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What's wrong with Windsor? I can't imagine why people would think that. I would be ok with living there, too. A huge plus is that you don't need a car, like at Laurier. As a student, a car is huge drain on the wallet. I am hoping I can get away without having one at least until I graduate.

Agreed. While I'm not anxious or edgy over this, I'll be so happy to hear the outcome, no matter what it may be. While I'm really hoping for a 2 yr MSW, I'm fully prepared to do an accelerated BSW followed by a 1 yr MSW if needed. I am so eager to leave my old career behind and embark on a new career in something that I will truly enjoy doing.

Thanks for sharing, DREAMINGMSW. I haven't given up hope yet. It's still way too early for that.

Both k.jo and JO_O got in, so that makes 2 people. I think either their profiles are outstanding and they got early acceptances, or the first round of offers went out. Given the close proximity of Laurier to U of T, many applicants probably applied to both schools. U of T has lots of spots - 140, I believe. So when the U of T offers finally come out, I am certain that a bunch of peope will get accepted into both schools and will be turning something down. That is probably part of the reason why 50 people are put on the waitlist at Laurier - they get lots of movement and declined offers. On April 12 or a few days later, another batch of people should be getting offers from Laurier, and hopefully we'll get to know where we stand by then.

Congrats k.jo. You must be so excited about the news. Have you decided which offer to take?

Meg333, You can only wait and see about Calgary. I suspect a lot of schools send out acceptances and rejections first. To cut down on extra administrative work, they probably hold off on responding to people who almost made it into the program because they don't know how many people will turn down their offers for another school. In my opinion, when the offers start rolling out, no news can be good news. Lots of people get multiple offers and free up extra spots. Best of luck!

Kae Kae, The more I hear about the assignments you're getting, the more I think this program would really be a great fit for me. I really hope the admissions committee will agree with my opinion.

Congrats to you, Student2668! Must to be great feeling to get accepted into your first choice. I must admit, one thing I like about this forum is that I can wait to hear when others get their responses then check out my own account status when the 2 years start to hear back. Somehow it keeps me less anxious by not logging into my accounts every few days just to find out if something has been changed. If I happen to get an early response (which I doubt would happen), they would mail it out by snail mail anyway so there is no risk of missing out on important news.

If you don't have to pay upfront, then I'd say wait until the deadline and accept the offer if you still haven't heard back from U of T. Things happen in life that are out of our control, so I'm sure there have been people who have accepted in the past and later declined. ex: health reasons, financial, death in family, etc... They can't hold you to it if you change your mind. But tell them as soon as you can so the next person in line has enough time to get their things in order to begin the program. Just out of curiosity, when did they send out the offer of admission?

I believe it's the 1 year program. I haven't heard of any other 2 yr programs sending out admissions decisions other than Carlton and Victoria, otherwise we would have heard more about it on here for sure. It's nerve wracking, I know, but we're just gonna have to hold tight for at least 3 more weeks.... It would be nice to know so that I can decide if I should find more volunteer work this month or just look for an extra part time job to save up for my studies. What a long wait.

Congrats to MSW13 and Kreamy on getting accepted. That is wonderful news! I am glad to see that you are still on the website for the time being. The both of you have given us good insight and inspiration over the past couple of months and I hope you still be online when the 2 yr applicants get their results (which won't be long now - eek!!)

It's definitely quicker, cheaper and more convenient to send out emails. But perhaps they get a lot more questions when they send out emails and they want to reduce their administrative duties. That would be my guess, anyway. Nonetheless, I still find it kind of archaic when universities do not do most of their work via computer.

Thanks Scotto123, That info was really helpful. I'd really like to get out of the big city and move to a smaller city, so I guess it could work out well for my career if I end up going the BSW/MSW route. I'd prefer to work in a hospital, but if life doesn't go my way and I only get into a BSW program, I could work at a non-profit for a while and get an MSW later on and that would be alright, too. Sorry to hear about the job market in Peterborough. My friend lived there for years and she told my all about the job market situation (although she is in a different field). It sounds like you've got lots of experience in the field so when the right opportunity comes along you will be a strong candidate for the job. Don't get discouraged.

Hi Scotto123, Since you have a BSW, can you tell me what the job market is like for people with a BSW? This is my plan B, if the MSW does not work out so I was just wondering. I hear most jobs ask for an MSW rather than a BSW. Do you find this to be the case? I suppose one could always apply for social service worker jobs and be a bit overly qualified, although the salaries are probably significantly lower.

