Neurophilic

If that were the case, you would've just cracked open the application process. Like a motherload cheat for the sims, but for grad school LOL. In this scenario, why apply for grad school at all if you can just apply to RA in a lab, and then assume you'd come out with a PhD? Again, I'm a Canadian applicant so no idea if this is the wave in the states at all (you could be very much right). I have no hard feelings what so ever towards these supervisors and they were great mentors that prepared me for the next stage in my life nonetheless!

Hi! I think this is a great thread to have up and running, as I feel like we all have a few individual learning experiences that would be helpful to share for those applying next cycle.
In terms of background, I think it would be important to keep in mind that I am a Canadian applicant, so although I think what I have to say is pretty transferrable for all types of applicants, it might be different for those in the US/other countries. I also didn't apply to any Counseling/PsyD programs, and only applied to PhD Clinical Psychology programs. This was my first time applying; I applied to five schools and interviewed at two of them. I ended up with rejections from 4/5 schools and acceptance from one, which was my top choice so I accepted there without any hesitation. It was a pretty crazy ride but I think I learned a lot of valuable lessons that have really changed my perspective on the whole application process (for the better). See below:
I echo @FeministPsychologist here and will say again that: rejections do not determine your self-worth and are not indicative of your potential, like at all. The fact that many Psychology applicants are rejected at multiple schools before being accepted somewhere speaks to this - capability is not mutually exclusive with rejection. The entire application process is so dependent on luck and at the end of the day, it all depends on how well you mesh with one person (i.e., your POI). Just because the fit's not there with them, doesn't mean that other supervisors would also feel the same way. The minute I stopped taking rejections so easily, my mental health surrounding the process was at such a better place. To all applicants applying next round, please remember this. Rejections happen to all of us, and will most likely happen given the competitive nature of this field. Shake each rejection off and don't take it personally - there are reasons why it didn't work out and those reasons could be anywhere from lack of funding at that school to your POI having someone else in mind from the get-go (which happen so often). Literally, look yourself in the mirror and say "rejections don't define me" until it sticks, LOL. Apply to as many schools and POIs as you can without sacrificing too much of your research interests.  This. Some would think I'm absolutely crazy for only applying to five schools (one POI at each lol), but unfortunately, my research area is extremely niche and I applied to the only schools in Canada that had researchers in my field. I ended up lucking out, however, there was a LOT of anxiety when 4/5 schools rejected me and my fate was hanging on one school LOL. This was extremely stressful, to say the least, so I recommend applying to as many schools as you can. However, I really don't recommend forfeiting your interests or making them so malleable that you lose what you really care about. Grad school is a long ride my friends, and it would suck to study something you don't care about. Which brings me to my next point... Make sure you REALLY want it before you apply. This application process is way too stressful to just do it to do it... If this wasn't the only career path I wanted, I would've opted out so quick LOL. Especially for clinical applicants, make sure your goals can't be achieved by pursuing other degrees like social work etc before applying. Make sure that the specific aims of a PhD Clinical Psychology program are what you really, really want. I think a lot of people go into these PhD programs with the thought process of that they can only work with clinical populations or deliver therapy with a Clinical Psych degree and that is so not true. If being a clinician is all you care about, opt for a psychotherapy program that's literally half the amount of years/effort. Your wallet and psyche will thank you, haha. This one (aside from the first) was probably the biggest lesson I learned - just because you know your POI personally, does not mean they owe you anything. At a few of the schools I applied to, I had already worked with the POI previously and developed a good working (and personal) relationship. I interviewed with some of them (ended up being rejected) and wasn't even given an interview opportunity by one of them. This was really hard for me to swallow at first, and made me doubt everything. If someone who knew me didn't want me, how would I get in with anyone else? But the thing is, just because you dedicated some volunteer time at a POI's lab doesn't mean they owe you anything - not even a second glance at your application. With an application process as competitive as this, that's literally just not possible to expect them to forfeit spots from other capable applicants to you, just because you already have a working relationship. Again, with the rejection piece, so many factors roll into this. They've already mentored you, so it's possible that they think there's nothing else to teach you. Or, simply, they just vibed with another applicant better. At the end of the day, each of these supervisors wrote and edited my SOPs as well as my funding applications, and all my references. They wouldn't have done that if they didn't think I was capable. As soon as I realized that, I stopped beating myself up. However, this was a really important piece to helping me re-conceptualize the entire application process. Ok, rant over haha. At the end of the day, this is an extremely crazy and stressful process. Make sure you really want it before you apply and as said before, congratulate yourself for each application and each day you don't go crazy LOL. You can do this! 

