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Terelia

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Terelia last won the day on January 21 2022

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  1. Interesting to hear about your experience/ perspective on working as a RA vs. doing a master's - everything seems so PI dependent!
  2. Personally, I kind of wished that I would have applied to other masters programs as "back-up" plans the first two times I applied. Finding research assistant jobs can be kind of difficult depending on your location and from my experience, you can only get so much out of a research assistant position. A lot of my research assistant positions haven't really gotten past the "surface level" stuff (ie. data collection, participant management/recruitment, etc.). I haven't had that many opportunities to work on papers they way that you likely would in a masters program. However, every supervisor is different so some people may get more opportunities that others. The big upside is that I'm still living at home so I've been able to put away a lot into savings over the last two years which is comforting. I also thinking taking time away from school has been good for me stress-wise and allowed me to appreciate research more because I'm not working to get a "certain grade." With a masters, you're expected to be taking a significant role in a research project and ideally working towards a publication on that project (and maybe others depending on the program/supervisor). You'll also get more experience in statistics through course work and with a thesis - and likely have a good strong reference at the end of the program. The potential downside - it might cost some more $$ and I think depending on the program, it's a bit frowned upon to leave a program after a masters but people change their minds so it's really not the end of the world. Because I'm on my third cycle, I would have likely had a masters this Spring if I would have applied gotten into a masters program immediately after completing my undergrad BUT I couldn't have predicted that two years ago so it is what it is. That's just my experience and my thoughts - I'd love to hear others weigh in on this though!
  3. This is my third time applying. The first time I didn't have any interviews, the second time I was waitlisted but ultimately rejected but remain hopeful for this cycle. My next step after being rejected the first time was the get a research assistant job. I also emailed numerous professors looking to volunteer work on the side. Because of covid, I even emailed professors at universities outside of my province to see if there was any volunteer work available remotely. This actually worked well for me and I was able to do remote volunteer work with a professor in Ontario who ended up being a reference for me this year. I also ended up doing some volunteer work for Kids Help Phone - I don't think that has made any difference on my application but it was a good experience and confirmed my desire for clinical rather than just experimental. In terms of coping, the first time wasn't that bad to cope with for me personally. I was upset but shook it off pretty quickly. I kind of expected the get rejected because I know things are competitive and knew that my application could be stronger. The second time was awful though. I felt miserable for weeks after I got rejected if I'm being honest. My best friend got accepted to a school (which I was very happy about for her) but you can't help but feel a little envious even if you know it's wrong. I also knew she was moving away for school at that point and the prospect of working from home alone for another year while waiting to apply again really sent me spiraling. I did let myself feel upset for a bit but eventually, I just turned my focus to what I could improve on. I made lots of lists of things I could do and just started working through those lists - it helped me to focus on something I could change rather to focus on something I couldn't (easier said then done though - believe me, I get it). I leaned a lot on my family and friends for support when I got rejected and it helped me a lot. Hope something here helps! Feel free to PM me
  4. I haven't heard anything from more than half of the programs I applied to - no informal interviews, no emails, nothing since before the application deadline. I haven't even seen people positing about these programs yet so it is more than likely that they haven't even started sending out interview invites at all. Speaking from previous experience, I didn't get an interview last year until the end of January/early February. I cannot stress enough that it is still so early and that often the process is very POI dependent. It's my third year applying and my biggest advice is to step away from gradcafe (and maybe your inbox/computer too) when you need to. It's exciting to see interview invites but I know it can also be very discouraging. It's a great place to get advice but can also cause some of us to spiral in ways that aren't helpful. Take breaks, go for walks, or try to chat with friends and family about topics not related to school. Hang in there! Your time will come
  5. You make some good points here! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I have answer prepared for why I applied to the particular school so I think I will do a spin-off that and just be aware of how I word things. As an aside, just to help others prepare, I got asked this question at SFU and Calgary last year when I interviewed. The question came directly from the POI during my interviews so it may be a more POI-specific question and not a program-wide question but I still would prepare for this question just in case so you don't feel blindsided if it comes up. EDIT: I think I also got asked this question at York last year but I can't be sure - York was a top choice for me prior to interviewing so it wasn't a question that stressed me out enough to remember.
