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KJE88

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  1. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from SupremeReign in Canada MSW 2019   
    My cohort is full of amazing supportive people. I really cannot say enough good things about the people sitting beside me in class. I can't speak to other years, but our cohort seems to get along really well, and I have learned just as much from my classmates as my profs (and classes are set up in a way that makes this possible).   
    I LOVE that we have our own campus. Only social work, and only Master/PhD level students in our building. I do occasionally go to the main campus to use the library in the evenings/ on weekends though. There are around 75 people in my cohort and we are typically split into 3 sections for each class (25 per class), sometimes there are 4 sections. We occasionally have some of the part time students in our classes and we also have music therapy students who join us for the Individuals class. There will always be some profs who are better than others but I can honestly say for the most part I have loved my profs, we have some pretty incredible people teaching our classes.  We are referred to as colleagues by our profs and my experience has been that they are open to learning from us. Our profs know who we are by name and we are on a first name basis with them. They are very open to the needs of their students, and seem to truly care about our wellbeing. I will say that it is not as clinically focused as I would like, but I do feel that I am getting the clinical component at placement, and although my end goal is clinical social work I feel like the social justice class and community development class were essential. They were actually my two favourite classes so far (mostly because the profs were brilliant). Having the indigenous stream of study in the building enriches our experience as well (guest lectures, faculty members who are indigenous elders, indigenous faculty teach the indigenous knowledge in social work course, and invitations to events put on by the indigenous stream students). Another opportunity is a program called Walls to Bridges, started by one of our profs, and which is now being run through other universities as well, but it provides students the opportunity to take one of their classes alongside inmates in a prison setting. Super cool opportunity! I haven’t been able to work it into my schedule this year, but fingers crossed for next year! You can check out this link, part of it was filmed in my class when Tina came to do a guest lecture (side note, if you choose Laurier- take a class with Shoshona, she is amazing!):
    https://twitter.com/TheAgenda/status/1068549936487239691
    The placement process is a bit of a shit show but from what I've heard from friends at other schools this seems to be the case with a lot of the programs. I would say this is my largest complaint about the program. 
    Also, just an FYI- next year they are extending our lunch period to make more time for lunch time workshops, which means you will be stuck in class until 5:30pm on class days. This will definitely make it more difficult to find part time work, just something to keep in mind when planning how you are going to survive financially! Especially now that our lovely premier has taken away free tuition #notbitterattall. First semester you have Monday and Friday off so that makes it easier to have a part time job, second semester is more difficult, especially if your placement is not in the city you live in. I had to stop working this semester because I couldn’t make it work with the placement/ class schedule. There are people in the program who have been able to make it work though, especially those who got placements close to where they live, or have jobs that are cool with only weekend availability. 
    My GPA was not initially high enough, and my undergrad was completely unrelated (biology). I took social science courses through Athabasca and got high 80s-90s but that didn't really seem to have an impact. Then I found the online pre-req courses for the Waterloo post grad BSW and took 7 of those, again grades in high 80s-90s, this seemed to make the difference because I was accepted after doing them. I think this is for a couple of reasons:
    a) They were social work courses directly related to the program and I could demonstrate I was competent in the area through high grades
    b) It meant I had an academic reference from a prof who was also a social worker (also happened to be a graduate of Laurier so that may have worked to my advantage)
    c) Because I was taking social work courses, I knew the language they would be looking for in the application and the types of things I said in my personal statement changed. 
    So, if you need to boost your GPA I would definitely recommend the Waterloo BSW pre-req courses over other online courses such as those at Athabasca. It would also open the option of applying to the 1 year BSW as a backup if you don't get into an MSW.
    I also focused heavily on gaining experience in the field from the first time I applied to when I finally got in. I believe I had about 4000 hours (volunteer and paid combined) when I applied last year. As I gained more experience I also began to talk about those experiences differently in my personal statement and my CV. Volunteering at a distress centre was a valuable experience for anyone looking for something that looks good on the application. This is also an easy way to break into the field if you do not have a related education because that can be really difficult.  It also helped prepare me for the individuals class and as I moved into field placement because I was already familiar with some counselling skills and very comfortable talking about suicide with clients. Additionally, the distress centre where I volunteered (and I would think this is the case at many) was very familiar with writing references for students applying to grad school, and wrote fabulous social work related references.  
    For Laurier (this is the only school I applied to so I can only speak to it) - I would make sure there is an emphasis on social justice issues in your personal statement. Ensure you have socially located yourself, and make it clear you are able to engage in reflexivity. There has been a huge focus on these things in all classes and this will be attractive to the faculty on the committee who chooses successful applicants.My successful personal statement had a larger emphasis on these things than previous years when I was not successful.  Include lived experience. As much as it is no ones business what your struggles have been, it seems that those who include it in their personal statement are more likely to get in. 
    If you were looking for more specific details feel free to send me a private message  
  2. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from mswash in Canada MSW 2019   
    My cohort is full of amazing supportive people. I really cannot say enough good things about the people sitting beside me in class. I can't speak to other years, but our cohort seems to get along really well, and I have learned just as much from my classmates as my profs (and classes are set up in a way that makes this possible).   