Sending warmth and positive vibes to everyone who has been going through this process! This was my second round of applications and while I am so grateful and excited about my acceptance this year, I know how incredibly painful a process it can be  Congratulations to those who have received their acceptances, and to those who may be waiting or will be applying again next year, I'm sending strength your way!! Keep your hopes up!! It's not over until it's over  
School: York University
Concentration: Clinical Psychology 
Type: MA
Date of acceptance: Unofficially March 25, 2019; Officially March 27, 2019
Notified by: Call from POI on March 25, 2019, and received official offer letter from Graduate Program Secretary March 27, 2019
Any other York folks out there??

Yo I believe!!  Sending you good vibes! Fingers crossed for ya

Happy news to share on my end...I got off the waitlist!! Official offer came through today and I am over the moon with excitement and relief and disbelief. There were many times I thought it wouldn't pan out, and I was mentally preparing to put myself through a second attempt, but it all did work out with time! 
Thanks to everyone here for all of the camaraderie and peer support on this crazy heck of a ride.  You all are amazing, and I know everyone here will go out and do so much good for the world. For those on the wait-list: hang in there!! Nothing makes the waiting easier or any less agonizing, but I can now say from experience that people really do get off the wait-list, so just know that not all is over yet!  The finish line is near - as April 15th inches closer, I hope everyone hears back good news soon and that we all end up in the right place. ?
 
 

I’m still waiting for McGill. The secretary told me decisions should be out by Friday. 

I’m still waiting for McGill. The secretary told me decisions should be out by Friday. 

Has anyone else here (or lurking this thread) been accepted to Ryerson? If so, feel free to PM me - always nice to see who will be in your cohort  Best of luck here to everyone else still figuring things out - I believe in you guys! 

Come back as a veteran in a year or two and prove those five schools wrong. Best of luck @higaisha!

I've heard of a few offers and some rejections for the NP area. Might be good to reach out to your POIs now so you can hear about the decision instead of anticlimatically finding out on MyFIle. Best of luck to you @Neurophilic and to everyone else!!

5/5 down for rejections, who wants to have a misery party? See y'all next cycle
Jokes aside, I'm happy I made it as far as I did, applying to the top POIs at the top schools in Canada straight out of undergrad and still getting a few interviews. My GREs were pretty crap, none of my refs were even clinical psychologists and I had 0 connections to most of my PIs. Gonna take this time to retake GREs, build up my research, and smash the next cycle next year (or just wait two years depending on my job). I said I'd be upfront about rejections, so if you're feeling down about yours, just know everything happens for a reason and now wasn't your time--but next year/two years might be.  LOVE U CANADA THREADDDD

Hey guys, for those of you asking about Concordia. I just got a call from my POI and she said the letters on their way - i.e. official emails it seems will be sent out over the next few days- definitely by beginning of next week I would presume. 
If you are anxiously waiting to hear back, just remember that if you don't get an email that doesn't mean you wont be admitted. Not everyone will accept their offer!
Best of luck!
 

