Karlie_2

Hey everyone, I received my acceptance package from Ryerson today. I hope some others from the wait list have heard or will be hearing back as well

Thanks! I have a BA from Western (Major in Childhood and Social Institutions, Minor in Thanatology) and a BSW from Lakehead. My average has been 80% my last two years of study. I have worked at a hospital for mental health since 2008 (3 years as a summer student, 6 months for a BSW placement, and since June 2012 as a social worker with their Transitional Aged Youth service). I also volunteer weekly at a local homelessness initiative.

I got a call from U of T today that a spot has come available, and I was offered admission (1 year MSW). I am so excited!!! I am proof that there is movement on the wait-list, good luck to everyone else!!!

Hi Jax14, I'm still waiting to hear back from Ryerson as well, I can't believe that they haven't notified everyone yet.

Haha, you're not badgering me! To add to my last post, I talked to one of my Lakehead classmates today, and she thinks that Lakehead Thunder Bay actually admits less students than Orillia, she applied to both, but was only accepted in Orillia (even though she did her undergrad at the Thunder Bay campus). She thought that it was due to fewer placement opportunities. In terms of placement location, most of the people in my class had them in their home communities. I had some classmates from the East coast who were able to get placements there, someone else had a placement in Nunavut. But yes, there were several students who had placements in Toronto and the GTA. I went ahead and asked a social worker I knew if she would supervise me, prior to starting the course, then just passed her information onto the field placement co-ordinator, which worked well for me. For some students, the co-ordinator had a hard time finding someone who was interested in supervising a student, in the location/organization/field they identified as an interest to them.

Hi, Sounds like you definitely meet the requirements to hear some good news back from Lakehead And I'm sorry but unfortunately I'm not sure how many students they accept at the Thunder Bay campus. I would guess that their numbers may be slightly higher than Orillia as it is a much larger campus.

Hi! Overall I did like the program. I liked the condensed format (although the September-December semester was A LOT of work), and I really liked that the placement was 6 months - gave me lots of time to get a feel for the job and explore the organization. I can only speak for the Orillia campus, but I felt that the facilities were lacking. The main campus is beautiful, but the social work program is run out of a small community hall in the downtown area. It just didn't have the things I was used to having when I attended a larger school (recreation centre, ample study space, dining area, etc). I was just disappointed with the facility considering the money I paid to attend (I believe it was almost $10,000). All that being said, I would recommend the program. It isn't the best student experience out there, but I felt prepared to enter the field after completing it, and myself and almost all of my classmates were able to get jobs fairly quickly. In terms of my experience I didn't have much. I had worked as a receptionist at a mental health facility for 3 summers during my undergrad and volunteered at an eating disorder resource centre for a year. Overall, my grades probably averaged in the low 70s but in my last year my average was 80. Good luck!

Hi, I attended the Lakehead HBSW 1 year program in Orillia (completed June 2012). There were about 60 people in my class, I'm assuming they would still admit a similar number, as physical space is limited and it is a small staff. I think it is an easier program to get into, some of my classmates had no experience in the helping field prior to applying. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions about the program.

Congrats to everyone who has been receiving good news! I'm still waiting to hear something from Ryerson, I'm wondering if maybe I didn't get in, starting to plan on attending Western.

Hey scotto123, Sorry to hear about being put on Carleton's wait list. I'm sure it's really disappointing, but I think it was extremely competitive, and you obviously have a lot of the skills and experience they are looking for. I just checked and the website stated that I wasn't eligible. I know that I didn't reach the minimum hours, but I was hoping there would be others who were in the same boat. Hopefully we'll hear different results from remaining schools. I think if you made Carleton's waitlist you have a really good chance of getting accepted to the other programs. From the research I've done, it seems that Carleton was one of the tougher schools to get in to. Good luck!

Hi! No, I haven't heard anything yet. Hoping they'll let us know by the end of next week.

Thank you!!!

Thank you!!! And no it isn't, leaning more towards Toronto or Ryerson, but I did my undergrad at Western and I like the city and the school very much, just looking for something new, I've always wanted to spend some time living in Toronto.

Hi everyone, Just looked on Western's student centre and I have been accepted into the program! Very excited. Only catch is that I have been accepted to part-time studies, and would much rather full-time. Hoping it was a mistake, but excited either way.

Hi, I've only heard from Carleton who said that they are beginning to review applications and are aiming to have the decisions out by Mid-February. It will be nice to have at least one response in the near future.