Counselling Psychology Applicants 2022 CANADA

[cofffeee]

Hey Everyone  I know it's a bit early but I wanted to create a space for counselling psychology 2022 applicants to come to! I'm looking forward to applying! I recently noticed that the McGill Counselling Psychology Professional/Internship stream isn't accepting applicants for Fall 2022 start, which I'm a little disappointed about... 

Looking forward to sharing this space with you all ?

[Hashbury]

@cofffeee Thanks for creating this thread! What programs are thinking about applying to?

[cofffeee]

46 minutes ago, Hashbury said:

@cofffeee Thanks for creating this thread! What programs are thinking about applying to?

No prob  I’m thinking of applying to counselling psychology programs at U of T (OISE), University of Ottawa, McMaster, Western, and Yorkville. Also thinking of Dalhousie’s MSW program! How about you? 

[Hashbury]

37 minutes ago, cofffeee said:

No prob  I’m thinking of applying to counselling psychology programs at U of T (OISE), University of Ottawa, McMaster, Western, and Yorkville. Also thinking of Dalhousie’s MSW program! How about you? 

Nice! Same as you for Ontario programs except not OISE and Western since I don't have enough volunteer experience. 

[Kresen]

Thanks for making this thread I'm just starting to research programs, are any of you looking into MEd programs  with a Counselling specialization at all?

[Hemingwho]

On 6/10/2021 at 12:58 AM, Kresen said:

Thanks for making this thread I'm just starting to research programs, are any of you looking into MEd programs  with a Counselling specialization at all?

Hi Kresen. I applied to the MEd program with Counselling specialization for start in 2021 and learned a little bit about the process, in case you're interested.

FYI, acceptance rate was about 5% this year. They had over 700 applicants and only 35 spots available. It took them a lot longer to get back to us than they originally stated. I was ultimately rejected. I think applicants should just be aware that it's extremely difficult to get in before they apply. My sense is that being an honours student with good reference letters is not usually enough.

I also wanted to post in this thread about something else. I just applied to the Adler (Toronto) Master in Psychology program. If anyone has been to that program, or knows someone who has been there, please let me know.

[space-psych]

Hi everyone. I'll be applying to Master's programs for the first time this year (both Clinical and Counselling). I am completing my 4th year in Honours Applied Psych. Already nervous about the entire process, so I started preparing which schools i'd like to apply to: U of T Counselling and Clinical Psych (OISE) and U of Ottawa in MEd Counselling. Also considering the Counselling program at Western. A little bummed McGill is not accepting new applicants for their Internship stream. 

Anyone have advice for applying to these programs? (past experience)

Edited June 28, 2021 by space-psych

[Psypig]

On 6/28/2021 at 8:40 PM, space-psych said:

Hi everyone. I'll be applying to Master's programs for the first time this year (both Clinical and Counselling). I am completing my 4th year in Honours Applied Psych. Already nervous about the entire process, so I started preparing which schools i'd like to apply to: U of T Counselling and Clinical Psych (OISE) and U of Ottawa in MEd Counselling. Also considering the Counselling program at Western. A little bummed McGill is not accepting new applicants for their Internship stream. 

Anyone have advice for applying to these programs? (past experience)

Hi, I applied to Western last year. I remember that they require one or more years of working experience in a related field, so am not sure if 4th yr students could meet their requirement. Another advice would be contact your referees before entering their information in the application system, bc their system automatically sends out requests to your referees once you enter their information (before you click "submit"). I was rejected by Western last year, am planning to apply for it again, so best of luck to us! 

[doa]

Hi, is the 1 year of work experience required for all the universities? what kind of work experience are they looking for, does it have to be in a clinic? or would they accept voluntary work as well, for example at a kindergarten? sorry im an international student i do not know much about the Canadian system.

thanks

 

[space-psych]

On 7/2/2021 at 4:27 AM, Psypig said:

Hi, I applied to Western last year. I remember that they require one or more years of working experience in a related field, so am not sure if 4th yr students could meet their requirement. Another advice would be contact your referees before entering their information in the application system, bc their system automatically sends out requests to your referees once you enter their information (before you click "submit"). I was rejected by Western last year, am planning to apply for it again, so best of luck to us! 

@Psypig Thank you so much for your advice! I definitely had not looked into the program at Western well enough. I would technically have ~7 months of relevant work/volunteer experience. If I don't get in anywhere this year, I might consider applying next year  Regarding referees, I definitely have the intent of asking them sooner rather than later. Wishing you all the best with your applications this cycle! ☺️

[space-psych]

13 hours ago, doa said:

Hi, is the 1 year of work experience required for all the universities? what kind of work experience are they looking for, does it have to be in a clinic? or would they accept voluntary work as well, for example at a kindergarten? sorry im an international student i do not know much about the Canadian system.

thanks

 

@doa Not all universities require a minimum amount of work experience to apply, but it would likely be an asset on any application (I'm assuming). You'd have to take a good look at the universities you're interested in and see if work experience is part of their admission requirements. 

