nugget

DreamingMSW and Jaylynn, I'm confident you will either get in either this year or next year since you were put on the waiting list and came so close this year. But I'm rooting for the both of you that you'll get your chance this year.

I haven't hear of anyone here yet. But I'm sure there has been some movement. With 90 spots, some people must have turned it down for another offer.

It seems like Windsor has more scholarship and funding opportunities than Laurier (such as TA and RA positions). Apartment rentals seem to be very affordable and easy to find. This is what makes Windsor very tempting. It would be so easy to move there and get settled in. At Laurier, I like the fact that there aren't any written exams (essays, internships and presentations only) and we have a 2 mth vacation in the summer, so I could get a summer job. But in Kitchener/Waterloo it's very difficult to find housing that doesn't come with a 12 mth lease. If your intership is in a different city and you don't have a car, you will need to move and could end up paying rent for 2 different places. I'm also disappointed that there aren't any TA positions for MSW students. I'd like to teach one day and this is pretty disappointing. The cost to rent a room is quite high, in my opinion - prices I'd expect to pay if I was in Toronto or Ottawa, but not a small city like Kitchener. But geographically, Laurier is in a better location. I don't plan to settle in Windsor and Laurier would be better for networking opportunities. So Laurier it is.

You're welcome. It's been really great to be able to share info here while going through the process. Is Windsor your first choice or are you still considering Laurier?

That's awesome, beth23!! Congrats on the great news.

Anyone who gets off the Laurier waitlist can join this group.... https://www.facebook.com/groups/506415202727180/ It's a closed group for new 2 yr students. There are also a few members who have just completed their first year who check in from time to time and answer any questions that we may have about the program, housing concerns, etc. Just put in a request to join and someone will add you on.

Those are beautiful dogs and very friendly too. I guess you'll need to buy her a rain jacket and some shoes. lol

1. I'd have to say it's applying to schools that don't have an online application system. It's expensive to apply to so many schools.Then it costs even more to FedEx everything because that's the only way you'll know for sure that the parcel was received. 2. Waiting for extremely forgetful referee to submit references. Luckily one school was electronic and I knew there was a problem when it still wasn't there the day before the deadline. Unfortunately, the other school had no online system and it ended up arriving 2 months late, after my application had already been assessed! 3. One school wanted work history forms completed, while all the other schools were fine with a resume. There were so many sections to copy and paste into little fields. So I ended up writing it out neatly by hand and probably saved myself a few hours of "copy and paste." 4. Being put on an unofficial wait list at a school where probably 90% of applicants who aren't accepted are unofficially wait listed. What is the likelihood of being accepted???

MidnightRose, So are you set on going to York or will you consider U of T if taken off of the waitlist?

Congrats! Nice to hear that it worked out in the end.

As you can see from my signature, I am not in the field, nor have a begun grad school yet, but here are some thoughts that come to mind after reading your post. Since you are doing a master's and applying again for a PhD later on, you can always apply to more prestigious schools for the PhD. I don't think it's a big deal if you didn't apply to higher ranking schools as long as they will provide you with a good education and experience. I am not sure what your undergrad was in, but if it's a related field, I'd contact 2 or 3 profs and get their opinions. If not, does your former school offer studies in this area and could you email, call or drop by and ask for a few minutes of their time? Sorry if I'm stating the obvious (I am not in a thesis-based program so my admissions process was different) but have you checked if any of the faculty in the department of these schools has completed part of their studies in NY? Do any of them do extensive research with someone in New York? If so, you might want to give this school extra consideration as they could play an important role in helping you to secure opportunities in NY later on down the road.

Ouch! $500 is a lot for a deposit. I suspect the high price tag is used to discourage people from switching to U of T. Congrats on getting into U of T!!! It's a great school and a great program.

Congrats scotto123!!! That's great that you ended up getting into your first choice. .

Hi Jaylyn, I think you'll be fine. If your application was ranked higher than the others who received offers from the wait list so far, then that means you are the next person in line. I am sure there will be at least one more person who will not be attending between now and the first week of September. So try not to worry. As Angela has implied (by asking you to wait before submitting your new transcript), this situation won't affect your chances of getting in.

