Application/Admission to Graduate Studies (MA, MASc, PhD, PsyD) in Psychology: An Overview
Please read the general information provided on this website by the Psychology Undergraduate Advisor. Then seek specific information regarding application/admission information for particular graduate schools by checking the appropriate websites for the host schools (search tools) and/or contacting those schools directly for information.
Graduate studies in Psychology at uWaterloo
An Honours degree in Psychology* that includes an honours thesis is typically required for admission to graduate studies in Psychology.
* or an equivalent - - see 'Make-Up Studies in Psychology' in the Psychology Undergraduate Student Handbook.
You should begin thinking about the requirements for admission to graduate school during second and third year so that you will have sufficient time to obtain all of the necessary background, both academic and otherwise.
The application process for admission and scholarships for graduate school begins a year in advance of going to graduate school (i.e., Fall 2009 for attending graduate school Fall 2010). Graduate schools typically evaluate applicants' preparedness for graduate school based on the application form, personal statements regarding their relevant background for the intended area of study, scores on the Graduate Record Exam, academic standing, letters of recommendation, and finally, the match of interests between the student and potential faculty supervisor(s). Some schools may require an interview.
The Canadian Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies all provide useful information regarding the application/admission process for graduate studies, the graduate school years, and careers. Click here for the links to those websites.
This website contains the following information about the graduate school application process:
- Seeking Advice About Your Plans to Apply to Graduate Studies in Psychology?
- Which Graduate Schools to Apply to?
- Graduate School Applications
- Scholarship Applications for Graduate School
- Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
- Letters of Recommendation
- Personal Statements
- Academic Standing
- Language Proficiency
- Expenses
- Further Advice Provided by the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Studies in Psychology at UW
- Graduate Studies in Psychology at UW (see left sidebar for details)
Seeking Advice About Your Plans to Apply for Graduate Studies in Psychology?
For individual consultation and advice about graduate training in Psychology, please consult with the following people:
- the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Affairs:
- Colin Ellard - until June 30, 2012
- Myra Fernandes - July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2014
- your Honours Thesis (Psych 499A/B/C) supervisor
- faculty members whose labs you worked or volunteered in
- faculty members who attended the school(s) that you are interested in applying to
- faculty members who have interests that relate to your future plans.
For the research interests of faculty members in our department, refer to the following sources:- webpages for individual faculty members including their contact information and areas of research (note that you can sort the list by name as well as departmental division)
- recent honours theses supervised
Which Graduate Schools To Apply To?
Researching graduate programs will be very time consuming and should not be left until the start of fourth year.
Seek advice from faculty members about which graduate schools you should apply to.
Click here to search for graduate programs in Psychology.
Valuable insight into the programs offered and the academic environment at a particular school can be obtained from university websites as well as by making appointments to visit the schools to talk directly to the faculty members and the graduate students.
Before selecting a graduate school to apply to, applicants should seek answers to the following questions.
- Is the program research or applied in orientation?
- About the faculty members:
- How many faculty members are associated with the program and what are their research interests?
- Is there more than one faculty member whose interests you share?
- When is he/she going to be available to supervise graduate students (e.g., is he/she planning a sabbatical or early retirement)?
- What are some of the recent publications of the faculty?
- How many graduate students are there in the program?
- What types of financial support can graduate students expect and how much?
- What are the library, computer, laboratory, and office resources like?
- What is the employment success of graduates?
- For clinical and counselling programs, is the program accredited and by whom?
The Psychology Undergraduate Office (PAS 4005/4006) has some resource materials that might be helpful to those applying to graduate studies. For example:
- Getting In: A Step-by-Step Plan for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in Psychology
- Graduate School: Winning Strategies for Getting in With or Without Excellent Grades
- Preparing for Graduate Study in Psychology: Not for Seniors Only
- Graduate School and You: A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students.
Psychology Majors can borrow the following books for 2-3 days.
