Sephix

In this same vain, if you are not good at taking the GRE or have not done well on it, but are stronger overall (minus the GRE), you are a HIGHER chance of getting in to a program (if all the other pieces are good such as fit and interest etc. etc. etc.) - This year sucks for those who use the GRE to help strengthen their application...

Schools are very tight-lipped about next year because they have no idea on what the world will look like. Given there is a projection for vaccines to be given out by the end of this year (however unlikely), they are probably going to keep the same measures in place - however I do not have any evidence for this. In terms of competitiveness, it should be similar to this year as if they do decide to remove the GRE for another year, then expect similar numbers. From what I heard from a few schools and that twitter post above, the number of applicants has been staggering, however the number of applicants invited to interview, have also been higher!

There is ALOT of time still! Some schools will be sending out invites in to mid and some even late February. In terms of your other question, this is a really unfortunate time with the pandemic and all, but if you have any connections to research labs or faculty who you have worked with in the past OR know of your work, I would get in touch with them and ask to do some research with them in their lab - the ultimate goal being trying to get a conference poster and maybe even a publication submitted by the next round of applications. Schools care about GPA of course, but research output is just as important! Also, I presume GREs will become a factor again come next cycle and can help make-up for your GPA if that is a concern as some schools value the GRE quite heavily. My GPA was not the best, but my GRE scores were quite strong and that helped me get more interest from schools that otherwise would have turned me down Feel free to DM me and we can chat further so as to not takeaway from the purpose of this forum

I am hearing some students are starting to hear from the GPA at SFU which is great! Please don't panic if you don't hear today - you have all week it is a lengthy process as some faculty and grad students have already responded to the GPA and whichever student was associated with those members, will have probably received an email - sit tight! PS: this is quite similar to other schools where the process is rolling and so if you hear some students getting a response, it doesn't mean you won't get a response. I had some schools respond to me early and some quite late --- there is too much going on at these schools during this period.

Hey All, SFU, I hear are planning to invite students for interviews shortly and WILL be sending this information out next week - Tuesday is the deadline for interviewers to confirm and then between Wed and Fri you should hear (prob Thurs or Fri to be safe) IF people have questions about their interviewers - don't hesitate to ask. I will check this on occasion to pass info as per every year I am still waiting to hear from peers at other schools about their system and will inform once I find out. Good luck! Seph

For those who had interviews at SFU both Skype and in-person, my sources tell me that they are having their clinical meeting on Thursday this week to deliberate who they want to give offers to and who will be wait-listed. I am presuming they will do a top 3/4 but you will NOT be told where you are on the wait-list (and will have to wait until Apr 15th at the latest to know your fate, if that is the case). After this week, they will compile the list and hopefully, *fingers crossed, by next Friday, the 15th, you will know your immediate fate for SFU. Most schools follow a similar format after interviews - Ontario schools like Windsor will invite you to an open house (which is their way of saying you got in). York has been perpetually bad at getting stuff out - I would recommend contacting them directly. Ryerson is still active...their open is coming up as stated by several people above AND, they will also have about a 2 week turn around. Concordia will go in to March. Queens, I have to ask a few people. Western is still interviewing...they have an in-house interview thing this Friday.

Just gonna throw one more point here because the conversation went in this direction: Selecting new tenure-tracked professors as your person of choice is great if you want to publish a lot and make yourself competitive for funding and future post-doc/ tenure tracked positions but it is absolutely horrible in the application stage/selection stage because those professors have the LEAST power in picking who they want. The department dictates it so much more and they can only hope (*fingers crossed) that they get the student they wanted. This was the case with BT at UViC for the last couple years and it was definitely attempted at SFU and UBC with new profs...there are also other political issues but that's an afterthought for now. If you select tenured prof, more than likely, they have the majority say on who they want however, they are less likely to do a lot of publishing so that may hurt your funding and future career opportunities if you have a deep desire to be a prof etc. However, this can be avoided by doing research with a bunch of people during the program...which...GOOD LUCK as it is not easy given you are so freaking busy :) This isn't to scare anyone, I just wanted to share what I have heard...THIS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CASE :) Good luck at interviews for those who have gotten them!

Yes from what I understand they have sent out invites and rejections however, if you haven't received a rejection, it could mean they may hold on to your application for a potential 2nd round of interviews...uncommon but it does happen!

SFU invites have I believe all been sent out! My understanding is that Skype interview offers were sent out yesterday so if you have not heard from SFU yet, I am truly sorry but don't fret if you only applied to SFU, definitely try again the next year!. One note, I know one of the profs received nearly 60 applications from which they probably invited 3...and some profs invited 6 ...so honestly, it is luck of the draw! ...I know that prof that received the 60, will prob invite a ton more next year so my point is, definitely email your POIs in advance and if that is not possible, know that the number of invites changes from year to year ...and then the number students they accept changes too, some years they take 1 student, some none and some 2-3. If you have any questions about your upcoming interviews at UBC/SFU, feel free to give me a shout as per I will do my best to give you some insight

My sources are UBC said they haven't confirmed anything yet but it looks like mid Feb is when they will have their interviews... so wait and see I guess.

SFU confirmed interview date is Feb 1st - I hope you will all hear by Friday this week if not next Friday the latest because they should provide you with 2 weeks notice to get to SFU Regards

I also wanted to add that SFU in particular usually does their interview last Friday in January however given they lost a week due to the late start (Thurs Jan 3), you guys will find out this week by the 11th, 18th absolute latest as to if you got an interview. With this logic, interviews will be Feb 1st and NOT Jan 25th. I hope this helps...I hear there is a new grad advisor now so that's why timings also been off

Being an applicant last year, this process is horrendous so if anyone has any questions about the Western schools, please don't hesitate to ask as I am a current clinical student and could provide some insight I did my ugrad at SFU so do PM your POI and I can provide some insight but I also know the UBC and UVic profs as well

Only in rare situations that it gets rejected after the POI and committee and put your name forward. ALSO, officially rejected from UVIC and Ryerson ... good riddance!

Hey, From what I understand, you will know at midnight Apr 1st eastern time for all of the schools - this is what I was told