    I LOVE that we have our own campus. Only social work, and only Master/PhD level students in our building. I do occasionally go to the main campus to use the library in the evenings/ on weekends though. There are around 75 people in my cohort and we are typically split into 3 sections for each class (25 per class), sometimes there are 4 sections. We occasionally have some of the part time students in our classes and we also have music therapy students who join us for the Individuals class. There will always be some profs who are better than others but I can honestly say for the most part I have loved my profs, we have some pretty incredible people teaching our classes.  We are referred to as colleagues by our profs and my experience has been that they are open to learning from us. Our profs know who we are by name and we are on a first name basis with them. They are very open to the needs of their students, and seem to truly care about our wellbeing. I will say that it is not as clinically focused as I would like, but I do feel that I am getting the clinical component at placement, and although my end goal is clinical social work I feel like the social justice class and community development class were essential. They were actually my two favourite classes so far (mostly because the profs were brilliant). Having the indigenous stream of study in the building enriches our experience as well (guest lectures, faculty members who are indigenous elders, indigenous faculty teach the indigenous knowledge in social work course, and invitations to events put on by the indigenous stream students). Another opportunity is a program called Walls to Bridges, started by one of our profs, and which is now being run through other universities as well, but it provides students the opportunity to take one of their classes alongside inmates in a prison setting. Super cool opportunity! I haven’t been able to work it into my schedule this year, but fingers crossed for next year! You can check out this link, part of it was filmed in my class when Tina came to do a guest lecture (side note, if you choose Laurier- take a class with Shoshona, she is amazing!):
    https://twitter.com/TheAgenda/status/1068549936487239691
    The placement process is a bit of a shit show but from what I've heard from friends at other schools this seems to be the case with a lot of the programs. I would say this is my largest complaint about the program. 
    Also, just an FYI- next year they are extending our lunch period to make more time for lunch time workshops, which means you will be stuck in class until 5:30pm on class days. This will definitely make it more difficult to find part time work, just something to keep in mind when planning how you are going to survive financially! Especially now that our lovely premier has taken away free tuition #notbitterattall. First semester you have Monday and Friday off so that makes it easier to have a part time job, second semester is more difficult, especially if your placement is not in the city you live in. I had to stop working this semester because I couldn’t make it work with the placement/ class schedule. There are people in the program who have been able to make it work though, especially those who got placements close to where they live, or have jobs that are cool with only weekend availability. 
    My GPA was not initially high enough, and my undergrad was completely unrelated (biology). I took social science courses through Athabasca and got high 80s-90s but that didn't really seem to have an impact. Then I found the online pre-req courses for the Waterloo post grad BSW and took 7 of those, again grades in high 80s-90s, this seemed to make the difference because I was accepted after doing them. I think this is for a couple of reasons:
    a) They were social work courses directly related to the program and I could demonstrate I was competent in the area through high grades
    b) It meant I had an academic reference from a prof who was also a social worker (also happened to be a graduate of Laurier so that may have worked to my advantage)
    c) Because I was taking social work courses, I knew the language they would be looking for in the application and the types of things I said in my personal statement changed. 
    So, if you need to boost your GPA I would definitely recommend the Waterloo BSW pre-req courses over other online courses such as those at Athabasca. It would also open the option of applying to the 1 year BSW as a backup if you don't get into an MSW.
    I also focused heavily on gaining experience in the field from the first time I applied to when I finally got in. I believe I had about 4000 hours (volunteer and paid combined) when I applied last year. As I gained more experience I also began to talk about those experiences differently in my personal statement and my CV. Volunteering at a distress centre was a valuable experience for anyone looking for something that looks good on the application. This is also an easy way to break into the field if you do not have a related education because that can be really difficult.  It also helped prepare me for the individuals class and as I moved into field placement because I was already familiar with some counselling skills and very comfortable talking about suicide with clients. Additionally, the distress centre where I volunteered (and I would think this is the case at many) was very familiar with writing references for students applying to grad school, and wrote fabulous social work related references.  
    For Laurier (this is the only school I applied to so I can only speak to it) - I would make sure there is an emphasis on social justice issues in your personal statement. Ensure you have socially located yourself, and make it clear you are able to engage in reflexivity. There has been a huge focus on these things in all classes and this will be attractive to the faculty on the committee who chooses successful applicants.My successful personal statement had a larger emphasis on these things than previous years when I was not successful.  Include lived experience. As much as it is no ones business what your struggles have been, it seems that those who include it in their personal statement are more likely to get in. 
    If you were looking for more specific details feel free to send me a private message  
  3. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from deklr in Canada MSW 2019   
    Hello to all the 2 year Laurier hopefuls! Recently decided to look back at this forum and reminisce about the journey I've been on since I was in your position last year (and a couple years before that as well, as I was not accepted the first time I applied)  I've seen a couple posts speculating about when the Laurier 2 year (on campus) offers will go out and I remember how anxiety provoking it was that Laurier seems to be one of the last programs to send out acceptance letters! Last year acceptances went out April 3rd and the years prior to that I got my rejection around that date as well (rejections were sent by snail mail). So you've probably got about 2 weeks of that constant refresh of your email and Loris to go. You will get an email to whatever email address you used when you applied to the program, so no need to keep checking Loris (this is how they did it last year anyway). 
    Wishing you all the best of luck and reminding you to take care of your mental health as you wait over the next couple of weeks, I know how agonizing the wait is! For those of you who are successful and do choose Laurier, it is a wonderful program, and so far it has been a great experience. 
     
