I/O Psychology - How many programs should I apply to?

[Green bean]

I'm keen on pursuing a future in I/O and I'm currently looking at graduate school possibilities. I'm thinking about applying to a M.Sc/M.A program and would like to continue on towards a Ph.D afterwards. I'm a Canadian citizen and there are only 9 schools offering I/O in Canada and 2 of them are French. Unfortunately, I do not know French.

I would prefer to remain in Canada but I'm considering applying to schools in the states as well. Could someone please offer me advice on how many programs I should apply to?

I can provide you with additional information on my grades, GRE, & experience if that helps. Thanks in advance!

[Zencarrot]

Hi there. There really is no hard and fast rule for how many schools you should apply to. What it really boils down to is how much time (and money) you are willing to spend on applications, and how confident you are about getting in. I found it very helpful to reach out personally to faculty at each university you plan on applying to; by email at first and try and set up a phone call if possible (some programs will receive you warmly - others not so much). It is also very important to thoroughly customize your statement of purpose to each university. You need to provide a compelling rationale as to why you want to work with specific faculty members at each university and provide evidence in each case that you have done your homework and know what each I/O department is known for. If you do not provide the selection committee with enough information to evaluate how you would fit with the program (or if you are evaluated as not fitting) then no matter how impressive your grades or GRE scores are, you will not be accepted.

It goes without saying that this is a very time consuming process and for some students who are in their final year of study, it can be quite challenging applying to a large number of schools. In my personal experience, I completed a terminal M.Sc. program at one university, and applied to 6 PhD programs during the final year of my master's (it was hell, haha). I was accepted to 4 of the 6 schools (they were all in Canada - a mix of I/O and OB programs). I would say that 6 is PLENTY. It was a very long process and I honestly believe that the quality of some of my applications suffered because I went through so many during such a busy period in my life.

I hope this helps somewhat - if you want to provide more details on your background then I could perhaps offer more advice (e.g., based on your research interests I might be able to direct you to programs that would fit well with your goals) - either by PM or just reply to this post.

Cheers

[Quader]

Hey there,

I am not too familiar with the Canadian I/O Programs, but I went through the whole process just this year. Although it is quite expensive, I recommend applying to a good number of programs. Some applicants that I met along the way applied to only a few schools, and expressed that they wish they had applied to more. I applied to 8, which seemed to be about the average (according to applicants I had spoken with on visits).

While I was going through the process, I felt like I was blindly throwing tons of money and hoping I would get in. In the end, it was nice to have a choice between a few programs (I was accepted to 3 of 8).

Best of Luck!

[Green bean]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and offering me such good advice!

I'm concerned regarding my candidacy to these programs because I know they are quite competitive. My GRE scores are 159 (VR), 156 (QR), and 4.5 (AW). I have a 3.5 GPA and my background is in clinical psych but I'm going to try my best to give it an I/O spin. I've worked in addiction disorders and anxiety labs. I did hospital internships in forensic psychiatry and developmental disorders, where I participated in the diagnosis of mental disorders in adolescent criminals and children with Autism. I've only recently become obsessed with I/O and I would like the opportunity to work on the "positive psychology" side of things. I am interested in worker motivation and leadership behaviour.

Fortunately, I'm taking a year off to focus on my applications. Maybe you could offer me some advice on how to best spend it? Thank you kindly

[Quader]

Personally, I underestimated the process, not understanding how difficult (and annoying) it would be. Depending on how many programs you decide to apply to, the process is pretty time consuming. One piece of advice that I received prior to the process was that you should only apply to programs where you could absolutely see yourself. I found this advice pretty obvious and unnecessary, but I ended up applying to a couple of schools that I really had to 'stretch the fit' just so I could apply to more programs. In the end, I received an offer from one of these programs an thankfully had other options.

Even though you come from a clinical background, I'm sure you can find a way to spin it. With that being said, a large number of applicants seem to have never even taken an I/O course before applying, so I wouldn't put too much stock in your lack of an I/O background; you should be just fine there.

I have still not taken a look at the old to new GRE score conversions, but I think my scores were very comparable to yours, and my GPA was only slightly higher. Throughout my visits I met applicants that had significantly higher stats than me, yet had similar acceptance rates. As cliche' as it sounds, it really does come down to fit, so like I said, make sure you ACTUALLY fit!

Feel free to shoot me a pm if you want to ask any more detailed questions, I'd be glad to help!

[Zencarrot]

I am not familiar with the new GRE score conversions either, so I can't really judge how suitable they are, but I know that programs differ in their cutoffs a little bit (e.g., UofT's OB program has an extremely high GRE/GMAT cutoff score - likely because they receive so many applicants so they can afford to discriminate). Like Quader said, your can easily draw on your clinical background in I/O psychology. In fact, many clinical psychologists go into I/O-related practice. Interviews have somewhat of a clinical element to them (although they are much more structured and standardized in the workplace --- ideally), and leadership development has much to do with clinical as well. Increasing worker motivation and well-being have strong ties to clinical and abnormal psychology. Research on these topics can be at the individual or group level (or both). I could go on, but as you can see there are a lot of parallels here.

Since you have a year off, acquiring volunteer (or paid, if you can) research experience relating to I/O psychology would strengthen your applications.