APPLYING TO GRADUATE SCHOOL

SHOULD I APPLY?• You do not have to apply immediately after your undergraduate

work• Graduate school is a HUGE commitment (so is the application

process)• Completion of a programme takes time (approximately 7 years for

the PhD including the MA) • you will not have a luxurious life style*

What types of programmes are available?

• 1. Psychology (MA & PhD): experimental versus clinical.• 2. Psychology: professional schools (PsyD) – less of a research

focus.• 2. Related fields: Social Work (MSW), Counselling Psychology

(MEd, Ed.D), Psychiatry (MD), Family Studies, Criminology, Industrial Relations, Epidemiology

Where do I get information on different programmes and the application process?

• The internet – Each specific Graduate Program should have its own site

• List of Psychology Departments in Canadian Universities: http://www.cpa.ca/students/resources/canadianuniversities

• APA Publishes Annual Handbook: “Graduate Study in Psychology and Related Fields” containing descriptions of grad programs in Canada and USA, degree requirements, application info, student info, admission requirements, and more

• -copy is held on reserve in the Resource Center, 162 BSB

What Courses should I take?• If you follow the Honours Program requirements, you will

qualify for the Graduate programs in Psychology (in this province and most others)

• DO check each program individually to see what they require/prefer

• HOWEVER: Clinical programs in Psychology are much more specific about what they want to see

• For instance, often want to see that students took two courses (3.0 credit) with focus on understanding behaviour from different perspectives (i.e., biological, cognitive-affective, social, or individual)

Independent research project & your application

• The key is to actively think about the type of research you want to do in graduate school and express this in a clear and concise manner in your application

• Assessors are alert to research interest and are impressed by applicants who give a detailed and informed presentation of their research experience/interests• Feel you’re lacking experience? Volunteer in a lab!

Will fieldwork improve my chances?

• Not a great deal• Grades, GREs, letters of reference, and signs of research potential

expressed in your personal statement are much more important• Assessors know that students with strong research potential can

become interested/strong practitioners but the reverse is not necessarily true

• Key is to convey *research potential* through various experiences

What kind of grades do I need?• To an extent, will depend on the institution and program• On average, to apply to a non-clinical psychology program you will

need an overall B+ average to be competitive• For a clinical program, you will need an overall A average and above

to be competitive

Grades in last two years• Many schools will calculate your GPA from your last full 10 courses (60

credits)• BUT: Do not rely on these grades alone. This is risky because :• a) graduate programs may not get your final-year grades in time to

evaluate your application with (especially your last semester grades in fourth year)

• So make sure to work hard to earn hose reference letters because while your grades may not make it in time, your performance will be reflected in your letters!

• b) Grades in upper-year courses tend to be higher among applicants; so assessors are especially impressed if you have high grades in lower years too

The four main components to the Graduate School application

1. Transcript2. GRE scores3. Your Personal Statement describing why you want to go to Graduate

School and what you hope to do if you get there (usually called the “Letter of Intent”)

4. Letters of Reference

transcripts

• you will need official copies of your transcripts• Order all transcripts to be sent directly to the Graduate

Psychology Program by the internal deadline for the particular scholarship.

• York graduate school transcripts may be ordered from the Bennett Centre for Student Services, or on line. Please allow at least two weeks for the transcript office to process transcripts.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PERSONAL STATEMENT (“Letter of Intent”)?

• Fairly important• Will be the assessor’s first point of contact in many cases, and

will help determine whether you are selected for an interview• May also be the only direct contact with you in cases where

an interview is not feasible

WRITING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT•NO FIXED FORMULA, but should organize it with following content areas:

A) general statement about your educational and career interests, and why you want to pursue grad school. Try not to be too naive or “gushy” (e.g., “All my life I have wanted to study attributional theory.” or “I have always had this deep longing to help people.”)

B) a statement about your research interests. This should be your largest portion of the letter.

• Start with description in concise detail your research experience in undergraduate program.

• If you have accomplishments relevant to the research context, highlight them here – be concise!

• Then, outline the kind of research you want to do in graduate school. -Here you want to be *authentic. -You want also to be *specific (so that you capture attention of faculty with shared interests), without being too narrow (so that you can capture attention of as many as possible).

Personal statement• C) a statement about why you want to attend that particular

program/school: some applicants obtain brochures and scan the faculty members’ statement of research interest and match these statements against their own interests.

• Some may create a short list of faculty members they would want to work with , and may possibly read a publication or two of these faculty members.

• These faculty members and the overlapping research interests are indicated in the personal statement. It’s a good idea to think about 2 or 3 faculty members you would like to work with.

