Canadian Masters in Counselling 2020

[willisle]

Hi all,

I've seen a number of acceptances on the results page (mostly from University of Toronto). There's surprisingly little out there in the forums on these programs considering how competitive I hear they are, so I figured I'd start one just for us! 

This year, I applied to the MA program in counselling psychology at University of Victoria, the M.Ed in counselling and psychotherapy at University of Toronto (OISE), and the MSc in Couples and Family Therapy at Guelph. I heard back from Guelph on January 27 and was not admitted. I heard back from University of Toronto yesterday (March 4) and was accepted with a "clear offer of admission." I am meant to hear back about UVic anyday now! 

Considering there are so many University of Toronto acceptances on the results portal, I'd love to connect! I live in Vic now, but grew up in Toronto, so it'll be a tough choice if I get into UVic as well.

How is everyone feeling about their acceptances? Rejections? Waiting games? 

Willa

 

 

 

[springxsummer]

Congrats on the acceptance :). I agree that the lack of  Canadian counselling students posting is strange, given the amount of people who apply to those programs!

I've accepted my offer to Calgary for the MSc Counselling program. I'd love to connect with any other incoming students to that program!

[StealthyCub]

I was waiting to see a thread like this! The last place I'm waiting to hear back from is OISE, and it's driving me insane seeing those acceptances/rejections pour in and my inbox still being empty. I've been refreshing the SGS applicant portal like crazy. Would anyone who was accepted be comfortable sharing what their applications looked like? Looking for any kinda of peace of mind right now haha

EDIT: To clarify, I applied for the M.Ed for counselling and psychotherapy at OISE

Edited March 6, 2020 by StealthyCub

[Pizza Ovenz]

Hey guys! It's nice to see that we have others willing to share their application experience! 

My friend has been accepted but I am still waiting to hear back! 

I was wondering what everyone's application looked like as well. 

Gpa-

Experience-

References - 

 

Thanks guys

[CounsellingApplicant]

Hi guys, I have applied the Med Program Counselling at Uoft as well. Still waiting for the result.

I saw on the forum that people who had three or five years of experience did not get into the program in the past. For people who get accepted this year, congrats! 

I also wonder what your practical experience is like and I guess it would be quite helpful for people like me to estimate the chance of getting into oise this year. ?

 

Gpa- 3.7

Experience- almost 2 years (6 months at crisis helpline and other experience with community programs relevant to counselling/social work)

References - 1 from crisis helpline manager and 1 from community program coordinator)

[Psych?]

I saw an OISE Counselling And Psychotherapy rejection on the results page, which is scary because before I had only seen acceptances -  but I am still waiting to hear. 

I have an interview for UWO this week that I am trying to prep for, but can't stop refreshing my SGS page. 

[willisle]

To be honest, I think it's hard to estimate. I did not think I would get into U of T. I was looking at admission stats from a previous years and they had 570 applicants with only 37 accepted. With that many applicants, many of whom are probably equally qualified, it seems like there is an element of luck in terms of whether what you've written aligns or stands out to a professor evaluating. 

As for experience, I did an honours thesis in my undergrad and a year of research before that. I've contributed via a lot of different volunteer and work experience in mental health roles (addictions, crisis support, long term care, etc), some of which were long term (2+ year commitments) and some that were shorter stints. My GPA in my final year was 3.9 and I think U of T only evaluated that year, which worked in my favour. I've wanted to go into this field for a long time and my statement of intent was very passionately written to reflect that. 

 

My question is, as we've all noted, there's not a ton of information on Canadian schools here. Does anyone have suggestions for how to evaluate the schools and their connections/reputations/practicums? I was thinking of emailing UVic and U of T to try to connect with an alum. I think University of Toronto often gets an automatic prestige recognition, but I'd like to hav a better comparative analysis of pros and cons to al the major universities in Canada that offer these programs. For counselling, I'm not sure prestige matters, but practicums and faculty and training definitely do and it's hard to know what that's like until you get there

 

 | Applied (3/3) | Accepted (1/3) | Rejected (1/3) | Waiting (1/3) 

 

 

[falken1492]

Hi all!

I also applied to the OISE program and still haven’t had any updates to my profile. I have already been accepted to the MSc in Couples and Family Therapy at Guelph and I am extremely excited about that program but still want to have all my options before I have to commit. 
 

