VanessaB

They do fund students via scholarships and/or TA/RA work, but funding is not guaranteed, so you may have to work at building connections at first. As students move throughout the program, they get more seniority, so the senior students will get priority over newer students for many of the paid opportunities. I was a little worried about the funding situation when I first started, but with giving it more and more time, in the first calendar year of my program I will have earned just under $21,000. That said, I believe there's someone in my cohort who hasn't received any funding, so the funding varies. Another thing to keep in mind is cost of living. Currently, I'm living in downtown Edmonton in a partially renovated apartment which is well over 700 sq feet, and it has a huge balcony (i.e., maybe around 20 feet long). Each month, I pay just over $1250, which includes indoor heated parking, heat, water, and a guarantee that my cat can stay (yes, he pays rent!). In some other provinces, I'd be living in a tiny box for that price.

Opps, one of the practicums in UAlberta’s SCCP PhD program is school-based and the other is clinical-based (I think I accidentally said they’re both clinical), and there’s definitely a dissertation in the PhD! ?

Both Training is in BOTH school and clinical child psychology Follow the scientist-practitioner model PhD is accredited by the CPA Master-level course work designed to prepare you for the PhD Require full-time enrolment Require min 3.7 for consideration (note: U of A’s website says they’ll take your application if you have a min GPA of 3.0, but realistically it’s rare for someone under a 3.7 to be admitted), but how this average is determined differs by program (i.e., U of A is looking at your last 20 courses and psych GPA whereas U of T takes either the final-year average or the average of the most recent five courses depending on whether a student was in full- or part-time studies) UAlberta SCCP Currently delivered via the Department of Educational Psychology, the Faculty of Education, and the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research MEd and PhD in Educational Psychology, SCCP UAlberta SCCP - MEd Measurement Theory I Practice of School & Clinical Child Psychology Ethical and Professional Issues in Psychological Practice Introduction to Methods of Educational Research Foundations of Psychological Assessment School & Clinical Based Intervention (note: includes practicum in year 1; usually delivering a manualized intervention to children with anxiety in the campus clinic) Quantitative Methods I Individual Psychological Assessment (note: includes practicum in year 2; min of 500 hours in the campus clinic) Adolescent/Child Development Theories and Issues Assessment for Effective Intervention: School and Clinical Applications Assessment for Effective Intervention Practicum (note: includes a continuation of the practicum in year 2 in the campus clinic with an opportunity to do two in-school assessments) Foundations of Child & Adolescent Intervention Thesis Length: 6 sessions (F/W/S + F/W/S, but some people may or may not need the final summer to finish) Time limit: 4 years (but all course work must be completed in the first two years with your cohort) Funding: No guaranteed funding, but students apply for TA and GRA work and for awards UAlberta SCCP - PhD Developmental Psychopathology Advanced Assessment SCCP School Practicum Placement (note: 2 days a week from sept to April in a clinical-based practicum; min of 700 hours between both practicums in PhD) Child/Adolescent Therapy & Intervention SCCP Clinical Practicum Placement (note: 2 days a week from sept to April in a clinical-based practicum; min of 700 hours between both practicums in PhD) History & Systems of Psychology Consultation and Evaluation in School and Clinical Child Psychology Advanced Doctoral Research Seminar Doctoral Statistics Candidacy Examination School & Clinical Child Psychology Internship (note: 1,600-hour placement, normally taken on a full-time basis over the course of a year in the final year of the student's program) Length: 4 years full-time Time limit: unsure, but this could probably be negotiated with your supervisor and the program Funding: No guaranteed fuding, but new and continuing PhD students get priority for TA and GRA work over MEd students UToronto/OISE MA degree Delivered by the school of Graduate Studies and OISE MA and PhD in SCCP (not sure if the degree title also includes Applied Psych and Human Development somewhere) UToronto/OISE SCCP - MA Ethical Issues in Applied Psychology Psychological Assessment of School-Aged Children Psychoeducational Assessment Seminar and Practicum in School-Based Assessment, Consultation, and Intervention (note: the practicum portion consists of 250 hours (one day a week from September to June) and is normally taken in a school setting) Approaches to Psychotherapy-Lifespan Developmental Psychopathology Psychology and Education of Children with Learning Disabilities Intermediate Statistics and Research Design Advanced Social and Emotional Assessment Techniques Cognitive/Affective bases of behaviour from an approved course listing (note: students who have a 1.0 FCE in Cognitive/Affective bases of behaviour at the senior undergraduate level approved by the program may substitute an elective course for this requirement or take Contemporary History and Systems in Human Development and Applied Psychology) Thesis Length: 6 sessions (F/W/S + F/W/S) Time limit: 3 years (unsure if all coursework needs to be done in the first two years like U of A) Funding: Guaranteed funding for first two years UToronto/OISE SCCP - PhD A Foundation of Program Evaluation in Social Sciences Approaches to Psychotherapy Across the Lifespan Seminar and Practicum in Clinical Assessment and Intervention (note: 500 hours and two days a week from September to June and is normally taken in a clinical setting) Psychodiagnostic Systems Assessment and Intervention with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children, Youth, and Families Advanced Proactive Behavioural and Cognitive-Behavioural Interventions OR Psychodynamic Bases of Therapy 1.0 elective full-course equivalent Internship in School and Clinical Child Psychology (note: 1,600-hour placement, normally taken on a full-time basis over the course of a year in the final year of the student's program) Comprehensive Examination Doctoral dissertation Note: Students who are entering with their master’s degree from other programs are required to do additional course work Length: 5 years full-time Time limit: 6 years full-time Funding: First 3 years of PhD is previously funded in the master’s program (otherwise they will fund four full years) For further questions about each program, I suggest having a look over each of the program websites. Either way, both programs will prepare you for research and practice, and both will train you across school and clinical child psychology. It seems each program takes a similar yet different approach. Each program divides up the structure and course content slightly differently between the master-level work and the PhD.

