Admission & Application

• Applications are accepted yearly beginning mid-October
  • Visit ORPAS for detailed dates
• The last day to submit an application is in the first week of January
  • Visit ORPAS for detailed dates
• Offers of admission are sent out on April 1

• A four-year degree from an accredited university
• Possess a minimum "B" average in the 10 full university courses most recently completed
• Applicants whose first language is not English require:
  • A minimum  TOEFL score of 105 on the internet-based version, or;
  • An overall score of 7.5 on the IELTS

Personal Computing Equipment

Students in both the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology programs are required to utilize specialized computer software as part of their courses. As such:

• Students are required to have access to a personal computer/laptop that runs Windows 10 or Mac OS for the purposes of completing coursework and utilizing specialized software
• App-based devices (Chromebook, Android Tablet, iPad) do not have the computing capabilities to run the required specialized software

Indigenous applicants are encouraged to apply and self-identify in the online ORPAS application. Students who self-identify as Indigenous should upload status documentation to ORPAS.

• Two admission seats in the School of CSD are reserved for Indigenous students who are Canadian citizens, have completed a four-year undergraduate degree, and have a minimum sub-GPA of 3.3
• Indigenous applicants, like all applicants, are reviewed independently.
• To be considered, applicants must indicate their Indigenous status and upload appropriate documentation as part of their ORPAS application. They may also be contacted by the university’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives if additional information is required

Given the intensity, breadth, and depth of the information and clinical training, students in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology programs must possess very strong cognitive, communication, sensory, and interpersonal skills necessary for the provision of safe, ethical, and effective assessment, treatment, counseling, and educational services. Prior to applying to our programs, potential candidates are strongly encouraged to review the ‘Essential Skills’ documents and carefully reflect on whether they meet the requirements for these professions:

• Speech-Language Pathology: Essential skills and attributes
• Audiology: Essential skills and attributes

Accessible Education (AE) at Western provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western, including academic accommodation. Academic accommodation consists of arrangements that allow a student with a disability a fair opportunity to engage in academic activities and fulfill essential course and program requirements. Accommodation does not fundamentally alter content of exams, standards for assigning grades, or requirements that students independently demonstrate their knowledge of course material.

Because of the individualized nature of accommodation, students and prospective students are encouraged to meet with an Accessible Education counsellor to obtain information about specific accommodations and services that may be available to them. Please see more information here.

Some academic accommodations, such as those for traditional lecture-based courses, may not be suitable or appropriate when students are completing clinical placements. In such instances, accommodations that are specific and can be operationalized to learning in clinical placement contexts will need to be considered. Students who receive academic accommodations for clinical placements continue to be responsible for meeting the essential competencies required by the Program and the profession. Students are also responsible for ensuring academic accommodations are updated each term and are in place early for clinical placements.

Before applying or accepting an offer of admission to the School of CSD, prospective students should be aware of the following:

• The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology programs are two-year (6 term), full-time, in-person programs. We do not have the traditional Fall and/or Winter reading weeks that University undergraduate programs have. Applicants must be prepared to be a full-time student during the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer terms. Students must be prepared to participate in daytime and evening classes.
• Students must obtain and complete all mandatory immunizations, vaccinations, medical and non-medical requirements specified by Western University, the School of CSD, and other clinical facilities.
• Students must also be aware that at this time most placement partners including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and community clinics, have pre-placement policies for students that include mandatory vaccination requirements. Students will be required to be compliant with the policy requirements of our placement partners in order to attend placements in those facilities. If students are not compliant with those policies, they will not be able to attend those placements and will fail to meet clinical graduation requirements. Students who fail to meet clinical graduation requirements will not be eligible to complete the program.
• Students must obtain, pay for, and submit documentation of a clear police Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS) as required by clinical placement facilities.
• Students are encouraged to have a strong foundation in math, anatomy and physiology, and science prior to applying to the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology programs.
• Students must attend and pay for all costs associated with the clinical placements assigned to them.
• Students are expected to participate in all aspects of the CSD program, including:
  
  • Oral presentations in front of groups/peers
  • Fast turn-around in lesson plan and report writing
  • Talking with families and clients
  • Receiving feedback about clinical and academic performance
  • In-person and individual practical evaluations
  • Speech-Language Pathology students are required to participate in anatomy cadaver labs.

