A Tamil Student's Canadian Study Experience

I chose this university because of following factors: - Affordable tuition fee plus a funding package of 10,000CAD per year (so I literally paid a few thousand dollars from pocket as tuition). - I also got several scholarships, research assistants and GANT opportunities that helped me fund my stay. - Calgary is an affordable city compared to other big cities in Canada. - My program has a social justice focus and it is known for its community focus - My supervisor and my research interest fit well. Overall, it's a positive experience for me with great tutelage, resources, student support services, international community etc.

It is extensive, elaborative and it is stressful. It is according to the licensure requirements. There will be a lot of research experience that comes from conferences, RAship, paper publications etc.

We are a class of 12 students per cohort and we have about 8 faculty in the department. We usually also have sessionals to teach courses. The faculty are respectful, knowledgeable, student friendly, supportive and provide a lot of opportunities to help students meet their goals. Dr. Elisa Vandenborn has been an incredible professor who impacted my life positively.

There are a lot of campus events and activities. There is a huge library, fully equipped WIFI that works well in different parts of the campus, there is a gym, sports arena, multiple food courts, indoor walking facility during winters, bookstore, etc. There is also a SPA, a bar, a therapy center, religious center, neurodivergent space, women's center, and doctor's clinic.

Median salary is 80,000 CAD but our program does not support placements. Students seek out placements on their own but with the support and references of their professors.

I live in a privately rented apartment 3 train stops away from the university and it costs me 1022 CAD per month. I do not share with anyone. Average cost needed per month is 1500 per month if the student is sharing a space.

- For my program, the requirements are a combination of GPA, past research experiences, and the fit with supervisors research interests.The English test was the only requirement for my program. I took up the IELTS and the required score was 6.5. - University of Madras, BSc. Psychology - 80% Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research - MSc. Clinical Psychology - 85.5% - 10th grade, CBSE - 9.6 CGPA, 12th grade, CBSE (478/500), approximately, 96% - Requirements: Yes, SOP, LORs and CV were a requirement for my program along with some subjective questions that were asked in the application portal. The SOP should be a personal story which basically is a delicate balance of narrating past experiences and connecting that to what you want to do in the program. Since mine is a thesis based program, It was important to talk about research interests, past research work, research skills and how it shapes my research goals and what I wish to attain in the program. Connecting all of this to personal lived experiences is important. Since this is a social justice focused program, including points on social justice commitment and how you plan on advocating for social justice in a broad sense is important. For CV, it should follow American Psychological Association 7th edition formatting style, plus a standard academic CV including education, research experience,clinical experience, work and volunteer experience, skills, awards, references etc.I am not sure about LORs because my LORs were written by my professors and I believe it is important for one LOR to speak about your research skills and capacities, for another one to talk about clinical and work experience and for the last one to speak about personal qualities. - Interview Round: Yes, I had one round of interview with the supervisor I applied to work with. I would say that one way to ace interviews is to get your story right and communicate it authentically. Not trying to fake or overly prepare your responses. Speak from your experience, give examples, make it relatable and talk like how you would talk to a fellow peer or coworker. My interviewer at least did not show any power dynamic, so it is not for testing your knowledge. They conduct interviews rather to see your fit in their research lab and the program in general. Are you collaborative? Can you work in groups? Are you culturally sensitive? Do you have a fair idea of your goals in this program? Do you know yourself well enough to do well in this program etc. It is clearly not a knowledge test but it's rather a test of your qualities and career goals.

Tuition Fee: 20,000 CAD for 2 years including tuition and general fees.

International graduate tuition award - 3060 CAD/year (automatic) Graduate Assistantship Non-Teaching - 2216 CAD/ year (automatic) Travel award for conference - 500 CAD (applied for a conference I attended) Interdepartmental scholarship - 1000 CAD (no application, automatic) Graduate Award Competition - 7000 CAD (application with research proposal, CV, reference letters)