Why don't more people apply to uOttawa OT/PT

[myohmy]

Hi, I'm a second year student at uOttawa in OT and was wondering why don't more people apply to uOttawa since it's way less competitive than other Ontario schools. How big of a barrier is French to most applicants? Personally, as an anglophone who's only taken a few years of French immersion, I've been able to manage just fine.

I'm curious to hear what you guys think

[OTwanderer]

Personally, the requirement for certain pre-requisites took me out of the running as my undergrad was not in a science-related field.

I am in the same boat for French though with French immersion.  Some questions for you:

- Did you do a French test or did you just say you were French Immerision?

- Is the course taught in French?

[myohmy]

.

[myohmy]

6 hours ago, OTwanderer said:

Personally, the requirement for certain pre-requisites took me out of the running as my undergrad was not in a science-related field.

I am in the same boat for French though with French immersion.  Some questions for you:

- Did you do a French test or did you just say you were French Immerision?

- Is the course taught in French?

Thanks for replying!

- I was in the last cohort that had the MMIs where half the stations were in French and half were in English so the evaluators were able to test your proficiency on the spot in addition to how well you answered questions. That got replaced the following year with CASPer and the written bilingual tests (coincidentally, in time for COVID)

- Most of the lectures and seminars are in French. However, a couple of courses had guest profs and speakers that were anglophone so those were in English. Also, all of the readings are in English since that's the language in which most papers are published.

[shad892]

Hi! Just got accepted into Uottawa OT! My French writing wasn't great buy I'm strong in the rest. Working on getting better on my writing this summer. Any tips for a newbie? I'm graduating from kin Uottawa. Most of my experience was in PT so I'm still discovering things about this field. Seems like you help people a lot and I'm sure I'll love the diversity. I like how mental and physical health is considered. Worried about finding placements with Covid. I'm a 29/M applicant. Is it true it's all women? Also is it all online?

Thanks!!

 

[PT0102]

Speaking from experience my school has sent a lot of students to Ottawa rehab over the years and there are a few things that stand out.

A lot of people don't believe their french is adequate or don't have any french at all. On the other hand some fluent French people are hesitant about having that cross between non-fluent french speakers in a French program and how those people can interfere with their learning (from personal experience not an issue but it is something that worries people) I accepted Ottawa looking for that diverse experience and that cross between different perspectives

[PhysioSam]

Way less competitive is a big statement. I'm OOP (Quebec) and was rejected with 3.78/4.3 cGPA last year. I think ORPAS calculated me a 3.72/4, I can't really remember.

[myohmy]

17 hours ago, shad892 said:

Hi! Just got accepted into Uottawa OT! My French writing wasn't great buy I'm strong in the rest. Working on getting better on my writing this summer. Any tips for a newbie? I'm graduating from kin Uottawa. Most of my experience was in PT so I'm still discovering things about this field. Seems like you help people a lot and I'm sure I'll love the diversity. I like how mental and physical health is considered. Worried about finding placements with Covid. I'm a 29/M applicant. Is it true it's all women? Also is it all online?

Thanks!!

 

The first course in September is basically all about learning how to define OT so you should be fine in terms of learning more about the field. I wouldn't worry about finding placements with COVID. We have a placement coordinator who does all the work for you in terms of finding placements and matching students so you don't have to worry about applying for them. You fill out a form and let her know your preferences for settings at the beginning of the program. While about half of the placements have been online/hybrid since COVID, there are still several in-person private, community, and hospital placements. There's also the option to work in Northern Ontario for placements 3-5.

As for gender, well my cohort had a record of 7 guys out of a class of 39  The year before had only 1 guy. From my knowledge it usually averages around 2-3. Finally, since COVID, most lectures and seminars have been online with the exception of a few labs in person. Since uOttawa and Ontario should be opening up a bit more come fall, I wouldn't be surprised if they start transitioning towards more hybrid learning.

[myohmy]

14 hours ago, PT0102 said:

Speaking from experience my school has sent a lot of students to Ottawa rehab over the years and there are a few things that stand out.

A lot of people don't believe their french is adequate or don't have any french at all. On the other hand some fluent French people are hesitant about having that cross between non-fluent french speakers in a French program and how those people can interfere with their learning (from personal experience not an issue but it is something that worries people) I accepted Ottawa looking for that diverse experience and that cross between different perspectives

Huh, I wouldn't have thought that about the fluent French people. Thanks for your input!

