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Counselling Psychology Applicants 2021 CANADA

psychstudent3

By psychstudent3
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Jumbo3
Jumbo3

Hi guys,  It's March already. Schools started rolling out their results and some of us have already heard back from schools with good or bad news. I know many people here including myself suffere

willisle
willisle

Hello! I've received quite a few private messages asking questions about my experiences, probably because I was active on last year's forum. I thought I would throw some of my thoughts and answers up

lebensphilosopher
lebensphilosopher

I heard back today around 2PM! I was fortunate to receive an offer ?

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Plzletmein

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4 hours ago, Plzletmein said:

Hi, has anyone received a rejection letter for the UofC counselling or UofL counselling programs? I interviewed at both but haven't received an acceptance so I am wondering if it is still possible I received a waitlist position. 

Update: Received a waitlist position at UofC :) Poi: SR-M. If this is your PI and you plan to accept, could you please let me know so I can anticipate future plans. Thanks. Good luck everyone! 

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1097

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16 hours ago, King43867 said:

Just received my invite to Western for an interview on March 9th. So for anyone who applied to Western the email should come out tomorrow or latest Monday I’m guessing. 

Do you mind advising if this email was sent to your personal or western email account? 

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willisle

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Hello! I've received quite a few private messages asking questions about my experiences, probably because I was active on last year's forum. I thought I would throw some of my thoughts and answers up here rather than reply to every message.

I applied to U of T, Guelph, and UVic last year, all for counselling. I got accepted to U of T only and am now attending that program. As far as I know, U of T was objectively more competitive and so I think this is a good lesson on how unpredictable acceptances are. At the time, I thought I had the best chance at UVic. Not only are different schools looking for different things, but there are a variety of other factors that could be happening behind the scenes (for instance, I found out afterwards that UVic was having a number of faculty go on sabbatical and therefore accepted fewer students that year). If I could offer any advice on this, it would be to let go of the desire to predict acceptance once your application has been submitted, because the reality is that being a good candidate does not guarantee acceptance and there is no way for you to predict acceptance based off of comparing your GPA and experience to others. I think someone mentioned that there were 600 applicants to U of T last year and I'm willing to bet many of them were excellent candidates, so keep that in mind and don't let a school's potential rejection of your application make you feel like you are not worthy of pursuing this career path. The comparison can be helpful when gauging to see if you are competitive in the pre-application stage, but the type of experiences a lot of these schools are looking for is not something you can build in a few months. If you don’t get accepted, I think it's important to focus on how you can achieve the goal of becoming a therapist by becoming your own best advocate for accessing the education and experience you need. If you don't get accepted to the more traditional/well-known universities, consider alternative routes. I had judgments about some of the alternative programs and I have since realized that those beliefs were not all justified. I am in the process of applying to my practicum now and I see therapists working in at practicum sites that I am applying to in Toronto who went to these alternative programs, particularly Yorkville. I have also seen some Adler students, although not as many and I believe most were already RPs, whereas Yorkville students seem to be getting practicum placements. The reality is that the university programs are super competitive and so you might be a wonderful candidate and still not get accepted and that says little about you in and of itself, so is it more important to get into a fancy school or to actual begin your journey to becoming a therapist? That being said, I think some of these alternative programs are worth scrutinizing, so if you consider these routes, make sure to do your research and talk to people in the field as well as students in the program. Some of them do not seem reputable.

Another question people asked were variations of what makes for a good candidate. I can only speak to U of T and say that I know they want candidates who will be able to succeed in a practicum and in landing one. I had a good GPA and took three years between my undergrad in order to really test my skills. I know it's hard to think this far in advance, but I think the skill-testing piece is really important not just for admissions, but so that you can know whether you are a good fit for this career. I genuinely believe you cannot know that until you've gotten your feet wet and for that reason, I don't think it's the best idea to apply straight from undergrad unless you've been able to do that simultaneously. In fact, I'm not sure if anyone in my program came straight from undergrad, I believe they've all worked in the mental health field for a few years. Anyone can do well in school under the right circumstances, but have you been confronted with real mental health challenges of others and how did you handle that? Someone asked if the program has prepared me for the field and I think my experience in the mental health field prior to the program combined with the theoretical coursework this year is what's going to prepare me for the practicum next year. 

Few things on the OISE program: I have a great cohort of peers with diverse backgrounds in terms of experience. They and my professors are a wealth of knowledge. We do practice therapy sessions every week with our peers, which is a highlight of my week. Two thing that drew me to the program: I heard from an alumni that the networking in their cohort was invaluable and has stayed steady 20+ years after they graduated; I definitely see this in my own peer group. Secondly, I knew U of T  have good practicum connections based in Toronto and a good reputation and this is also true. Also I feel that they have done very well in making the program wok with Covid restrictions. 