I agree with, MSW13. There are many reasons why you may not have received a letter yet, including the fact that Canada Post has much slower service these days due to less staff and increased workloads. (Just read a big article about it in the newspaper a few days ago). Their services have become very unreliable lately. Hang in there... the wait is almost over.

Thanks for sharing that information. I must admit, I'd prefer to receive the new later on. If I get sad news, it would be during my birthday. Keeping my fingers crossed for good news and an amazing birthday celebration!!

Thanks Louise86. I will check out those links. I plan to return to Canada afterwards. I just want to increase my odds of getting into a good program by applying to some US schools as well. I heard it's a bit easier to get into an MSW program in the US because there are more schools to meet the demand for interested applicants. A lot of MSW programs in Canada only take 1/5 applicants or slightly less.

Sophiecat, You could try applying to a Canadian school. Most MSW's offered in Canada are 1 yr advanced degrees, but there are some Foundational 2 yr programs. I am certain that the fees will be cheaper than many US schools, even as an international student. http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/facts-and-stats/tuition-fees-by-university. I have also noticed that a few schools in Massachusetts offer low-priced tuition for out-of-state residents, so you might want to consider this part of the country as well.

Thanks for the suggestions, StenderB. After finding out if a school is affordable for me, I always check to see if it's a good fit for my career interests. But I don't know much about location as I haven't travelled much to the US, apart from Florida and NYC. It would be easier to visit home if I lived in New York State, but I love Spanish so I'd be up to living somewhere with lots of Spanish, and Florida or Hawaii would be great (I'm tired of long and cold winters). So I guess I'm a bit all over the place right now, but money is definitely a deciding factor. The cheaper the better. I just found out Bridgewater has tuition for under $10,000/yr which is fantastic!!! But first I need to check if my educational background meets their criteria. Salem State looks good too at about $12,000/yr. I am not sure if I am eligible for funding since I don't have dual citizenship. But that would be my next step, after coming up with a short list of potential schools.

I am considering an MSW in the US and I don't even know how to begin to navigate the great number of universities to choose from. So I thought I would start a new thread geared specifically toward foreign and out-of-state applicants. I am trying to find MSW programs that have more reasonable fees for foreigners (under $20,000 tuition/yr, but I'm really hoping for under $15,000 if it's even available). So far I've just been looking up schools recommended by people on various forums and checking out their tuition rates. Is there a more effective way of doing this? Once I find some schools, how would you recommend that I find out if they are good schools with a good reputation? The last thing I would want to do is waste lots of time and money on getting a degree that won't help me advance my career.

Well I did not apply to this school. But based on your post, my guess is that 1 means the documents were received but not looked at, 2 means it was quickly reviewed to make sure you have the basic requirements to be considered, and 3 means someone will be looking at your documents to give you a rating. The final step would be to rank order the applicants from highest to lowest and give out acceptances, which should not be much longer now.

I am a strong believer in not putting all your eggs in one basket. I hope you, me, and everyone else here receives plenty of offers. But should we need to apply again next year, I think it would be wise to apply to as many programs that interest you. Then, when the offers come in you can chose the one that is highest on your list.

MSW-CU, You are right about Carleton. I just called and they told me my experience is fine. If I do not get accepted to a school this year, I will not be happy about missing out on that opportunity, especially because they probably receive fewer applications than some other schools due to all of that experience that you need. I really think their website should be clearer and I probably should have called last year just to double check. I also called Calgary and was told that my experience is not quite what they are looking for and given the high level of competition and strong applications they receive, it would be very hard to get in if I applied. So I definitely made the right decision about Calgary.

I am a nursing assistant. According to the Calgary website, your experience needs to be related to counselling. My work experience is not even close to the suggested job titles on the website so I did not apply. I even showed the website to a friend who is a PhD Psychologist and researcher and he said according to the info on the website I don't have the right kind of experience and it would probably be a waste of time to apply to this school. I don't remember the details of what I read on the Carlton website, but I believe you need 3500 hrs doing social work type of experience and I only have a bit of volunteer work in this area. Are you telling me that I could have applied and been considered a candidate? I have about 400 internship hrs in a related area (but the website says internship hrs can't be included) and about 400-500 counselling hrs as a volunteer so it seemed to me that I was very short on hours.

Thanks! I'll check out that website for sure. Even though I have 5 years of experience in a hospital, I couldn't apply to Calgary or Carleton because they want lots of experience in the social services. Fortunately, the other schools were ok because they look for experience in the human services.