• D) make sure to edit your personal statement rigorously ! You might even ask a friend to go over it.

REFERENCE LETTERS• You should be beginning to prepare your applications for

Graduate School and Scholarships and beginning to think about which professors you want to ask for reference letters in EARLY SEPTEMBER

• Once you determine who you will ask for reference letters, it can be beneficial to establish with each faculty you approach. If you do not know the Faculty member fairly well, you may want to ask them whether or not they feel in a position to write you a strong letter of reference (faint praise in a reference letter can be damning)

ASKING FOR REFERENCE LETTERS

• For a good reference letter, it often takes more than just a class with a professor – they need to be able to talk about your personal and academic attributes.

• •Ask reference letters from professors who know you well. For example you have not only taken course with them but volunteered in their lab for a period of time.

Be prepared to provide the following information:

Prepare a very simple and clear PACKAGE to your referee with the following:• 1. Unofficial copy of your transcripts• 2. CV• 3. A “letter of interest”/ “letter of intent” highlighting your accomplishments

and indicating the type of research you would like to do. This is something you have to write in order to submit your application to graduate school and should also be included in your package requesting reference letters for scholarships.

• If you have not submitted any written work to your referee before: some referees may like to see a copy of your written work.

• 4. All appropriate forms, with the appropriate sections filled in by YOU.• 5. Information as to where the forms are to be sent. If they are to be sent

somewhere else other than the Psychology Dept at York university provide self addressed stamped envelopes.

• AND a succinct time schedule for when specific reference forms are due.

HELPFUL REFERENCE LETTER PACKAGE:

• Check out the Honours Student Website for a link to a

package for WHAT TO PREPARE WHEN REQUESTING A REFERENCE LETTER:

http://www.yorku.ca/health/psyc/documents/Refereerequestpackagereview1.pdf

APPLICATION TIMELINE• A comprehensive timeline for this process can be found on the

Honours Student Website:• http://www.yorku.ca/health/psyc/PsychologyHonoursstudent.html

• An excellent primer on applying to a Psychology Graduate Program can be found at:

• http://www.psychology.uwaterloo.ca/gradprog/preparation/grad_school_in_psych.html

Feelings of apprehension…• In some ways you can’t avoid it• This is a difficult passage for everyone• Best advice: do not take this process personally. There are others

factors involved in whether an applicant gets in besides grades, GREs, and reference letters. Often the degree of fit between the applicant’s expressed interests and the interests of the faculty in the program is an important factor.

• Gaining an interview with a faculty member may help but to a larger extent, the process depends on your application file.

• IN ESSENCE: YOU MAKR A CASE FOR YUORSELF, AND THEN YOU HAVE DONE ALL THAT CAN BE DONE.

• -“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” If you don’t apply, you will not get in.

HOW MANY SCHOOLS SHOULD I APPLY TO?

• Apply to as many schools as you would consider attending• Acceptance rates to some programs in very low (can be as

low as 5%)• Applying to many schools may help increase your chance of

acceptance

Think about it…• An important strategy is to figure out what you would like to do with your life

vs. the type of profession you think you would like to have.• Then figure out the graduate programs that would help you get to where you

want to be• For instance, if you feel you would like to do social service work with people as

a therapist, keep in mind that there are several other professionals that do this, other than a psychologist, that do this work (e.g., social workers, school counsellors, pastoral counsellors).

• Pay attention to the fact that here are also other ways to become an applied psychologist

• You can also go to a graduate program through a Faculty of Education (which have different entrance standards)

Remember:

• Finally, pay close attention to the fact that all the various programs (social personality, neuroscience, clinical, etc) have difference entrance standards

• Standards will also vary from school to school (e.g., it may be harder to get into social personality at School X compared to School Y)

Applying for funding

Scholarship application• You should also be beginning to prepare your applications for

scholarships, and beginning to think about which professors you want to ask for reference letters in EARLY SEPTEMBER

• Applications for scholarships must be submitted by the internal or “program” deadline for the Department of psychology

• Note that different scholarships will have different deadlines (typically October for OGS, mid-November for Tri-Council)

SCHOLARSHIP AGENCIES

• Two main agencies you will be applying to (domestic students)

1. Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)2. Tri-Council Awards: one of either SSHRC, CIHR, NSERC

• Some smaller funding agencies provide funding (must seek these out on your own)

Application components:

1) Application forms (each scholarship agency will have its own)2) Plan of Study3) Reference Letters – 2 4) Transcripts

*You will notice some of the scholarship application and process overlaps will the Graduate School Application, so you should be thinking about the two processes simultaneously

Forms, plan of study & reference letters

1) It is very important that you use the correct forms and provide the correct forms to your referees

2) “Plan of Study”: Here, you will outline your research experience thus far and present a coherent and thought-out (future) research proposal

3) For all scholarships you will require 2 letters of reference to be written by a faculty member who can assess your academic skills and performance

4) Order transcripts early!

