OT/PT Accepted/Waitlisted/Rejected 2018

[newPT2020]

Applied: Queen's, McGill, Dalhousie PT
Accepted: Queen's, Dalhousie
Waitlisted:
Rejected: McGill
GPA: sGPA 3.72
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), a Registered Kinesiologist (R.kin), 75+ hours volunteering at a cardiac center and years working as a swim instructor/lifeguard. I've basically worked my way up the physical care latter and gained experience/education in a related field. This is my second time applying, last year I only applied to Queen's. I suggest to aim above the GPA cut-off and have a variety of experience volunteering/working in different places. I believe great references that can highlight your attributes are important to help differentiate you from the next candidate.

Edit: CASPer is required for McGill and Dalhousie (new 2018). Please do your diligence for this test. Don't wing it.

[Rehab4Life]

55 minutes ago, newPT2020 said:

Applied: Queen's, McGill, Dalhousie PT
Accepted: Queen's, Dalhousie
Waitlisted:
Rejected: McGill
GPA: sGPA 3.72
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), a Registered Kinesiologist (R.kin), 75+ hours volunteering at a cardiac center and years working as a swim instructor/lifeguard. I've basically worked my way up the physical care latter and gained experience/education in a related field. This is my second time applying, last year I only applied to Queen's. I suggest to aim above the GPA cut-off and have a variety of experience volunteering/working in different places. I believe great references that can highlight your attributes are important to help differentiate you from the next candidate.

Edit: CASPer is required for McGill and Dalhousie (new 2018). Please do your diligence for this test. Don't wing it.

Congrats! Do you know where you plan on going?

[macncheese13]

Applied + (PT or OT?): PT @ UBC, UoA, McGill, UoT, Western, Queens & McMaster
Accepted: UBC & Western
Waitlisted: 
Rejected: UoT (declined interview invite), UoA, McGill, Queens & McMaster

GPA: Sub - 3.81, Cum - 3.59 (ORPAS), not sure what my UBC GPA is

Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: 350 volunteer hours over the course of 3.5 years at a care home's physio department, work as a rehab assistant at a care home (~150 hours), worked as a student kin with Fraser Health, worked as a sports instructor for children for 4 years (600 hours) and various other smaller involvements around the community. I put a lot of effort and time into my essays to ensure that they were well written. For the UBC MMI, I practiced with others which definitely helped me with the actual interview. Two of my references knew me well. The first was from a prof who taught me and I also volunteered in his lab. My professional reference was from the physiotherapist in the care home I volunteered in. The third reference was from a prof who only knew me from a once a week class.

Congrats to everyone who got in! For those who didn't, keep trying, you have enough time to make your application even better!

[newPT2020]

7 hours ago, Rehab4Life said:

Congrats! Do you know where you plan on going?

I'm leaning towards Dalhousie.

Fingers crossed for you, mate. I hope to see your post your acceptance =)

[Rehab4Life]

Just now, newPT2020 said:

I'm leaning towards Dalhousie.

Fingers crossed for you, mate. I hope to see your post your acceptance =)

Love their campus. Thanks, I hope so too! Best of luck to you!

[DalOT*]

Anyone accepted to Dal OT and picked a difference school to go too ??

[member199414]

2 hours ago, newPT2020 said:

I'm leaning towards Dalhousie.

Fingers crossed for you, mate. I hope to see your post your acceptance =)

Are you from an Atlantic province?

[Garry]

I will be applying for 2019.  This is my first time applying. Hoping to have some feedback.  Feeling nervous.

Applied: (All OT) U of T, Queens, McMaster, Western
Accepted:

Waitlisted:

Rejected:

GPA: sGPA: 3.7 and cGPA: 3.3

Quote

 

Percieved strength:  Have lots of references both academically and professionally.  4 and 8 respectively.  I feel I did great on my essays.  Got them checked by several people including physiotherapist and people at the writing center at my University.  I just became a registered Kinesiologist.  Passed the exam.  Have tons of experience.  Have over 1000 clinical experience.  400 hours from one physiotherapy clinic.  200 hours from another physiotherapy clinic.  Have over 200 hours at the hospital helping the physios.  Worked with so many different issues ranging from musculoskeletal to cardaic.  Also have 200 hours at a kinesiology clinic.  Volunteered as a research assistant for Obesity study at my University (YorkU). Have about 150 hours.  Also completed a thesis. Have over 2000+ hours as a sports instructor.  With all my experience, have dealt with so many different age groups.

[newPT2020]

3 hours ago, member199414 said:

Are you from an Atlantic province?