I know my friend was rejected from the OISE MEd counselling program today. I think it’s slowing rolling out...
 

for those interested:

Final year GPA- 3.96

Experience - university and clinical research(3yr), clinical intake (2yr), clinical treatment (6mo), volunteering in clinical settings(4yr), community organization leadership (1yr), undergrad thesis

References - 2 academic professors & 1 clinical work experience

[CounsellingApplicant]

Thanks for your sharing, willisle! I just received an email saying I am waitlisted this year, and I think my chance of getting into oise is barely zero this year lol.

For answering your question, based on my knowledge, I believe different provinces have licenses for registered psychotherapists/counsellors for that specific province only, and I am not sure how these licenses can be interchanged exactly. Here is a link which might be helpful. https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/profession/regulation-across-canada/ For example, if you want to work in Ontario after graduation, I personally think it might be less work for you to go to a graduate school in Ontario. 

I went to a psychology seminar at my school last year. I was told that MSc in Couples and Family Therapy at Guelph is the only graduate program in Toronto which offers 150 hours of supervision for free, so upon graduation, you have meet all the requirements for becoming a registered psychotherapist in Ontario. For OISE, as far as I know, they only have direct client hours, and I believe upon graduation, you are eligible to become a counsellor. One of the psychotherapists told me that people generally pay about $100 per hour for clinical supervision. However, one of my class professors told me if students get lucky, and their supervisors from their practicum placement are willing to offer that, then there will be no money out of pocket.

Also money-wised, I think Guelph pays graduate students doing on-campus counselling services as their practicum placement. M.Ed of OISE is totally self-funded. Not sure about University of Victoria.

In addition, it depends on your personal interest. For MA or MSc, I believe they both have an emphasis on research and open a better path for doctoral study whereas M.Ed is more about hands-on experience and career-based. Hope it helps

[willisle]

falken1492 Congrats on Guelph! I honestly loved the look of the Guelph program and was bummed to not get in. I imagine that being trained for family and couples would be very valuable and it's probably easier to transition from that to individual opposed to the other way around as you're managing more people and dynamics within session. When I was in Ontario over the holidays, I went to Guelph to see the campus and town and it's quite beautiful! They have a counselling centre attached to the program that students work in, which is amazing!

Siya93 on the U of T program website, it says that grads are in fact eligible for the CRPO! I've attached a screenshot. That's an interesting fact about Guelph though, re: supervision hours. I know that at U of T, the first year is all courses and then the second year is practicums, which I believe is largely self-driven. I'm not sure if any of that counts for supervision. I imagine Toronto has a lot of opportunities considering U of T is the only counselling program in the city of this nature (although, I believe there are also people from the Gestalt Institute and Yorkville who would be needing practicums, but I'm not sure if it would be in the same pool?) .

Excellent point about funding. U of T's professional track programs are self-funded. I know that research-based programs are usually well funded, Guelph and the McGill research-based project stream come to mind. For U of T, I have a supervisor and I wonder if I'm able to do research with them and if that would affect funding in anyway. 

I know that Ontario is regulated and not all provinces are (including BC). One of my good friends is finishing at St. Paul's this year (and loved it by the way!) and she was advising me that that might be a pro for an Ontario program . In BC, we have a regulatory body BCCA  (https://bc-counsellors.org/), but I guess it's not mandatory to be registered in BC as it is in Ontario? 

[willisle]

"Students in the M.Ed. (Counselling and Psychotherapy) are required to complete the master’s practicum course (APD 1203Y), usually in their second year of the program or later. Students must complete a minimum of 250 hours (at least one day per week) in their placement from September to April. However, most M.Ed. placements require 500-600 hours. Normally, at least twenty-five percent of these placement hours should be direct client contact hours."

"Supervisors should provide a minimum of one hour per week of one-to-one face-to-face clinical supervision."

 

Page 3 on this practicum handbook for U of T in case anyone is interested https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/aphd/UserFiles/File/Handbook_updates/CP_Couns_Psychotherapy_Practicum_Handbook_March_2017.pdf

[willisle]

When I called on Monday, UVic said they were sending out rejections/acceptances by the end of the week, but my app still says under reviews. Ugh! 

[logical_emotion]

Received an email at around 5 pm indicating that I was waitlisted. Does anyone happen to know how many people are put on the waitlist? I'm curious whether it is everyone in ranked order, or if it is only a select few candidates. 

[CounsellingCoffee]

I received a letter of recommendation for acceptance from McGill MA counselling psych. They said I should receive the official letter in a few weeks! I am very excited but also nervous for this big new adventure

[CounsellingApplicant]

willisle Wish you get accepted by UVic as well! All the best to you!

