Prospective Graduate Students

Dr. Lo is accepting graduate students for Fall 2026 admission in Toronto Metropolitan University’s Psychological Science MA/PhD program. Please check out the grad school applications page for useful information, such as how to increase your chances for admission, the admission requirements, etc. Here is also a helpful/humorous guide for what not-to-do when applying for grad school. Dr. Lo is interested in working with students who have an interest in culture or diversity in psychology, especially about (but not limited to) the ongoing lines of research in the lab (see About section). It is important to know that this lab does not shy away from statistics, a variety of experimental methods (e.g., eye tracking), and programming (R and occasionally Python), but it is not necessary to be an expert in any of these things to apply (that’s what grad school is for!). 

Please note that I will pay close attention to applications that indicate an interest in working with me and therefore emailing me before applying is not necessary.  

Successful applicants will have these qualities:

1) Completion of an honours thesis project or year-long independent research project: It is important that applicants for a research-based MA program have experience completing at least one research project from start (e.g., completing and submitting for IRB approval) to end (e.g., producing a research manuscript). Ideally, one of your reference letters should come from your project supervisor (e.g., faculty member) who can speak to your independence and engagement in the research process.

2) Commitment to research experiences: For research assistantships, more than one year of experience is perceived as a commitment to deeply learning about the research process. It is only seen as a plus if you have taken gap years or an extra year during undergrad (e.g., 5th year) to obtain this research experience. 

3) Strong interest in culture and diversity: Students in this lab should expect to be trained as a cultural psychologist and/or a social psychologist who specializes in culture and diversity. Ideally, students will have read at least one of the seminal papers in cultural psychology (e.g., Markus & Kitayama, 1991) or have examples of favourite research papers from undergrad courses/thesis research to get a clear idea as to the area of research they are most interested in.

4) Independence and growth-mindset: Successful students will continue to teach themselves skills that are necessary to succeed in both the academy and industry. This means incorporating feedback in different areas and readily incorporating them as part of your skillset. This is especially true for statistical, writing, and presentation skills. Students are expected to pursue skill development independently of faculty supervision.

5) Healthy interest in stats and programming (don’t worry–it’ll be fun!)

Things that are not necessary but any one of these things would make your application stand out: 

Note about interest in mental health/clinical research:

I do not typically supervise students interested in TMU’s Clinical Psychology MA/PhD, nor do I typically conduct research about clinical psychology/mental health. If you are primarily interested in studying mental health-related topics, you are advised to consider other labs at TMU better suited for your interests.