Counselling Psychology Canadian Application Forum Fall 2023

[Lmwstudent]

I was accepted into UNBC’s Counselling MEd yesterday! Super excited, but now dreading deciding between UNBC and UNB (Fredericton). If anyone has any insights on either of the counselling programs offered by these schools, please let me know! Trying to collect all the info I can to make a pro and con list. Thanks!

[selmay]

22 hours ago, selmay said:

Rejected from UofA after being waitlisted since February (course based MEd)

If anybody got into that program (congratulations!), can you please message me?

[selmay]

On 2/16/2023 at 2:50 PM, WickedWorld91 said:

I think you already got plenty of good advice from others. The biggest thing I would echo is tailoring the application to fit the values of the program and having graduate students or a faculty member from that program review your letter of intent and CV. I would also suggest not restricting yourself geographically. It's not uncommon for people to apply to up to 10 programs, sometimes more (as long as your references are willing). But I get that moving around isn't always practical for many people, especially those of us who are a bit older and more settled.

Anyway, the real reason I am responding is to tell you that you are not alone. I am on my fourth year of applications of applying to clinical and counselling programs. I was misinformed when I was in undergrad and told I would have no problem getting into counselling but that clinical was ultra competitive. It turns out both are ultra competitive. I've had four clinical interviews between this year's cycle and last, and never heard back from any counselling programs I've applied to. Admittedly my CV is very clinically oriented, so some of that makes sense. I am literally almost to the point where if it doesn't work out this year, then I am going to apply aggressively for one more year, and if that doesn't work out, I am going to have to make some tough decisions about my career and potentially take a different route. And I refuse to go into a ridiculous amount of debt to pay to go to one of the online programs that essentially have no admission criteria and that are not well recognized after I went back to undergrad in my mid-20s to re-do my education to be a competitive applicant. I am in my early 30s and I am not sure how much longer me and my fiancee (who is well into her career) can deal with this state of limbo

Whatever the case, this process is excruciating. The important thing is to approach this with a self-compassionate mindset and to always try to do whatever you can to improve your CV and application. The harsh reality is that the system for clinical and counselling psychology programs is broken in many ways. People want to believe that the system works and that if they do x, y, and z that they should be able to get in. And then for those who do manage to get in there's a sort of attribution bias that happens where they say I got in because of x, y, and z. Don't get me wrong, everyone who manages to get in absolutely worked their butt off and deserve it, but there's also a degree of measurement error and luck involved in the process. My boss is a clinical professor and has gave me many helpful suggestions in improving my application, but also admitted that there is luck involved, which is not an easy thing to hear when you're trying to do all of the right things. When I was in undergrad doing my honours, a grad student who was just finishing their PhD in clinical gave a presentation on applying to clinical and referred to it as a "lottery pick" and spent 10 or 15 minutes talking about how it can be healthy sometimes to disengage from the goal of pursuing clinical lol...It appears that counselling is not far behind in this regard.

As you can tell, I am also very jaded by the process lol. And I'm not encouraging a pessimistic / woe is me sort of mindset, I just think it's okay to acknowledge that the system is broken. The country is desperate for well-trained counsellors and psychologists but these programs don't even come close to having the necessary capacities to support the demand. There is no good reason for these programs to be as or more competitive than the top Med Schools in the country.

That being said, try and stay positive, be self-compassionate (don't let this influence your self worth), and do what you can to improve your application. I believe that if it's really what you want, you'll find a way to make it happen, even if you have to take a different path than you initially wanted to get there. 

can you please check your messages!

[sarai510]

On 4/3/2023 at 4:32 PM, rexandmatcha said:

I think I will wait till the end of the week before I reach out to them. I will keep you all updated! 

On their official website it says "If you submit a complete application by November 15, you will receive your official results by April. " https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/registrar-students/admissions

 

Has anyone still not heard from UofT MEd program? Thanks!