OOP (Ontario)

[Waitingwaitingwaiting]

Applied (all OT): UofT, McMaster, Queens and Western

Accepted: McMaster, Queens and Western

Waitlist: UofT

SGPA: 3.86, CGPA: 3.78

I felt like my essays were okay and references were strong - 1 from my honours thesis prof and the other from my supervisor of 3 years (principal investigator and psychologist) as I'm currently a clinical research coordinator in a lab.

UofT is my first choice so I'm still hoping for it, but they don't give you any information on waitlist position which seriously sucks...2nd choice I'm debating between McMaster (learning style) and Queens (distance and convenience). Anyone have opinions on McMaster versus Queens?

[jna1929]

11 hours ago, Waitingwaitingwaiting said:

Applied (all OT): UofT, McMaster, Queens and Western

Accepted: McMaster, Queens and Western

Waitlist: UofT

SGPA: 3.86, CGPA: 3.78

I felt like my essays were okay and references were strong - 1 from my honours thesis prof and the other from my supervisor of 3 years (principal investigator and psychologist) as I'm currently a clinical research coordinator in a lab.

UofT is my first choice so I'm still hoping for it, but they don't give you any information on waitlist position which seriously sucks...2nd choice I'm debating between McMaster (learning style) and Queens (distance and convenience). Anyone have opinions on McMaster versus Queens?

 

How strong was your volunteering? Was your job experience related to OT in any way? Feel free to send me a private message if you don't want to reply here. I ask because with your SGPA you are way above what is required for UofT. The average accepted student has around a 3.7 based on last cycle (so this cycle might be more competitive, but still, I highly doubt that it would climb to more than 3.8), and a 3.86 is light years above that, so it is strange to me how you did not get in automatically, especially when U of T say that they weigh GPA more heavily than other factors. Very strange.

[FutureOT2020]

12 hours ago, Waitingwaitingwaiting said:

Applied (all OT): UofT, McMaster, Queens and Western

Accepted: McMaster, Queens and Western

Waitlist: UofT

SGPA: 3.86, CGPA: 3.78

I felt like my essays were okay and references were strong - 1 from my honours thesis prof and the other from my supervisor of 3 years (principal investigator and psychologist) as I'm currently a clinical research coordinator in a lab.

UofT is my first choice so I'm still hoping for it, but they don't give you any information on waitlist position which seriously sucks...2nd choice I'm debating between McMaster (learning style) and Queens (distance and convenience). Anyone have opinions on McMaster versus Queens?

Hey! Congrats on your acceptances. I got into McMaster, Toronto, and Western, so am considering similar schools as you! I love the learning style at McMaster as well because the things that really transformed me academically in undergrad were the hands on, problem oriented experiences. I feel like this would allow us to be very independent practitioners early one which is important in a profession that is diverse and requires creativity. I also enjoy that McMaster guarantees you at least one mental health placement. If you don't mind me asking, what made U of T stick out as a top choice for you?

[Waitingwaitingwaiting]

2 hours ago, jna1929 said:

 

How strong was your volunteering? Was your job experience related to OT in any way? Feel free to send me a private message if you don't want to reply here. I ask because with your SGPA you are way above what is required for UofT. The average accepted student has around a 3.7 based on last cycle (so this cycle might be more competitive, but still, I highly doubt that it would climb to more than 3.8), and a 3.86 is light years above that, so it is strange to me how you did not get in automatically, especially when U of T say that they weigh GPA more heavily than other factors. Very strange.

I personally think it's really strange too but I'm biased haha I was also thinking perhaps my weak link was my volunteering.  I definitely don't have a ton, but my most recent was volunteering as the exec administrator for a non-profit organization linking tutors to clients in downtown homeless shelters to increase access to education.  In terms of work, I started out as a volunteer and moved up to coordinator. It was very much related where our research focused on mindfulness-based interventions for patients with chronic neuropathic pain (breast cancer survivors or cancer patients) so I have a lot of experience working with patients, more specifically patients with life long disability.  I'm actually at a conference to do a symposium presentation about the research.  Not to sound over-confident, but I am quite puzzled and have quite honestly just been checking my email hoping it's a mistake...  but again - I could not be more biased.

[Waitingwaitingwaiting]

2 hours ago, FutureOT2020 said:

Hey! Congrats on your acceptances. I got into McMaster, Toronto, and Western, so am considering similar schools as you! I love the learning style at McMaster as well because the things that really transformed me academically in undergrad were the hands on, problem oriented experiences. I feel like this would allow us to be very independent practitioners early one which is important in a profession that is diverse and requires creativity. I also enjoy that McMaster guarantees you at least one mental health placement. If you don't mind me asking, what made U of T stick out as a top choice for you?

