Mickey26

I think given there's no right way to write a personal statement, you'll see a bunch of variation. Myself as a mentor, and my supervisor actually prefer that applicants don't go into specifics for each research project. Rather, we prefer if applicants give as a taste of what skills they learned in each project (e.g., "I demonstrated collaboration skills by working in a cross-cultural team in X Country on Project Y" , b/c you can then elaborate on your specific projects during interviews. If there is 1 project that ties REALLY well into the faculty member's interests, then yes, briefly mention it (and I mean VERY brief. Like "I examined X variable, and its association with Y variable). Just my 2 cents though!

School: University of Toronto (Scarborough)
Type: Clinical (MA/PhD)
Date of invite: December 13th
Type of invite: Email from POI (appears to be preliminary)
Interview date(s): December 16th
DM for POI: Yes
Posted on the Fall 2021 invites but may be more relevant in the Canada thread 

Here's my understanding of how my admission process worked...

1 - The applications are briefly pre-screened to check for minimum requirements and then these applications are forwarded to the faculty member(s) mentioned in the letters as POIs. 
2 - The POIs review them and then reach out to candidates they would like to interview (other programs have a "formal" interview day, sometimes with meeting multiple faculty, former students). I just interviewed one-on-one with my POI in early Feb. 
3 - the POI will send their top pick(s) to the admission committee. The committee deliberates and debates which POIs should be getting a candidate that cycle and look at the top applicant apps in closer detail. Sometimes you have a POI who really wants to take you but there isn't space that year (this happened to me in application attempts #1 & 2). This happened in Feb-early March. 
4 - my POI contacted me again to say that I was a top pick and the final decision about my acceptance rested with the admission committee depending on funding. 
5 - an official email came through the portal indicating that a decision had been made regarding my application. It linked to my acceptance letter, which came the first week of March. 
This was my experience at OISE, I hope it helps a bit!
 

School: University of Delaware
Type: Clinical PhD
Date of invite: December 8
Type of invite: Email from POI for (preliminary) Zoom interview
Interview date(s): December 10
DM for POI: Yes
Seeing the results section populated but not here--lets get this going! 

Current Dal student here
(Online) Interviews will be held Dec 16. I'm not sure when notification go out though re: interviews, but Dal traditionally does things earlier/acceptances go out as early as Dec.
Good luck to all applicants! 

Current Dal student here
(Online) Interviews will be held Dec 16. I'm not sure when notification go out though re: interviews, but Dal traditionally does things earlier/acceptances go out as early as Dec.
Good luck to all applicants! 

Thank you so much! Now that I am submitting applications, some of them don't even have a slot for submitting GRE scores. I just thought I'd let you guys know

So the Psy.D program at memorial is not taking a cohort on this year, in case anyone was interested in that program. 

Unfortunately its very very unclear this app season. and every department is doing its on GRE thing (not required but accepted, not accepted at all, etc). Its best to email the department and ask (although I'm not sure how much insight youll get on weighting of GRE scores ? )

Note: this is my opinion only LOL
I actually just asked my PhD Supervisor this last week and he laughed and said memberships are lowkey useless. If you're involved in a leadership capacity within an organization (student chair, student rep etc), then yes its useful. CPA membership is useful when your a clinician as you get a discount on insurance. I have a CPA membership and the only thing I got out of it was a MindPad publication. Also discounts on CPA conference but we'll see how things are with COVID disrupting in-person confs.

I feel incredibly blessed to be at York. It has a lot of benefits. Namely:
1) The faculty are amazing. They're incredibly supportive, and everything has a very collaborative approach and feel to it. For example, if I'm having difficulty with stats, there's not only a statistical consulting group that I can contact, but I would also feel completely comfortable emailing any of my past stats professors to meet and chat. The professors are really clearly teaching because they love teaching, and it truly shows in how they lay out their courses and interact with their students. Each prof I've had feels less like an instructor, and more like a mentor. I really truly feel like they care about us, and not only our learning experience, but also our well-being and personally as well.
2) For therapy, York takes on a client-centered approach. This means that when we start learning therapy, we do so from a more humanistic approach; learning how to respond empathically, make reflections to deepen the client's experiencing, etc. For our first client especially, this is really pushed hard onto us, and though it was sort of hard to see it at the time, this was really the best decision I think York could have made for us. After your first client (and even during your first client, but to a lesser extent), you're encouraged to use integrative approaches, depending on the needs of the client. Because of this, I actually think York students get a much more solid foundation, and much more rounded background- we get bits and pieces of EFT, CBT, and DBT, but all within a client-centered framework. Doing therapy now during practicum, I find, it's much easier to connect with clients even when doing more structured therapy like CBT, and I find that because of that foundation, I'm more able to notice alliance ruptures or therapy resistance, and have the skills to know how to fix those ruptures or address that resistance before they become an issue, in a way that the client will respond well to.
3) Related to your concern about making connections and friends- I've actually found the opposite. The cohorts are generally between 6-8 students, and so especially in the first 3 years, you're basically constantly around those people. Of course, now with covid, classes are online and so that may have an impact on how cohorts will bond- but personally, I've never had a better, or closer group of friends than the ones I've made in my cohort. I kind of feel like everyone knows everyone within the faculty- it's very, very easy to make friends. Some cohorts are not as close as others, and that's okay; but there are so many groups, so many ways to get involved, and also just so many opportunities to get together with your cohort or other students, it's really easy to make friends and connections.
In terms of living in Toronto, it really depends. I'm from a smaller town, and I'm definitely more of a small-town person. But even so, I enjoy Toronto. Rent is expensive, and that sucks. But there are definitely places available within everyone's budget (especially now, with rent decreases), and a lot of things to do. The one downside(?) to York is that because it's a commuter school, a lot of people in grad programs don't live on residency. In general, York's residences are just less abundant than other schools. Most grad students live mid-town as it has reasonable rent, is fairly walkable, and has direct access to the subway onto campus!
It sounds cheesy, but my friends and I constantly talk about how lucky we are to all be at York. I legitimately can't recommend it enough.

