Thanks to Katherine Duncan for compiling the original version of this list of important questions and resources for applying to graduate school in the UofT Psychology Department.
Is graduate school in Psychology right for me?
This is a big, personal question that requires extensive research and self-reflection. These are a few points to consider when making decisions about pursuing a research-based Ph.D.
Graduate school is less focused on classes and more on hands on research
In our program, you only take a total of 7 one-semester courses across five years. Instead of course work, graduate school primarily involves research. Students are directly admitted into a lab (or a pair of labs if co-supervised) and, in most cases, will conduct the bulk of their research in this lab throughout their Ph.D. Accordingly, you are more likely to find graduate students programming an experiment or analyzing data than studying for a test or working on a course assignment. So, you shouldn’t think of getting a Ph.D. as the “next step” after an undergraduate degree, rather it is a very specific path for those interested in conducting independent research.
Getting research experience before graduate school will help you determine whether you’ll like research and prepare to excel as a graduate student
Embarking on a Ph.D. is a massive commitment, so it is important to know what you are signing up for. I strongly recommend getting research experience in at least two labs to learn about different approaches and lab cultures. Ideally, you should also conduct a project from beginning to end to get first-hand experience in all the steps that go into a study – from conception, to programming, to data collection, to data analysis, to interpretation and communication. It’s a lot! As a graduate student, you will be expected to take the lead at each stage. To be better prepared, many students work as lab managers or research assistants for one to three years after completing their undergraduate degree. While this may sound like a detour, taking these years often accelerates career trajectories because it provides so much invaluable experience.
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to study, but it’s good to have a rough idea
Psychology is a diverse field, with many fascinating arms. Students are often paralyzed when trying to pick just one (or one combination) to specialize in. Rarely do successful scientists experience a transcendent moment when encountering the research area that they will devote years (if not decades) to. In reality, many scientists could be equally fulfilled studying one of a large set of topics. I recommend, instead, that students focus on what approaches most fulfill them. Do you find answers at neural, cognitive, or computational levels most satisfying? What balance of ecological and experimental validity is best aligned with your priorities? And, do you find mechanistic discoveries satisfying in their own right, or are meaningful applications more important to you? Answering questions like these can help you identify research areas, and labs, that best align with your intellectual needs and goals. That being said, getting research experience in a specific area (e.g., episodic memory, low-level vision, category learning) before starting graduate school is an invaluable test of your interest and aptitude for that type of research. It will also prepare you to conduct independent research on that topic.
Consider your financial situation before applying to graduate school and plan accordingly
Good news first – good Ph.D. programs will fund you. They will fully cover your tuition and fees, and provide you with a stipend for your living costs. The less great news is that you will not make much money as a graduate student, likely much less than you would make if you started working right out of school. In our program, all students receive a minimum stipend of $21,000/year (on top of their tuition and fees). Students are required to work as teaching assistants for a minimum of 180 hours per year to receive this funding; they are paid an additional ~$46/h for any teaching they do beyond the 180 hours. Students are also eligible to outside funding opportunities (https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/awards/) to increase their stipend, and most of the stipend is not considered taxable income. On average, students in my lab made around $28,000 last year, on top of tuition and fees.
A PhD increases your employment prospects but doesn’t guarantee them
According to the United States Census Bureau, people with a Ph.D. in psychology earn 33% more over their lifetimes than those with a Master’s degree in the field, and 57% more than those with Bachelor’s degrees. Those with Ph.D.s also tend to express higher job satisfaction than those without. But over the past few decades the increases in Ph.D.s awarded have vastly outstepped increases in the hiring of professors. Today, the majority of students enter into a Ph.D. program wanting to pursue a career in academia, but many will not find the tenure-track position that they are aiming for. To provide some context, a little over 60% of people who have graduated from our program since 2000 have stayed in academia, and around half of them in tenure-track faculty positions. On a positive note, those who leave academia often do so to pursue equally fulfilling (and often more lucrative) careers in industry. Those with a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience are increasingly obtaining positions in data science, for example. In recognition of the many excellent career paths that my students may be interested in, we never assume that they are planning to stay in academia, and we are committed to supporting them as they pursue their unique goals.