[shad892]

4 hours ago, myohmy said:

The first course in September is basically all about learning how to define OT so you should be fine in terms of learning more about the field. I wouldn't worry about finding placements with COVID. We have a placement coordinator who does all the work for you in terms of finding placements and matching students so you don't have to worry about applying for them. You fill out a form and let her know your preferences for settings at the beginning of the program. While about half of the placements have been online/hybrid since COVID, there are still several in-person private, community, and hospital placements. There's also the option to work in Northern Ontario for placements 3-5.

As for gender, well my cohort had a record of 7 guys out of a class of 39  The year before had only 1 guy. From my knowledge it usually averages around 2-3. Finally, since COVID, most lectures and seminars have been online with the exception of a few labs in person. Since uOttawa and Ontario should be opening up a bit more come fall, I wouldn't be surprised if they start transitioning towards more hybrid learning.

Awesome thanks for the info! Also how many classes do you generally have epr semester? Do you have clinical throughout or only at the end? Sucks they don't have a template of how they break up courses. Finally would you think it's possible to work part time with the course load?

 

Thanks again! This information is soo helpful! I hope you find good employment going in the field! Seems like prospects are good

[myohmy]

14 minutes ago, shad892 said:

Awesome thanks for the info! Also how many classes do you generally have epr semester? Do you have clinical throughout or only at the end? Sucks they don't have a template of how they break up courses. Finally would you think it's possible to work part time with the course load?

 

Thanks again! This information is soo helpful! I hope you find good employment going in the field! Seems like prospects are good

It's tough to define since each semester is different in length and amount of courses with some semesters being as long as 2-3 months in first year and others as short as 4-6 weeks in second year. You have 2 clinical placements in first year and 3 in second year with school semesters in between (hence the short semesters). Assume you have at least a 3 hour lecture/seminar 4-5 times a week with 2 in one day once or twice a week. They modify the course sequence slightly every year based on feedback from the previous cohort so that's why it's tough to find info on it. You should get your schedule for the year in August. While I haven't worked part time during my masters, many of classmates have so it's definitely doable. 

 

And job prospects are pretty good considering I secured a full-time, salaried job 4 months before graduation haha. Best of luck in your studies!

[shad892]

7 minutes ago, myohmy said:

It's tough to define since each semester is different in length and amount of courses with some semesters being as long as 2-3 months in first year and others as short as 4-6 weeks in second year. You have 2 clinical placements in first year and 3 in second year with school semesters in between (hence the short semesters). Assume you have at least a 3 hour lecture/seminar 4-5 times a week with 2 in one day once or twice a week. They modify the course sequence slightly every year based on feedback from the previous cohort so that's why it's tough to find info on it. You should get your schedule for the year in August. While I haven't worked part time during my masters, many of classmates have so it's definitely doable. 

 

And job prospects are pretty good considering I secured a full-time, salaried job 4 months before graduation haha. Best of luck in your studies!

So encouraging! Thank you so much!

[shad892]

2 hours ago, myohmy said:

It's tough to define since each semester is different in length and amount of courses with some semesters being as long as 2-3 months in first year and others as short as 4-6 weeks in second year. You have 2 clinical placements in first year and 3 in second year with school semesters in between (hence the short semesters). Assume you have at least a 3 hour lecture/seminar 4-5 times a week with 2 in one day once or twice a week. They modify the course sequence slightly every year based on feedback from the previous cohort so that's why it's tough to find info on it. You should get your schedule for the year in August. While I haven't worked part time during my masters, many of classmates have so it's definitely doable. 

 

And job prospects are pretty good considering I secured a full-time, salaried job 4 months before graduation haha. Best of luck in your studies!

Sorry for the bombardment of questions. May I ask what area of expertise you ended up finding employment in within OT? Congrats btw!

[myohmy]

14 hours ago, shad892 said:

Sorry for the bombardment of questions. May I ask what area of expertise you ended up finding employment in within OT? Congrats btw!

Hi. It's private sector (Motor Vehicle Accidents). Most of the jobs willing to hire new grads in Ottawa are either that or home health (through the LHIN). There are jobs within the public sector (hospitals) but they usually require full licenses (which comes after you've written the NOTCE) and at least 1-2 years of experience

[rmaam066]

On 5/17/2021 at 12:19 PM, myohmy said:

Hi, I'm a second year student at uOttawa in OT and was wondering why don't more people apply to uOttawa since it's way less competitive than other Ontario schools. How big of a barrier is French to most applicants? Personally, as an anglophone who's only taken a few years of French immersion, I've been able to manage just fine.

