Preparing for Graduate Studies in Psychology: New Seminar Series for Concordia Psychology Students – Part 1

Yesterday, I gave the first in a series of seminars on Preparing for Graduate Studies in Psychology. The first seminar was titled, Truths & Myths About Your Grades. Those who were there learned:

Why someone with a GPA of 3.8 does not have a better chance of getting in than someone with a GPA of 3.2.

Why it is a myth that one needs higher grades to get into a clinical psychology program than to get into a non-clinical program. 

Why you do not have to be in an Honors program to get into graduate school in Psychology.

Why students who do have excellent grades, even truly outstanding grades, should not be complacent or overconfident in their approach to graduate school, because those grades do not guarantee that they will get in.

How can any of this be true? Why aren’t grades more influential? It all has to do with the way applicants are selected for admission into most Psychology graduate programs at universities in the U.S or Canada.

Yesterday, we discussed how the selection process works, and now those who attended the seminar understand why the people who actually make the decisions don’t care very much about the absolute value of an applicant’s GPA. We discussed the exception to this general rule, which can occur when an applicant’s GPA is truly outstanding (straight As). Such an applicant can have an advantage in the competition for admission, but it’s not because he or she is expected to be a better graduate student than someone with a GPA in the B+ to A- range — in fact, the advantage they have is all about money! Curious to know what I mean by that?

If you are a Concordia University student (Psychology or other), and you missed the inaugural seminar for this series, the good news is that I will be doing it again, on Friday, February 3, 2012, as part of a special workshop hosted by Counselling and Development. The workshop runs from 10 – 12:00, and you can register here. Please note that in my portion of the workshop I will be giving the same seminar as yesterday, so this is for students who weren’t able to make it, yesterday.

Next Wednesday (Feb. 1, 2012), I will resume the series with a second seminar, this one titled, What You Need to Know About Grad School Before Applying. We will meet in room SP-157. Start time is 2:40, and duration is about one hour.

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