OT/PT Accepted/Waitlisted/Rejected 2013

[ohtea.22]

Applied: UBC OT, UofA OT, UofT OT, Queen's OT, Western OT

Accepted: UofT OT, Queen's OT

Waitlisted: Western OT (they didn't give a number but they said I was in top third of wait list out of 110 ppl)

Rejected: UBC OT

GPA: cGPA-3.15 subGPA-3.64

 

Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: I applied last year and I feel my essays this time around were a lot better. UBC interview went well except for a couple of questions which I stumbled on and ended up not getting accepted. References I feel are strong - one from a postdoc I worked with during an 8 month coop term and one from an OT who I volunteered with at a long-term care facility.

 

My first choice was UBC but now it is between UofA or UofT. UofA becuase it is closer to home (Vancouver) and cost of living/plane tix would be a lot cheaper. UofT because I know many friends living in the area, however, I think I am leaning towards UofA!

[Pink Tulip]

I think that U of T is my number one for various reasons; I want the diversity of placement experience without having to pay double rent for two years to get to the placements, which I know was an issue with a lot of OT's I've talked to who went to non-U of T schools. I'm not naive enough to think U of T placements will lead to Toronto jobs (they simply don't exist), but hopefully the diversity of the catchment area will make me a competitor for non-GTA jobs afterwards. Mac is creeping in as a very close second, though. Queen's had a beautiful campus and great applied classrooms for OT, but the lady who ran their information session really rubbed me the wrong way and it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

Just curious, what do you mean by paying double rent for two years outside GTA? Rent is way cheaper anywhere else (sometimes half as much). Are you implying you already live in Toronto?

 

What did the Queens admissions lady do that upset you?

[thepeak12]

Did queens inform you before may 18 last year or the day of?

 

 

 

Applied: UofT PT, Western PT, Queens PT & Mac PT+OT

Accepted:

Waitlisted: uOttawa PT

Rejected: McGill

sGPA: 3.77, cGPA 3.53

 

Felt pretty good after both mac interviews, but worried that I'm in the lower range in respect to gpa.

 

Queens letter was strong. Its my 2nd round applying there and last year, I was "disqualified" due to a mistake based on my prereqs. I've called and rectified that with them after what happened, so I'm hoping that won't be the case this year... I'm debating calling in and making sure my prereqs were accepted. What do u guys think?

 

CAP is hard to tell, I felt good about it but its difficult to gauge what they're looking for.

 

Best of luck to you all, you all have worked very hard and I know you deserve it! Keep your heads high

[MazzyMaz]

Applied: UofT PT, Western PT, Queens PT & Mac PT

Accepted:

Waitlisted:

Rejected: UofT, Mac

sGPA: 3.61, cGPA 2.96

 

Despite my low gpa, I'm counting on my experiences and reference letters to be my saving grace to get me into Queens. I was a co-op student at uWaterloo so I have over 1200 hours of experience working in physio/chiro clinics, volunteered at physio clinics, in a gym on campus focusing on the exercise routines of cancer patients, I was a volunteer anatomy TA for 2 terms and tutored anatomy privately, etc.. So I hope they like that

 

Do any of you think I have a chance with Queens?

[fingers_crossedMTL]

What was the mistake you made? Really hoping I didn't make one with mine

 

It wasn't rly a mistake from my part. I had an intro psyc course and based on the school calcendar description, they said it hadn't met their requirements because it seemed to be missing developmmental cognition. But it actually did cover devel. cognition so I emailed a coppy of my outline which clearly stated that it covers (highlighted!). Yup.. Sucks that I found out after may 18 though. Cuz I just got a rejection and I didn't understand.. And they told me to call in july to review my file. Which was already too late

[fingers_crossedMTL]

Did queens inform you before may 18 last year or the day of?

 

Nop, I simply got a rejection letter. I hadn't even made it to the second round of the screening process.

[dabby]

^ WOW, that's the worst!!! It seems unfair..... since you did have the prereq and you paid the application fees - it seems like there is responsibility on them to ensure they know what they are looking at before they just throw out your application. What else is this HUNDREDS of dollars in application fees for if not to ensure your application is at least properly looked at?! TBH, I probably would have caused a HUGE fuss over this and at least tried to have gotten my fee refunded.

[cc3]

Just curious, what do you mean by paying double rent for two years outside GTA? Rent is way cheaper anywhere else (sometimes half as much). Are you implying you already live in Toronto?

 

What did the Queens admissions lady do that upset you?