  4. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from mgauth12 in Canada MSW 2019   
    Hello to all the 2 year Laurier hopefuls! Recently decided to look back at this forum and reminisce about the journey I've been on since I was in your position last year (and a couple years before that as well, as I was not accepted the first time I applied)  I've seen a couple posts speculating about when the Laurier 2 year (on campus) offers will go out and I remember how anxiety provoking it was that Laurier seems to be one of the last programs to send out acceptance letters! Last year acceptances went out April 3rd and the years prior to that I got my rejection around that date as well (rejections were sent by snail mail). So you've probably got about 2 weeks of that constant refresh of your email and Loris to go. You will get an email to whatever email address you used when you applied to the program, so no need to keep checking Loris (this is how they did it last year anyway). 
    Wishing you all the best of luck and reminding you to take care of your mental health as you wait over the next couple of weeks, I know how agonizing the wait is! For those of you who are successful and do choose Laurier, it is a wonderful program, and so far it has been a great experience. 
     
  5. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from mswash in Canada MSW 2019   
    Hello to all the 2 year Laurier hopefuls! Recently decided to look back at this forum and reminisce about the journey I've been on since I was in your position last year (and a couple years before that as well, as I was not accepted the first time I applied)  I've seen a couple posts speculating about when the Laurier 2 year (on campus) offers will go out and I remember how anxiety provoking it was that Laurier seems to be one of the last programs to send out acceptance letters! Last year acceptances went out April 3rd and the years prior to that I got my rejection around that date as well (rejections were sent by snail mail). So you've probably got about 2 weeks of that constant refresh of your email and Loris to go. You will get an email to whatever email address you used when you applied to the program, so no need to keep checking Loris (this is how they did it last year anyway). 
    Wishing you all the best of luck and reminding you to take care of your mental health as you wait over the next couple of weeks, I know how agonizing the wait is! For those of you who are successful and do choose Laurier, it is a wonderful program, and so far it has been a great experience. 
     
  6. Upvote
    KJE88 got a reaction from SupremeReign in Canada MSW 2019   
    Hello to all the 2 year Laurier hopefuls! Recently decided to look back at this forum and reminisce about the journey I've been on since I was in your position last year (and a couple years before that as well, as I was not accepted the first time I applied)  I've seen a couple posts speculating about when the Laurier 2 year (on campus) offers will go out and I remember how anxiety provoking it was that Laurier seems to be one of the last programs to send out acceptance letters! Last year acceptances went out April 3rd and the years prior to that I got my rejection around that date as well (rejections were sent by snail mail). So you've probably got about 2 weeks of that constant refresh of your email and Loris to go. You will get an email to whatever email address you used when you applied to the program, so no need to keep checking Loris (this is how they did it last year anyway). 
    Wishing you all the best of luck and reminding you to take care of your mental health as you wait over the next couple of weeks, I know how agonizing the wait is! For those of you who are successful and do choose Laurier, it is a wonderful program, and so far it has been a great experience. 
     
