<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “Funnily enough, I never intended on choosing a social psychology PhD program. For years, I was set on completing a clinical psychology PhD. My research experience in undergrad was entirely clinical-focused and even though the department didn’t offer many clinical/abnormal psychology courses at the time, I took every one that was available. It wasn’t until my gap year that I realized I didn’t actually enjoy clinical research and coursework as much as I thought I did. Instead, I realized that what actually got me the most excited about research was social psychology. I found the topics fascinating and I knew it was a good fit for me when I was able to organically think about research questions and potential studies on my own. This didn’t come as naturally to me with clinical psychology. I’m glad I took the leap of faith to submit one social psychology application and that it worked out. I have never regretted that choice!” — Jordana Schiralli, psychology specialist, graduated in 2016, and Ph.D. in social psychology, graduated in 2023, now a senior research analyst
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<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “I was interested in psychology research and shared a similar research goal with my thesis supervisor, so I chose to apply for the Psychology PhD program at UofT.”
— Anonymous, psychology research specialist, graduated in 2023, now a first-year Ph.D. student at UofT
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<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “I had applied to five different graduate schools in total, all in Canada. I was primarily debating between UBC and UofT just because of the strength of their programs and the faculty and their research output. But ultimately, I decided on U of T primarily to work with Geoff. I liked his research and I felt like we’d got along” — Elaine Hoan, second-year Ph.D. student at UofT
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<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “I enjoyed my supervisory relationship with my thesis supervisor - we have matching interests and compatible preferences for communication and hands-onness. Out of my options, it was the best and most certainly a good match. Frankly, I also did not want to move again.” — Mishel Alexandrovsky, psychology research specialist, graduated in 2023, now a 1st-year Ph.D. student at UofT
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<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “The most important part of choosing the right Ph.D. program is whether your research interest closely aligns with your prospective supervisor’s research. After doing more developmental psychology research, my research interests have become more apparent—by the time I apply, I know a few specific lines of research that I am passionate about. So it wasn’t that hard for me to choose the right Ph.D. program because I just specifically searched for the faculty members whose work is a good fit for me.” — Tim Chao, psychology research specialist, graduated in 2022, now a first-year Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
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<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “To be honest, the vanity of calling yourself a PhD student and the chance to do research in a field I'm passionate about. Only time will tell if that was the right decision!”
— Valeria Khudiakova, psychology research specialist, graduated in 2023, now a first-year Ph.D. Student at the University of Birmingham, UK
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<aside> <img src="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" alt="/icons/dialogue_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “It was with excellent professors on the topic I was most interested in! On a more practical note, I read a lot about the actual chances of getting a professorship before I applied. This is a good read: https://communities.springernature.com/posts/the-path-to-professorship-by-the-numbers-and-why-mentorship-matters.
There are also other papers on stats relating to professorship by institution which show something like 8 institutions produce 20% of PhDs. I think anyone who is remotely interested in pursuing a career in research should give these papers a read. But also not to read too deeply into the stats.”
— Norman Zeng, psychology research specialist, graduated in 2023, now a first-year Ph.D. student at UofT
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🔗 To Main Page: UofT Psychology: Roadmap to Success
🔗 To Section Page: Should I pursue graduate studies?
🎯Moving on: Any advice for undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing graduate studies?