 

It's true that rent is cheaper in almost all of the student towns that offer OT, you're absolutely right! That being said, many of the smaller towns where the placements are located don't have the demand for rental housing, so rentals are extremely expensive if you don't get a placement in-town. I don't live in Toronto, but I'm lucky to have a lot of friends that do, and they all have great places for under $550/mo all in, so diamonds in the rough do exist in a lot of areas of Toronto

 

I worked at a hospital last summer, and the OT's I talked to who went to Mac, Western, and Queen's ended up having to pay double rent at least some of the time (rent in the town of the school to secure a place for 2 years, plus rent in some of the placement locations). They also informed me they often had to pay for hotels at around $80/night because the placement lengths are awkward (odd number of weeks), and many places won't rent monthly. Even the OT's I talked to who had a car to commute still had an odd placement or two where they had to find hotels. If you live in Toronto, even if you don't find a diamond and are paying closer to $700, at least the TTC will reach nearly all of the placement locations and over the two years I reckon I'd save a lot of money knowing that I'm the type of person who likes rural areas with nowhere to rent I suppose if you're confident in obtaining placements in-town and none of the out of town or rural placements interest you, you'd probably save money not living in downtown Toronto. It's hard to say! Even if I end up paying a little more every month in Toronto, personally it's worth it to know I don't need to find places to live every few months Already did that with my undergrad, so over it lol.

 

I found the admissions officer who ran the Queen's info session seemed uninterested in the students, or at least unsympathetic. She also made comments I thought were ridiculous, like how she remembers the names of prospective students who e-mail her questions, and if she thinks they should already know the answer to the question she "frowns at their application" when it comes through. I also asked her if it'd be better to get a reference from a hospital rehab team supervisor (3 months full time) or my bank manager (I'd been with the bank part-time 2 years) and she said "Three months isn't enough time to know someone so I'd use the bank" which I was surprised by (I didn't follow this advice). Another student then said she worked at a summer camp the previous summer and was this a good reference, and the woman had said yes. I don't know how 3 months isn't enough time on a rehab floor of a hospital, but 4 months in a summer camp setting is fine lol. She isn't a prof so it probably means nothing in terms of the program, and their classroom equipment looked amazing, but I left feeling less than excited about their program. It's just a mental block I can't quite get over which is a shame, because I know it's a fabulous program!

 

...After this whole rant I'm still unsure which school I'd pick if I got offers lol. So take all this with a grain of salt!

[fingers_crossedMTL]

^ WOW, that's the worst!!! It seems unfair..... since you did have the prereq and you paid the application fees - it seems like there is responsibility on them to ensure they know what they are looking at before they just throw out your application. What else is this HUNDREDS of dollars in application fees for if not to ensure your application is at least properly looked at?! TBH, I probably would have caused a HUGE fuss over this and at least tried to have gotten my fee refunded.

 

Trust me I was furious! But there was nothing I could have done. Anyways, I spoke to him this morning and he confirmed my prereqs were good so that's a relief!! I just didn't put myself in a negative light for my future round of applications and even if I'm accepted, he'd be my prof hahaa so that's awkard! I'm rly hoping it works out this time!!!!!!

[Pink Tulip]

I never thought of it like that. When I talked to students only the ones without cars had to strike deals with hotels or apartments. I think it depends on how rural you go. In Toronto you don't get a chance to experience rural working because there's nothing rural about their cachement. Having the TTC for every placement would be super convenient though...

 

That's a shame for Queen's. I think the poor lady has to read so many repetitive questions all the time that she has lost sympathy for people who are too lazy to read the school website or ORPAS. If a question can be found there, it really does waste her time to keep answering it multiple times for other students. I don't see why there's a big difference for 3 or 4 months. I would've kept the relevant reference as well in my application.

[MazzyMaz]

Trust me I was furious! But there was nothing I could have done. Anyways, I spoke to him this morning and he confirmed my prereqs were good so that's a relief!! I just didn't put myself in a negative light for my future round of applications and even if I'm accepted, he'd be my prof hahaa so that's awkard! I'm rly hoping it works out this time!!!!!!

 

Just out of curiosity, where did you do your undergrad? I was nervous about sending some course outlines to ORPAS - I can't believe they would reject you because of that. Intro psych is often a first year course too so it seems pretty nit-picky to make such a decision based on a course that was likely taken 3+ years ago by most people. I know I definitely don't remember most of what was taught in my intro psych course!

