2021 Clinical Psychology Applicants CANADA

[Gradgraduate]

Hey all!
I’ve been lurking this forum for the past few months. First time posting something. 

I’m also waiting on UTSC. I applied to the PhD program. Does anyone know how many invites they send out? And when we we can consider a lack of response a rejection? 
 

also congrats!!? 

2 hours ago, freudianslipintogradschool said:

School: UTSC

Program: Clinical Psychology MA

Interview type: Formal interview days Jan 25-27

Date of Invite: Jan 15th from Program coordinator 

DM for POI(s): Yes

 

[freudianslipintogradschool]

3 minutes ago, Gradgraduate said:

Hey all!
I’ve been lurking this forum for the past few months. First time posting something. 

I’m also waiting on UTSC. I applied to the PhD program. Does anyone know how many invites they send out? And when we we can consider a lack of response a rejection? 
 

also congrats!!? 

 

Thank you! I am not sure when you'd hear back for just the PhD program unfortunately! The 25-27 interview dyas are for MA I believe!

[Idiopathic]

Interviewed at Queen's on Thursday.  He indicated I should know in the next few weeks whether I am on to the next stage.

[CP4Me21]

Hi guys,  just wondering if anyone has any info on whether PhD apps are on the same timeline as MA apps at Ryerson (in terms of when prelim interviews and the official interview day take place)?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any insight, and congrats to everyone posting about their interviews :) 

[xtrahotlatte]

When do interview invites usually go out for Ryerson (MA)?

[carlrogersfan98]

1 hour ago, CP4Me21 said:

Hi guys,  just wondering if anyone has any info on whether PhD apps are on the same timeline as MA apps at Ryerson (in terms of when prelim interviews and the official interview day take place)?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any insight, and congrats to everyone posting about their interviews

 

18 minutes ago, xtrahotlatte said:

When do interview invites usually go out for Ryerson (MA)?

I have no insight for either of you, I'm just stopping by to say it's nice to know that other Ryerson applicants are in the same boat as me ?

[cpsych2021]

Hi guys,

Congrats to everyone who has gotten an interview! 

For those applying to Ryerson, I wouldn't loose hope yet! I just got an interview email from my POI yesterday evening so it seems like some supervisors aren't finished sending emails yet   (Please feel free to send me a DM for initials)

I was wondering if anyone here is applying to a supervisor under whom they are currently completing their undergraduate thesis with. If so, do you know if your supervisor is going to interview you before the formal interview process?

I have met with my supervisor to talk about the clinical psychology program, and she has guided me through the application process, but she never mentioned an actual interview with me (although, I did undergo two interviews in order to be her thesis student last spring). 

Does anyone have an experience with this? 

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 10/13/2020 at 6:57 PM, katgoheen said:

For personal statements, I'm interested in suggestions on how much detail to provide about past research projects? My instinct if to briefly describe the purpose and key results and how they relate to the current supervisors work. I am also inclined to describe key skills I learned rather than providing an abstract of the methods per se. 

Thanks in advance  

I wouldn't talk much about that in the personal statement. They can see it on your CV. Yes, talk about what made you become a good candidate because of that experience. 

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 10/14/2020 at 11:17 AM, alittlestitious said:

Is anyone a student/affiliate member of the CPA? Do you think this would help in applications in any way? I'd like to become a member but paying $75+ for membership that expires at the end of December seems like a waste of money for this year. 

I don't know if it helps that application or not but I appreciate being part of mailing lists and staying up to date with what's going on within the Divisions that I'm a member of. For example, the forensics/criminal justice divisions sends out great links to upcoming conferences and CE events. 

[cpsych2021]

2 minutes ago, iliketurtlestoo said:

I don't know if it helps that application or not but I appreciate being part of mailing lists and staying up to date with what's going on within the Divisions that I'm a member of. For example, the forensics/criminal justice divisions sends out great links to upcoming conferences and CE events. 

They also have a really cool mentorship program! I am in that program and I have a mentor who is currently in a clinical psychology program. I can't recommend this program more. My mentor has helped me so much.

