emsmith

Just got email from Lakehead POI and was accepted with funding!!
I didn't apply to external funding as I discovered this POI after scholarship deadlines, so overall funding isn't that high for 1st year Masters. Would welcome any DMs and/or advice re: funding. 

School: University of Calgary
Type: Clinical Psychology Masters/PhD
Acceptance/Waitlist/Rejection: Acceptance
Type of Notification: Email from POI (informal acceptance)
Date Notified: 2/10/21
DM for POI: Yes
** will be accepting**
 
 
School: University of Calgary
Type: School and Applied Child Psychology (SACP)
Acceptance/Waitlist/Rejection: Acceptance
Type of Notification: Email from grad program admin
Date Notified: 2/5/21
DM for POI: Yes
 

I would agree with what others have said that yes it is definitely a good sign.
In terms of tips, speaking as a current grad student who has interviewed applicants, it's really important to be yourself and try to be as personable as possible in a meeting with fellow grad students. Show your personality a bit (ideally do this during regular interviews too) but if you fall into rehearsed sorts of statements about yourself, the meeting can fall flat. Also being able to engage with people and establish rapport is super important clinically as well, so if you're meeting with someone and failing to have that, it can have broader negative implications on your potential as a graduate student above and beyond program fit. Of course, ask informative and meaningful questions, but balance it out with personality and humour and normal conversational things.
In my experience, I have met with students before who did the opposite, and while exceptionally capable and being strong applicants, they ended up being ranked lower from the grad students perspective (and this probably played into committee decisions as well) because of their weakness in establishing rapport. 
Really important to remember when you get past that first cut and make it to the interview stage, now its about YOU and why you're a good fit, and less about your grades and CV, etc. 
I think I ended up branching out on a bit of a tangent there but hopefully that is helpful! 

i applied last cycle when i was in my fourth year of undergrad and wasn't successful. this year, i've applied to 6 Canadian schools and so far have received five interviews, and one acceptance. i applied last year mostly to get a sense of the application process and only applied to and interviewed at one Canadian school (McGill), but i hope this is still somewhat helpful!
the number one thing i would really try and work out/focus on is research fit. instead of looking at what the PIs' interests are and shaping your statement around that, i tried to really define what i was passionate about and ask my supervisors and friends, spend ample time browsing website profiles and recent pubs, and attend virtual open house events (if possible). if you're truly interested in working with PIs you've applied to this year, there is no harm in applying again! i'm sure different supervisors would feel differently about this, but i would reach out and thank them for their consideration, reiterate your interest, and maybe bring up a couple of things you're doing to gain experience or strengthen your application too. you can also ask a trusted supervisor or friend about this!
as for improving the application, i would try and look at your profile holistically and think about its strengths and weaknesses, but also how the different aspects complement each other. for example, last year i had a pretty strong GPA, test scores, research experience, but they didn't match all that well with the PIs current research focus, which became obvious in the interview. i think publications are looked upon really favourably, but in my experience strong research experience (depth rather than breadth) is probably the most important factor. i have one manuscript in prep (and no pubs), but i have quite a bit of research experience compared to most people just out of undergrad. evidence of this experience (such as publications) obviously are super helpful, but i think PIs are also looking for how you speak to these experiences and the skills you've learned from them. also, if you're applying to a clinical psych program specifically, i would try and gain some clinical experience if possible, especially if you have significant research experiences already, and aim for at least one opportunity you can speak to in-depth. of course, it really helps if it fits well with your research interests! one last thing i can think of is test scores - i'm not sure whether these will be required and how much weight they'll have in the future, but a higher score can't hurt! 
 

Hey! I would say this is a great sign  The only reason they'd be connecting you with them would be so that they can get a better feel or who you are as well. A portion of the decision is "fit with lab/supervisor" sooo meeting with their grad students and getting to know them allows the POIs current grad students to chime in on their opinions as well. 
 
I'd have a list of questions prepared for them - though I find this is most successful when you focus on their individual experiences within the program, lab, their own research etc. It's also your chance to get to know them and the low down on the inner workings of the program too! 

Same here! I received the email yesterday.. oh well. 

Interesting! Maybe there was an easy auto-reject pile and my application landed in there (my proposal was so specific down to the CIHR grant I was working on, that if that person didn't get me, I wouldn't have fit with a single other person - so it was an easy reject for me!). You may be in a waitlisted pile with no interview but also not an easy rejection? I see several others posted a rejection yesterday too so I think maybe just that initial cut was notified? 

Also for both my rejection as well as my offer of admission - my portal hasn't been updated - still a green circle. Both notifications came through email with attachments. 

I'm the exact same as you. No email, no interview, and my portal still has the green circle. Curious to see what others say as well. 

I received an official rejection from UCalgary for clinical psyc today, which I knew was coming as I did not advance to open house as well as my application was never forwarded to the PI I was hoping to work with (not core faculty). 
On the other hand - I received an offer of admission to the UCalgary SACP program last night, which I will be accepting and am very happy about! 

Ahhhhh super excited!! 
School: University of Victoria 
Concentration: Clinical Neuropsychology
Type: MSc/PhD
Date of acceptance: informal acceptance - Jan 29, 2020
Notified by: Personal e-mail from POI, said official offer should be received this week! 

An update for folks who have applied to Lakehead's clinical MA program: I spoke with their secretary recently, who said that the department is currently in the process of developing A, B, and C lists (top-tier, second-tier, do not admit). The A and B lists will be distributed to POIs the week of February 8th-12th. Applicants may be contacted with offers around this time (they do not have formal interviews, although your POI may or may not contact you to meet informally). If your proposed supervisor(s) is not able to supervise you, but they think you would be a good fit for the program, they will contact you about other potential supervisors you would be interested in working with. Offers will be sent out in small amounts at a time trickling down these lists until they have between 5-7 accepted offers. I just wanted to let everyone know that offers will likely be made from February until possibly April, so don't panic if people start receiving offers mid-February! Hope that helps give a little bit of clarity. Good luck!!