[Pink Tulip]

Applied: UofT PT, Western PT, Queens PT & Mac PT

Accepted:

Waitlisted:

Rejected: UofT, Mac

sGPA: 3.61, cGPA 2.96

 

Despite my low gpa, I'm counting on my experiences and reference letters to be my saving grace to get me into Queens. I was a co-op student at uWaterloo so I have over 1200 hours of experience working in physio/chiro clinics, volunteered at physio clinics, in a gym on campus focusing on the exercise routines of cancer patients, I was a volunteer anatomy TA for 2 terms and tutored anatomy privately, etc.. So I hope they like that

 

Do any of you think I have a chance with Queens?

 

You have a lot of experience which is what they like. I would only be concerned about whether your cGPA is high enough because they really take that into account as well. Good luck!

[cc3]

I never thought of it like that. When I talked to students only the ones without cars had to strike deals with hotels or apartments. I think it depends on how rural you go. In Toronto you don't get a chance to experience rural working because there's nothing rural about their cachement. Having the TTC for every placement would be super convenient though...

 

That's a shame for Queen's. I think the poor lady has to read so many repetitive questions all the time that she has lost sympathy for people who are too lazy to read the school website or ORPAS. If a question can be found there, it really does waste her time to keep answering it multiple times for other students. I don't see why there's a big difference for 3 or 4 months. I would've kept the relevant reference as well in my application.

 

Yeah it's a pro and a con to me that Toronto doesn't have rural placements, however the perk of hopping on the TTC for every placement outweighs the negative for me!

 

Yeah I definitely feel for her, but I don't think she handled or worded it appropriately. She actually said "That's not my job", and I was kind of like... Yeah, you're the admissions officer, it actually is your job lol. Some questions can't be answered through the websites. But I sure wouldn't want to be her, either. I'm glad you agree with my choice of referee though, that one caught me off guard.

[MazzyMaz]

Thanks Pink Tulip! I'm worried about it too. Friday cannot come any sooner! Good luck to you too

[ondansetron]

Applied: U of A PT

Accepted: U of A PT

Waitlisted:

Rejected:

GPA: cGPA: 3.3 last 60 credits Gpa: 3.905

Perceived strength of essays/interviews/references: interview went well except for the acting station. I was not prepared for that whatsoever. Also the change in timing of MMI stations threw me off because I hadn't practiced using that timeframe

 

Definitely going to accept.

[wolf30]

It's true that rent is cheaper in almost all of the student towns that offer OT, you're absolutely right! That being said, many of the smaller towns where the placements are located don't have the demand for rental housing, so rentals are extremely expensive if you don't get a placement in-town. I don't live in Toronto, but I'm lucky to have a lot of friends that do, and they all have great places for under $550/mo all in, so diamonds in the rough do exist in a lot of areas of Toronto

 

I worked at a hospital last summer, and the OT's I talked to who went to Mac, Western, and Queen's ended up having to pay double rent at least some of the time (rent in the town of the school to secure a place for 2 years, plus rent in some of the placement locations). They also informed me they often had to pay for hotels at around $80/night because the placement lengths are awkward (odd number of weeks), and many places won't rent monthly. Even the OT's I talked to who had a car to commute still had an odd placement or two where they had to find hotels. If you live in Toronto, even if you don't find a diamond and are paying closer to $700, at least the TTC will reach nearly all of the placement locations and over the two years I reckon I'd save a lot of money knowing that I'm the type of person who likes rural areas with nowhere to rent I suppose if you're confident in obtaining placements in-town and none of the out of town or rural placements interest you, you'd probably save money not living in downtown Toronto. It's hard to say! Even if I end up paying a little more every month in Toronto, personally it's worth it to know I don't need to find places to live every few months Already did that with my undergrad, so over it lol.

 

I found the admissions officer who ran the Queen's info session seemed uninterested in the students, or at least unsympathetic. She also made comments I thought were ridiculous, like how she remembers the names of prospective students who e-mail her questions, and if she thinks they should already know the answer to the question she "frowns at their application" when it comes through. I also asked her if it'd be better to get a reference from a hospital rehab team supervisor (3 months full time) or my bank manager (I'd been with the bank part-time 2 years) and she said "Three months isn't enough time to know someone so I'd use the bank" which I was surprised by (I didn't follow this advice). Another student then said she worked at a summer camp the previous summer and was this a good reference, and the woman had said yes. I don't know how 3 months isn't enough time on a rehab floor of a hospital, but 4 months in a summer camp setting is fine lol. She isn't a prof so it probably means nothing in terms of the program, and their classroom equipment looked amazing, but I left feeling less than excited about their program. It's just a mental block I can't quite get over which is a shame, because I know it's a fabulous program!

 

...After this whole rant I'm still unsure which school I'd pick if I got offers lol. So take all this with a grain of salt!

