Counselling Psychology Applicants 2021 CANADA

[psychstudent3]

Hi everyone,

I thought I would start a thread for applicants applying for counselling programs this Fall 2020, so people can post their questions/comments here

Edited July 13, 2020 by psychstudent3

[wecandoit]

Hey, hope that you're still active. I made an account just so I could reply, haha.

Which programs are you planning on applying to? I'm from BC, so I'm mostly interested in SFU, UVIC and UBC. 

[BananazPsych]

On 8/7/2020 at 10:21 PM, wecandoit said:

Hey, hope that you're still active. I made an account just so I could reply, haha.

Which programs are you planning on applying to? I'm from BC, so I'm mostly interested in SFU, UVIC and UBC. 

Hey! Just made an account too so that this thread can hopefully become a bit more active! I’m from Alberta so I’m mainly looking at UofA, UofC, ULethbridge. In BC I am thinking about SFU, as well as maybe looking at Ontario for some of their Clinical and Counselling programs.  UVic would be lovely but sadly I don’t have the specific course prerequisites for counselling and group processes.

[Mickey26]

On 8/28/2020 at 8:18 PM, BananazPsych said:

Hey! Just made an account too so that this thread can hopefully become a bit more active! I’m from Alberta so I’m mainly looking at UofA, UofC, ULethbridge. In BC I am thinking about SFU, as well as maybe looking at Ontario for some of their Clinical and Counselling programs.  UVic would be lovely but sadly I don’t have the specific course prerequisites for counselling and group processes.

UVic has specific course prereq eh (ED-D 418 Introduction to Theories of Counselling)? I believe Athabasca offers an equivalent if you want to do an online course! I believe it was PSYC 406 or something. It's NOT 405 b/c that's what UCalgary requires. 

https://www.athabascau.ca/syllabi/psyc/psyc406.php

Edit: Double check with UVic's program though. I didn't apply there and this is all from memory as I believe an acquaintance applied there and informed me of this.

Edit 2: Yup its 406 https://www.uvic.ca/education/psychology/assets/docs/ED-D Course Equivalencies Chart.pdf

Edited August 31, 2020 by Mickey26

[BananazPsych]

13 hours ago, Mickey26 said:

UVic has specific course prereq eh (ED-D 418 Introduction to Theories of Counselling)? I believe Athabasca offers an equivalent if you want to do an online course! I believe it was PSYC 406 or something. It's NOT 405 b/c that's what UCalgary requires. 

https://www.athabascau.ca/syllabi/psyc/psyc406.php

Edit: Double check with UVic's program though. I didn't apply there and this is all from memory as I believe an acquaintance applied there and informed me of this.

Edit 2: Yup its 406 https://www.uvic.ca/education/psychology/assets/docs/ED-D Course Equivalencies Chart.pdf

Yeahh, sadly the closest equivalent to Ed-D 417 that I took at the U of A doesn’t meet the criteria of 70% skills assessment either, and I didn’t take the ED-D 414 equivalent during my degree! So I decided to just skip uVic rather than try and take three prereqs that only that school needs. Decided to expand into Ontario though, U of T for clinical and counselling, counselling, and maybe school and clinical child, maybe Guelph for couple and family therapy. I have no idea where I would even have a good shot though so we shall see! ? Thanks for checking for me though! 
 

Are you applying anywhere this cycle?? 

[Mickey26]

9 hours ago, BananazPsych said:

Yeahh, sadly the closest equivalent to Ed-D 417 that I took at the U of A doesn’t meet the criteria of 70% skills assessment either, and I didn’t take the ED-D 414 equivalent during my degree! So I decided to just skip uVic rather than try and take three prereqs that only that school needs. Decided to expand into Ontario though, U of T for clinical and counselling, counselling, and maybe school and clinical child, maybe Guelph for couple and family therapy. I have no idea where I would even have a good shot though so we shall see! ? Thanks for checking for me though! 
 

Are you applying anywhere this cycle?? 

I have friends at UCalgary Counselling who are about to start this year! I hear its a good program

Oh I'm already attending a Clin Psych program haha Best of luck!

[MaryQofS]

I accidentally posted this already in the Clinical thread because I didn't know this one existed, so apologies for the double post.

I am currently living in the US, but I am from Europe originally. I don't want to return to Europe yet, and I am tired of living in the US, so I am considering applying to graduate school in Canada. I am especially interested in McGill's Master's Program in Counselling Psychology (Professional/Internship concentration). However, I do not have a Psychology degree, and the admissions requirements for people who do not are 18 credits of core courses in specific Psychology domains and 24 credits in related disciplines in the social sciences. I do not have a single one of these - my Bachelor's is in French and German, and my Master's is in Comparative Literature.  (In the country where I'm from, our university degrees involve early specialization so we don't take lots of extra credits in classes not related to our major in the first two years hence my complete lack of credits in Psychology/Social Sciences).