Downsides: Funding sucks, so expect to self-fund. Some of my peers got research assistant jobs, but I think it is hard to break into that sphere as it is unionized. As well, there is the regular university administrative nonsense that if you went to a big school for undergrad, you are probably used to. 

GOOD LUCK to you all! 

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Psypig

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Wow thank you for taking the time to share your experience with me (us)! Has been coming to this forum like almost everyday, sometimes I feel more anxious after seeing how people achieved amazing GPA, gained professional experiences, received interview invitations etc. But it's very heartwarming to read your sharing today! Wishing you lots of success in your practicum : ) 

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never stop dreaming

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On 2/15/2021 at 5:57 PM, Jumbo3 said:

I got my first interview invite from Penn State University! 

I'm really happy but honestly I feel more pressure than when I was waiting to hear back from them. Does anyone know, in general, what % of candidates get final offers after interviews?

I do not know the answer for your question but congratulations and good luck!☺️

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Regina77

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On 2/16/2021 at 2:46 AM, willisle said:

Hello! I've received quite a few private messages asking questions about my experiences, probably because I was active on last year's forum. I thought I would throw some of my thoughts and answers up here rather than reply to every message.

I applied to U of T, Guelph, and UVic last year, all for counselling. I got accepted to U of T only and am now attending that program. As far as I know, U of T was objectively more competitive and so I think this is a good lesson on how unpredictable acceptances are. At the time, I thought I had the best chance at UVic. Not only are different schools looking for different things, but there are a variety of other factors that could be happening behind the scenes (for instance, I found out afterwards that UVic was having a number of faculty go on sabbatical and therefore accepted fewer students that year). If I could offer any advice on this, it would be to let go of the desire to predict acceptance once your application has been submitted, because the reality is that being a good candidate does not guarantee acceptance and there is no way for you to predict acceptance based off of comparing your GPA and experience to others. I think someone mentioned that there were 600 applicants to U of T last year and I'm willing to bet many of them were excellent candidates, so keep that in mind and don't let a school's potential rejection of your application make you feel like you are not worthy of pursuing this career path. The comparison can be helpful when gauging to see if you are competitive in the pre-application stage, but the type of experiences a lot of these schools are looking for is not something you can build in a few months. If you don’t get accepted, I think it's important to focus on how you can achieve the goal of becoming a therapist by becoming your own best advocate for accessing the education and experience you need. If you don't get accepted to the more traditional/well-known universities, consider alternative routes. I had judgments about some of the alternative programs and I have since realized that those beliefs were not all justified. I am in the process of applying to my practicum now and I see therapists working in at practicum sites that I am applying to in Toronto who went to these alternative programs, particularly Yorkville. I have also seen some Adler students, although not as many and I believe most were already RPs, whereas Yorkville students seem to be getting practicum placements. The reality is that the university programs are super competitive and so you might be a wonderful candidate and still not get accepted and that says little about you in and of itself, so is it more important to get into a fancy school or to actual begin your journey to becoming a therapist? That being said, I think some of these alternative programs are worth scrutinizing, so if you consider these routes, make sure to do your research and talk to people in the field as well as students in the program. Some of them do not seem reputable.

Another question people asked were variations of what makes for a good candidate. I can only speak to U of T and say that I know they want candidates who will be able to succeed in a practicum and in landing one. I had a good GPA and took three years between my undergrad in order to really test my skills. I know it's hard to think this far in advance, but I think the skill-testing piece is really important not just for admissions, but so that you can know whether you are a good fit for this career. I genuinely believe you cannot know that until you've gotten your feet wet and for that reason, I don't think it's the best idea to apply straight from undergrad unless you've been able to do that simultaneously. In fact, I'm not sure if anyone in my program came straight from undergrad, I believe they've all worked in the mental health field for a few years. Anyone can do well in school under the right circumstances, but have you been confronted with real mental health challenges of others and how did you handle that? Someone asked if the program has prepared me for the field and I think my experience in the mental health field prior to the program combined with the theoretical coursework this year is what's going to prepare me for the practicum next year. 

Few things on the OISE program: I have a great cohort of peers with diverse backgrounds in terms of experience. They and my professors are a wealth of knowledge. We do practice therapy sessions every week with our peers, which is a highlight of my week. Two thing that drew me to the program: I heard from an alumni that the networking in their cohort was invaluable and has stayed steady 20+ years after they graduated; I definitely see this in my own peer group. Secondly, I knew U of T  have good practicum connections based in Toronto and a good reputation and this is also true. Also I feel that they have done very well in making the program wok with Covid restrictions. 

Downsides: Funding sucks, so expect to self-fund. Some of my peers got research assistant jobs, but I think it is hard to break into that sphere as it is unionized. As well, there is the regular university administrative nonsense that if you went to a big school for undergrad, you are probably used to. 

