SoundofSilence

Thanks for sharing! We kind of knew from last year that Dal moves pretty fast. Also, your choice of locations is very interesting, you really like being near the ocean, don't you ? Those are absolutely awesome GRE scores btw!! Hopefully things start to pick up and we get to hear some more news this week (and the next). Best of luck!

+1 on the steamer. definitely lifesaver!

Yes! the verbal offer is definitely a "legit" thing :)) Many POIs do this in order to assure you and maybe entice you to come to their program before some other POI steals you away Of course, every other poster here is right. You are under no obligation to accept anything until april. Also, you don't have to/ should not accept on the spot. You need to see the funding offer and/or wait for news from your other applications. However, I personally think it's ok to share with family/ close friends. I doubt it is a "trick" of some sort. I know this process makes us all a bit paranoid (been there multiple times these couples of weeks haha). My own experience this year has been that a verbal offer turned into one on paper, it just took a bit longer to receive the official one from the department and the POI wanted to let me know in advance. So congrats! And don't fret too much, this process is anxiety inducing enough.

I had a friend that had a small nose stud. She opted to take out for interviews (as to not give rise to any questions or distract from her application in any way). Then after she was accepted, she put it back in and kept it throughout school. I believe she will consider it again once applications for placements/ internships start. It can be an option. However, if you believe you want to present yourself as authentically as possible, you could keep it on. The same thing is true for industry interviews as well - for business/ more formal events others have advised me to cover tattoos or others piercings in other to appear more "professional". Just my own opinion though.

Yes, if you haven't been bugging them every day, you should definitely send a reminder. I agree with JoePianist - faculty committees are more lenient when it comes to one of their own However, do ask if your letter writer has received the appropriate links to access the platform etc., just in case it's a technical thing or the notification is in spam (especially if they have already submitted the others letters). Best of luck!

Wow, we are receiving UBC news quite soon this application season! One of the interview invites posted the POI initials on the Results page and I noticed that another poster received an invite for the 31st. Do people really interview on the 31st? it might be the european in me talking, but I don't know anyone doing any serious work tomorrow :)) UBC is a dream program with the dream lab for me, but I am aware it is quite a reach.. so not very hopeful, it seems there is such a small chance of even getting an interview

Thank you! To be completely honest, I was thrilled the first two days, then it went down hill from there :)) I then realized that although the program and the POI are both great, I might not have enough funding so I have to scramble to apply to extra scholarships and fellowships. So back to research proposals, essays and chasing down references.? Also, I totally get the feeling with US schools - I see how fast they move and I keep thinking that I won't get any doctoral program interviews this season and it's bumming me out. Best of luck, hoping third is the charm for you! Happy Holidays! ??

Hello everyone! It's been a little quiet on the Canadian clinical thread so I thought I would give it a little bump to keep it relevant for January (and on the first page ) . I finally managed to get all my ducks (and references :)) ) in a row and applied to a final list of 9 clinical psych programs and 1 master's with strong research training. To my surprise, the master's program moved quite swiftly and I had in very short order an informal email chat, then an interview and finally an offer All in the span of about 10 days. I still can't believe it. This is my second year applying and hopefully I have learned some useful lessons from last year Enough babbling. I am looking forward to being with you all for this new app season and hope things will remain as supportive and as positive as they have been in the past. Wishing you all peaceful holidays and great success in the year to come! ?

To add to this - of course, having a 3.0 GPA might not look too good for a selection committee, unless there are other factors that could bump up your academic record. For example, having a high psych major GPA (if you double majored in something difficult that would bring your GPA down). Also, having a master's could change things. Some universities have policies regarding the GPA for the last two years of study (if your last two years are 3.5 or better that would be good) or having excellent grades in a master's program would bring the GPA calculation up. So the specifics matter, and you can still have a shot to improve and be competitive for graduate admission.

Gaaah what is it with ETS and sending scores to Canadian schools this year? Last year everybody got them in like a week, two weeks was the max. This year after a month and a half programs say they will use the unofficial scores until the official arrive because they still haven't received them.

No worries, I believe most of us are pretty antsy at this point To answer your question - I would not get in touch with the POI unless you have something specific and relevant to ask. Even then, I would keep it short. The POI knows who you are, clearly is interested in you, they won't forget you if you don't communicate much in the meantime. I would send a thank you note for the interview invite (if you haven't already) to let them know how excited you are and appreciate the consideration of your application. If you still want to keep an open line to her/ him, you could ask about: reading about their most recent research/ not yet published or getting in touch with some of their grad students. Hope this helps, best of luck!

Hello there, I am currently applying. Given that the prompt says a statement "in which you describe your research interests and how they relate to the potential thesis supervisors you have listed" my guess is that you should definitely include (and make clear enough) how your choice of POI fits in with your overall interests. Since it's a small space anyway, I would leave it at a couple of phrases/ up to one paragraph, to make sure you have enough left to highlight..well, your highlights This is only my opinion and I don't have any direct info from the program.

