2021 Clinical Psychology Applicants CANADA

[Hope466]

10 minutes ago, tealover05 said:

Hey! A person who got interview from York . Can you please DM me your POI initials ? Thanks !

Me as well, please

[PsychGiraffe]

13 minutes ago, tealover05 said:

Hey! A person who got interview from York . Can you please DM me your POI initials ? Thanks !

Don't care about POI, but two things: post says PhD not master's, is that correct? And is that Adult clinical or Developmental? Thanks in advance.

[coffeeinmyveins]

Ahhhhh super excited!! 

School: University of Victoria 

Concentration: Clinical Neuropsychology

Type: MSc/PhD

Date of acceptance: informal acceptance - Jan 29, 2020

Notified by: Personal e-mail from POI, said official offer should be received this week! 

[Sue2020]

38 minutes ago, tealover05 said:

Hey! A person who got interview from York . Can you please DM me your POI initials ? Thanks !

Same, please!  

[freudianslipintogradschool]

1 hour ago, tealover05 said:

Hey! A person who got interview from York . Can you please DM me your POI initials ? Thanks !

Me too please  !

[Psychologystudent2021]

52 minutes ago, coffeeinmyveins said:

Ahhhhh super excited!! 

School: University of Victoria 

Concentration: Clinical Neuropsychology

Type: MSc/PhD

Date of acceptance: informal acceptance - Jan 29, 2020

Notified by: Personal e-mail from POI, said official offer should be received this week! 

Congratulations ❤️

[Regina77]

1 hour ago, tealover05 said:

Hey! A person who got interview from York . Can you please DM me your POI initials ? Thanks !

me too please!

[Sabr_Shukr]

4 hours ago, Regina77 said:

HI Everyone

Who else dreads and anticipates Mondays? Here comes another week of watching. At least we get a break on the weekends lol.

OMG first time in my life I've been looking forward to Mondays! Good luck everyone, hopefully we hear back from more schools this week! ?

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 1/30/2021 at 4:31 PM, carlrogersfan98 said:

Got an official rejection from the PI I applied to at Queen's, it was such a kind email though I'm literally not even mad :')

 

LOL I had one of these in the past. Can relate!

[iliketurtlestoo]

5 hours ago, wannabepsychstudent said:

Hi!  I'm planning on applying to clinical psych programs for the next admission cycle, and I was wondering if any current students (or anyone who has gotten interviews / knows current students etc), has had not-stellar undergraduate grades, but has taken extra courses after finishing and managed to make up for it?

I graduated a couple of years ago but I had a hard time in my undergrad and my grades definitely show it... I have research experience and a couple of publications, and I've been thinking of taking some extra classes online at Athabasca to show that I've improved and to boost my GPA, but I'm worried that even just having such bad grades on my transcript will prevent me from making it through the first screening process. I know some schools say they only look at the last 2 years, but if I have some *really* bad grades, will that taint my whole application, or is it worth trying to take some extra classes? Has anyone had a similar experience? Thanks!

I don't know how a crap GPA would weigh out in the context of having publications and research experience. If a school uses undergrad GPA as a cut off, then ya, I suppose it's a problem. 

I can relate, my undergrad grades were crap. But then I did a Masters. And then worked for a while so that research got stale. So I did a research focused post baccalaureate certificate program. I applied to 15 schools, got interviews at 5, was accepted to 2. 

[iliketurtlestoo]

On 1/30/2021 at 1:55 AM, guaranteedpsychstudent said:

Hello everyone, hope you all are well. This may be a bit off-topic for this thread, but I wanted to ask if any of knew what the employment prospects are like for those who graduate from unaccredited PsyD or PhD programs. For example, does anyone here know of graduates of the pre-accreditation McMaster RCT program finding pre-doctoral internships and jobs easily? What about the Memorial University of Newfoundland program before it was accredited?

I also want to know whether in general you think it is worth attending an unaccredited program such as the recently formed PsyD one at UPEI. There, it is not only an unaccredited program (although they say they are actively seeking accreditation but unsure of the timeline), but also a university that is virtually unranked. Does that make attending this program too much of a risk? Or ultimately do you think this kind of name and prestige-related factors cease to matter if you prove you are good at your job?

Would very much appreciate your insight regarding the above.

