chopper.wife

What was your writing score? I have heard from many faculty members that they look primarily at this and otherwise at publications/research experience & GPA. I am not sure how that applies to American schools though, as my experience is mostly with Canadian schools. I don't think you have a poor score though and you may benefit from devoting the time to research more than GRE studying.

I am in a similar boat as you and have a quick question -- are you starting now to wrap up projects in your lab? I'm in a bit of a weird position since I am going from being the Lab Coordinator to being a graduate student in the same lab I am working in. I am motivated to not carry forward the tasks associated with my coordinator role over into grad school. Just trying to figure out how people are transitioning out of old roles and back into a student role and looking for any advice in doing this as smoothly as possible!

Similar to others on here, I didn't have my path sorted out for a while. Did my first degree in an unrelated field, graduating at 22, then decided to pursue a second degree in psych kind of at random when I was 24. Ended up totally loving it and became focused on research and the possibility of graduate programs. Graduated with my psych degree at 27 and will start in fall 2019 at 28. Envious of those who found their path so young and are starting a program much younger than I am, but definitely grateful for the opportunities ahead that graduate school will have to offer!

Congrats!! I may be wrong about who your POI is, but I know a new faculty member came in at OISE near the end of this cycle, and so he got to extend offers (even to those who were initially rejected). If I am correct and that is your POI, I have heard nothing but wonderful things about him and you would certainly benefit from working with a early career researcher like him. However, getting input from other students is really important, as @Willy36 mentioned, and you won't be able to get any feedback on what this POI is like as a mentor being that they are brand new and have never supervised students of their own. If I am wrong about this being a brand new faculty member at OISE, feel free to dismiss what I have said haha!

Congrats!! Next step would be accepting it and notifying your POI, and I think that's it! I don't think that's true. They don't expect you to do what you proposed for the most part. I believe it would only be an issue if you started on research that falls under CIHR or NSERC rather than SSHRC.

I just waited forever to log in to mine and finally got through! I got an offer for the SSHRC from u of c, but not sure if that means all other schools will have offers up by now as well? Good luck everyone!!!

I agree with both of you... I also just wanted to say that I feel like it is exceedingly unfair for a POI to do this to you... you had to wait months in uncertainty about not only whether you would get an interview/offer/funding/etc., but also whether you would potentially have to uproot your life and move somewhere else...

Yes, 7 days!! I got an email last week saying my CGS-M application status changed and nearly had a heart attack, but all it changed to was "Received by administrator"

It depends what you are hoping to do after schooling... I have heard of places being completely unwilling to hire anyone coming from Adler and it is widely regarded as a "degree mill" with low standards of admission and training. I would strongly recommend you apply to more reputable programs. That being said, I know of one clinician working private practice who went to Adler and she is quite successful, but I would argue she is more of a "business woman" than a psychologist... I just think you will miss a lot of opportunities that reputable programs have to offer and that will help your success in the long run.

Congrats on the accepted offer! So exciting to know where you will be going !

I think you need to decide what kind of mentorship you are looking for. It sounds to me like you don’t want a hands-off PI though? Some people actually thrive in a more independent situation, others want a lot of support, and further others want something in-between. Take some time to consider what works best for you and whether that PI fits with what you want. If he does not fit with what you are looking for, i would be very cautious about working with this PI. Students often don’t speak all that negatively about their PI’s even if there are serious concerns, the issues usually lie in what they don’t say (if that makes sense). So the fact that they brought up lack of support as a concern is definitely a red flag to me. I also want to mention that since you just want to practice, you may actually be better suited for a counselling program anyways. You will get training in assessment and treatment in these programs.

haha yes ok, fair! I think I was thinking of my situation of never having interviewed with a POI aside from emails before applying. Have thought about reaching out to ask why I didn't make the cut but don't really know how/who to ask about it since I never interviewed.

Can't tell if you're being serious but also curious if this is a thing people do!?

Yeah I got an e-mail from "SGS Graduate Admission Application" saying a decision had been made and then checked my portal. It seems like I got my e-mail later than @rosieejoh did, so not sure if they are sending out this e-mail as a mass rejection and I just didn't get it right away, or if they are going through the list one-by-one. Hopefully you not hearing anything yet means you're still in the running though!

Disregard my above message! Just got a rejection from OISE SCCP myself!

Agh, so sorry to hear and sending good vibes your way. Did you get an e-mail or just check the portal?

I got an official letter a few days after an unofficial offer from my POI for one school, and a letter outlining funding/that I was being recommended for admission to the dean about 2 weeks after an unofficial e-mail offer form my POI from another school. I think if you got an offer from your POI that made it clear they were offering you a spot, you can tell others and celebrate regardless! I know some schools take 3+ weeks before official letters are sent.

I know you're likely only talking about Ontario, but I'm pretty sure in BC you cannot diagnose with a counselling psych degree. Could be mistaken though, but just wanting to say that it definitely is not a misconception across the board, it just depends on what province you're in. Edit: I actually think I might be wrong about this now that I am looking into it!

Kind of unrelated to this thread but also kind of related -- anyone going to SRCD this year? I'll be alone in Baltimore for a few days and would be happy to hang out with one of you awesome individuals!

Congrats on your admissions, that is great! As for the difference, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I think the lines are slowly blurring bewteen the two, with those in counselling wanting more severe psychopathology training and those in clinical wanting certain elements of counselling training. I'm sure you know the broad differences between the two already. I know that regardless of degree level, counselling tends to be less focused on severe psychopathology in favour of more general life problems/stress and their correlates. Despite the two overlapping, however, they are still pretty different in their core approaches from what I have been told. Also echoing what @gillis_55 has said above, I think you should go with the better research fit. If you are studying what you are interested in and seek out opportunities within the program/practica for exposure to the population you are interested in, you will get to where you want and be happier along the way!

Just heard from the secretary at York who said that faculty are making decisions this week and I will know my status by Friday. Not that it will matter since I already have accepted another offer and know that one of the POIs at York has extended an offer that was accepted and the others are not taking students. BUT maybe this info will be helpful to others still waiting to hear!

Thank you! Super relieved and hope you all get some relief soon as well. Haha! I am still checking it a weird amount despite accepting... I think it might be habitual now yikes!!

Sooooo I have officially accepted my offer to the University of Calgary. Still going to creep on this forum though to see what happens with everyone else/cheer you on! Also excited to see what happens with CGS-M for everyone. It has been so nice being a part of such a supportive, kind, and compassionate community! Can't tell you how much I have appreciated it during such stressful times.

Sorry to hear but thank you for the heads up. Likely about to be rejected myself, bahhh! Congrats on making it this far in the process though, that is significant in and of itself!

may be biased since I am likely attending my undergrad institution... so take this with a grain of salt, but I don’t think this is the case if you are applying for an academic position outside your alma mater. I know of multiple faculty members who attended the same institution for their graduate degree as their undergrad degree. I’d argue post-docs are an opportunity to diversify, and you’re going to have to do multiple post-docs anyways if you want an academic position. With that being said, it certainly is better in some ways for students to attend new institutions to get exposure to new researchers and labs as well as opportunities for a wider network. It’s just about what’s best for you as a student, and sometimes the best program for you is the same place you did your undergrad. I would just go with your gut and attend the place that you fit well with. You’ll do better quality research if you’re happy with where you are & interested in the research you’re doing, which will, in the long run, be what matters most IMO!