Meet Nardeen
Meet Nardeen
Meet Nardeen Yalda, a first-year PhD student in Clinical Psychology at York University in the Neuropsychology stream.
Nardeen’s path into clinical psychology was not always straightforward. She entered Western University in Health Sciences with plans of becoming a neurologist, having long been fascinated by the brain and human behaviour. It was not until taking introductory psychology that she discovered cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and what clinical psychology actually involved.
“I think taking intro psych really kind of changed everything for me. I discovered cognitive psychology, I discovered neuropsychology, what clinical psychology actually is.”
As she took more psychology courses, Nardeen noticed a pattern: these were the classes she genuinely looked forward to. Her interests increasingly became more focused on the intersection between the brain and behaviour; particularly memory, cognition, and what happens to these processes in the context of psychopathology.
By her second and third years, what began as a Psychology minor became a major and eventually a complete change in direction.
“The more I learned, the more I was like, this is the path for me.”
That curiosity brought Nardeen to York today, where she is combining her interests in cognition, mental health, and clinical work through specialized training in neuropsychology.
Finding the Intersection Between Cognition and Clinical Psychology
Nardeen’s research experiences played an important role in helping her narrow down exactly what she wanted to study.
Her first research experience was in a cognitive psychology lab, where she worked on experimental research examining perception and memory. She later became involved in a project investigating memory functioning in individuals with treatment-resistant depression.
That project helped something click.
From there, she pursued additional clinical research experiences, including work in a lab studying borderline personality disorder in adolescence. For her honours thesis, she worked with Dr. David Dozois on research involving schemas, depression, and interpersonal functioning.
Rather than one single experience determining her path, each opportunity helped Nardeen refine her interests. Across different labs and projects, she kept returning to the same questions surrounding cognition, emotion, psychopathology, and brain–behaviour relationships.
Eventually, clinical neuropsychology emerged as the natural intersection of those interests.
Her First Application Cycle
Nardeen applied to clinical psychology programs twice before being admitted.
Her first application cycle took place during a part-time fifth year at Western. Like many first-time applicants, she was simultaneously trying to put together a competitive application and figure out what applying to clinical psychology actually involved.
Mentors around her were optimistic. Based on her experience, she was repeatedly told that she would likely receive an interview.
She received none.
“I was assured by various mentors that I’d worked with… ‘You’re definitely gonna get an interview.’ And I got nothing.”
For an applicant who had invested years into preparing for clinical psychology, the outcome was understandably discouraging. But Nardeen also began looking at the competitiveness of admissions differently.
Clinical psychology programs can receive many highly qualified applicants for very few positions. Rejection, therefore, does not necessarily mean someone is incapable of succeeding in the field.
“Just because I didn’t get in this cycle doesn’t mean I’m not a great candidate for this program, because it’s so competitive and there’s probably a lot of great candidates.”
Rather than immediately abandoning her goal, Nardeen used the following year to strengthen her experience and, perhaps more importantly, become more certain about what she actually wanted to study.
The Year Off That Changed Her Application
Following her first application cycle, Nardeen completed her remaining coursework and began a summer research internship at Baycrest Hospital with Dr. Brian Levine, whose work in memory closely aligned with her own research interests. What began as a four-month internship eventually developed into a research assistant position, where she took on responsibilities similar to those of a lab manager.
This experience gave Nardeen the opportunity to become involved in multiple stages of the research process, including research ethics, participant recruitment, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. At the same time, she remained involved with her first research lab at Western and continued gaining experience through conferences and other aspects of academic research.
Rather than simply adding another research position to her CV, the year allowed Nardeen to gain deeper experience within an area she genuinely wanted to pursue.
“I think the level to which I was involved in research during my year off was pretty critical.”
The year also gave her something equally valuable: clarity. By the time she entered her second application cycle, Nardeen had narrowed her research interests and felt much more confident articulating what she wanted to study and why.
“I became very secure in my answer because I knew what I wanted, and I think that shone through in the interviews as well.”
The difference between her two application cycles was significant. After receiving no interviews during her first cycle, Nardeen received four or five interviews the second time around and ultimately received offers from both Toronto Metropolitan University and York University.
For Nardeen, taking a year away from school was not a setback. Instead, it gave her the time to build relevant experience, strengthen her research skills, and become more confident in the direction she wanted to pursue.
“You don’t need a specific timeline. Take your years off.”
Applying Strategically: Fit Over Quantity
When Nardeen first began researching graduate programs, she was intentionally broad. Many professors seemed to be doing interesting work, and her initial list of potential supervisors became quite long.
Eventually, she asked herself a more difficult question:
“Do I wanna research this for like six or seven years?”
That question dramatically narrowed her list.
Rather than applying everywhere to maximize her chances of admission, Nardeen focused on approximately five universities and a smaller group of supervisors whose work genuinely aligned with her interests.
