2021 Clinical Psychology Applicants CANADA

[Sephix]

Hey All,

SFU, I hear are planning to invite students for interviews shortly and WILL be sending this information out next week - Tuesday is the deadline for interviewers to confirm and then between Wed and Fri you should hear (prob Thurs or Fri to be safe)

 

IF people have questions about their interviewers - don't hesitate to ask. I will check this on occasion to pass info as per every year

 

I am still waiting to hear from peers at other schools about their system and will inform once I find out.

 

Good luck!

 

Seph

Edited January 10, 2021 by Sephix

[BostonMood]

Anyone else having a severe case of the waiting anxiety? I applied to only two programs and am starting to freak out that I should've broadened my application a bit more. 

[Wanderingmind]

17 minutes ago, BostonMood said:

Anyone else having a severe case of the waiting anxiety? I applied to only two programs and am starting to freak out that I should've broadened my application a bit more. 

Also freaking out! It is so hard to stay patient, I was really hoping to hear back from at least one program this past week. Hopefully some of the programs will start sending out more interview invitations next week!

[freudianslipintogradschool]

57 minutes ago, BostonMood said:

Anyone else having a severe case of the waiting anxiety? I applied to only two programs and am starting to freak out that I should've broadened my application a bit more. 

My anxiety has been through the roof! I honestly cannot think of anything else right now. The waiting is killing me!

[CateFace]

12 hours ago, BostonMood said:

Anyone else having a severe case of the waiting anxiety? I applied to only two programs and am starting to freak out that I should've broadened my application a bit more. 

I have certainly had a few moments this last week of anxiety and frequent checking the portal and here. I really thought, based on previous years results pages, that I'd hear from at least one of the two programs I applied to last week - but covid times, world on fire with one crisis after another, a huge amount of applications - it all makes sense that things may take longer. 

I feel oddly at peace with it this weekend. I have no explanation for it, and I'm sure I'll resume the frequent checking and trying to reassure myself come tomorrow but for today I'm like, it is what it is. I have a solid plan of what I'll do in the next year in the event I am unsuccessful. As much as it pains me to think like that and I'll likely be pretty devastated - I do know what I plan to do to make myself the best candidate I can be for the following year. (Also, I may need a reminder of this in the event it does happen!) Today though, I don't know...I'm building some ikea bookcases and maybe its the false sense of control and productivity from watching them come together and my study area get a little more organized - but I'm far less anxious today! 

Edited January 10, 2021 by CateFace

[Drew James]

12 hours ago, BostonMood said:

Anyone else having a severe case of the waiting anxiety? I applied to only two programs and am starting to freak out that I should've broadened my application a bit more. 

This is my first time applying, but this whole process has been very stressful: the preparation, waiting, interviews, and waiting again. How do people do this year after year? That’s some tremendous resilience and persistence..

[Hope466]

12 hours ago, BostonMood said:

Anyone else having a severe case of the waiting anxiety? I applied to only two programs and am starting to freak out that I should've broadened my application a bit more. 

Me too! It's all I think about and everything almost feels like a dream/surreal due to the times with COVID and everything being virtual. I feel like working from home etc. is amplifying my anxiety! However, I am excited today, as tomorrow is the start of a new week!

[higaisha]

School: McGill

Type: PhD

Date of invite: 1/8/21

Type of invite: Preliminary interview; mail from POI

Interview date(s): Sometime next week

DM for POI: Yes

[psych51038]

Hi all! I've just been looking through forums from previous years to try to better understand how this whole process works and am seeing a lot of variance re: whether faculty have the most say in the student they accept (assuming the student meets all criteria) or whether the committee has the most say. Does anyone have an idea of how exactly this all works? Or if it differs by school, anyone know which schools operate each way? I'm so confused about all of this so if anyone has insight into any part of the admissions process (for any school), I'd love to learn more! 

[+ve regard]

19 hours ago, freudianslipintogradschool said:

Curious about OISE as well! York I believe is toward end of Jan first week of feb

OISE interview invites have typically come out end Jan / first week of Feb. Official results first week of March  

[clinpsychhopeful2021]

To the person who posted about getting an interview at Queen's on the results page: congrats! is it an informal interview with your POI or a formal interview day? thank you!