Congrats to whomever posted their acceptance to UAlberta's SCCP program today! If you're planning to attend and you have questions, feel free to reach out! I'll be entering the second year of the program in Fall 2021.

In my most recent undergrad, my advanced research prof told us to apply to at least 10 schools, especially for clinical. I suggest a minimum of 10, but it also depends on your goals, interests, and capacity (e.g., time you have to put together high-quality, focused, and school-specific applications). When I was ready to apply, I only applied to 5 schools because I was looking for something very specific and I was (and still am) anti GRE, so that eliminated a lot of schools. However, most schools require the GRE (or at least they did in pre-Covid times), but that trend may shift as the pandemic continues. All of the things you listed are quite important, but some schools will use GPA first to cut down their applicant pool before looking more closely at your application, so definitely work on your GPA in conjunction with obtaining research and clinical experience. I've heard schools will also look closely at your research and statistics courses, so excellent grades are important in those courses, too. A combination of long-term research, work, and/or volunteer experiences related to clinical psychology is advantageous as many applicants will have some unique combination of these, and you will likely need to write about these experiences in your letters/statements of intent. The fit with the program and research supervisors is very important. Your referees should also be able to speak to specific skills. It's a good idea to scope out who your references will be, and develop strong, close connections with these individuals. Given that I had multiple people I could select from for my referees, depending on the goals of the school and programs, I asked different people to write letters, but depending on where you apply and what your experiences are, you might not take this approach. As well, think about what makes you unique and different from all other applicants applying, and really play up these strengths in your letters. Also, you might want to consider whether you want to do your own research study or if you're okay doing someone else's research. When I reached out to supervisors in my application cycle, one supervisor told me that students usually work on their "partner's projects" so that students finish the program on time. On the other hand, my supervisor now is very flexible and I get to exercise my creativity. She serves as a sounding board as I guide my own learning, which I very much prefer! So, also consider supervisor style and your own learning and professional goals when you consider fit.

Technically, CPA only accredits doctoral programs, so whether or not a graduate program adheres to a firm deadline may depend on whether admittance is done for both the Phd and the masters at the same time or not.

Based on admission timelines last year, provided they’re on track with things, my best guess is maybe decisions will be released at the end of next week.

There's a lot of overlap between the two. With your master's in counselling, I suspect you'd have really strong clinical interviewing skills and therapeutic intervention skills, so I don't think it would look unfocused if phrased carefully.

If you do your master's in counselling psychology, the door won't be closed to clinical psychology. However, the door might be harder to open, especially because most clinical programs reserve their PhD spots for their current masters students. There's a girl who went through our school/clinical child psyc PhD program who did her master's in the counselling field. While studying counselling, she researched a very specific population, which was exactly what her PhD supervisor was researching. So, it is possible to switch your focus, but I'm not sure how common that is. Also, keep in mind some clinical programs will expect you to have completed certain coursework. Thus, if you go the counselling route and have some schools for clinical psych in mind, it would be a good idea to determine what prerequisite courses you need for the clinical PhD and try to take those classes alongside your master's program in counselling.

