Stnb2024 Posted May 7, 2020 Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 Hello!! I’m applying for OT in fall. I am currently a psychology student, my cgpa is around 3.5 and my sgpa for this year is around 3.7. I’m currently taking some summer courses to boost my sgpa. I have some volunteering and research experience as well. Last year I had a very bad year and failed 2 courses, I also WDN a course due to my mental state. This year I have retaken those courses and I got back into honours, but due to the coronavirus situation I WDN a course and now I realize this may have been a bad choice and that it will look bad on my application next year. Does anyone have experience of getting into OT with 2+ WDN on their transcript? And not to forget the 2 failed courses. I would appreciate any answers!! Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stnb2024 Posted May 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 Just now, Stnb2024 said: Hello!! I’m applying for OT in fall. I am currently a psychology student, my cgpa is around 3.5 and my sgpa for this year is around 3.7. I’m currently taking some summer courses to boost my sgpa. I have some volunteering and research experience as well. Last year I had a very bad year and failed 2 courses, I also WDN a course due to my mental state. This year I have retaken those courses and I got back into honours, but due to the coronavirus situation I WDN a course and now I realize this may have been a bad choice and that it will look bad on my application next year. Does anyone have experience of getting into OT with 2+ WDN on their transcript? And not to forget the 2 failed courses. I would appreciate any answers!! Thank you Also I’ll be taking a full course load in fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natOT Posted May 7, 2020 Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 I can only speak for U of A, but on their version of the letter of intent, they have a question that asks you if you'd like to explain any extenuating circumstances during/after your degree that may have impacted your application. So you'd be able to describe the situation (i.e. why you failed some courses and had withdrawals), and then explain how you've overcome whatever was affecting you (sorry not trying to downplay your mental health, just don't know how else to word this), and how you are now doing much better (and then point to your subsequent semesters doing well with a full course load). I got into U of A with one WC (which is a withdrawal with cause), and I didn't even address it in my application. For other schools, I think that in your letter of intent/introduction/whatever it is you would want to address the failed courses/withdrawals in a similar way. Describe what happened, and describe how you've overcome those challenges and how you're now doing better in school. I almost forgot, U of A will not be counting Winter 2020 (this semester) grades in their GPA calculations due to Covid-19. I'm not sure about other schools but again, you can explain your withdrawal this semester as being due to Covid, which is fair enough. Good luck!!! Stnb2024 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UofAhopeful2222 Posted May 8, 2020 Report Share Posted May 8, 2020 Hi there! In admissions, it says preference is given to students who have completed a full course load of 30 credits over two consecutive semesters at some point during their undergrad with a competitive GPA. Since I have to work part time I have only been able to take 4 Classes a semester. However, I have a very strong gpa (3.9). Does anyone know how this could effect my application or likelihood of acceptance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTplease2020 Posted May 8, 2020 Report Share Posted May 8, 2020 8 minutes ago, UofAhopeful2222 said: Hi there! In admissions, it says preference is given to students who have completed a full course load of 30 credits over two consecutive semesters at some point during their undergrad with a competitive GPA. Since I have to work part time I have only been able to take 4 Classes a semester. However, I have a very strong gpa (3.9). Does anyone know how this could effect my application or likelihood of acceptance? I was accepted to U of A this year and was in a similar situation, I just made sure to write about my work experience in my letter of intent and discussed how my work as a support worker for people with disabilities played a role in my decision to become an OT Feel free to PM me if you have any questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stnb2024 Posted May 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2020 On 5/7/2020 at 3:36 PM, natOT said: I can only speak for U of A, but on their version of the letter of intent, they have a question that asks you if you'd like to explain any extenuating circumstances during/after your degree that may have impacted your application. So you'd be able to describe the situation (i.e. why you failed some courses and had withdrawals), and then explain how you've overcome whatever was affecting you (sorry not trying to downplay your mental health, just don't know how else to word this), and how you are now doing much better (and then point to your subsequent semesters doing well with a full course load). I got into U of A with one WC (which is a withdrawal with cause), and I didn't even address it in my application. For other schools, I think that in your letter of intent/introduction/whatever it is you would want to address the failed courses/withdrawals in a similar way. Describe what happened, and describe how you've overcome those challenges and how you're now doing better in school. I almost forgot, U of A will not be counting Winter 2020 (this semester) grades in their GPA calculations due to Covid-19. I'm not sure about other schools but again, you can explain your withdrawal this semester as being due to Covid, which is fair enough. Good luck!!! Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugo Posted May 12, 2020 Report Share Posted May 12, 2020 On 5/7/2020 at 4:36 PM, natOT said: I can only speak for U of A, but on their version of the letter of intent, they have a question that asks you if you'd like to explain any extenuating circumstances during/after your degree that may have impacted your application. So you'd be able to describe the situation (i.e. why you failed some courses and had withdrawals), and then explain how you've overcome whatever was affecting you (sorry not trying to downplay your mental health, just don't know how else to word this), and how you are now doing much better (and then point to your subsequent semesters doing well with a full course load). I got into U of A with one WC (which is a withdrawal with cause), and I didn't even address it in my application. For other schools, I think that in your letter of intent/introduction/whatever it is you would want to address the failed courses/withdrawals in a similar way. Describe what happened, and describe how you've overcome those challenges and how you're now doing better in school. I almost forgot, U of A will not be counting Winter 2020 (this semester) grades in their GPA calculations due to Covid-19. I'm not sure about other schools but again, you can explain your withdrawal this semester as being due to Covid, which is fair enough. Good luck!!! Hi there, you said U of A will not be counting Winter 2020 (this semester) grades in their GPA calculations due to Covid-19, I wonder if they will ignore the GPA of 2020 winter for 2019-2020 admission cycle or 2020-2021 admission cycle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natOT Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 59 minutes ago, sugo said: Hi there, you said U of A will not be counting Winter 2020 (this semester) grades in their GPA calculations due to Covid-19, I wonder if they will ignore the GPA of 2020 winter for 2019-2020 admission cycle or 2020-2021 admission cycle? I think that any grades from this semester will not count for all cycles going forward. I'm not sure how it would have affected applicants this cycle (2019-2020). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugo Posted May 13, 2020 Report Share Posted May 13, 2020 On 5/12/2020 at 9:51 PM, natOT said: I think that any grades from this semester will not count for all cycles going forward. I'm not sure how it would have affected applicants this cycle (2019-2020). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natOT Posted May 15, 2020 Report Share Posted May 15, 2020 On 5/13/2020 at 9:12 AM, sugo said: That's so bad, I got 4.0/4.0 in this semester. Is there any chance to let U of A look at the grade of this semester if I apply to? Because I know why they do this is due to many students got lower marks because of distance teaching. BTW, as I know the upcoming fall semester will become online as well, will U of A look at the mark of the upcoming fall semseter? That really is poor timing, I'm sorry to hear that. You might want to email them and just ask and see what they say. There is no indication about what they will do about the Fall. My assumption is that people will be prepared for online courses in the Fall so it won't be as disruptive as it was this semester. Still, you could ask U of A about that as well. I'm just speculating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamz_883 Posted May 15, 2020 Report Share Posted May 15, 2020 On 5/8/2020 at 1:52 PM, UofAhopeful2222 said: Hi there! In admissions, it says preference is given to students who have completed a full course load of 30 credits over two consecutive semesters at some point during their undergrad with a competitive GPA. Since I have to work part time I have only been able to take 4 Classes a semester. However, I have a very strong gpa (3.9). Does anyone know how this could effect my application or likelihood of acceptance? One girl in my class told me she wasn’t accepted until her third admission cycle and was told by admissions it was due to her lack of taking a full course load even though she explained in her letter of intent she worked 2+ jobs during school one of which was in a healthcare field. That being said, I don’t know if her gpa was as high as that. I don’t mean to discourage you I just want to let you know it can have an impact. We were told essentially if you are stacked against someone else with the same gpa and similar extra curricular activities then they will opt to rank the person who took the full course load above them. So it can also depend on the applicant pool for that year. But most definitely write about it in your LOI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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