Na_arf

Congratulations! Did the email come from SSHRC directly, or from your institution? I've wasted so much time this week anxiously checking my emails and it's driving me maddddd.

@logical_emotion I PM'd you!

Hello fellow Canadian! I am currently in a clinical psych master's program in Canada, and there are two other students in my cohort who did not complete a thesis project. They still made it into a very competitive program, and although I wasn't sitting on the admissions committee to say why, I would be willing to bet it was because they had a lot of practical experience working with kids (quite similar to the activities you've listed)! I would recommend applying to a mix if you're feeling really uncertain about your chances, but I have seen it work out for others without thesis experience. Best of luck!!

Thank you! That lines up with what I had set up in my CV so far—I have my practicum experience written in my relevant work section. Also, to clarify, I am currently finishing my master's in clinical psych

Honestly, so many aspects of my grad school experience were so unexpected that I don't really know who could possibly feel completely and totally prepared—and even if one did feel so prepared, I can't imagine them progressing through grad school without once thinking "well, I wasn't ready for that!" I think being "ready" has way more to do with your ability to respond to challenges and adapt to changes. Grad school is one of the first environments where the institutions reallllly remove a lot of the structure we're given in education up until that point in time. I would certainly argue that even undergraduate programs are more structured than graduate programs, although I suppose that might depend on the field. Regardless, success in an undergraduate program does not always translate to success in graduate school. Being able to be independent is important; not in the sense that you will be entirely on your own, but in the sense that you will need to face challenges head on and know when to ask for guidance. Being in grad school is still part of gaining mastery, so no one at this level is expected to have mastered it all, whether that be academically or personally. It sounds like you have already been dealt a lot of life's challenges—sorry to hear that you've had to go through trauma—and have responded in a healthy, productive, and positive way. From what you've described here, I don't believe that your mental health experiences provide evidence of being "not ready." For that reason, I second @Bird Vision's advice to approach these colleagues and ask why they have said what they said, if you a) want the opinion of people who know you in your real life and b) are interested in gaining insight into why, exactly, this "reason" precludes you from being grad-school-ready. However, if you don't see a reason to be concerned, then I don't think asking your peers for clarification will bring anything to light (except maybe their own misconceptions about how "ready" anyone can be for grad school).

Good luck, all! I am a Canadian applicant, looking at clinical PhD programs in Canada. I am finishing up my masters degree this year, haven't taken the GRE yet but have scheduled both the general and the psych subject test for September & October respectively. My dream programs are: 1) UofA: School & Clinical Child Psychology 2) UofT (OISE): School & Clinical Child Psychology 3) Guelph: Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology 4) UBC: Clinical Psychology 5) YorkU: Clinical Developmental Psychology 6) Ryerson: Clinical Psychology I do have volunteer and work experience in positions working with children, but I am curious how I can integrate practicum placement experiences into my application, particularly where it would belong on a CV? And would it be appropriate to get a practicum supervisor to provide a "clinical" reference, or do references for clinic experience need to come from non-academic sources (i.e. work/volunteer supervisors)?

Thanks AP! I agree that, for the most part, just talking to a supervisor should be straightforward and, if there is conflict, other department members can facilitate these types of discussions. I am mostly looking for dialogue that presents the matter as kindly as possible; this supervisor is someone who once said "but you can't, you're my student!?" in protest to a student they were supervising accepting RA work with another professor... meanwhile, my supervisor has absolutely no funding for any of their students, and we have bills to pay. I am interested to know more about why you think I shouldn't suggest someone myself? I think my discomfort arises from the fact that I don't really want to offend my current supervisor, who has a lot on their plate and has tried every step of the way to defend their competence and maintain that they can handle everything that's going on. My thought was that approaching them already having a name in mind allows for me to present it as more than just "I don't trust you to support me on your own;" although that is true, I don't think being that blunt with this particular person would be conducive to a good working relationship. I also wanted to make sure this other professor had the capacity to take on co-supervision next year and I wasn't sure how many students they had already. The situation is bad enough that, if I can't be reasonably sure that I can secure a co-supervisor, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable continuing in the program.

I am entering my second year of my M.Ed. and working with a supervisor who, up until recently, has been very supportive. Due to individual personal issues that happened to each of us this winter & spring, I have made little progress on my thesis. While my personal issue has been resolved, my supervisor's issue continues and they remain largely unavailable for support. Since I am now running out of time, I have had to change my project completely to one that is "easier" and more "doable." While I don't mind this—and, in fact, am appreciative that I still have the ability to complete a project within my area—it has definitely made me wary about my future, given that I intend to apply to continue in this program for my Ph.D. I have a dissertation project in mind that several other professors have deemed interesting and important, and one professor identified its potential to grow quite large (AKA could become a large-scale project and specialty if I continue in academia and research beyond my doctoral program). However, I would want to have the support of my supervisor to encourage me to pursue this project, rather than abandon it for an "easier" project, and lately, their attitude has been quite dismissive. They seem to have lost confidence in me because of this delay, despite also being partly responsible for delaying the project. My current supervisor is both (a) dealing with ongoing personal issues that interfere with their supervisory duties, and (b) essentially the only viable supervisory match for my Ph.D. Due to our previously strong and supportive relationship, it has kind of always been assumed that, if admitted, I will continue my Ph.D. with them. No one else in my department, or even an adjunct department, specializes in or has much experience at all in my area. However, given the events of the last few months and my supervisor's uncertain future, I want to ensure I can be successful by applying to my program with a co-supervisor already indicated. Fortunately, I have done some RA work for a professor who has a lot of experience with a method I am interested in. I approached them and explained my desire to work with them based on their expertise in a method that is less familiar to me and my current supervisor, and they have indicated they are willing to co-supervise my Ph.D. I now need to tackle the difficult task of approaching my current supervisor and explaining why I feel the need to introduce another professor to my supervisory team. TL;DR: My supervisor assumes I will apply to work with them for my Ph.D., but they are going through some serious personal issues and our working relationship has been affected. How can I explain to my current supervisor my desire to apply to my Ph.D. with a co-supervisor when the other professor is not in my field (like, studies-a-completely-opposite-population kind of field), especially since I sought them out less for their expertise and more to ensure I have the support of someone with more stability? And how can I phrase it to minimize any hurt feelings on the part of my current supervisor, who is someone that tends to take things very personally?