For UCalgary counselling, they will interview all the shortlisted applicants, and about half of those will get an offer. If someone doesn’t accept their offer, it’s unlikely they’d interview others later on, but I suppose it’s not entirely impossible depending on what happens with offers and the waitlist. For UCalgary school psych, it’s a different process. They don’t interview at all. I got the official offer for the MSc School & Applied Child Psyc program on Feb 7th last year (and informal acceptance via email from a prof in Jan) with no interview. The deadline to accept was March 7, 2020, so I suspect they contact those on the waitlist around mid March.

https://clinicalneurosciences.ca - Anthony C. Ruocco (U of T Clinical) - https://clinicalneurosciences.ca/publications (lots of BPD publications in this lab) https://erinannekaufman.wixsite.com/mappedlab - Erin Kaufman (UWO Clinical - https://erinannekaufman.wixsite.com/mappedlab/publications https://www.tuliplab.ca - Skye Fitzpatrick (YorkU Clinical) - https://www.tuliplab.ca/publications.html https://www.sfu.ca/psychology/research/perl/ - Alexander Chapman (SFU Clinical) - https://www.sfu.ca/psychology/about/people/profiles/alchapma.html

This is a very valid conflict! One of the things that might work is making a pros and cons list for the two schools. This is what I did last year (but with three schools) because I had two offers on the table, but I hadn’t yet heard back from one more program, which was also high on my list due to the specific specialization. I needed to decide if I should accept an offer already on the table, or wait to see if I got an offer to the third school I was waiting to hear back from. Ultimately, by making a pros/cons list for the schools, I realized the best fit for me was a school I already had an offer for. I’m not sure if making a pros/cons list is suitable for everyone, but I can say it definitely helped me sus out some uncertainties and evaluate what was most important to me. It also helped me consider some things I hadn’t yet thought much about. Rejecting a program offer and accepting another can be a scary thing! The decision has a lot of power to change the course of your life.

Not sure how common these ones are, but I also took into account the degree name/type (e.g., MEd v. MA v. MSc) that I thought best reflected my personal and professional identity, and I considered expected course load/balance. Oh, yes, and I also took into account CPA accreditation. Later on, I took into account more factors such as intuition (it just felt right deep down) and level of excitement from different offers when making a final decision.

I'm in the School & Clinical Child Psych (SCCP) program at U of A and there was no interview for that program last year, so I wouldn't stress too much about not hearing back from U of A. I could be wrong, but I imagine the U of A Counselling Psyc program would be similar to SCCP in that they likely don't conduct pre-admission interviews. To put things into perspective, my acceptance for SCCP came on Feb 13, 2020 last year. I had contact with a POI in October 2019, but had no contact with the program between October, 2019 to February, 2020 (when my acceptance came). Given that counselling and SCCP are housed in the same department at U of A, I suspect both programs may have similar timelines.

I know someone who previously got SSHRC funding despite a spelling mistake in their proposal, so I wouldn’t stress too much.

Wow, 3/8 is a lot! 0/8 in my cohort have a graduate degree (but I’m in Alberta not Ontario, so maybe that makes a difference). However, 2/8 in my cohort have more than one undergrad degree.

I personally like being a member because I volunteer as a mentor via their mentorship program, and you do indeed get to learn about upcoming conferences. There’s also some funding opportunities that members can apply for.

Sometimes I read about what other labs at other universities are working on. I’m especially interested in SCCP because that’s my area of study. In my readings, I came across this lab: https://www.academicinterventionlab.com/people. If you read the profiles, at least three individuals in the MA SCCP program at OISE already had their master’s degree before doing their MA at OISE. Looking at that, if you don’t get in, consider that fact that so many of these individuals (not all, but a lot it seems like!) already have graduate degrees prior to entering that program. I don’t think all schools are like this, but just a a heads up if this if your dream school. It seems to me that some students take the route of taking one graduate degree to prepare for another.

You can apply to UVic and take the courses as a post-professional student or whatever they call it now. It might be worth considering if UVic is a top choice for you. It will be semi-expensive, but in my situation I figured I’d do anything for my dreams, even if it meant doing more courses or spending more money. The courses might even be online for you now if you wanted to take them and take them soon, but I lived in Victoria for two months as there were no online options at the time. Side note...I don’t recommend staying in campus townhomes. I’ll spare you the story! Anyways, I did the courses back in the summer of 2018. I spent a summer in Victoria, which was a new experience having lived in Alberta most of my life! I took ED-D 414 (group processes) and ED-D 417 (skills for effective interpersonal communication). I already had the counselling theories class from an Alberta university. I did the two classes as “extra” classes you could say, but the prep in 417 was fantastic, and the instructor was what I’d call a master at her craft. She also occasionally brought in current MA counselling psyc students to talk about the program and answer questions about the program. Ultimately, that experience made me realize that I actually wanted to go into a school/clinical/applied child psychology program and not counselling psychology, so it was a very insightful summer that changed my new career path (I started as a teacher wanting to become a counsellor, but I’m now in my dream program...SCCP). “Trying things on,” so to speak, in Victoria also gave me a chance to see if I’d like living in Victoria and if I liked the courses. I found my group process instructor to be slightly bonkers, and although that wasn’t what ultimately turned me off from counselling psychology altogether, I couldn’t imagine myself in the program part way and at the end of that summer experience. Interestingly, for those wanting to do the UVic program, my counselling skills class was told that being a male can help you get in the program as very few males apply compared to females. I believe the MA in counselling psyc at UVic may still consider you if you’re missing a prerequisite, but I think getting admitted with a missing prerequisite is rare. Between my two classes (ED-D 414 and 417), there was only one student who had been admitted and was required take a course prior to the program start.

