beth23

Right?! For some reason everyone I talk to about Windsor have something negative to say (even my brother who attended the university and my friend who is currently completing their Master's there). Perhaps it's a Western Ontario bias against the city as sad as it is. It always bothers me when I hear it being referred to as the "armpit" of Ontario/Canada. Great school by any standards!

Trying to stay upbeat and positive... I'm feeling SUPER pumped for Windsor today! Looking through their website both social work and the school in general, twitter feeds, and this forum! I know that A LOT of people think Windsor is "gross" and cringe when thinking about the city (at least when I bring it up) but I'm feeling super drawn to it! Hoping for the best...

No I haven't...this whole thing is worrisome

Has anyone been rejected from Laurier?? Sorry to put a damper on all the positivity

I want to say that perhaps they applied to the 1-year program?? At least for my sanity?!

Can we expect to hear back regarding the 2 year program later than "early April" as many are still waiting to hear back from the 1 year program?

HUGE Congratulations, MSW13! You definitely deserve this acceptance! All your hard work has paid off, don't leave too soon though, may need some of your advice and inspiration in the future!

I also applied to the health stream....originally I put child welfare but my academic reference advised me not to do this because ideally I want to work with individuals with disabilities. I think my dream position would be in the education field somewhere as a consultant in special education and behavioural problems. My professional profile form was five pages long BUT I included most of those "one day" placements in my list and my other professional activities included positions I've held or workshops I'd completed. I'm not sure about my GPA, as they are only calculating the last 20 courses I would have a low 80. So not amazing but at least higher than the "cut-off". I really don't think I have a great chance because for some reason I feel my age plays into it (I'm only 21) and that even though I have a lot of experience and have been so involved during my undergrad, I'm worried that I won't have appropriate relevant experiences. But who knows!

I would LOVE to get into Windsor...it's been my first choice school since I started looking into Windsor. AccioMSW, I feel like we have the same goals! Applied to the same schools, have the same preference! What "stream" did you apply to? How long was your professional experience form? I would like to stop freaking out now but I have a feeling that that's impossible these days.

Found it, never mind!

Does SIS show any admission information? I just logged on and can't really see anything...

Awesome! Do you know if they will be updating the decisions online as well in the process? (on MyUWindsor)

I've only applied to two schools and I'm pretty positive I won't get into either. At least one of the schools has way more applications this year than previous years making my chances even slimmer than usual. So I've been trying to tell family, friends and myself that I won't be getting in anywhere and that I will start looking for jobs. The frustrating part is having everyone tell me that I will get in and not to worry about - they don't even know! The other situation is that I already have a great job for the summer that I love so will be looking for positions that start in September, but obviously not too many people are posting those jobs right now. Which makes me feel so unorganized with not knowing what my potential future holds...AHH!

Totally agree with this petition! I did some work over my reading week with sexual health and HIV and we discussed this policy change quite a bit - so ridiculous!

Another rant.... So when I first started gathering my thoughts about what I wanted to do after my undergrad degree I first landed on law school. I wanted to get involved and work in disability/family/education law and policy. Then I found some awesome MSW/JD combined programs which I thought were perfect! Then I quickly realized, after talking to many mentors and supervisors (some of which are social workers and some lawyers) said that it would be taking A LOT on at the same time. I also realized that my end goal of working in policy in those fields can easily be done with a wonderful MSW degree AND getting a well rounded education at the same time (counselling individuals and groups AND policy, the best!). But now I am realizing and seeing that the MSW programs seem to be WAY more competitive than the law programs and feel kind of like kicking myself. I know that I way prefer the MSW to the JD since those three years would be torture taking random classes I am not interested in just so I could work in a certain niche field. But this is my frustration at the moment, just how competitive the MSW is and how NOBODY who doesn't know the social work field knows just how intense this application cycle is. End rant. Have a wonderful, stress-free day!

Ditto! Except for the living expenses, I will have to move either way but I am leaning more towards Windsor. How do you know that Windsor and Laurier are ahead in their processes?

Well that acceptance must be nice to have! Must mean you have some stellar qualifications! I'm sure that bods well for the MSW

I'm applying to the Windsor 2 year program as well. I have a B+ average overall but a A- to A the courses they use to calculate GPA. I've only taken one stats and one research methods class but I'm not sure if that has any more bearing on an application. I have worked in camp settings, as a resource counsellor for children with disabilities for 3 years and a director of the camp for 2. I have intermittent volunteer experiences all over the place (enabling gardens, women's shelters, judicary systems, sex health education) although most of these have been quite short. I am also currently writing my honours thesis on special education in Ontario - mainly on special educational supports for Autism. I really want to get into Windsor as well but I am FREAKING out! Applications to social work seem to be so subjective in terms of the experiences aspect (some looking at number of hours, relevant work). I have no idea of the chances at any school but I'm sure you're in the running! What area of interest did you pick?

Has anyone applying to Laurier tried to log in to LORIS? https://telaris.wlu.ca/ssb_prod/bwskalog.P_DispLoginNon

Thanks, guys! Definitely needing a confidence booster right about now and there it is! Good luck to everyone!

I was "referred to department" very early on in the process. Others are now just receiving this notification. Good omen?!

Wow!

Update from moi: I hate to admit it....but that's the beauty of this forum. I can tell you everything about my application process without feeling completely guilty and embarrassed! I didn't end up applying to Carleton for the post-degree BSW.... I'm half bummed out/half thinking it's a sign. I didn't have Internet connection on the application deadline and didn't go out of my way or freaked out enough to find a place to get it done. Clearly I wasn't whole-heartedly invested in the decision as I was for the MSW apps. So here's to those applications and hoping they make it through. I'm now looking at full time jobs in applicable fields since I'm banking on not getting in. (I like to keep my hopes high and my expectations low). Any advice on fields/areas to apply would be great!

I feel the same way!! I'm applying to Carleton's BSW program as my back up which is only 2 years and then I can get my MSW in one year so it's really only an extra year in the long run. I just feel bad for asking my references for ANOTHER letter...especially as my academic reference cut it so close to the deadline I'm not exactly sure what route to go with this application (see panicked post above). Either way you could consider these types of programs which most require payment deadline tomorrow (Feb. 1st) and the application due March 1st.

Do you think it really matters what "kind" of academic reference I use for Carleton's BSW program? For my MSW application, I worked hard to get one of my sessional instructors for a professional ethics class to write a reference letter who has a MSW and is a registered social worker. However, she is not teaching at my university this semester and it would be a lot of work to get another reference from her. Do you think it's a big deal if I ask one of my thesis advisors to write one...who isn't at all connected to the social work field and doesn't know me THAT well? I took one course last semester that I guest lectured in regarding family and development. That prof is a psychology prof and may write me a letter...maybe I just answered my own question...