Tips for Applying to Graduate School
Here are a few tips on how to put your best foot forward when applying to a research-based Ph.D. program in psychology. Please note that some of these tips are personal opinions, and that it’s always good to seek advice from multiple perspectives. You can also find more details about applying to our program here: https://www.psych.utoronto.ca/prospective-graduate-students/about-our-tri-campus-graduate-program
Pick potential graduate schools based on labs, not just programs
The lab that you conduct your research in during graduate school is more important than the course work you complete or the details of your program. Your graduate experience will be more productive and rewarding if you can find a good fit in research interests, mentoring style, and lab culture. To find a good alignment in research interests, I recommend doing a lot of reading! Which papers get you most excited? Identify the paper’s senior author (the author whose lab the research was conducted in; usually listed in the last position) and explore their lab website to determine how interested you are in their full research program. Lab websites also often list alumni. This section is important because it tells you where former graduate students end up. Many of them may now run their own labs, which also could fit for your research interests. Assessing mentoring style and lab culture is best done during interviews (discussed below). A common assumption, though, is that more junior faculty will be more “hands-on” because they have fewer trainees to manage and have more recently run experiments and analyzed data. More established faculty are generally assumed to provide more high-level support, which is (ideally) complemented by hands-on training from senior lab members. Like any stereotypes, there are many exceptions to this assumption! Lastly, I strongly recommend getting advice in determining your dream list of potential advisors. Reach out to the graduate students, postdocs, and professors whom you have conducted research with to get their thoughts.
Many (but not all) professors like you to email them in advance of submitting an application
Once you have a medium-sized list of potential labs that you would like to work in, it is generally a good idea to send emails to the professors who run these labs. I recommend sending emails a few months before applications are due (usually August or September). These emails should be brief but informative. You should introduce yourself, your research background, and include a sentence or two about how your interests align with work conducted in their lab. Very specific statements – tailored to that professor – rather than generic statements – like, being interested in memory – are best. Also include your CV (academic resume) and unofficial transcript (especially when applying to Canadian schools). Many professors appreciate this email; some will encourage you to apply; some will request a Zoom/Skype meeting; some politely let you know that they are not accepting new students next year. All of these responses can help you narrow your medium-sized list down to a short one! Additionally, professors often keep track of who emailed to help them sort through applications. Some professors, though, will not respond. This is usually just an indication that they are super busy, and your email slipped through the cracks. I recommend sending one polite follow-up email a few weeks later. If you still don’t receive a response, you shouldn’t over-interpret it. They may still just be busy, or they may have a policy against responding to these emails. Personally, I have seen students ultimately work with professors who did not respond to their initial email and others miss opportunities when they over-interpreted the lack of response.
Be sure to list potential supervisors in your application and explain why you are interested in working with them
There are as many styles of graduate school applications as there are students. Some focus on personal journeys, while others get straight to the research projects. And, there is no right approach because potential supervisors often look for different things. It is universally appreciated, though, to be very clear about who you want to work with. You can pick one lab in a program and go into detail about why you want to work in it and, perhaps, briefly outline some research questions that you would want to study in that lab. It’s a good idea to complement this type of application with a brief statement about at least two other labs that you could collaborate with. Alternatively, if you are similarly interested in multiple labs — which is common for students interested in UofT – then you can list each of those labs along with more succinct descriptions of why they align with your interests.
We make exceptions for some admission requirements.
Each year, we accept students into our graduate program who don’t meet some of our requirements. For example, we routinely consider applicants who fall a little short of our GPA requirement (3.7/4.0 in final two years) or who did not complete the required number of psychology courses in their degree. The key is to compensate for these requirements in other aspects of your application, particularly research experience. It can also be helpful to address unmet requirements head-on in your statement, rather than hoping that we won’t notice. For example, if your undergraduate degree was in computer science, but you’ve since applied your stellar coding skills to psychology research, you can highlight the benefits of this non-traditional path. You can also ask your letter writers if they are comfortable providing context in their letters of recommendation. For example, they could explain how a poor statistics grade doesn’t reflect the skills you’ve demonstrated in the lab. Reaching out to potential supervisors, though, is particularly important if you do not meet admissions requirements so that they can track down your application if it is filtered out of the pool.
Statements should not be modest but should be concrete
Even though it is hard, you should try your best to break from ingrained modesty in your statement. One good trick is to be concrete. Brainstorm a list of ways that you have demonstrated your potential as a graduate student. Writing about these concrete actions and accomplishments is more comfortable than making abstract statements about your potential. Importantly, it will make a much better impression on a potential supervisor. It can also be helpful to ask lab mates for their perspectives; they may have identified ways that you have demonstrated relevant skills that you take for granted!
