wishingonuoft

Hey everyone! It's already October (.......), I graduated from the MSW at U of T in June 2017 and remember this forum being quite the comfort during application season given how obnoxiously anxiety inducing the process was. Feel free to post about the ins and outs of your process, it's important people have an outlet (#selfcare) and a social network. I'm rooting for ALL of you, if you have any questions just inbox me :D.

Congrats...best unheard message ever!!!

Like a dozen or so people in my cohort, people don't usually walk around advertising that they got off the waitlist though so it's hard to say how many for sure. One person got off of it literally less than a week before class started. There's movement--it's just impossible to predict how much because it's so dependent on the specific cohort and they don't disclose how large the waitlist is.

For those waitlisted at U of T, a lot of my close friends in the program got off the wait list my year. I would say proceed with cautious optimism, it might not happen but it might, and if it does let it be a pleasant surprise. I'm so sorry for those of you that feel discouraged, as I mentioned in a post a while ago I firmly believe that if it's your dream--it'll happen, one way or the other--be proud of your accomplishments in the mean time. The program is *stupid* competitive, not getting in is not a reflection of your abilities or your potential in any way shape or form. I'm positive you will ALL be tremendous Social Workers one day, even if it takes a bit more time. Hang in there and don't forget to be compassionate towards yourself <3 and if you feel you need any extra emotional support, this forum is here for you.

Yup, it's all completely up to chance! For sure--and as far as placements go, U of T still undeniably has the best ones in Toronto--it's just hard because altogether they are placing almost 400 students per year so inevitably there are issues. Most of them are in Toronto but they have a bunch not in Toronto too (GTA, even other cities)! There are a lot of TDSB and TCDSB placements, I don't recall government office settings but I imagine there must be some for the policy folks!

Advanced standing is very intense as well, not the same courses exactly because you skip a bunch of the foundational but still quite rigorous. A lot of Advanced Standing-ers opt to do a summer semester to lighten the load (A bunch of 2-years do that as well). In short: very competitive. Hospital placements are definitely the most competitive of the placements, there are a LOT of them, but there are a lot of students who try to get them. Unfortunately, the practicum system leaves much to be desired and it is essentially a lottery system that runs algorithms. I have been blessed to death in my 2 years and got my top choice for both practicums including a hospital placement, but that's hardly the norm. Basically the way it works is they release all of the practicums and then you submit your top choices, and then they run an algorithm and try to assign as many people to their top choices as possible. (For the 2 year program your first practicum is automatically assigned, for the 2nd year/Advanced standing you get 2 interviews, which you have and then rank and hopefully get one of them). I can't stress enough how crappy the system is, I have many friends who weren't assigned to any practicums/didn't get matched with placements and then had to choose between the left overs that no-one wanted. That's another thing--the practicum office says that all placements are equitable but they clearly aren't. In terms of Sick Kids specifically, this past year there were around I think ~7 placements there (going by memory), the pool of applicants ranking their picks is 2nd years and Advanced Standing-ers so it's ~230 people--AKA all of the hospital placements become popular very quickly (popular = 10+ people selected them as a rank). ANYWAY, I don't want to discourage you because it's NOT impossible to get a good placement, there are so many great ones and they all have to be assigned to someone! But be prepared that it is competitive and hospitals are prime real estate. Let me know if you have any more questions, I know I just spewed a lot of knowledge and I'm not sure how sensical it is...running on an all nighter lol.

Hahaha, the ban.do agendas are actually the girliest and most adorable things ever. There are compliments on like every other page and all the good feels