 

Was that the lady from the queen's pt website? I think she is a secretary or something? I have yet to receive a single email response from that lady for any of my inquiries. It kind of pissed me off.

[Mhunte03]

Was that the lady from the queen's pt website? I think she is a secretary or something? I have yet to receive a single email response from that lady for any of my inquiries. It kind of pissed me off.

 

I emailed to ensure that Queen's had in fact received my application - having had issues with OUAC when applying to my undergrad - and her response was call ORPAS. Yes I know they were mailed I just wanted to make sure they got there, I hope this doesn't make her "frown" when my file comes up ugh!

[dabby]

TBH, that lady's attitude seems quite typical of Queen's... they have quite the reputation.

[cc3]

Was that the lady from the queen's pt website? I think she is a secretary or something? I have yet to receive a single email response from that lady for any of my inquiries. It kind of pissed me off.

 

I think she's admissions for all Rehab (PT&OT), she never really introduced herself though. It's definitely frustrating to not receive responses (Dalhousie did the same thing to me, after three e-mails which were very individualized and answers were not available online. To this day have not received a response, even after I met with them in person in Halifax).

 

Mhunte03~

Fingers crossed she doesn't frown at you, too lol. A simple "Yes we received it" would've taken just enough time as "call ORPAS" to type, it's all about attitude! I'm all about how schools make me feel and I can't say it was a great experience there.

 

dabby~

I honestly give every school the benefit of the doubt, and when I tell people my Queen's story they don't seem surprised at all. I'm afraid attitudes like that keep the stereotype alive even though the education seems great.

[fingers_crossedMTL]

Just out of curiosity, where did you do your undergrad? I was nervous about sending some course outlines to ORPAS - I can't believe they would reject you because of that. Intro psych is often a first year course too so it seems pretty nit-picky to make such a decision based on a course that was likely taken 3+ years ago by most people. I know I definitely don't remember most of what was taught in my intro psych course!

 

i did my undergrad at Concordia university in montreal. my program didnt require me to take intro psyc and i took it only becuase i knew i wanted to do my masters and i needed it. this year i sent every single one of my outlines LOL the guy said its hard for them to know what classes teach what in different schools and they base themsleves on the course calendar on the school website (so in my case, on the concordia website)...anyways, i cried about this for months last summer just cuz it was SO unfair! id rather not get in cuz i fell short somewhere not cuz something like this was overlooked.

[Npg12]

Applied: U of T, McMaster

Accepted:

Waitlisted:

Rejected: McMaster

GPA:3.47

 

It seems like I have one of the lowest GPAs on this forum, but I decided I would still try as I am hoping my experience would help my application. I have been taking care of a disabled family member for the past 4 years under the supervision of a team of rehabilitative professionals. Also I have volunteer experience with seniors and physically and mentallly disabled individuals. My GPA is low because I took some first year electives during my last two years which I didnt do too well in, but I have performed well in all my 3rd and 4th year classes. I really hope the admission committee looks at my application as a whole and not just my grades

[thepeak12]

Nop, I simply got a rejection letter. I hadn't even made it to the second round of the screening process.

 

Sorry i meant to ask when did you get the rejection letter? It seems very unreasonable on their part to send you the rejection around acceptance dates when that would be the point of no return

[kalllll]

i did my undergrad at Concordia university in montreal. my program didnt require me to take intro psyc and i took it only becuase i knew i wanted to do my masters and i needed it. this year i sent every single one of my outlines LOL the guy said its hard for them to know what classes teach what in different schools and they base themsleves on the course calendar on the school website (so in my case, on the concordia website)...anyways, i cried about this for months last summer just cuz it was SO unfair! id rather not get in cuz i fell short somewhere not cuz something like this was overlooked.

 

It's a shame what happened to you and definitely unfair. Best of luck to you! I will be rooting for you.

[MazzyMaz]

i did my undergrad at Concordia university in montreal. my program didnt require me to take intro psyc and i took it only becuase i knew i wanted to do my masters and i needed it. this year i sent every single one of my outlines LOL the guy said its hard for them to know what classes teach what in different schools and they base themsleves on the course calendar on the school website (so in my case, on the concordia website)...anyways, i cried about this for months last summer just cuz it was SO unfair! id rather not get in cuz i fell short somewhere not cuz something like this was overlooked.

 

That's shocking...I'd cry too! I wish the schools would have some sort of standardized system and communicate with each other so everyone would know which courses do/do not count. Ugh I hope you get in!

[Guest Physioprospect]

Unfortunately queens usually has a cGPA cutoff of around 3.3