OT/PT Accepted / Waitlisted/ Rejected - 2022 Cycle

[PTTTTTl9987]

Hey guys! I’m currently in my first year of Western PT. If you have any questions about the program send me a message!

[tryingPT]

On 4/14/2022 at 6:57 PM, CP_2022_MPT said:

For me it took 3 attempts to get accepted. First year was no response, last year waitlisted for interview and finally in this year. 

For reference, I am an in province applicant, mature student (28) and had a ~86% sGPA.

Between attempt 1 and 2, I went from working as a physio assistant to a kinesiologist. I also increased my volunteering (slightly). On my application I focused on trying to demonstrate my knowledge of the industry and used the physiotherapy core competencies to help shape my responses. Also note, seats offered went for 80 --> 100 Between applications. 

Between attempt 2 and 3, I continued to work as a kinesiologist. I increased my volunteering experience by taking initiative and starting my own program for individuals with Parkinsons who were no longer able to access group classes due to covid. I had much more experience with workplace interactions that related to many of the application and interview questions. My biggest help preparing for interviews was core competencies, reviewing current events, and educating myself more on underrepresented populations in BC's Healthcare system. Note, this year seats increase from 100 --> 120.

Over all 3 applications, I never took additional courses to raise my GPA (my one poor grade was located near the end of my degree). 

Keep applying and don't give up. IMO if you have a competitive enough GPA to get an interview (or even waitlisted), then focus on relevant skills, interpersonal experience and being an involved in helping to improve the well being of others within your community (not simply volunteering to get hours). 

Lastly, keep applying and don't give up! Good luck

Thanks for this reply! Those are great tips for preparing for the interview. There was also a suggestion on how to structure each interview answer somewhere else in this thread, and I really wish I had known about this forum beforehand.

I'm in province. The way UBC calculates GPA (most recent 300+ level, 30-credits) seems to be more generous than other universities (60-credits) and has worked in my favour. I'm at about 4.04/87%, if I've done the calc right. I was curious if this is would be good enough to secure another interview for next year. I realize there are a lot of unknowns and no guarantees in life, but as a "mature" student as well (33, PT would be a second career for me as I'm trying to get out of my current one) doing more courses as a GPA booster is getting harder each time I do it. But what you've said helps, that it may be better to focus on other aspects of life for the application which I agree would be more valuable, and I'll just hope that my GPA is competitive enough.

I am also curious if anyone knows others who have tried the PT route but ended up in a related career, and what that career might be? I have a friend that tried OT wanting to focus on the mental health aspect, but is now headed down a psychiatric nursing path. Or any international equivalent PT programs? I have an engineering degree from too long ago, so being a kinesiologist is not really in my cards. The masters aspect of PT with any bachelor's undergrad has been really helpful for me. 

[canadaphysio2022]

10 hours ago, FuturePTOT said:

does anyone know if UofA OT is easier to get into? Seems like those with lower gpas have entered the class

For last year? 

[ptpt22]

6 hours ago, PTTTTTl9987 said:

Hey guys! I’m currently in my first year of Western PT. If you have any questions about the program send me a message!

hi, thanks for this! i was wondering if you chose this program over others (specifically uoft mac queens) and why you thought it was best for you? also, if you dont mind, how was your sgpa and ecs?

also congrats! how are you finding it this year? personally i live in toronto and wouldn't want to move away since i did my undergrad here, but i was wondering about the grad experience at western

[PTTTTTl9987]

11 hours ago, ptpt22 said:

hi, thanks for this! i was wondering if you chose this program over others (specifically uoft mac queens) and why you thought it was best for you? also, if you dont mind, how was your sgpa and ecs?

also congrats! how are you finding it this year? personally i live in toronto and wouldn't want to move away since i did my undergrad here, but i was wondering about the grad experience at western

I didn’t apply to UofT, I went to Queen’s for my undergrad so I wanted to change things up and I wasn’t really attracted to the PBL style that Mac offered (just not my learning style). Western was really close to home for me so their placement catchment area included my home town and Western has an amazing reputation and London in general is a rehab hub with Fowler Kennedy. I applied 2 times, the second time I applied with a 3.87 sgpa and was Waitlisted at all of the schools I applied to. I didn’t have too many PT related hours I would say about 25, but I had a lot of hours in other areas which I think helped a lot. 
 

