DD2021

Got the official letter for U of T  acceptance. I was in a state of disbelief until I got it lol.

Hey everyone! Since I got accepted into Laurier's 2-year non-BSW program, I'd like to share some tips on what I did in my application, my stats, and some general tips if you didn't get in this round. 
Stats: Did my undergrad in Psychology. 3.9 gpa in my last year, 3.8 for the last 2 years, and 3.54 cGPA. I got a c+ in my statistics courses and a b+ in my research methods course (not that it matters for this application, but some other MSW app requirements care about those grades). I began focusing a lot on experience in my fourth year, although I began my mental-health related experience in my third year. I have around 3000 hours of work + volunteer experience in mental health clubs, peer facilitation, aba therapy, crisis responder for distress centre lines, student mentoring, crisis, and addiction counselling. Among those roles, I had specialized experience with women, substance abuse, LGBTQ community, domestic violence, and crisis de-escalation. If you're in the GTA and want to build your experience with volunteering, this is a link I used in my 4th year that helped me find some places to volunteer at: https://www.volunteertoronto.ca/blogpost/1302191/291575/10-Places-You-Can-Volunteer-to-Support-Mental-Health
Personal Statement: I found the questions to be very specific and detailed. Make sure to use the limited space you have to precisely answer the question, using key words in the question to guide your answer. Make sure you have a clearly defined purpose for pursuing social work, and the MSW in THIS particular school / program. Do some research on different types of social work too if you're not entirely sure what you wanna do in the field!  Another benefit of doing so is realizing you may have more related experience than you thought! For example, if you were involved in creative / recreational activities, this can help you dabble in recreational therapy side of social work. If you've done research and you're a good writer, you can excel in research or policy development kind of social work. If you have lots of remote experience, you can succeed in the ever-growing virtual platform in social work through your computer literacy. Another important tip is to look through the MSW course outline and relate your experience or goals to the courses you will take. Include your social location as well and try to relate that to your purpose in pursuing an MSW. Learn about the different ways your social location has given you an enhanced understanding of certain social concerns and how your privileges will contribute as well. If you have access to an academic advisor / career counsellor, I would suggest booking an apt with them to go over your statement. Otherwise, asking friends or students in the program (including me!) to give you feedback can also be helpful. 
Some key words I included in my personal statement: advocacy, empowerment, equity, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality, stigma, and different therapeutic modalities. 
If you didn't get an acceptance this year, that is completely normal and does not mean you're not good enough for this field. Hundreds of extremely experienced applicants get rejected each year simply due to the high volume of great applicants and limited number of seats. You can try to use the time away from grad school to build your experience in work and volunteering, explore post-grad certificates or MSW's with winter intakes, look into post-grad BSW diplomas such as Lakehead's HBSW so that you can apply for the 1-year advanced standing MSW instead of the regular track when you're ready. Or instead, take this time off to do things you enjoy. Spend some time in meaningful solitude to understand yourself and find areas of your life you've been neglecting so you can begin working on them. Learn a new hobby, travel if you have the funds to do so, or push yourself out of your comfort zone.  
I hope this helps and I hope you all achieve your goals in social work. I'm so glad we have so many passionate people willing to enter this very important field of social work. You will all do great!
 
 

Just got admitted to the 2 year MSW at York on Thursday! I got an email from Pip asking me when I could call and then when I checked the application portal the status was changed to "admitted."
I was waitlisted at UofT so I had completely given up hope 😅
My grade in the last 2 years of my undergrad at UofT was 85% and I am not sure how many work experience hours I accumulated in total. It was my first year applying so I am shocked that I got in!
Two things that probably helped a lot were that my current work study position is with UofT's faculty of social work and I knew an alum of York's MSW that helped me write my personal statement!
Congrats to everyone for your hardwork on your application, regardless whether you were accepted or not this time around ❤