Edited January 10, 2021 by clinpsychhopeful2021

[VanessaB]

2 hours ago, psych51038 said:

Hi all! I've just been looking through forums from previous years to try to better understand how this whole process works and am seeing a lot of variance re: whether faculty have the most say in the student they accept (assuming the student meets all criteria) or whether the committee has the most say. Does anyone have an idea of how exactly this all works? Or if it differs by school, anyone know which schools operate each way? I'm so confused about all of this so if anyone has insight into any part of the admissions process (for any school), I'd love to learn more! 

I would think that at most schools an admissions committee would have the final say, but I could be wrong. I've been collecting some information about my own program to pass along to a mentee, and I've learned a few things in the process. For example, I've learned that if a student fell below the typically accepted GPA range, a professor couldn't outright accept that student. For instance, the professor couldn't just say they know the student and would like to work with them. Instead, the professor would need to have specific reasons, including some concrete evidence (e.g., the student retook courses and did much better the second time to show their improvement and their ability to take on a challenging program), for why the program should accept that particular student.

[VanessaB]

On 11/21/2020 at 2:45 PM, PeanutButterBread said:

Hey everyone! I hope you're doing well and are safe.

I'm a 4th year student in psychology and hoping to attend graduate school for clinical psychology, however I have decided to apply next fall instead. I know many of you are busy with applications still, but I was wondering if there was any useful tips/advice anyone could give me on the application process (i.e. statement of purpose, references, research experiences, etc.) or anything that you have learned. I don't really have strong research experience as a lot of the other students here (I've only volunteered in two labs, the second got cut short by Covid) and my cgpa is really low (2.88). However, in my third year I achieved a 3.51 and this semester I have been studying really hard to boost my grades. I have lots of volunteer and extracurricular experiences, but not much to do with psychology unfortunately. I am hoping to complete an independent study next semester as well as to work in a research lab in the summer (probably online). Is there any hope to get into clinical psych? I don't really know if there's any students who got into clinical psych without completing a thesis, so I'm a bit worried. I was even thinking about taking an extra year but was discouraged to do so by faculty and I was told it was best to just graduate and start working. I think it would be helpful to hear other students' point of view! Anything helps! Thank you and good luck in your own applications.

(*also I am hoping to apply to the programs offered at Waterloo, Queens, Windsor, McMaster, Ryerson, and maybe UPEI).

You may want to take additional courses and/or re-do some classes to increase your GPA. If you do this, when you apply, ask one of your references to tell a story about your improvement and the steps you've taken toward that. Also, you want to make sure you have strong grades in stats and methods courses. Academic performance in these types of courses is often valued by many programs and faculty. While I'm unsure about the specific programs you've listed, as I didn't apply to any of those, some programs will not look at all applications in great detail. Thus, if your GPA falls below a cut point set by the program then your application may not get a thorough review.

What some programs will do is look at GPA first to shrink their applicant pool. They're going to be looking for high GPAs because the program wants to be sure students can handle the rigour and they want to be confident that students will not struggle. From there, after looking at GPA, they're going to look at that top group of people in more detail (possibly around 20% of the top people, but I suspect it will depend on each program), so this is where your experiences will help.

If you choose to complete an independent study rather than an honours program then keep in the mind that there's a degree of rigour and set of expectations with an honours program whereas an independent project could just be a pile of junk. Many faculty like to see a thesis done within an honours program because of the high degree of expectations that they know come with it. Keeping that in mind, if you choose an independent study/project instead of an honours program, an admissions committee will be curious about the outcomes of that project. Some signs of rigour include submitting your project for publication, publishing your project, any other outcomes of the project (e.g., if it won any awards or got some type of recognition), the standard that was set for you by your project supervisor, the quality of the reference given by your project supervisor, the skills you learned during completion of the project, and your ability to explain in your letters/statements of intent how the project prepared you to undertake graduate studies.

Edited January 10, 2021 by VanessaB

[PeanutButterBread]

6 minutes ago, VanessaB said:

You may want to take additional courses and/or re-do some classes to increase your GPA. If you do this, when you apply, ask one of your references to tell a story about your improvement and the steps you've taken toward that. Also, you want to make sure you have strong grades in stats and methods courses. Academic performance in these types of courses is often valued by many programs and faculty. While I'm unsure about the specific programs you've listed, as I didn't apply to any of those, some programs will not look at all applications in great detail if your GPA falls below a cut point set by the program.