Here's the link: https://cpa.ca/students/mentorship/ 

[VanessaB]

Sometimes I read about what other labs at other universities are working on. I’m especially interested in SCCP because that’s my area of study. In my readings, I came across this lab: https://www.academicinterventionlab.com/people. If you read the profiles, at least three individuals in the MA SCCP program at OISE already had their master’s degree before doing their MA at OISE. Looking at that, if you don’t get in, consider that fact that so many of these individuals (not all, but a lot it seems like!) already have graduate degrees prior to entering that program. I don’t think all schools are like this, but just a a heads up if this if your dream school. It seems to me that some students take the route of taking one graduate degree to prepare for another.

Edited January 16, 2021 by VanessaB

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 10/22/2020 at 1:02 PM, emsmith said:

Hi, This seems like a dumb thing to ask, but what do people write in the "any other important information you want the admissions committee to know in evaluating your application" section of some of the forms? 

 

I'm tempted to write a couple of lines about how I'm completing a couple of required/suggested courses and I expect to have them done in the next few months - they should be on my transcripts "in progress" so I don't know if this is really necessary... My reasoning for writing it is to emphasize that I've done really well in the courses that I have finished in the last few months while working full-time, but at the same time I don't want to write additional information that will be boring or emphasize that those courses are not complete at the time of application (which could be a weakness if the other applicants already have those completed?)

People who have applied before /or have been accepted - did you find it helpful to add information here, or is it better to just leave it blank? 

I assume this section to be if there is anything outstanding on your application. For instance, if one year your marks tanked because of a family crisis, or you had to take a year off because of personal health. Anything unusual in your application can be explained here. From a strengths-based approach of how you grew and became better, of course

[VanessaB]

10 minutes ago, iliketurtlestoo said:

I don't know if it helps that application or not but I appreciate being part of mailing lists and staying up to date with what's going on within the Divisions that I'm a member of. For example, the forensics/criminal justice divisions sends out great links to upcoming conferences and CE events. 

I personally like being a member because I volunteer as a mentor via their mentorship program, and you do indeed get to learn about upcoming conferences. There’s also some funding opportunities that members can apply for.

[rainydaychai]

25 minutes ago, VanessaB said:

Looking at that, if you don’t get in, consider that fact that so many of these individuals (not all, but a lot it seems like!) already have graduate degrees prior to entering that program. I don’t think all schools are like this, but just a a heads up if this if your dream school. It seems to me that some students take the route of taking one graduate degree to prepare for another.

Seconding this - I don’t think it’s just SCCP, I think this is becoming more common at all clinical programs. 3/8 of my cohort had MA degrees coming in to the program. I’m a graduate student interviewer for admissions to the program this cycle and most of the applicants my supervisor is considering this year have their MA.

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 10/30/2020 at 8:10 PM, Clin_psyc said:

are undergraduate conferences considered peer-reviewed?

Were they screened to be considered for acceptance? Or did you just say you wanted to present xyz and then you did? Peer reviewed stuff is considered by reviewers/committee for acceptance into the conference. 

[VanessaB]

3 hours ago, rainydaychai said:

Seconding this - I don’t think it’s just SCCP, I think this is becoming more common at all clinical programs. 3/8 of my cohort had MA degrees coming in to the program. I’m a graduate student interviewer for admissions to the program this cycle and most of the applicants my supervisor is considering this year have their MA.

Wow, 3/8 is a lot! 0/8 in my cohort have a graduate degree (but I’m in Alberta not Ontario, so maybe that makes a difference). However, 2/8 in my cohort have more than one undergrad degree.

Edited January 16, 2021 by VanessaB

[sparrow123]

4 hours ago, rainydaychai said:

Seconding this - I don’t think it’s just SCCP, I think this is becoming more common at all clinical programs. 3/8 of my cohort had MA degrees coming in to the program. I’m a graduate student interviewer for admissions to the program this cycle and most of the applicants my supervisor is considering this year have their MA.

 

It's even worse with my cohort - 5/8 of us already have Master's degrees (this is York Adult Clinical btw). FIVE! 

 

[higaisha]

I'm realizing i put the wrong theme in my CIHR proposal and that nothing can be done about it...sigh. Hopefully the people reviewing don't dock too many points (or better yet, correct the theme lol i guess I can dream).

