OT/PT accepted/waitlist/decline forum - 2021 cycle

[rlerin]

On 11/14/2020 at 1:05 PM, PTAppsStressed said:

Applied (PT): Queens, U of T, Western, McMaster (and other UK schools)
Accepted:
Waitlisted:
Rejected:
GPA:c-gpa and s-gpa: Not 100% sure because ORPAS hasn't calculated yet but => CGPA: ~3.75 & SGPA: ~3.80
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Volunteer experience as PTA in private clinics (MSK and Neuro). Only 2 research-volunteer experience. Part of several student organizations. Reference was from my research supervisor and from a PT I shadowed for over 2 years. I think my essays are pretty good but I'm just overall really stressed. Tbh, mostly scared about my GPA because I know most schools typically accepts really high GPA's. Also worried about CASPer, so if anyone could pls share some advice, that'd be great!

I just took my CASPer test today! I tried looking at videos/bought a book online from the **DELETED** academy and practiced as much as I could. I froze on the first two questions but then I got the hang of it.

My best advice would be to do the practice test for sure and look at suggested correct answers so you know more or less what you're expected to answer. 

Best of luck! 

[PT PT PT]

Hey everyone! I have a question for Western PT’s experience section (PT experience vs. Non-PT experience). If I worked on a research study that was supervised by a PT does that make it PT experience? Even if the research wasn’t PT related necessarily? 

[Raza]

On 11/19/2020 at 12:16 PM, hopeful-OT said:

Hey! I would say strong references and letters of intent are very helpful in terms of admission. I found that Queens and Western are the ones that are a little more flexible with grades and consider you more holistically. I can only speak for Queens as I am an OT student there, but I was able to get in with a lower GPA than most but very strong references. I made sure my letters of intent were reviewed by people in healthcare and got tons of opinions of them to make sure I was on the right track. I was also waitlisted for Western but rejected from UofT and McMaster. 

My best advice is to try your best with your application, research the programs and see which would be the best fit for you and just go for it! With COVID there are so many changes we're all going through so no one can really tell what admissions will look like this cycle. And if this round doesn't work out, don't be too discouraged and try again next year. 

If you have any other questions let me know! Good luck!!

Hello, thank you for your response I mssgd you!

[muskokaphysiohopeful]

Hi everyone!

Im back for my second round of applications after being waitlisted last year. I was just wondering if anyone has used the same personal submission twice in a row or only made minor changes?

[PT PT PT]

For anyone who has returned back to university to upgrade their marks after graduating, did you select "correspondence/Continuing Education/Open Learning" along with "Undergraduate" for your transcript? (I completed undergrad in Ontario) 

[RecentOTLover]

Applied (OT): U of T
Accepted:
Waitlisted:
Rejected:
GPA: CGPA: 3.77 & SGPA: 3.90
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: Became passionate about OT at the start of the pandemic so haven't had a chance to get any highly relevant experience or even shadow any OTs due to limiting number of people (wondering if anyone else is also on the same boat). I have 2 years of working in a developmental psychology lab at UofT where we studied infants and children, albeit they were of typical development. My references are the prof whose lab I worked at and another prof whose seminar-based class in which I did really well. Other than that, I have 3 years of customer service experience at a big tourist attraction (we helped visitors with disabilities with accessibility issues all the time), 2 years of volunteer experience participating in a Planned Parenthood campaign, and extracurriculars during Uni were mentoring first-year students and writing for the school magazine.

I'm pretty good at writing so I think with enough research + tailoring my skills to OT, my essay will turn out strong. Mostly stressed about the lack of any super relevant experience, but people have told me that UofT can overlook it if everything else is good. Anyone know if this is true?