Yes, at my school I’m aware that an admissions committee first makes a shortlist and then professors would review those applications in more detail and select from there. I think it’s possible for the professor to want to take a student who did not rank on the shortlist (e.g., maybe they emailed and/or spoke with the prof when contacting schools), but I believe such situations are rare because the professor would need some strong reasons backed by evidence to suggest to the committee why that particular student should be accepted. I’m unaware of the other situation you describe, but I suppose it’s possible. That said, to keep things fair, if professors are making their own shortlists prior to a committee review at some schools, I imagine they’d need to have some standardized criteria in order to assess applicants in a fair and just manner. I don’t think someone could (or should) just say who their top candidates are without any reason or streamlined process for ranking them as such.

I doubt you'd be asked about this, but who knows. If that question comes up, you could approach it from a motivation perspective. You could say you wanted to be able to enjoy the course and learn the content without focusing so much on the final grade. Taking this approach could demonstrate that you're more concerned about learning the material rather than churning out a bunch of 'A' grades for your transcript. It also would show that you're internally motivated and not externally motivated. As for the late withdrawal situation, if the course is outside of your major, you could approach it from the perspective of being openminded and learning or trying new things. You might say that you weren't sure about your interest in the topic or course content at the start of the course, but you wanted to give the course a good go and see, but then after giving it some time you realized that the content or topic just wasn't something you were interested in or passionate about, so you knew or at least suspected you’d underperform on the final because of your low interest.

You may want to take additional courses and/or re-do some classes to increase your GPA. If you do this, when you apply, ask one of your references to tell a story about your improvement and the steps you've taken toward that. Also, you want to make sure you have strong grades in stats and methods courses. Academic performance in these types of courses is often valued by many programs and faculty. While I'm unsure about the specific programs you've listed, as I didn't apply to any of those, some programs will not look at all applications in great detail. Thus, if your GPA falls below a cut point set by the program then your application may not get a thorough review. What some programs will do is look at GPA first to shrink their applicant pool. They're going to be looking for high GPAs because the program wants to be sure students can handle the rigour and they want to be confident that students will not struggle. From there, after looking at GPA, they're going to look at that top group of people in more detail (possibly around 20% of the top people, but I suspect it will depend on each program), so this is where your experiences will help. If you choose to complete an independent study rather than an honours program then keep in the mind that there's a degree of rigour and set of expectations with an honours program whereas an independent project could just be a pile of junk. Many faculty like to see a thesis done within an honours program because of the high degree of expectations that they know come with it. Keeping that in mind, if you choose an independent study/project instead of an honours program, an admissions committee will be curious about the outcomes of that project. Some signs of rigour include submitting your project for publication, publishing your project, any other outcomes of the project (e.g., if it won any awards or got some type of recognition), the standard that was set for you by your project supervisor, the quality of the reference given by your project supervisor, the skills you learned during completion of the project, and your ability to explain in your letters/statements of intent how the project prepared you to undertake graduate studies.

I would think that at most schools an admissions committee would have the final say, but I could be wrong. I've been collecting some information about my own program to pass along to a mentee, and I've learned a few things in the process. For example, I've learned that if a student fell below the typically accepted GPA range, a professor couldn't outright accept that student. For instance, the professor couldn't just say they know the student and would like to work with them. Instead, the professor would need to have specific reasons, including some concrete evidence (e.g., the student retook courses and did much better the second time to show their improvement and their ability to take on a challenging program), for why the program should accept that particular student.

I started SCCP at UAlberta last year and I can confirm that they don’t conduct formal interviews prior to admission decisions. I was not interviewed prior to my admission offer there last year.

I'm not so sure the do-your-degree-in-one-place thing is all that bad. At my most recent undergrad institution, I recall seeing three degrees on a professor's wall that were all from the same university. That particular professor is full professor, has won numerous teaching awards, has been the chair of the psych dept many times over, and is one of the most prolific in terms of publications. That said, personally I think going to another institution can lead to personal and professional growth, but expanding one's horizons, as some would like to put it, is not a prerequisite for a successful career.