Hey! Congratulations on your interview, that's so exciting!! Take a second and appreciate yourself - it's impressive that you were contacted this early on for a lab coordinator position AND at such a prestigious institute! Good for you, those programs are missing out ;). I also would like to take this time as well to say that it's completely okay to strike out on your first round of applications, especially if you were right out of undergrad. I've heard it's pretty typical for this to happen and in fact, most PI's I've talked to prefer someone that's more seasoned (i.e., been out of undergrad for longer) because they tend to be a) more mature and serious about their studies and b) have more experience. This is again not to say that you are at all not competent, but more so to show you how far you can grow on your time off! I'm actually in the same boat (chose to work for a year as a lab manager then applied), and I can say that this job was instrumental in securing me an acceptance this year.
As for interviews for a lab manager position, I definitely can give you some solid insight as I myself went through this a year ago. My supervisor made me go through two rounds of interviews - one with him, and then with two of his grad students. When I met with him via Skype, he asked me research-oriented questions (e.g., tell me about your thesis, what are you interested in, why my lab etc...). Then he proceeded to ask me interpersonal-esque questions, which I think people often forget about but are SO important. He specifically asked me how I deal with lots of pressure, what I look like when I'm stressed (which I thought was weird but now after doing this for a year I understand), and if I can (and how specifically) compartmentalize aspects of the job that are difficult. Again, these questions perhaps were asked specifically because his lab is in mood disorders and my job requires me to do a LOT of clinical interviews which can be really overbearing. Lab coordinators, in general, go through a lot of pressure (you're legit the glue that holds a lab together), so I think my PI (and yours probably) wants to know that they can have someone who they can rely on even when things seem to be going crazy. I would say to maybe expect some questions like this, and to maybe even give some anecdotes about how you work well under stress and what you do to compartmentalize (again could be different if your area isn't Clinical/mood disorders).
The interview with the grad students was pretty chill, more-so a formality so he could make sure that his lab would get along with me. Questions again were pretty interpersonal-related, asking me about any work-place difficulties I've had, how I solved them, how I would deal with management issues among RA's etc. They want to look for someone who's capable of delegating and being a leader, but also won't go on a crazy power-trip when they're given that much "power". I would say a BIG part of the job is hiring/training/interacting with RA's so they just in general want to make sure you have stellar interpersonal skills.
I'm sorry if this was a novel but I hope some of this was helpful! Feel free to PM me with any questions about the interview/tips on the job - happy to help! Goodluck

Savages lmao

Just checked UOZone and got “refused” LOL, couldn’t even spare me the rejection email ? Congrats to all who were accepted!!

Just heard from the secretary at York who said that faculty are making decisions this week and I will know my status by Friday. Not that it will matter since I already have accepted another offer and know that one of the POIs at York has extended an offer that was accepted and the others are not taking students. BUT maybe this info will be helpful to others still waiting to hear!

@allrejectedQueen’s people - add me to the list! At least they were nice enough to say good luck elsewhere lmfao

Officially accepted my offer to Uvic!! Such a weight off my shoulders and am so excited for what is to come next! Just wanted to thank everyone so much for their support and help throughout this process! I wish everyone all the best

It is habitual. 4 years later...I'm still here (periodically). It is also intrinsically motivating to help out fellow Canadian applicants!   

Thanks! They are indeed different departments but it seems like they have similar deadlines. I currently work for a lab in the clinical department at McGill and have noticed that people were still coming in for interviews just this week. Best of luck to you!

FYI some offers have begun to trickle out from York across both the C and CD areas

Just received my official acceptance to Windsor for Child Clinical! I am beyond excited and looking forward to meeting everyone at the open house on the 8th!
Thank you all for being such a supportive group. I really appreciate how lovely everyone on this thread has been throughout this whole godforsaken process ❤️ To all of you that have gotten in somewhere, congratulations! You've earned it! And to everyone still waiting, do not lose faith in yourself, you're all awesome candidates! 

Hey everyone!
I hope everyone is keeping their chin up. 
I myself have officially accepted my offer to Ryerson (feeling relieved and grateful)!
If anyone else has accepted, or is planning to accept and wants to dm me please do! I'm sure we met on interview day and it would be cool to chat!

Hey everyone I officially accepted one of my offers.. I know it's not common to do so early but I think the program is amazing and so is the supervisor! I previously said I got OGS at Ottawa, so whoever is on the waitlist for scholarships and the program I hope you get what you want! (I haven't received a program acceptance but if I do, good luck)! 

I haven’t heard anything officially.  My POI did say no news means she is still considering my application and offers should be made next month.