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UofT Psychology: Roadmap to Success
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Research Specialist Program Insights
Why bother applying to the Research Specialist Program?
Research specialist alumni shared with us their advice on how to excel in the program. Here’s what they had to say:
- Pursue projects you are ⭐ genuinely interested in and try not to settle for something you don't really want to do.
- Build relationships with your cohort 👭**!** Taking the initiative to get to know each other outside of class really helped with having a better experience in the program.
- Don’t put too much on your plate, especially in fourth year when you complete your thesis. This allows you to invest more energy, passion, and time in developing your project and getting to know your lab members. Although it can be really hard as a student to juggle so many different commitments, reducing your work/course load may allow you to be more engaged in the research specialist classes.
- To really benefit from the classes and grow as a student scholar, come to class feeling prepared. 📖 Do the readings!
Students complete a thesis in PSY400 under the supervision of a faculty member. We asked research specialist alumni what this experience was like and any challenges they encountered.
- When challenges arise, collaborate with your supervisor and try to be creative with your solutions.
- Try to start early. Some students start formulating research questions over the summer.
- A major challenge was learning and using advanced statistical methods and coding. This definitely varies by project!
We would like to thank Elisabetta and other anonymous contributors (Research Specialists, 2T1) for providing the information above