2021 Clinical Psychology Applicants CANADA

[sg99]

Hey

just wondering, do schools mainly just look at the GPA for the final 2 years or does the CGPA matter a lot too?

Edited December 14, 2020 by sg99

[Ozark]

For those that applied to York, did your application status changed to "No Decision Yet- Currently Under Consideration"? I'm still waiting for one of my reference to submit. The deadline is tomorrow. I'm afraid they might start reviewing before it arrives 

Edited December 14, 2020 by Ozark

[clinical_psyc_hopeful]

just saw a tweet that McGill saw an increase in applicants from 350 - 600 (I think the whole Psyc department)

[xtrahotlatte]

11 minutes ago, clinical_psyc_hopeful said:

just saw a tweet that McGill saw an increase in applicants from 350 - 600 (I think the whole Psyc department)

that just makes me feel ?

[Wanderingmind]

1 hour ago, Ozark said:

For those that applied to York, did your application status changed to "No Decision Yet- Currently Under Consideration"? I'm still waiting for one of my reference to submit. The deadline is tomorrow. I'm afraid they might start reviewing before it arrives 

Yes, mine changed to that a week ago! 

[carlrogersfan98]

1 hour ago, clinical_psyc_hopeful said:

just saw a tweet that McGill saw an increase in applicants from 350 - 600 (I think the whole Psyc department)

Oh god... do you know anything about Ed Psych's department? I didn't apply to clinical there because there was no match in PI's but I did find someone in counselling psych that matches so I applied there instead.

Edit: jk you probably don't because the deadline for counselling psych is still tomorrow lol

Edited December 14, 2020 by carlrogersfan98

[SP2017]

2 hours ago, Ozark said:

For those that applied to York, did your application status changed to "No Decision Yet- Currently Under Consideration"? I'm still waiting for one of my reference to submit. The deadline is tomorrow. I'm afraid they might start reviewing before it arrives 

I believe the reference forms will be accepted as long as they are submitted before December 31st (when the application portal closes).

It is the Supplementary Information Forms and the Referee Names and Emails that have to be submitted by the December 15th deadline under the Supplementary Information Forms section of Myfile. 

Pulled from YorkU Website "Applicants must have uploaded all non-academic documents (e.g. CV, Statement of Interest, Supplementary Information Form, and References) no later than December 31, 2020. This does NOT include academic documents such as official transcripts and GRE scores which will come directly from the institutions."

Hope this helps!

[UroboroS]

6 hours ago, sg99 said:

Hey

just wondering, do schools mainly just look at the GPA for the final 2 years or does the CGPA matter a lot too?

Hi! From what I know, most mainly look at the final two years and are generally looking for an upwards trend in grades from first year on. Some will ask that you have a specific CCGPA and/or last two year GPA in order to apply, but once you have passed the minimum threshold, I think research experience, posters, publications are looked at with more weight than GPA (from my knowledge).

[carlrogersfan98]

Does anyone know if having research experience in psychology that is not directly in the field you're applying to work in is a bit of a disadvantage? My school does not have a clinical program, so all the research available to undergrads was very experimental as opposed to clinical (eg., cognition, developmental psych, neuropsych, social psych, etc).

Most of my research experience is in cognitive psych since it's what I did my honors thesis in, however I also have done research on presentation anxiety and been an RA in a developmental psych lab. I also completed a program evaluation of a psychological intervention at my internship. And yet, I'm not applying to work in any of those areas at the graduate level - I've applied to work in trauma and/or sexual health. I never really considered it to be a disadvantage since I have a bunch of experience nonetheless, but sometimes I worry that if I'm compared to someone with research experience directly in that area, I wouldn't be seen of as good a fit for the lab and they'd take the person with directly applicable experience instead.

[Mickey26]

15 minutes ago, carlrogersfan98 said:

Does anyone know if having research experience in psychology that is not directly in the field you're applying to work in is a bit of a disadvantage? My school does not have a clinical program, so all the research available to undergrads was very experimental as opposed to clinical (eg., cognition, developmental psych, neuropsych, social psych, etc).

Most of my research experience is in cognitive psych since it's what I did my honors thesis in, however I also have done research on presentation anxiety and been an RA in a developmental psych lab. I also completed a program evaluation of a psychological intervention at my internship. And yet, I'm not applying to work in any of those areas at the graduate level - I've applied to work in trauma and/or sexual health. I never really considered it to be a disadvantage since I have a bunch of experience nonetheless, but sometimes I worry that if I'm compared to someone with research experience directly in that area, I wouldn't be seen of as good a fit for the lab and they'd take the person with directly applicable experience instead.