just got accepted into lauriers 2 year full time program!! SO HAPPY

Hi all, 
Just got my offer of admission at WLU for the regular track full time on campus option. I have already accepted at UVic so will be declining, and I wish whoever gets my spot all the happiness & success in the world!
As I mentioned before, I'll share my stats here:
My overall GPA for undergrad was an A-, and in my last two years it was an A. I did an English degree with a psychology minor + some counselling courses. 
I had 2ish years of work experience in supporting individuals with disabilities, and various mental health/disability/tutoring volunteer positions. I also was a volunteer RA in the psychology department. 
My statement of interest/analysis of a social issue was pretty similar to what I submitted everywhere I applied. I talked about my experiences growing up as a queer girl in a super conservative environment, moving to Canada from the UK as a teenager, and the things I saw in my work that made me want to pursue social work. More specifically, I talked about wanting to help women with developmental disabilities who have experienced sexual abuse because I had heard so much about it from the women I have worked with. 
I submitted my application extremely late and my last name starts with O. I have heard several theories about the order in which they're contacting people, so I'm not sure if that is helpful!
 
WLU was the last school I heard back from. All the schools I applied for & decisions were:
Dalhousie (rejected)
Carleton (rejected)
U of Toronto (waitlisted)
King's/UWO (waitlisted)
U Fraser Valley (accepted)
UVic (accepted & will be attending)
WLU (accepted)
I debated applying for UNBC, UBC-O and U of Manitoba, but ended up deciding not to. Sorry for the long post, I just want to provide as much info as possible for future applicants!

Hey all, yesterday I got an email from Angela Umbrello, admin coordinator of admissions at UofT, offering me a spot off the waitlist for the 1 year advanced standing MSW! My last name starts with 'A' and I chose Health and Mental Health as my stream of specialization. I can't believe it but I'm over the moon! Good luck to all those still on the waitlist as it should start moving in these next couple weeks, keeping my fingers crossed for everyone! 😊

Current uoft student! They do not offer scholarships at admission. However based on your marks, you may receive an award in September (between 1-4k). We also have an internal awards application in October where you can receive scholarships, but those are granted in February of the academic year. 

I will most likely be declining UofT's MSW-2 year program as I will be accepting MEd OISE's counselling program. So for those of you on the waitlist, there is hope  

Hi Everyone! Firstly, congrats to those who got accepted into an MSW program this year. Wishing you the best of luck in your journey ahead. I received offers of admission from both Western and U of T-- I plan on attending U of T in the fall. I wanted to share my experience and some helpful tips in the application.
In terms of experience, I took a 2-year gap after I completed my undergrad in psychology. I spent a lot of time volunteering and working with various organizations, particularly those that serve newcomers. I helped lead wellness workshops for newcomer adults; supported leadership development programs for newcomer youth while working as a Youth Worker. I also spent an amazing year facilitating peer-support groups for young adults needing a place to talk about their mental health--a very reflective experience. Altogether, I probably had around 2000 hours of combined volunteer and work experience. I also had a publication and research experience. My GPA was about an A-.
With that being said, how you write these applications is more important than the experience. Some people have gotten in with only a year's worth of experience. Social Work committees really value the lived experiences and identities of applicants. I encourage you to incorporate that in the application. Don't be afraid of showing your personality, as well.  It's also important to speak about WHAT you have learned from your various volunteer/employment roles. What did these roles teach you? How can you link this to social work practice? I spent a lot of time reflecting on these questions. As an example, while speaking about providing peer support, I wrote in my application that this experience helped me to better understand the lack of choice racialized youth face over their mental health care while navigating the mental health system. 
I struggled a lot to answer these application questions, and it helps having a friend and or someone in the field to give some feedback. Please be kind to yourselves and DONT give up! I honestly did not expect to get admission into any school. Use this time to reflect on the experiences you currently have, and how you can tie this together during the next application cycle.
I hope this helps! I will try to answer any questions you might have.
 
