The application for 2024-2025 has now opened.
Application Deadline
The admissions application deadline is December 1st of each year for entry at the start of the upcoming academic session beginning in September.
How to Apply:
Selecting Your Area of Study
Review the 4 graduate programs above to determine which area best suits your interest and background.
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants to our MSc program are expected to have completed a bachelor’s honours degree in psychology, or in an appropriate adjacent area, such as cognitive science or social behaviour in order to be competitive. The appropriateness of degrees from adjacent areas varies widely by program; for instance, a cognitive science degree may be viewed more favourably in our Cognitive Neuroscience program than in our Clinical program.
In addition to these basic requirements, most successful applicants to our MSc program will have accumulated significant undergraduate research experience. This experience might include, among other things, having completed a senior honors thesis or some other major research project, or having worked as a research assistant or lab coordinator prior to applying. It is also desirable for students backgrounds and application materials to show evidence of excellent skills in writing, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning (e.g., statistical analysis of data).
The MSc program is designed as a 2-year MSc thesis-based degree, and many students transition from this program directly into our 4-year thesis-based PhD program, resulting in a 6-year commitment to the program. The background and eligibility of each applicant is judged by a department-wide admissions committee. For students judged to have an excellent background, it is also necessary that one of our faculty must be willing to supervise the student for the duration of their degree. To learn which faculty members are available to supervise please see Faculty Member Availability page.
Students who have completed a thesis-based MSc in Psychology (or appropriate adjacent area) at another institution, direct application to our PhD program is possible, with the same general guidelines as above.
Connecting With A Potential Graduate Supervisor
After you have identified your area of interest, research faculty member profiles associated with the chosen area of interest. Determine which of these faculty are accepting students for the upcoming academic session by visiting the Available Faculty Supervisors page
Preparing for Your Application
You will fill out an online application form for your application for the Psychology Graduate Program. Please note that the only document that needs to be uploaded is your transcript. All the other application materials are submitted as texts in the application form.
Statement of Interest
You will provide a Statement of Interest as part of the online application process. Be sure to write a great Statement of Interest (see Statement of Interest guidelines) (PDF, 14 KB) which best summarizes your individual educational goals. Your Statement will assist us in determining which area of study suits your educational goals and which potential supervisor would best guide your studies towards that goal. The Statement of Interest should not exceed 4000 characters including space.
Resume
You are required to provide a Resume that lists any skills and abilities that they feel are relevant to their area of study. The Resume should not exceed 2000 characters including space.
Reference Letters
You will need two academic references to complete your graduate application package. Our How to ask for a Reference Letter guidelines (PDF, 22 KB) provides you with instructions on how to identify a potential referee and what information you can provide them with to assist them in preparing a strong reference letter.
Transcript Requirements
You may load unofficial transcripts to your online application at the time of application. In keeping with the School of Graduate Studies’ application regulations, should you receive an official offer of admission, you will need to provide official transcripts at that time in order to receive that official offer.
TOEFL and IELTS Requirements
Applicants whose first language is not English or who have not recently studied for at least one complete year at a post-secondary institution where English is the official language of instruction, will be required to obtain satisfactory results in an English language proficiency test (e.g., TOEFL, IELTS), as part of the application process, and before their application will be considered complete. Please see the Queens’s School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Application page for relevant details.
GRE Requirement
The GRE is no longer required for students applying for a Psychology Graduate Program.
Frequently Asked Questions
Educational Requirements
Master’s applicants must have completed a bachelor’s degree, preferably an honours in psychology, in order to be considered for admission to the Psychology MSc program.
Doctoral applicants must have completed a master’s degree, preferably in psychology or a related field, in order to be considered for admission to the Psychology PhD program.
Application Process
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Students apply to one of four programs:
• Clinical
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental
• Social-Personality
Indicate which faculty member they rank as their primary choice as potential supervisor. Applicants may rank up to three faculty members. -
Faculty members are available to supervise graduate students in the upcoming academic session.
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Applications are reviewed by faculty member graduate supervisors to determine if there are any applicants they are interested in admitting to the upcoming academic session.
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Deadline for submission of your application is: 01 December each year for admission to the upcoming academic session that starts 01 September.
Decision
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Following the application deadline, all graduate supervisors review all submitted applications and make recommendations to the Psychology Graduate Committee regarding the student(s) they would like to admit in the upcoming session.
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The PSYC Graduate Subcommittee ensures recommended applicants meet departmental entry requirements; consider program restrictions, i.e. the Clinical program has limited capacity to accept students due to the requirement for practicum and internship placements); and ensure applications are complete.
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Where a recommended applicant meets department requirements, and the PSYC Graduate Committee provides approval, that applicant will receive an offer of admission via email. Concurrently, the onilne application system is updated to “offered”.
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The School of Graduate Studies forwards an “official” letter of admission.
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The applicant makes their decision to accept or reject an offer of admission via the online application website.
Rejection
If no faculty member is interested in the applicant as a potential student, the application is marked online as “withdrawn, no supervisor available”.
NOTE: The GRE will NOT be required for students applying for studies beginning in September 2023.
