Frequently Asked Questions

The Canadian Psychological Association maintains a website offering a variety of resources for students interested in pursuing a career in psychology. Please visit the CPA website for additional information.

To become a Psychologist, more schooling will be needed after your Bachelor's degree. There are two kinds of Psychologist: Experimental/Applied Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists. Each province has different requirements for being a registered Psychologist. They all require some graduate school, but some require a Master’s degree and some require continuing on through a Doctoral degree. If you are planning on becoming a Psychologist, you should check with local regulation bodies where you want to work.

The provinces differ in their requirements and so do the graduate schools. Most require the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and some require a subject specific exam as well. If you are planning on continuing on to graduate school, advanced planning is critical. Investigate the websites of schools that interest you to find out what they expect of their applicants in terms of grades and experiences. In any case, you will definitely need to get an Honours degree in psychology.

There are many different careers that a degree in psychology will prepare you for and the versatility of this education is very useful. Whether your goal is to get an outstanding university education or to use your degree as a stepping stone to other opportunities, your education will lead to a competitive degree valued by employers in a variety of occupations. Career paths change and the work force is constantly evolving, but your degree is something you will always have.

Job Directions / Examples of Jobs people with Psychology degrees get

• Family Counsellor
• Public Relations
• Special Education Worker
• Real Estate Agent
• Human Resources
• Advertisement
• Business Manager
• Addictions Counsellor
• Sales Representative
• Case Management
• Career Counsellor
• Administration
• Marketing
• Insurance
• Personnel
• Trainer
• Coach

Some advanced programs such as Law, Medicine, and Business often require a Bachelor's degree, but many different degrees are acceptable. Choosing which one will best equip you for the program you are going into can be difficult, but a Psychology degree may be the best choice for you.

• Law school – understanding how people work and think can be very useful within the legal field. Focusing on forensic psychology might be a good way of getting even more out of your degree.
• Medical school – many people that doctors see have psychological concerns, and a better understanding of principles of psychology will help doctors support their patients. Health psychology courses may give you invaluable insight into your future patients.
• Business school – knowledge about how people think can be very useful in building and understanding businesses. Courses that give you an understanding of cognitive biases could be very useful in this field.

Psychology is interdisciplinary in its scope and psychology students have excellent opportunities to develop an enviable skill set that serves as competitive preparation for entering the job market. Employers are often looking for skill sets in their job applicants that can be thought of as transferable skills. Transferable skills are skills that are useful in a wide variety of contexts, and that you can transfer from one job or project to the next. These can be useful both in getting a job and developing a career.

A degree in Psychology will provide you with the opportunity to develop many transferable skills, which will be helpful when job hunting and career building. Some of these skills are below – feel free to use these for finding jobs and on your job applications after you receive your degree!

• Analyzing information – taking information in and finding its meaning
• Communication Skills – listening and speaking in effective ways
• Creative Thinking – thinking outside the box to find new solutions
• Critical Thinking – taking the information being provided, analyzing how trustworthy it is and what it really means
• Editing – refining ideas down to their essence
• Ethics – recognizing dilemmas and considering what is the right decision
• Goal setting – deciding what you want to achieve and how to do so
• Group work – learning to work in groups to achieve goals
• Identifying options – finding the different choices and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each
• Managing time – using time wisely to reach goals
• Presentation Skills – communicating ideas and information orally and using multimedia
• Research – how to find reliable, useful information, while answering complex questions with evidence-based methods
• Statistics – what the data is telling you, how to find it, and how to apply the results
• Writing Skills – expressing yourself clearly and effectively in the written word

Students may also have the opportunity to become involved in world-class research through "hands-on" experience. Either by participating in research studies or volunteering to work on a research team. Undergraduate students can gain valuable experience that will help prepare them for pursuing post-graduate studies and look good on a CV.

Other degrees can be combined with a Psychology degree, meaning that when you finish school you will have not one, but two degrees! This combination can prove extremely useful, versatile, and competitive in any career market. Just think of how easily it sets you apart! Here are just a few examples of potent combinations (other than pre-Law, pre-Med, or pre-MBA) that should be intuitive, but there are many more!