Hi everyone,
I'm a current clinical psychology PhD student at York university. If anyone has any questions related to the program, or any York-specific questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them- feel free to message me, or just reply in-thread. 
This is such an exciting time for all of you; keep your heads up- it's worth it!

Note: this is my opinion only LOL
I actually just asked my PhD Supervisor this last week and he laughed and said memberships are lowkey useless. If you're involved in a leadership capacity within an organization (student chair, student rep etc), then yes its useful. CPA membership is useful when your a clinician as you get a discount on insurance. I have a CPA membership and the only thing I got out of it was a MindPad publication. Also discounts on CPA conference but we'll see how things are with COVID disrupting in-person confs.

No limit. It's part of their job  (don't worry I still feel guilty asking for like 10+ ref letters a year LOL but rest assured that's part of the duties they signed up for haha)

No limit. It's part of their job  (don't worry I still feel guilty asking for like 10+ ref letters a year LOL but rest assured that's part of the duties they signed up for haha)

I realize that this is probably a year when more people apply due to current circumstances, but please try to not get too anxious about it. It helps to put things into perspective: sometimes people see a down employment market and tend to flock to grad schools, but it does not mean that all new candidates are ready, have enough experience or have narrowed down their interests sufficiently to be a real competition to folks who are on their second or third cycle, after a lot of experience in the field. I'm not trying to downplay how competitive it is, but I know many people who are not a good match for grad school and just apply as a "hail Mary" because they don't know what else to do right now or parents are pushing them in that direction.
The competition has slightly increased, but don't let that get to you too much - the application process can weight heavily on our mental health and the current situation just maximizes a lot of worries. 
I would think of it this way - your own achievements, interests and fit are the ones that will get you into the program. Sometimes POIs turn down all applicants in a year because they couldn't find someone compatible, so no sense in comparing yourself to someone else.
Also, having an increased pool of candidates also means that your future colleagues will be capable, competitive peers and that you can challenge each other and grow together. 
Take care!

You can def email grad students to connect. We are more then happy to help.
Sincerely, a current grad student

That's unusual. I've never heard of it being AFTER apps are due. Might be due to funding/pandemic impacts to research, including with current students (eg extending students a year, etc). Thats unfortunate sorry

Ask your referees. Its very idiosyncratic. General rule of thumb is a minimum 1 mth heads up, which one of my referees subscribed to. My other just wanted 2 weeks heads up. So ask them to confirm what their preferences are.

You want to apply for as much funding as humanely possible. You are always more competitive when you've noted that you applied to funding, be it CGSM, OGS, what have you. But please dont lie on your application--be honest. Don't say you applied to CGSM for say, York, if you didn't.

My understanding of OGS is that it encompasses all the Ontario schools you apply to, thus no limit. But I applied two yrs ago, things may have changed. Additionally, I only applied to 1 Ontario school so.
I was strategic with CGSM. I picked two of my top ranked/dreams schools, and then a lower tier one just in case. 
CGSM is federal so should be more competitive, theoretically? Honestly it depends on the applicants you are up against, additionally with chance and luck as unknown factors. 

Dal is NOT requiring GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. 
See under "GRE Scores" https://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/graduate/psychology-and-neuroscience/admissions/how-to-apply.html

Dalhousie University is NOT requiring GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. 
See under "GRE Scores" https://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/graduate/psychology-and-neuroscience/admissions/how-to-apply.html

Dal is NOT requiring GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. 
See under "GRE Scores" https://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/graduate/psychology-and-neuroscience/admissions/how-to-apply.html

Dal is NOT requiring GRE scores for the upcoming application cycle. 
See under "GRE Scores" https://www.dal.ca/academics/programs/graduate/psychology-and-neuroscience/admissions/how-to-apply.html