Just a quick heads-up here: grad programs require that you mention on your application and send transcripts from all institutions attended. I even had a couple ask me directly on the application if I was ever dismissed from a program, on probation or whether I dropped it. I'm not saying don't leave the master's, just make sure you have a good sense of what you would say in this case and how it appears on your transcript from that institution. Oh and I agree with other posters, you can definitely get into a PhD program without a master's but with relevant research experience. Best of luck!

Thank you for your response! It's a medical research master's, but affiliated with the clinical psych program. And it does have a mentorship model, due to the strong research training offered. The thing is, I have in my statement that I want to work with Dr. X and I am applying because of my interest in her work. So I don't know, would a different POI read that and be like - yes, let's interview this person although it doesn't mention me? I might be a bit too frustrated since I'm an international as well and this process has been quite consuming and expensive as it is. I should have had multiple "backups" lol

Gaaaah... this just happened to me. A week after the deadline which is almost infuriating. Also, it's my back-up master's program... So I corresponded briefly with the POI in late September and they said they are taking a student, encouraging me to apply, keeping an eye on my application, you know the drill. I was quite happy since she is well-known and has collaborations with other clinical programs so even if I didn't continue there with the PhD, I would have a better chance after the master's. Well.. this Wednesday rolls around and POI emails me and says "I have decided that I will not be taking on a new student" and puts me in contact with a different POI with slightly different area of research that is "potentially looking to take on a new graduate student in the coming year", which is very confusing. I say thank you and promptly contact this new POI to see if we have compatible research interests.. and he does not respond. I'm at a loss for words. This was my back-up (since it's a master's) but a really nice program overall. And this application was expensive and energy consuming (many essays, they require separate scholarship applications, they are the only ones who wanted both electronic and hard copy reference letters, etc.) I understand that changes happen, but still.. What do you think? Did this POI realize I'm not competitive for their lab after all? Did this happen to anyone else? Should I just give up and withdraw my application (the admin coordinator mass emailed that we still have some scholarships essays to do etc. and it feels like a waste of time). Sorry for the long rant.

I don't know much about the Social department. I do know that the Clinical one is not accepting internationals this year, that's why I asked. For OGS you should be able to apply through the department - check with the grad admin for more information. I think you need a student visa once they start distributing funds to you (which is in the fall). The department should consider you for scholarships and fellowships where you are eligible based on your application. So if they confirmed, you are fine. Unfortunately, I do not have any databases or other resources for funding It really depends on location and university in particular. Best of luck!

Hey there, So funding as an international is quite tricky. We don't qualify for most funding sources. We do qualify for OGS - but the application depends on the program, and it has to be in Ontario - so maybe for your Toronto school. May I ask which program? We also qualify for some university specific scholarships/fellowships (if you have good GPA, GREs, research, etc.) - this is highly dependent on the university though. From what I hear, most internationals work as RAs and TAs and get funded through that since the visa allows for (some limited) work on campus in these capacities. Maybe someone else can chip in with something I've omitted.

Thank you both for your input! So it seems around 6 is a good mean, that's good to know. Applications do take a lot out of you so it makes sense not to apply to too many. Also it's been sort of difficult finding many more matches for research. I have 6 schools on my list that I am really interested in, and a couple of maybe-matches, from which I will pick one or two. Hopefully it will be enough. Fingers crossed

To how many places are people applying (in Canada)? I had 4 programs last year, all rejections, and somehow I feel this year I need to apply to at least 6+ to increase chances for an interview. What do you guys&gals think?

Everything you are looking for is included in the Fall 2020 Clinical & Counseling PhD/PsyD thread. It's only US schools (since Canda has a separate thread) and yes includes some counseling programs, but it would be sort of funny to discriminate against counseling folk Aren't interview invites posted there as well? I guess you could do an interview only thread, but it might overlap with the original one that already has 11 pages.

That's a difficult situation, sorry to hear that I would report to ETS, maybe they can give you other accommodations. Regarding applications - most have a section where you can add additional information, If you feel that your credentials and any other information you have already provided does not represent you fairly. So you can definitely mention it there. If not, the SOP or other parts of the application could be relevant for this. The only thing I would mention is that most programs prefer scores over the 50th percentile.

Hello, I finally received access but it took over 10 days, maybe there were technical issues. Please note that you don't need to have your statement ready to apply to Ottawa - you first submit a general application with your information (name, education, etc.), pay the fee, and then you get access to the place where you upload the statement. Hope this helps!

Hello all, It's a little quiet around here, hope all your apps are going well For those familiar with Ottawa's application - how long did it take you to get access to uoZone portal? I finished the first part (and paid the fee) last week and I still haven't received the email to access the uoZone where I'm supposed to upload the supporting documents. Thanks!

You can always try contacting the Grad Admin person for that department. I've emailed quite a few POIs and a few of them replied fast, some of them took quite a long time and some didn't reply at all. Some of them emailed back saying they don't know yet and they will decide when they see the applications or when they secure funding. So you never know. I think emailing the department might get you a faster response. And if it's your dream lab/ POI, I would say give it a try and apply unless you are certain they are not taking any students. Otherwise you might regret it.

Just wanted to say a quick thank you for your advice. I sent a couple of follow-ups to POIs that really interest me, so I know for sure whether I should bother applying or not. We will see whether they reply. Thanks again!