lightning1129

Hey, current U of T student here! From what I understand from conversations about taking students for next year at my placement, the hospital placement situation is a bit more complicated. I could be wrong for hospitals, but from what I understand, any agency that has an agreement to take U of T students doesn't have to not take students from other schools, they just have to agree that any students they take from other schools won't interfere with the U of T student's placement. And I know for a fact that SickKids, which has a bunch of U of T students, does also take students from other schools (one of the other placement students from my placement last year goes to a school in the states and did her placement at SickKids this year). Also, from earlier posts, I know there have been some questions about popular and unpopular specializations- from my understanding, there's no quotas or anything for specializations, they just plan the number of sections for each course based on enrolment in each specialization, so you don't have any better or worse chance of getting in based on the specialization you choose. Which I suppose is good news for people wanting popular specializations and bad news for people wanting less popular ones =P

Hi Kristine, I typically don't give out my email, actually, but totally feel free to private message me on here if you have any other questions!

Hey Kristine! It sounds like you're putting a lot of thought into this, and at the right time! One thing that it is important for you to know is that in terms of an MSW admission, an SSW diploma would definitely help you out in terms of your experience and placements and references, but it would be meaningless in terms of grades as college grades don't mean anything to graduate admissions, they don't even ask for your transcript as far as I know. As well, it is definitely a much cheaper and easier way to figure out if this is the field for you, and just because it won't help you get your masters, grades-wise, it certainly doesn't mean you can't, it just means you have to boost your grades elsewhere if you're looking to boost them. The one-year BSW offered by I believe Lakehead may be a better fit for you. You can definitely read back in this thread, other people have been talking about the same dilemma you're in, MSW vs. SSW, SSW vs. BSW, MSW vs. BSW. The general consensus, though, has been that once you already have your BA, to go back and get a college diploma in something you plan to go to grad school for is, quite frankly, a bit of a waste of time when there are other programs, like the one-year BSW, out there that get you further and would actually give you an opportunity to improve your application in all of the areas that you've identified you want to improve (grades, references, clarity in career goals). Plus the BSW means your MSW would only be one year, so it would be 2 years total instead of 3. It's one hell of a lot easier to get a job with a BSW than with an SSW these days too, if you wind up taking a break in between for whatever reason. I didn't get into any MSW program the first time I applied (to U of T and York) and I was so glad to have a professional BA that would also let me get a job in the field so I could work in the field in the meantime. In terms of the differences between an SSW and an MSW, there are definitely some differences. As an SSW, you're pretty much going to mostly be doing front line work, likely shift work, unless you're able to find an agency that will let you work your way up, but because of the job market, at least in Toronto right now, you find that a lot of the jobs that may have previously gone to SSW grads are going to BSW or even MSW grads (case in point: I work at a shelter right now with an undergrad in child and youth care, and we just hired on a bunch of relief workers who just graduated from U of T's MSW program, which is the program I'm about to go into). Typically, as an SSW, you'd be doing the really front line work whereas as an MSW, you'd be doing more counselling and case management kinda stuff. BSW grads are typically somewhere in between, and it depends on the employer- a few will get BSW grads for case management and counselling, others will require an MSW or other grad degree. Generally you can't get counselling positions without a masters, though there are a few different options for masters degrees that would let you do counselling (MSW, counselling psychology, U of T has an M. Ed in counselling psychology, even occupational therapists are qualified to do counselling) if that's what you're interested in. It really depends on the work that you'd like to do. I hope this helped!

This exactly! For me, I was leaning towards York as my top choice for a long time, but I think that even if I were to be accepted off the wait list at York at this point, I would still choose U of T. Even though York lines up much better with my personal philosophies and is much more critical and anti-oppressive, which is something that is really important to me, ultimately, what I'm looking for in my MSW is clinical skills, and I won't get that at York at all (my sister is in the first year right now there and says they have barely talked about practice at all, let alone clinical skills specifically). Being critical and anti-oppressive is one of my strengths and I have been developing those skills outside formal education for a long time and plan to continue to do so, so that shouldn't be my focus for grad school- my focus is going to be the clinical skills that I haven't really been able to develop on my own and is where I feel stuck when I am working in the field, so U of T is the clear choice for me, even though I'm sure there will be parts that frustrate the hell out of me =P. Your grad school should be the one that helps you to best achieve your goals and helps you develop the skills that you are looking to develop. We are paying a lot of money for this experience, so we had better make it one that works for us!