Situate your research in terms of questions and conclusions, not just implementation
New researchers often focus on the mechanics of their contributions when talking about their research – testing X number of participants, or the session procedures. But potential supervisors are more concerned about you having a deep understanding of what the study means, and how it fits in with related research. Be sure that your statement and conversations reflect that understanding.
But also highlight technical skills that you’ve gained through research
Cognitive neuroscience research requires a lot of technical skills, particularly good computer programming skills. Often the pace of new graduate students’ research is limited while they acquire these skills or, worse yet, they may realize that they hate coding. For this reason, potential supervisors often prioritize applicants with strong technical backgrounds. These can either be demonstrated through formal/online course work or, ideally, through your research projects. Be sure to include a skills section on your CV to showcase your proficiency in programming languages, specialized data analysis and experiment building software. You can also mention these skills in your statement, as long as their discussion does not detract from the big research questions.
Your statement is a writing sample
Writing skills are also highly prized qualities in a new graduate student. For this reason, your statement does double duty; it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. The most important trick of good writing is to start early, revise, revise, and revise. Getting feedback from others (friends, lab mates, research advisors) is a critical part of the revision process. I recommend finishing your first draft in the summer to allow plenty of time for feedback. I also recommend using good scientific writing practices in your statements. Specifically, avoid overly formal language (even if you think it makes you seem smart). Instead, focus on being clear and succinct so that your logic shines through. Adding some personality usually doesn’t hurt, though.
Interviews are a two-way street
Interested potential supervisors may reach out for a Zoom/Skype interview to narrow down their list of top applicants. You should be prepared to answer questions about your research (both big picture and methods) and your interests. It never hurts to practice talking about these topics with friends and lab mates so that you’re prepared. But you should also prepare questions for your potential supervisor. Not only does this give you crucial insights into their mentoring style, open projects, and lab practices, it also shows that you are taking this opportunity very seriously. Likewise, if you are invited for an in-person interview, you should be prepared to both answer and ask questions. During these interviews, you will have a chance to meet with the trainees in potential labs. Be sure to make the most of this opportunity. Current graduate students are best positioned to answer questions about an advisor’s real mentoring style (not just the style they aspire to) and lab culture. Don’t be afraid to ask very specific questions, like, how long does it take to get edits on a manuscript, how often do you meet with your advisor, and what support did you receive while starting your first project? The answer to specific questions will be more informative than open ended ones, like, is the advisor supportive?
Is graduate school in Psychology right for me?
This is a big, personal question that requires extensive research and self-reflection. These are a few points to consider when making decisions about pursuing a research-based Ph.D.
Graduate school is less focused on classes and more on hands on research
In our program, you only take a total of 7 one-semester courses across five years. Instead of course work, graduate school primarily involves research. Students are directly admitted into a lab (or a pair of labs if co-supervised) and, in most cases, will conduct the bulk of their research in this lab throughout their Ph.D. Accordingly, you are more likely to find graduate students programming an experiment or analyzing data than studying for a test or working on a course assignment. So, you shouldn’t think of getting a Ph.D. as the “next step” after an undergraduate degree, rather it is a very specific path for those interested in conducting independent research.
Getting research experience before graduate school will help you determine whether you’ll like research and prepare to excel as a graduate student
Embarking on a Ph.D. is a massive commitment, so it is important to know what you are signing up for. I strongly recommend getting research experience in at least two labs to learn about different approaches and lab cultures. Ideally, you should also conduct a project from beginning to end to get first-hand experience in all the steps that go into a study – from conception, to programming, to data collection, to data analysis, to interpretation and communication. It’s a lot! As a graduate student, you will be expected to take the lead at each stage. To be better prepared, many students work as lab managers or research assistants for one to three years after completing their undergraduate degree. While this may sound like a detour, taking these years often accelerates career trajectories because it provides so much invaluable experience.
You don’t need to know exactly what you want to study, but it’s good to have a rough idea
Psychology is a diverse field, with many fascinating arms. Students are often paralyzed when trying to pick just one (or one combination) to specialize in. Rarely do successful scientists experience a transcendent moment when encountering the research area that they will devote years (if not decades) to. In reality, many scientists could be equally fulfilled studying one of a large set of topics. I recommend, instead, that students focus on what approaches most fulfill them. Do you find answers at neural, cognitive, or computational levels most satisfying? What balance of ecological and experimental validity is best aligned with your priorities? And, do you find mechanistic discoveries satisfying in their own right, or are meaningful applications more important to you? Answering questions like these can help you identify research areas, and labs, that best align with your intellectual needs and goals. That being said, getting research experience in a specific area (e.g., episodic memory, low-level vision, category learning) before starting graduate school is an invaluable test of your interest and aptitude for that type of research. It will also prepare you to conduct independent research on that topic.
