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I'm sitting at around 4-5 times a day as of today, so not too bad . I follow a similar schedule to yours but I work from home, so I find myself spontaneously checking a couple of times in the afternoon just in case something has miraculously popped up. And then I have this vague notion that even though results would only be entered manually during business hours, the system might update automatically sometime in the middle of the night (like the system at my undergraduate institution), and so I feel compelled to check then too... Okay FINE: I've lost it. Cannot WAIT to get the entirety of my brain back for more meaningful pursuits...at least 25% of it is reserved for anxious/anticipatory waiting these days and it's getting old.

Haha! We're getting quite the glute workout this week, at least . Results will be posted on the main dashboard page of ACORN first (barring very rare exceptions when a couple of applicants got their letters before ACORN updated...but those letters didn't arrive during the first week of acceptances). Let's hope Thursday the 22nd is the day!! We've been saying the 23rd, but that was a Thursday last year...yup, I just intensified the anticipation, I did. Informal poll: how many times is too many times a day to check ACORN?

Fingers and toes crossed, stomach in a knot, heart full of trepidatious hope, butt cheeks clenched — this could be the week we start hearing from U of T!! Hoping the York hopefuls hear back this week too!!

Yeah, there seems to be competing information even on the SGS site: after sign in, above the list of submitted applications, it indicates that "the result of your submitted application is expected to appear under the "Application Result Status" column in the table below by the end of June". Perhaps they mean that they'll update it to reflect the nomination, rather than the offer...wish they could be more transparent and specific about the process overall – I've seen way more more information available from other schools (to which I didn't/couldn't apply). Thanks for the tip to get involved early and the heads up about lack of consistency in grading...tough pill to swallow – even though I'm certainly more focused on learning than marks – as there are material consequences to these inconsistencies in terms of funding and PhD applications, but such is the reality of academia. I will say, very briefly, that U of T is not the best fit for me in terms of its clinical approach, but I feel like I'm going in with my eyes wide open about this. I've done enough research and soul searching to know that my scholarly/political goals should be (adequately, if not entirely) fulfilled via the Social Justice and Diversity stream (I'm very excited about the prospect of working with and learning from the Coordinator of that stream, in particular), and by (potentially) doing the Collaborative Program in Women and Gender Studies. I'm a mature student/activist with an already well-developed critical framework of praxis; my decision to go to U of T – as opposed to York, for example – is based specifically on a desire to further develop my theoretical and applied understanding of the paradigmatic frameworks I intend to spend the rest of my career critiquing . Let's see a) if I can even get in, given this issue with fit and b) if I do manage to get in, whether I'm as comfortable about this decision after attending year one, with its emphasis on 'professionalism' and clinical skills...

Thanks so much for the additional/insider info, kiki14! Wow, mid-July is SUPER late...but good to know, so we don’t assume the worst if we don’t hear sooner. How have you enjoyed your first year at U of T so far? Any feedback or tips for us (hopeful) incomers?

How absolutely ridiculous! Hang in there .

In the interest of completism and transparency... Having thought about this over the past couple of days, I have to admit that my logic was skewed by my propensity to assume the worst and hope for the best . Certainly, not ALL enrolled students will apply for OGS (they may not know about it, make the deadline, meet the requirements to do so, etc.). So, I revise my numbers. Keeping in mind that, according to the Self-Study, "the average GPA of the admitted class for the two-year M.S.W. Program has been consistently in the A- range. The same is true for the Advanced Standing (full-time)", I'm going to assume (still conservatively and totally based on conjecture) that 50% of accepted 1-year students apply (48), 50% of accepted first year 2-year students apply (73), and 85% of attending second year 2-years students apply (123). This presumed substantial increase in second year 2-year applications is based on my assumption that far more students will have the required minimum A- average when taking into account their last 2 years of studies, as grading tends to be more generous at the graduate level and the students attending already have a demonstrated history of achieving high grades at the senior level; I think it's also safe to assume that many more students will know about the scholarship, how to apply, and have help with their applications now that they have attended a year of graduate school. Unfortunately, these new numbers don't make much of a difference. 48+73+123=244. 3 (presumed FIFSW quota of domestic student OGS awards)/244=a 1.23% chance of getting an award. Even if we halve these application numbers, 25%+25%+42.5%, we're still looking at a 2.46% chance of getting one (24+36+62=122; 3/122). So, yeah, still no breath-holding going on here . Unless someone out there has some hearteningly contradictory insider info on how many OGS applications the FIFSW gets and/or how many they award? In other news: This last stretch of waiting on admissions results is KILLING ME.

