Jay's Brain

From experience, most of the candidates that are invited to the Open House will be the ones that the POIs and adcomm will choose from when giving out offers. There have been cases where applicants who are not invited to the Open House end up interviewing afterwards. I would say be on the lookout unless your application is updated to unsuccessful

The department is going through a lot of job talks over the next two months (about 15-16!?) so there's a chance that a lot of the faculty members are preoccupied with that. The Open House for Clinical/Clinical-Developmental is slated for Feb 15 so there's still time!

I've had that experience before and the POI had invited their small pool of candidates to have dinner with him and his lab. I suspect it was to see the type of people each applicant was and how well we mingled with the lab. Needless to say, it made me quite anxious and it was hard not to judge myself with other students. If this is a similar set-up to your situation or even by yourself, the best advice I can give is to hold your nerves for the duration of the dinner and just be your regular self. You've made it this far because of merit but also because you are more than capable of presenting yourself the right way. Just treat it as a conversation (and that goes with the actual interview), and be your best self that night. Good luck!

Mac's RCT program atm is a lot like the CLEX program at UofT that was an alternative way for students to get licensure outside of a PsyD or traditional CPsych program. That program, of course, ended with the start of UTSC's program. It will likely take a bit of time (and maybe some restructuring) for it to be a full-fledged clinical program. That's probably why it isn't as well-advertised currently

To chime in, I think there's pros and cons whether your program is in a larger or smaller city. Smaller cities may makes practicum choices more limited but it could also means that the program may cater to this and make sure students get a breadth of experience that suits with the available opportunities. In a larger city (let's use Toronto), you are situated in a region where there are quite a few major hospitals/practicum sites to choose from (yay!). Keep in mind, however, there is also A LOT more competition (UTSC, York, Ryerson, OISE, even McMaster now) (boo!). Toronto programs follow a similar protocol to APPIC internship for practicum applications each year. That means there is a ranking system for all applicants by the clinical settings each application cycle. I know cases where some out-of-town applicants have also applied to Toronto as well. That's why wherever you apply and interview at, make sure you ask questions to learn more about your fit with the program and also the intangibles that can help sway your decision!

Hey friend! Is the research coordinator position in anyway related to some of the areas of research you're interested in? Furthermore, are you in a position to find your name as a co-author or first author on poster presentations and publications? That is more important towards your research experience than a position that is in research. If there is a clear demarcation of your position from the opportunities available, than having some advanced skills as a psychometrist may be useful. When applying to practicum positions during your program, having those skills will be relevant. In neuropsychology, especially, the background and familiarity with tests and reasons to use them will come in handy even at the early stages of your graduate training.

From personal experience, three is fine. If you can find three potential supervisors it means that your experiences and interests match well with the program's general research areas (assuming you're not just forcing some of the fits). Thinking long term, if you do get into the program and you end up needing to switch supervisors (for many different reasons), you have more than one faculty member who is aware of your interest (or know you) and you can choose what to do then. Having two to three is optimal!

Don't feel bounded by the number of hours that you think you should take to write your SOI. Instead, make sure it's well-written regardless of how many hours it takes. Not to mention, you will likely give it to mentors or other people to review and will then have to incorporate their suggestions and feedback.

Hi, you cannot as you found out pick and choose between sections. It's all or none for the test you choose. With that being said, I also encountered the same dilemma you did. My quantitative went down the second (and third) time I took the GRE, while my verbal went up (my AWA was my highest section and remained consistent). In the end, with advice from my undergraduate supervisor, I opted to use my original set of scores. Small blips in your GRE are not going to be detrimental to the impression you'll give to the admission committee, and, more often than not, the GRE plays a secondary or tertiary role at Canadian institutions. Fit, references, statement of interest and even academic performance are more important. Unless your GRE scores were very low, don't be boggled down by small deviations. They happen, especially when you retake the test!

Hi everyone! Long-time poster and glad to see that all the Canadian applicants are still bustling with energy and vigour! It definitely is a stressful experience, so wishing you all the best! For those who haven't already, take a look at this link as it tells you the allocations for the CGS-M award for each Canadian university across the three areas. Could be helpful in deciding what to do moving forward. Best of luck!

First, make sure you are aware of which Tri-council research focus you're interested in pursuing - CIHR is for health research and SSHRC is social science-focused. Whichever one you choose can drastically alter the type of research you propose and the wording/content. If you have done an thesis or research project during your undergraduate studies, you can think about using that as a starting step. What can you pursue that adds to the body of research you tried to accomplish through that project? Given that you have 1-2 years (depending on your Masters) to accomplish this project, what further advances can you think of? If you haven't done a project before, think about the area of research you intend to pursue in graduate school. From there, look at recent literature and find gaps in the field that you want to address. Often, papers will include limitations and future directions when they write up a research study into a publication. Use those as references to come up with a novel experiment that answers those questions that remain unanswered. And no, you are more than likely not going to be conducting the same project in graduate school. In fact, the project you propose may end up being in an area that is different from the one your graduate research will be in!

It's hard for self-doubt to not rear its ugly head during the application cycle. Your accomplishments and profile is impressive and you don't even have to worry about the cutoff for the GRE since you're above it on all three sections! There's less for you to worry about compared to other applicants given what you have described about your accolades! I would say the most important thing for you now is to find the best research and supervisor fit. This is a two-way street and you want to make sure that the programs you are applying to can be mutually beneficial. Good luck!

Rather than connect the dots at face value between emotions/perception and trauma (although I agree that you can browse through the literature like @sassyyetclassy suggested -- emotions and trauma are clearly well-linked), perhaps you can explain the skills you developed over the two years that you spent with that lab. Two years is not a short period of time, and hopefully you were able to build a strong background of knowledge and experiences from that role. Those skills, the populations that you may have worked with, and the theory that you used during your work, may be transferable to your current interests in trauma research.

Connect with the Clinical Directors or graduate department at the universities hosting the programs you are interested in applying to. As most have already stated in this thread, a lot of students with an experimental psychology background often have to redo a Masters (but can use some of their previous credits). That being said, if your current research and area of focus aligns very well to what you plan to pursue, there is a possibility that you can be directly entered into PhD and only have to do some of the Masters-level courses. I have colleagues who had this exemption despite their previous Masters and were able to enter the PhD program directly. Best of luck!

@BrainBizarre No problem! Feel free to DM me if you have more questions