lmk94

Was it mailed or sent through email?

One of the current students at one of my interviews said he heard back February 10th last year, so naturally I’ve been refreshing my email every 3 seconds knowing that the 10th is 3 days away. ? I don’t think my nerves can handle it if the 10th comes and goes!

For sure! I wish this thread was more popular (especially with more Canadians who probably hear back before we do) but it still makes me feel better to see that I'm not the only one that hasn't heard back yet!

I am an international applicant as well and unfortunately haven't heard anything yet. I talked to a current U of T student that applied as international last year, and they said they heard back around February 10th last year. Soo hopefully by the end of this week?!

Hopefully we can get this thread going! I am an American applying to Canadian PhD programs for Psychology/Neuroscience. I applied to several Canadian MSc programs a few years ago, but the funding just wasn't there, so I decided to get a masters in America and reapply for PhD for this cycle. Working out a lot better this time around!

It says "All Documents Received", but I got an email from Robin (the grad coordinator) saying that my application is under review and I should know whether I am selected for an interview by mid-February.

Hi all, I was recently shortlisted to a program that has a bit of a different admissions procedure than what I'm used to. It is an Interdisciplinary Neuroscience PhD program at Western University in London, ON, Canada. Basically, the committee first reviews the applications and determines a shortlist of students that are qualified for PhD study, and then acceptance to the program is conditional upon me securing an advisor. I made it past the initial review, so now I need to find a supervisor. The email stated that "Faculty will have access to your file and may contact you directly; however you are encouraged to contact Faculty whose research is of interest to you". I've so far reached out to my top 4 advisor choices via email; I asked if they were taking students, gave a quick summary of my experience and interests, and attached my CV. It has only been about two days, but I have not yet heard anything. I was wondering if anyone had any additional advice for this sort of procedure, such as how long I should wait for a response before following up. Thanks so much!

I know there aren't many Canadian applicants on this thread, but I just got an email from University of Western Ontario stating that I am conditionally accepted upon me securing a research supervisor!! They said that some supervisors will reach out to qualified accepted students, but they do recommend us being the ones to reach out to potential supervisors as well. I was wondering if anyone here, whether at Western or any other school, is or has been in a similar situation! I've never seen a system like this before.

Since I posted that, I have gotten accepted into two Canadian schools so far ? Glad the admissions committees looked at my entire application — I freaked out for no reason!

I applied to their Neuroscience and Applied Cognitive Science program within the Psychology department and have not heard anything yet!

Congrats on the U of T invite! I will be at recruitment weekend as well. I received an initial schedule from the graduate coordinator that was very vague regarding the interview side of things but had all the information on where everyone was meeting for dinner. I basically had one giant block of time on there that said UTM (where my POI is) and that was it. Then today, I received a follow-up email from my POI with a second schedule that had interview times and lab tours during that UTM time slot. My POI has given me a bit of information about how the process works, but with me being international it may be different. She told me that attending the recruitment event is not required for a successful offer, but it does give the opportunity to get to know everyone better. Apparently official offers from the graduate committee will go out in mid-February, and with me being international, the process at this point is still extremely competitive despite me being invited to recruitment weekend. Based on that language, it sounds like a much better situation for Canadians, so it sounds to me like you're probably in a good spot! Best of luck!

So much for a "non-judgemental" space for PhD applicants. ?

Hi! I was not given too much information about recruitment weekend besides the dates. I know Behavioral Neuroscience and Social Psych are technically both within U of T's Experimental Psych program, but I'm not sure if they handle their recruitment weekends differently. Best of luck to you! I did not apply to McGill but I did apply to Western and have not heard anything yet either.

Stressed to the max right now and just needed to get it off of my chest! I applied to all Canadian PhD programs with a minimum GPA requirement of an 80%. I thought that with my B.A. GPA being a 3.80 and my M.A. GPA being a 3.50, I was more than qualified enough, especially given my 5 years of advanced research experience and several pubs/presentations. Well, one of the schools reached out, and said my M.A. GPA is below their threshold, as a 3.5 is a B+ and apparently in Canada that is considered a 78%. WHAT! Every syllabus I ever received in the states indicated that a 78% is a C, which I have never received in my life. My POI at this university is advocating for me, but now I am super paranoid that a percentage difference between countries may keep me out of graduate school. ? Completely sick to my stomach and just needed to vent it out.