University of Waterloo Honours Psychology and Make-up Psychology Majors are not given special consideration with respect to admission to graduate studies in psychology at UW; however, UW students have the advantage of being able to network with the faculty throughout their undergraduate studies. Thus, when the time comes to review the applications for graduate school, faculty members will be more familiar with the research interests, aptitude for conducting research, and academic performance of UW students than other applicants. In general, it is felt that students are better served to do their undergraduate and graduate degrees at different schools in order to be exposed to different perspectives. However, it is not uncommon for a small number of UW undergraduate students to stay at UW for graduate studies because of a good match between a faculty member's and a student's interests.
Graduate School Applications
It is your responsibility to obtain all of the necessary application information, application forms, scholarship applications, etc. that are required for applying to graduate school. Individuals should obtain application/information packages as soon as possible from the graduate schools to which they intend to apply, because the application process is very time consuming and deadlines vary. Most universities have their application packages on the web.
Click here for information about applying to graduate studies in Psychology at UW for Fall 2012 admission. All application documents are due to the Psychology Graduate Office (PAS 3013) no later than December 15, 2011 for Clinical and Social Psychology; for all other areas in Psychology the deadline is January 15, 2012.
Scholarship Applications for Graduate School (OGS, NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR)
Deadlines for applying for scholarships for graduate school are firm and could be as early as the third week of September. Detailed information regarding the procedures and deadlines for applying for scholarships are posted on the the Psychology Graduate Studies website. Please download the scholarship application forms that you require from that website by the end of August. You must submit hard copies of the application forms. If you have questions regarding the application process, please contact the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies.
Take into consideration what your transcript will look like when the evaluator for graduate school scholarships reviews your record (check the submission deadlines). For example, if you are in fourth year and scholarship decisions are being made before your 4A school term marks are recorded, grades for your 'last 2 years of study' will consist of your year 2/3 grades. If your year 2 grades are lower than your year 3/4 grades, then you might want to consider delaying your application to graduate school by a year so that emphasis is placed on your year 3/4 grades. The year that you are waiting to apply to graduate school you could take a few extra courses (if necessary) to boost your average calculations and gain some additional 'experience' related to your intended field of study. See FAQ 16 for further details.
Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
Many graduate schools, including the University of Waterloo, require applicants to submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores. The GRE consists of two separate tests: The GRE General Test and the GRE Subject Test. Applicants to UW are required to take the GRE General Test only. The official description of the GRE, registration information, fees, answers to FAQ (e.g., how the test is scored), free test preparation materials, etc. are available from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) which administers the test.
Allowing oneself sufficient time to prepare for the GRE is very important. This is not a test that one can study for the day before for and expect to do well. We encourage you to talk to senior Honours students who have already written the GRE as well as to graduate students about what to expect on the GRE and to get advice regarding the amount of preparation required.
GRE Psychology Test:
Questions on the GRE Psychology Test will be taken from the breadth of subfields in psychology (including both natural science and social science topics) as well as research design and statistics.
There are only 3 sittings per
year (typically April, November, and December) of the paper-and-pencil version
of the GRE Subject (Psychology) Test. The test is only available at a few
locations in Ontario.
The deadline for applying to write the GRE is approximately two months in advance of the test date. Students are strongly encouraged to write the test at the first (April) or second sitting of the year (November) because test scores for the final sitting of the year (December) may not reach the graduate schools by the application deadlines.
Click here for for further details about the GRE Psychology Test including practice questions, test dates, registration deadlines, etc.
GRE General Test :
The GRE General Test can be written year round at several computer-based testing (CBT) facilities in Ontario. The addresses for the testing facilities (e.g., Hamilton, London, Toronto, Ottawa, Windsor) are available on the web.
The CBT is a computer-adaptive test.
According to the ETS website (2011) " The GRE General Test measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, and analytic writing skills that are not related to any specific field of study."
See 'Graduate Studies in Psychology' on the Psychology UG website " for further details regarding the GRE.
Note that there will be changes to the GRE General Test effective August 1, 2011. Click here for details.
Letters of Recommendation
(also called Reference Letters or References)
When you apply for admission to graduate studies, typically 3 letters of recommendation (also referred to as reference letters) will be required for each application for admission as well as for each scholarship application. The reference letters provide very important information to those evaluating your potential for success in the program you applied to. Think carefully regarding who you will approach for reference letters (e.g., past or future contacts that you will make) and the types of letters needed for your particular goals (e.g., academic references, references for volunteer or paid positions related to a particular field, character references, etc.).