For her, the goal was not simply to get into a clinical psychology program. It was to get into a program where she could remain engaged with the research for years.
“If you have specific interests, try to tailor it to that… I don’t want to commit to a program and research that I won’t genuinely enjoy.”
Organization also became essential. Nardeen began preparing during the summer before applications were due, around July and August, and created spreadsheets to track potential supervisors, programs, requirements, and funding opportunities.
Her recommendation? If possible, begin planning approximately six months before your deadlines;especially if you will also be balancing a full course load.
What Made the Difference in Her Interviews?
Nardeen’s interviews varied across programs, but most centred around a similar set of questions: Why clinical psychology? Why this research area? Why this program? What have you learned from your previous research experiences? And what do you hope to do next?
Her biggest piece of advice is simple:
“Let your passion shine through.”
This becomes much easier when you are interviewing with supervisors whose research you genuinely find exciting.
But Nardeen also shared a less obvious interview tip: come prepared with a potential research question.
Even if the idea is not fully developed, being able to say, “This is something I’ve been thinking about,” can demonstrate intellectual curiosity and show that you have seriously considered how your interests could fit within the lab.
Nardeen later learned that doing this had been one reason she received an offer from one of the universities where she interviewed.
Choosing York
Receiving multiple offers created a new challenge: deciding where to go.
For Nardeen, choosing between York and TMU was particularly difficult. She had a positive experience with
TMU and was impressed by the program after attending its interview day.
Ultimately, York offered two things that aligned particularly well with her goals.
First, the Neuropsychology stream provided structured specialized training in an area she already knew she was passionate about, alongside broader clinical psychology training.
Second, she valued the flexibility she saw with her current supervisor and the opportunity to be creative in shaping her research.
“I had room to kind of be creative and pick what I wanted to research a bit more.”
Rather than choosing based solely on the name of a university, her decision once again came back to fit.
Myth or Fact? Clinical Psychology Admissions
There Is Life Outside of Graduate School
Perhaps one of Nardeen’s most important pieces of advice had little to do with CVs, interviews, or research experience.
Clinical psychology applications can become all-consuming, particularly when you know how competitive the process is and how badly you want the outcome.
Her reminder to applicants is to continue living outside of the application process.
“Take a break and try to live life. There’s a life outside of grad school. You can’t wait to start living your life until you’re in or until you’re done.”
For applicants who have already faced one or more unsuccessful cycles, deciding whether to apply again is deeply personal. Nardeen does not believe there is one correct number of attempts. If clinical psychology still feels like the right path, she encourages applicants to continue building experience and meaningful connections. At the same time, she emphasizes that there are many other fulfilling fields within psychology worth exploring if your goals change.
Looking Ahead
Now at York, Nardeen continues to explore the intersection between cognition and clinical psychology. Her research interests remain centred around higher-order cognitive functions such as memory and decision-making, while her coursework has introduced her to areas including cognitive neurorehabilitation and applied research.
Her clinical interests are evolving too.
“I generally just love working with people, so I’m biased to say I love it all.”
At the moment, she is particularly drawn to assessment and diagnosis, and she can envision herself working as a hospital psychologist. At the same time, she remains open to how graduate training may change her goals.
Where she once imagined becoming primarily a researcher who practiced clinically on the side, she can now envision a career split more evenly between research and clinical work.
That flexibility is part of what she values about psychology: a career can evolve across hospital work, research, academia, assessment, intervention, or private practice as your interests develop.
Final Advice for Future Applicants
When it comes to putting together an application, Nardeen emphasizes the importance of choosing referees who genuinely know you and your work, particularly within research settings. To help her referees write strong letters, she provided them with a summary of her contributions to their labs, along with her CV and transcript.
The same principle applies to personal statements: rather than trying to include every experience on your CV, focus on the experiences that best demonstrate who you are as a student, researcher, and future clinician. As
Nardeen reminds applicants:
“Yes, it’s a clinical psychology program, but it’s a research-based program.”
A strong application should therefore communicate not only your interest in clinical work, but also your passion for research and how your previous experiences have shaped the questions you want to pursue.
Nardeen’s own journey is a reminder that an unsuccessful application cycle does not determine what will happen in the next one. Between her first and second cycles, she did not simply try to make her CV longer. She deepened her involvement in research she genuinely cared about, developed stronger relationships with mentors, gained experience across more stages of the research process, and became clearer about what she wanted to study.
The result was a shift from zero interviews in her first cycle to multiple interviews and two offers in her second.
Perhaps the biggest lesson from Nardeen’s journey is that there is no need to rush toward a particular timeline or build an application around what you think everyone else’s CV looks like. Instead, pursue research questions that genuinely interest you, seek meaningful experiences, and build relationships with mentors who know your work.
And if the first application cycle does not work out, give yourself permission to learn, regroup, and try again. Sometimes, taking more time can be exactly what helps you figure out where you want to go.
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