VanessaB

I know this is the clinical form, but I see some other people on here also applied to some counselling programs, so I thought I'd let you know a few important things. The University of Saskatchewan is no longer offering intake to their School and Counselling Psychology program for the 2020-2021 school year. Unfortunately, they let prospective applicants know (via their website update only ?) that they are no longer going forward with the 2020 intake. Due to the late delivery of this program update, I had already submitted my application materials to them including my letter of intent and resume. Some of my references had already submitted their recommendations too. ?‍♀️ I hope others aren't in the same boat. Thankfully I applied to four other schools, and U of S wasn't my top pick, so ?for some good news in the new year.

I asked a current faculty member at the post secondary where I did my most recent degree. She said that the committee for the SSHRC funding and the admission committee for each grad program are basically two separate entities. More or less, this is why you sometimes encounter people who were waitlisted for a program, but then got SSHRC funding, and the program let them in. Sometimes, even if you get SSHRC funding, if the program waitlists or rejects you to begin with, that program doesn't necessarily have to provide a spot for you. With that I mind, I do know of a girl who was waitlisted for a program, she later found out she got SSHRC funding, and when she informed the school about it she was happily welcomed into their program. When I spoke with someone at OISE a few months back, they basically just told me that if you don't apply for SSHRC funding prior to admission, it's expected that students apply for this funding once admitted into a program. In a way, this makes sense because at that point you know who your supervisor is and you will likely have a better grasp of the project you will do, but each to their own; do what works for you!

Hi all, I applied to the following programs for the Fall 2020 intake: University of Alberta - MEd in School and Clinical Child Psychology University of Toronto (OISE) - MA in School and Clinical Child Psychology University of Saskatchewan - MEd in School and Counselling Psychology University of Calgary - MSc in School and Applied Child Psychology Mount Saint Vincent University - MA in School Psychology This is my first (and hopefully last) time applying. I will be turning 33 before the start of the Fall 2020 semester, so I'm itching to get going. Everything I have done over the last few years has been completed with the goal of going to graduate school in mind, so my fingers are crossed! I'm most interested in the U of A and U of T programs because training in school psychology is combined with clinical training, but honestly at this point in my life I would be happy to go to any graduate school that wants me! I'm also most interested in the schools (and respective supervisors) who are most open to an arts-based thesis project. None of the schools I applied to required the GRE. However, I was interested in UBC's School and Applied Child Psychology program at one point, especially since they recently updated their curriculum, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth the time, stress, and money to write the GRE for one school. If I don't get in to any programs this intake, I will reconsider my decision not to write the GRE. I have three undergraduate degrees. All of my degrees are from Canadian universities. I have a BA in Honours Psychology, a BEd in Drama Education with a minor in Science Education, and a BFA in Dramatic Arts. The BA was awarded in 2019 and the BEd and BFA degrees were awarded in 2011. From my most recent degree, my Psychology GPA was 4.0/4.0 and my cumulative GPA was 3.94/4.0. My cumulative GPA for my BEd was also 3.94/4.0 and my cumulative GPA for the BFA was 3.69/4.0. Regarding applied work and volunteer experience, I believe this is the strongest part of my application. I am approaching the ten-year mark for being a certified teacher in the province of Alberta, so I have worn many hats in the field of education. I have also volunteered as a Research Assistant for over two years and worked as a Research Assistant for about half a year. As well, I have over three years of crisis line experience, two years of peer mental health education experience, two years of mentoring experience, and around two years of event planning/coordination experience. I've also previously worked in other school-related roles. For instance, I was a School Program Coordinator for a museum at one point in my life and I when I was younger, for a brief period of time, I used to travel to daycares and schools when I worked as a Storyteller. Currently, I work for a university in the area of post-secondary recruitment, so I facilitate a lot of school visits, on- and off-campus presentations, and one-on-one and group meetings. While I don't teach full time anymore, I substitute teach where my recruitment schedule permits. In terms of the weakest part of my application, I don't have any publications. However, I do have one conference presentation and I have one article (based on my thesis project) that has just gone through the peer-review process. Also, I'm currently helping my former honours supervisor with some statistical re-analyses, but whether or not that results in a publication remains to be seen. That being said, after doing some exploring and reading on various program websites, some programs like the one at the U of A aren't concerned about publications, so hopefully other universities will look beyond that weaker part of my application. If anyone is in Calgary and wants to meet another fellow nerd, please do get in touch! Or, if anyone has any advice or suggestions, please do let me know. Thanks! Vanessa