Thanks!! Congrats to you too, that's awesome! 

I definitely have the same line of thinking as you with McMaster. I quite enjoyed the interview questions and their assessment of critical thinking.  For me UofT is my first choice more so because of the logistics. What's most appealing to me is UofT's large and varied catchment area since I don't drive.  Just imagining the difficulties getting around to placements that are in more remote areas makes me quite anxious. It's also closer to where I live and easier to get to. I should really just learn to drive...maybe one day.

[macsci94]

22 hours ago, Waitingwaitingwaiting said:

Applied (all OT): UofT, McMaster, Queens and Western

Accepted: McMaster, Queens and Western

Waitlist: UofT

SGPA: 3.86, CGPA: 3.78

 I felt like my essays were okay and references were strong - 1 from my honours thesis prof and the other from my supervisor of 3 years (principal investigator and psychologist) as I'm currently a clinical research coordinator in a lab.

UofT is my first choice so I'm still hoping for it, but they don't give you any information on waitlist position which seriously sucks...2nd choice I'm debating between McMaster (learning style) and Queens (distance and convenience). Anyone have opinions on McMaster versus Queens?

Jumping off of what jna1929 said, I'm with you on the U of T front :/ sGPA was a 3.83 and I got waitlisted. Blaaaah. U of T would also be more appealing to me logistics-wise, but Mac is a great option as well. Finger's crossed for U of T for both of us, and if not, perhaps we'll be seeing each other at McMaster!

[jna1929]

15 hours ago, FutureOT2020 said:

Hey! Congrats on your acceptances. I got into McMaster, Toronto, and Western, so am considering similar schools as you! I love the learning style at McMaster as well because the things that really transformed me academically in undergrad were the hands on, problem oriented experiences. I feel like this would allow us to be very independent practitioners early one which is important in a profession that is diverse and requires creativity. I also enjoy that McMaster guarantees you at least one mental health placement. If you don't mind me asking, what made U of T stick out as a top choice for you?

Hi. What was your SGPA?

Also, if you are willing to share, a basic description of your volunteering and work experience.

[FutureOT2020]

1 hour ago, jna1929 said:

Hi. What was your SGPA?

Also, if you are willing to share, a basic description of your volunteering and work experience.

Hi, sure! My cumulative GPA is 3.93 and my sub GPA is 4.0. 

I was in Disability Studies and Psychology in undergrad, so I feel that I had a lot of relevant course work/experiences. Some of my relevant work and volunteer experiences are being a support provider with family respite with kids with various disabilities (work with the kids at home, bring them out to community events, created vision boards with goals/dreams for the older ones), working at a child minding center, being a placement student at a school for children with Autism (was involved with therapy, an acceptance campaign, increasing child and family inclusion in areas they deemed important like the campaign/other activities), and being a volunteer at a group home for adults with mental health disabilities (had the people living there help with a lot of events we organized). 

I also think I had strong references. One was a professor from a different department than mine (women and gender studies) that I took a lot of electives with and did extra-curricular work with, but I think she would have done a good job at talking about my interests in diversity, oppression, inclusion, etc. The other was the executive director of the group home I volunteered at, so she probably did a good job of highlighting some of my specific skills with working with people with disabilities/marginalized folk. I spent a lot of time on my essays as well, including doing research to include in the answers (even though they are so short!).

[Art3mis]

Applied: OT at Western, McMaster, UofT, Queens;

                PT at Western, UofT, Queens

Accepted: OT at Western
Waitlisted: PT at Western

Rejected: OT at McMaster, UofT, Queens; PT at UofT, Queens

GPA: Sub 3.8, Cum 3.74

Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references:

-96 hours of volunteer work at a physiotherapy clinic, 40 hours volunteering with therapeutic horseback riding lessons for disabled individuals

-Reference from my academic advisor/professor and the registered kinesiologist at the physiotherapy clinic I volunteered at

- Studied kinesiology at Laurier for my undergrad and minored in psychology

-Felt okay (not great but not bad) about my McMaster interview but I didn't even get waitlisted there :S 

(Overall, super happy, Western OT was my dream school! Accepted the offer right away!)