What some programs will do is look at GPA first to shrink their applicant pool. They're going to be looking for high GPAs because the program wants to be sure students can handle the rigour and they want to be confident that students will not struggle. From there, after looking at GPA, they're going to look at that top group of people in more detail (possibly around 20% of the top people, but I suspect it will depend on each program), so this is where your experiences will help.

If you choose to complete an independent study rather than an honours program then keep in the mind that there's a degree of rigour and set of expectations with an honours program whereas an independent project could just be a pile of junk. Many faculty like to see a thesis done within an honours program because of the high degree of expectations that they know come with it. Keeping that in mind, if you choose an independent study/project instead of an honours program, an admissions committee will be curious about the outcomes of that project. Some signs of rigour include submitting your project for publication, publishing your project, any other outcomes of the project (e.g., if it won any awards or got some type of recognition), the standard that was set for you by your project supervisor, the quality of the reference given by your project supervisor, the skills you learned during completion of the project, and your ability to explain in your letters/statements of intent how the project prepared you to undertake graduate studies.

Thank you so much for the advice and information, I really appreciate your well thought out response! I am definitely thinking about taking an extra semester or even an additional year to improve my GPA as much as I can. My overall GPA is now a 3.0 which is obviously still low for grad programs but I am willing to stay in school longer to get better grades. I am in no rush to graduate anyway, and I want to make sure my application for grad school is good enough before applying. Thankfully I have pretty good grades in my stats courses (a B+ and an A-) not the highest but I did work hard in them and they were one of my favourite courses in university! 

And thank you for the information about taking an independent study versus doing a thesis, I will keep what you said in mind. I am actually meeting with my professor next week to prepare for the project so I will ask more questions regarding the quality and standards. Even though it's not an honours thesis, I am still really excited to complete the project and enhance my research and writing skills!

Thank you again for the information, it was really helpful. Keep well and safe!

[higaisha]

deleted

Edited January 11, 2021 by higaisha

[broski]

A question: what does everyone think will happen to the GRE requirement for 'F22 admission? 

[higaisha]

1 hour ago, broski said:

A question: what does everyone think will happen to the GRE requirement for 'F22 admission? 

I'm waiting to see what admissions committees think of the applicant pool this year. As someone who's staunchly anti-GRE, I hope that departments will realize they had all the info they needed this year, or were able to come up with creative ways of gauging quantitative and analytical skills without the GRE.

[psych55]

Hi guys! I’m preparing for any potential interviews (hopefully with UTSC). 
Would interviewers ever ask about CR/NoCR or late withdrawals on my transcript? I’m not sure how to defend these, besides the fact that I didn’t think it mattered if these appeared on my transcript. My GPA (last 2 years) is competitive. 

Thank you and good luck everyone!?

[emsmith]

1 hour ago, psych55 said:

Hi guys! I’m preparing for any potential interviews (hopefully with UTSC). 
Would interviewers ever ask about CR/NoCR or late withdrawals on my transcript? I’m not sure how to defend these, besides the fact that I didn’t think it mattered if these appeared on my transcript. My GPA (last 2 years) is competitive. 

Thank you and good luck everyone!?

This is a good question, I would appreciate any advice on this as well! 

I have a late withdrawal on my transcript that I always forget about - it was an elective completely unrelated to my degree, but the average grade (which is shown on the transcript) was a C-, so I definitely dodged a bullet, but I guess it could still raise some eyebrows. 

[psychstudent2020]

On 1/8/2021 at 10:50 AM, psychstudent2020 said:

I have! My third choice contacted me.

Sorry I must of been half asleep typing this! I haven't - I did list that school on my CGS app. I just was contacted by my third choice for that school. Sorry for the confusion, im going slightly crazy thru this process!

[Jpsych_]

Has anyone heard from Windsor u?

[VanessaB]

2 hours ago, emsmith said:

This is a good question, I would appreciate any advice on this as well! 

I have a late withdrawal on my transcript that I always forget about - it was an elective completely unrelated to my degree, but the average grade (which is shown on the transcript) was a C-, so I definitely dodged a bullet, but I guess it could still raise some eyebrows. 

