Admissions

The Department of Psychology admits graduate students once a year in the Fall term (September) and usually receives over 225 applications, typically accepting 15-20 students each year. The Department considers all information provided by the student, including their personal statement and relevant research experience, in the admission process. Candidates may also be interviewed in person, by telephone, or via videoconference prior to final selection. The Department reserves the right to admit only those students for whom research space and an appropriate faculty supervisor is available (see here for faculty members currently recruiting graduate students).  

Students admitted to our graduate programs must have a Psychology Honours degree (preferably) or a Psychology Major with a strong research experience in psychology, and a strong background in psychology methodology and statistics. Experience in a research lab is highly recommended. Incoming students must have a solid understanding  in methods and statistics used in Psychology, as they will take advanced courses in both in their first year. They also need a foundation in theory and a solid understanding of the literature associated with their research.

The minimum University requirements is an undergraduate CGPA of 3.0 for consideration for admission to any graduate program at SFU. Applicants with a CGPA under 3.5 are unlikely to be accepted to graduate programs in Psychology. While applicants generally have CGPA of 3.5 minimum, the average accepted applicant to our clinical program is about 3.9 (based on a 4.33 scale). Our programs are competitive - the Clinical Psychology Program admission statistics can be found here.

Please note that as we are a research-based program, your work experience will not prepare you for the rigours of our graduate programs. If you do not have a Psychology degree, we suggest that you consider pursuing a bachelor's degree in Psychology. That will not guarantee your admission to the program, but it will provide you with the foundation needed to make an application.

We sometimes accept students into our PhD program who have completed a comparable MA elsewhere (e.g., an MA that included a thesis in Psychology that was defended). However, most often students enter our MA program as there are coursework requirements specific to SFU Psychology. Applicants who have completed equivalent graduate coursework may request the Department for equivalent course credit after receiving and accepting an admission offer.

Students accepted into the Clinical Psychology program must complete a Criminal Record Check prior to program entry.

Students can view tuition and fees here. Students from our graduate programs are considered full-time and pay a per term fee.

If you have admission inquiries, please contact the Psychology Graduate Program Assistant at psycgrad@sfu.ca. 

1) Applications with a CGPA under 3.0 will not be reviewed or considered.  

2) Applicants whose transcripts are not on a 4.0 or 4.33 MUST complete the CGPA converter (more details under Transcripts), as well as self-report their Cumulative Average on a 4.0 or 4.33 grading scale. Applicants who do not will not be reviewed. If you are unable to use the CGPA converters due to no letter grades or percentage grades, please review the recommendations as noted under Transcripts.

3) Applicants with a CGPA of 3.0 - 3.49 will have the opportunity to provide a compelling argument explaining any relevant special circumstances that have impacted their CGPA. A statement may be included by uploading a document under Optional Documents in the graduate application.

If applicants with a CGPA of 3.0 - 3.49 do not provide a compelling argument, these applications will not be evaluated. 

Please note that none of the clinical neuropsychology faculty members are accepting students for the Fall 2023 intake.

Applicants must pay a non-refundable application fee (domestic transcripts $90.00 CDN and international transcripts $125.00 CDN) before they can upload the required supporting documents. You will not be able to upload your supporting documents until your payment has been received and processed. Please allow 1-2 business days for payment to process. You can review here on how to pay for the application fee.

Please keep in mind that the application deadline is the last day for applicants to apply and upload all supporting documentation (including letters of reference). We recommend that you apply at least a week prior to the application deadline.  

For more information about the application process, please review here.