[ot2020class]

1 hour ago, Art3mis said:

Applied: OT at Western, McMaster, UofT, Queens;

                PT at Western, UofT, Queens

Accepted: OT at Western
Waitlisted: PT at Western

Rejected: OT at McMaster, UofT, Queens; PT at UofT, Queens

GPA: Sub 3.8, Cum 3.74

Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references:

-96 hours of volunteer work at a physiotherapy clinic, 40 hours volunteering with therapeutic horseback riding lessons for disabled individuals

-Reference from my academic advisor/professor and the registered kinesiologist at the physiotherapy clinic I volunteered at

- Studied kinesiology at Laurier for my undergrad and minored in psychology

-Felt okay (not great but not bad) about my McMaster interview but I didn't even get waitlisted there :S 

(Overall, super happy, Western OT was my dream school! Accepted the offer right away!)

Congrats on being accepted to your top program! I also studied at Laurier and am choosing between Western as one of my choices for next year. I’m wondering if any of your reasons for Western being your dream school have to do with any similarities/differences between western and Laurier? 

[tm55]

Those who applied to OT do you think it is possible to receive an offer with a sGPA from 3.6-3.7? Has anyone been accepted with this range of sGPA? I am trying to apply for next year again and I am an trying to boost my gpa in order to apply but the probability of a 3.8 is very slim. I just want to be realistic and see if it is still possible to get in. Thanks! 

[eafb30]

Dalhousie's Faculty of Graduate Studies began sending out official acceptances for PT today, the first round a few weeks ago was a recommendation and with an official offer you can pay your fee and no doubts about it confirm your seat. Almost there!!

 

[mlyPT]

1 minute ago, eafb30 said:

Dalhousie's Faculty of Graduate Studies began sending out official acceptances for PT today, the first round a few weeks ago was a recommendation and with an official offer you can pay your fee and no doubts about it confirm your seat. Almost there!!

 

Letters in the mail or an "official" email? Can't wait!!

[eafb30]

1 minute ago, mlyPT said:

Letters in the mail or an "official" email? Can't wait!!

Email! I got my email about half an hour ago (last name starting with B, but I also accepted my recommendation/offer within 3 days of receiving it and the deadline to accept isn't until tomorrow), and just paid my $200 fee and now it says I can register for classes in about 2 business days. ITS THE END OF THE LONGEST TUNNEL EVER. 

[churros31]

4 hours ago, tm55 said:

Those who applied to OT do you think it is possible to receive an offer with a sGPA from 3.6-3.7? Has anyone been accepted with this range of sGPA? I am trying to apply for next year again and I am an trying to boost my gpa in order to apply but the probability of a 3.8 is very slim. I just want to be realistic and see if it is still possible to get in. Thanks! 

Unfortunately, I think that based on the sGPA increase in recent years, anything lower than a 3.7 would be a long shot. Most OT schools in Ontario don't release what they consider a competitive sGPA, but Mac posted that their cut-off for a first round interview invite this year was 3.77. This eventually went down to 3.75 with people accepted off the waitlist. So if you think about Ontario schools having a similar applicant pool as this group, the top ~300ish people who apply to OT have an sGPA in the high 3.7s (of course Mac only looks at GPA so a bunch of people might have applied as a backup, which skews it higher).

However, if OT is really what you want, I really hope this doesn't discourage you from trying again! Many people on this forum have applied 2, even 3 times before getting in. This year off could be your time to boost your sGPA, make money, and gain more experiences in the profession. There are also some people who have tons of experience but have an sGPA in the low-mid 3.7s who have been accepted, so experience, essays, and references could make a HUGE difference! It's just that the reality of things is that sGPA is usually the first cut-off point for schools before your application is looked at, so I would definitely focus on improving that this year.

Also do you have a higher cGPA than sGPA? I think Queens and McGill (correct me if I'm wrong) look more at cGPA so that could be to your advantage.

Anyway, best of luck to you and I hope you don't let this setback stop you from pursuing OT!  

[OTkylie]

Applied: UBC, Toronto, McMaster, Queens, Western (all OT)

Interview: UBC, McMaster (off waitlist but did not attend as I was already given a seat at UBC)

Accepted: UBC, Toronto, Queens

Waitlisted: Western (upper third)

Rejected:

GPA: Cummulative: 3.33 Sub: 3.75, 94% average for 300/400 level classes for UBC MOT 

Strengths: 

Strong references from academic professors who knew me well. My professional reference was from a practicing OT that I’ve been volunteering with for a year. I have volunteered with an OT in South Africa as well as OT’s in geriatrics, and rural First Nations Communities. For those who did not get in, keep trying! I am a second time applicant and took the last year to strengthen myself as an applicant. I was told by UBC last year when I interviewed and didnt get it that they’re looking for applicants who have a wide range of professional and personal experience which is why I did as much shadowing as I could with different populations in different settings. Im so thankful that I did because my knowledge and understanding of Occupational Therapy increased so much which was incredibly helpful when I went through the application process again this year.