I am currently working towards a certificate in Addictions Counselling from a local community college, but I don't believe those courses would count since they are not upper-division. 
I emailed McGill asking if they could recommend places to get the credits but they weren't particularly helpful, just telling me to review the admissions checklist (I already had!) and saying that many students were able to complete them online at Canadian universities. That's great but which ones??!!  

Thanks in advance!
 

[MSW2020lm]

Hi! Is anyone here applying to OISE MEd in counselling and psychotherapy? 

[BananazPsych]

On 10/4/2020 at 6:02 PM, MSW2020lm said:

Hi! Is anyone here applying to OISE MEd in counselling and psychotherapy? 

I am! Decided on applying to OISE for Clinical & counselling, counselling & psychotherapy, and school & child psych. How are you apps going?

[BananazPsych]

On 9/5/2020 at 8:12 PM, MaryQofS said:

I accidentally posted this already in the Clinical thread because I didn't know this one existed, so apologies for the double post.

I am currently living in the US, but I am from Europe originally. I don't want to return to Europe yet, and I am tired of living in the US, so I am considering applying to graduate school in Canada. I am especially interested in McGill's Master's Program in Counselling Psychology (Professional/Internship concentration). However, I do not have a Psychology degree, and the admissions requirements for people who do not are 18 credits of core courses in specific Psychology domains and 24 credits in related disciplines in the social sciences. I do not have a single one of these - my Bachelor's is in French and German, and my Master's is in Comparative Literature.  (In the country where I'm from, our university degrees involve early specialization so we don't take lots of extra credits in classes not related to our major in the first two years hence my complete lack of credits in Psychology/Social Sciences).

I am currently working towards a certificate in Addictions Counselling from a local community college, but I don't believe those courses would count since they are not upper-division. 
I emailed McGill asking if they could recommend places to get the credits but they weren't particularly helpful, just telling me to review the admissions checklist (I already had!) and saying that many students were able to complete them online at Canadian universities. That's great but which ones??!!  

Thanks in advance!
 

Hey! That's tough, since having a breadth of psychology courses under your belt is definitely important, and so is research experience that you can usually get through psychology labs at schools. However, I am doing a couple psychology courses online through Athabasca University to fill my last prereqs and boost my application right now, and I can't remember if there are any restrictions to take courses but I don't think so. I would recommend checking them out to at least get started on some psychology courses! It's a very flexible, self-directed learning option so it would work well for someone who's also in college or working. Best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

[MSW2020lm]

5 hours ago, BananazPsych said:

I am! Decided on applying to OISE for Clinical & counselling, counselling & psychotherapy, and school & child psych. How are you apps going?

oh awesome!! Finally someone else haha. The app is going okay. Unlike the MSW the statement doesn't have specific questions to answer, so having a hard time structuring it and figuring out what I want to include in it. I'm going to DM you  

 

[SoundofSilence]

On 10/8/2020 at 9:07 AM, BananazPsych said:

I am! Decided on applying to OISE for Clinical & counselling, counselling & psychotherapy, and school & child psych. How are you apps going?

You are applying to all three at the same time? Doesn't OISE say that they discourage applications to more than one program and that it looks bad to the admin committee?

[BananazPsych]

7 hours ago, SoundofSilence said:

You are applying to all three at the same time? Doesn't OISE say that they discourage applications to more than one program and that it looks bad to the admin committee?

Really, can you direct m to where they say that? I’m admittedly a last second applicant to east coast schools but all I saw was that OISE conveniently allows up to 3 program choice in one application but nothing about discouraging doing that! If that’d the caee though I’ll definitely have to reconsider :0

[Mickey26]

5 hours ago, BananazPsych said:

Really, can you direct m to where they say that? I’m admittedly a last second applicant to east coast schools but all I saw was that OISE conveniently allows up to 3 program choice in one application but nothing about discouraging doing that! If that’d the caee though I’ll definitely have to reconsider :0

I'd be cautious. It does depend on the department/school/institution.

For example, for UCalgary, the school psych program and the counselling programs are within the same department, and actually go through the exact same program coordinator person. Meaning, you do not want to apply to both b/c (and I was explicitly told this), the program coord will think you just can't make up your mind what program/career you want to do, and you risk having your application discarded outright. However, the clinical prog is part of a different department, so you could apply clinical and school psych OR clin and counselling. 

Again, it depends on the school so I would triple check things. 