Consider your financial situation before applying to graduate school and plan accordingly
Good news first – good Ph.D. programs will fund you. They will fully cover your tuition and fees, and provide you with a stipend for your living costs. The less great news is that you will not make much money as a graduate student, likely much less than you would make if you started working right out of school. In our program, all students receive a minimum stipend of $21,000/year (on top of their tuition and fees). Students are required to work as teaching assistants for a minimum of 180 hours per year to receive this funding; they are paid an additional ~$46/h for any teaching they do beyond the 180 hours. Students are also eligible to outside funding opportunities (https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/awards/) to increase their stipend, and most of the stipend is not considered taxable income. On average, students in my lab made around $28,000 last year, on top of tuition and fees.
A PhD increases your employment prospects but doesn’t guarantee them
According to the United States Census Bureau, people with a Ph.D. in psychology earn 33% more over their lifetimes than those with a Master’s degree in the field, and 57% more than those with Bachelor’s degrees. Those with Ph.D.s also tend to express higher job satisfaction than those without. But over the past few decades the increases in Ph.D.s awarded have vastly outstepped increases in the hiring of professors. Today, the majority of students enter into a Ph.D. program wanting to pursue a career in academia, but many will not find the tenure-track position that they are aiming for. To provide some context, a little over 60% of people who have graduated from our program since 2000 have stayed in academia, and around half of them in tenure-track faculty positions. On a positive note, those who leave academia often do so to pursue equally fulfilling (and often more lucrative) careers in industry. Those with a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience are increasingly obtaining positions in data science, for example. In recognition of the many excellent career paths that my students may be interested in, we never assume that they are planning to stay in academia, and we are committed to supporting them as they pursue their unique goals.
Tips for Applying to Graduate School
Here are a few tips on how to put your best foot forward when applying to a research-based Ph.D. program in psychology. Please note that some of these tips are personal opinions, and that it’s always good to seek advice from multiple perspectives. You can also find more details about applying to our program here: https://www.psych.utoronto.ca/prospective-graduate-students/about-our-tri-campus-graduate-program
Pick potential graduate schools based on labs, not just programs
The lab that you conduct your research in during graduate school is more important than the course work you complete or the details of your program. Your graduate experience will be more productive and rewarding if you can find a good fit in research interests, mentoring style, and lab culture. To find a good alignment in research interests, I recommend doing a lot of reading! Which papers get you most excited? Identify the paper’s senior author (the author whose lab the research was conducted in; usually listed in the last position) and explore their lab website to determine how interested you are in their full research program. Lab websites also often list alumni. This section is important because it tells you where former graduate students end up. Many of them may now run their own labs, which also could fit for your research interests. Assessing mentoring style and lab culture is best done during interviews (discussed below). A common assumption, though, is that more junior faculty will be more “hands-on” because they have fewer trainees to manage and have more recently run experiments and analyzed data. More established faculty are generally assumed to provide more high-level support, which is (ideally) complemented by hands-on training from senior lab members. Like any stereotypes, there are many exceptions to this assumption! Lastly, I strongly recommend getting advice in determining your dream list of potential advisors. Reach out to the graduate students, postdocs, and professors whom you have conducted research with to get their thoughts.
Many (but not all) professors like you to email them in advance of submitting an application
Once you have a medium-sized list of potential labs that you would like to work in, it is generally a good idea to send emails to the professors who run these labs. I recommend sending emails a few months before applications are due (usually August or September). These emails should be brief but informative. You should introduce yourself, your research background, and include a sentence or two about how your interests align with work conducted in their lab. Very specific statements – tailored to that professor – rather than generic statements – like, being interested in memory – are best. Also include your CV (academic resume) and unofficial transcript (especially when applying to Canadian schools). Many professors appreciate this email; some will encourage you to apply; some will request a Zoom/Skype meeting; some politely let you know that they are not accepting new students next year. All of these responses can help you narrow your medium-sized list down to a short one! Additionally, professors often keep track of who emailed to help them sort through applications. Some professors, though, will not respond. This is usually just an indication that they are super busy, and your email slipped through the cracks. I recommend sending one polite follow-up email a few weeks later. If you still don’t receive a response, you shouldn’t over-interpret it. They may still just be busy, or they may have a policy against responding to these emails. Personally, I have seen students ultimately work with professors who did not respond to their initial email and others miss opportunities when they over-interpreted the lack of response.