 

4 hours ago, psych55 said:

Hi guys! I’m preparing for any potential interviews (hopefully with UTSC). 
Would interviewers ever ask about CR/NoCR or late withdrawals on my transcript? I’m not sure how to defend these, besides the fact that I didn’t think it mattered if these appeared on my transcript. My GPA (last 2 years) is competitive. 

Thank you and good luck everyone!?

I doubt you'd be asked about this, but who knows. If that question comes up, you could approach it from a motivation perspective. You could say you wanted to be able to enjoy the course and learn the content without focusing so much on the final grade. Taking this approach could demonstrate that you're more concerned about learning the material rather than churning out a bunch of 'A' grades for your transcript. It also would show that you're internally motivated and not externally motivated.

As for the late withdrawal situation, if the course is outside of your major, you could approach it from the perspective of being openminded and learning or trying new things. You might say that you weren't sure about your interest in the topic or course content at the start of the course, but you wanted to give the course a good go and see, but then after giving it some time you realized that the content or topic just wasn't something you were interested in or passionate about, so you knew or at least suspected you’d underperform on the final because of your low interest.

Edited January 11, 2021 by VanessaB

[Hope466]

I am wondering if anyone knows anything about Western interview invites? I know the website says after Jan 25th, but historically it appeared that applicants heard back sooner than the posted date :)!

[psych51038]

19 hours ago, psych51038 said:

Hi all! I've just been looking through forums from previous years to try to better understand how this whole process works and am seeing a lot of variance re: whether faculty have the most say in the student they accept (assuming the student meets all criteria) or whether the committee has the most say. Does anyone have an idea of how exactly this all works? Or if it differs by school, anyone know which schools operate each way? I'm so confused about all of this so if anyone has insight into any part of the admissions process (for any school), I'd love to learn more! 

 

17 hours ago, VanessaB said:

I would think that at most schools an admissions committee would have the final say, but I could be wrong. I've been collecting some information about my own program to pass along to a mentee, and I've learned a few things in the process. For example, I've learned that if a student fell below the typically accepted GPA range, a professor couldn't outright accept that student. For instance, the professor couldn't just say they know the student and would like to work with them. Instead, the professor would need to have specific reasons, including some concrete evidence (e.g., the student retook courses and did much better the second time to show their improvement and their ability to take on a challenging program), for why the program should accept that particular student.

This is really interesting - thank you so much for sharing! 

Something else I've been wondering about is that in the situation you describe, it sounds to me (although I may be misunderstanding) like the professor identifies the student they want and as long as they meet the requirements of the committee, the committee will mostly like recommend that student's admission. Something I saw on an older forum (either 2018-19 or 2019-20 admissions) were schools where the committee essentially chooses their top candidate from a professor's shortlist. I can't seem to find that post again and don't remember what school it was referring to, but does anyone know if any schools operate like this? Seems kind of different from most of what I've seen on this forum so maybe I interpreted the person's post wrong but I'd be curious to know more!

Edited January 11, 2021 by psych51038

[VanessaB]

25 minutes ago, psych51038 said:

 

This is really interesting - thank you so much for sharing! 

Something else I've been wondering about is that in the situation you describe, it sounds to me (although I may be misunderstanding) like the professor identifies the student they want and as long as they meet the requirements of the committee, the committee will mostly like recommend that student's admission. Something I saw on an older forum (either 2018-19 or 2019-20 admissions) were schools where the committee essentially chooses their top candidate from a professor's shortlist. I can't seem to find that post again and don't remember what school it was referring to, but does anyone know if any schools operate like this? Seems kind of different from most of what I've seen on this forum so maybe I interpreted the person's post wrong but I'd be curious to know more!

Yes, at my school I’m aware that an admissions committee first makes a shortlist and then professors would review those applications in more detail and select from there. I think it’s possible for the professor to want to take a student who did not rank on the shortlist (e.g., maybe they emailed and/or spoke with the prof when contacting schools), but I believe such situations are rare because the professor would need some strong reasons backed by evidence to suggest to the committee why that particular student should be accepted.

I’m unaware of the other situation you describe, but I suppose it’s possible. That said, to keep things fair, if professors are making their own shortlists prior to a committee review at some schools, I imagine they’d need to have some standardized criteria in order to assess applicants in a fair and just manner. I don’t think someone could (or should) just say who their top candidates are without any reason or streamlined process for ranking them as such.

Edited January 11, 2021 by VanessaB