Jay's Brain

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.

So, here's my advice from my experience 2 years ago when I was in your shoes and applying to Clinical Psych Ph.D. programs. I applied to 10 sites, got 6 interviews, and got into my top choice. This advice isn't a "hard-and-fast" guide for everyone, even in clinical, but I think these tips are helpful (even if they've been stated before).
 
For phone interviews:
Honestly, I dressed pretty casually for these because I personally wanted to feel comfortable. Some will say dress for success. You do you, honestly.  Be in an area, like a bedroom, where there is minimal background noise. I also advice to use a good pair of headphones with a mic, if possible.  Have a note pad and pen to take notes from the conversation. At the top of the note pad, write down before the interview at least 2-3 questions that you have, as well as anything else you think is relevant.  Speak calmly, and take a breath before you answer the phone.   
Skype interviews:
Wear at least business casual. I actually usually wore a suit (I am a male, so that's a wide difference honestly).  Again, I'd advise to skype in your room or somewhere that is quiet. If your room doesn't work, I advise finding a quiet place at work or a library in a private room.  Again, wearing headphones can help with quality of your speech/hearing your interviewer.  Same rules of notepad and pen apply as before.  Look at the camera lens, not at yourself or the PI on the screen. Looking at the camera feels weird, but it means you are making eye contact.   
In-person interviews
The agendas for campus interviews vary WIDELY. Some places will be a short day of interviews with a handful of people; other sites will have 2-3 day extravaganzas with parties, interviews, campus tours, etc. Plan your wardrobe accordingly. Unless stated otherwise, you should be in business formal for all of the interviews, and business casual for all of the dinners/parties.  At the parties/socials, DO NOT (and I mean this) get drunk or out of control. That's pretty much an immediate ax from the committee. Generally speaking, just have a few drinks if you'd like (or don't... nobody cares), and socialize with current students, other applicants, PIs, etc. BE NICE!!! It often helps, especially with other applicants, to talk about pleasantries and stuff going on, as well as shared interests OUTSIDE of psychology. Nobody wants to get into a metaphorical d*ck waving contest with you, and the grad students interviewing you, especially, will not look favorably on that.  This goes with the above, but if you are staying with a host or really whenever you are interacting with grad students, you should be on your best behavior. You should be polite and respectful of your host student's home, and it is often nice to bring a small gift from where you are (less than $5) and a thank you card. While you should and can ask candid questions about life as a grad student, the culture of the city/university, faculty-student dynamics, etc., you should probably think at least a little bit before you ask questions or say things because they can, and do, get back to the PIs. For example, a student I hosted my first year as a PhD student who was interviewing for a lab that was not my own told me about how he had "6 interviews" and my school was his "4th choice." As it was pompous and completely unprompted from me, I relayed that information back to the PI because ultimately PIs want to make offers to students who actually want to come to this university.  Same rules apply for skype/in-person interviews. Try to have 2-3 questions per person you are scheduled to interview with during your visit. These help if you get stuck on questions to ask. You can often ask the same question to multiple grad students if you are, for example, having conversations with every lab member.  Bring a book or something fun, non-academic to do during down time. Depending on the agenda, you can often have hours of down time during the actual interview day, and if you are an introvert like me it can be relieving to just read a book or do something that does not involve talking to people.  It is always good to bring deodorant, gum, and mouthwash in your purse or backpack/satchel to the interview day. If you are like me and sweat bullets when you are anxious (e.g., in interviews), it can be helpful to have these handy.    
This list is by no means comprehensive, but just some thoughts that I have from my experience on both ends of the interview table. Feel free to comment and ask questions or PM if you have something specific you'd like to know about. 
 
Most importantly, YOU DESERVE THIS D*MN INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The PI reached out to YOU, meaning that s/he thinks you'd be a good potential fit for your lab. Keep that in mind and just be yourself. 

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 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!
 

Absolutely!
Last year my background was very similar to what I posted above. The only thing I did differently is increase my GRE score (but not by much) and I have continued working to get more publications. I will also be applying to much more schoools than I did last year (I applied to 5, compared to 12 this year). I do not recommend applying to this many schools unless you have the time to perfect each and every application, and only if you think you have a real chance of being accepted. This year, the only reason I'm applying to so many schools is that almost every POI I contacted has replied to me saying they are interested in my background and research interests, and if my application reaches them, they would be interested in connecting with me for an interview. I'm taking my chance with all of them.
I would say as important as GPA and GRE scores are, they are not considered nearly as highly as relationship with POI's and similar research interests. I applied to a school where my GPA and GRE scores were below the program average (and maybe even just below the cutoff), but I still got an interview. I was even told that my interview was excellent, but unfortunately I was still not accepted. The POI I applied to work with suggested I focus more on getting another publication rather than increase my GRE scores or GPA considering I was still interviewed. I decided to work on both.
Also, TRY TO GET FUNDING!! This is an extremely important part of the application so I highly encourage everyone to apply for Tri-Council (CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC) if you can, and the OGS for any universities in Ontario. I applied for a CIHR last year and didn't get one at any of the institutions I applied to and I believe this is a major reason why I was not accepted. This year they changed some things too - you can only list 3 schools instead of 5 to receive funding for.
The first round of applications is always tough. If you get in on your first attempt then that's great! But if you don't, then it can be used as an excellent learning experience for any attempts made in the future. It takes most applicants at least 2-3 attempts before they are accepted, and I expected this for myself as well considering my GPA and GRE scores are not as high as my peers. But I'm confident I will get accepted now that I learned a lot from my experiences last year.

