PsychQueen222

Not sure if this will be helpful to anyone but I applied to OISE MA counselling and clinical psych at U of T last year and received a rejection letter on April 12th. I’m assuming it’ll be a similar timeline this year as well. I haven’t heard anything so I’m anticipating another rejection

Some of these programs are so rude lol they don’t have the decency to send a rejection letter, they just update the application portal and you have to randomly check it just to see ‘rejected’ or ‘denied’ in the tiniest font ever

Nope, still waiting & my interview was on the 5th.

I saw one person posted their acceptance in the results section (interviewed on the 7th and accepted on the 12th) so I’m assuming we’ll hear back this week

I’ve been waitlisted for the MA Counselling Psychology at McGill — a PI sent me an email but said it was an unofficial notice. I’m assuming they’re sending out acceptances now and those of us on the waitlist should know by the the beginning of April or mid-April at the latest.

Yeah, they sent out a formal email invite on February 9th and they just sent out the zoom info this past week. I’m pretty sure they sent out all invites at the same time because it not an interview with a specific PI, but rather with some kind of committee with 3 faculty members. I think they’re holding all interviews over the span of 2-3 days? Sorry to hear you haven’t heard back, it honestly sucks that grad schools are so bad at communicating updates. We pay so much money and have to exist as balls of anxiety for months on end, the least they can do is update the frickin application portal…

I got my western interview invite around the 1st week of February. Interviews are taking place next week.

Did anyone else get an invite for an interview for the PsyD at Bishops? They sent out info about the interview and I’m feeling SO nervous. My other interviews were all about my research interests and such so I’m feeling anxious about a different kind of interview. I’d love some tips on how to prepare for an interview with the following elements: role-playing with a given scenario, sharing a difficult or ethically delicate interpersonal interaction, and reacting to a given scenario. any tips would be super helpful!!!

Hi! I've had a few interviews but I found that a lot of the advice on how to prepare online isn't really accurate. I definitely recommend reading up on the PI and their research, and having a good understanding of how your previous research relates to theirs or how it prepared you to contribute to their research. Generally speaking, I find that the structure of the interviews is as follows: 1) Introductions: You'll likely be asked to briefly speak about yourself. I think this is a good opportunity to talk about your research interests but also a time to really show the interviewer your personality and who you are outside of academia. You could be a great fit on paper but you also want to show that you have great interpersonal skills and are an interesting person overall. 2) Specific questions: Personally I've never actually been asked how my research prepared me to work in X lab or how my research experience aligns with the PI. You'll definitely be asked about your career goals and why you chose the program and school. I've also always been asked about my stats experience. 3) Info about the lab: This is the majority of the interview and it's usually just the PI talking about their research and current projects to see if you'd be interested and a good fit. In terms of tips and tricks, I'd honestly say that a lot of the professors won't ask the questions you're anticipating so it's really up to you to make space to speak about things that will make you stand out. For example, they won't ask why you think you're a good candidate directly so when they're speaking about their research you have to make an effort to jump in and explain how you could contribute. I also think it's always good to frame your 'weaknesses' as strengths. In my case, I've taken advanced stats courses but I've always been really awful at stats lol so when I'm asked about my stats experience I always say that it's something that I've struggled with in the past but I'm excited to be challenged during my MA. You want to show that you're not only ready to learn, but you're also prepared to face difficulties throughout your degree. Try to prepare a few questions as well. This doesn't necessarily have to be about their research (although this shows you've prepared and are interested). I think the mindset you should have going into your interview is that you're interviewing the PI as much as they're interviewing you. Sure they might think you'd be a good fit, but are they a good fit for you? Questions to consider: What is their supervision style? What's the lab culture like? What kind of resources and support do they offer their students? How do they help their students achieve their goals? Do their values align with yours? Overall, I think going into it expecting a rather casual conversation rather than some kind of intense interview is the best way to go about it. I think PIs are usually really receptive to students that show genuine excitement about pursuing a graduate degree. After all, grad school is hard and they want students that are passionate about the work they'll be doing. At the end of your interview, I suggest asking the PI is they could share the contact info of some of their current and past students. Just like we have to submit letters of recommendation, we should be asking the same of them. They might seem like a great supervisor but you might speak to their students and get a completely different story. Sorry for the longwinded answer but I hope this was helpful! Best of luck on your interview(s). Be confident and you'll do great!

I got invited for an interview for Western's counselling program today! Has anyone heard from UOttawa's counselling program? I had an interview in December but haven't heard from the PI since.