Most of the questions I experienced were pretty normal/expected (explain your previous research projects, what do you expect to get out of graduate school, what types of techniques would you like to learn in my lab, etc). Two questions definitely stand out though: 1. Tell me about a paper that you've read recently that is unrelated to your thesis project. Summarize the rationale, methods, results, and any conclusions, and tell me why you found this paper to be interesting. 2. (and I quote) I see you have done MDMA research in rats, but the literature shows that rats do not self-administer MDMA. How does it make you feel that your project lacks clinical relevance? - she definitely could've asked this question nicer, but I guess be prepared to defend your research! Also, I always struggled with the easiest question, "do you have any questions for me?". I recommend walking into all interviews with a list of quality questions that can asked during this time to avoid awkward silence at the end.

I have been so stressed about this process that I have what I assume to be a stress-induced cystic acne breakout that I haven't experienced since high school. ? My go-to stress reliever is taking indoor cycling classes at the gym, which definitely helps a lot but is only an hour out of my day.

I only interviewed at one school that had me stay with a grad student. She lived with her parents and had a guest room for me to sleep in. Another girl interviewing for the same lab ended up sleeping on a different grad student's couch, though, so it definitely depends on the person that you are staying with. We were both gender matched, but with it being a psych program most students and interviewees were female anyways. I will echo what the other posters have said -- you should definitely email the coordinator if this is making you uneasy.

This is my third time applying, so if I don't get in this time I will likely call it quits for the PhD. I would probably take next year to complete prereqs for Occupational Therapy and give that career path a go.

The best method that worked for me was applying directly through university job boards. If I did find a position on Indeed, I found that I was more successful with getting interviews when I went to the university's website to apply for that same position rather than submitting my application through Indeed. I definitely think I would've had more options if I would've applied in late winter/early spring, but I did manage to land a lab manager position after applying in late summer.

Hi everyone! I figured I would attempt to make a new thread for us, as I feel we don't really fit in to the Psych PhD thread or the Canadian Clinical Psych thread. Hopefully I am not the only one of us Canadian Experimental Psych folks that has been obsessively reading these forums! About me: American student applying to programs for the third time. First round was all American Psych PhD programs that I got rejected from, second round was all master's programs which I got into and will complete this May, and now here I am applying to mainly Canadian Psychology PhD programs (whew). My area of interest within psychology is Behavioral Neuroscience, and I have been doing research in this field in a variety of capacities for 4 years now (undergrad, lab tech, master's student). Programs applied to: University of Toronto, Brock University, University of Guelph, Western University (neuro PhD), and McMaster University (neuro PhD). So far I have been invited to University of Toronto's recruitment weekend (Jan 24&25). Since Guelph, Western, and Mac aren't due until mid-January, I haven't begun to freak out yet. Hopefully this thread takes off so I have some people in a similar situation to talk to!

Finally got my first interview invite! The recruitment weekend for the University of Toronto experimental psychology PhD program (not OISE clinical/counselling) is January 24th & 25th. Felt like this fits better in this thread rather than the Canadian Clinical Psych thread, as my area of interest is not clinical. SO excited!

Well, after a few years of lurking various Grad Cafe threads, I figured my third application cycle (fall '16, fall '17, fall '19) would be a good time to actually start posting things! Three out of my five applications are not even due until mid-January (hooray ??), so I guess I will live vicariously through all of you who are getting invites now ?

This is my third year applying and the anxiety does not get any better as the years go on! First year was exclusively PhD programs (for Fall '16), second year was master's programs (for Fall '17, which I got into and am finishing up now), now trying for PhD again. This is my year, I can feel it! My list: University of Toronto (psych), Brock University (psych), University of Guelph (psych), University of Western Ontario (neuro), McMaster University (neuro) Some of my applications aren't even due until mid-January, so I have a long wait ahead of me! I continue to obsessively read this thread and envy all of the super quick American interview invites...

Hello! I was wondering if anyone here has applied to/heard back from the Psychology department at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. I visited back in October and was told that their "graduate applicant day" is usually held at the end of January. Here we are in the middle of January and I have not yet received an invite (nor have I seen any posts about Brock). Getting nervous!