Yeah, definitely start now. The vacancy rate in toronto is super low so it's really hard to find a place. I am looking right now and having a hard time. A big tip- check the bed bug registry before calling a place.

Just for the record for people waiting for letters from U of T and living in Toronto- it still usually takes 2-3 business days (including the day it goes out for delivery, so including yesterday if all the letters went out before 5pm yesterday) because everything goes out to the sorting station in Mississauga before it goes to wherever it's going, so actually people who live in Mississauga would get it the soonest, even if you live right by U of T (I used to work at the post office, haha). It seems kinda silly, but they can't know where things are going before they get sorted. If you live in Toronto (or most major urban centres in Ontario or Quebec) you will very likely get your letters Monday if you don't already have them, maaaaaybe Tuesday. It's likely a similar situation for those living close to Laurier waiting for letters- they all go to the sorting station first, which generally adds an extra day onto however long you think it would take.

So last year, I did accept one of the offers since I was waitlisted at the school and didn't want to lose out on it if I got accepted off the wait list. Essentially, you can't get the money without admission since it all goes through the school, so in September when I was formally rejected, I got in touch with the graduate awards office and withdrew my acceptance of the offer. That being said, if you are still waiting to hear back from schools and haven't been rejected yet, you should get in touch with the departments and let them know you were offered the award. At least that's what all my profs told me to do, haha. Didn't make any difference but it can't hurt, right?

Yup! Last year I was offered CGS-M at two schools and was rejected from them both. The departments and the graduate awards offices don't talk to each other at all.

When I search it, it still says Open Group Within the University of Toronto. you would need to take the group out of the university of Toronto network and just make it an open (or closed) general FB group

I think because it's part of the U of T network, you need to prove you're a U of T student. It was the same thing with one of my Ryerson groups. I think you can change the settings to not have it on the U of T network.

omg Congrats!!!!!!!!!! I got my CGS decisions last night and decided on U of T as well, even if I get accepted off York's waitlist. So looks like we will be classmates!

You can only hold one government award at a time. Also, I got it for U of T!!!!!!!! Alternate at York, but that's not a surprise since they switched me from SSHRC to CIHR and there are only 8 CGS awards under CIHR. Plus U of T is where I am accepted (waitlisted at York), so I am pretty thrilled =D

It has no bearing on whether you get in (though when I got CGS last year, the very first thing my profs told me was that I should inform the department. It didn't change anything, but there's no harm in it). Admissions decisions are made by the social work department while awards decisions are made by the graduate awards offices, and they don't talk to each other. You should inform the social work department at Laurier that you got OGS, especially while you know they are still working on decisions. Congrats! Getting a major award like OGS, whether you wind up being able to use it or not, is a huge accomplishment! You should feel super proud =D

Not necessarily? It probably depends on which schools you have applied to and how they do decisions. Last year I didnt receive anything until around noon on April first and I had been offered it at both schools I applied to (I just didn't get admission for either school, hence reapplying this year). This year, my status for york was changed late last week and my status for u of t changed today, though I won't be able to see it until tomorrow (hopefully midnight!). So it probably just depends on the school, since no matter what the decision is, your status will change.

I wonder if we can just drop it off in person? One of my jobs is only about a 10 minute walk away from the social work building...

Not necessarily. It depends on how your department does notifications. If they generally notify acceptances by email, that may mean bad news. But if they notify by snail mail, then it could mean anything and you just have to wait for that letter. Good luck!!!

Well, if it helps, I don't remember exactly how many hours and such I had (I included hours from all the employment I ever had, but some of it was not human services related at all), but here are the major differences in my application between last year (when I was waitlisted and eventually rejected at U of T and rejected outright at York) and this year (accepted at U of T and waitlisted at York): -I changed what I believed to by my greatest accomplishment (for U of T) and it was much more cohesive and probably more genuine, a little less ego stroking, haha (though the rest of my statement was almost word for word the same, there was some minor copy editing). I also completely revamped my statement for York and rewrote it completely and centred my own being critical to reflect the critical nature of the program there. -I added a few jobs including tutoring, some PSW work, some research and grading work, working as a residential counsellor in a group home for pregnant and parenting young women (though not sure how much of a difference this made since the same agency was already on my resume as a summer job), and a youth worker at the local YMCA in their young men's shelter and their transitioning housing program for youth, but none of these jobs had a ton of hours since I started them in September, October, or December and they are all super part-time or relief positions (like even now, I only work 3 shifts a week consistently, and I sometimes have the opportunity to pick up more). I also added my internship over the summer in the residence of a boarding school, but that replaced an actually more clinical internship that I had been planning to do but fell through, so I'm not sure how much of a difference that made either. -My supervisor from that internship wrote me a reference, which replaced a reference from the head of the writing centre at my university where I worked, so I think having a real professional reference really did make a big difference -I sent Angela an updated resume when my publication, an article in a non-peer reviewed journal, was finalized (it hadn't been confirmed that it had been accepted at the time I initially submitted my application in December, so I couldn't include it), and I think that also made a big difference (and it comes out on March 31 and I am super nervous about it lol) These are the things that seem to have made the difference for me, specifically. Obviously your mileage may vary. But it may help for trying to gauge what may happen or for planning Plan B's.