Thank you for the update, Erin32796! UGH . I remain hopeful that this is just her usual stock answer when asked about results (see a couple of past exchanges about this from earlier in the thread)! Did she say 'by' or 'until' mid-April? Quote from March 10th of last year (referred to in my quoted post above), when results started being released March 23:

I feel you re U of T admissions – hang in there...we've waited this long. Re OGS: Results vary wildly (like, literally by months) from school to school. Not sure when Laurier's are released, but last year a Grad Cafe member heard back from U of T for social work on May 31st (see linked forum). The online application site says updates will be posted there by the end of June...so looks like we shouldn't start holding our breaths anytime soon, but we may hear directly from the FIFSW or SGS before the system updates. Thought I'd share what I'd found in terms of our chances, since the FIFSW has very little transparency around their OGS quotas (take this info with a healthy dose of salt, as it's all based on my own investigative work and conjecture). The only information I've been able to dig up on the number of awards granted is on page 38 of their 2014 Self-Study (http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/about-us/utqap-self-study-2014/), where they said that they awarded a mere four(!) external awards in 2013-14. This was down from an average of 17 over the 8 years prior (this massive shift downwards is likely due to the overhaul of OGS in 2013). This number could include CGS-M (for second year/advanced standing students pursuing a thesis...I've seen at least one get awarded in the past few years) and likely does include at least one international student OGS award (there's a quota between one to three international OGS awards allocated to each graduate unit, per the info on their "Financial Support" page, http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/current-students/financial-support/). Taken together, I'm assuming that a maximum of three OGS awards are awarded to all ~384 enrolled students (95 1-years + 145 first year 2-years + 145 second year 2-years – 1 international OGS recipient), meaning our chances of getting one are sitting at less than 1%. Please don't shoot the messenger ! Good luck!!

Welcome, heather.m! Breathe easy – 2-year results for U of T and York have not yet been released, but are imminent . SWYorkie posted a page back that York 2-year offers should be out by the end of next week. Accepted 1-years seemed to be receiving phone calls as their primary contact from admissions. U of T 2-year results are speculated to begin around March 23rd (based on last year's timeline and the fact that they were on the exact same schedule for this year's first round of advanced standing results), with the possibility of some early acceptances next week (again, speculation/wild hope based on prior years other than last year). The SGS site (where you currently see "Under review" for your U of T application) likely won't update until well after you've already received your package/letter in the mail, and even then all it will say is "Decision made", regardless of whether you've been accepted, waitlisted, or rejected. Acceptances for U of T first show up on the student portal, ACORN (no email prompt, we just check it obsessively until something shows up ). Check your email for instructions from SGS admissions on how to create a U of T JoinID, then use those credentials to log in here: http://www.acorn.utoronto.ca. If you have been accepted, you will see "Invited" in orange in the "Academics" section in the bottom left hand side of the main dashboard page that pops up after you log in (there's a screenshot of what it should look like in the last post of page 11 of this forum topic). Keep in mind that nothing will show up there if you have been waitlisted or rejected – these results are mailed, and generally don't come until all rounds of admissions are complete sometime in early- to mid-April. Also, on rare occasion, people have received acceptances in the mail without their ACORN updating first. Good luck!!

Congratulations, BruiseV08 (and all those who have received acceptances over the past couple of days)!! As @smntoronto said, AWESOME dilemma to have . And as @SWYorkie said, if money isn't a major issue for you, go with paradigmatic framework! There are substantial differences between U of T and York/Ryerson in terms of what you'll learn and how you'll learn it, especially given your chosen stream at U of T. If you had only gotten into one school, you could – of course – have shaped your degree/placements to meet your specific pedagogical and professional goals, but given the fact that you have your pick of the litter, you now have the incredible opportunity to choose the institution that's the best fit for you in terms of values and interests. Good luck!!

I so hope this is the year for both of us, too!!

Totally get your dismay! I was really surprised when I heard this a few years back at a workshop with key members of the graduate admissions committee at my undergraduate institution. Turns out, it's a common policy in North American academia (though it varies from field to field and there are always exceptions to the rule). Here's an old but comprehensive thread discussing it (U.S. posters, but generally applies to Canada as well): https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/224/attending-graduate-school-at-my-undergraduate-university. It's generally seen as a means of diversifying departmental culture and research output by encouraging cross-collaboration and integration of new paradigms and foci. It's more generally part of an approach meant to counter a phenomenon known as – I kid you not – "academic inbreeding" (though this term is usually reserved for hiring students who completed their doctoral studies at the institution as instructors/professors).

I'm so sorry that you're feeling this way, @mayjohn , but – as @smntoronto said – there's still good reason to hope for U of T. Some thoughts (that may or may not be helpful or relevant – so please ignore them, if they don't resonate and/or bring the comfort I'm intending)... Over the years, I have seen absolutely incredible applicants not gain acceptance to MSW programs...it's been truly sobering and humbling to witness. As I said a few pages back, it's not a measure of the quality of your contributions and qualifications, but of the (ever-growing) competitiveness of Canadian MSW programs in particular: there are simply too many qualified applicants for not enough spots. I've also seen a number of forum members generously share their stories of remarkable perseverance and wise hindsight (like @kv32, above) – folks who have come to understand the immense value of the extra time they had to live life, spend time with loved ones, gain experience, and explore and refine their interests and foci. I know, intimately, how devastating rejection feels in the moment; the sadness and disappointment will eventually pass, and you will undoubtably benefit from the time and space you've had imposed upon you – the growth that comes out of struggle is a beautiful (if painful and frustrating) inevitability. Right now, though, it's important to just let yourself grieve, finding comfort in the other things that bring you joy. With regards to your rejection from McMaster: my current university has an unwritten policy of NOT admitting former undergraduate students into their graduate programs – I know of only a very select few who have managed to circumvent this desire to bring in new blood, so to speak. Given your noted success/contributions at Mac, I'm wondering if your application suffered the consequences of this common practice. Finally, as a child of parents with excruciatingly demanding expectations (and as a mother who did things very differently), I'll say this: do whatever you can to alleviate yourself from the burden of familial pressure (easier said than done, I know). You are a capable, independent adult with your own desires, goals, and path – while their pressure comes from a place of love and concern, you don't need to bear the brunt of their expectations along with the already immense weight of your own.

