Will I be competitive for School Psychology Programs (USA or Canada)

[CanadianPsyGuy]

Hello everyone, 

I'm new here so I'm not totally sure if this is the best place to post this. Let me know if I need to post this somewhere else!  

I'm a Canadian teacher working/living in Korea. I really want to become a school psychologist, so I intend to apply for PhD programs in Canada and the USA next year. I've heard psychology programs are quite competitive, so I wanted to know if I will have a decent shot at getting in? Here is my profile: 

GPA: 4.2/4.3 or 3.9/4.0. I did my honors thesis on the psychological causes of school dropouts around the world. My honors degree was in sociology but I have 45 credit hours in psychology (15 half courses) including all the necessary courses for an honors degree (e.g., stats, history of psychology, etc). 

Research: I held 3 different Research Assistant positions during my undergrad. Each was quite extensive and lasted for over 6 months. I also had a month-long research assistantship last summer. 

Teaching: Worked as a teaching assistant for three professors during university, worked as a supply teacher in Canadian public schools for 6 months (all grade levels), and I've spent the last 3 years working as a full-time elementary school teacher in Korea. I've also spent several months in Korea working on curriculum and test design. I've also been a volunteer tutor for a number of students and spent one-year working one-on-one with a high school student with severe learning disabilities. We met every week and I helped him with his homework and assignments. 

Other: 4 months of volunteer work at an old folks home, a 3-week trip to Nepal where I volunteered with children in a Buddhist monastery, and I worked at a law firm one summer during undergrad. 

 

Sorry if that's information overload. I'm sort of new to the grad school application stuff, so I wanted to get some expert opinions. Thanks for reading this! 

[CateFace]

It is hard to give a generalized yes/no because there are so many school psych programs out there available - but I will give you the heads up for Canadian-based school psych programs, you typically apply at the masters level, then apply and start the process over again at the PhD level.