These are program expectations that cannot be waived. Please consider that you must participate in these important aspects of clinical training and help that guide your admission acceptance decision-making process.

Applicants seeking special consideration for extenuating circumstances that may have affected their application, may submit a Request for Special Consideration form (available upon request) to the Admission Committee for review. All requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Supporting documentation (medical, personal, academic, etc.) must accompany the form. Requests for special consideration must be submitted by the application deadline. Send an email to earmouth@uwo.ca for more information and to receive a copy of the Request for Special Consideration form.

Grade point average (GPA) calculations are completed by ORPAS. Questions pertaining to GPAs should be directed to the Admissions Coordinator at earmouth@uwo.ca.

A calculation of the sub-GPA for admission purposes will be completed based on the final 20 half courses of university academic study (i.e., the equivalent of 10 full courses or 60 credit hours) completed by December 31 of the fall term preceding the application deadline. Summer, part-time, intersession, distance education and undergraduate and graduate university courses taken beyond the four-year undergraduate degree are also included. Because the GPA does not include all university undergraduate courses, it is referred to as a sub-GPA.

For applicants currently enrolled in the fourth year of a bachelor's degree program, this calculation starts with the applicant's final fall term grades (completed by December 31) and moves back in chronological order based on the courses listed on the transcript. Where grades must be extracted from a term to achieve the equivalent of 10 full courses, the average of that year (e.g., applicant's second year) will be used.

Western does not include marks from the following types of courses in the calculation of an applicant's sub-GPA:

• Internship/placement or activity-type courses
• Bachelor of Education
• Certificate or diploma program
• Non-convertible grades (e.g. pass/fall)

Exchange program grades are included in the admission sub-GPA if they are convertible.

Please Visit: https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/csd/programs/international.html

Your tuition covers some but not all of the costs associated with you obtaining and the university supporting the administration of your MClSc degree. Western takes the full sum of your tuition and divides it by three so that you are billed equally three times per year at the beginning of each term (January 1, May 1, and September 1). You can view last years’ tuition by term at the Office of Registrar's Fee Schedules page.

Tuition and fees are due within five business days of the beginning of each term. Graduate students have the option of paying half of their tuition and fees within five business days of the beginning of each term and paying the balance due five weeks later.

A non-refundable tuition deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot in the MClSc program. The deadline to pay the deposit is June 1st.

Tuition and Fees for 2023-24 Academic Year
Residency	Type	Fall Term*	Winter Term*	Summer Term*	Total*
Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident	Tuition	$3764.67	$3764.67	$3764.67	$11,294.01
	Fees	$1,482.22	$1,482.22	$1,482.22	$4,446.66
International	Tuition	$12,470.67	$12,470.67	$12,470.67	$37,412.01
	Fees	$1,734.24	$1,734.24	$1,734.24	$5,202.72

• Provide one Professional or Personal Reference from someone who knows the applicant well from a non-academic setting (e.g. work supervisor, coach, clergy member, etc)
• Provide at least two letters of academic reference (applicants who have not taken courses at the university level for more than five years may provide professional letters of reference)
  • Sample Letter (PDF)
• Complete a "Statement of Intent" that is part of the ORPAS online application

Please refer to the FAQ page (coming soon) for an example of how to read the prerequisite charts.

Overview of Prerequisites

Applicants are required to complete the stated prerequisite undergraduate university level courses with a pass in each course in order to be considered for the MClSc program.

• Child development (0.5 full course equivalents);
• Statistics (0.5 full course equivalents);
• Human anatomy or human physiology (0.5 full course equivalents);
• Social Science/Psychology (0.5 full course equivalent)

Description of Prerequisite Courses

Child Development (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses that cover a broad range of developmental issues (cognition, perception, social, emotional, sensorimotor, language) across the entire child developmental stage. We do not accept courses that are limited to language development or language disorders.

Elementary Statistics (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept statistics courses that address most of the basic statistical methods including statistical inference, experimental design, sampling design, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing for means and proportions, regression and correlation.