There was a similar question a while back in this thread. You may want to do a keyword search.

I think it also ceases to matter depending on your career path. For example, if you want to work for the VA in the US (well, you also have to be a US citizen but bear with me) they require graduation from an accredited program (that means accredited at the time of your graduation) and an APA/APPIC internship. So, a risk for what? Never getting a job anywhere? Do you want to do private practice? Shouldn't be a problem. Do you want to be Ivy League faculty? Maybe it would matter, but then so would other factors that are subsequent to the school ranking (ie: references, research background, PI's who will get you where you want to go). If you get into a school that's not the exact fit for you, there are still mentorship program, MANY associations and divisions that need committee members where you will find mentors and guides. I think the more pressing question is what do you want your career path to be. I don't think the ranking of a school is a good indication that a student will be successful unless they apply all the other aspects of grad school and life planning as well. 

[wannabepsychstudent]

6 minutes ago, iliketurtlestoo said:

I don't know how a crap GPA would weigh out in the context of having publications and research experience. If a school uses undergrad GPA as a cut off, then ya, I suppose it's a problem. 

I can relate, my undergrad grades were crap. But then I did a Masters. And then worked for a while so that research got stale. So I did a research focused post baccalaureate certificate program. I applied to 15 schools, got interviews at 5, was accepted to 2. 

Thanks for your input! Yeah, that's the thing, I think I would be a good applicant otherwise, but if my application gets thrown in the garbage as soon as I press submit because of some previous low grades, then I guess it doesn't really matter if the rest of my CV is good because nobody will see it... Hopefully if I can do some extra classes I can make sure that at least my last 60 credits are okay. I'm glad there are some other people on here who have been through the same thing! 

[sparrow123]

2 hours ago, Rawulf said:

Don't care about POI, but two things: post says PhD not master's, is that correct? And is that Adult clinical or Developmental? Thanks in advance.

Yeah, that's weird. York doesn't allow direct to PhD admissions for clinical psych, you have to apply for a Master's first. Unless they already had a clinical Master's or if they got special permission I guess - which someone in my cohort did actually, but that was after they were admitted. (I'm currently in the clinical program at York.) 

[PsychGiraffe]

Just now, sparrow123 said:

Yeah, that's weird. York doesn't allow direct to PhD admissions for clinical psych, you have to apply for a Master's first. Unless they already had a clinical Master's or if they got special permission I guess - which someone in my cohort did actually, but that was after they were admitted. (I'm currently in the clinical program at York.) 

Mind if I DM you?

[Ozark]

2 hours ago, tealover05 said:

Hey! A person who got interview from York . Can you please DM me your POI initials ? Thanks !

me too

[psychstudent2020]

5 hours ago, UroboroS said:

I think if you generally want to let them know you enjoyed talking with them and are interested in their research, then that's great! Programs like to see that prospective applicants will get along with many  faculty members and not just  their PI. You will have committee members, practicum supervisors, etc that you will be developing relationships with throughout your degree. So, I think showing that interest would demonstrate your overall excitement and interest in the program.

If however, you want to inquire about switching which POI you would like as your primary supervisor and you have already gone through formal interviews, I would advise against this. Like I mentioned, if you are admitted you may have opportunities to collaborate with this faculty member in some fashion. I have not heard of anyone doing this and I think it may come off unfocused and unprofessional. Not to mention your primary POI might feel shafted (even if the other faculty member has overlapping interests). You could inquire about the possibility of co-supervision, but I would only personally inquire about this if and when I received an official offer. 

Thank you! yes I was inquiring about switching the POI the I would like as my primary supervisor (the POI that I would want to reach out to is new and was not listed on the website when I started my application research). My thinking was along the same lines though - that it would hurt my chances of acceptance. Thank you for your insight. 

 

With respect to co-supervision, has anyone/ does anyone know of someone who has requested co-supervision after receiving acceptance (more specifically at McGill or Concordia)? If so, how did you go about doing this? 

[psychstudent2020]

Does anyone know if you can complete the Clinical MA/PhD at Concordia in a shorter amount of time if you are applying having already completed a MSc (Experimental)? 

[Psychqueen]

Can the person who got an interview at York message me too? Thank you!!

[egyptianintoronto]

9 hours ago, Hope466 said:

Me as well, please

Same please!