I also have diverse research experience (social, I/O, cog, health, etc etc) that isn't directly related to what I'm studying. It's good to have these experiences and it will make your application stand out, but I've heard from a lot of faculty that the prefer students with SOME experience in their chosen field. For example, I was 4 months into my Honours project in my respective field when I applied. This isnt a ton of experience (compared to 4 yrs of health psych), but it showed supervisors I was actually interested in my chosen field given I've worked in it (rather than applying to random supervisors just to get into clinical psych)and you're able to commit to that work for 4-6 yrs given you've already done some research in that area. 

That being said, I think b/c you have diverse research experiences, supervisors might be able to deduce that, hey, this student tried cog psych and developmental psych, and it wasn't there thing, thus, they wanna work with me and do trauma, etc.

I wouldn't automatically count yourself out though, since there are many other factors in play. But I'm seeing more of the former, rather than the latter. Sorry if that isn't what you wanted to hear ? 

Source: current applicant who mentors aspiring clin students

 

[carlrogersfan98]

Just now, Mickey26 said:

I also have diverse research experience (social, I/O, cog, health, etc etc) that isn't directly related to what I'm studying. It's good to have these experiences and it will make your application stand out, but I've heard from a lot of faculty that the prefer students with SOME experience in their chosen field. For example, I was 4 months into my Honours project in my respective field when I applied. This isnt a ton of experience (compared to 4 yrs of health psych), but it showed supervisors I was actually interested in my chosen field given I've worked in it (rather than applying to random supervisors just to get into clinical psych)and you're able to commit to that work for 4-6 yrs given you've already done some research in that area. 

That being said, I think b/c you have diverse research experiences, supervisors might be able to deduce that, hey, this student tried cog psych and developmental psych, and it wasn't there thing, thus, they wanna work with me and do trauma, etc.

I wouldn't automatically count yourself out though, since there are many other factors in play. But I'm seeing more of the former, rather than the latter. Sorry if that isn't what you wanted to hear ? 

Source: current applicant who mentors aspiring clin students

 

Well then that sucks for those of us who literally don't have any labs at our universities that do research in our areas of interest... I'm hoping at least some profs will humour the fact that my diverse experience shows I can pick up methods in a variety of areas, and that I did my best to flesh out my experience despite the limited options in my department.

[Terelia]

3 hours ago, Ozark said:

For those that applied to York, did your application status changed to "No Decision Yet- Currently Under Consideration"? I'm still waiting for one of my reference to submit. The deadline is tomorrow. I'm afraid they might start reviewing before it arrives 

I just checked - mine still says "No Decision Yet" and hasn't changed this status. I submitted all of my documents yesterday so who knows ?‍♀️ Such a stressful process hearing some statuses have changed and some have not!  

[Mickey26]

Just now, carlrogersfan98 said:

Well then that sucks for those of us who literally don't have any labs at our universities that do research in our areas of interest... I'm hoping at least some profs will humour the fact that my diverse experience shows I can pick up methods in a variety of areas, and that I did my best to flesh out my experience despite the limited options in my department.

Right. and b/c trauma/sexual health is quite rare, I think as long as you can spin your personal statement to show how your present experiences demonstrate research skills, etc, that should be acceptable in the prof's eyes! Again, depends on prof/a number of factors. 

[carlrogersfan98]

Just now, Mickey26 said:

Right. and b/c trauma/sexual health is quite rare, I think as long as you can spin your personal statement to show how your present experiences demonstrate research skills, etc, that should be acceptable in the prof's eyes! Again, depends on prof/a number of factors. 

Yeah, because my experience is so varied, in my SOI I focused on explaining the applicable skills I've accumulated across all experiences instead of going really-in depth with any particular study (e.g., data analysis with 3 different statistics programs, literature review across a large span of research areas, experimental design using a variety of approaches, scientific dissemination which resulted in several poster presentations, etc). I hope that stands out, one of my concerns with my SOI was that I didn't go too into detail about any one particular research project since I couldn't justify singling any particular one out. If things don't work out this year anywhere then oh well, something to keep in mind for next year I suppose!

[Mickey26]

Just now, carlrogersfan98 said:

Yeah, because my experience is so varied, in my SOI I focused on explaining the applicable skills I've accumulated across all experiences instead of going really-in depth with any particular study (e.g., data analysis with 3 different statistics programs, literature review across a large span of research areas, experimental design using a variety of approaches, scientific dissemination which resulted in several poster presentations, etc). I hope that stands out, one of my concerns with my SOI was that I didn't go too into detail about any one particular research project since I couldn't justify singling any particular one out. If things don't work out this year anywhere then oh well, something to keep in mind for next year I suppose!

I think given there's no right way to write a personal statement, you'll see a bunch of variation. Myself as a mentor, and my supervisor actually prefer that applicants don't go into specifics for each research project. Rather, we prefer if applicants give as a taste of what skills they learned in each project (e.g., "I demonstrated collaboration skills by working in a cross-cultural team in X Country on Project Y" , b/c you can then elaborate on your specific projects during interviews. If there is 1 project that ties REALLY well into the faculty member's interests, then yes, briefly mention it (and I mean VERY brief. Like "I examined X variable, and its association with Y variable). Just my 2 cents though!