Human Anatomy or Human Physiology (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses on general human anatomy or physiology that covers the structure and/or physiological principles of human neural, muscular and respiratory systems. You may need to take two half year courses to cover all of this material, (i.e. Part I and Part II).

Social Science/Psychology (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses in psychology, sociology, social science, etc. This could include courses such as: perception, cognition, social psychology, abnormal psychology, phonetics, language acquisition, etc.

How to Verify Prerequisites

We have reviewed a number of courses from a variety of institutions across Canada. A number of courses have been pre-approved by the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. To view a list of pre-approved courses, visit the Approved Prerequisites page and then select the institution. For example, clicking on the University of Alberta will open a list of prerequisite courses that we have previously accepted from the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Please note that the acceptable list is subject to change and not all courses listed on the Approved Prerequisites section are necessarily offered at any given time. It is the applicant’s responsibility to confirm course offerings with the institution of interest.

If the course you would like to use to satisfy a prerequisite does not appear on the Approved Prerequisites section of the website, you must obtain pre-approval from the department and submit this documentation with the program application. You must submit the Prerequisite Verification Form to get approval.

Please check the course content carefully with the criteria listed above. If it does not fit, please do not send a request for verification. It will not be accepted.

• Provide one Professional or Personal Reference from someone who knows the applicant well from a non-academic setting (e.g. work supervisor, coach, clergy member, etc)
• Provide at least two letters of academic reference (Applicants who have not taken courses at the university level for more than five years may provide professional letters of reference)
  • Sample Letter (PDF)
• Complete a "Statement of Intent" that is part of the ORPAS online application

Please refer to the FAQ page (coming soon) for an example of how to read the prerequisite charts.

Overview of Prerequisites

Applicants are required to complete the stated prerequisite undergraduate university level courses with a pass in each course in order to be considered for the MClSc program.

• Child development (0.5 full course equivalents);
• Statistics (0.5 full course equivalents);
• General linguistics (0.5 full course equivalents);
• Human anatomy or human physiology (0.5 full course equivalents);
• General Science/Life Biomedical (0.5 full course equivalent)
• Social Science/Psychology (0.5 full course equivalent)

Description of Prerequisite Courses

Child Development (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses that cover a broad range of developmental issues (cognition, perception, social, emotional, sensorimotor, language) across the entire child developmental stage. We do not accept courses that are limited to language development or language disorders.

Elementary Statistics (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept statistics courses that address most of the basic statistical methods including statistical inference, experimental design, sampling design, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing for means and proportions, regression and correlation.

General Linguistics (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses that cover all aspects of general linguistics, this course should include semantics, pragmatics, syntax, phonology, phonetics, morphology, language acquisition. Courses in language development or acquisition alone are not acceptable, nor are courses on language disorders.

Human Anatomy or Human Physiology (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses on general human anatomy or physiology that covers the structure and/or physiological principles of human neural, muscular and respiratory systems. You may need to take two half year courses to cover all of this material, (i.e. Part I and Part II).

General Science/Life Biomedical  (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept general, life science or psychology-based science courses. This could include courses in neuroscience, neuropsychology, physiological psychology, brain and behaviour, biology, etc.

Social Science/Psychology (0.5 full course equivalents):

We accept courses in psychology, sociology, social science, etc. This could include courses such as: perception, cognition, social psychology, abnormal psychology, phonetics, language acquisition, etc.

How to Verify Prerequisites

We have reviewed a number of courses from a variety of institutions across Canada. A number of courses have been pre-approved by the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders. To view a list of pre-approved courses, visit the Approved Prerequisites page and then select the institution. For example, clicking on the University of Alberta will open a list of prerequisite courses that we have previously accepted from the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Please note that the acceptable list is subject to change and not all courses listed on the Approved Prerequisites section are necessarily offered at any given time. It is the applicant’s responsibility to confirm course offerings with the institution of interest.

If the course you would like to use to satisfy a prerequisite does not appear on the Approved Prerequisites section of the website, you must obtain pre-approval from the department and submit this documentation with the program application. You must submit the Prerequisite Verification Form to get approval.

Please check the course content carefully with the criteria listed above. If it does not fit, please do not send a request for verification. It will not be accepted.