Be sure to list potential supervisors in your application and explain why you are interested in working with them
There are as many styles of graduate school applications as there are students. Some focus on personal journeys, while others get straight to the research projects. And, there is no right approach because potential supervisors often look for different things. It is universally appreciated, though, to be very clear about who you want to work with. You can pick one lab in a program and go into detail about why you want to work in it and, perhaps, briefly outline some research questions that you would want to study in that lab. It’s a good idea to complement this type of application with a brief statement about at least two other labs that you could collaborate with. Alternatively, if you are similarly interested in multiple labs — which is common for students interested in UofT – then you can list each of those labs along with more succinct descriptions of why they align with your interests.
We make exceptions for some admission requirements.
Each year, we accept students into our graduate program who don’t meet some of our requirements. For example, we routinely consider applicants who fall a little short of our GPA requirement (3.7/4.0 in final two years) or who did not complete the required number of psychology courses in their degree. The key is to compensate for these requirements in other aspects of your application, particularly research experience. It can also be helpful to address unmet requirements head-on in your statement, rather than hoping that we won’t notice. For example, if your undergraduate degree was in computer science, but you’ve since applied your stellar coding skills to psychology research, you can highlight the benefits of this non-traditional path. You can also ask your letter writers if they are comfortable providing context in their letters of recommendation. For example, they could explain how a poor statistics grade doesn’t reflect the skills you’ve demonstrated in the lab. Reaching out to potential supervisors, though, is particularly important if you do not meet admissions requirements so that they can track down your application if it is filtered out of the pool.
Statements should not be modest but should be concrete
Even though it is hard, you should try your best to break from ingrained modesty in your statement. One good trick is to be concrete. Brainstorm a list of ways that you have demonstrated your potential as a graduate student. Writing about these concrete actions and accomplishments is more comfortable than making abstract statements about your potential. Importantly, it will make a much better impression on a potential supervisor. It can also be helpful to ask lab mates for their perspectives; they may have identified ways that you have demonstrated relevant skills that you take for granted!
Situate your research in terms of questions and conclusions, not just implementation
New researchers often focus on the mechanics of their contributions when talking about their research – testing X number of participants, or the session procedures. But potential supervisors are more concerned about you having a deep understanding of what the study means, and how it fits in with related research. Be sure that your statement and conversations reflect that understanding.
But also highlight technical skills that you’ve gained through research
Cognitive neuroscience research requires a lot of technical skills, particularly good computer programming skills. Often the pace of new graduate students’ research is limited while they acquire these skills or, worse yet, they may realize that they hate coding. For this reason, potential supervisors often prioritize applicants with strong technical backgrounds. These can either be demonstrated through formal/online course work or, ideally, through your research projects. Be sure to include a skills section on your CV to showcase your proficiency in programming languages, specialized data analysis and experiment building software. You can also mention these skills in your statement, as long as their discussion does not detract from the big research questions.
Your statement is a writing sample
Writing skills are also highly prized qualities in a new graduate student. For this reason, your statement does double duty; it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. The most important trick of good writing is to start early, revise, revise, and revise. Getting feedback from others (friends, lab mates, research advisors) is a critical part of the revision process. I recommend finishing your first draft in the summer to allow plenty of time for feedback. I also recommend using good scientific writing practices in your statements. Specifically, avoid overly formal language (even if you think it makes you seem smart). Instead, focus on being clear and succinct so that your logic shines through. Adding some personality usually doesn’t hurt, though.
Interviews are a two-way street
Interested potential supervisors may reach out for a Zoom/Skype interview to narrow down their list of top applicants. You should be prepared to answer questions about your research (both big picture and methods) and your interests. It never hurts to practice talking about these topics with friends and lab mates so that you’re prepared. But you should also prepare questions for your potential supervisor. Not only does this give you crucial insights into their mentoring style, open projects, and lab practices, it also shows that you are taking this opportunity very seriously. Likewise, if you are invited for an in-person interview, you should be prepared to both answer and ask questions. During these interviews, you will have a chance to meet with the trainees in potential labs. Be sure to make the most of this opportunity. Current graduate students are best positioned to answer questions about an advisor’s real mentoring style (not just the style they aspire to) and lab culture. Don’t be afraid to ask very specific questions, like, how long does it take to get edits on a manuscript, how often do you meet with your advisor, and what support did you receive while starting your first project? The answer to specific questions will be more informative than open ended ones, like, is the advisor supportive?
