what your references say about you and what you say in your interview that can really positively impact your application. Feel free to msg me if you have questions :). 

[KforOT]

8 hours ago, inshallahpt said:

Hey y'all, honestly kinda feel out of place but have been waiting to post here for some time. 

Might sound a little weird, but I've been following this websites application forums for the past 2 years, just seeing what people were doing and what got them in and rejected.

And I cant help but feel a little hopeless. I go to York for kine and have about a year and a half worth of credits to go. I calculated what marks would be counted in my ORPAS official, so far it would be a 3.81 or so probably but there is still a few courses to go, one B+ and the ship may start to sink . 

But I just wanted some council from y'all. After I broke my neck in an accident, failed so much of my first and second year, and now staying back for another 2 in my undergrad, I just really want this so bad. I study so much but just cant seem to make A+s no matter what, even As take everything I have and more, but I fear that my efforts will be for naught if I get a rejection, I'm fighting to just keep at the cut off in Ontario so I can stay with my family because they all need me to be around. Idk it's just when I see so many of you guys get 3.9+  so many hours and nice referees and still get rejected its like, whats the fkng point anymore?

If anyone ever been somewhere similar to me right now, what would you tell yourself? 

Lots of love, 

A guy doing his best

Heyy, 

Firstly, I'm really sorry about your accident. It seems like that was very frustrating for you. I'd just like to say that it's my belief that things happen for a reason and that every experience is a learning opportunity. 

This is my second year applying - the first year I was rejected by all schools and for my second attempt I'm waitlisted at Queen's and U of T. It does sting because you always think 'Am I not good enough'. I had a really hard time accepting that loss but I feel that I came out of it with a newfound resiliency. I think that's what helped me apply for the second time. However, to be considered competitive I upgraded my grades with Ryerson's Chang School and I did different courses that would still be accepted by ORPAS. Even so, my sGPA is a 3.69 and my cGPA is a 3.36. I think what helped me was to start thinking of my options other than OT. I feel like when you have an open-minded outlook, you start to piece together different avenues that could also work for you. I had to accept that there's something better out there for me and that's probably why I wasn't getting into OT (can you tell I'm a big believer in destiny? haha) I've accepted a Master's of Education with OISE in the meantime and perhaps I'll apply again next application cycle but I don't think I'm that scared of not getting in anymore. All I can do is try my level best and if that doesn't work out then there is something better. 

Also, I went to U of T's OT info session and the department manager was talking to a women about a rumor that she had heard. Naturally, I was eavesdropping  The rumor was that someone her daughter knew received an offer from U of T despite her sGPA and cGPA being very low (I don't remember the exact calculation but somewhere around a sGPA of 3.5). His response was that they look at the applicant holistically, keeping in mind the grades, personal statements, references, and experience. The purpose of me telling you this story was that just because someone has a high sGPA, doesn't mean that they're well-rounded or that the university will accept just that. After I heard that, I felt better knowing that it's not all about grades! 

All in all, I know that it seems pointless and daunting but please don't give up! Life is full of opportunities and learning experiences. Even when you're at your lowest point, think of that as a lesson that you can use throughout your life. If you want to talk, you can message me on here! I'm willing to talk about our experiences! 

Take care  

[oohtea]

On 7/1/2020 at 2:05 AM, International OT said:

I was an international applicant to UBC OT and was rejected on April 6, and my interview was on March 13

Oh I was supposed to fly there for an interview in mid April too, but they moved it to ZOOM in June because of the pandemic. 

[International OT]

15 hours ago, oohtea said:

Oh I was supposed to fly there for an interview in mid April too, but they moved it to ZOOM in June because of the pandemic. 

Hi, Did you get results on your interview? 

[OTgotthis]

Anyone heard back from U of T OT waitlist??