Clinpsyc01

For those of you who've written the psych GRE in September or October, when did you register? I saw from others years that registration for the subject tests opened on July 1st, but I haven't been able to sign up yet. I'm sure it'll open soon, but I'm a bit paranoid.

The ETS site says that registration will begin in July, but is it typically in early July or later? Or could it be at any point this month?

How do the paper practice tests in the ETS official guide compare to the real thing? I know the paper-based tests are different since they aren't adaptive, but are they less accurate than, say, the Manhattan tests? I scored much higher on the ETS paper tests than a few of the Manhattan tests... Like, 169 V 161 Q vs. 161 V 158 Q. I'm hoping that the ETS ones are closer to the actual GRE, and that Manhattan's verbal is unreasonably hard I guess I'll have to take the power prep tests to see!

I'm retaking the GRE after scoring a 164V and 158Q last year (retaking because of a subpar writing score). Since I have to write it again, I might as well try to improve my verbal and quant scores. I've taken a few practice tests recently, and my scores are similar to my score on the actual test- usually above 165 for verbal, and 158-161 for quantitative. Ideally, I'd like to score in the high 160s on verbal, and 162 or 163 for quantitative, but I feel like I'm at a bit of a standstill. I've improved a lot from when I first started studying, but it's hard to raise my scores by those last few points. I feel like some of my mistakes on the quantitative section come from not having a really strong foundation in basic math. Are there any resources that you'd recommend for that? What kinds of math are most common on the GRE? I have Manhattan's 5 lb book, but I don't know if that's enough. I haven't studied for the verbal section beyond doing some practice tests. My vocabulary is good, but there are usually a couple of words that I don't know, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn some words. Are there any word lists that seem to be the best? Thanks in advance!

I've heard on multiple occasions that receiving an NSERC USRA significantly increases your likelihood of getting NSERC funding for graduate school. Is this true, and does it increase your likelihood of SSHRC or CIHR funding? I know that students who get the USRA likely have a high GPA and pretty good research experience, and the award shows that they're capable of getting funded, etc. I'm mainly concerned because I didn't hold an NSERC USRA during my undergrad for several reasons, and took other research awards instead, not realizing that it might influence my chances for funding later on. I'll most likely be applying to SSHRC, not NSERC, so does it even matter?

I'm just speaking from my own experience, of course, but it seems like at my school every psych major is interested in eating disorders, depression or schizophrenia. Are there certain areas of clinical psychology that are more popular/generally viewed as more interesting than others? Would someone studying depression typically get more applications/volunteer requests than someone studying cognitive aging or something?

I completed my first year at a community college before transferring to a university, and I was wondering how to approach this on my grad school applications. I'm Canadian, so I think there's less focus on prestige here than in the US, but I'm still concerned that it'll look bad compared to people who did all four years at a university. I have to submit the transcripts anyway, so I'm not going to hide it, but should I list it on my CV? Like, when I list my education, should I write ____ College 2012-2013 and _____ University 2013-2016? And should I list awards I won at this college? I won a pretty big scholarship and an academic award based on my performance at the college, but I don't know if I should include them on my CV.

Thanks everyone I some have clinical experience that really did influence my decision to go to grad school, so it looks like I'll be fine in that regard. I'll probably concentrate on getting more research experience instead.

I've heard mixed things about clinical experience when applying to clinical PhD programs- some people say it makes you look too clinically-focused, some people say it doesn't matter at all, and some say it's important to have (even though research is obviously still more important). I'm graduating undergrad this spring and applying to grad school this fall, so I have time to pick up some clinical volunteering if I want to. My options are pretty limited because I live in a small city, so it wouldn't exactly be clinical... probably something like volunteering with inmates or people with disabilities. I volunteered at a group therapy program for children for a year, and worked for a year at my university's disability centre helping students use assistive technology/academic accommodations. I know that's not a lot of experience, so would it be a good idea to do something else?

Are there any Canadians out there who know which tri-council funding agency is most appropriate for sleep research? I'm not actually doing this research, I'm just curious because I've been reading papers on sleep for one of my classes. I've never applied for funding and I'm completely clueless. To be more specific, I'm talking about research that does not include physiological measurement (polysomnography, EEG, etc.) but does include experimental manipulation of sleep. So, for example, a study where participants would be sleep restricted, and then their performance on a certain task, or score on a symptom measure would be examined. Apparently, research involving chronobiological modulation of behaviour falls under NSERC; however, this hypothetical study would not be using objective measures of sleep. Although I suppose this study could still involve hypothesizing about the underlying neural mechanisms or processes. Or would studies like this be considered health-related, even if they do not involve treatments and are only looking at the effect of the sleep manipulation? I'm really confused about the differences between SSHRC and CIHR... I know people who have gotten funding for their masters/PhD from SSHRC even though their proposals involved disorders like OCD and anxiety, and I would've thought that that would fall under CIHR. Thanks in advance if anyone wants to help out an undergrad who is thinking way too much into course material

I'm probably being paranoid, but would it look odd to volunteer in psychiatric research and then apply to grad school in psychology? I want to apply to clinical psych programs in the next few years, but I need more research experience. I'm going to try to stay on at my current clinical lab if they'll have me, but I'd like to volunteer in another lab. I was thinking of contacting some professors in psychiatry at my university's med school since my psych department is heavily cognitive psych/neuroscience-focused. Would this make me look indecisive or like I don't understand the difference between psychology and psychiatry?

