Hey Everyone,
My name is Kat and I am currently in the one-year HBSW at Lakehead (Thunder Bay campus). I am not actually applying to my MSW this year, I would like to take a year off to work and apply for the 2016 advance-standing year instead. I just remember that when I was applying to the HBSW program, there were not as many people who could speak to what the HBSW program was like. I thought I would share my experience at Lakehead for those who are interested.
First, I would like to say that I applied to social work MSW 2-year programs for three years, and was rejected from all of the programs almost immediately. Yes, it truly sucked (for lack of better words, it just sucked) being rejected from so many programs, but every year I would dust myself off, and make myself a stronger applicant for the next cycle. Eventually, I was accepted to the HBSW at Lakehead, which was (and is) highly competative to get into (last year there were 475 applicants for 25 spots in Thunder Bay). I was also accepted to York's 2-year BSW and rejected from UofT (for the third time) this past cycle. The point I am trying to make is to not give up and to preserver. Social work is highly competitive, and thought 11 rejections was incredibly difficult to digest, I am so thankful that I kept going because it was worth it. I am also grateful that I was rejected so many times because I gained a breadth of experience from each rejection, and now I have many lenses to see the world and various client/service-users. I am, and always have been, a social worker. This year has only confirmed that.
In terms of the HBSW at Lakehead, I would like to start off by saying that I love the program. We just had a meeting with the director of the faculty (Marg McKee, she is absolutely amazing and will excite you about choosing social work as a profession if you are ever lucky enough to have her as a professor) to discuss our curriculum, what we like about our classes, and areas for improvement. In that meeting, I found out that the HBSW at Lakehead is one of the few BSW programs that actually has a skills class (that is generally reserved for Masters students), which I find astounding, because that it the class we enjoy the most, and the one that will prepare us most for placement (there are not a lot of MSWs in Thunder Bay, so placement for the one-year students does involve a lot of counselling, which I will be doing in January when I begin my placement and skills has really helped us build the fundamentals for counselling at the undergraduate level). For a one-year program, you really get a lot of bang for your buck (and your time). I love how our class is only 20 people, and our skills class is only 11 people. I also really like how approachable the faculty members are, and how Sonya still knows who I am (she is one of the reasons I chose Lakehead over York, no word of a lie). Everybody is reasonable, and they genuinely want the students to excel, so they don't curve down grades or make assignments/tests insanely difficult just to pull off a 70 average in the class. If the average happens to be a 75-80, they let it be. I worked my rear off this semester, was enrolled in 6 classes (I had my elective this year), and I pulled off amazing marks because I was incredibly dedicated to studying. It is a manageable pace, I personally had to dedicate myself to the program, as did many others, but I know of a couple of classmates who were able to work part-time or have a number of hobbies/be involved in the community during the program.
Another thing that I really like about the program is the placement. Although I was terrified of doing a 6-month, 100-day placement at Lakehead, I began to see the benefit of having a placement for that long. For the first three months of placement, students play more of an observational role and learn about various therapies, community development work, etc. But in the last three months, you are viewed as essentially a staff member, and you are in charge of your own case-load and even see service-users/clients on your own. I find experience like that difficult to come by in southern Ontario, and in a BSW program in general. (I may be wrong about this last point, but that is my understanding at least).
Finally, Thunder Bay is actually a wonderful place to be a social work student. There are a lot of wonderful and progressive programs happening in the city, and people are fighting for real, systemic change. I am actually from Toronto, and I feel like having a Northern perspective is valuable in the South, as many people from the North move to the South and have to adjust to being in a metropolitan area. The more lenses you have to see the world, the better social worker and practitioner you will become.
The one-year program obviously isn't all rainbows and butterflies, its hard work, and there is room for improvement. But I feel like my voice has been heard, which I think is incredibly valuable in a program. It is a generalist social work degree, which I really appreciate because we cover a lot of theories and perspectives, and I really like that we are not tied to one way of viewing systemic and individual problems that exist in Canada. I would also like to say that I applied both to Orillia (my first choice) and to Thunder Bay (my second choice) and I was accepted to Thunder Bay, so for the extra $30, If I remember correctly, if you can swing it, apply to both.
Feel free to message me with any questions.
-Kat