Perseverance, Courage, and Determination: How Lindsey Turned No Interviews Into 11

Inside Clinical: Lindsey Snaychuk

Inside Clinical: Episode 7

Competitive applications, high expectations, and the drive to succeed, getting into a clinical psychology program today is anything but easy. That’s why the Inside Clinical blog series highlights real stories from students who kept moving forward and ultimately succeeded. Here, we will reveal not just their achievements, but the twists, turns, and challenges along the way. 

In this episode, we meet Lindsey Snaychuk, a Clinical Psychology PhD student at Toronto Metropolitan University. Originally from British Columbia, Lindsey’s journey is anything but ordinary. Four cycles later, Lindsey shares with us her experience being a first-generation student, what she wished she knew, her advice to others, and more! 

Meet Lindsey: 

Lindsey Snaychuk grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and completed her Bachelors of Psychology at Vancouver Island University. Growing up, Lindsey shared that she was always interested in people, and always had to know why things were the way they were. It wasn’t until taking a psychology elective in high-school where she knew her path was in psychology. From there, Lindsey’s undergrad thesis is what solidified her dreams of going to grad school.

“Nothing is cooler to me than being able to formulate your own question, and answer your question essentially. Yeah, and basically the rest is history. I've just been in it since then.”

Being a First-Generation Student

“You don’t know, what you don’t know.” 

When it was time to apply for graduate school, Lindsey didn’t have anyone to read her personal statements, review her applications, or guide her on the in’s and out’s of applying to these competitive programs. Even trying to gain assistance from her undergraduate school was a challenge, as it was a teaching institution that did not have any psychology graduate students. For each cycle application, she ultimately had to navigate the world of academia alone, which she described as an overall isolating experience. 

“It was a really isolating experience, applying over and over again. And not having anyone else I knew applying, and no one in my life knew anything about what this process entailed.” 

The Rejection Years

“So the first cycle I mentioned, I was like a little bit naive, I thought yeah, I've got the minimum requirements. This should be fine. Not realizing how competitive it was.”

When describing the first application cycle, Lindsey shared that she only applied within BC. The thought of moving away from friends and family frightened her, which is often a common experience for many students. She received no interviews, and no one reached out to her about her applications. Finally, she received three rejections “right out the gate”. In fact, she did not receive a single email back for her first three cycles. She even kept her first ever rejection letter, hoping that one day she could look back at it and see how far she came. 

Lindsey’s fourth cycle applying to grad school is where everything changed. Applying to around 20 grad schools this time around and receiving 11 interviews, Lindsey finally felt like she knew what she was doing. But what changed this time? During the timeline of each cycle application, Lindsey was also building her CV and keeping busy. 

“I felt like I was just like too far into it that I had to keep going” 

By the time she got in, she had just received her first author publication. She mentioned that she also had around 25 conference presentations at that point, as well as some clinical experience which she thought was helpful in this process. Lindsey also had about five years of research experience across several roles working in hospitals and different universities. Finally, she mentions that she completed a graduate certificate from the University of Alberta in sexual health, which further confirmed the route she wanted to take in grad school.  

Turning Imposter Syndrome Into Growth 

“Being a first-gen student, having so many failed application cycles, I spent my first year or two wondering, did I luck into this? Did I get here by accident?” 

When we asked Lindsey about a transformative moment in her graduate school journey, she described what it felt like to receive a doctoral level scholarship (CGSD). She described this as a “very big deal” for her because for the first few years of graduate school, she struggled with imposter syndrome. Receiving a scholarship at this level made her start to rethink her discouraging thoughts. 

“When I got CGSD my first year, that was really the moment that I felt like, oh my goodness, like maybe my hard work actually paid off and maybe I belong here and maybe I need to have a little more confidence in myself.”

Where is Lindsey at Now?

Right now, Lindsey is in the clinical psychology stream at TMU, studying in the addictions and mental health lab under Dr. Andrew Kim where they primarily study behavioural addictions. She describes her area of expertise as compulsive sexual behaviour, otherwise commonly referred to as sex addiction. Lindsey is also a TA and has taught courses in drugs and behaviour, as well as clinical psychology. 

Final Advice and Encouragement to Other Students: 

“Seek mentorship, absolutely. Because that was really what helped me” 

One major piece of advice for students who are currently applying, or have gotten feedback that they haven’t been accepted is to seek mentorship and find out what other people have done. She explains that seeking mentorship doesn’t necessarily have to be from one person either, and that she had found luck digging through Reddit threads online, under the clinical psychology subreddit. Lindsey also recommends looking for mentorship programs online, and getting involved in any way you can to learn what you’re interested in. 

“I can't recommend enough for people to just, you know, seize the opportunities that you have in front of you, because oftentimes we don't know what we like until we get involved. I would've never known that I would've enjoyed it as much as I did, and it is like it was my passion and it actually like solidified that, like I’m in the right place”

Lindsey’s journey teaches each of us that hard-work, perseverance, and resilience is not always easy, but will pay off in the end. Our accomplishments in life do not happen overnight, but if we can learn and grow from our experiences, we have a better chance at succeeding. 

A Day in Lindsey's Life!