I'm curious to hear what you guys think

Hey ! I recently got accepted into the program and I also got waitlisted in SLP I know a lot of people who are in OT right now and most of them were English speakers haha. As a Francophone, I think a lot of people hesitate when they see that the program is in French which I understand... However, despite the language barrie I feel it's a good the region of Ottawa/Gatineau is a good opportunity to practice in both languages (FR/EN)... 

[rmaam066]

Hey guys !

I recently got accepted into OT at Uottawa. Plus, I got waitlisted in SLP. However, for OT I've one prerequisite to do (ANP1506) before August 30th and most of the universities already started the course or the course is not available until September 2021... I find this very ridiculous since I contacted Uottawa and they said I can do BIOL235 at Athabasca. However, it's a pretty heavy course and it's in English. I'm a Francophone and I just don't think I'll make an anatomy class in English haha especially in a short amount of time. 

Does anyone have experienced a similar situation than mine ?

Thank you

 

 

[rmaam066]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:52 AM, OTwanderer said:

Personally, the requirement for certain pre-requisites took me out of the running as my undergrad was not in a science-related field.

I am in the same boat for French though with French immersion.  Some questions for you:

- Did you do a French test or did you just say you were French Immerision?

- Is the course taught in French?

hey ! since your undergrad was not a science-related filed, do you have to do ANP1506 ? I did my bachelor in Psychology with a minor in Linguistics... haha now I've a huge dilemma which consists to do AN1506 but it's not offered anywhere in French which I find absurd... 

[rmaam066]

On 5/18/2021 at 4:18 PM, shad892 said:

Hi! Just got accepted into Uottawa OT! My French writing wasn't great buy I'm strong in the rest. Working on getting better on my writing this summer. Any tips for a newbie? I'm graduating from kin Uottawa. Most of my experience was in PT so I'm still discovering things about this field. Seems like you help people a lot and I'm sure I'll love the diversity. I like how mental and physical health is considered. Worried about finding placements with Covid. I'm a 29/M applicant. Is it true it's all women? Also is it all online?

Thanks!!

 

Hey ! Congrats  I recently got accepted too ! Feel free to DM me if you've any questions  I have a relative who's also in the program (1st year student in OT) if I can help ! Plus, don't worry haha. I believe this year there was around 3 guys in her class and it's all online except for the labs and some evaluations. 

[Marshmallow]

Any facebook groups for uOttawa OT/PT? We should start one if not

[onroutetoot]

Hi, thanks for starting this! I've BEEN searching for posts on here about uOttawa OT but there are few

I was hesitant to apply bc of the french requirement, as I wasn't sure if they would require university-level proficiency. I did my undergrad at an english language university, but did elementary/highschool in french. was accepted for fall 2021 start, and nervous about submitting papers in french although I think we can submit them in english as well? 

 

[myohmy]

17 hours ago, onroutetoot said:

Hi, thanks for starting this! I've BEEN searching for posts on here about uOttawa OT but there are few

I was hesitant to apply bc of the french requirement, as I wasn't sure if they would require university-level proficiency. I did my undergrad at an english language university, but did elementary/highschool in french. was accepted for fall 2021 start, and nervous about submitting papers in french although I think we can submit them in english as well? 

 

Yep! You can submit assignments in the language of your choosing. It's part of uOttawa's bilingual policy I think.

[rmaam066]

On 5/20/2021 at 1:01 PM, Marshmallow said:

Any facebook groups for uOttawa OT/PT? We should start one if not

yes omg we should !!!! do you want to create one  

[rmaam066]

On 5/20/2021 at 6:34 PM, onroutetoot said:

Hi, thanks for starting this! I've BEEN searching for posts on here about uOttawa OT but there are few

I was hesitant to apply bc of the french requirement, as I wasn't sure if they would require university-level proficiency. I did my undergrad at an english language university, but did elementary/highschool in french. was accepted for fall 2021 start, and nervous about submitting papers in french although I think we can submit them in english as well? 

 

Hi ! Don't worry about the language barrier  I know it can be stressful but so many students in the last cohort were mostly Anglephones and yes you can write your papers in English aswell  

[shad892]

On 5/20/2021 at 8:46 AM, myohmy said:

Hi. It's private sector (Motor Vehicle Accidents). Most of the jobs willing to hire new grads in Ottawa are either that or home health (through the LHIN). There are jobs within the public sector (hospitals) but they usually require full licenses (which comes after you've written the NOTCE) and at least 1-2 years of experience

Hey did you have to pay for parking at the clinicals/hospitals. Thanks!

[shad892]

On 5/20/2021 at 1:01 PM, Marshmallow said:

Any facebook groups for uOttawa OT/PT? We should start one if not

I'm down for this!