Saf

I GOT INTO THE 2-YEAR MSW AT UOFT 😭 I'll be crying all day. Third time applying and we finally got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!
First round - I applied straight out of undergrad with some but not a lot of direct experience (research assistant and a few months on the crisis text line) and pretty marginal grades in my last 2 years (around 78%). Also my references could have been better
Second round - I applied the next year and had been working at a great lab where I got direct experience with conducting clinical assessments and psychiatric interviews. Still didn't get in so I started taking make-up courses to improve my GPA
Took a break from applications for 1 year
Third round - I had a lot of hours built up, a co-authorship on a peer reviewed paper, and great grades on my makeup courses (check my post history to see my stats last year). I even had a social worker I work with read over and edit my personal statement. I was kinda dumb and didn't realise for UofT, if you want to take makeup courses, you have to take a full 4.0 FCEs outside of your undegrad for it to count as your new GPA - I only did 4 at that point so they didn't even count into my gpa. I was very upset lol
This round - I have 4 peer reviewed publications and poster presentations, 9000+ hours with a lot of direct patient contact, completed a certificate course on Indigenous history, and had my 8 makeup courses/ 4.0 FCEs (gpa was like 3.95, 5 A+, 2 A, 1 A-), I also retook a research methods course and got an A+ (it was an A/100-level course but it was on their approved list LOL). My references were also pretty good (a distinguished mental health professional and researcher, psych professor for a course on CBT where my final mark was 90%+, and supervisor on the crisis text line). I was really determined to get in this year so I had a meeting with a professor in the department (I did a work study with them in undergrad) and they said the breakdown for admissions is like 40% GPA, 40% experience + personal statement, and 10% the research methods course. 
Also I feel like my personal statement really improved significantly this particular year. I was really candid about my personal lived experiences, picked a pretty good contemporary issue in social work, etc. 
All that to say, I was still not expecting to get into UofT this year, I expected another waitlist. This just goes to show that even if you meet all the criteria over and above, the admissions process is very finicky. 
 

Someone asked about this earlier - I applied to the UofT 2 year program and the Windsor MSWwp program. I will be accepting my offer to UofT and turning down Windsor if I receive an acceptance/waitlist. 
Still no notification via email or SGS but I already paid my admissions deposit ?
Edit - I have applied to the UofT program 4 times in 5 years, so if anyone has any questions or inquiries about the application process or criteria, feel free to ask. I feel like I'm an expert in the UofT MSW application lol. 

This was my 4th round of applications and I was prepared to quit applying for social work if I didn't get in this year. I cried last year when I got waitlisted from UofT for the 3rd time. 
 
Speaking from personal experience, if this is your dream, please don't give up. If you want to hear my experience let me know. 

I checked my ACORN for uoft and it says "invited" as well as there is a $500 admission deposit showing up. Does this mean I was 100% accepted? I haven't received and email yet and my application status still say "submitted". 

i checked my acorn and saw an invite to the MSW 2 year (mental health stream)
 

I see the "invited" on acorn! 2 year at UofT. First time applying, my 4th degree, second masters degree. I'm SO HAPPY.  Last name B.

I got my invitation on Acorn this morning for the 2 years track at U of T! Last name starts with C

I got an invited status to the 2-year at UofT this morning! Last name starts with an S.

It looks like decisions at U of T 2-year track program are coming out. 
Nothing on my main application page but now there is an "Invited" status icon on ACORN!

I was accepted into the 2-year at UofT this morning. Last name starts with W. 🙂

3rd time's the charm! Hopefully getting accepted into UofT's 2-Year MSW program this time around. I see lots of familiar usernames on these forums who I know have also applied to the program. I think I have a great shot this year. Hoping it's our year this year gang! 😎

Late March/early April! Last year I found out on March 23. I checked my Acorn and had the red $500 deposit required on my dashboard. SGS portal was updated a week later. 

The number of advanced standing spots for each stream depends on how many first years in the 2 year program register for each stream.
In my cohort MH&H is the most popular stream, while Gerontology seems to be least popular. So there are significantly fewer spots for the advanced standing MH&H compared to other streams. 

its real! the invitation on acorn really means you're in! OMG!
 
Congratulations to everyone else who got in. For those who are on the waitlist, I really hope you squeeze in! I was on the waitlist for the 2019 admission for the 2 year program and it was tough!

Advanced standing only. Acceptances for the 2-year track will not begin until late March - early April. Some international applicants hear earlier, but generally, there's no need to check your portal (or stress) for a few weeks yet if you've applied for the 2-year.