Letters of Reference

• You will need 2 letters of reference (in addition to the letters included in your application to Graduate school, referees can be the same, of course)

• For OGS, you must ask your referees to fill out the “Academic Assessment Form” – this form will act as your reference letter (see “OGS” slide #34)

Plan of study• Describe how previous research experience prepares you for

conducting proposed research and builds on what you have already done

• Proposed study is not set in stone• Must be able to demonstrate that you have thoroughly

thought about how to carry out a solid research study • Include a succinct proposal including: brief

background, methodology, significance of the study, and future directions for your project and your own related work

• Make sure to check each scholarship website for exact requirements and for topic eligibility!

transcripts

• Order all transcripts to be sent directly to the Graduate Psychology Program by the internal deadline for the particular scholarship.

• Please note the Tri-Council agencies and OGS are willing to receive transcripts stamped "issued to student" as long as our Graduate Program offices receive these transcripts in sealed envelopes, as per our standard practices.

• Remember: You will need order one set of transcripts for Graduate School Applications and another set for Scholarship Applications

OGS•Internal Program deadline: TBA (York’s is now usually early December and each Program has their own internal deadline)• Eligibility for OGS: • Applicants entering the first year of graduate studies at the time of

application must have an overall average of at least A–, or the equivalent, on the last 20 one-term/semester courses, or the equivalent, completed.

• Please note that you will need to find TWO professors to complete the two-page academic assessment report and have them submit it to the Graduate Office (York = 297 BSB) before THE DEPARTMENTAL INTERNAL DEADLINE. It is very important that the professors submit this form. This form must be used, no attached letters.

• For OGS the Academic Assessment Form is the Reference Letter• You must submit an application to the OGS competition at EACH

GRADUATE PROGRAM you will apply to (applications will be sent to each respective Graduate Program Office by their individual departmental deadline)

Tri-council awards

• In addition you can apply for one of three prestigious fellowships from NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR. You must choose ONLY one—you can not apply to more than one.

SSHRC• Program deadline: TBD (typically early/mid-November)

• Open to applicants who, at the time of the award, will be registered as full-time students at the Master's (or Ph.D) level:

• in the humanities and social sciences disciplines supported by SSHRC (eg., this could cover topics in psychology from social, personality, individual differences, creativity, abnormal, etc).

•

CIHR• Program deadline: TBD (typically late November/early December) • The Canada Graduate Scholarships Master's Awards administered

by CIHR are intended to provide special recognition and support to students who are pursuing a Master's degree in a health related field in Canada.

NSERC• Program Deadline: TBD• The NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS) and Canada Graduate

Scholarship (CGS) provide support to high-caliber scholars who are engaged in Master's (or Doctoral programs):

• in the natural sciences (research relating to fundamental processes such as perception, cognition, learning, motivation, physiological psychology, neuropsychology, animal behaviour, comparative psychology and ethology) and engineering.

Subject Matter Eligibility • Minor revisions have been made to the guidelines on subject matter

eligibility. Applicants working in research areas where boundaries overlap are advised to state clearly in all applications for funding why they believe their proposals are appropriate for support by the agency to which they are submitting their application.

• For details on which subject matters are eligible for SSHRC:• http

://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/apply-demande/background-renseignements/selecting_agency-choisir_organisme_subventionnaire-eng.aspx#af2

• For details on CIHR and NSERC:•http://www.science.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=en&n=FEE7261A-1

APPLICATION COMPLETENESS:• Ensure that your application is complete!• Agencies are cracking down on enforcing completeness rules• Use the application checklist to ensure you have all pieces• You can also check the agency websites links for details on complete

applications packages

upcoming workshops on applying for funding

• Thursday 18th 2:30-4:30 in 280N York Lanes• Monday 22nd 9:00-10:30 in 519 Kaneff Tower• Tuesday 23rd 10:00-11:30 in 219 Glendon Hall• Wednesday 24th 3:00-4:30 in 280N York Lanes• Can check out FGS website for more info on funding (OGS,

External, Internal for York students): http://gradstudies.yorku.ca/current-students/student-finances/funding-awards/– They have some useful guides for each major scholarship, may not

be up to date though– Can also look at successful past applications in the grad office here

• GOOD LUCK!!!!

• Questions