Clinpsyc01

Some faculty had an interview day in January, the rest are probably in the process of contacting candidates/interviewing. I believe that the committee is meeting at the end of the month to make final decisions.

On top of costs, there’s also the issue of supervisor availability at external sites (e.g. hospitals, clinics, etc.). Programs need to make sure that their students can find practicum placements where they’ll get good training and supervision. Supervising grad students is a huge time commitment that doesn’t provide much benefit to the supervisor, so it can be hard to find enough suitable placements for students. With larger cohorts, it would probably be impossible and result in poorer training.

I don’t think this will affect you too much since it’s out of your control and I’m assuming they know that. The social event is a good opportunity to interact with the grad students, but you’ll have plenty of time to make a good impression during the interview day. I think missing the social event is a bigger deal when it’s clear that the applicant is just uninterested, doesn’t want to socialize, etc. (which obviously isn’t the case here).

I think it’s because Ryerson has a lot of professors compared to some other departments. If they let the POIs give acceptances without any committee involvement, they might end up with 15-20 new clinical students when they can only accomodate ~8.

Yes!! I can’t stress enough how important this is. Faculty are usually pretty forgiving because they know interviews are a stressful time. But they WILL remember it if you’re unpleasant to be around, competitive, or clearly trying to overshadow the other applicants. At the interview stage, professors and grad students are really trying to find someone they want to work with for the next 5+ years. And chances are, that is not going to be the person who spends 20 minutes talking about their CV at the interview social event.

It’s been mentioned earlier, but the Concordia interview day is only for about 1/3 of the faculty. Many others will still be interviewing students throughout February. Don’t give up!

Like the others have said, nice ankle boots or wear heavier boots and change! There is typically a place where applicants can leave coats, bags, shoes, etc.

I believe the clinical committee at Western is pretty involved in admissions and make most decisions as a group, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the committee reviews the selected candidates prior to sending the invites. They don’t tend to interview many people, so maybe they want to be sure that everyone is a good candidate, meets admissions criteria, etc,

If you did want to consider international programs, Rebecca Pillai-Riddell at York University in Toronto does interesting work on infant/caregiver mental health.

I don’t think it’s possible to predict how important connections are for admissions. Of course they can help, but it isn’t a given, and isn’t necessary for acceptance. I only had connections at two of the programs I applied to, and I was rejected from both (without even an interview at the program where I had the most solid connections). But I was interviewed and accepted by several faculty who hadn’t met or even heard of my past PIs. You never know what will happen with this process.

I interviewed there previously and know people in the program, so I wanted to mention that not all faculty are doing interviews on that day. It’s just the ones belonging to the clinical health research centre. If you want to know which POIs are interviewing on those days, I can ask my friends. The majority of the faculty conduct their interviews individually throughout January and February.

A few people brought backpacks when I interviewed and no one seemed to care. I brought a black leather tote because I look young and didn’t want to risk looking like a kid going to school or something.

I was accepted with a similar profile to you, except I didn’t even have any publications. I think what made the difference for me was that I had in-depth experience in the area of research that I wanted to pursue. My research area is relatively uncommon for clinical psych (unlike depression, anxiety, etc.), so the PI’s were pretty excited that I already had extensive experience with the methodology. I also applied to several schools that were a decent but not perfect fit, and I didn’t hear back from those, so I really think research fit was key for me. Honestly, the process is a crapshoot, and people get rejected even with very strong applications. Sometimes you just happen to apply against superstars with 10 pubs, or the lab already has someone in mind, or their research is moving in a different direction than you expected. The best thing is just to apply to more programs and really maximize your chances. Good luck with the rest of your application cycle! You never know what will happen

That sounds fine. Most grad applicants won’t have expensive suits, and it’s really just important to look neat and professional. It’s probably only an issue if your outfit is noticeably poor quality, fits badly, is see-through, etc.

You could check out thrift stores if you haven’t already. I’ve also gotten decent blazers at H&M for $20-40 (and that’s Canadian so you can probably find something cheaper in the US). I have seen people in blouses and dress pants at interviews. I don’t know if affected their admission chances, but don’t worry about it if you have no other option.

Ryerson varies a lot depending on POI. My understanding is that they don’t submit their choices for the in-person interview until ~3rd week of January, and you could be contacted anytime until then.

It is important, but definitely not the only factor at play. For what it’s worth, I was accepted to two programs without applying for funding (I was eligible but had a mix-up with my application). One PI had tons of grant money and was a perfect research fit, and the other program was very well-funded. My outcome could’ve been very different if the programs had problems funding their students. Dont worry about it too much. Your research experience and GPA are more important.

In addition to what the other poster said, your POI might not know yet if they’ll be allowed to take a student. Most programs limit their cohorts to 5-10 people so if 15 profs want to accept students or something, the committee will have to establish a priority list.

Try to enjoy your interviews! They’re a lot less stressful when you frame them as an opportunity to get to know potential colleagues, learn about cool research, and show others what you have to offer. The PI chose you out of probably dozens of applicants- you’re qualified and you deserve to be there. Most PIs won’t grill you about their research or obscure theories or anything, they’re more interested in seeing if you’re a good fit with the lab and if they want to spend the next 5+ years with you. Also, most interviews have unlimited coffee available. Stay away if you are prone to anxiety lol

I agree that in-person interviews are typically better. The interviews are just as much for you as for them, and in-person interviews allow you to get a sense of the lab environment, the program, and how your PI interacts with others. I might be biased though because my skype interviews were all SO awkward (maybe it’s just me be) and I know I didn’t give as good of an impression as in person. Some people also judge your interest based on whether or not you attend in person, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case here. I wouldn’t worry about it this time since the professor said you wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. It’s just something to consider in the future.

I would email the department graduate assistant since it’s pretty late to be contacting faculty.

I think 3 is fine if you’re actually interested in all of them and they are in the same area. For example, if you apply to someone who studies eating disorders, someone who studies dementia, and someone who studies OCD, it will look like you don’t have concrete interests and don’t know what you want to do. But if it makes sense to apply to 3, then go for it. More options is always good.

I would just wait for the department’s reply. Chances are they will let you attach or email your unofficial score report. In the meantime, send your official scores ASAP so that they will arrive as soon as they can, even if it’s late. In my experience, the scores took more like 10-14 days to arrive to schools, not 5 weeks, although there was no postal strike at the time.

For CGS, I don’t think they have access to your proposal, just whether or not you applied. The vast majority of grad students I know are doing research completely different from their funding proposals. I think OGS might be different and probably varies between schools.

Not a current applicant, but I just wanted to add that you should try to find out how schools fund their students when applying for CGS-M. Some schools require profs to fund their students out of their own grants, so they greatly prefer students who have applied for funding. Other places, the money comes from the university/department and they might not care as much. For example, at Western, every student is guaranteed a very decent stipend from the university, so I got the impression that they didn’t prioritize students with funding.