[doa]

53 minutes ago, space-psych said:

@doa Not all universities require a minimum amount of work experience to apply, but it would likely be an asset on any application (I'm assuming). You'd have to take a good look at the universities you're interested in and see if work experience is part of their admission requirements. 

got it, and do you think a GPA of 3.5 is enough to get accepted? most unis state 3.0 as sufficient in admission requirements but i have heard that the competition is tough and that they do not accept GPAs lower than 3.7

[space-psych]

@doa I honestly have no idea. I can only infer based on what I've heard and read on these forums. Many people would agree that the admission process is quite competitive, so I would think the higher your gpa the better. It's also a matter of the clinically-related and research experiences you have and even volunteer/extracurriculars. I've had profs at my home university say they've seen students with a low 80s average get admitted into Master's programs and not the 90+ average students. So it really depends, I think, on your overall application.

[doa]

do you think they would be satisfied with the voluntary work experience if it has been made in a foreign country?

[Psycgradschool_2000]

Hi guys posted this on reddit but wanted to get your opinion as well.

I wanted to apply to a few counselling psychology programs ( Uoft: OISE, McMaster, Western, UOttawa and McGill)  for the Fall 2022 school year and wanted to know realistically my chances of getting in. This what I have so far...

Program = BA in Psychology (Honours) with a minor in French

CGPA = 10.33/12 (3.7/4.0) * hoping to get it up next semester

Research Experience = currently a volunteer research assistant ( have been doing it for 10 months) and will be doing an Honours thesis in the Fall.

Clinical experience = I volunteer at a local Distress Centre as a crisis line responder I have been doing that for about 7 months but it will be a year by the time I apply in the late fall. I will also be doing a practicum in the Fall.

Relevant work experience = I work as an admin clerk for a mental health clinic.( over a year)

My top picks are:

- Western: MA counselling

- McGill: Project concentration

Thanks in advance!

Edited July 7, 2021 by Psycgradschool_2000

[livyy]

@cofffeeethanks for creating this thread! I'm looking forward to applying! I was wondering if there is a separate thread for School and Clinical Child Psychology and if there are others here who are applying to that program as well?

[VanessaB]

On 7/8/2021 at 9:05 PM, livyy said:

@cofffeeethanks for creating this thread! I'm looking forward to applying! I was wondering if there is a separate thread for School and Clinical Child Psychology and if there are others here who are applying to that program as well?

I believe the form, 2022-2023 Clinical Psychology Applications - Canada, might be the closest to what you're looking for. I'm currently completing my master's in SCCP at UAlberta! I'll be heading into my second year this fall. I'll also be applying to the PhD program in SCCP to start in 2022. My supervisor is top notch and the program is a perfect fit for me and exactly what I'm looking for, so I'm only applying to the SCCP PhD program at UAlberta. I'll continue my studies there. Students currently in the program are required to apply, but it's more of a formality than anything. I believe OISE SCCP is similar in the sense that their own master-level SSCP students get preferential consideration when applying to the PhD route(if they want to continue). If you're interested specifically in SCCP, I suspect you're applying to the MA at OISE and/or the MEd at UAlberta?

 

[livyy]

On 7/10/2021 at 2:08 PM, VanessaB said:

I believe the form, 2022-2023 Clinical Psychology Applications - Canada, might be the closest to what you're looking for. I'm currently completing my master's in SCCP at UAlberta! I'll be heading into my second year this fall. I'll also be applying to the PhD program in SCCP to start in 2022. My supervisor is top notch and the program is a perfect fit for me and exactly what I'm looking for, so I'm only applying to the SCCP PhD program at UAlberta. I'll continue my studies there. Students currently in the program are required to apply, but it's more of a formality than anything. I believe OISE SCCP is similar in the sense that their own master-level SSCP students get preferential consideration when applying to the PhD route(if they want to continue). If you're interested specifically in SCCP, I suspect you're applying to the MA at OISE and/or the MEd at UAlberta?

 

Oh yes I found that this thread as well, thanks! Wow that's amazing! So glad to hear from someone in the program as I personally don't know a lot of people who apply to the SCCP program. I'm thinking of applying to UAlberta or UCalgary, the MA at OISE is also an option but I'd like to stay as close to home as possible. By any chance, do you know the acceptance rate when you applied? And if you don't mind sharing, what did your application look like? (GPA, experience, references, etc.) 

 

Thanks in advance!

[VanessaB]

55 minutes ago, livyy said:

Oh yes I found that this thread as well, thanks! Wow that's amazing! So glad to hear from someone in the program as I personally don't know a lot of people who apply to the SCCP program. I'm thinking of applying to UAlberta or UCalgary, the MA at OISE is also an option but I'd like to stay as close to home as possible. By any chance, do you know the acceptance rate when you applied? And if you don't mind sharing, what did your application look like? (GPA, experience, references, etc.) 

 

Thanks in advance!