• B. Administration with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B. Education with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B. Social Work with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.A. or B.Sc. Economics with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.A. Journalism with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.A. Justice Studies with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.A. Police Studies with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.A. Politics and International Studies with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.Sc. Engineering with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B.Sc. Nursing with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology
• B. Sport & Recreation Studies with a B.A. or B.Sc. Psychology

Getting two degrees does not always require substantially more education, just some good advanced planning! Electives from one degree can be used to build the foundations of another degree. Instead of investing in 120 credit hours and completing one degree, you can invest 150 credit hours and complete two degrees.  By planning out your courses, you get even more out of your education with as little as 30 additional credit hours (i.e., 10 classes)! Those classes can be added during the compressed spring/summer semesters while still leaving time during the summer for other activities (e.g., work, vacation).

Students interested in psychology research who also wish to become trained in the assessment and treatment of psychological disorders should apply to the Clinical program. Students interested in psychology research who do not wish to train as clinicians should apply to the Experimental and Applied Psychology (EAP) graduate program. Please note that students in the EAP program receive no clinical training and will not be qualified to work as practicing psychologists upon completion of the program.

Our Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program is accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association. Programs receiving CPA accreditation must adhere to very strict requirements, and are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure these standards are met. Please visit the CPA website for details on accreditation standards. Our Clinical Psychology M.A. and Ph.D. degrees satisfy one of the requirements for becoming registered with the Saskatchewan College of Psychologists, and meet the educational requirement for registration with similar bodies throughout Canada and abroad.

Students in both the Clinical and EAP graduate programs must maintain continuous full-time registration in our programs. Students in the Clinical program are restricted from working more than 20 hours per week outside of their program (note: students receiving external funding may be subject to a lower maximum) and must be available to attend classes, meet with their supervisors, and complete practica during regular daytime work hours. There is no restriction on outside work hours in the EAP program; however, students should note that they will be required to be available to attend classes and meet with their thesis supervisors during regular daytime work hours. Psychology graduate courses are not typically taught in evenings, on weekends, or online.

The typical completion time is 2-3 years for the M.A. and an additional 3-4 years for the Ph.D.

Admission into our Ph.D. program requires completion of a Master's degree in psychology. We do not have an accelerated or "fast-track" option in either of our Ph.D. programs. However, if you have completed a Master's thesis or relevant coursework at another institution, you can - in consultation with your supervisor and the Graduate Program Coordinator - apply for advanced standing (credit) for the work you have completed, which will reduce the time needed to complete the M.A. degree.

Our department does not offer a counseling psychology program. A Master's of Education degree program that includes a counselling practicum is available through the University of Regina's Faculty of Education. For a listing of similar programs offered in Canadian universities, please visit the website of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.

Details about tuition and fees can be found here.

Funding is available through scholarships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships/stipends provided by individual supervisors. Most of our students are successful in securing funding from external sources, such as the funding tri-council. Students who are guaranteed funding will be notified of the details of this funding in their offer of admission.

No. To be considered for admission to our M.A. program in Clinical psychology, you must have completed (or be nearing completion of) an Honours degree in psychology that includes a faculty-supervised thesis.

If you completed a B.A. degree in psychology but your degree did not include an Honours thesis, it may be possible to complete this requirement through a post-diploma or certificate program at your university. If your B.A. in psychology was completed at the University of Regina, please contact Arts Student Services to inquire about the Honours certificate program. Please note that admission to the Clinical psychology M.A. program requires completion of an Honours degree in psychology.

Applicants who have completed degrees in psychology outside of Canada that include a thesis are welcome to apply for admission to our programs. Please note that all applicants to both our the M.A. and Ph.D. programs who completed their degrees outside of Canada must submit scores from the General GRE. NOTE: GRE requirement is suspended for ALL applicants this year. You may also be required to demonstrate English language proficiency; please see the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research international students portal eligibility to learn more about applying as an international student. For international minimum admission standards visit the Graduate Studies and Research site.