[iliketurtlestoo]

13 hours ago, wannabepsychstudent said:

Thanks for your input! Yeah, that's the thing, I think I would be a good applicant otherwise, but if my application gets thrown in the garbage as soon as I press submit because of some previous low grades, then I guess it doesn't really matter if the rest of my CV is good because nobody will see it... Hopefully if I can do some extra classes I can make sure that at least my last 60 credits are okay. I'm glad there are some other people on here who have been through the same thing! 

When you think about the volume of applications some schools get, the first "cut" is likely across several objective numerical standards like GPA and GRE scores (you know, back in the olden days when GRE's were standard!). Otherwise how could a committee screen through hundreds of applications reasonably? Sucks, but there it is. 

[playdough]

15 hours ago, wannabepsychstudent said:

Thanks for your input! Yeah, that's the thing, I think I would be a good applicant otherwise, but if my application gets thrown in the garbage as soon as I press submit because of some previous low grades, then I guess it doesn't really matter if the rest of my CV is good because nobody will see it... Hopefully if I can do some extra classes I can make sure that at least my last 60 credits are okay. I'm glad there are some other people on here who have been through the same thing! 

I am in the same boat. My GPA is not stellar and it actually falls below the minimum requirement for number of programs I applied to. I would really encourage reaching out to POIs and building a relationship with them before the application deadline because I managed to get interviews by doing this and emphasizing a really strong research fit (I know number of people who have done this as well). This allows the prof to keep an eye out for your application and have it reviewed even if it doesn't meet the requirement.

This of course depends hugely on the program's admission style. Some have admission committees that do not allow profs to see the applications before the initial screening process based on GPA, GRE, etc.  

[gradclinical]

Does anyone hear from OISE SCCP program?

[wannabepsychstudent]

1 hour ago, playdough said:

I am in the same boat. My GPA is not stellar and it actually falls below the minimum requirement for number of programs I applied to. I would really encourage reaching out to POIs and building a relationship with them before the application deadline because I managed to get interviews by doing this and emphasizing a really strong research fit (I know number of people who have done this as well). This allows the prof to keep an eye out for your application and have it reviewed even if it doesn't meet the requirement.

This of course depends hugely on the program's admission style. Some have admission committees that do not allow profs to see the applications before the initial screening process based on GPA, GRE, etc.  

This is really helpful, thank you! 

[iliketurtlestoo]

2 hours ago, playdough said:

I am in the same boat. My GPA is not stellar and it actually falls below the minimum requirement for number of programs I applied to. I would really encourage reaching out to POIs and building a relationship with them before the application deadline because I managed to get interviews by doing this and emphasizing a really strong research fit (I know number of people who have done this as well). This allows the prof to keep an eye out for your application and have it reviewed even if it doesn't meet the requirement.

This of course depends hugely on the program's admission style. Some have admission committees that do not allow profs to see the applications before the initial screening process based on GPA, GRE, etc.  

Excellent points. One offer of an interview I received came so fast after the application deadline, there's no way it was vetted through any committee. One school I was pretty certain of an offer of acceptance because I had strong relationships and would have known otherwise. It all depends. 

[goingcoconuts]

Hi friends! I applied to a few schools this year and I was rejected from one, on the waitlist for another, and have an interview next week for the final program. I have two questions...

1. Does anyone know what a grad school waitlist looks like? I emailed my POI to ask about my position on the list but they did not know. From my perspective, unless I am first or second on the list, there is no chance of getting in. Alternatively, I don't know that they would keep a waitlist much longer for graduate school because, based on program stats, it doesn't seem like they offer much more than 1 or 2 alternate offers anyway. What are your thoughts (for reference, this is for UNB - a relatively small school).

2. I have an interview for a PsyD program at UPEI. They indicate directly in the email that we should be prepared for clinical vignettes as well as both quantitative and qualitative research problems. Has anyone else ever encountered this before? I noticed someone else had this question but I do not see any answers. While I consider myself quite a seasoned researcher, I still think I would have difficulty, especially under pressure, designing a whole study in an area I am not familiar with. Similarly, since I have not been in a clinical program as of yet (obviously), my responses to a clinical vignette are likely not going to be stellar? What are your thoughts/advice?

 

Thanks!!