2021 Clinical Psychology Applicants CANADA

[Dylia]

1 hour ago, Regina77 said:

Please tell us what you can about the virtual set up? Interviewed with POI, other grad students? zoom? thanks and good luck hope you hear back soon

Hi sorry I should have added that it was before the pandemic (so for Fall 2018, 2020 admission cycles) so I don't think I can be of much help re: post-pandemic interview process.

That said, not sure if it would help, I did have skype formal interviews at 2 schools back then. One had shifted to virtual interviews for everyone before pandemic considering those who can't travel (thus for fairness). For one I could not attend in-person and had no choice but to have skype interviews. For both these schools, I had interviews with POI, clinical faculty, and grad students. It was all via skype but I assume it would be via zoom this year?

 

Best of luck!

[Drew James]

18 hours ago, Attempted_Academic said:

I feel this so hard. I am a lab coordinator with 20+ presentations, a publication, and two accepted publications. I went to a smaller school with limited fields of research so I picked trauma and ran with it. But I'm really much more interested in sexual health. Because I didn't have that specific research experience, I did a two year program in sexual health in attempts to compensate a bit. I also work in addictions. So basically applications express interest in working in all three fields. I was SO worried about my SOI's looking disjointed and unfocused. But I've already been invited for two interviews and I've had two "informal chats." I should mention its my fourth year applying and the first time anyone has showed interest so I'm really hopeful. It was intimidating hearing that my POI of choice had 100+ applications and already knows/has worked with a number of them. But I'm remaining cautiously optimistic. 

You sound like an incredibly competitive applicant! Best of luck

[Drew James]

2 hours ago, Regina77 said:

Please tell us what you can about the virtual set up? Interviewed with POI, other grad students? zoom? thanks and good luck hope you hear back soon

I've had one 'formal' set of interviews at Dal: two structured one-on-one interviews with clinical program committee members and a casual interview with my prospective supervisors. Both were via zoom. I think the supervisors then rank their short-listed interviewees and confer with the clinical program committee to finalize offers. 

[stella18]

4 hours ago, PsychGirl2 said:

 

Me too please!  

Me too!

[Psyched_abt_psych]

Hi all! I was wondering if anyone who has already done an informal interview  (where POI has reached out) can offer any insight on what this looked like and how it went for them? Was it more of a chat to assess fit or even semi structured would you say?

thanks in advance!! 

[Psyched_abt_psych]

On 12/23/2020 at 2:23 PM, Psych1313 said:

To the person who posted an interview with Queens on the results page: if you happen to see this, do you mind dming me your POI?

Me too please, if you don’t mind of course!!

[carlrogersfan98]

6 hours ago, Psyched_abt_psych said:

Me too please, if you don’t mind of course!!

Me as well please!

[Drew James]

Just got an interview with McMaster! (Jan 6) Contacted via email by POI

[psych11123]

12 minutes ago, Drew James said:

Just got an interview with McMaster! (Jan 6) Contacted via email by POI

Congrats!! Are you willing to share poi? 

[xtrahotlatte]

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I've been noticing people are very hesitant to share their POIs they've received interview invites from. This is my third year applying and in the past, everyone has always been very open and transparent about this. I find it a little disheartening as this forum is meant to provide some reassurance and clarity throughout this very difficult process. In addition, I'm not quite sure how an anonymous user sharing their POI's initials can jeopardize their success in the interview or admissions process. I know I can't control people's actions or force anything out of them, nor am I trying to, I just wanted to say that I personally find it more stressful knowing that interview invites are being sent out from a school I applied to but not being sure if it is from a POI that I applied to.

Edited January 6, 2021 by xtrahotlatte

[Chebben]

3 hours ago, xtrahotlatte said:

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I've been noticing people are very hesitant to share their POIs they've received interview invites from. This is my third year applying and in the past, everyone has always been very open and transparent about this. I find it a little disheartening as this forum is meant to provide some reassurance and clarity throughout this very difficult process. In addition, I'm not quite sure how an anonymous user sharing their POI's initials can jeopardize their success in the interview or admissions process. I know I can't control people's actions or force anything out of them, nor am I trying to, I just wanted to say that I personally find it more stressful knowing that interview invites are being sent out from a school I applied to but not being sure if it is from a POI that I applied to.

Yes, I certainly see why this is frustrating. My personal two cents here - I'm a current clin psych student but speaking as to when I was in my applying, I think I was hesitant to put too much specific information about my application components because I wanted to preserve my anonymity as an applicant - this is especially relevant to when I was going in for interviews and probably running into other grad cafe users. In retrospect I don't know why it mattered to me much, but I just felt weird about the whole thing. If i remember correctly, I was more comfortable with DMing people my POI though. But I do agree, it is very valuable information to pass on..

There's just something weird about being on this platform, like even as a current student I want to share more inside details about my program but I don't feel comfortable announcing it here, versus if I ran into you one on one in person.?‍♂️

[emsmith]

16 hours ago, xtrahotlatte said:

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I've been noticing people are very hesitant to share their POIs they've received interview invites from. This is my third year applying and in the past, everyone has always been very open and transparent about this. I find it a little disheartening as this forum is meant to provide some reassurance and clarity throughout this very difficult process. In addition, I'm not quite sure how an anonymous user sharing their POI's initials can jeopardize their success in the interview or admissions process. I know I can't control people's actions or force anything out of them, nor am I trying to, I just wanted to say that I personally find it more stressful knowing that interview invites are being sent out from a school I applied to but not being sure if it is from a POI that I applied to.

