jjmr89

Cheekss - I applied just before Christmas, I believe… though my documents were not all submitted and confirmed until early January. From what it sounds like, they are processing applications as they receive them. I talked to someone who knows a few current MSW students at UBCO and apparently they did not find out about their acceptance until March. Awesome to connect with another person who wants to work in the eating disorders field! If I could do my practicum during the school year at UBCO, I totally would. I will look into that as an option. It appears as though UBCO’s course load is a bit more intense – there are nine courses to complete on top of practicum, as opposed to U of T’s six. This would make it more challenging to do the practicum during the year at UBCO, but not impossible, especially if it were only a two day per week placement. That all being said, the difference in required courses makes me wonder if U of T’s program is simply more dense (i.e. the required courses are more demanding and that is why there are fewer of them compared to UBCO). Or maybe their program is actually less intense overall. I suppose it is hard to say without hearing from people who have taken the programs.

One thing I am concerned about is entering the job market in a city where I did not go to school. That's another reason why I wanted to go to Calgary for my practicum - making connections! It would be a little harder to go to U of T for my MSW and practicum, and then move back to Calgary without any contacts in the field. Challenging, but not impossible, I suppose.

nutella 14 - thank you for the reply! I am less interested in the clinical social worker designation than I am in the actual content covered in the courses taken at a clinical school. My roommate is a social worker in a clinical area in Vancouver (she is a therapist at a residential treatment facility for people with eating disorders), and actually went to U of C herself, but did not end up going for the clinical designation because she saw no benefit to her in her career. She has met all the requirements with her coursework and her hours, but is choosing not to pursue that route. That being said, she is an amazing therapist, and she credits much of it to the strong base she obtained from getting her education at a clinical MSW program. Does that make sense? I may or may not go for that designation after finishing my MSW, but more importantly I would like to say I got the education I desired.

smpalesh - thank you so much for the helpful response! I did apply for the advanced standing at U of T, and chose the mental health and health specialization. Am I correct when I see from the program booklet that there are three courses each semester, plus practicum? That sounds like a really great setup. I am surprised it's not four courses per semester.. In terms of practicum, specifically, my interest is in becoming a therapist for people with eating disorders. But I would happy doing a family therapy placement or even a placement in cognate areas like anxiety/depression, etc. It would be great if there were options in those areas. At what point last year did the practicum matching occur? Was it during the summer?

smpalesh - one more thing: now you have me so curious about the placement opportunities in Toronto! Were there any that were very therapy oriented? Do you know if they were competitive to get at all? Is it some kind of lottery or do you get to choose?

smpalesh - thanks so much for the response. The more I find out about this, the more it seems like Toronto's program might be a better option for me as it would allow me to be done everything in April. We will see if I end up getting accepted! Do you know how it fares as a clinical program? I know that UBC-O has a lot of very clinically oriented courses, and it seems like U of T strikes the middle road between clinical and research.

Hi everyone, I was accepted to UBC-Okanagan's advanced MSW program last week. The only other school I applied to was U of T, and as you all know I should hear back from them in a few weeks. Because my goal is to become a therapist, and UBC-O's program is a clinical one, I was pretty much dead set on going there. As well, it's much closer to home for me. As a result, I accepted my offer at UBC-O. Unfortunately, I just received some bad news. UBC-O very rarely approves practicum placements outside of the Kelowna area. My entire family lives in Calgary, so I was hoping to complete the coursework from Sept-April, then go back to Calgary for my practicum in May 2016. The prospect of spending a year in Kelowna, where I do not know anyone, is a bit upsetting to me. I know I would eventually meet people, and that it would only be an extra three or four months in Kelowna, but ultimately what it comes down to is Calgary is where I would rather be after the coursework is done. Three or four months is a long time to be away from the people who are most important to you. I would have applied to the University of Calgary's clinical MSW, but I was missing one of their requirements this year. My preference for a Calgary practicum is not so strong that I would wait an entire year and apply to U of Calgary for the next application cycle. I am definitely going to go do my masters this fall, even if it means having to be away from family longer than I would like. That being said, this new information might change where I attend if I end up getting an offer from U of T. Does anyone know what U of Toronto's policy is for practicum outside the Toronto area? I cannot seem to find it on the website. If they allow it, it might be a better choice for me to go there. Also, I think Toronto's MSW is only 8-months long, whereas UBC-O is 12-months, so I might end up choosing Toronto if I am accepted there purely because it would still allow me to get back to Calgary when I originally intended to. Any info/guidance would be appreciated. There seems to be a lot of Toronto applicants on this forum!