Applying to Canadian Programs

[elphaba]

Hey all --

I did a search, but didn't find another thread that quite answered my question... if you know of one that I missed, please share it!

In the meantime...

I have a B.S. in Psychology and am planning to apply to Clinical programs this fall. I had originally planned to apply last fall (incoming this year), then decided to take a year off for a variety of reasons. I had a fairly substantial list of schools where I matched well as of last August, but of course - as expected - some of those are no longer options for applying this year (profs moving, changing their research focus, not accepted students for 2010, etc.). That shift has been a little more painful than I expected, and I've had to cross off 6 schools from my original list of 13. Not cool. I have annoyingly specific research interests, and would like to keep those as intact as possible (though of course I'm willing to shift somewhat), but I'm having quite a bit of difficulty finding more matches at US programs. That said, I've come across quite a number of individuals in this line of research at several schools in Canada, and so now I'm strongly considering applying to those programs as well.

Basically I'm just wondering how that works -- I am primarily interested in a career in research and academia, though I don't want to entirely rule out the possibility of practicing at some point down the line. This may be a stupid question, but are most major Canadian programs APA accredited? (I looked on the website, but couldn't exactly find what I was looking for.) Are there any specific things I need to be aware of in considering a Canadian program, in terms of applications (differences in GPA measurement, different GRE expectations, or any additional expectations?), style of training, eventual licensing, or internships? (For example, can you do an internship in the US coming from a Canadian school?) I would probably move back to the US after finishing my degree since my family is here, so I just want to make sure that everything would "transfer" over relatively easily, and I could make a career for myself without jumping through any huge, crazy, fiery hoops....

Hope that all makes sense. Any insight and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[thewesternsky]

Hey all --

I did a search, but didn't find another thread that quite answered my question... if you know of one that I missed, please share it!

In the meantime...

I have a B.S. in Psychology and am planning to apply to Clinical programs this fall. I had originally planned to apply last fall (incoming this year), then decided to take a year off for a variety of reasons. I had a fairly substantial list of schools where I matched well as of last August, but of course - as expected - some of those are no longer options for applying this year (profs moving, changing their research focus, not accepted students for 2010, etc.). That shift has been a little more painful than I expected, and I've had to cross off 6 schools from my original list of 13. Not cool. I have annoyingly specific research interests, and would like to keep those as intact as possible (though of course I'm willing to shift somewhat), but I'm having quite a bit of difficulty finding more matches at US programs. That said, I've come across quite a number of individuals in this line of research at several schools in Canada, and so now I'm strongly considering applying to those programs as well.

Basically I'm just wondering how that works -- I am primarily interested in a career in research and academia, though I don't want to entirely rule out the possibility of practicing at some point down the line. This may be a stupid question, but are most major Canadian programs APA accredited? (I looked on the website, but couldn't exactly find what I was looking for.) Are there any specific things I need to be aware of in considering a Canadian program, in terms of applications (differences in GPA measurement, different GRE expectations, or any additional expectations?), style of training, eventual licensing, or internships? (For example, can you do an internship in the US coming from a Canadian school?) I would probably move back to the US after finishing my degree since my family is here, so I just want to make sure that everything would "transfer" over relatively easily, and I could make a career for myself without jumping through any huge, crazy, fiery hoops....

Hope that all makes sense. Any insight and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Elphaba!

Most Canadian programs are APA-accredited... for now. However, the APA announced recently that they will no longer be accrediting Canadian programs. Programs that are currently accredited will remain so until the year said accreditation expires, but they will not be able to seek re-accreditation through APA. That means that by the time you graduate, these programs will almost certainly NOT be APA accredited. (My school received its most recent accreditation renewal from the APA last year. It will expire in 2013. I think most schools will lose their accreditation by this date or earlier).

However, psychologists in Canada have our own accrediting body, called the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). Its standards are similar to the APA's, and most (I believe all, but am not sure) major Canadian programs have training standards that meet both both APA and CPA standards.

Since the "APA no longer accrediting Canadian programs" policy is new, no one's quite sure how things are going to work in the future. Professors I've talked with at two major Canadian universities hope and expect that American universities and state-licensing bodies will consider CPA-accredited programs equivalent. However, it is possible that attending a Canadian program could make it more difficult for you to get licensed in some states, so it's something to keep in mind.

If the programs are good research matches, though, I wouldn't let the accreditation issue stop me from applying. You can always discuss these issues with professors at interviews, if you're worried about it.