The mean and median GREs of students recently accepted into the graduate program in psychology at Queen's are as follows (compiled over several years).
Recent Scores
| Mean Raw | Mean Percentile | Median Percentile | |
|---|---|---|---|
| V | 158 | 77 | 84 |
| Q | 155 | 68 | 70 |
| A | 5.3 | 78 | 78 |
| P | 749 | 92 | 96 |
Note: If one (or more) of your GRE scores is low, rewriting the GRE may be useful as a higher score the second time will often be interpreted as indicating that you just had an "off" day the first time. Of course, a similar or lower score would just confirm an apparent weakness.
Grades have almost always reflected an A average (at least in the last 2 years of study and in psychology courses).
Note the following:
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An A average does not guarantee acceptance.
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Meeting or exceeding the mean or median GREs does not guarantee acceptance.
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The GREs presented above are mean and median values. Many accepted students have had lower grades and GREs and most have at least one GRE below these values.
The relative weight given to grades, GREs, and letters of reference are a subjective factor that each faculty member assesses individually in determining whether an offer of admission will be made to a particular applicant. Competition for admission to the clinical program is greater than the other programs such that mean and median values described above may therefore be low for clinical and high for other programs.
For further information on GRE testing please visit the ETS: Educational Testing Service
The reason for a failure to be accepted into the program (as indicated on departmental decision letters) almost always is either "program full" or "no supervisor available." Program full applies frequently to the Clinical program because of the absolute limit on the number of students the program can accept. No supervisor available means that no faculty member was willing to accept the student. Students often mistakenly believe that this means that they were not perceived as good enough. Other factors are more likely to be the problem, for example:
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The potential supervisors listed already had as many students as they were willing to supervise.
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The competition was very good such that the rejected student easily met the minimum standard but was considered less positively than other applicants.
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The research interests as expressed by the student did not fit with the research plans of the potential supervisor. Whatever the reason or reasons, if no faculty member wants to accept the student to work with them, then the student will not be accepted.
Please see our Funding Awards & Financial Support page
Tuition Fees for domestic and international students are available via the Office of the Registrar Graduate Tuition Fees. Click on the Graduate and Professional Programs Fee Schedule. Tuition is listed by year, by term.
Candidates applying for the Clinical program are expected to have completed course work in history and systems, the biological, cognitive-affective, social bases of behaviour, and in abnormal psychology or its equivalent. The Graduate Committee reserves the right to request successful applicants to demonstrate proficiency in these areas. Students may be accepted without one, but generally not more than one, of the prerequisites as these must be made up prior to completion of the Master's degree. As the course load is heavy at the Master's level, the additional course work could affect a student's progress and their eligibility for funding which could influence the student's acceptability to potential supervisors. If a student is accepted without all prerequisites, normally the student will be required to make up the prerequisite during their first two years in the program.
NOTE: We do not offer a terminal MSc/MA in the Clinical Psychology Program
To apply directly to the Clinical PhD program, you would need to have completed a two-year, thesis-based master's degree, and have only one or two courses missing from the Msc level (800-series) required courses (weblink below). In our experience, students applying with non-clinical psychology MSc degrees do not have the courses to apply directly to the PhD and need to apply to the Msc to complete those core courses (e.g., in assessment, treatment, and theory). Depending on what your coursework was for your master's degree, you will likely be able to count some of your MA coursework towards the MSc in clinical psychology (e.g., statistics courses). Click here to review the program requirements (PDF, 42 KB)
NOTE: We do not offer a terminal MSc/MA in the Clinical Psychology Program
Candidates applying for the Clinical program are expected to have completed course work in history and systems, the biological, cognitive-affective, social bases of behaviour, and in abnormal psychology or its equivalent. The Graduate Committee reserves the right to request successful applicants to demonstrate proficiency in these areas. Students may be accepted without one, but generally not more than one, of the prerequisites as these must be made up prior to completion of the Master's degree. As the course load is heavy at the Master's level, the additional course work could affect a student's progress and their eligibility for funding which could influence the student's acceptability to potential supervisors. If a student is accepted without all prerequisites, normally the student will be required to make up the prerequisite during their first two years in the program.
NOTE: We do not offer a terminal MSc/MA in the Clinical Psychology Program
Students often ask if they can apply to our programs even though they do or will not have an honours degree in psychology. The relevant question is not whether you can apply but whether you would be accepted. The current departmental policy is that students admitted to graduate programs in psychology are expected to have an honours degree in psychology, preferably with a thesis or major research project as part of that undergraduate degree. If you apply despite not meeting this criterion, at the very least you will be at a competitive disadvantage. Unlike the procedure described above wherein the supervisor selects the student and the graduate committee simply assesses whether or not the student is a good student, in this situation the graduate committee may require that the supervisor justify taking the student no matter how good the grades, letters of reference, and GREs may be. It may be that the committee can not be convinced. This is particularly likely if the supervisor had other applicants with a psychology background or if an alternative program (e.g., neuroscience) was available that does not require the psychology background and would accept the background that the student has.