(Obviously can't speak to UofT2015's experiences but wanted to throw in my 2 cents). I did my undergrad in psychology and minored in gender studies, the majority of people in the 2 year program do psychology or sociology undergrads but there are lots of other academic backgrounds as well. In terms of transition, it was an interesting one. I went straight from undergrad to grad school, my undergrad was all about memorizing textbooks to write exams, grad school = all papers, no memorization. The first semester of the MSW program is definitely considered to be the most challenging of the 2 years, with lots of papers/assignments due constantly. Second semester tones it down a bit but is still quite demanding given the course load (5 courses, 2 major papers due for each one, = 10 papers). In terms of the transition from undergrad to grad school, one thing that myself and my friends found was that while the program is demanding during the first year...it's not hard. I'm queen of writing full paper's the night before the due date and have not gotten a grade lower than A- on anything (and I'm by no means a great writer). The stakes are very low. In undergrad the stress is SO REAL because every paper you write and exam you take makes you freak out about how the mark may affect your chances of getting into grad school...but in grad school, it's pretty much the end goal (unless you want to do your phd one day), and that makes it more relaxed. Also, to be honest, a sentiment that I hear expressed over and over and over again from my peers is that you don't learn a whole lot from the courses. I will be finishing the program in a couple of weeks and I'm a completely different person from when I started it, I've learned SO MUCH and feel super confident entering the world of Social Work...but 90% of that learning and skill development came from my 2 practicums. Classes give you some foundation, but they're really not central to your learning in the MSW program, there's only so much you can learn from a book. TL/DR: first year of the MSW program is demanding, but the stakes are low which makes it more relaxed and profs are easy markers. Get excited for practicums because that's where most of the learning happens! Pictured below is a pic I just took from my agenda from 1st year of the last few weeks of October.

Totally still possible! Most of my friends got into the program some time in April and it seems like the majority last year did as well--also, remember that Angela said acceptances will all be sent out by the end of April. Unless they've revamped their system you guys are all still in the game!

By telling people to not lose hope and saying hopefully they get in soon? I'm literally evil, I'm just grateful someone as perceptive and intelligent as yourself was able to point it out.

...ANYWAY. Heartfelt congratulations to everyone who heard back from U of T today, it's so exciting and you are all so deserving. For those whose anxiety is through the roof right now and may have had an emotional night after finding out others have received acceptances, please don't lose hope and please remember to be kind to yourself. This is a long, drawn out, crappy process for everyone and hopefully you get in during the next rounds, but regardless, this experience DOES NOT define you or your worth. Remember to keep swimming <3 you'll get where you need to be.

Congrats to everyone who has gotten admission offers, you all deserve it, I hope you take some time out for a much deserved celebration!!! I just wanted to write a shout out to anyone who has applied to programs that have started sending out admissions and haven't heard any response yet. Reading other people's triumphs--as wonderful as it is for them--can make one feel pretty crappy and discouraged. Just wanted to remind any of you out there feeling anxious, shedding tears, feeling low, that you that you are wonderful, there is still hope, and you'll be okay no matter what. You've survived every challenge so far! I'm rooting for you, and I hope you hear good news soon!

(I know you didn't ask me but..) I got in mid March of 2015, I think that's when admissions started rolling out that year for the 2 year program, and as Roxxx said there were several more cycles over the course of several months. Children and Families is second most popular to Mental Health and Health, I'm not sure what the exact breakdown is but Mental Health and Health definitely has the highest popularity.

Hello! If you mean an MSW thesis, U of T doesn't have theses as a mandatory component of the degree. I think that there are like 2 or 3 students of the 140 accepted that successfully get funded for a thesis, everyone else does class based/assignment based work. Unfortunately I haven't heard of any students who have been able to hand in assignments in french, I imagine this wouldn't be an option as most professors aren't fluent in french and they have to do the marking for their designated sections. However, I think it would be worth messaging admissions about this in case there are accommodations that can be made!

The moderation in this forum definitely has it backwards. And to reiterate, the 50+ downvotes should be a dead tell that this person is causing a lot of issues so I just wonder why this isn't evidently being taken into account. This is a social work forum, social work is one of most accepting and welcoming professions out there. If someone gets that much negative feedback in a SOCIAL WORK forum, there is a problem, and the problem isn't the people giving that feedback. The problem with this individual spans beyond this forum, to the multiple complaints that have been made regarding their inappropriate conduct in the profession to the faculty of social work at U of T (you can imagine what kind of harassment and inappropriate professional conduct will have had to take place for a faculty that the student doesn't even belong to to have to get involved). Also, lol, speaking of negative feedback I went to my profile and saw that Yeweang went through all of my posts in the forum to down-vote them, what is this even lol.