University of Toronto Scarborough

[PsycUndergrad]

Hey guys! Is anyone here familiar with UTSC's clinical psychology program? 

I just noticed that they have some faculty members in my area of interest, but I don't know much about the program. Does anyone have any idea how competitive it is? I'm assuming it's very competitive given that it's a clinical program in Toronto, but I'd like to have an idea of the number of applications, offers, etc if possible. 

There's also the issue of accreditation. I know it's a pretty new cohort, but I still have reservations about applying to an unaccredited program. Is it a bad idea? I assume they intend of applying for accreditation once they've graduated, but I don't know when that'll be. Does anyone know anything about this? 

Thanks in advance for any replies  I know I could email the department, but I'm hesitant to contact them about stuff like this! 

[eternallyephemeral]

Hi! I can't answer all of your questions, but I have spoken to profs from the clinical area about the admissions a bit (I went to U of T St George) and they gave me some of this info.

1. Extremely competitive. They all are, of course, but it's Toronto so many people want to go (to the school and to the city). They have about 5 people enroll each year, and from what I remember some of the years the acceptance gpa is in the 3.9s. They might have said one person with a perfect GPA brought it up, but they meant up from 3.7-3.8.

Given offer->enrollment rates I've seen for other parts of U of T and other clinical programs, it's unlikely they offer more than 10 spots each year. There are definitely hundreds that apply, but I can't remember how many hundreds it was. There are about five areas of U of T's psych program: brain and behaviour, cognitive, personality and social, development, and clinical. Brain and behaviour/developmental receive the least applications, cognitve/personality and social a bit more, but clinical might be around 60-70% of all applications (I could be wrong, but they might have told us they receive ~600 applications and ~400 are clinical. This might be wrong though.

2. Accreditation: they fully intend on being accredited after the five years. They say the program is good on all fronts except how new it is. Of course, that is not for sure, but they have every intention of making it recognized. It would be pretty terrible if it wasn't.

It's a valid reason to be concerned. I know some people might make their decision off it, but it's up to you personally whether the very high chance of it being accredited is worth it for you.

3. You should definitely reach out to the department. They don't always keep all the stats, but that is what they are here for. As well, if you reach out to potential supervisors (which you definitely should), then you can use the tone/enthusiasm of their responses to judge whether they think you are a good applicant (though this isn't a really reliable way, it's just another piece of info that could be good or bad).

Sorry if I got the numbers wrong. I'm extremely confident about the 5 enrollments per year though, and you can assume the rest based on the stats for other schools (some of which can be found online). I'd say UTSC is easier than Yale, but more difficult than Ryerson if that helps.

Good luck!

[Jay's Brain]

Hi, without going into too much detail, I do know the program relatively well and @eternallyephemeral has hit many of the key points to the questions you have asked. UTSC has taken about 5 students every year so it is indeed a competitive program. This, of course, is building on the idea that it is a new program (I believe this current cohort is the 4th). And, as mentioned, UTSC is very likely to be accredited when their first PhD students passes through the program. Their program is connected with OISE, which is accredited, so it makes a lot of sense that they will as well. In that sense, it's a matter of choosing the U of T brand and prestige vs. receiving accreditation later on.

A general advice when it comes to clinical programs. The competitiveness of the school and program is a given, but the matter of fit is perhaps one of the key elements to a successful applicant. A lot of times, your current advisors and people you have connected/networked with are familiar with the spheres in their particular research circles. The referees that you ask to help with your application, and the people you have worked with, can go a long way to you being accepted to any program. Strong GRE, GPA, research experiences are all a given, but your fit can be even more important.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the application process

[eternallyephemeral]

12 hours ago, Jay's Brain said:

Hi, without going into too much detail, I do know the program relatively well and @eternallyephemeral has hit many of the key points to the questions you have asked. UTSC has taken about 5 students every year so it is indeed a competitive program. This, of course, is building on the idea that it is a new program (I believe this current cohort is the 4th). And, as mentioned, UTSC is very likely to be accredited when their first PhD students passes through the program. Their program is connected with OISE, which is accredited, so it makes a lot of sense that they will as well. In that sense, it's a matter of choosing the U of T brand and prestige vs. receiving accreditation later on.

A general advice when it comes to clinical programs. The competitiveness of the school and program is a given, but the matter of fit is perhaps one of the key elements to a successful applicant. A lot of times, your current advisors and people you have connected/networked with are familiar with the spheres in their particular research circles. The referees that you ask to help with your application, and the people you have worked with, can go a long way to you being accepted to any program. Strong GRE, GPA, research experiences are all a given, but your fit can be even more important.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the application process

Good point about fit, of course. It's as important in Clinical as in any other program (or maybe more, I'm not in a place to compare). I thought it was a given, but it's always important to stress fit as one of the key determinants of getting accepted!

[PsycUndergrad]

Thank you both for the detailed replies, I really appreciate it!!