[PTOT1209]

 

Applied + (PT or OT?): UBC, Queens, Mcmaster, Western (PT); UBC, Queens, Mcmaster, Western, Toronto (OT)
Accepted:
Waitlisted:
Rejected:
GPA:c-gpa and s-gpa : cpga: ? , sgpa: 3.77/4
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references:

- 1,500 hours as a kinesiologist doing active rehab at a very well known physiotherapy clinic in Vancouver

- 3,000 hours at an orthotics company doing prescription translation + foot landmarking on 3D scans

- 20 hours volunteering for stroke rehab association with GRASP program (tele-rehab hand therapy for stroke survivors)

- 40 hours volunteering at a neurorehab clinic

- 150 hours kinesiologist working at medical exercise clinic

- 100 hours volunteer vball coach

- 50 hours athletic trainer for lacrosse team

- Reference from a partner at my physiotherapy clinic who is an instructor at UBC (probably my biggest strength is her to be honest haha)

GPA is probably my weakest part of application still, but i've upgraded courses enough that I think i'll at least make the cut-off for a few programs this year and have a better shot. (Got onto McMaster waitlist last try)

Good luck to everyone!

[OTMEMBER]

hey! 

for anyone applying to Western OT, did you list your academic achievements in bullet format or in essay format?

[Tptdream]

Hi all! 

I have sGPA 3.58 and a cGPA 2.6, with 300 hours working with children with disabilities. I don't have much experience and my GPA is mediocre I think. I was wondering if I should take a year off and take classes to boost my sGPA. Or, should I still apply to Queens (open to other university options) and hope for the best? 

[zerochance]

14 hours ago, Tptdream said:

Hi all! 

I have sGPA 3.58 and a cGPA 2.6, with 300 hours working with children with disabilities. I don't have much experience and my GPA is mediocre I think. I was wondering if I should take a year off and take classes to boost my sGPA. Or, should I still apply to Queens (open to other university options) and hope for the best? 

It depends on where your poor grades are.  I mean, if your poor grades are the most early of your 20 courses then it makes sense to take courses and hope to do well to replace those poor grades.  But if your poor grades are very recent, or if they are evenly scattered across your last 20, then I don't think it makes sense to upgrade.  

[Tptdream]

1 hour ago, zerochance said:

It depends on where your poor grades are.  I mean, if your poor grades are the most early of your 20 courses then it makes sense to take courses and hope to do well to replace those poor grades.  But if your poor grades are very recent, or if they are evenly scattered across your last 20, then I don't think it makes sense to upgrade.  

Thank you for your reply! 

The poor grades are only from my first year but I'm from Quebec so my program is only 3 years long so when I apply, my winter semester of my first year will be counted. So, I'm just confused on what to do. 

Also, if I wanted to improve my subGPA, would it be smart to just the new easy classes from wtv program or redo some classes so that I can improve my cGPA as well? 

 

[zerochance]

55 minutes ago, Tptdream said:

Thank you for your reply! 

The poor grades are only from my first year but I'm from Quebec so my program is only 3 years long so when I apply, my winter semester of my first year will be counted. So, I'm just confused on what to do. 

Also, if I wanted to improve my subGPA, would it be smart to just the new easy classes from wtv program or redo some classes so that I can improve my cGPA as well? 

 

I'm not sure what the WTV program is.  I'm also unsure how PT schools will look at repeated courses.  I would advice not repeating courses, but if I was you I would email ORPAS or read up their FAQ to see how they calculate repeated courses.  For me right now, I'm taking new courses through my uni.  

[OTgotthis]

On 11/21/2020 at 12:18 PM, muskokaphysiohopeful said:

Hi everyone!

Im back for my second round of applications after being waitlisted last year. I was just wondering if anyone has used the same personal submission twice in a row or only made minor changes?

Hey, I was waitlisted last year so I'm reapplying this year Things have changed a little for me and I have gained more experiences than last year which I want to reflect on my personal submission. I thought of using the same one but I kind of got the feeling they may have my records? and know that I have applied last year. I don't know but just wanted to refresh some stuffs and upgrade my intent. My last year's personal submission was checked by my program's Dean so I considered very strong but I still want to give a little change! To see if things work out well for this application cycle Good luck to you too! 

[PTTTTTl9987]

Hi Guys! I have a question of the UBC PT application. It appears as though I only need one practical reference to fill out the practical referee form as part of my 70 hours but I achieved these hours between two facilities. Do I still only need to provide one reference? Or am I missing something?

[NeedPTinmylife]

Is anyone able to find the Ottawa application details on ORPAS? I found the french version and I have no issue understanding it, but it doesn't say whether your resume needs to be in english or in French for PT and OT.