I honestly am loving the program and Western in general! Western is known for their focus on case based learning and tight knit class which I love. It is not competitive at all and I feel like I know all of my classmates so well! 

[PT2]

12 minutes ago, PTTTTTl9987 said:

I didn’t apply to UofT, I went to Queen’s for my undergrad so I wanted to change things up and I wasn’t really attracted to the PBL style that Mac offered (just not my learning style). Western was really close to home for me so their placement catchment area included my home town and Western has an amazing reputation and London in general is a rehab hub with Fowler Kennedy. I applied 2 times, the second time I applied with a 3.87 sgpa and was Waitlisted at all of the schools I applied to. I didn’t have too many PT related hours I would say about 25, but I had a lot of hours in other areas which I think helped a lot. 
 

I honestly am loving the program and Western in general! Western is known for their focus on case based learning and tight knit class which I love. It is not competitive at all and I feel like I know all of my classmates so well! 

how long did it take you to move off the waitlist and does the waitlist generally move? Thank you for sharing your experiences!

[zerochance]

1 hour ago, PTTTTTl9987 said:

I didn’t apply to UofT, I went to Queen’s for my undergrad so I wanted to change things up and I wasn’t really attracted to the PBL style that Mac offered (just not my learning style). Western was really close to home for me so their placement catchment area included my home town and Western has an amazing reputation and London in general is a rehab hub with Fowler Kennedy. I applied 2 times, the second time I applied with a 3.87 sgpa and was Waitlisted at all of the schools I applied to. I didn’t have too many PT related hours I would say about 25, but I had a lot of hours in other areas which I think helped a lot. 
 

I honestly am loving the program and Western in general! Western is known for their focus on case based learning and tight knit class which I love. It is not competitive at all and I feel like I know all of my classmates so well! 

So you got more pt hours when you applied second time?  What changed? Just your pt volunteering?

[LeidentoDal]

Anyone from Dal OT (OOP or IP) heard anything through email, dalonline or asked the department? Craving any bit of news since its past 15th of April and we haven't really heard anything? 

[otapplicant101]

45 minutes ago, LeidentoDal said:

Anyone from Dal OT (OOP or IP) heard anything through email, dalonline or asked the department? Craving any bit of news since its past 15th of April and we haven't really heard anything? 

I haven't heard anything yet either...I'm reallllllyy hoping to hear something by the end of this week. Been checking dalonline a lot recently.

[PTTTTTl9987]

3 hours ago, PT2 said:

how long did it take you to move off the waitlist and does the waitlist generally move? Thank you for sharing your experiences!

No problem! I was in the “upper third” on the waitlist at Western and heard back by the end of May- from what I’ve heard the waitlist for western moved a lot last year! For Mac I think I was number 19 and heard back around the same time and same with Queens! I think it’s really dependent on the year and applications but I was surprised by how much movement there was. 

[PTTTTTl9987]

1 hour ago, zerochance said:

So you got more pt hours when you applied second time?  What changed? Just your pt volunteering?

My second time applying I re-took my physiology course to boost my sgpa and since my second sem. 4th year grades were not included for my first time applying that boosted it even more. During my year off I volunteered with a mental health supportive listening line and worked in admin at a Physiotherapy clinic. I wasn’t able to get many more PT hours because of Covid (this was 2020 when I took my year off)! 

[Otapplicant22]

Also wondering about this.. i know they have less applicants than most other schools (around 600), but anyone know people getting in with a 3.5-3.7 sgpa?

[Otapplicant22]

Just now, Otapplicant22 said:

Also wondering about this.. i know they have less applicants than most other schools (around 600), but anyone know people getting in with a 3.5-3.7 sgpa?

for UofA OT^^

[OT_PLS]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:16 PM, PTTTTTl9987 said:

Hey guys! I’m currently in my first year of Western PT. If you have any questions about the program send me a message!

