Frequently Asked Questions - MA-PhD programs

The letter of intent (sent with the program application) should describe the scholarly interests that motivate you to apply for a graduate program and the type of research you would be interested in for a dissertation. Your letter should show how your previous academic studies have given you the background you need to succeed in the program to which you are applying. Your letter should also include an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statement. 

Our program is only offered full-time. There is no part-time option.

Unfortunately we do not have career counsellors to answer these types of questions. You could start contacting potential supervisors with the same interests as you or the Program Directors, and they may be able to guide you.

We would be happy to talk to you about our programs. We do not officially take appointments. We are open Mondays to Fridays from 8:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. from June to August). We can discuss the content of our programs and their requirements. Please note that we do not pre-evaluate applications. You must submit an application in order to have your file evaluated.

Successful completion of the Baccalaureate in Psychology including an honours thesis, or its equivalent (determined only during admission), with a GPA of 8.0 (A- or 80% over the last 20 courses or 60 credits) is a pre-requisite for admission to both our MA-PhD graduate programs. For the program in Clinical Psychology, a minimum of 20 undergraduate psychology courses is required for an undergraduate honours degree to be considered equivalent to an undergraduate honours degree in psychology. Students who have completed a Masters' degree in Psychology may be given advanced standing.

Exceptionally, admission to the Experimental Psychology program is possible on the basis of a four-year Honours degree in another discipline relevant to Psychology, with a letter of support from the prospective supervisor. The degree must include a thesis or an equivalent independent research project (with supervisor worth 6 credits) and at least 36 credits (12 one-session courses) in Psychology, including two single-semester courses in statistics. N.B.: Students with a strong background in mathematics, physical sciences, biological science or computer science are especially encouraged to apply to the Experimental program.

The University of Ottawa does not require the GRE for admission to graduate programs in Psychology. Your results will not be considered if submitted with your application.

The admission application must be received no later than November 15th, and the file must be complete with all required documents at the latest December 7th. Please note that the School of Psychology adopted these new admission deadlines for the September 2025 cycle and beyond.

Graduates of the MA-PhD graduate programs receive Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Only candidates with the intention of completing the doctorate are admitted to the MA-PhD programs.

The School of Psychology offers two Master's programs in Psychology: Master's in Psychology with Major Research Paper and Master's in Psychology Course-based with Coop.

All reference letters are submitted online. Information about how to submit your referees will be provided in the acknowledgment email from the university. You will receive this email within 10 business days of the submission of the online application.

The reference letters are completed within a secure portal where your personal information will remain protected and accessible only by authorized personnel, ensuring the confidentiality of your recommendation letters. If you have any questions, you can contact the Graduate Studies office directly at: FSS 3021, 613-562-5732, or [email protected].

Typically, the GPA is calculated using the last two years of full-time study (equivalent to 20 courses or 60 credits) no matter the level of studies. GPAs are not rounded. That being said, there are exceptions. For example, a Bachelor of Education is never considered when calculating the GPA.

For the Clinical Psychology program, you can ask the same two referees to fill out both the academic reference and the clinical reference forms. You do not need four separate referees.

There is no official rule concerning academic references. An academic reference is preferred but it is at your discretion. You should choose someone who can best attest to your abilities in a clinical setting. It is strongly recommended that you include a letter from your thesis supervisor.

Once applications are received, the following steps are followed: first, we ensure that the applicant meets the basic qualifications of the program (minimum GPA of 8.0, Honours degree in Psychology with thesis for those programs where this is a requirement). The next steps vary depending on the program. For programs with a research supervisor, professors are invited to review the files and submit their choices to the Admissions Committee. For admission to the clinical program, the applications of these selected students are then placed in either the BIPOC or General pool, and then ranked. The applicants and rankings are then reviewed by the Admissions Committee. More information about the ranking process.

It is strongly recommended that you begin contacting potential supervisors as soon as you can. The list of professors accepting students is available in mid-September. Professors play a significant role in the admissions process.

From our professors with supervisory rights, there are clinical and experimental professors but the majority will supervise students from either program. The list of professor accepting students in the upcoming year is posted on our website. This is the list you should consult when selecting your potential supervisors for your program application.

On average, it takes 7 years to complete the Clinical program and 6 years for the Experimental program. You can find detailed statistics on our website.

Clinical Program

Experimental Program

Both of our programs calculate your GPA using your last two years of full-time studies or your last 60 credits. The minimum GPA required is 8.0 (A- or 80%). The Clinical program is very competitive. In 2021- 2022, the average GPA of students entering the program was 9.1 (A+ or 90%-100%). The Experimental program encourages students with backgrounds related to psychology to apply. In 2021-2022, the average GPA of students entering program was 9.1 (A+ or 90-100%).

The University of Ottawa is committed to offer training in both of Canada’s official languages, English and French. All students in our graduate programs must meet the second language requirement (English or French) in order to obtain their doctoral degree. Students who, at the time of admission, can provide proof of their competence in both languages (e.g., prior education in both languages, certificate of linguistic competency) are deemed to meet the language requirement. For other students, the requirements can be met in one of four ways: (a) passing a test administered by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI), 
(b) successfully completing a graduate course in which all course requirements are met in the second language, 
(c) writing the dissertation in the second language, or 
(d) successfully completing a course designated by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) (ELS 2111 or FLS 2511). The grade received for this course will appear as a ‘P’ (Pass) or ‘F’ (Fail) on the official transcript.  In this case, as this is an undergraduate course, a Pass is considered to be a 50% or higher.

For more information about the Language Requirements for Graduate Programs with the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute, please visit the following link.

You should note that these requirements are different from the Ph.D. Degree with recognition of Professional Bilingual Competence.

Students in the Clinical program must take 100% of their compulsory courses in the language to which they have been admitted. Supplementary clinical courses can be taken in either French or English. Although students in the Experimental program should take the majority of their courses as per their language of instruction when admitted, there is no policy on this, and students can take a course of interest offered in the other language if desired.

So long as you meet our admission requirements, you will be considered for admission. Anything you choose to do above these criteria would be for the benefit of potential supervisors because a professor must choose to accept you as a student before you can be ranked by the admissions committee. We recommend that you contact potential supervisors to discuss their research interests.

An individual research project with supervision worth the weight of 2 courses (i.e., two terms) could be considered equivalent to an honours thesis. When applying, you should have your research project supervisor prepare a brief statement in support of having your project considered equivalent to an honours thesis in psychology. This project must be approved by the program director as being equivalent to an honours thesis.We do not do any pre-evaluations. We will only evaluate the possibility of your research project being equivalent to the honours thesis after your application has been received. 

As a general rule, offers of admission are sent out in March and early April. Letters of regret indicating that an offer of admission will not be made to an applicant are also sent in April-May. However, admission to the Experimental program may be possible after this period if an opening is available. Applicants who do not meet the minimum required GPA will be advised as soon as their GPA has been calculated by the Graduate Studies office of the Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS).

E.g.: How many students apply? How many students are accepted? How much financing do students receive? What is the average GPA of students entering program?

Statistics about our Clinical Program.

Statistics about our Experimental Program.

Although the program is a combined MA/PhD, some students with a master’s degree can be admitted directly to the PhD. These students may receive some equivalencies for courses taken during their master’s program. The possibility of direct entry and transfer credits will only be reviewed once admitted.