Does anyone know what an acceptable GPA would be for Canadian clinical programs? I assume most successful applicants probably have near perfect grades, but what kind of GPA will get people past initial screening, etc.? Waterloo's mean average for incoming students was 91 last year- is that lower or higher than most clinical programs?

Is it expected that students will complete the research outlined in the CGS-M proposal? SSHRC, specifically. I'm not applying until next year, but I've been wondering about this as I've been thinking about where I'm going to apply for grad school. Most of the faculty I'm interested in have fairly different research interests, so it would be impossible to write a research proposal to fit all of them. Can you apply for CGS-M with a proposal for research that you won't be conducting?

I took the GRE recently and got 164 verbal, 158 quant, and a 4 on writing. I'd like to improve my score because I'm applying to some very competitive programs next year. My writing score was by far my lowest section, but I'm not worried about improving that- I didn't prepare enough last time, and I got about 3 hours of sleep the night before the exam. Not exactly conducive to writing good essays under time constraints. I'm most concerned about improving my quant score. I started off scoring 145-150 on practice tests and now consistently score in the high 150s, but I'm not sure if I'm capable of breaking 160. Ideally, I'd like to score in the low 160s. I only used the 5 lb. book and practice tests to study, so would Magoosh help me raise my score by a few points? Also, how can I improve verbal? I didn't study at all for verbal beyond taking a few practice tests. Is it worth my time to memorize vocabulary lists? I already read quite a few scientific articles and novels, so I don't know if I can improve my comprehension. Is there a way?

I'm a fourth year undergrad thinking of applying to grad school next year. I had intended on applying this year, but I have a pretty big problem with my application. I absolutely bombed my advanced statistics class. By this, I don't mean that I got a B or something- I passed, but I legitimately did very, very poorly in the course. I don't know what happened since I got A's in my other research methods and stats classes. The semester in question was rough overall for a number of reasons, but nothing that I could cite as a legit reason for my performance. I don't think my grade in the class was an accurate representation of my ability, but there's nothing I can do about that. Anyway, I'm not looking to make excuses for my grade. I just want to know if there's any way to salvage my situation. My GPA is still around 3.75, and I'm retaking the stats course now and will most likely get an A this time. Should I try to take some more math/stats courses next year and do well in them? I can add a statistics minor if I take three more classes. Would this help prove that I'm not actually an idiot when it comes to statistical analysis? I can't take my department's graduate statistics courses because space is very limited. Would a really high quant score on the GRE help? I want to apply to clinical, which is why I'm panicking about this. I know that this was probably the most important course in my degree. Is there anything I can do? Or will this be a huge red flag on my application no matter what I do to fix it? I'm starting to think I should just apply to medical school instead, even though I'd really prefer not to.

My university requires students to take two honours seminar courses while we do our thesis to keep us on track. I signed up for the first course, but I withdrew from it because I decided it would be better to take it next semester and finish my thesis over the summer. I now have a W on my transcript. I'm still taking a full course load and it doesn't affect my GPA, but will it look bad on grad school applications? It's my only W. Basically, I withdrew from the course because I realized that my honours thesis needed more time. I'm pretty confident that my project would've been a piece of crap if I had rushed everything just to get it done now. I feel like I made the right decision because I really like my project and now I'll be able to do it justice, but will this affect my application?

Thanks guys! My email was correct and nothing has shown up on my credit card statement, so I'm thinking the registration didn't go through. I'll call tomorrow to check.

I booked my GRE today. Or I think I did, at least. I filled out all of the information correctly, but I haven't received any kind of confirmation. I believe I'm supposed to receive some kind of code. What should I do about this?

I was just wondering if there are any Canadian clinical psychology PhD programs that have bad reputations or should be avoided. I know unaccredited programs can be questionable, but are there any accredited programs that aren't that great?

I'm an undergrad student thinking of applying to clinical psychology programs when I graduate. I have clinical experience and research experience, but the research is problematic. Due to finances/location, I attend a university that has very few clinical faculty. Only one clinical professor takes undergrad students and I'm really not interested in her research at all. Her lab is full anyway. Would it be bad to do my honours thesis in an unrelated area of psychology? Most of my research experience has been in behavioural neuroscience because my department is fairly heavy in neuroscientists, but I could do my thesis in developmental psychology, cognition, perception or behavioural neuroscience. I don't have the option of doing clinical and I know that it will hurt my application, but is it a huge problem?

This is my first post so I apologize in advance if I've done anything wrong! I was planning on taking the GRE next week, but I underestimated the amount of studying I had to do and I don't think I'll be ready. There are no seats available at my location in August (except when I'll be on vacation) so I was thinking of taking the exam on September 10th or 15th. I could probably do okay on the GRE if I crammed for the next week, but not as well as if I had another month and a half of studying. My application deadlines are mostly on December 1st, with a few in January. Is September too late? I'm not overly worried about having to retake the exam because my practice scores are fairly good, but would it be too late if I had to retake the exam in October?