[rexandmatcha]

16 minutes ago, sarai510 said:

Has anyone still not heard from UofT MEd program? Thanks!

Nope, I have not heard anything yet! Someone in this forum said they got rejected from UofT last week. 

[alinal15]

12 hours ago, sarai510 said:

Has anyone still not heard from UofT MEd program? Thanks!

I still haven't heard either

[selmay]

On 4/15/2023 at 11:29 AM, selmay said:

 

 

[clinicalpsych19]

Hey everyone! 

Congratulations to everyone who has received an acceptance this year! 

I have been accepted to the MSc Psychotherapy program at McMaster and have accepted my offer! 

A few of us have started a WhatsApp group chat and a Facebook group to get to know one another better before September! Send me a message if you're interested in joining!  

[counsellingapplicant23]

On 4/17/2023 at 10:02 AM, sarai510 said:

Has anyone still not heard from UofT MEd program? Thanks!

I haven't either 😕 Called today and they said that officially they've been told to tell people that they should be receiving notice by end of April, but unofficially that they may be sending out decisions through May...lol...

[psyc1818]

If anyone is going crazy waiting for UofT, a few people (myself included) emailed the program coordinator (you can find her information on the OISE website) directly, and we all received an application update today via email. Wishing you all the best!

Edited April 19, 2023 by psyc1818

[psy12345]

1 hour ago, psyc1818 said:

If anyone is going crazy waiting for UofT, a few people (myself included) emailed the program coordinator (you can find her information on the OISE website) directly, and we all received an application update today via email. Wishing you all the best!

Do you mean they told you whether you were accepted or rejected? 

[psyc1818]

54 minutes ago, psy12345 said:

Do you mean they told you whether you were accepted or rejected? 

Yup looks like those who asked today were rejected. They said they had our results but they weren't released, so not sure what they're waiting for. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by psyc1818

[selmay]

14 hours ago, psyc1818 said:

Yup looks like those who asked today were rejected. They said they had our results but they weren't released, so not sure what they're waiting for. 

Thanks so much for sharing that because the wait was too long. If you haven't heard back then email: kl.li@utoronto.ca for an update

[Letsdothiss]

I emailed them, I’ll let you know what they say! Also, has anyone heard from Western? Has anyone gotten a rejection from their counselling problem yet? 

[selmay]

On 4/13/2023 at 9:51 PM, selmay said:

 

 

[selmay]

On 4/15/2023 at 11:29 AM, selmay said:

 

 

[Letsdothiss]

Also the u of t person emailed me an hour later with my rejection. Said a decision was made but the system hadn’t updated. 

[selmay]

On 4/15/2023 at 11:29 AM, selmay said:

 

 

[selmay]

13 hours ago, Letsdothiss said:

Also the u of t person emailed me an hour later with my rejection. Said a decision was made but the system hadn’t updated. 

Same! I was like what's the point of making us wait that long if its a rejection. 

[alinal15]

14 hours ago, Letsdothiss said:

Also the u of t person emailed me an hour later with my rejection. Said a decision was made but the system hadn’t updated. 

Same here

[CounsellingNB]

@stillpsych You got this. Applying and learning what you need is the 1st step of the journey! All the best.

Counselling Saint John NB Grad

[selmay]

Hi guys

if anybody applied to the MEd counselling psychology program at UNBC can you please message me

[rexandmatcha]

Today I emailed Caren the program coordinator to ask her when I should expect to hear a decision, depending on her answer I may also ask her what the status of my application is. Not hopeful and just want an answer so I can mentally move on. 

[sunshinescout]

Were you able to get a timeline? Wondering if I should email too - I have not heard yet

[counsellingapplicant23]

Received my courteous (informal) rejection for OISE from Caren today. Is anyone else who is attending U Ottawa in the fall looking for housing? I’m moving from Toronto, potentially looking for roommates. Queer&trans-friendly only, please.