Me! I feel like as of 5:00 pm Friday I can relax a little and stop refreshing and then Monday am the anxiety amps right back up again! I do not like this process! 

HI Everyone
Who else dreads and anticipates Mondays? Here comes another week of watching. At least we get a break on the weekends lol.

Hi!  I'm planning on applying to clinical psych programs for the next admission cycle, and I was wondering if any current students (or anyone who has gotten interviews / knows current students etc), has had not-stellar undergraduate grades, but has taken extra courses after finishing and managed to make up for it?
I graduated a couple of years ago but I had a hard time in my undergrad and my grades definitely show it... I have research experience and a couple of publications, and I've been thinking of taking some extra classes online at Athabasca to show that I've improved and to boost my GPA, but I'm worried that even just having such bad grades on my transcript will prevent me from making it through the first screening process. I know some schools say they only look at the last 2 years, but if I have some *really* bad grades, will that taint my whole application, or is it worth trying to take some extra classes? Has anyone had a similar experience? Thanks!

This is a good question... I'm not sure, but I would guess it depends on the extent of your correspondence with the POI... If it was a simple "looking forward to seeing your application" and that's it, I would say probably no. But if you've discussed the opportunities in more depth it might be better since they're more likely to remember you and your application. I guess the worst they can say is they can't provide feedback for unsuccessful applicants, but I worry that to some people it might look bad/might seem that you don't value their time? 
I'm very curious to hear what others think though.

This is a good question... I'm not sure, but I would guess it depends on the extent of your correspondence with the POI... If it was a simple "looking forward to seeing your application" and that's it, I would say probably no. But if you've discussed the opportunities in more depth it might be better since they're more likely to remember you and your application. I guess the worst they can say is they can't provide feedback for unsuccessful applicants, but I worry that to some people it might look bad/might seem that you don't value their time? 
I'm very curious to hear what others think though.

This is a good question... I'm not sure, but I would guess it depends on the extent of your correspondence with the POI... If it was a simple "looking forward to seeing your application" and that's it, I would say probably no. But if you've discussed the opportunities in more depth it might be better since they're more likely to remember you and your application. I guess the worst they can say is they can't provide feedback for unsuccessful applicants, but I worry that to some people it might look bad/might seem that you don't value their time? 
I'm very curious to hear what others think though.

What are your thoughts on asking POIs you've been in touch with for feedback on applications if you haven't been invited to interview? I had a couple of promising back and forths with some POIs but wasn't invited to interview - of course some nice emails aren't a guarantee of anything, but I would like to apply to these people again and it would be helpful to identify any specific areas I could improve... 
If you think it's a good idea, when/how would you go about asking for feedback (sooner the better, after people have confirmed acceptances so they're less busy, etc?) / If you think it's a bad idea, why/do you have any other ways of getting specific feedback that isn't from POIs? 

I agree you should be careful if you/your PI expect you to begin working on your project before you start the program.
However - if you're just looking for a bit of income/to get settled into your (possibly new) city before you start the program, I would email asking if there are any summer RA opportunities with them or other colleagues so you can move, get settled, and save a little money before you start your phd. I think that's pretty reasonable, but I would be open to working on other projects and be upfront that you're looking to work as an RA and not specifically get a head start on your project. I also agree that you should wait until you've officially been offered and accepted the PhD position before bringing this up. 

I agree you should be careful if you/your PI expect you to begin working on your project before you start the program.
However - if you're just looking for a bit of income/to get settled into your (possibly new) city before you start the program, I would email asking if there are any summer RA opportunities with them or other colleagues so you can move, get settled, and save a little money before you start your phd. I think that's pretty reasonable, but I would be open to working on other projects and be upfront that you're looking to work as an RA and not specifically get a head start on your project. I also agree that you should wait until you've officially been offered and accepted the PhD position before bringing this up. 

I agree you should be careful if you/your PI expect you to begin working on your project before you start the program.
However - if you're just looking for a bit of income/to get settled into your (possibly new) city before you start the program, I would email asking if there are any summer RA opportunities with them or other colleagues so you can move, get settled, and save a little money before you start your phd. I think that's pretty reasonable, but I would be open to working on other projects and be upfront that you're looking to work as an RA and not specifically get a head start on your project. I also agree that you should wait until you've officially been offered and accepted the PhD position before bringing this up. 

I agree you should be careful if you/your PI expect you to begin working on your project before you start the program.
However - if you're just looking for a bit of income/to get settled into your (possibly new) city before you start the program, I would email asking if there are any summer RA opportunities with them or other colleagues so you can move, get settled, and save a little money before you start your phd. I think that's pretty reasonable, but I would be open to working on other projects and be upfront that you're looking to work as an RA and not specifically get a head start on your project. I also agree that you should wait until you've officially been offered and accepted the PhD position before bringing this up. 

Hey everyone, hope everyone is doing well! I got an interview from one of the schools I applied to. I’m excited but nervous, any tips for what I should do to prep? What type of questions I might be asked? It’s a one on one not a panel. 

School: University of Calgary
Program: Clinical Psychology, M.Sc.
Interview type: Formal Interview day/Open House via email from Grad Program Admin
Date of Invite: January 25nd, 2021
DM for POI: Yes! 

is anybody else getting anxious and kinda sad  i feel like im really not going to get any interviews let alone acceptances this year  ive been checking my emails everyday to see whether an interview email or notif comes up but nothing. i know people said that its still kinda early considering that schools are still going through apps and stuff but idk!