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. Transcript
2. GRE scores
3. 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/Refereerequestpa
ckagereview1.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_s
chool_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)
2)
3)
4)
Application forms (each scholarship agency will have its own)
Plan of Study
Reference Letters – 2
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/applydemande/background-renseignements/selecting_agencychoisir_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/currentstudents/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