Until you hear back from these people, I'd collect all the official documentation your have regarding your offer of admission and the admission details so you are ready to take these papers with you in case you are suddenly called in for a meeting. Look everything over and be prepared to defend your case, because you might only have one chance to do so before a final decision is made.

I'm sure there have been other offers made to wait listed candidates. People get multiple offers all the time and U of T isn't always their first choice. Now that everyone has heard back from their schools (with the exception of 3rd/4th round offers from U of Windsor) people are starting to get a clear idea of where they plan to go in the fall and it should sort itself out any day now. In the upcoming months, there will be people changing their mind for different reasons, like health problems, pregnancy, family responsibilities, financial difficulties, job promotions, etc, and some more spots are bound to open up. I noticed that last year someone was offered a spot off of U of T's waitlist on Sept 4!!!

That's wonderful news! Congrats. Are you planning to attend or are you going to see if your name comes up at Laurier or U of T?

Congrats on both offers! Victoria looks like such a great place to live and study. You are one lucky person!

I don't think I would ask them to bend the rules and give you an earlier decision. I don't think you would leave them with a good impression and they aren't likely to speed up the process at your request. Perhaps you could ask when you might expect to receive an answer and if you are on a wait list see if you can find out your position on the wait list. If the secretary seems nice over the phone, I would be very professional and polite and mention that you are hoping to make a decision sometime over the next one or two weeks and see if she offers to help you out in any sort of way. If you don't get an answer, you might need to take the offer so you don't end up losing out this year. Could you see yourself attending this school if it is the only one you get into and being happy with your decision? Or would you rather wait and reapply next year? If you would much rather attend one of the other schools and you cannot get any more information about the decision results - Would you be willing to be in this program for 2 or 3 weeks and drop out if you are accepted elsewhere? Would you be burning important bridges in the field by doing so? When are the tuition fees due and what is the refund policy? If you are willing to switch schools a couple of weeks into the program, find temporary living accommodations that will allow you to move under short notice if you need to move later on in the month. Some hotels/motels can give you a deal if you stay for an extended period of time, such as 1 month.

It stopped working for me last week. I had to sign up for an account using my student number and PAC, as if I'd never logged into my account before. Weird.

Two weeks have already passed. Two weeks is the time frame. So I think if nothing changes on our account by today we will be waiting for the third round due to come out in another 2 weeks.

Anyone get a second round offer from U of Windsor? First round offer deadlines should have been the end of last week. I looked at my account and it still says referred to department.

If you've got the time, you might want to break it up into two 6 hour trips and check into a hotel/motel somewhere along the way that takes in cats. Six hours sounds much more manageable to me, for both you and the cats.

Nuya, Some schools only calculate the last 2 years of full time study. So I would focus on applying to these universities if your first year will bring down your GPA. Since London only has 1 university and you will probably want to apply to more schools, you should also consider Windsor, Hamilton (McMaster U), Montreal (McGill U and Concordia U - certain neighbourhoods in Montreal like Verdun or Cote-des-Neiges are cheap), anywhere in New Brunswick or Newfoundland. Saskatchewan and Manitoba were once very inexpensive, but I'm not sure if they still are, particularly since the economy has gotten stronger over the last few years in Saskatchewan. To get an idea of rental costs, check out websites like www.craigslist.com or www.kijiji.ca to compare typical rental fees in different cities. Some universities also include a free monthly bus pass in the tuition fees which can save you $60-75/mth.

Did you work your hardest or do you think you were capable of doing better in undergrad? While I am not in the field, I am inclined to think it would be better to apply to Master's programs and complete an MA at a decently ranked school. During those 2 years, work extremely hard to prove your ability and worth to the department, get outstanding references and build solid experience to put on your cv so you can get into a PhD program at a higher ranked school later on. If university ranking is not too important to you (although it should be if you want to get into academia later on) and you can afford to apply to a bunch of schools (both in terms of time and money), then you might want to apply to a couple of PhD programs as well because you never know, you might be able to get in somewhere that isn't a top tier school. But I'd focus only on PhD programs that are an excellent match for your background and interests since your GPA is very good but also not highly competitive for this field.