Hey Canadian here so can help! There's currently 1 English Canadian and 1 French Canadian schools that are accredited by the CPA for a full-fledged Neuropsychology program. These are York University and Université de Montréal. Both of them offer programs that ascertain that you will receive the clinical training to declare competency with the college of psychologist in that province (Ontario for York, Quebec for Montreal). As part of their programs, you will also receive general clinical training that allows you to also declare comptency as a clinical psychologist. As others have said, an important part of this is the internship at the end of your graduate studies where you will likely focus on neuropsychology. Going to a program that has a clinical neuropsychology stream indicates to those internship sites that you have the background training to be a competitive trainee (coursework, clinical skills, practicum training, etc). There are other clinical programs across Canada that also offer neuropsychology streams, but those are not yet accredited by the CPA.

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!
 

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.  

I took this test when I just turned a sophomore and got 810(rank 99%) and I think I could answer your question. I spent approximately 3 weeks for it. But consider I'm an international student and I had some difficulties with English terms, you could crack it in a even less time if English is your first language.
First I would suggest cracking the GRE psychology and Kaplan. These two books should be given more concentration. Memorize the summary and carefully go through all questions. Make sure you understand every question on it. 
If you have additional time, I would suggest going through a introductory book of psychology, a developmental psychology and abnormal/clinical psychology. You don't have to go into details, just go through them will help you a lot. As you know, GRE psych include only multiple choices so you can rely on your implicit memory
Good luck and take it easy!

Yes, if your undergrad work is not related to your interests, it's a good idea to do a 2+ year RAship that will boost your knowledge of that area and give you skills applicable to depression and anxiety research. I would definitely wait to apply until you at least have a few posters in the area of research you care about (pubs are even better, if possible).
 
Also, as a neuropsych trainee I am curious why you are interested in neuropsych if your main inteests are depression and anxiety and what distinguishes why two people of the same background will or will not go on to develop that disorder. I am wondering how you envision neuropsych fitting in with that. as your interests (to me) sound like they would more fit in to the generalist clinical psychologist training model. 

As above, if you are still on the waitlist, it's a good reason to reach out and let them know that you are able to bring external funding to the table, particularly with your POI. They may decide to then connect with the admin and see if taking you is still a possibility (if they are able to take one more student at this point). 

As above, if you are still on the waitlist, it's a good reason to reach out and let them know that you are able to bring external funding to the table, particularly with your POI. They may decide to then connect with the admin and see if taking you is still a possibility (if they are able to take one more student at this point). 

Sounds surprisingly similar to this topic so you could probably gain some insight here:
 

That's great that you did that! I would say that contacting the POIs you interviewed with/applied to will be sufficient as they can provide the best response towards what you might be lacking or missing out on. Overall, it's quite situational I think for acceptances/rejections. The fact that you had interviews already speaks volumes to your application, and you deserve the accolade for that! 

Once the POI has spoken to accepted students, the official offer (i.e., acceptance letter) tends to go out quite quickly. Reading Week just came and went, and with some other university-related changes coming up, it might mean a bit of a gap time. But as @BeezKnees said, expect those to come soon - sometime in March!

Even if you end up redoing a Masters, you should take a look at whether some of your previous courses from your earlier degree can supplement the curriculum that is required for the newer Masters. Sometimes there are overlapping courses in counselling/clinical and it might not be unreasonable to take a couple less courses! After all, you have a Masters, so why not see if some of it can help with the next one?

As with everything in the graduate school world, it depends. Each year the faculty get together and discuss whose turn it is to take a student. So the POIs that need to take a student will have priority. That is not to say other faculty members do not have a chance. Just because someone is looking to take a student, that does not mean the students that are applying to them are suitable. It is also possible that no students apply to them (this is rare, though, I assume). In that case, the profs may not invite anyone or, if they were not prioritized, they may wait until after the Open House to approach students that applied to them. If you want, feel free to PM me your POIs and I'll see what I know about them!

I know quite a few current students, including myself, who didn't go to the Open House/were not invited. Don't lose hope!  

I know some Clinical profs have sent out their invitations. If you haven't heard back, but also haven't received a rejection yet, that could mean that you are both on a shortlist. Some rejections have been sent out already so there's still a chance!

I know quite a few current students, including myself, who didn't go to the Open House/were not invited. Don't lose hope!  

I know some Clinical profs have sent out their invitations. If you haven't heard back, but also haven't received a rejection yet, that could mean that you are both on a shortlist. Some rejections have been sent out already so there's still a chance!

Those still waiting for York Clinical - still possible to hear back from your POIs about the Feb 16th Open House. Most Adult clinical faculty only started reviewing last week ish, and are sending details about who they are inviting this week.