EMWC

Aw I feel you my dude! It's hard not to get down on yourself when it comes down to the wire.. I had a follow up interview with an administrator from the MSW-ITR program at UofT and she let me know that acceptance can vary so much year to year depending on who is applying and it doesn't often have to do with your eligibility for the program. I still got rejected but I guess it stings a little less when someone tells you you're still worthy (in theory) ?

Hi everyone! ☺️
I wanted to give a HUGE thank you for the support on this forum, it really got me through some nail-biting times. I wanted to share my stats/results for anyone looking at this from the future. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts and graduated with a 3.7 GPA (4.3 scale). I have over 6 years/8000hrs professional working experience as an arts administrator/programmer and 1000hrs of volunteer experience (social justice, environmental, and arts-related). Results from this year:
Carleton University (2-year in-person) - Offer of admission Dalhousie University (2-year in-person) - Offer of admission Wilfred Laurier University (2-year in-person) - Offer of admission (Accepted) University of Toronto (2-year in-person) - Waitlisted University of Toronto-ITR (2-year online) - Rejected I officially declined my offers at Carleton and Dalhousie yesterday and I am hoping this means some good news is coming for some folks on the waitlist!
I was really unsure whether I would get in anywhere this year and I am so happy I tried anyways. Anyone needing any support or encouragement please reach out - so many people helped me this year and I would love to pay it forward.
xx

Hi everyone! ☺️
I wanted to give a HUGE thank you for the support on this forum, it really got me through some nail-biting times. I wanted to share my stats/results for anyone looking at this from the future. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts and graduated with a 3.7 GPA (4.3 scale). I have over 6 years/8000hrs professional working experience as an arts administrator/programmer and 1000hrs of volunteer experience (social justice, environmental, and arts-related). Results from this year:
Carleton University (2-year in-person) - Offer of admission Dalhousie University (2-year in-person) - Offer of admission Wilfred Laurier University (2-year in-person) - Offer of admission (Accepted) University of Toronto (2-year in-person) - Waitlisted University of Toronto-ITR (2-year online) - Rejected I officially declined my offers at Carleton and Dalhousie yesterday and I am hoping this means some good news is coming for some folks on the waitlist!
I was really unsure whether I would get in anywhere this year and I am so happy I tried anyways. Anyone needing any support or encouragement please reach out - so many people helped me this year and I would love to pay it forward.
xx

I applied for the in-person program!

I applied to the UofT 2 Year Non-BSW program and Laurier's program. Found out recently that I did not get accepted into the UofT program; I am still waiting to hear back from Laurier but in realizing all this competitiveness and how people have so many more relevant volunteer/work experiences than I do, the chances are seeming increasingly slim of me getting into that one either. 
It was a kind of a leap of faith that I took in applying, as I decided I want to go into counselling/therapy and after researching the MSW and Counselling Psychology, the MSW seemed like the best bet with more opportunities and best overall fit for my interest of study. I have been working for a few years now since finishing undergrad in not a very relevant field/job but there were still some transferrable human service/customer service related skills there. My past volunteer experiences are social services related but not super directly correlated with the line of work I am trying to get into, so I anticipate myself having to strengthen my application with more volunteer work and related work experience/skills before feeling more confident to re-apply. Also, the required research methods course I feel lowers my chances too as my highest mark was a couple minus signs below that recommended grade mark - so it is advised that I re-take that course before I even consider re-applying? 
At this point, I'm not feeling very confident about my application/experiences/references to re-apply next round. I am wondering if anyone has any advice on what my options are. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed as my attempt to apply this round was trying to get to the next place, but currently I am caught between the desire to get to that final destination and the feeling of being burnt out (from my horrible work-life-relationships-self care balance these last few years that I am still trying to recover my own mental and physical health from). 
I'm hoping someone here may be able to provide some advice to me. I was reflecting on this and I realized it is a bit ironic that I am being driven to go into a helping profession right now when it's clear to me that I myself, am not totally in a well-balanced state of being mental/emotional/physical health-wise. I feel so exhausted that when I think about everything I have to do next, it feels overwhelming and I'm not sure I can do it. For example, re-taking a university course and volunteering in a related mental health position on top of working when I still have my own stuff to manage feels like a lot. I'm currently unemployed and looking for full-time work, and I am wanting to move out to live on my own soon, so there is also that. I'm also feeling anxiety and pressure over that the full-time job I am looking for right now should be perfectly related to social work/counselling in some way so that it can help me for the next time I apply.
Does anyone know what kind of positions and organizations might be helpful for strengthening my application next time around? Or would it not really matter if I am going to say, volunteer for a crisis line anyway? Given some of the posts I've read here, it almost feels like I should be volunteering for at least 1-2 years to get the minimum competitive amount of hours required. I saw someone mentioning that they had gotten a Social Service Worker diploma before they re-applied, so I was thinking that could be an option for me too, if I try to apply for that instead and gain some field-placement experience, some outside volunteer experience as well and then re-apply . But I'm not sure if re-applying right after a diploma without the relevant work experience will be useful.
Has anyone re-appliers here gone through a similar situation in their process/journey? Would it be my best bet to just take it slow and accumulate the experiences first needed? Not sure if anyone can relate to this and if it's a sign I am not yet ready for grad school, but given that my work-life balance still needs work I was very nervous about the idea of going back to school since undergrad itself took a toll on my physical and mental health. As someone with a personal connection to mental health, I'm wondering if me still being in a thick of my own healing journey right now is also a bad idea for me to totally devote myself to chasing this career where it requires a certain level of presence, capacity and competence to help others. 

