Presents from the Acceptance Fairy!

What a great way to start the long weekend!
I woke up this morning to find offers of admission from both UWO and Queen's in my inbox. :)
That makes it a clean sweep for me! Woot!

For anyone wondering, I didn't apply to UofT. That choice had nothing to do with the school or program, both of which are excellent. I simply didn't want to pay the cost of living in Toronto.

I'm not going to be making any decisions until after the Queen's Open House next Friday. Although I am leaning toward one program in particular, I want to be certain about my choice. So, if anyone else is planning to attend the Queen's Open House please send me an email!! I'd love to meet some people at the event. And, if you're thinking about Queen's but can't make it to the Open House... I'll be taking my camera with me and will try to post some pics & video, so check back next weekend and I'll let you know what it was like.

Congrats to everyone!! And, if you got waitlisted... hang in there!! No one I've spoken to got only one acceptance... if they got one, they got more. And that means that in the coming weeks those waitlists are going to start to MOVE! Keep thinking positive thoughts... the admissions fairy might just be running a little late to your house ;)

All the best,
SweetPea

Admission Offers, Provisional Acceptances & Waitlists, Oh My!

In doing my research and reading for this blog I do a lot of hunting around the internet and integrating information from different sources. I keep track of where I get most of my information, but in cases where the info is repeated a number of times on different sites in different ways I sometimes lose track. This is what has happened with the admissions information and now that I've found some conflicting information it's a problem.

A couple of posts ago I stated that:

"If you get in at one place but waitlisted at the place you really wanted to get into, you can provisionally accept the one you got and then there will be an option you can select that will keep you on the waitlist of the 2nd institution. However, I think all provisional acceptances need to be made firm by June 5th. Or maybe it's the 12th? They'll tell you anyway."

I know I didn't make this information up... but I can't find the original source where I read it. The ORPAS site does note a June 12th deadline for provisional acceptances to become firm acceptances, but does not explain what that means. To make matters worse, I've since read this little tidbit of information posted in a 2007 document from Queen's:

"If an applicant accepts an offer from another Occupational Therapy Program through ORPAS, that applicant will in effect be taking themselves off the waitlists for any other OT programs. Alternatively, if you accept an offer from Queen’s occupational Therapy Program, you will not be eligible to remain on the wait lists of other Occupational Therapy Programs. Since there is no provisional acceptance to the OT programs through ORPAS as of 2007, you will need to respond to only one offer. When you accept the offer you are agreeing that other OT programs will cancel your application as you have firmly accepted an offer of admission. If you have applied to physical/Physiotherapy (PT)programs, your application to PT may remain active."

So, if you find yourself in this situation... you are waitlisted at the university you really want to get into, but accepted at another university... read the instructions in the packet carefully with regard to how you should proceed. And, I'm sorry if my previous post caused confusion for anyone.

Less than a week to go now! And I'm freakin' out! Fortunately, the course I'm TA-ing starts this week, so that will provide me with a little bit of distraction at least. It just feels like there's been SO much build up... and everyone I know who applied to a non-rehab program has already found out where they'll be next year. :(

Here's hoping this week goes by quickly and that Friday brings good news!!!

SweetPea

The agony of the wait...

Our applications were due to ORPAS by January 9, 2009.
The soonest I'll hear anything about my prospects will be at the beginning of April, when I'll find out whether I've made the cutoff for an interview at McMaster. Interviews are the 24th, 25th and 26th of April, 2009.
After that the soonest possible date to hear from any school about acceptance/rejection is May 15th, 2009.

Le cry! :'(

It's just such a looooooooooooong time to wait to hear anything. My university courses will be long finished by that time. I'll be packing to move... with no idea where I need to move to. Like, not just haven't lined up an apartment, but don't even know what CITY to look for one in!!!
I'm sure this must be the same agony that every applicant goes through, but it doesn't make it any easier. I feel I've got a very good chance of getting into at least one program... but there are no guarantees in life. And what the heck will I do if I don't get in?!?! *hyperventilates*

This spring heralds big changes for me... graduating and moving. But the unknowns about essential things like where I'm going to live and whether I need to find a job in this terrible economic climate (which I'll need to do if I don't get into the OT program - summer employment is already lined up but is contract work) are making me feel all barfy inside. :x
All this anxiety is making it really hard to focus on the last of my thesis and coursework... which is never good. It's like a big anxiety snowball that keeps building steam.

LE CRY!!! :'(

Okay... I'll stop now. I know this entry will just seem like a big whine-fest... but I think this experience of waiting and uncertainty is a significant part of the student-applicant process.
If you're applying in a future year, be forewarned.
If you're in the thick of it with me this year, send me a message! I'd love to commiserate with someone, lol. :)

SweetPea