STAGE 2: FULFILLING REQUIREMENTS & EXPERIENCE
A Psychology Honours Specialization B.A. will be the most straightforward path.
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As a brief summary, you will need to complete statistics course(s) and research methods course(s) on top of standard Psychology courses and breadth requirements.
TIP! When we asked clinical psychology faculty members about having low grades and applying to clinical psychology some responded that having an average of 75% or lower will make it unlikely to gain admission. Others mentioned that a low average can be compensated with very strong research experience, like publishing an honours thesis and other research. Additionally, students can retake key courses to demonstrate improvement and increase their average.
cognates:
Plan to take courses that meet clinical psychology program cognate requirements. Most programs give you an opportunity to fulfill cognates if you are missing one or two.
individual
Individual behaviour (e.g., personality theory, human development, individual differences and abnormal psychology)
biological
Biological bases of behaviour
(e.g., comparative psychology, physiological psychology, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology).
cognitive-affective
Cognitive-Affective bases of behaviour (e.g., learning, sensation, perception, cognition, motivation, emotion).
social
Social bases of behaviour
(e.g., social psychology, cultural, ethnic and/or group processes, organizational and systems theory)
historical + scientific foundations
Historical and scientific foundations of general psychology
Research Experience
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Reach out to labs to volunteer (particular areas that you are interested in and see yourself pursuing).
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See Resources here
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Paid Lab opportunities that are facilitated by the school
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Community or hospital research facilities (e.g., treatment programs, community-based research centres)
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Course based research experience (e.g. course where you work in someone’s lab)
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Academic faculty that you can use as references
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It is important to build these relationships earlier on to get good reference letters!
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Let the PI (prof) know that your goal is to attend grad school.
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After some time in the lab, ask the lab coordinator or researcher if there are any opportunities to help with conference presentations or publications
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**Note: publications at the undergraduate level are rare and not a requirement!
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