Sweet! During my masters app cycle I applied to all those programs that you listed (though I applied to SACP at UCalgary not to their clinical psych stream).  I was admitted to all but SCCP at OISE.

First of all, I will say that there's no one student profile for those who get admitted. We all have interesting and diverse skills sets and experiences. For example, some people in my program have worked as psychometrists and/or volunteered in various roles at hospitals whereas I have not. 

When I applied, this is what my application looked liked:

GPA: BA Psych Honours (3.94/4.0 overall GPA; 4.0/40 Psych GPA; 3.98/4.0 last 20 GPA), BEd (3.94/4.0 overall GPA), and BFA (3.69/4.0 overall GPA).

Experiences: Full- and part-time K-12 teaching including various coaching roles and directing drama productions (7+ years), research assistant (6-month paid position and 2+ years volunteer position with the last year as a lab coordinator), crisis line volunteer (4 years), mental health education volunteer (3 years), activity coordinator for a behavioural sciences journal (2 years), peer mentoring volunteer at two different universities (2 years), student rep volunteer on a faculty council (1 year), museum educator for school programs (3 spring/summer seasons with the third season as the school program coordinator), and oral storyteller at a library (1-term applied study). I also had done a few talks and I had a few publications in progress at the time, but nothing in a major journal. Honestly I probably missed something as my experience is extensive. I believe this was the strongest part of my application.

References: School principal (known for 7 years, supervised by her for over 4 of those years), manager of the clinical services dept at a crisis line (supervised by him for around 4 years), and thesis/RA supervisor (supervised by her for around 3 years across my volunteer research and finally my thesis). Note that UAlberta asks for two research references, but I decided to submit two practical ones for this application because I wanted to show my fit for a program in both clinical and school psychology. I don't necessarily recommend this approach, but given all my schooling and strong academic background, I decided to go that route.

I believe the acceptance rate for UAlberta SCCP was around 9% when I applied. I think it was around 4% this year, but they haven't officially posted those stats yet, so that's my best guess based on what I've heard. You can find more information in the UAlberta SCCP program brochure. I don't believe they were tracking master-level entry until my entrance year though, so it's hard to get an idea of the full picture. From what I've been told, usually 100+ people apply and they usually admit from 4-8 per app cycle.

[shuttleboooo]

On 7/3/2021 at 10:36 PM, doa said:

got it, and do you think a GPA of 3.5 is enough to get accepted? most unis state 3.0 as sufficient in admission requirements but i have heard that the competition is tough and that they do not accept GPAs lower than 3.7

Hello there, I am having the same concern  My psyc GPA is pretty ok at 3.67, but I didn't do well in another major, which pulled down my cumulative GPA to 3.36. Do they look at overall GPA or just psyc major GPA? Do you think my GPA would be competitive enough for counselling psychology masters?

[carlrogersfan98]

I have an SOI question. I want to discuss my practical experience, which includes my background in assessment. I want to provide examples of some particularly well-known tests that I know how to administer, particularly the MMPI and WAIS. Because the full names of them are so long, when I type them out they look so clunky and take up so much room. Do y'all think it would be safe to assume the people reading my statement would know what those tests are as they're quite well-recognized amongst clinicians? I know the answer is to not assume this but I'm just wondering for the sake of keeping things brief if that would be okay.

[Sigaba]

@carlrogersfan98 the resources below may provide food for thought.

 https://www.kecksci.claremont.edu/prehealth/Grammar.pdf

https://grad.ucla.edu/asis/agep/advsopstem.pdf

 

[ManukaHoney]

Has anyone applied to the OISE MeD counselling psychotherapy program or know anyone who applied to the OISE MeD program who was accepted? I am just hearing different things in terms of what they are looking for and would love to chat. 

Edited September 30, 2021 by ManukaHoney

[+ve regard]

On 9/28/2021 at 9:37 AM, carlrogersfan98 said:

I have an SOI question. I want to discuss my practical experience, which includes my background in assessment. I want to provide examples of some particularly well-known tests that I know how to administer, particularly the MMPI and WAIS. Because the full names of them are so long, when I type them out they look so clunky and take up so much room. Do y'all think it would be safe to assume the people reading my statement would know what those tests are as they're quite well-recognized amongst clinicians? I know the answer is to not assume this but I'm just wondering for the sake of keeping things brief if that would be okay.

I'd say fine to use abbreviations for the really common test you've mentioned. Otherwise it eats up too much precious word count! If that's still too much detail, you could group them generally by saying "widely-used/common psycho-educational" or "psychodiagnostic" tests. 

[carlrogersfan98]

16 hours ago, +ve regard said:

I'd say fine to use abbreviations for the really common test you've mentioned. Otherwise it eats up too much precious word count! If that's still too much detail, you could group them generally by saying "widely-used/common psycho-educational" or "psychodiagnostic" tests. 

Thank you! I know it's grammatically correct to spell out all acronyms the first time, but it just seems so unlikely that people in psychology would not know what the WAIS and MMPI are.