PTplease Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Hi everyone, Congrats to everyone who has been accepted! Like many people on this forum I'm sure, I didn't get in this year and am planning to re-apply next year to PT schools. The biggest problem for me is my sub-GPA, and have seen several posts on this forum about upgrading their GPA through Athabasca online courses or taking a 5th year. My sub-GPA is a 3.67 and is like this term by term: (5 half-credits per term) 3rd year, 1st sem: 3.36 (due to a "C" in one course) 3rd year, 2nd sem: 3.86 4th year, 1st sem: 3.74 4th year, 2nd sem: 3.70 So currently my sub-GPA is a 3.67, and i would like to increase it to at least a 3.75 for next year I'm thinking (currently good enough for Queen's and Mcgill PT probably, but would like to get it to the Western PT cut-off for next year too). I'm just a bit confused on how people have upgraded their GPA so significantly through these courses. For instance, if I took 5 additional courses this summer/fall, would it take out my bad 3rd year, 1st semester GPA (or would it simply do the average calculation of all of 3rd year, similar to what they did this year for second year)? Is there any way to replace that "C" grade? Or is there anything else that people recommend to increase my sub-GPA to what it needs to be? Thank you in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT2018Hopeful Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Hi everyone, Congrats to everyone who has been accepted! Like many people on this forum I'm sure, I didn't get in this year and am planning to re-apply next year to PT schools. The biggest problem for me is my sub-GPA, and have seen several posts on this forum about upgrading their GPA through Athabasca online courses or taking a 5th year. My sub-GPA is a 3.67 and is like this term by term: (5 half-credits per term) 3rd year, 1st sem: 3.36 (due to a "C" in one course) 3rd year, 2nd sem: 3.86 4th year, 1st sem: 3.74 4th year, 2nd sem: 3.70 So currently my sub-GPA is a 3.67, and i would like to increase it to at least a 3.75 for next year I'm thinking (currently good enough for Queen's and Mcgill PT probably, but would like to get it to the Western PT cut-off for next year too). I'm just a bit confused on how people have upgraded their GPA so significantly through these courses. For instance, if I took 5 additional courses this summer/fall, would it take out my bad 3rd year, 1st semester GPA (or would it simply do the average calculation of all of 3rd year, similar to what they did this year for second year)? Is there any way to replace that "C" grade? Or is there anything else that people recommend to increase my sub-GPA to what it needs to be? Thank you in advance! Hi PTplease, Personally, I upgraded my sGPA through a 5th year before even considering applying. My undergrad started off really rough, as you'll see through my GPA: Year 1 – 2.59 Year 2 – 3.03 Year 3 – 3.66 Year 4 – 3.89 Year 5 – 3.90. Taking a 5th year DRASTICALLY increased my chances of being accepted to PT, if you're serious about it. You need to get straight A's in whatever courses you take from now on to even stand a chance. Remember that Queens looks at applicants with amazing experiences, so unless you have that I doubt you'll even get waitlisted (we've seen people with 3.95's get waitlisted due to lack of experiences this year). I've heard the UWO cutoff was 3.75 this year, which is quite different than previous years since I'm guessing they're starting to look at applicants more holistically (could possibly play to your advantage if you have a solid essay and experiences!). Personally, I'm on the UWO high-waitlist, so I hope I can clinch a spot! Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT2018Hopeful Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Also.. because they only look at your last 20 courses completed before Jan 15 (1st term) of your cycle, your year 3 term 1 will be dropped if you took an extra 5 courses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OThopeful18 Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Hey, for ORPAS they will be counting your recent 20 courses, as someone already mentioned. Except Queen's, which looks at CGPA. If you take a 5th year of 5 half credit courses then it would remove your 3rd year's 1st term but keep in mind that ORPAS will use yearly average to calculate your 2nd term grade from year 3. So, your term 2 gpa for the 3rd year would be calculated at a 3.61 gpa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT2018Hopeful Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Hey, for ORPAS they will be counting your recent 20 courses, as someone already mentioned. Except Queen's, which looks at CGPA. If you take a 5th year of 5 half credit courses then it would remove your 3rd year's 1st term but keep in mind that ORPAS will use yearly average to calculate your 2nd term grade from year 3. So, your term 2 gpa for the 3rd year would be calculated at a 3.61 gpa. Great point, totally forgot they calculate it by year and not by term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTplease Posted June 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 Hi PT2018Hopeful and OThopeful18, Thanks for the help. I thought they calculated it like that, but wasn't 100% sure. I'll look at my different options for this. I have a decent cGPA (3.43), so I think it will be good enough for Queen's and potentially McGill for next year. I think I have decent experiences too, but will obviously try to boost these for next year's applications. I will also look into upgrading my GPA so I'll be able to hit the cut-offs for other schools (but I feel like I would have to take several courses to do so, which may be a good idea in the long run). If anyone else has any input, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT PT PT Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 On 6/2/2016 at 12:26 PM, PT2018Hopeful said: Hi PTplease, Personally, I upgraded my sGPA through a 5th year before even considering applying. My undergrad started off really rough, as you'll see through my GPA: Year 1 – 2.59 Year 2 – 3.03 Year 3 – 3.66 Year 4 – 3.89 Year 5 – 3.90. Taking a 5th year DRASTICALLY increased my chances of being accepted to PT, if you're serious about it. You need to get straight A's in whatever courses you take from now on to even stand a chance. Remember that Queens looks at applicants with amazing experiences, so unless you have that I doubt you'll even get waitlisted (we've seen people with 3.95's get waitlisted due to lack of experiences this year). I've heard the UWO cutoff was 3.75 this year, which is quite different than previous years since I'm guessing they're starting to look at applicants more holistically (could possibly play to your advantage if you have a solid essay and experiences!). Personally, I'm on the UWO high-waitlist, so I hope I can