  6. I assume this may be helpful to others so I'd love to get some feedback and maybe do some brainstorming/get a discussion going in the forum about how people handle the following question: "Is [school] a top choice for you?" or "where does [school] rank for you?" I had this question a few times last year and I hated it. I found that during interviews last year, schools that initially ranked low ended up being higher for me once I learned more about them in the interviews (and vice versa). I think other people would probably agree - the website and initial emails with POIs prior to applications don't necessarily give you the full picture when you're applying. As others can probably understand, I applied to several schools for a reason - I would be happy to go to any of them and know that I might not interview/get accepted at my so-called "top choices." How do people deal with this question? I handled it very poorly last year and felt very caught off-guard when it was asked so I want to be prepared just in case for this year. I don't want to lie but I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot - I assume that professors recognize that I put them down for OGS but not CGS-M (as an example). My thoughts on answers but open to feedback/suggestions: - focus on the positive (ie. what I like about the school/program) - vague language (they can likely see through this, but saying "it ranks highly" or something similar?)
  7. It does seem a bit quiet but I do remember that when I applied last year, I didn't hear from several schools until the last week of January. The waiting is so tough but it is so important that we all remember that its still very early and MANY schools haven't even started sending out invites at all.
  8. School: Western (Clinical Psychology Program) Date of invite: January 10 Date of interview: January 13 (POI: GR) This is a preliminary phone call interview. He said the interview day is February 11th, if I get invited to attend - it's still SUPER early so I suspect if you applied, you will be contacted on a rolling basis until mid-February. This is my 3rd year applying so I know how awful the waiting process is - hang in there. I hope everyone can find some time to step away from you email and gradcafe to look after themselves.
  9. School: York (Clinical-Developmental Psychology Program) Date of invite: January 5 Date of interview: TBD, some time the week of the 24th (with POI: JW), January 28 (open house) It was a direct email for the POI and they said more details would come about the open house. I suspect invites will be coming out on a rolling basis from now until the 28th for York so there's still lots of time if you haven't got one yet! I also received an interview invite for the Developmental Psychology program at Queens just after Christmas (POI: EK) - not directly relevant to this forum but it may be helpful for others who applied to that program. I tried to share as much information as I could so hopefully this helps! Good luck everyone!
  10. I just checked my emails and I submitted my application on the 14th and got my login info on the 16th (of November). It was exactly 2 days apart based on the time I sent it. Maybe contact the grad admin? They may be able to get it to you earlier or you may be able to send things via email. Wishing you luck! Edit: To add to this, I submitted my app on a business day/week day. Perhaps the reason this is delayed is because you submitted on a weekend? So maybe you’ll get it tomorrow?
  11. While I did email everyone I applied to, not everyone responded to me. Additionally, many sent very generic responses back so my email likely had no impact at all anyways. Profs are busy and some profs don't like to exchange emails because they feel it's unfair to the admission process more generally. In the past, I've gotten interviews from professors that haven't responded to my emails or have sent very generic responses to me. Additionally, I've gotten responses from professors who never ended up contacting me for an interview. Putting too much emphasis on initial emails is really not worth the stress. I do think it's a good idea to email in advance just to be sure that they are in fact accepting students (sometimes the website doesn't tell the full story) but otherwise it's certainly not going to ruin your application. I really wouldn't stress about it at this point.
  12. I applied to York last year and am applying again this year. I looked earlier this month and saw December 1st too and then noticed this change last week. You can always contact the admissions department and verify but I do plan to submit my supplementary documents by the 15th and not 1st. In the past the deadline has always been December 15th. I think the fact that you need to submit the payment/create an application through their application portal was confusing for people in the past (ie. they would submit the initial application not realizing they wouldn't get access to the documents portal for several days resulting in late applications). I think this change is their way of clarifying this distinction (although changing the wording partway through November still makes things confusing lol). If you haven't paid the fee yet, I would definitely do that right now because it takes a few days to receive confirmation and access to the portal to actually upload your documents (similar to many other Ontario schools).
  13. Hi again everyone! :) I'm curious if anyone has any insight into applying to more than one program or "stream" at the same university. I am primarily interested in clinical but this is my third round of applications and do want to be open to different programs as backup plans at this point - such as experimental. How is this viewed by the department/future supervisors? Does this look "unfocused" on applications? Just curious if anyone has any insight - I don't want to shoot myself in the foot on my clinical applications just because I list experimental as my second choice.
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