[lebensphilosopher]

Hi everyone! I'm interested in applying to the UofT OISE Counselling Psychology - Counselling and Psychotherapy Stream (MEd). Would a successful applicant be willing to chat? I would love to hear from you!

[SoundofSilence]

On 10/9/2020 at 10:44 PM, BananazPsych said:

Really, can you direct m to where they say that? I’m admittedly a last second applicant to east coast schools but all I saw was that OISE conveniently allows up to 3 program choice in one application but nothing about discouraging doing that! If that’d the caee though I’ll definitely have to reconsider :0

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

It says so on their website here: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/aphd/Home/Apply/Tips_for_your_Application.html

Under "Choosing a program": "Applications to more than one program within APHD are discouraged. Because all of APHD's programs offer very different experiences and career paths, applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully select the program to which they wish to apply. Applying to more than one program may suggest to the Admissions Committee that you are unsure of your interests."

[BananazPsych]

1 hour ago, SoundofSilence said:

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

It says so on their website here: https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/aphd/Home/Apply/Tips_for_your_Application.html

Under "Choosing a program": "Applications to more than one program within APHD are discouraged. Because all of APHD's programs offer very different experiences and career paths, applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully select the program to which they wish to apply. Applying to more than one program may suggest to the Admissions Committee that you are unsure of your interests."

Don’t be sorry, I definitely appreciate you filling me in on this clearly important information ? Only decided on U of T a month or so ago and definitely just thought it was super cool and convenient that you could apply to three programs in one application! But I know to bring it back down to one now , thank you! And to @Mickey26 If anyone has further application wisdom to share I am aaall ears btw ehe

[MegArmstrong]

I'm applying to the Counselling and Psychotherapy MEd program at UofT too! How's everyone's application for that going? Their deadline is coming up fast ?

I still have to finish my statement of Intent for them, about half done it at the moment. Definitely relate to what you were saying earlier @MSW2020lm , about how it's hard figuring out what all to include since they don't have specific questions/it's longer than the ones I've seen other schools requesting. 

[MSW2020lm]

4 hours ago, MegArmstrong said:

I'm applying to the Counselling and Psychotherapy MEd program at UofT too! How's everyone's application for that going? Their deadline is coming up fast ?

I still have to finish my statement of Intent for them, about half done it at the moment. Definitely relate to what you were saying earlier @MSW2020lm , about how it's hard figuring out what all to include since they don't have specific questions/it's longer than the ones I've seen other schools requesting. 

Hi! I just submitted the application now! Hows yours coming along??

[unicornpsych]

On 10/28/2020 at 2:50 PM, MegArmstrong said:

I'm applying to the Counselling and Psychotherapy MEd program at UofT too! How's everyone's application for that going? Their deadline is coming up fast ?

I still have to finish my statement of Intent for them, about half done it at the moment. Definitely relate to what you were saying earlier @MSW2020lm , about how it's hard figuring out what all to include since they don't have specific questions/it's longer than the ones I've seen other schools requesting. 

I'm applying to this program too!! Still working on what exactly to put in my statement of intent, it's hard to know what the best way to write it is without being given specific questions for sure. 

[Edge98]

Anyone applied to University of Lethbridge's MEd in counselling psychology? I've heard good things about this program, but worried it's more oriented towards mature applicants. Either way, I just submitted my application!

[MegArmstrong]

Finally finished and submitted my UofT application! It feels good to have the first application of the year officially completed. 

@Edge98 I'm applying to that program at Lethbridge as well! I know what you mean about mature applicants due to the program's work experience requirements, but I'm applying too just in case!

What other schools are y'all applying to? ?

 

 

[VanessaB]

@Edge98@MegArmstrong I did two undergrads at the U of L and one of my friends completed her MEd (Counselling Psych) at the U of L. U of L is a great school, but living is Lethbridge leaves something to be desired! That said, since there’s little to do in Lethbridge, it’s probably great for staying focused in graduate school. I believe more younger people apply to the MEd than the MC at the U of L because the MEd in counselling is an in-class program. Usually, the older working professionals take the MC. The MC usually receives more applications per year than the MEd, but both are highly competitive to get admitted to.

[Regina77]

On 10/8/2020 at 2:07 AM, BananazPsych said:

I am! Decided on applying to OISE for Clinical & counselling, counselling & psychotherapy, and school & child psych. How are you apps going?

me too. applied to 2 CCP and CP. did you see recently on their website FAQ they posted saying they discourage you from applying to multiple programs? wth! didn't they say it was okay?

[Samantha123]

I finally submitted my application to UVic for their MA in Counselling Psych program :) I'm curious to hear what other people think as to whether or not admissions will be more or less competitive this year due to COVID?