KatRousi

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 

oh no  I have been there with the reference situation! I am so sorry, that sucks. Its frustrating how the schools often pin that on the applicant, even if the applicant doe the best they can. At the end of the day, the applicant only has so much control over the references. If they accepted it by now, hopefully it won't hinder your chances. I am rooting for you! 

I am trying to decide if I should apply to the HBSW at Lakehead Orillia. I think my chances of getting accepted are very high, but it would kill me to live in Orillia for 6 months. I am a city person, and I don't own a car or anything. Does public transit even exist in Orillia? 
 
If I don't get into any of my other choices, I will kick myself for not applying to Orillia, but I am struggling because it's $200 for the application. 

Hi everyone!
 
I have been following this thread and others similar to it for the past couple of years, but this is my first post. This is my third year applying to 2-year MSW programs. For the past two rounds, I applied to U of T, McGill (where I received my undergrad), Laurier, Carleton, and York. All 10 school applications ended in letters of rejection, no wait list. The process was extremely discouraging, and I almost did not make another round of applications. This year, I decided to really be in the field, and I am now working in Northern Quebec in the Cree community of Nemaska with youth programming as a Leadership and Healthy Lifestyle Coordinator. I have to say that although the process was discouraging, each time I failed, I would get up, dust myself off, and expand my experience. Thus I feel like where I am now, and my understanding of what the Social Work profession entails, failing the past two years has made will make me a much better social worker, and has allowed me to expand my understanding of marginalization and oppression further. 
 
This year, I have applied to the 2-year MSW program at U of T (my hopes are not very high, but I still went for it), and the one-year HBSW at Lakehead. I was recently admitted to Lakehead at Thunder Bay with no conditions, which feels so good! I feel as though my relatively vast experience in different fields has brought me here. Essentially, what I am trying to say is the process may seem discouraging, but don't give up! Use each year to make you a better candidate, and ultimately a better Social Worker. That's what the process is about. 10 rejection letters with no wait-list was rough for me, as I feel I am a strong candidate. But I really made the time worth-while, and now I am gaining experience that I never thought I would have had the time to do before. 
 
Congratulations to everyone who has been admitted and/or wait-listed to various schools! And to those  of us still waiting, everything will work out like it is supposed to! 
 
(Though dannika_star's post now has me a little nervous about the workload at Lakehead)

Indeed, thank you KatRousi, for that inspiring post. I think we all know that you're correct, and that if this profession is what we're meant to do, than all the experiences along the way will simply enrich our skills and perspective as a social worker.
 
Not to stray too far from topic, but I'm curious how you got involved with the Cree community - that sounds like a wonderful opportunity. If you have a spare moment, do you mind sending me a private message regarding how you acquired the position (previous volunteer work, connections, etc.?) Congratulations on your acceptance at Lakehead, you earned it.

So I just checked ROSI... My status has been changed to invited. I am in shock right now...

I would be super interested! I will send you a private message with my info… 
 
I am glad that my message had a bit of an impact, I really didn't expect that much of a positive response! I know how it feels to be rejected from something you want to pursue so badly… so thumbs up to everybody who keeps on trekking despite the odds. I am wondering who else was accepted to Thunder Bay for the HBSW?
 
I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge how positive and supportive everyone is on this thread. It's really nice, and speaks to how compassionate we will be as future Social Workers.  
 
Also @DreamingMSW… you are the best! With your experience, U of T would be cray to turn you down. 

Hi everyone!
 
I have been following this thread and others similar to it for the past couple of years, but this is my first post. This is my third year applying to 2-year MSW programs. For the past two rounds, I applied to U of T, McGill (where I received my undergrad), Laurier, Carleton, and York. All 10 school applications ended in letters of rejection, no wait list. The process was extremely discouraging, and I almost did not make another round of applications. This year, I decided to really be in the field, and I am now working in Northern Quebec in the Cree community of Nemaska with youth programming as a Leadership and Healthy Lifestyle Coordinator. I have to say that although the process was discouraging, each time I failed, I would get up, dust myself off, and expand my experience. Thus I feel like where I am now, and my understanding of what the Social Work profession entails, failing the past two years has made will make me a much better social worker, and has allowed me to expand my understanding of marginalization and oppression further. 
 
