OT/PT Accepted / Waitlisted/ Rejected - 2023 Cycle

[OTstraw]

Just wanted to clarify- is the OUAC reference number on your ouac portal the ID you put into casper? 

[pushinpt]

Though I'd get the ball rolling again. This is my second year applying and I'm hoping for a better outcome from being rejected from all 3 schools I applied to last year. 

EDITED:

Applied (All PT): UofT, Western, UBC, UofA (BC applicant) 
Accepted: n/a
Waitlisted: n/a 
Rejected: n/a
GPA: cGPA: 3.50  sGPA: 3.82 for ORPAS (unsure of my UBC % and UofA GPA) 

CASPER: 3rd Quartile 

 

GPA is definitely my biggest worry coming into this admission cycle. It seems as if the cutoffs just keep getting higher and higher every year. In terms of experience, I have over 300 hours working in a physio clinic as a PTA with some administrative duties, and ~60 hours volunteering at a hospital's rehab unit helping rehab assistants and physios carry out patient's daily exercise programs. I also have ~30 hours volunteering at my local long-term care home helping out the recreational therapists and doing 1:1 visits with residents. Some non-PT related jobs include working for my school's sports & recreation and some customer-service jobs (barista) throughout my undergrad. 

Academic references came from my exercise physiology & sports medicine professors, while my professional reference was my supervisor at the hospital- (all of these should be fairly strong). I made sure I took the time to really reflect on my overall experiences and learning outcomes from both acute / private settings in my personal statements. I know my grades and experiences are far from outstanding, but I thought I'd give it another shot. Wishing all applicants the best this year!

Edited February 6, 2023 by pushinpt
new information

[OTBC23]

Hi, is anyone still waiting for ORPAS to receive their initial transcripts? It's been about two months since I sent them. They said they are receiving a high volume of documents right now so hopefully just waiting to process but it's stressing me out lol 

[1896528]

14 hours ago, OTstraw said:

Just wanted to clarify- is the OUAC reference number on your ouac portal the ID you put into casper? 

Yes!

[Boukenbc]

19 minutes ago, 1896528 said:

Yes!

Which Ontario school did you do this for? I applied for western but theres no option for me to add an ID into it 9 my ORPAS number)

[OTHope9]

56 minutes ago, Boukenbc said:

Which Ontario school did you do this for? I applied for western but theres no option for me to add an ID into it 9 my ORPAS number)

I directly emailed CASPer and they inputted it for me! 

[OTHope9]

Hopping on this train as well! Second year applying, was waitlisted for UofA last cycle but never made it off  

 

Applied (All OT): Western, Queens and UofA (Alberta applicant) 
Accepted: n/a
Waitlisted: n/a 
Rejected: n/a
GPA: cGPA: 3.53 sGPA: 3.63  (I think ORPAS is slightly lower) 
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references

I am most worried about my GPA as I did not upgrade on this off year, but chose to pursue more experience within my bachelors degree. I currently work at a group home as a home care aide for adults with disabilities and have over 2000+ hours as I have been working there since 2021. I recently started working at a Pediatric clinic as a behavioural aide. There I work closely with OT’s, take their goals and create activities for my children based off of them. Currently have 100+ hours of experience at that clinic. I was a server at a restaurant as well all throughout university. I have volunteered at multiple group homes as a recreational aide and have past experience with sports performance. 

My reference for academics is my past adapted physical activity professor. My work reference is my operations supervisor from the group home. Both references I believe will be strong as I have known both individuals for many years. I would say my work experience is my largest strength as I work with a large population and age range within different types of settings. For my letter of intents I made sure to put an emphasis on my experiences as a whole, the variety of settings I work in and am able to adapt to and how everything together has prepared me for this masters program and career! 

[PTPTPT2022]

Hello everyone, and congrats on submitting your applications! While waiting for results, try to keep a positive mindset and make sure you put your health first. I am a first year physiotherapy student at UBC and also did the UofA MMI last application cycle. I will likely be doing a mock MMI in February for those interested with some other classmates from the MPT program. More info to come later! If you have any specific questions about the MMI or the UBC program, feel free to shoot me a message. Best of luck!!

[BeHappy123]

On 1/13/2023 at 8:41 AM, OTBC23 said:

Hi, is anyone still waiting for ORPAS to receive their initial transcripts? It's been about two months since I sent them. They said they are receiving a high volume of documents right now so hopefully just waiting to process but it's stressing me out lol 

I've been waiting for a month and ORPAS has not seemed to have received my transcript yet. I am also very worried especially since it's been 2 months for you and they still have not received it . I had UBC mail mine to them. Which school are you from?

Anyone current applicants (from BC) seeing this as well/past applicants had this problem? 

[Boukenbc]

55 minutes ago, BeHappy123 said:

I've been waiting for a month and ORPAS has not seemed to have received my transcript yet. I am also very worried especially since it's been 2 months for you and they still have not received it . I had UBC mail mine to them. Which school are you from?

Anyone current applicants (from BC) seeing this as well/past applicants had this problem? 

I sent mine ( 2) , on December 9th and they recieved it ( also from BC), have you tried mesaging SAMS letting them now of the situation?

[OTBC23]

12 hours ago, BeHappy123 said:

I've been waiting for a month and ORPAS has not seemed to have received my transcript yet. I am also very worried especially since it's been 2 months for you and they still have not received it . I had UBC mail mine to them. Which school are you from?

Anyone current applicants (from BC) seeing this as well/past applicants had this problem? 