[M3Grad]

On 3/7/2020 at 6:40 AM, Leashy said:

I received a letter of recommendation for acceptance from McGill MA counselling psych. They said I should receive the official letter in a few weeks! I am very excited but also nervous for this big new adventure

Congratulations! Is this the project or internship route? I've applied for this program too, suuuuper nervous 

[CounsellingCoffee]

6 hours ago, M3Grad said:

Congratulations! Is this the project or internship route? I've applied for this program too, suuuuper nervous 

This is for the Project route. I hope you hear back soon!

[Pursuit of happiness]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I was wondering if anyone knows how much weight OISE places on GPA vs experience? Does anyone know on average what kind of GPA is required in order to get accepted into the program?

Thank you in advance.

[mmckenzie]

Anyone else apply to BC schools? I applied to the MEd for UBC and was invited to apply for the MA at SFU. Still waiting to hear from both. UBC offers go out mid-March but I'm not sure of the timeline for SFU.

[willisle]

16 hours ago, mmckenzie said:

Anyone else apply to BC schools? I applied to the MEd for UBC and was invited to apply for the MA at SFU. Still waiting to hear from both. UBC offers go out mid-March but I'm not sure of the timeline for SFU.

I applied to UVic and still waiting! I called this morning and they said decisions are coming this week. Not sure if you could call and ask for a similar estimate of time. I have another offer that I need to decide on within the next week, so I wanted to know asap. Also, my friend was planning to apply to SFU but said they weren't accepting applicants. What do you mean when you say you got invited?

Knav, I don't think there's ever a way to know 100% how a committee will decide. Part of admissions is made by human judgment and by that nature, there' not really a way to predict. I've seen people post about how they think U of T decides, but it's just impossible for the internet to give you that answer. They are obviously competitive, but I'm sure not everyone who is accepted has a 4.0 

[mmckenzie]

On 3/9/2020 at 12:26 PM, willisle said:

I applied to UVic and still waiting! I called this morning and they said decisions are coming this week. Not sure if you could call and ask for a similar estimate of time. I have another offer that I need to decide on within the next week, so I wanted to know asap. Also, my friend was planning to apply to SFU but said they weren't accepting applicants. What do you mean when you say you got invited?

Knav, I don't think there's ever a way to know 100% how a committee will decide. Part of admissions is made by human judgment and by that nature, there' not really a way to predict. I've seen people post about how they think U of T decides, but it's just impossible for the internet to give you that answer. They are obviously competitive, but I'm sure not everyone who is accepted has a 4.0 

SFU didnt take a general admissions this year. I applied last year and had an interview and was waitlisted but unfortunately never got in. Then in September I got an email from admissions saying they were doing selected applications and I was invited to apply. I am not exactly sure why they did this, admissions isnt giving out much information. Applications closed February 15th and now I'm not sure of the time line. Last year I had my interview mid February. So I am not sure if they are doing interviews later or they arent doing interviews as maybe everyone who was invited had an interview last year. It's all a bit up in the air right now.

[incognit0]

Does anyone know when the University of Calgary will send out a second round of offers for their msc counselling program? I am wait listed and was told we would hear after march 7th. Has anyone been offered a spot this week? 

[springxsummer]

5 hours ago, incognit0 said:

Does anyone know when the University of Calgary will send out a second round of offers for their msc counselling program? I am wait listed and was told we would hear after march 7th. Has anyone been offered a spot this week? 

Generally it takes programs a few business days after the decision deadline the first round of applicants are given. That is probably the case for Calgary as well. Good luck :). 

[incognit0]

12 hours ago, springxsummer said:

Generally it takes programs a few business days after the decision deadline the first round of applicants are given. That is probably the case for Calgary as well. Good luck :). 

I knowwwww... i'm just being impatient  

[willisle]

I was not accepted to UVic... Bittersweet feelings on this news! I thought that was my strongest application and that I would get in there, but not at U of T given that it is so competitive. it just goes to show that we can never predict admissions. These programs all have hundreds of applicants and only accept around 15-30 people (depending on the program). With that many qualified candidates, it's impossible to tell what will stand out. All that being said, if you're not accepted, it doesn't mean you aren't qualified! Which is frustrating and comforting at the same time. 

 

I am *so* excited to accept at U of T... if there's anyone else from the cohort on here, I'd love to connect!