See FAQ 35 on the Psych UG website for further details.
Personal Statements
Graduate schools may consider relevant practical experience when judging applicants' preparedness for the graduate program to which they are applying. Although referees will address some of these issues in their recommendation letters, most graduate schools will also ask applicants to provide a written self-assessment about their preparedness for the program to which they are applying. Applicants may be asked to write a 2 to 3 page essay about their background or to respond to specific questions. The University of Waterloo Psychology Department requires applicants to complete a departmental form that asks them to describe their areas of interest, educational and career goals, and background (e.g., academic and research experience, volunteer and paid work experience) that are relevant to their intended area of study. Applicants should think very carefully about what they want to convey to the admission committees. The personal statements must be well written and convey the individual's sense of commitment to the program that he/she is applying to and the profession to which he/she is aspiring.
Academic Standing
An Honours degree in Psychology (or equivalent) that includes an honours thesis is typically required for admission to graduate school in Psychology.
Admission to graduate studies is very competitive so individuals should apply to several schools for admission.
Many graduate schools advertise that the minimum overall average requirement for admission is in the 75 to 78% range. Note however, that the majority of those admitted will have averages considerably higher than the published cutoffs.
When making admission decisions for graduate school, the individual schools will decide whether to look at averages for the cumulative record and/or a subset of the record (e.g,. grades for the last 2 full years of study coincides with the parameters for scholarship decisions noted above). They will also decide whether emphasis is placed on the overall average versus the Psychology average, or on both averages.
If you are calculating your average for your last 2 full years of study for your own interest, include the grades for the last 10.0 units (i.e., 20 term courses) and don't split terms (i.e., include all of the grades for a given term).
Take into consideration what your transcript will look like when the admissions officer reviews your record (check the submission deadlines). For example, if admission decisions are being made after your 4A school term grades are recorded on the transcript but before your 4B school term marks are available, grades for your 'last 2 full years of study' will consist of your grades for the 2B through 3B school terms. If your 2B term grades are lower than your year 3/4 grades, then you might want to consider delaying your application to graduate school by a year so that emphasis is placed on your year 3/4 grades. The year that you are waiting to apply to graduate school you could take a few extra courses (if necessary) to boost your average calculations and gain some additional 'experience' related to your intended field of study. See FAQ 16 for further details.
One can get a better indication of the competition for admission by looking at the number of applications that a particular school received in comparison to the number of offers of admission made.
For example, the Psychology Department at the University of Waterloo receives approximately 280-320 applications for admission to graduate studies each year. The averages of those accepted tend to be at least
84-87% (overall and Psychology) with the cutoffs for admission to the Clinical graduate program being the highest. Number of offers of admission made by our department:
Admission Year Number of Offers of Admission Made for Graduate Studies in Psych at UW Number of People Accepting Offers of Admission Fall 2008 47 21 Fall 2009 45 29 Fall 2010 38 27 Fall 2011 47 20 Fall 2012 TBA TBA
Language Proficiency
Please review the language proficiency requirements for the schools that you are applying to.
For those applying for admission to graduate studies at the University of Waterloo, click here for the English language proficiency requirement.
Expenses
Most people apply to several graduate schools for admission. The application process includes the following expenses:
- application fees (e.g., $100.00 in Canadian funds for application to the Univ of Waterloo for Fall 2011)
- Graduate Record Exam (GRE) expenses (per their website June 2011):
- $190 in US funds for the General Test (note the discount available for those testing August and Sept 2011)
- $160 in US funds for the Subject Test
- fee for ETS to distribute more than 4 copies of the GRE Scores ($23.00 in US funds per school)
- fees for sending official transcripts from the Univ of Waterloo ($10.00 each in 2011)
- miscellaneous expenses such as telephone calls to request information or to check on the status of one's application, mailing costs (envelopes and stamps), and travel expenses to visit the schools or to attend interviews.
Further Advice Provided by the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Studies in Psychology at the University of Waterloo
Click here for details.
Graduate Studies in Psychology at the University of Waterloo
Click here for details.
August 24, 2011