  7. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from dem13 in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Hi dem13, def write it as one big essay rather than separate questions. I was told my personal statement was really strong by the prof who wrote my reference for me (he wanted my whole application before writing it) and I got into the Laurier 2 year MSW for the fall. If you are struggling a bit (I know I def did the first year I applied!!!) feel free to send me a private message and I can try to help. 
  8. Like
    KJE88 reacted to lindaMSW in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I just got off  the  U of T waitlist today!!!  Feel super excited and I literally cried for a hour ! I had been rejected by the university THREE TIMES and I finally made it into this year!!
  9. Like
    KJE88 reacted to nicoleMSW in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Me too!! I’m currently out of the country and woke up around 3:30am... briefly checked my phone for the time and saw the acceptance... it’s now 5am and I haven’t gotten a wink of sleep! So excited! 
  10. Like
    KJE88 reacted to Aspiringmsw2320 in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I got off the waitlist for Laurier’s 2-year MSW program :D. 
  11. Like
    KJE88 reacted to msw007 in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Accepted off the waitlist for Laurier’s 2 year program!  
  12. Like
    KJE88 reacted to skd05 in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Online beginning in May! Did you apply? My acceptance came in after hours last night
  13. Upvote
    KJE88 got a reaction from _Nomad_ in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    No problem. I've been reading everything on the Laurier website (which is actually where I found that link) tonight and did look at the online stuff briefly... you would have a lot of field placement with that program according to the schedule but it doesn't give you an actual number of hours. 
    https://students.wlu.ca/programs/social-work/msw/program-requirements/index.html
     
  14. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from _Nomad_ in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Not sure if I am understanding your question correctly. Do you mean how many hours of field practice do you have to complete during your MSW to be able to register with the college of social workers following graduation? I would assume that every program with accredidation would require you to complete at least the minimum number of hours but this document might help answer your question. Scroll to page 13 of the document where it talks about field education. 
    http://caswe-acfts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CASWE-ACFTS-Standards-11-2014.pdf
     

  15. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from Meemoo in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I was just accepted at Laurier!!! Definitely burst out crying at work after opening the email ahahaha (I’ve been trying since 2015!!!)
    Looking forward to getting to know all my future classmates!
  16. Like
    KJE88 reacted to SWMommy in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I just received my offer of admission to Laurier’s Two-Year Full Time on campus program!!! Truly a dream come true. In total shock. 
  17. Like
    KJE88 reacted to SWMommy in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Good luck today Laurier applicants!! I really hope today is the day. 
  18. Like
    KJE88 reacted to whatdidigetinto in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Maybe the admissions committee has some sort of bet going on about how often us applicants will email/call/check LORIS/etc.  (just amuse me ... the waiting game is harsh.)
  19. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from 2 Year MSW in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I was just accepted at Laurier!!! Definitely burst out crying at work after opening the email ahahaha (I’ve been trying since 2015!!!)
    Looking forward to getting to know all my future classmates!
  20. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from nicoleMSW in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I was just accepted at Laurier!!! Definitely burst out crying at work after opening the email ahahaha (I’ve been trying since 2015!!!)
    Looking forward to getting to know all my future classmates!
  21. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from _Nomad_ in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    I was just accepted at Laurier!!! Definitely burst out crying at work after opening the email ahahaha (I’ve been trying since 2015!!!)
    Looking forward to getting to know all my future classmates!
  22. Like
    KJE88 reacted to skd05 in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    Cheers to another day Laurier applicants!
  23. Like
    KJE88 got a reaction from _Nomad_ in Canadian MSW Applicants 2018   
    @_Nomad_ I am still waiting to hear from Laurier but in the meantime I have also been looking into the online program because I have been going through this process for a few years now and I am desperate to keep moving forward! I have been emailing one of the enrolment advisors so here is some of the information I got. The program is still valuable in terms of being able to use your degree. You have the same designation as those who were in class at the end of the day its just a different process and it may even be better for you depending on your learning style. She said "the course work will be focused on readings, assignment, case studies and discussion forms"  She also said the online program does not have exams, you are graded on the course work. It also includes a placement portion so you would still be gaining valuable work experience. In terms of the placement she said: There is a placement factor in the program, if you work full time you would have to work part time up until the placement is done, or if you decide to do your placement within your employer within a different department and under a different management then you may not have to go part time depending on the flexibilities with your employer.
    My main issue with the program is that you cannot elect the thesis option. This aspect is really important to my goals and my learning and it is the main reason I am not entirely sure if the online option is best for my future. But the other half of me says; just apply so you can get the MSW done so that you can start doing the work you want to do and get involved in research later. 
    FYI - she also told me that applications for the Fall 2018 start date will be due in May, so that gives you some time to put some thought into it  
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