I am a UFV grad! They did note that they are behind in processing so I hope that they have them but are just processing..  

https://www.ouac.on.ca/news/orpas-high-volume/

ORPAS is Currently Receiving a Very High Volume of Documents

January 9, 2023

Due to a high volume of documents, we cannot advise on the status of documents received at this time. Please log in to your submitted application to view the status of documents received.

We expect to be up to date by February 3.

[OTBC23]

12 hours ago, BeHappy123 said:

I've been waiting for a month and ORPAS has not seemed to have received my transcript yet. I am also very worried especially since it's been 2 months for you and they still have not received it . I had UBC mail mine to them. Which school are you from?

Anyone current applicants (from BC) seeing this as well/past applicants had this problem? 

I just talked to ORPAS and they stated, "It can take time to update transcripts received via email or mail from out of province. The date we receive the document is the date we report to the university. Our processing time does not impact your application, so once your transcript is processed, we will update your document tracking."

[PT_92]

Has anyone applied to UOttawa? 

[BeHappy123]

16 hours ago, Boukenbc said:

I sent mine ( 2) , on December 9th and they recieved it ( also from BC), have you tried mesaging SAMS letting them now of the situation?

If you don't mind sharing, which university are you from? I have not messaged them through SAM due to the news they sent out about receiving high volumes of documents. But maybe I should message just in case my transcripts come late! 

[BCOT7]

6 hours ago, OTBC23 said:

I just talked to ORPAS and they stated, "It can take time to update transcripts received via email or mail from out of province. The date we receive the document is the date we report to the university. Our processing time does not impact your application, so once your transcript is processed, we will update your document tracking."

I checked today and ORPAS did receive my transcripts. I ordered them from UBC on the Jan. 6th, but they were mailed out from Jan. 9. If you log in to your OUAC account and click on the document tracking it will say whether they received your transcripts. I hope that helps  

[OTBC23]

19 hours ago, BeHappy123 said:

If you don't mind sharing, which university are you from? I have not messaged them through SAM due to the news they sent out about receiving high volumes of documents. But maybe I should message just in case my transcripts come late! 

Might be worth it! I messaged them today. They said they just located mine and updated it shortly after.  

[BeHappy123]

10 hours ago, OTBC23 said:

Might be worth it! I messaged them today. They said they just located mine and updated it shortly after.  

Actually today I just saw that they received mine! Perhaps a lot of transcripts from UBC just arrived this week

[pt-2023]

On 1/13/2023 at 8:41 AM, OTBC23 said:

Hi, is anyone still waiting for ORPAS to receive their initial transcripts? It's been about two months since I sent them. They said they are receiving a high volume of documents right now so hopefully just waiting to process but it's stressing me out lol 

I sent mine Jan 6 and they received it within the week. I would double check your address!

[PT.marco]

On 1/16/2023 at 3:05 PM, PT_92 said:

Has anyone applied to UOttawa? 

i did

[skay0817]

Hey everyone! Hopefully some more people find this forum and add to it because I too found looking at past years chats really interesting! here are my stats  

Applied (All PT): UofT (got an invite for CAP), Western, Queens
Accepted: n/a
Waitlisted: n/a 
Rejected: n/a
GPA: cGPA: 3.70  sGPA: 3.91/4.00 for ORPAS 
Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: So I'll start with PT related experiences. I have 730 hours working as a PTA at a private orthopaedic clinic. I have 34 hours volunteering at a hospital on various rehab floors. I have 23 hours volunteering at a LTC home with the program for active living.  For my Non-PT related, I have 20 hours coaching youth curling, 45 hours coaching high school track & field, 150 hours leading a youth in agriculture club, and 500 hours working as a research assistant at my undergrad university.  I was super happy with my essays because I had multiple PT's that I work with read and edit them, and a PT from the hospital who has helped with admissions in the past also read them. I scored 75-100 quartile for CASPer. My academic reference was a prof I had twice in undergrad, and my professional ref was my current boss/clinic owner (also PT) where I work as a PTA. 

My biggest piece of advice to anyone reading this applying for 2024 start is to go to physioschool.ca and get in on their course "PT App Booster". They are so helpful and honestly the main reason I feel pretty confident.

Can't believe we have to wait until May to hear any results. This sucks so much. But good luck to everyone, and hopefully will meet some of you as classmates one day  

[ResilientPT]

Hi everyone! Does anyone know where to put their referees' contact information for Alberta's OT? I cannot find it anywhere. Thank you in advance

[OT applicant]

On 1/13/2023 at 11:41 AM, OTBC23 said:

Hi, is anyone still waiting for ORPAS to receive their initial transcripts? It's been about two months since I sent them. They said they are receiving a high volume of documents right now so hopefully just waiting to process but it's stressing me out lol 

I’m still waiting for mine as well ,I keep checking in document tracking but it still shows that it is pending and not received .

[OTHope9]

14 hours ago, ResilientPT said:

Hi everyone! Does anyone know where to put their referees' contact information for Alberta's OT? I cannot find it anywhere. Thank you in advance

When starting the application it should be stated “references” on the top of the page along with portions like personal information, education, etc. 

[s9983]

Does anyone know if we have to request our transcript from our university to apply to a school like mcmaster for PT? I just graduated this month and was wondering if ORPAS directly receives the transcript, or whether we would have to request it from our university and send it to ORPAS?

[1896528]

8 hours ago, sam9983 said:

Does anyone know if we have to request our transcript from our university to apply to a school like mcmaster for PT? I just graduated this month and was wondering if ORPAS directly receives the transcript, or whether we would have to request it from our university and send it to ORPAS?

there is a transcript section in ORPAS. If you went to Ontario universities you will need to request your transcript through ORPAS during your application.