[Ozark]

2 hours ago, SP2017 said:

I believe the reference forms will be accepted as long as they are submitted before December 31st (when the application portal closes).

It is the Supplementary Information Forms and the Referee Names and Emails that have to be submitted by the December 15th deadline under the Supplementary Information Forms section of Myfile. 

Pulled from YorkU Website "Applicants must have uploaded all non-academic documents (e.g. CV, Statement of Interest, Supplementary Information Form, and References) no later than December 31, 2020. This does NOT include academic documents such as official transcripts and GRE scores which will come directly from the institutions."

Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot. 

[egyptianintoronto]

10 hours ago, SP2017 said:

I believe the reference forms will be accepted as long as they are submitted before December 31st (when the application portal closes).

It is the Supplementary Information Forms and the Referee Names and Emails that have to be submitted by the December 15th deadline under the Supplementary Information Forms section of Myfile. 

Pulled from YorkU Website "Applicants must have uploaded all non-academic documents (e.g. CV, Statement of Interest, Supplementary Information Form, and References) no later than December 31, 2020. This does NOT include academic documents such as official transcripts and GRE scores which will come directly from the institutions."

Hope this helps!

Hello, I decided to apply to York really late and only sent in the online application yesterday, because I emailed them about references, personal statement, etc. and they said that can be sent in Dec 31st. Do you have to have their names in by Dec 15? Because I don't have access to Myfiles yet since it takes time to be activated...It doesn't mention these details on the website so please get back to me when you can on any details you may have!

[SP2017]

8 minutes ago, egyptianintoronto said:

Hello, I decided to apply to York really late and only sent in the online application yesterday, because I emailed them about references, personal statement, etc. and they said that can be sent in Dec 31st. Do you have to have their names in by Dec 15? Because I don't have access to Myfiles yet since it takes time to be activated...It doesn't mention these details on the website so please get back to me when you can on any details you may have!

I'll PM you

[egyptianintoronto]

Just now, SP2017 said:

I'll PM you

thanks sm!

[Clin_psyc]

Any Canadians applying to American schools this cycle?

[xtrahotlatte]

What are your thoughts about being accepted into a clinical psych program with only 1 pub? A lot of people who are accepted seem to have multiple so I'm worried 1 isn't enough.

[LMoll]

Just now, xtrahotlatte said:

What are your thoughts about being accepted into a clinical psych program with only 1 pub? A lot of people who are accepted seem to have multiple so I'm worried 1 isn't enough.

I have a friend who was accepted on their first cycle with 1 pub. It really depends on your experiences (e.g., conferences, presentations, editorial work, research fit, even personality). I think each applicant has such unique experiences, so from my experience those qualifications are assessed more holistically. It seems that if you have diverse research experiences (like pubs, workshops, presentations, ad hoc reviews, etc.), that will strengthen your application... so pubs aren't everything. That's what I've heard from a few grad students as well. This is just my perspective though!

[xtrahotlatte]

Just now, LMoll said:

I have a friend who was accepted on their first cycle with 1 pub. It really depends on your experiences (e.g., conferences, presentations, editorial work, research fit, even personality). I think each applicant has such unique experiences, so from my experience those qualifications are assessed more holistically. It seems that if you have diverse research experiences (like pubs, workshops, presentations, ad hoc reviews, etc.), that will strengthen your application... so pubs aren't everything. That's what I've heard from a few grad students as well. This is just my perspective though!

that's true  i think it's a confluence of factors that determine whether someone gets admitted. all we can do is hope for the best!

[psych51038]

Just now, LMoll said:

I have a friend who was accepted on their first cycle with 1 pub. It really depends on your experiences (e.g., conferences, presentations, editorial work, research fit, even personality). I think each applicant has such unique experiences, so from my experience those qualifications are assessed more holistically. It seems that if you have diverse research experiences (like pubs, workshops, presentations, ad hoc reviews, etc.), that will strengthen your application... so pubs aren't everything. That's what I've heard from a few grad students as well. This is just my perspective though!

So do you think it would be pretty much impossible to get in straight out of undergrad? I don't know many undergrads with all of those types of experiences or even any really 

[Mickey26]

4 minutes ago, xtrahotlatte said:

What are your thoughts about being accepted into a clinical psych program with only 1 pub? A lot of people who are accepted seem to have multiple so I'm worried 1 isn't enough.

I got accepted w 1 pub (it was like 3rd author or something lol). It does depend on other factors such as research experience, other research output (posters at local/student conferences etc) interpersonal skills (volunteering, etc). Don't lose hope!