Sharbar

Does anybody know how to actually accept the award???

It's really so dependent on who the POI's first choice candidate decides to do. Typically, faculty will submit two names (sometimes three) as a shortlist, and their first choice gets the offer fo admission. If the candidate decides to accept an offer from a different school and rejects the offer in question, then the alternate (the waitlisted individual) will get admitted. Sometimes, towards the end of the application cycle, if not all the spots are filled in the program, a POI may decide to admit their first choice as well as their alternate. This happened in my lab! So, things CAN happen fairly quickly, but it can also be a little while before you have your final answer. I know people who have been accepted in both instances (CGS-M and for OGS). If you're able to secure your own external funding, there is a small chance you could get accepted even if you were initially rejected! Always worth letting your POI know Thank you for clarifying! Breathed a small sigh of relief that I wasn't misinformed and in turn, misinforming other people!

I've always been told that only clinical psychologists can engage in those acts, and it largely has to do with competence and the areas of training a program offers in order for you to be able to declare an area of competency. A part of this is because *typically* (there obviously may be exceptions to this depending on how the program is built) other psychology graduate programs don't train you adequately enough for competence in diagnosis and assessment. Counselling psychology programs typically focus on systems perspectives that traditionally don't see much utility in diagnosis whereas clinical psychology programs do, by virtue of its theoretical orientation. It would be possible for a counselling psychologist make diagnoses and do formal assessments/interpretations if they've had extensive practicum experience doing these things, but because counselling psychology programs typically don't offer as much formal training in this nor with the same amount of rigour as clinical psychology programs, it may be a natural consequence that a someone coming out of a counselling psychology program is unable declare these things as their competencies. Graduates of all clinical psychology programs are expected to be able to do assessments and diagnoses whereas graduates of counselling psychology programs are not. Keep in mind that counselling psych and clinical psych have different orientations and focus so the training will be tailored differently, which then lends itself to different areas of competencies. Take everything I say with a grain of salt however, because it's possible that I may have been misinformed ! I don't think that changes the crux of the message though: give due consideration to what it is that you want to do and how you want to be informed in your practice. Hope this helps!

It really depends on what you want to end up doing in terms of clinical practice. Like the others have said, in terms of providing psychotherapy, there may not be huge differences. HOWEVER, if you wanted to do any formal assessment/diagnostic work in your clinical work, you would have to be a C.Psych which means you need to have graduated from a clinical psychology program. Counselling psychologists are not permitted to do any assessment/diagnostic work (unless it's in school psych and you're working with children and doing assessment/diagnosis around learning disabilities and such). Diagnosis of DSM disorders is regulated in Canada and only clinical psychologists and medical doctors are permitted to do this. There may also be differences in your mode of training. As the others have said, clinical psychology tends to focus on psychopathology. Counselling psychology tends to deal with systems theories and focus on that more so than psychopathology. Accordingly, training in a clinical psychology program may equip you better to work with most clinical populations than counselling psychology programs (which trend to be geared towards working with more problems in adjustments/daily living/relationships). Yes, research fit is important, but you should also give serious consideration to what your ultimate goal is, because the two degrees, though similar, will get you different end results and opportunities.

I think it's always good practice to email your POI to let them know personally that you're accepting the offer. The POI will obviously find out sooner or later because he/she will have been informed by the program so they can let their alternate (if any) know that the space has been filled. Once you accept the offer, you'll get a formal acceptance letter and likely a welcome package along with emails to the email account that you applied with, with instructions on how to set up an email account, what to do once you've accepted etc. The school won't leave you hanging the last step: enjoy the heck out of your last summer free because you'll wonder what hit you in September!

I believe first round of offers were sent out earlier this week and all the faculty concluded their interviews a couple of weeks ago

TBH, I could not imagine going directly into a PhD program. A master's program prepares you for the amount of work that you will need to put into your dissertation. A PhD proposal and defence is obviously held to a higher standard, and to go into it without having experienced what it's like would be challenging. However, if you have experience in a research-based master's where you had to go through the process, then it'll probably be okay! Just keep in mind that a clinical psychology program is demanding because of programs' expectations for you to do everything other masters/phd students do regarding research, but you have more coursework and practicum expectations over and above that. A masters will prime you for all of this and ease you into it, where as jumping into a phd might be a bit of a rude awakening. Having said that, if the program has bee specifically tailored for you to jump right into the PhD, maybe it won't be so bad! It wouldn't be a bad idea to talk to some of the current students in that program and get their take on it. Hope this helps!

