cat_not_kitty

Yea the waiting is a torture. Sadly, if you ask them, they always say by mid-April...

How absolutely ridiculous! Hang in there .

Just received a call from Ryerson to let me know I've been accepted! I'm crying, so overwhelmed!! For context, they said 37 people were accepted.

Just got accepted to Ryerson's Advanced One Year MSW - guess someone declined their offer and I got in. Good luck to all those waiting to hear back. 

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 absolutely feel for you.  This must be so difficult as before we know it, May will be here.  I hope that you hear something soon.  Have you contacted the admissions department to inquire about a timeline for acceptances?  I guess that the waiting and short turn around before the program will begin has been a true test of your strength, resilience and character during such a stressful time.  KUDOS to you for that!  Wishing you the best of outcomes.

Y'ALL 
Congratulations! On behalf of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, we are very pleased to offer you admission to the Master of Social Work Program at the University of Calgary. Attached to this e-mail is your official offer of admission. Please be aware that there may be conditions attached (this is stated on your admission letter). These must be satisfied before you will be able to register in the program. If you have any questions about these conditions or the program, please do not hesitate to contact us. Also please note that this electronic copy is the only notification you will receive

Hi there,
I only applied to the 2 year MSW program at Laurier as this was the only realistic option for me.  Don't beat yourself up for only applying to 2 programs.  At the end of the day, acceptance is only one factor when making this decision.  The choice has to be realistic to your personal life as well as meet your professional goals, hence my rationale for only applying to one.
As for the BSW programs, sadly I think that you may be too late.  I had a last minute epiphany/panic attack about the possibility of not getting accepted so I applied the the post-degreee BSW at McMaster just days before the deadline.  You could always call the faculty of the universities you are considering doing a BSW and inquire.  Never hurts to ask, right?! 
There is hope.  You may still be accepted to one of the programs to which you applied.  Also, Laurier has launched an on-line MSW program that takes 2.5 years to complete and offers rolling admissions.  Although you are too late to apply to the May start you could always apply for the September start if you are unsuccessful with your current applications. 
Don't give up hope.  It's only the second week of March and still early. 
I'm rooting for you!!!!

hi all,

long time lurker, first time poster. this was my first application cycle applying for msw programs, although i've been following grad cafe threads since i applied for my post-degree bsw in late 2013/early 2014. i was planning on just applying to one program, but decided that applying to two schools would be a safer route. both schools were chosen due to praxis, relative proximity, & professors. obviously there are other schools that fit the bill of having solid professors & critical programs -- but my partner does not have the ability to move & i wasn't too keen on doing long-distance. 

reasoning for programs selected:
to study at an institution with a critical framework, progressive professors & with the ability to write a major research paper/thesis. 

basic stats:
~7500+ hours working in the social service/work realm and/or in organizing.
two research assistant positions while completing a two-year post-degree bsw program.
~4.0/4.3 gpa in a two-year post-degree bsw program (just a hair under). 

programs applied to (advanced standing / one year programs):  
mcmaster msw-thesis: waitlisted (~early february, still waitlisted as of early march) via phone.
mcmaster msw-critical leadership: accepted (~mid february) via phone.
york msw: accepted (~early march) via phone. 

i'm about 99.9 p. sure that i'll be accepting/attending the offer from york. it's just the best fit for me & i honestly couldn't be more excited. i assume this means that there will be another spot opening up in the critical leadership program at mcmaster in the next couple of days.  

congratulations to everyone that has already been accepted & good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back.

 

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!!

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!!

Hi all,
Most of York's 1-Year Advanced Standing MSW offers will go out by the end of this week. If you do not receive an offer by Monday, it means you were either denied or wait-listed.  
The 2-Year Part-Time Advanced Standing MSW and 2-Year Full-Time MSW offers will go out by the end of next week. 
Good luck to all those still waiting! 

Hey there,
First of all, let me mention that I am an international student so my process may be different from others. However, I will share my information as you might find it beneficial. 
1. I applied to the 1 year Advanced Standing program at UofT and I was offered admission to that very same 1 year program. 
2. No. I didn’t receive any phone call. 
3. No. I did not receive any email regarding my status changing on Acorn. I just happened to check it and saw that it said “Invited”. 
4. My online status now says “decision made”. This was after I received the official letter in the mail, as well as email. 
5. I did receive my package in the mail and it came in a big brown envelope. 
 
Hope this helps. 

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!!
 

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!!
 

Hey folks,

Long time lurker... I just signed up to share that I called York just now, and was told that anyone who has not already received a call for the advanced standing has been either waitlisted or rejected. I spoke to the Graduate Program Assistant who told me that he already personally called everyone who has been accepted.
I hope this helps everyone who has been waiting. I did not get in either. He did mention that the program is so competitive (he said possibly the most competitive, as it has an approximately 3% acceptance rate), that being accepted or denied often doesn't reflect how strong the application was. It is often decided by other factors like your research interests aligning with the research supervisors'.
I really hope this helps!

I called York's school of social work- they said it won't be impacting admissions at all!

I've heard the same thing, that U of T's wait list sits around 70 people. It's pretty huge. I remember in a thread from around 2 years ago commenters were laughing because almost everyone who had applied to U of T had been waitlisted (you need to skim the thread from 2016, I think). Like others have mentioned, it is totally possible to move off the wait list but it is rare and I would remain hopeful but cautious. 
I was on the wait list for the 2 year program twice and I was never offered admission, despite sending in updated grades (A+ average) and updated work/volunteer experience over the summer. It really depends on their cohorts and what kind of applicant they might need to balance out diversity/experience/stream placement..etc for that cohort year is my guess. They say they don't rank their waitlists but evaluate everyone holistically when a spot becomes available. Good luck to those waiting! Don't lose hope just yet. It might take a few tries and more experience in the field but it still possible to make it

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.

