Clinicalh0peful

Hi everyone!
I’ve been lurking forever, but I just accepted my offer to the clinical psych program at Western. If anyone else on here is also going to be at Western I’d love to connect before starting in the fall!?

Hello! I did this last year, but instead of emailing the professor specifically I emailed the graduate secretaries, asking them if they could point me in the right direction of who would be best to ask. I feel like some POIs might answer, but some might consider it annoying, so I'd rather not get a response from the secretary than annoy the professor I want to work with. Additionally, in some departments it may be the graduate coordinator of the program who is most likely to answer those questions, depending on how they go about their decisions. I was very unassuming in my emails, said (more eloquently) hey, my application was unsuccessful this year, I am very interested in the program and plan on reapplying, if it were possible to get feedback from someone in the department I would very much appreciate it; of course I know you receive many applications so if this is not a possibility I completely understand blah blah blah. I got feedback from two places with this method; it was general, but it helped a bit.

Hey everyone I officially accepted one of my offers.. I know it's not common to do so early but I think the program is amazing and so is the supervisor! I previously said I got OGS at Ottawa, so whoever is on the waitlist for scholarships and the program I hope you get what you want! (I haven't received a program acceptance but if I do, good luck)! 

Hi all! I hope everyone is well during this super busy and stressful time. I was hoping to get a little insight from this wonderful group. This is my second time applying to clinical psych programs and things are not looking particularly good in terms of receiving an acceptance for Fall 2019. Last year I received a waitlist offer and this year I had two interviews. I graduated this past June (e.g., class of 2018) and I feel this enormous pressure to start grad school as soon as possible, and oftentimes feel like I am "behind" in some way, especially in light of some recent rejections. Is there anyone here that took several years off/applied several times to get into clinical? Overall, I am feeling incredibly defeated and hopeless at the moment. 
Feel free to PM me if that is more comfortable for you. Thanks in advance everyone! 

Hey all,
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this but I figured I'd try. I have received acceptances to two clinical psychology programs in Canada. I find that there is a much better research and program fit with one of the programs, but the funding discrepancy between program A and B accumulates to about $50,000 over the course of 6 years. Now, fortunately, the lower-funding program has openly encouraged negotiations with them. Does anybody know how to go about doing this, and politely? I sort of fell in love with the campus and the program when I went for interview day and would love to attend there, but quality-of-life and student loans are a substantial consideration. Should I be clear that I am willing to work more for the funding (whether it be more GAships or other)? Also, can I mention PhD funding as apart of the negotiation? My offer of admission mentions the funding minimum for the first 3 years of the PhD but says more details will be given if I am accepted into the PhD. However, given that they state in their application that they expect students to continue on to the PhD there, it seems reasonable to negotiate the funding contingent on my acceptance (since once I'm there, I'm stuck). But I don't know if this is appropriate.
Sorry, I just feel as though I am up a creek without a paddle here. Nobody in my close or even semi-close friends/family circle has gone to graduate school so I have no idea how this stuff works. I realize this may also be insensitive given that some people on this thread are still waiting to hear back (and I recognize that this is ultimately a good problem to have) - If this isn't the right thread or there is a better one I can delete this post and repost it elsewhere.
Thanks in advance!

To add on to Neurophilic, in my final year I took 2 courses first semester and 3 courses second semester. I had taken courses in the summer, so I still graduated in 4 years, but received acceptance to two programs this year. I was never questioned about it in interviews. Given that LOTS of first-year Master's students are 25, 26, 27, etc... I don't see why they would care how quickly you got your undergraduate degree done! If you do 4 courses a semester and it takes you an extra year and you get better grades and retain more information, I'd say that's the way to go. My understanding is that most people apply more than once anyway, so usually even if people aren't taking 5 years to complete their degree, they're taking a year off in between anyway (as I did). Hope that is helpful!

To add on to Neurophilic, in my final year I took 2 courses first semester and 3 courses second semester. I had taken courses in the summer, so I still graduated in 4 years, but received acceptance to two programs this year. I was never questioned about it in interviews. Given that LOTS of first-year Master's students are 25, 26, 27, etc... I don't see why they would care how quickly you got your undergraduate degree done! If you do 4 courses a semester and it takes you an extra year and you get better grades and retain more information, I'd say that's the way to go. My understanding is that most people apply more than once anyway, so usually even if people aren't taking 5 years to complete their degree, they're taking a year off in between anyway (as I did). Hope that is helpful!