Jay's Brain

If you're worried about the proverbial "bridge burning" due to your original commitment to School A, you should understand that this situation does not dictate that in anyway. Clearly School B, which will be much better for you short-term and long-term, wants to offer you the best option available. School A, is not giving you any positive reasons other than it being your dream school prior to this conflict. The distance is always a factor, but when you're fully integrated into a program and have made that leap I think you'll find School B makes the most sense. The jitters will go away!

Hi, I can try to help you out with Canadian universities. The GRE and an English proficiency test is definitely necessary for international students at any of the institutions here. In terms of your topics of interest, I think it's great that you have something in mind that you want to pursue research in. I would suggest looking at the different universities that offer a cognitive neuroscience/psychology program (most Canadian universities touch on these in some ways), and look at the faculty members of your university of interest. Those people will be your supervisors for the next 2-6 years (depending if you end up pursuing a terminal Master's, which is highly advised against, or continuing into your PhD). If you can find several PIs that are similar to your research interests you may want to consider applying to work with them and including their names in your statements of interest. For the most part, Canadian universities, especially graduate programs in Psychology, require the Master's before PhD. These programs have research areas that cater to cognition, perception, and neuroscience. Other programs, like MiNDS at McMaster offer a much more comprehensive program directly in the fields of neuroscience. There is also funding for international students, although a bit more limited. That's something to consider when identifying a home institution. Hope that helps, and good luck!

Hey! I know there's a lot of students in the Canadian Fall 2015 Applicant Thread who have been asking questions or helping others so it's great to see that there will be so many friendly, like-minded people starting their graduate studies this coming September! Just wanted to make a group for anyone interested in connecting and finding other people that might be going to the same schools or in the same fields of research. Collaboration is so important these days, so I'd love to meet and connect with my cohort! MSW students or any similar fields are welcomed too!

Very excited to go to York University for Clinical Psychology (Neuropsychology stream)! IF anyone else is going to be at York for psychology I'd love to connect with my cohort!

Everybody has a story of their own to answer this question. For me, there's been various things that have led me to come to terms with what I want to do. The most basic one is that I'm interested in what I am pursuing. I'm interested in memory disorders and the way that mnemonic processes affects our cognition. My undergraduate degree was in neuroscience and mental health, which intersected very nicely with what I will be doing in September for my Master's program - clinical neuropsychology. Less academically, I'm interested in pursuing psychology as a career because I believe that a career as a clinical psychologist gives me an opportunity to help people find themselves. As mentioned, my interest is in memory. More specifically, I am interested in autobiographical memory, which describes the cumulation of moments that we experience across our lifespan. These moments allow us to unlock who we are as individuals, and I want to help others find themselves through in the process. To be honest, serendipity has played a big role in how I found this field as a direction I want to pursue. It wasn't until my undergraduate honours thesis that my eyes were opened to such opportunities. My supervisor was a great source of motivation and support. And through my thesis with him, I learned that speaking with people, regardless of their age or health, gives you different impressions and views of the world that you may never perceive. I realized that this was something I wanted to do. I wanted to pursue a career where I can learn more about the behaviours of others through research, and be able to see my results translated into helping others. Clinical work and research complements each other and I'll be very satisfied pursuing a career that allows me to do both.

Check PM!

Hi, Don't feel discouraged by how daunting it may be given your circumstances. I'm aware that ETS gives accessible formatting of their tests to individuals who have similar cases such as yours. Take a look at this link here, and hopefully it will be helpful: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/disabilities The one caveat is that the length of time for you be registered to write the test might be lengthier. My friend was attempting to go through the same process, but found it challenging to correspond with ETS at a sufficient pace and she ended up taking the test in the regular format. Give yourself enough time to prepare not just for the GRE, but the administrative work that might go along with it! Good luck!

Thanks! I've settled everything and have accepted the CGS-M funding opportunity too!

Hi not sure if you've been answered, but I received and accepted my CGS-M to York. It was for CIHR.

I agree with the posters above regarding getting more experiences, preferably in the social psychology areas. If you're interested in finding a funded Master's, you may want to consider Canadian universities. Most Canadian psychology programs require students to go through a Master's before gaining acceptance into their PhD program. But funding is there throughout both degrees.

Yeah I just contacted one of my potential PIs to see what their take is, and emailed the grad office too. It's actually for York. Congrats by the way on your acceptance to UofT! If the above peculiarity of mine doesn't affect my application in any other way I'll also be going to UofT this Fall for their Master's program in Psychology Definitely cool to meet other people in similar programs!

Thanks! I assume there's no way this will entice them to reconsider my application, huh? And I'm not going to do this, but, in theory, what happens if I accepted the offer?

I posted this in a separate thread, but has anyone heard of a case of being given an external scholarship (CGS-M) at an university that has more than likely rejected your application?

Hi everyone, For those familiar with the external funding application at Canadian universities (namely CGS), today is the day (April 1st) that the results are released onto the ResearchPortal website. I've long since accepted an offer from one of the schools that, ironically, did give me a CGS offer. However, my peculiar conundrum is that I've RECEIVED an offer for CIHR at an university that has not officially told me that I've been rejected from their program, but is very apparent that I have (did not have any interviews, was not invited to their Open House in February). I was asked if I would consider my alternate option for my discipline of interest in mid-March, but I had verbally declined that with the PI that sent me an email. Has anybody had something like this happened to them before? What should I make of it?

Hi all, for those who may still be waiting for a response from UTSC's clinical program, I received my unofficial rejection yesterday. Hope that means some of you have chosen to accept their offer. It's a great program, and the people there will be great advisors

A non-accredited program is the same as any other PhD program is it not? That's a question for anyone who has the mindset of pursuing a doctorate (Academia, postdoctoral fellowship, research/work in the private sector, governmental organizations, etc)

Straight from the CPA website: Accreditation is important for numerous reasons. 4 key reasons are: Accreditation is like a ‘stamp of approval’ from the larger psychology community that says a particular programme meets the standards that are considered important for professional psychology training. Graduating from an accredited programme facilitates the licensure/registration process. Many internship programmes will only accept applicants from an accredited doctoral programme. Many employers prefer individuals who have graduated from an accredited doctoral and internship programme. Unless you plan to pursue a professional practice (i.e. become a licensed psychologist), I don't think you have anything to worry about! The only programs that appear to really need accreditation are programs that allow students to become a professional counselling/clinical psychologist. These programs allow their students to "legally provide psychological services to the public." Otherwise, any other psychology graduate program will still be okay for you to pursue a PhD with!

I think that largely depends on the program. If, for example, the programs are relatively new and they are looking for accreditation, this may mean at least 5 years/the first graduating class before the school will get officially recognized by CPA. It won't affect students per se except in the case where you have graduated from the program and it is still yet to be accredited. In that case, it might be more of a challenge for students to get their license and practice. Usually schools are in the process of becoming accredited, though. One of the schools I am applying to is also waiting for clearance and accreditation and that's what I've heard from the faculty I spoke with.

I applied to UTSC with an associate faculty member!

Perhaps they haven't finalized the last set of incoming students yet?

There's a break this coming week (aka Reading Week), so perhaps that's when the clinical faculty are planning to meet and discuss?

Hey! I'm not sure which stream you're referring to, but I know the Neuropsychology stream met on the 3rd (that's what one of my POIs told me). I've heard back from them last weekend if that helps!