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.
 
 

Hi folks!
First off, I want to express gratitude towards everyone who has posted so far. I've been lurking for about a month and all of your insights and information have been very useful (and anxiety-inducing tbh haha)--I really appreciate everyone who took time to post.
After doing some research following my application submission, I was convinced that I would not get into grad school. My choice is University of Toronto's Advanced Standing MSW program--Human Services Management and Leadership with a specialization in Public Health. I'm still going to wait until my letter arrives, but like some of the above posts, my status on ACORN has changed to invited! Do we know how for sure this is??
I figured I would post about my experiences to give back to the forum. I am 22 with a BSW from Carleton, B+ in the stats course, and a 3.8 GPA. I have a year of fulltime work experience as a social worker in a community health centre, and have also worked jobs related to youth engagement and LGBTQ2S throughout university. I have done  5000+ hours of unpaid work via volunteering through organizations as well as grassroots causes. 
The U of T MSW was the only program that I applied to as it is my top choice, application fees are steep, and I figured I could gain work experience for a year or two if I didn't get in. After submitting my application and doing further research, I became worried about how my impact statement would affect my application. They are a clinical program but as a result of my personal experiences and education in structural social work, I really spoke from the heart about trauma and systems of oppression. As examples, I spoke about my experiences in LGBTQ2S communities, big picture transformative justice as a response to sexual violence, and feeling daunted as a social worker working with (and wanting to change) systemic barriers. I was worried about not citing sources, not using sufficient clinical terminology, and overall my values perhaps not aligning with the university.
If this information on the portal is correct, it means I got in! If this is the case, I want to say that I am very glad that I was honest in the written statement as it truly does represent who I am as a social worker. Best of luck to everyone and cheers to any future classmates of mine!

I did the exact same thing!!! Waitlisted at U of T and rejected at Laurier in 2015, I did the 15 month post-degree BSW at St Thomas in NB. Honestly, I was broken hearted about it all - it meant another almost two years of long distance in my relationship, a perceived huge delay to my future career, and I considered it unnecessary, which was honestly probably just my ego talking.
I'm on the other side of it now. I graduated just over a year ago (December 2016) and decided not to apply to an MSW right away. I've been working food service for the last basically year and although a lot of that was disheartening, it has been a really good experience. I was not ready to do my MSW, honestly. Just because I had a gender studies minor didn't mean I knew much about social work. I didn't love my program BUT I learned a LOT about what I want to do and what I don't, and what I'm WILLING to do (and able to, for my own mental health). I met some incredible people and ultimately feel way more prepared and ready - even answering the personal statements this time around felt much more... cohesive? I just know more about what I want. And ultimately, I was right three years ago: what I want to do requires a masters degree, and with the state of clinical social work right now I'm safer for myself not in it. I'm sad about it, for sure. I'd rather be using my degree! But, I also have colleagues who rushed through our program (which honestly was a LOT of work - I can't imagine condensing it AND more into just one "foundational" year!) and are now, a year later, burnt out and exhausted. I'm a little frustrated, but in SUCH a better place and am now really excited to actually get into this in the right way for me.
ANYWAYS. It felt shitty and like a huge misstep for me, but in the end it was worth it. AND we had people of all ages and walks of life in our class as well. And you're right, honestly, what's one more year? THAT SAID- I'll still send some positive vibes your way and hope you get some good news!

This also makes total sense and doesn't surprise me one bit. Lol @ "academic inbreeding".
 
On another note, thank goodness it's March... one month closer to the end 

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 re the Grad Cafe whisperer comment…there are quite a few of us on here . This forum has been an invaluable resource to me as I’ve geared up to applying for grad school – it’s about time that I gave back.
And that’s excellent that Angela confirmed the relevance of your degree! Makes total sense to me (as someone who spent many years working in HR myself – I’m actually a CHRL, though I moved on from working directly in HR quite some time ago).
Of course I don’t mind you asking! I was going to write out a post with a bit about my background experience anyway, just to contribute fully to the dialogue.
This is my first time applying for graduate school. My personal/professional/academic history is long and circuitous (read: I’m old and have fought tooth and nail to make it this far), but I’m officially coming in with a BA in psychology from Ryerson, with a 4.33/4.33 GPA in my senior courses (I assume you’re at Ryerson too, given the 4.33 scale?). I realised quite early on in my degree that there was a fundamental incompatibility between the paradigm of mainstream psych and my own values and worldview, so I worked from the get-go to mould my undergrad experiences to meet my commitment to politically accountable research and practice, with the understanding that I would likely shift fields to social work. I was incredibly lucky to have the help of a deeply generous mentor in this capacity, who recognised my lived experience and opened a number of doors that would otherwise be firmly closed to me as an undergraduate student. So, while I have a lot of diverse experience, both paid and volunteer (as an HR Manager, Personal Support Worker, Program Coordinator for an agency that works with families affected by incarceration, Volunteer Mentor for the same agency, Volunteer Hospice Worker, etc.), I’m hoping that my research experience, in particular, will help set my application apart for U of T – which is the only school I’ve applied to (for very specific reasons that I won’t go into just now, due to time limitations ). I’ve worked as the Research Coordinator of a critical, feminist lab that studies issues related to gender and sexuality for the past three years (and was with the lab as an RA for a year prior to that), which has allowed me direct experience leading administration, qualitative data collection, and analysis on several studies – and has resulted in a number of co-authored peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. I think I’ll leave it there for now – but excited to learn more about all of you, and to share more about myself, as we take on the next few weeks of waiting together!