This is the only link I found:

https://www.ouac.on.ca/fr/guide/orpas-ottawa/#physio

[zerochance]

Just now, NeedPTinmylife said:

Is anyone able to find the Ottawa application details on ORPAS? I found the french version and I have no issue understanding it, but it doesn't say whether your resume needs to be in english or in French for PT and OT.

This is the only link I found:

https://www.ouac.on.ca/fr/guide/orpas-ottawa/#physio

 

I thought Ottawa only offer a French PT program?

[NeedPTinmylife]

1 minute ago, zerochance said:

 

I thought Ottawa only offer a French PT program?

Yes, the program is for french-speaking students. But some of the application stuff like the Casper can be done in english! I would just prefer not to write out a whole new resumé if they accept them in english.

[Mar03]

8 hours ago, NeedPTinmylife said:

Yes, the program is for french-speaking students. But some of the application stuff like the Casper can be done in english! I would just prefer not to write out a whole new resumé if they accept them in english.

Hi! I was accepted for OT at Ottawa this past year and I submitted my resume in English.

[Noël]

53 minutes ago, Mar03 said:

Hi! I was accepted for OT at Ottawa this past year and I submitted my resume in English.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter if it's in English or French. It's so dumb that we have to do language tests in both languages though... Last year, you only had to do one in the opposite language that you completed CASPer in, and the years before that, they had interviews instead of these massive money-grabbers. The fee for the language tests is beyond ridiculous. 

Does anyone know how much they consider the résumé in admissions though?

[Lovingpt]

I am looking to apply in fall 2021 for a fall 2022 start. I won’t have my prerequisites finished before December 31st.

Knowing how competitive schools are in Ontario, I am right now looking into applying for a PTA program at Mohawk college for a fall 2021 start.

My thought process is this:

 I know I 100% want to be in a PT type setting, but I’m a mature student looking to make a career change and waiting around for something that might not happen isn’t realistic. What is realistic is accepting that I might never make it into a PT program. The way I see it is if I start the college diploma during fall 2021 and don’t end up being accepted into a PT program for a Fall 2022 start, I will already be halfway through my college diploma. I would apply again in fall 2022 and be completed with my diploma whether I get accepted or not for the fall 2023 cycle.
 

If I don’t get accepted for fall 2023 I’d be able to work a full year while waiting to apply for the next cycle. 
 

This sounds like a good idea to me, but I’m concerned about a few things:

1. Does anyone here know anyone who has done this program and if it’s difficult to find jobs? I don’t care about pay it’s not about money to me,  I’m walking away from a very well paying career because I’m so unhappy. I just want to know the jobs are out there.
 

2. Do you think this could hurt me in anyway during the application process for PT school? If I only complete a year of my diploma and get lucky enough to be accepted my first try, I would withdraw from the college program. I’m not sure if they would see me being enrolled in a program already as a negative..... anyone have any personal experience or know somebody who got accepted being enrolled in program while applying and being accepted regardless of your/their student status?

[futureOT2021]

Deleted

[PTPTPT]

On 12/6/2020 at 10:15 PM, Noël said:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter if it's in English or French. It's so dumb that we have to do language tests in both languages though... Last year, you only had to do one in the opposite language that you completed CASPer in, and the years before that, they had interviews instead of these massive money-grabbers. The fee for the language tests is beyond ridiculous. 

Does anyone know how much they consider the résumé in admissions though?

Omfg you have to do both tests this year?! Wowwwww...better be 2 for the price of 1

[Noël]

2 hours ago, PTPTPT said:

Omfg you have to do both tests this year?! Wowwwww...better be 2 for the price of 1

It's now $120 instead of the already-ridiculous $93 of last year, making it at least $477 if one wants to apply just to Ottawa

[NeedPTinmylife]

On 12/6/2020 at 9:12 PM, Mar03 said:

Hi! I was accepted for OT at Ottawa this past year and I submitted my resume in English.

This helps a lot thanks!

[PTPTPT]

19 hours ago, Noël said:

It's now $120 instead of the already-ridiculous $93 of last year, making it at least $477 if one wants to apply just to Ottawa

I just found that $120 covers the cost of both tests! And are you applying to both OT and PT? Cause I'm just applying to PT and it totalled to ~$375 (if I did $120 x 2 tests). So only ~$30 more than last year but it's still like double other schools lol