I created a FB group for Laurier's 2 year MSW. I accepted my offer already so please join if you've accepted as well. I'd love to connect! 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/316453560512545
Edit: I don't think there's a group yet... but if there is, please send me the link! 

Received an acceptance to the Laurier 2-year MSW! I have already accepted Carleton but need to have a re-think about this.. Laurier was my first choice initially but I was enticed by Carleton's funding.. For anyone deliberating, I reached out to some alumni via program Facebook groups and I have found it VERY helpful. Need to do that now for Laurier before I make a final decison I think.
Congrats to everyone who has heard back from Laurier and York!! <3

Received an acceptance to the Laurier 2-year MSW! I have already accepted Carleton but need to have a re-think about this.. Laurier was my first choice initially but I was enticed by Carleton's funding.. For anyone deliberating, I reached out to some alumni via program Facebook groups and I have found it VERY helpful. Need to do that now for Laurier before I make a final decison I think.
Congrats to everyone who has heard back from Laurier and York!! <3

Received an acceptance to the Laurier 2-year MSW! I have already accepted Carleton but need to have a re-think about this.. Laurier was my first choice initially but I was enticed by Carleton's funding.. For anyone deliberating, I reached out to some alumni via program Facebook groups and I have found it VERY helpful. Need to do that now for Laurier before I make a final decison I think.
Congrats to everyone who has heard back from Laurier and York!! <3

Received an acceptance to the Laurier 2-year MSW! I have already accepted Carleton but need to have a re-think about this.. Laurier was my first choice initially but I was enticed by Carleton's funding.. For anyone deliberating, I reached out to some alumni via program Facebook groups and I have found it VERY helpful. Need to do that now for Laurier before I make a final decison I think.
Congrats to everyone who has heard back from Laurier and York!! <3

Big congratulations to everyone who has been accepted at UofT!! It's such an accomplishment! I walked past the FIFSW building this weekend while dropping a friend off at work, weird to put the real place with all this nebulous applying. I'm anticipating a rejection or waitlist coming my way which I think i've accepted now.. just will be a little disappointed to have to leave my home! Anyone know if its possible to commute in to Laurier from Toronto? Lol i'm getting ahead of myself but good to think about..

See you there my friend! ?

Big congratulations to everyone who has been accepted at UofT!! It's such an accomplishment! I walked past the FIFSW building this weekend while dropping a friend off at work, weird to put the real place with all this nebulous applying. I'm anticipating a rejection or waitlist coming my way which I think i've accepted now.. just will be a little disappointed to have to leave my home! Anyone know if its possible to commute in to Laurier from Toronto? Lol i'm getting ahead of myself but good to think about..

Any UofT updates yet today?

Big congratulations to everyone who has been accepted at UofT!! It's such an accomplishment! I walked past the FIFSW building this weekend while dropping a friend off at work, weird to put the real place with all this nebulous applying. I'm anticipating a rejection or waitlist coming my way which I think i've accepted now.. just will be a little disappointed to have to leave my home! Anyone know if its possible to commute in to Laurier from Toronto? Lol i'm getting ahead of myself but good to think about..

For those who are anticipating a waitlist from UofT MSW - please don't be discouraged by that, I know at least 5 people who got off the waitlist (in various years). The waitlist officially closes in the first week of classes and people will be turning down their acceptances until then. 

Congratulations to everyone who received the offer.I have been waiting to hear back from uoft MSW 2 year. I only applied to uoft for MSW and York for 2 years post grad BSW. At this point i guess It's hopeless to think about Uoft. I believe next they are going to update about the waiting list and rejection. 

Big congratulations to everyone who has been accepted at UofT!! It's such an accomplishment! I walked past the FIFSW building this weekend while dropping a friend off at work, weird to put the real place with all this nebulous applying. I'm anticipating a rejection or waitlist coming my way which I think i've accepted now.. just will be a little disappointed to have to leave my home! Anyone know if its possible to commute in to Laurier from Toronto? Lol i'm getting ahead of myself but good to think about..

I was talking to my partner last night who is a computer programmer about rolling admissions (nervously waiting on UofT over here) and he told me he'd be suprised if they were rolling out admissions alphebetically and that it would be more likely if it's an automated system that they are rolling out based on something like time of application submission. No idea about any of this but I am choosing to hold out some hope!

I needed this optimism! Thank you! 

I was talking to my partner last night who is a computer programmer about rolling admissions (nervously waiting on UofT over here) and he told me he'd be suprised if they were rolling out admissions alphebetically and that it would be more likely if it's an automated system that they are rolling out based on something like time of application submission. No idea about any of this but I am choosing to hold out some hope!

My last name starts with B, and it changed very late last night. If they are going alphabetically, it's probably taking them a while to get through 140 acceptances, as they need to prepare all the acceptance packages, and it is a new system they are using.  

True, it will take a while to get through everyone. I was actually surprised to see them roll out acceptances ‘early’ this year.. aka before April 

This is an A++ level of perseverence! I'm so impressed! Well deserved acceptance ❤️

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.