Monoo

Thank you both!! This is really validating and makes me feel a lot better. I should stress that many of the professors at York are fantastic, and I've had a couple courses where trans topics were covered decently well. But, overall, there's a lot of trans erasure in the program. E.g. subtle ways like professors using language like "he or she," implying that those are the only genders. Or when gender oppression came up as a topic, it was almost always limited to cis women's oppression and never discussed other marginalized genders. Certain professors (again, mostly the tenured ones) refused to use students' pronouns after they were requested to. The administrative staff refused to provide the names of a student's professors to them in advance, which would have allowed for them to notify the professors before the first class of their chosen name and pronouns (since there is a long and onerous process at York to change one's name with the registrar). The program just generally fails at informing social workers about anything related to trans people. Recently, in one of my 4th year course, a student did a trans 101 style presentation, and almost all of the other students were completely confused, not knowing very basic terminology like the difference between "sexual orientation" and "gender identity." This highlights how bad the trans erasure is within the department (BSW and MSW are mostly the same professors). I have found the York SW department to have solid social justice values in most other ways, so for the most part I overlooked this issue (even though it affects me personally). Thankfully I got into U of T and I am really excited and grateful for that. It mostly hurts because I obsessed about grades and overworked myself to get experience, in the hopes of going to York. But I also know there are so so many amazing, worthy candidates who get rejected. It's such a brutal process.

Ammad, the graduate program assistant at York, is lovely. However, I still haven't received any official response for the Advanced Standing program. I only know that I wasn't accepted by reading this forum and then following up by calling Ammad. I was told I would receive an official letter by the end of last week, and I'm still waiting. It would just be nice to know whether I was waitlisted or rejected. Myfile still says "No Decision Made." I also feel suspicious that I was rejected based on discriminatory factors, like my research interest being trans focused. I'm a current student at York, and many (NOT ALL) of the professors, especially the tenured professors, are pretty trans exclusionary. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I was shocked to be rejected, since I've worked so hard to keep my grades high (I've only had As and A+s), I have over 4000 hours of social work experience, had great references, and I got really good feedback on my statement from the program director. I'm at a loss as to how I could have made my application stronger. Feeling really disillusioned with the school I've loved studying at for the past several years.

I just checked my mail and still haven't received or heard anything (for the advanced standing). Also still no change on myfile. I was told to expect an official letter this week but I am doubtful at this point.

I have also heard (from a reliable source) that York's process for selecting applications is to divide all of the applications to individuals on the committee, then each committee member selects their top X number of applications and the rest are eliminated. Which means, if one committee member had an usually high number of strong applications, very worthy applications could be unfairly eliminated. The process makes sense given how many applications they have to sift through, but it also means that very worthy applications sometimes get eliminated through luck of the draw. So, if you didn't get accepted, try not to take it personally (easier said than done, of course).

I spoke to the Graduate Program Assistant on late Thursday afternoon, and he confirmed that all of the acceptances for the advanced standing program had been called (he said he called them personally), and if you haven't heard by now, that means you haven't been accepted (but still may have been waitlisted). I am guessing the Monday date refers to when people can expect official letters. I am just saying this so people don't have to wait anxiously all weekend. Even hearing that I wasn't accepted was better than the anxious waiting for me. If you haven't been called though, don't feel too bad. The Graduate Program assistant said the program is so competitive that, often, it just comes down to whether your research interests match those of the research supervisors. It seems kind of unfair to me (ie, why wouldn't they welcome new and different perspectives into their school?).

Also, he mentioned that official letters for the advanced standing at York will go out next week.

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!