clinch a spot! Best of luck! Hey! Im just about to be taking my 5th year to upgrade my marks. Couple of questions if you dont mind answering them. Did you take summer school classes to upgrade your GPA? And are Summer school classes are still accepted towards your last 10/20 courses? Im struggling to decide to take summer school to either take one course off my first semester work, and whether I would do the entire year or just one semester? Any advice is appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdominik Posted August 2, 2018 Report Share Posted August 2, 2018 On 6/25/2018 at 5:14 PM, PT PT PT said: Hey! Im just about to be taking my 5th year to upgrade my marks. Couple of questions if you dont mind answering them. Did you take summer school classes to upgrade your GPA? And are Summer school classes are still accepted towards your last 10/20 courses? Im struggling to decide to take summer school to either take one course off my first semester work, and whether I would do the entire year or just one semester? Any advice is appreciated Hey! I have contacted ORPAS about this and they accept summer courses which are deemed equal to courses taken in the fall or winter semesters. They can be counted towards your last 10/20 for sure. I was wondering if you or anyone else had any experience with upgrading marks for UofT. I have been trying to confirm course requirements for upgrading GPA with UofT but I am getting inconsistent answers. One person told me via email that the following are merely a recommendation and taking a 1st year or 2nd year course will not have a negative impact : "Any upgrades completed should be at the senior (3rd or 4th year) level, unless they are prerequisite courses. Prerequisite courses are permitted to be at the 1st and 2nd year level. We also recommend that applicants take courses in the life sciences/social sciences/humanities, as these subjects are most relevant to the PT program." However when I called them, another person on the line told me that you are expected to take 3rd or 4th level courses and will be evaluated as a less attractive applicant if 1st or 2nd year courses are taken. Does anyone have any experience with this? What is the consensus? Do they have to be 3rd or higher level in any area of study? Or do they have to be in life/social sciences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT PT PT Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 I noticed that as well for UofT and also read amongst the UofT website and Western website that they will also not accept placement courses (if you have taken that). It seems that a lot has changed this year. I haven't called UofT yet but I would assume that the upgrade courses can be any area of study. I looked throughout the website and it doesn't specify, so as long as you take any courses that are in 3rd/4th year for this semester you should be okay! I will still call to check and let you know if they give me further information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT PT PT Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 On 8/2/2018 at 10:18 AM, sdominik said: Hey! I have contacted ORPAS about this and they accept summer courses which are deemed equal to courses taken in the fall or winter semesters. They can be counted towards your last 10/20 for sure. I was wondering if you or anyone else had any experience with upgrading marks for UofT. I have been trying to confirm course requirements for upgrading GPA with UofT but I am getting inconsistent answers. One person told me via email that the following are merely a recommendation and taking a 1st year or 2nd year course will not have a negative impact : "Any upgrades completed should be at the senior (3rd or 4th year) level, unless they are prerequisite courses. Prerequisite courses are permitted to be at the 1st and 2nd year level. We also recommend that applicants take courses in the life sciences/social sciences/humanities, as these subjects are most relevant to the PT program." However when I called them, another person on the line told me that you are expected to take 3rd or 4th level courses and will be evaluated as a less attractive applicant if 1st or 2nd year courses are taken. Does anyone have any experience with this? What is the consensus? Do they have to be 3rd or higher level in any area of study? Or do they have to be in life/social sciences? I noticed that as well for UofT and also read amongst the UofT website and Western website that they will also not accept placement courses (if you have taken that). It seems that a lot has changed this year. I haven't called UofT yet but I would assume that the upgrade courses can be any area of study. I looked throughout the website and it doesn't specify, so as long as you take any courses that are in 3rd/4th year for this semester you should be okay! I will still call to check and let you know if they give me further information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT/OT Posted September 12, 2018 Report Share Posted September 12, 2018 Hey! I'm a little unsure about the calculation of sub-GPAs and was wondering if could get some clarification? ORPAS states that where grades need to be extracted from a term, they take the average of the term, but some of the posts above (from 2 years ago) are saying that they take the average of an entire year. So in my case, will they be taking the average of my Fall 2016 marks or the entire average of my 2016 academic year? Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewAtThis Posted October 3, 2018 Report Share Posted October 3, 2018 They only take the average of a year if it is your oldest semester. For example, if I were to apply for PT school during my fourth year (last year of my undergrad program), they would take my fourth year fall semester grades (5 separate grades), my third year fall and winter semester grades (10 total separate grades) and they would average out my entire 2nd year course grades to get my last 5 grades that are to be used for my Sub-GPA calculation: 4th year (fall): 86, 87, 91, 79, 89 3rd year (winter): 82, 89, 95, 92, 83 3rd year (fall): 75, 93, 96, 83, 84 2nd year (winter) average: 86.7 2nd year (fall) average: 82.3 2nd year (total) average: 84.5 Therefore, since your average for your entire 2nd year was 84.5, that would show up on your s-GPA calculation as 5 course grades of 84.5 (which is five 3.7s if that makes it easier to visualize). If you have already graduated and you are currently taking a fifth year (even if it's just one semester), instead of averaging your entire 2nd year, you would simply average your entire 3rd year now. So when OPRAS mentions that they take the average from your entire year, they aren't referring to the calendar year but your school year (year 1, 2, etc...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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