Have confidence in where your training has gotten you thus far. Everybody in the program will feel similarly to how you feel regardless of their previous training (if they don't feel it now, they will feel it shortly after the program starts). I was in a similar boat as you (I started my program last year) - I'm definitely older with a course-based master's in counselling and a few years of working first in research, then as a psychotherapist. The POIs have gone through so many cycles of interviews and offers that they generally have a good sense of who will succeed and who won't. If you've been accepted, then clearly, they see potential in you! This is especially true if you've been accepted into multiple programs. Don't settle for a counselling degree unless you feel like clinical work is all you want to be doing with no assessments/diagnoses; that was the most limiting thing for me as a psychotherapist and the reason why I wanted to pursue more schooling even though, technically, I already had a career. You'll kick yourself later for settling later. Lots of people have children while they're in their training. It's a long training process and most programs are understanding of the fact that LIFE GOES ON OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL!!! In fact, I know several people in my program who not only have a child, but have multiple children under the age of 5. You make it work! Re POI, I'm not sure what your criteria for having chosen the POI you did as your #1, but again, it's a long program and you should prioritize fit in terms of personality as well as research. I also know people whose dissertation defences have been delayed because of interpersonal issues with their advisors. Remember, this is the person who will guide your professional and educational development for the next FIVE YEARS minimum (not including residency in PhD6). They could be the most brilliant and accomplished of them all, but if they don't give you adequate support, then it'll only be challenging for you. I know that was a bit long winded, but hope this helped! feel free to DM me if you want to chat further and congratulations!

I’m so sorry to hear that it certainly doesn’t look like it’s an issue with a lacklustre CV for you - you have quite a bit of experience. like what the others had said, emailing POIs ahead of time (I emailed mid September) asking if they’ll be taking on students, briefly describing your research interest and experience would be a big help. I also attached a copy of my CV in that initial email for their convenience. With the profs that did get back to me with, I also inquired about their future directions for research to show my level of interest. I’ve also been told that for certain programs, it doesn’t look good if you list too many POIs in your application as it may show a lack of focus (unless they’re doing similar research. I say this cautiously because listing only one would be riskier, and all the POIs I contacted recommended listing more than one (though i was accepted into a school where I only listed one POI against her recommendation). if you know anyone in programs already, it may not be a bad idea to ask them for a copy of their SOP to get a better idea of what successful applications look like, and also have them read over yours when you’re done. It’s possible that it was a matter of fit re research interests for you and your POIs. I’ve been told from a previous cycle’s POI that there was just someone else who was marginally a better fit than I was - so it’s very cohort (of your application cycle) dependent as well. Lastly, I’m not sure where you’re applying to, but have you considered broadening your net? If you’re gung ho about getting in as your only goal, then this may be something to seriously consider if you haven’t done so already. A lot of people apply only to ‘it’ schools (ie York, Ryerson, Victoria, UBC) primarily becaise of its location, larger programs etc. I think given that there are so few clinical psychology programs in the country, every program will be fairly competitive but the ‘it’ schools definitely have more competition than some of the other schools in the county (ie prairie or maritime schools). A lot of the current grad students I had spoken to in the past have said something to the effect of “if X was teaching in the Yukon, I would’ve gone there”. POIs and admissions committees have been through so many cycles that they’re pretty good at picking up on whether the applicant is sincere and serious about them vs only applying for the location, convenience, etc (this is certainly not to imply you are not sincere or serious about applying!!) sorry about the essay of response here. Hope this helps!

If you were interviewed it likely means that your POI extended an offer to someone and you’ve been waitlisted for admission if that person declines. Best of luck!

If you were shortlisted it might be possible the decision is still pending. I wasn’t invited for an interview

If anyone was curious about Waterloo, they just sent out their rejection emails!

To echo those who wrote above, it might be your best bet to take a couple of years to gain some research experience. It will not only help with your CV but also see whether research is something you do enjoy doing - a lot of people think they like research until they realize the competitiveness of securing funding, the grind of collecting data, the (usually) long process of getting things published etc... You may find that clinical psychology isn’t for you because the training is a scientist-practitioner based model, and you prefer to do clinical work instead, in which case a counselling degree might be more appropriate. A lot of undergrad students pursue clinical psychology because of the prestige and also because they simply don’t realize that there are other mental health professions out there they could pursue. Anyway, I digress. in terms of publications, it’ll be difficult for you to get anything academic published on your own without the support (I.e coauthorship) of a PI who holds a publication history and usually a PhD. Also, not all RAs get authorship in all labs even if they’re the ones collecting the data as authorships also can be a competitive thing. Also, being an RA does NOT mean that you get to do your own research in most labs - those are research students. RAs are usually responsible REB applications, data collection, participant recruitment, supporting grant submissions etc., ergo “research ASSISTANTS”. To this end it might be more beneficial for you to contact a professor at an academic institution you have access to and ask them if they might take you on as a volunteer research student. i assume that you are wanting to apply to a Canadian program since you graduated from UoT (university of Toronto?). Having an honours thesis will definitely be to your advantage. I think the above poster’s situation is a bit unique in that it’s not common to simply get publications without doing an honours thesis at the undergraduate level. If you don’t have an honours thesis then the program may require you to do some additional course work before starting the masters level coursework. Because Of the limited number of Canadian programs, only “cream of the crop” applicants whose interests align with the POI are usually the ones admitted - most will have an honours thesis. So you can see how not having one might be to your disadvantage. Don’t lose hope though! It’s a competitive process and it may take a few rounds but if you’re persistent and continue to work on your CV, you’ll find the school and POI that are a good fit for you. Good luck!

Just received email from POI that I’ve been recommended for admission and I’ll be receiving an official offer in the mail shortly this group seriously kept me sane through my insane anxiety. Thank you all ?

As I continue to stew in my anxiety, I’m wondering generally how long profs take to get back to their interviewees post interviews?? Its been a week since my clinical suitability interview and I’m dying to know ??