I get a bit nervous sharing details of my application because my existing research area is quite specific and I feel like I would be pretty identifiable if I share too much. I don't necessarily mind sharing schools or POIs though (although admittedly I find DM more comfortable), and I agree that when you hear which schools/POIs have sent out invites for interviews, it can be such a relief to either know it's not your POI, or if it is you can stop stressing about it so much and focus on other things. 

When people do share POIs I find it's also helpful to see how many people have interests that are different to yours - it's nice knowing that there is diversity in our research topics and not everyone is in a kind of direct competition for 'your' POI. Even when someone does have similar interests/applied to the same people, it can actually be quite nice to talk and commiserate together a little about it all.

This whole processes is competitive because there are so few positions but once we're all in programs (which will take most of us multiple application cycles) we'll be on the same 'side' even if we have the similar interests or we're in different years or different schools, etc. I find it really cool to learn about other people's interests and research, and when you take a step back and think if you met the people around here at a conference you would probably think most people were really cool and interesting. 

 

11 hours ago, Chebben said:

There's just something weird about being on this platform, like even as a current student I want to share more inside details about my program but I don't feel comfortable announcing it here, versus if I ran into you one on one in person.?‍♂️

As an applicant, I would LOVE to hear more from people in current programs about their experiences and what it's like! It doesn't need to be super specific, of course each program is a bit different and how things work will depend on your supervisor and research area etc, but there are so few resources online for Canadian programs, it's really hard to find information other than really generic "students learn about assessment and do x hours of practical training, and their research" etc. 

 

[PsychApplicant14]

Wondering if anyone who applied to UNB has heard anything?

[pyschluver]

Do all profs usually send out informal invites for one-on-one interviews before formal invitations to grad interview day? Wondering how likely it is that the first time you meet with a prof is on the formal interview day held by the department. If anyone has any insight on this, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Sundaythecat]

15 minutes ago, PsychApplicant14 said:

Wondering if anyone who applied to UNB has heard anything?

I didn’t apply there this year, but last year I got an interview invite on January 13. With everything going on this year (pandemic, influx of applications), I wouldn’t be surprised if the interview process for most schools is delayed, so try not too stress too much (easier said than done I know)! It’s still super early

[Sundaythecat]

10 minutes ago, pyschluver said:

Do all profs usually send out informal invites for one-on-one interviews before formal invitations to grad interview day? Wondering how likely it is that the first time you meet with a prof is on the formal interview day held by the department. If anyone has any insight on this, it would be greatly appreciated!

It’s really dependent on the person! Nearly all of my interviews have been formal. The only informal interviews I have had is when I specifically asked if a potential supervisor had time to speak before applications were due (to make sure our interests etc were in alignment). I have never had a supervisor reach out to me to set up an informal interview.  

[UroboroS]

Hi, to the Concordia poster on the results page: was your interview invite sent from your POI or the department? Feel free to dm me! Thank you  

 

[broski]

1 hour ago, PsychApplicant14 said:

Wondering if anyone who applied to UNB has heard anything?

Haven't heard anything yet 

[BrainBlast]

16 minutes ago, Psych1313 said:

Hi, to the Concordia poster on the results page: was your interview invite sent from your POI or the department? Feel free to dm me! Thank you  

 

Please DM me as well!

[CateFace]

This week is a long one. I keep expecting to see something - if not in my inbox, reported on the results page - for the program I applied to based on previous years results. Of course this year is a total guess though with all of the incredible variables in the mix with increased application, pandemic, the world on fire...so I think the time they make contact is anyone's guess. 

Still, I'm finding I need to forcefully keep myself away from the refresh. 

[freudianslipintogradschool]

Any thoughts on what to ask a PI’s grad students???

[Chebben]

8 minutes ago, freudianslipintogradschool said:

Any thoughts on what to ask a PI’s grad students???

I would say here really try to get a sense of the PI's work style. Like any pet peeves they have with regards to work, any specific quirks they may have. Maybe try asking, based on your experience working with this PI, how would you describe the ideal grad student for them? 

Also ask how open they are to collaboration, how many opportunities there are for publication, how open they are with discussing conflict/personal issues, how open they are with getting to know grad students (i.e. how informal/formal lab environment is). Also get a sense if grad students ever hang out with themselves or how friendly the lab environment is.

Mainly, just be very clear going in how you see your work style as a grad student, and try to think about what you want in a supervisor, and use this time to ascertain whether or not you and your POI will be a good fit.

 

[freudianslipintogradschool]

2 minutes ago, Chebben said:

I would say here really try to get a sense of the PI's work style. Like any pet peeves they have with regards to work, any specific quirks they may have. Maybe try asking, based on your experience working with this PI, how would you describe the ideal grad student for them? 

Also ask how open they are to collaboration, how many opportunities there are for publication, how open they are with discussing conflict/personal issues, how open they are with getting to know grad students (i.e. how informal/formal lab environment is). Also get a sense if grad students ever hang out with themselves or how friendly the lab environment is.

Mainly, just be very clear going in how you see your work style as a grad student, and try to think about what you want in a supervisor, and use this time to ascertain whether or not you and your POI will be a good fit.

 

This is amazing advice! Thank you so much!

[clinical_psyc_hopeful]

Can the person who posted on the results page about UVIC pm me please :)? 

[psych11123]

Removed

Edited January 7, 2021 by psych11123