Edited January 16, 2021 by higaisha

[VanessaB]

5 hours ago, higaisha said:

I'm realizing i put the wrong theme in my CIHR proposal and that nothing can be done about it...sigh. Hopefully the people reviewing don't dock too many points (or better yet, correct the theme lol i guess I can dream).

I know someone who previously got SSHRC funding despite a spelling mistake in their proposal, so I wouldn’t stress too much.

[psychpsych21]

Hey guys! Feel free to message me if POI is of interest

 

School: McGill

Type: Clinical Psychology (PhD)

Date of invite: 15-01-2021

Type of invite: Email from POI about official departmental interview date (selected from preliminary interviews)

Interview date(s): TBD

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School: Queen's

Type: Clinical Psychology (MA-PhD)

Date of invite: 10-01-2021

Type of invite: Email from POI about official departmental interview date (selected from preliminary interviews)

Interview date(s): End of Jan-Feb

---

School: UQAM

Type: Clinical Psychology (PhD/PsyD)

Date of invite: 05-01-2021

Type of invite: Email from POI about official departmental interview date (selected from preliminary interviews)

Interview date(s): TBD

---

For reference, I also have an official interview with a POI at McGill Counselling this week. Wishing everyone so much luck!!

 

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 11/30/2020 at 11:10 AM, Edge98 said:

For those of you applying or who have applied to U of C, do you know whether the font size of your references matters for the research proposal? Mine is size 11, and if I make it 12 all my references don't fit so I'm wondering if I need to remove a reference if it needs to be size 12 font. Thanks!

APA allows for a 11 size font now if that helps

[pyschluver]

Will anyone who has heard from McGill and is willing to share POI initials please PM me? Thank you in advance!

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 12/9/2020 at 6:32 PM, rainydaychai said:

Speaking from my perception of the process, I think the distinction between a "formal" and "informal" interview is larger in the United States, and pre-COVID. Since USA clinical psych admissions overwhelmingly host applicants on campus during one specific weekend for a big to-do, informal interviews are anything before the big on-campus weekend (e.g., phone calls, Zoom interviews). Now, with most things being remote, I figure this stark distinction will blur. Even pre-COVID, though, many Canadian universities may host on-campus interview days but they aren't so much of a "big thing" and they often still gave you the option of interviewing virtually instead with no penalty. The program where I am a first year student at is in Canada and approached things this way pre-COVID, and never did informal preliminary interviews (to my knowledge).

Not saying that no Canadian clinical psych program ever did informal preliminary interviews but the distinction, especially now, would be a Zoom call and then... another Zoom call.

I did three US interviews in 2019 and I can confirm this is how it went. It's an invite to a weekend that includes informal and formal meetings with faculty and students generally as well as specific interviews. 

Post-COVID everything will have to be remote/online. 

[Edge98]

22 hours ago, sparrow123 said:

 

It's even worse with my cohort - 5/8 of us already have Master's degrees (this is York Adult Clinical btw). FIVE! 

 

What kind of master's degrees do people typically have beforehand?

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 12/27/2020 at 1:40 AM, LostSoulInPsychology said:

Hey all,

Haven't posted on here in months because I realized I needed time to figure out what I want to do with my life.

Quick question - is the PEI PsyD considered one of those predatory degrees that's just a money grab? It's not accredited, and it seems that the only thing they look at is GPA and GRE (but GRE not required this year)...I started clicking through the application to see if there was space for me to talk about ECs and research, but nope, I couldn't see anything.

I might've asked about this program before, apologies about that - I didn't want to scroll through the 40 pages of this thread to find it. But yeah does anyone have any knowledge on this?

I haven't scrolled forward 15 pages to see if you've got an answer for this but here's my take on it:

The program costs are less than the funding they say they provide so I'm not sure how it can be a predatory/money grab program. You are right to look at accreditation but because it is not YET accredited, doesn't mean it's not set up to become so in the future, which they are, and say they will apply for accreditation when they can, which might not be until the first graduating class. Some unaccredited programs are so because they don't meet CPA/APA requirements to be so. Very different thing. 

The application does ask for a CV, where all your research should be listed, and they ask for three very specific questions to be answered in place of a general statement of interest, which they say you can reference if you want, to get at what you know about current debates and directions of the field of clinical psychology. They also require three letters of reference. 

Hope that helps. 

Edited January 17, 2021 by iliketurtlestoo