Congratulations on both your acceptance and your waitlist, @MMSW1! I've taken a course through Athabasca (a required History of Psych course that wasn't offered in my own university in the semester I needed to take it in order to graduate that year) – you can definitely get an extension. The request can be made through MyAU and is just a formality i.e., it's guaranteed to be granted as long as you follow their timelines, which require that you submit it at least one month prior to the original course completion date (and, of course, pay a fee); it will give you an extra two months to complete the course and you can request a total of three. Do you have the time to tackle the course now? If so, DO IT – better to take advantage of the U of T offer you've been guaranteed this year than to start the whole process over with a new (unknown and ever-growing) applicant pool next year.

Don't lose heart because of this one result, @MSWapplicant2018! Your international community development and social justice-focused research experience will set your application apart. Laurier's program is tiny and super-focused on experience in terms of quality AND quantity, so it's incredibly difficult to get into, and it really depends on the applicant pool year-to-year. But U of T looks at applications holistically, emphasising grades and research potential – I really think you have a great chance there, with your specific experience profile, your 3.7 GPA, and your 'A' in research methods.

Awww – thank you <3. You've still got Laurier and U of T to go and I've got fingers and toes crossed for you...we might even end up classmates !!

Big congratulations to those who were waitlisted at Western today! I know it's not the outright acceptance we're all hoping for, but it's a tremendous accomplishment and the waitlist DOES move, as @hornets14 can attest! Two other forum members were accepted off the waitlist last year as well, one on March 13th, one on April 20th (and keep in mind that King's is a small program and we're an even smaller subset of applicants, so those are heartening numbers). And big hugs across the ether to those who received rejections. It's not about the value of your qualifications and contributions, it's about the insane (and ever-growing) competitiveness of Canadian MSW programs and (that other f-word) fit. Case in point: another forum member last year was rejected from Western but later accepted to Windsor off the waitlist. Don't lose hope for your other applications just because of this one result.

Haha . Well, if I ever actually get into grad school, I'll hopefully become a Principal Investigator. (That right there, folks, was a 4:00am research grant joke. Yup.)

I know! And these implications extend (even more meaningfully so) into employment after graduation...

Wow – double the applicants in just one year?! That's bonkers. I didn't apply to Windsor (I'm unable to leave Toronto due to family issues), but this type of trend tells us a lot about the future of the field in general – both in terms of education and employment opportunities. For comparison/information purposes, in the 2014 Self-Study that U of T has up on the FIFSW website (very much worth a read: http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/about-us/utqap-self-study-2014/), they indicated that total applications for their 2-year program had gone from just under 500 to over 800 between 2009 and 2013. Advanced standing applications increased much less substantially, from around 200 to 250. Enrolment numbers for both programs were increased by a mere 20 spots each across those years, for a total of 145 2-year students and 95 1-year students in 2014. But the bigger picture is that they were admitting only 75 students to each program in 2005, meaning that they had almost doubled enrolment for the 2-year program in eight years (while 1-year enrolment went up by 26% in this time). This was the last self-study they undertook – would love to know what current application numbers look like, as it's been four years and clearly the field is undergoing massive growth. According to the self-study, "The FIFSW increased enrolment due to graduate growth has not impacted the competitiveness of the applicant pool. The average GPA of the admitted class for the two-year M.S.W. Program has been consistently in the A- range. The same is true for the Advanced Standing (full-time)". Interesting that they would focus on grades as the specific measure of competitiveness here – my guess would be that this is far from representative of the "competitiveness" of applications, so this is a bit a of a false premise...

Thanks so much for sharing, viclane96! I agree, MSW2018applicant, sounds like this is the stock answer she always gives ("BY mid-April"), which means we should start hearing mid-to-late March. Not too long now, considering how long we've waited thus far. Yay!

Happy to know that I’m not alone in this! I can’t access ACORN either — just tried. I was able to log on yesterday evening, though. Likely just a temporary glitch with the system that will be resolved well before we’d actually need to be checking anyway (not that that will stop us checking, obviously ).

Nothing to do but wait and see, I suppose...but I remain hopeful that we'll hear sooner, given past years . I have a feeling we'll start hearing in March...perhaps a few early admissions earlier on in the month, as you've suggested @MSW2018applicant, and then the first official round of offers around March 23rd.

Haha. Indeed (you said it, though – I didn't ). But seriously, though, the system even thinks so: I was just prevented from liking your post because I've "reacted" too many times today (way harsh, Tai).