GOOD LUCK to you all! 

thank you for taking the time to respond with details. I have 2 questions what do you mean by administrative nonsense? some of us have not schooled in Canada before and if we are about to undertake self funding are there things related to this "admin nonsense" we need to be aware about if we get accepted? And 2nd  in your experience, is the program supportive if you want to go on to a PhD? they mention a qualifying paper but do many students go on to the PhD from the MEd?  thank you again.

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willisle

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10 minutes ago, Regina77 said:

thank you for taking the time to respond with details. I have 2 questions what do you mean by administrative nonsense? some of us have not schooled in Canada before and if we are about to undertake self funding are there things related to this "admin nonsense" we need to be aware about if we get accepted? And 2nd  in your experience, is the program supportive if you want to go on to a PhD? they mention a qualifying paper but do many students go on to the PhD from the MEd?  thank you again.

1) Here are some examples of administrative nonsense that are akin to talking to your cell phone company for an hour trying to rectify a billing error. I received a needs-based grant, which they sent in the mail to the wrong address last semester. I had to spend hours on hold and talked to three different people just trying to figure out how to get the money. They had me email them, create online ticket requests, call different departments, etc.. This literally took hours out of my work week in the beginning of January ( I work full time while in school). I finally got an email last week saying they had fixed the problem... but that it would now be about 5-6 weeks for "processing." Another example is that they encouraged professional grad students to apply for graduate assistantships, a job program supposedly set up specifically for professional grad students because we don't have funding packages. I have quite a bit of research experience, both at the undergrad level and at a private organization (about 3-4 years worth) and so I was surprised to not hear anything back. When I asked for feedback on my application, they tole me it was because these positions are unionized, and are easily "scooped up" by  people who have been at U of T for a longer time and someone just coming in is less likely to get them, which I think begs the question of what the point of those positions are, if not to fund graduate students in professional programs, which are usually only a couple years in duration?

It's sort of like being frustrated with the way the government runs in the sense that you probably won't be able to fix it by yourself and you still need something from them, so you have to go along in order to get what you need. In the end, think it is worth putting up with in order to be educated by such knowledgable therapists/professors, access the practicum part of the program, and also to become registered and receive a degree from a reputable university.

Here's a good book on the changing landscape of Canadian academia, if you are interested in learning more: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/academia-inc . 

2) No, I don't know of anyone doing a PhD afterwards, although I'm sure it would be supported. There is a PhD program for counselling psych I believe. Personally, if I wanted to do a PhD in this field, I would have gone the clinical route. You come out of the M.Ed program at OISE ready to work as a psychotherapist and most new therapists I know in Toronto, Ottawa, and Victoria are finding work that you don't need a PhD for. I know people who are doing research in addition to therapy, so if that's what you are interested in, you can definitely still do that! 

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Regina77

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35 minutes ago, willisle said:

1) Here are some examples of administrative nonsense that are akin to talking to your cell phone company for an hour trying to rectify a billing error. I received a needs-based grant, which they sent in the mail to the wrong address last semester. I had to spend hours on hold and talked to three different people just trying to figure out how to get the money. They had me email them, create online ticket requests, call different departments, etc.. This literally took hours out of my work week in the beginning of January ( I work full time while in school). I finally got an email last week saying they had fixed the problem... but that it would now be about 5-6 weeks for "processing." Another example is that they encouraged professional grad students to apply for graduate assistantships, a job program supposedly set up specifically for professional grad students because we don't have funding packages. I have quite a bit of research experience, both at the undergrad level and at a private organization (about 3-4 years worth) and so I was surprised to not hear anything back. When I asked for feedback on my application, they tole me it was because these positions are unionized, and are easily "scooped up" by  people who have been at U of T for a longer time and someone just coming in is less likely to get them, which I think begs the question of what the point of those positions are, if not to fund graduate students in professional programs, which are usually only a couple years in duration?

It's sort of like being frustrated with the way the government runs in the sense that you probably won't be able to fix it by yourself and you still need something from them, so you have to go along in order to get what you need. In the end, think it is worth putting up with in order to be educated by such knowledgable therapists/professors, access the practicum part of the program, and also to become registered and receive a degree from a reputable university.

Here's a good book on the changing landscape of Canadian academia, if you are interested in learning more: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/academia-inc . 

2) No, I don't know of anyone doing a PhD afterwards, although I'm sure it would be supported. There is a PhD program for counselling psych I believe. Personally, if I wanted to do a PhD in this field, I would have gone the clinical route. You come out of the M.Ed program at OISE ready to work as a psychotherapist and most new therapists I know in Toronto, Ottawa, and Victoria are finding work that you don't need a PhD for. I know people who are doing research in addition to therapy, so if that's what you are interested in, you can definitely still do that! 

Thank you so much for this. Am sure it will be of huge help to many. Best wishes in your practicum and career ahead.

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