This year, I have applied to the 2-year MSW program at U of T (my hopes are not very high, but I still went for it), and the one-year HBSW at Lakehead. I was recently admitted to Lakehead at Thunder Bay with no conditions, which feels so good! I feel as though my relatively vast experience in different fields has brought me here. Essentially, what I am trying to say is the process may seem discouraging, but don't give up! Use each year to make you a better candidate, and ultimately a better Social Worker. That's what the process is about. 10 rejection letters with no wait-list was rough for me, as I feel I am a strong candidate. But I really made the time worth-while, and now I am gaining experience that I never thought I would have had the time to do before. 
 
Congratulations to everyone who has been admitted and/or wait-listed to various schools! And to those  of us still waiting, everything will work out like it is supposed to! 
 
(Though dannika_star's post now has me a little nervous about the workload at Lakehead)

Hi everyone!
 
I have been following this thread and others similar to it for the past couple of years, but this is my first post. This is my third year applying to 2-year MSW programs. For the past two rounds, I applied to U of T, McGill (where I received my undergrad), Laurier, Carleton, and York. All 10 school applications ended in letters of rejection, no wait list. The process was extremely discouraging, and I almost did not make another round of applications. This year, I decided to really be in the field, and I am now working in Northern Quebec in the Cree community of Nemaska with youth programming as a Leadership and Healthy Lifestyle Coordinator. I have to say that although the process was discouraging, each time I failed, I would get up, dust myself off, and expand my experience. Thus I feel like where I am now, and my understanding of what the Social Work profession entails, failing the past two years has made will make me a much better social worker, and has allowed me to expand my understanding of marginalization and oppression further. 
 
This year, I have applied to the 2-year MSW program at U of T (my hopes are not very high, but I still went for it), and the one-year HBSW at Lakehead. I was recently admitted to Lakehead at Thunder Bay with no conditions, which feels so good! I feel as though my relatively vast experience in different fields has brought me here. Essentially, what I am trying to say is the process may seem discouraging, but don't give up! Use each year to make you a better candidate, and ultimately a better Social Worker. That's what the process is about. 10 rejection letters with no wait-list was rough for me, as I feel I am a strong candidate. But I really made the time worth-while, and now I am gaining experience that I never thought I would have had the time to do before. 
 
Congratulations to everyone who has been admitted and/or wait-listed to various schools! And to those  of us still waiting, everything will work out like it is supposed to! 
 
(Though dannika_star's post now has me a little nervous about the workload at Lakehead)

Hi everyone!
 
I have been following this thread and others similar to it for the past couple of years, but this is my first post. This is my third year applying to 2-year MSW programs. For the past two rounds, I applied to U of T, McGill (where I received my undergrad), Laurier, Carleton, and York. All 10 school applications ended in letters of rejection, no wait list. The process was extremely discouraging, and I almost did not make another round of applications. This year, I decided to really be in the field, and I am now working in Northern Quebec in the Cree community of Nemaska with youth programming as a Leadership and Healthy Lifestyle Coordinator. I have to say that although the process was discouraging, each time I failed, I would get up, dust myself off, and expand my experience. Thus I feel like where I am now, and my understanding of what the Social Work profession entails, failing the past two years has made will make me a much better social worker, and has allowed me to expand my understanding of marginalization and oppression further. 
 
This year, I have applied to the 2-year MSW program at U of T (my hopes are not very high, but I still went for it), and the one-year HBSW at Lakehead. I was recently admitted to Lakehead at Thunder Bay with no conditions, which feels so good! I feel as though my relatively vast experience in different fields has brought me here. Essentially, what I am trying to say is the process may seem discouraging, but don't give up! Use each year to make you a better candidate, and ultimately a better Social Worker. That's what the process is about. 10 rejection letters with no wait-list was rough for me, as I feel I am a strong candidate. But I really made the time worth-while, and now I am gaining experience that I never thought I would have had the time to do before. 
 
Congratulations to everyone who has been admitted and/or wait-listed to various schools! And to those  of us still waiting, everything will work out like it is supposed to! 
 
(Though dannika_star's post now has me a little nervous about the workload at Lakehead)