T.O.hopeful

It's a really long-winded way of saying you'll be getting an offer lol. Congrats!!

JoinID is described as an "online undergraduate applicant community" on the website, so I was always under the impression that only current undergrads applying to grad school would have received the JoinID email. But it's just an assumption I made, I don't know for sure!

Sorry to hear that person received a rejection! How were they notified?

I think I've come to realize that it's not necessarily the wait or delay that is the problem for me but it's the lack of transparency around when you can expect to hear results. E.g., if an application deadline is December and the school sends a mass email after the deadline saying "you can expect to hear results by the 1st week of April", even though that's a really long wait, at least knowing I won't hear anything until April would help ease my stress because I wouldn't have to check a portal everyday or ask people whether they've heard from a school yet. It's also so much better for administrators because they would get way less emails and calls from applicants asking for a status update! Here's to hoping future program departments can move towards being open about timelines to applicants.

It is 100% discriminatory so I'm surprised a program administrator would even admit this practice

I wonder if it's just one committee at OISE that makes admissions decisions on every OISE program. Because its funny (sad) that the deadline was November 15 and on March 7, they still don't know who they want to accept. I know they must be busy but what have they been doing this whole time lol

I think you can usually accept an offer (and pay the deposit, if required) just to secure your spot but then you can reject it after. I think that may be why some people don't get off waitlists until May or summer time because of people rejecting offers late. But definitely call/email to make sure!

I've also seen graduates of Yorkville working/interning in different clinics, so at first glance, there doesn't appear to be any issues regarding credibility. Honestly, being accredited is key and that program is, so I think it's fine. It was also going to be a back up plan for me as well, but after reevaluating things, I don't think I can handle the financial cost for the program, which is almost double the tuition of other programs.

No, since they haven't released the results yet, it should say $0 for everyone still. Also, I'm just going based on what the MSW students are saying, I don't know for sure if the Acorn portal will change for MEd applicants. I just know they said their application portal still showed "Submitted" even though, Acorn changed for them!

When I googled joinid, it looks like it could be something sent to people just finishing their undergrad. So maybe if you already finished undergrad before this year, they wouldn't have sent you the joinid email. One of the MSW people accepted said they received their acceptance email a day after it changed on Acorn, so if you don't have access to Acorn, it's probably okay as it looks like they may email within 24 hours.

For those wondering about OISE MEd, I applied to this program and also UofT's MSW program. And people over in the MSW forum who were accepted to the Advanced standing stream are saying their UofT Acorn portal changed to show "invited" and shows a $500 deposit fee, even though some still haven't received an email saying they've been accepted. So the Acorn portal may be a good place to check vs. the admissions portal that just says "Submitted" still lol. I'm a previous UofT graduate so I already have an Acorn account but I think for those who didn't go to UofT, you would have received an email about JoinID or something

I wonder if they just waitlist a bunch of people to start and then will choose their accepted people from this list?

Did you apply to the 2 year non-BSW background or the Advanced standing? And sorry to hear you've been waitlisted but fingers crossed you get some good news!

Haha glad I could help!

Yes, it's so hard not to feel like you have imposter syndrome. And no matter how much good news we hear (e.g., acceptance offers), receiving a rejection will always stand out more and feel like it reaffirms our "imposter" feeling. But I just try to remember that with limited spots available, there are always going to be well qualified and deserving candidates who unfortunately won't get accepted and try not to take it so personal. And thanks for letting me know about the portal! Helpful to know that yours still says "Submitted" as it likely means I can stop signing in to check every couple of hours ?

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get in but I've seen you've gotten a couple of other acceptances so you're clearly a very strong candidate who's going to become a really great Social worker! I applied to UofT but the non-ITR stream. Did you receive a personalized email from the department or was it an update to the portal that informed you?

I've also heard what your friend said in that applicants should be cautious when it comes to mentioning their own mental health struggles in statement letters as it could be seen as a negative, e.g., "maybe the applicant won't be able to handle the stress of graduate school due to their mental illness". At the end of the day, it's your letter so you should submit what feels right to you, but it is definitely possible for you to have a strong letter and get your point across about your career goal being to have a lasting impact on children without mentioning your personal mental health issues. Perhaps it may help to try drafting a second version that leaves out the MI and see how it reads/if you like that version also? Then you can decide which you want to submit.

Yea the appropriate response by the program would have been to reach out to all applicants, explain the situation and then ASK if you want your application to be reviewed for Fall 2023. Then if you say yes, no refund. But to just automatically keep your money and say we reviewed for Fall 2023 is so wrong. Who even knows if those applicants want to go there for Fall 2023. You can't keep money for a school year people didn't apply for.

Lol wow, such a wild response. I honestly think they're using the excuse of shortlisting people for next year as a way to not refund applicants. But the reality is, people applied for Fall 2022 admission, not Fall 2023. So if you're not accepting any students for Fall 2022, you should refund them. Their response almost implies that they won't be accepting applications next year because they already have their shortlist. However, I would be shocked if they didn't let people apply next year, so they can collect application fees again lol. The lack of transparency by only saying "unforeseen circumstances" and waiting for people to reach out to them rather than sending a mass email to explain the situation is also a major red flag. Definitely not a program I would consider applying to in the future.

You chose to only focus on the end of my point but my first question was meant to make you think. If you're having a hard time weighing your options, it helps to revisit why you applied to a school in the first place. And those reasons may re-centre your way back to the positives you originally saw and not just focus on the doubts you're having. I can only assume you applied because you thought the program may be good for you, you can reflect on that. And if you feel you've learned new information about the program that no longer make you think it's a good fit, then you should go with your gut and turn it down. PhD programs are several years long, you shouldn't accept if you feel in your heart it's not the right program for you. Other than that, it's hard to be constructive when you've provided no information other than you just don't think it's prestigious enough. In North America, program fit weighs more heavily than prestige to a school name. But if for your country, prestige is most important, then by all means go with a program you feel is going to set you up with the most success post-graduation.

What was your reasoning for applying to UofT if you think its not good enough? Speaking as a Canadian, UofTs social work program is one of, if not, the most popular program in Canada and its not easy to get accepted. Apart from social work, the University of Toronto in general, is a well known school that carries a name to it. If you're not feeling it or think it's not prestigious enough then perhaps turn it down as I'm sure there are plenty of other people who would gladly accept the offer.

You have to login in from the main Application management page (https://admissions.sgs.utoronto.ca/apply/). Then it will show you your list of applications (if you have more than one UofT application) with a Status that says Submitted.

Okay thanks for clarifying!

Where were you able to see those numbers, i.e., 1400 applicants for 140 spots?

I noticed this last fall when I was exploring the program site, so it's been closed for a while, well before the application deadline. So I feel that this centre being closed should be unrelated to not doing interviews this year but I don't really know