What is the approximate male:female ratio in your cohort?

[PTTTTTl9987]

13 hours ago, OT_PLS said:

What is the approximate male:female ratio in your cohort?

In the past it has been 50:50 but this year it is 60 female : 40 male approximately I believe! 

[zerochance]

21 hours ago, PTTTTTl9987 said:

My second time applying I re-took my physiology course to boost my sgpa and since my second sem. 4th year grades were not included for my first time applying that boosted it even more. During my year off I volunteered with a mental health supportive listening line and worked in admin at a Physiotherapy clinic. I wasn’t able to get many more PT hours because of Covid (this was 2020 when I took my year off)! 

To be honest Im a bit surprised you got in with 25 hours of physio experience.  I went through last year's thread and almost everyone who got accepted listed numerous physio hours. It makes me feel more  hopeful as I myself  only have <50 hours haha. 

[gOT to be OT]

Just moved off UBC's OT waitlist! I was #2. Good luck to others on there waiting

[OT-futurewhope]

24 minutes ago, gOT to be OT said:

Just moved off UBC's OT waitlist! I was #2. Good luck to others on there waiting

Wow, congratulations !!!  . I’m also applying for OT in Ontario this year. Can’t wait until May 13th. Waiting is the worst part :((

[OTWrappingpaper]

17 hours ago, Otapplicant22 said:

for UofA OT^^

I spoke to a girl who is in her second year, she mentioned she had a gpa somewhere between 3.65 and 3.72. She said she was waitlisted, but got taken off the waitlist pretty quickly. hope this helps!

[ubcotpls]

3 hours ago, gOT to be OT said:

Just moved off UBC's OT waitlist! I was #2. Good luck to others on there waiting

Congrats this is so exciting! Anyone else on the waitlist waiting to hear?

[gOT to be OT]

4 hours ago, OT-futurewhope said:

Wow, congratulations !!!  . I’m also applying for OT in Ontario this year. Can’t wait until May 13th. Waiting is the worst part :((

The waiting game is the WORST! Fingers crossed for you!!! I hope you get in  

[PTTTTTl9987]

6 hours ago, zerochance said:

To be honest Im a bit surprised you got in with 25 hours of physio experience.  I went through last year's thread and almost everyone who got accepted listed numerous physio hours. It makes me feel more  hopeful as I myself  only have <50 hours haha. 

Yeah there’s a lot of people in the program now that I know who had about the same as me (25-30 hours). I think they value well rounded applicants and quality over quantity with hours - so try to be concise and emphasize what you got out of your experiences! That helped me a lot. 

[PTTTTTl9987]

2 minutes ago, PTTTTTl9987 said:

Yeah there’s a lot of people in the program now that I know who had about the same as me (25-30 hours). I think they value well rounded applicants and quality over quantity with hours - so try to be concise and emphasize what you got out of your experiences! That helped me a lot. 

Oops! I looked back in my posts and it looks like I actually had 60hrs of PT experience! But I do know lots of people in the program now who just got the minimum or slightly about the min requirement for hours:) 

[HopefulPT2024]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:16 PM, PTTTTTl9987 said:

Hey guys! I’m currently in my first year of Western PT. If you have any questions about the program send me a message!

Hey thanks so much for doing this! I have a question about Western's PT program specifically. I don't remember where I heard this so I'm not sure how credible the source is haha but I heard that Western is planning on keeping lectures ASYNC online to allow for people to watch at their own pace and rewatch the lectures if necessary. Labs and clinical experiences would still be in person but lectures would be online. Is this how the program is set up right now for you? Do you know if this is what they are planning on doing? Any insight would be helpful because like I said I don't know how true the information that I heard is haha!

[pk08]

6 hours ago, gOT to be OT said:

Just moved off UBC's OT waitlist! I was #2. Good luck to others on there waiting

I just declined my offer this morning so that someone on the waitlist could be accepted, congratulations!!