NOTE: We do not offer a terminal MSc/MA in the Clinical Psychology Program
The Queen's Clinical Psychology Program is a PhD program, not a PsyD program. To understand the difference between a PhD and PsyD in Psychology, please see this Psychology Today article.
For information about registration as a Psychologist in Ontario, please visit The College of Psychologists of Ontario website.
*Please note that our Clinical Psychology Program is not available online.
Some students complete some of all of their undergraduate training outside of North America. These students may be concerned that grades from the system they were in do not translate easily or accurately into the Queen’s grading system wherein a 70% is mediocre at Queen’s but exceptional elsewhere; or an 80% is an A- at Queen’s but a 75% or 90% is considered an A- elsewhere.
As part of the application process you will submit transcripts from all previous degrees, each of which will include that institution’s grading key. Your grade average will be calculated based on the key of that transcript so where a 70% is considered an A in that institution your grade will be considered an A in calculating your overall grade average i.e. all grades are considered in the context of that institution.
Your referees may also assist in providing some background about your academic work by speaking to the specifics that institution may have in their grading processes.
GREs form part of the evaluation process and also provide clarification in the context of your educational background. GREs are not required for application for studies beginning September 2021.
Students often ask if they can apply to our programs even though they do (will) not have an honours degree in psychology. The relevant question is not whether you can apply but whether you would be accepted. The current departmental policy is that students admitted to graduate programs in psychology are expected to have an honours degree in psychology, preferably with a thesis or major research project as part of that undergraduate degree. If you apply despite not meeting this criterion, at the very least you will be at a competitive disadvantage. Unlike the procedure described above wherein the supervisor selects the student and the graduate committee simply assesses whether or not the student is a good student, in this situation the graduate committee may require that the supervisor justify taking the student no matter how good the grades, letters of reference, and GREs may be. It may be that the committee can not be convinced. This is particularly likely if the supervisor had other applicants with a psychology background or if an alternative program (e.g., neuroscience) was available that does not require the psychology background and would accept the background that the student has.
International students are welcome at Queen's and enrich our program. However, the number of international students that we accept is limited. Tuition for non-Canadians (i.e., neither citizens nor landed immigrants) is more than double that for domestic students. The university provides our Department with a limited number of tuition awards for international students (reducing tuition to approximately the same amount paid by Canadian students). Most students accepted into our graduate programs are guaranteed a minimum level of support regardless of their origins or citizenship but this generally is not sufficient to live on if they have to pay the full international tuition without a tuition award. As a result, our intake of International students normally is limited and varies from year to year. Note that these students will always have the guaranteed minimum plus a tuition award.
International students may apply for Ontario Graduate Scholarships if they meet the minimum academic requirement; however, it is our experience that international students are very rarely successful in that competition.
If the first language is not English, students are required to submit scores on a test of English proficiency. Our department accepts the TOEFL or the IELTS as English Language tests. You may access the web addresses provided below for more details including minimum acceptable scores. Yes, having a score below the minimum stated value will at least impair your chances and could lead to rejection of your application. But also note:
The following can be found on the School of Graduate Studies website
"Any applicant who has recently studied for at least one complete year at a university where English is the official language of instruction may be exempt from the English Language Proficiency test. An applicant requesting a waiver of the test for this reason should do so in writing and submit it with the application. The Director, Admissions and Student Services of the School of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the department, will make determinations in these cases."
Comparability of courses and programs also can be an issue for international students. There is no set answer to whether the program you have taken is adequate other than you need an undergraduate honours degree in psychology. If the standards for obtaining such a degree differ where you are or come from, this certainly may influence the likelihood that a potential supervisor will be willing to work with you. On the other hand, if a faculty member wants to supervise you, such differences may only matter if you do not meet minimum university standards (check with the School of Graduate Studies).
The Queen's-Trent Agreement permits students to apply to and be accepted into graduate programs in Psychology at Queen's even though they will be co-supervised by and work primarily with a faculty member at Trent University. Students should approach the prospective supervisor at Trent to ensure that this connection is secure before applying. It is extremely unlikely that a student (to date, zero) would be admitted to the clinical program under the Queen's-Trent agreement due to the heavy course and practicum commitments of the clinical program in Kingston.
Psychology is a particularly diverse profession encompassing research, teaching and applied work. While the two former activities are relevant mainly, but by no means exclusively to universities, applied psychologists work in a wide variety of settings including: industry, management, the school systems, private practice, penitentiaries, and hospitals. Like members of all professions, the conduct of psychologists whether they are engaged in practice, teaching or research, is regulated by principles, standards and by statute.
To learn more about the Profession of Psychology visit:
Contact
If you have general questions regarding our program and the application procedures, contact:
Graduate Program Administrator
Department of Psychology, 62 Arch Street
Queen's University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
Canada
Tel: 613-533-6034
Email: psycgrad@queensu.ca
If you have specific questions regarding our program, your background, and your research interest, contact:
Potential supervisor you are interested in working with.
OR
Mark Sabbagh, Ph.D.
Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies
Department of Psychology, 62 Arch Street
Queen's University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
Canada
Tel: 613-533-2873
Email: sabbagh@queensu.ca