Just to clarify- ROSI isn't an admissions portal. It's the system U of T students use to select courses, see their fees, etc. So it just tells a student which program they are registered in or invited for. Nothing will change if you're rejected or waitlisted. Last year, I was waitlisted, then rejected, and nothing ever changed, because I was never invited or registered for anything. SGS is the admissions portal, and it will also say "Under Review" until you are either accepted or rejected. If you are waitlisted, it will stay "Under Review" either until you get accepted off the wait list or until September when whoever isn't accepted off the wait list is formally rejected (it changed about the 3rd week of September for me). So chances are that if you are rejected or waitlisted, you will find out by snail mail before anything changes online, since ROSI will ONLY change if you're accepted and they take awhile to update SGS (which won't even update until something else changes if you're waitlisted). That being said, I can't imagine they are done with admissions yet, so try not to lose hope just yet! I haven't heard of anyone being waitlisted or rejected yet this year, so there is still lots of possibility there!!!

I am a fan of talisman and munchkin. In terms of coop games, I like betrayal at house on te hill

It's Canada Graduate Scholarship, and the deadline was December 1

I didn't apply for OGS- I got super overwhelmed and anxious about it and missed the deadline. We can't apply for it now, though, the deadline was the end of January. I did apply for CGS though, so I should hear about that April 1 (as that is a standard date when all decisions are released)

Just an FYI- it seems York may be making some progress with their decisions today? I just got an email that I am waitlisted. Which may mean nothing for today specifically, but it means if your myfile still says No Decision Yet, it doesn't necessarily mean a rejection!

Okay so I just got this email: Funding Opportunity: Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Program La version française suit. This is an automated email message. Please do not reply. The status of your application has changed. As of April 1, consult the Application Overview page in the Research Portal to view the results. Which is essentially saying.... we decided whether you got it or not but YOU DON'T GET TO KNOW UNTIL NEXT WEDNESDAY HAHA That being said, I did go check, since I applied at both York and U of T, and my York has changed from SSHRC to CIHR (which is kind of upsetting, since that project has kind of evolved to be more social science-y and less health-y) and that's the one that says it has been updated today and there is the little yellow box above it that talks about reading the terms and conditions before accepting an offer and that I have 21 days to accept or decline it, so I suspect that means I got it for York (while I have been accepted to U of T and am still waiting on York to likely be rejected). Did anyone else have anything change today? April 1 is sooooooooon!

blh22, you have reminded me of one of the things I do to relieve stress! Colouring books. They're AMAZING. And if you feel like you don't even have the creative energy for that, you can do as I do and get colour by number books. I have this one http://www.amazon.ca/Colour-Numbers-Book-Fiona-Watt/dp/1409566544/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1427383692&sr=8-3&keywords=usborne+colour+by+numbersand it's AMAZING! It either lives next to my bed for when I am stressed or in my hospital bag, lol I'm also a huge completionist, so I also find the Lego video games (Lego Lord of the Rings and Lego Harry Potter in particular) super super relaxing, and they're not too expensive either.

I definitely plan to work, a little bit, while in my MSW. Right now, all of my jobs save one (which I will likely have to quit, but it's with a friend and I promised I would help her hire my replacement once I ditched her) are like... either self-employed (like tutoring and editing work) or I am on the relief roster for an agency, so I can pretty much pick which shifts I want. So I do plan to keep the two relief gigs but drastically scale it back... right now I work at least two relief shifts a week, and for at least my first month or two of school, I'd want that to be like, 2-3 shifts per month. Just enough that I have some extra money coming in and can actually stay on the relief rosters (since it would be awesome to still be on those relief rosters once I graduate, just in case) but hopefully not so much that it will really get in the way of school. Then after a month or two, I can make a decision about whether I need to scale back even more, keep it the same, or increase to 4-6 shifts per month.