A Master's degree in Clinical Psychology, or in Experimental and Applied Psychology, completed at the University of Regina is normally required for admission to the Clinical and EAP Ph.D. programs, respectively. Those with Master's degrees in psychology from programs similar to ours at other universities will also be considered for admission. Please review the requirements of our Clinical and EAP M.A. programs.

If you hold a Master's degree in experimental psychology or another area of psychology but would like to now apply for admission to the Clinical program, you may be considered for admission into the Clinical Master's program only. You are not eligible for admission into the Clinical Ph.D program. Depending on the courses you have already completed and the nature of your Master's thesis, you may be able to receive advanced standing (credit) for some of the requirements of the Master’s program which will reduce the time needed for you to be eligible to apply for the Ph.D. program.

If you hold a Clinical psychology Master’s degree from a Canadian CPA accredited program you can apply directly to our Ph.D program. However all other students must apply to the Master’s program. This is true for international as well as domestic students.

If you hold a Master's degree in Clinical psychology or another area of psychology but are interested in joining the EAP program for your doctoral work, you may be considered for admission into the EAP Ph.D. program. Applications will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and admission will be considered with regard to the nature of your coursework and Master's thesis.

The GRE is no longer required in our application process.

Prior to the GRE being removed as a requirement, most students admitted into our Clinical M.A. program had combined GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, analytical) on average above the 68th percentile and a grade point average of about 85%; averages were somewhat lower for those accepted to the EAP program. It is unusual for students to be accepted into either program with GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, analytical, and psychology) below the 40^th percentile or with an academic average lower than 80%.

Grades, research experience, research fit, GRE scores, and letters of recommendation are weighted heavily in our admissions decisions; volunteer and work experience are given less weight. A strong application includes a statement that describes how you can contribute to the existing research programs of our faculty members. It is strongly recommended that you review the research interests of our faculty before writing your applicant's statement to ensure a good fit between your interests and ours. Although optional, including scores from the Psychology subject test of the GRE can be an asset to an application.

No, if you are accepted into one of our programs a supervisor will be chosen for you. However, it is highly recommended that you name potential supervisors in the applicant’s statement portion of your application whose research interests match your own. You may also wish to contact prospective supervisors to find out if they are interested in accepting new students in the year you wish to begin your graduate studies, or to discuss research interests.

Students currently enrolled in undergraduate studies who have not yet completed their degree at the time of application must have completed all requirements for their Bachelor’s degree before they will be allowed to register for the M.A. program. Normally, this means applying by January 15^th in the final year of your Honours program, for Fall admission.

Applications are due January 15^th of the year in which you wish to begin your studies. Intake for the Master's program is September 1^st of the year of application. Students accepted into the Ph.D. program can enroll in the semester immediately following acceptance (May 1^st, September 1^st, or January 1^st).

Information about reference letters can be found reference letters. Referees should download and complete the confidential recommendation form and save it as a single gray-scale PDF file, then e-mail the completed form to graddocs@uregina.ca. E-mailed documents will be considered official if they are sent from the referee's institutional e-mail address (e.g., John.Doe@uregina.ca), in which case nothing further is required. E-mailed documents sent from a personal, free e-mail account (e.g., Jane.Doe@gmail.com; John.Doe@hotmail.com, etc.) are not considered official, and a signed paper copy of the completed form with the referee's signature over the envelope’s seal must be sent to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research.

Review of applications will begin January 15^th with initial offers sent out the first week of February. If a document arrives after the deadline but before initial offers are sent out, our selection committees will endeavor to include it in their review of your application. Please note that because admission is competitive, applicants with applications that are incomplete at the time of review may be at a competitive disadvantage relative to those with complete applications. If missing documents are received after the initial round of offers has been made, your application will only be considered if space remains in the program.

Applications are processed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR), so all inquiries about application materials or the status of your application should be directed to FGSR. You can confirm that your application has been received and is acknowledged as complete by following the process outlined.