MSW2022MM

I would echo what other posters say about the cut-off for Step 1 sometimes happening much sooner. When I applied for September start, the applications opened October 1 and it said cut-off for Step 1 was December 1 but after two weeks into October it was full and cut off (they started capping applications at 200 because they were getting so many). I also definitely suggest people attend info sessions for programs you are applying for or if you missed them, ask if there are recordings. It helped so much to hear from the directors and admissions people what they are actually looking for in appliacations. In terms of asking references for multiple letters, I also felt bad but found that my references all understood the process and that I would need to do more than one application. Most of them said they re-use the same letter and just tailor it for the program, or I would ask them to highlight specific things depending on the program's focus. Some people will also ask you to draft a reference letter they can work from or make out a list of highlights that you want them to cover, which helps make the process easier for them. Good luck with your applications!

Hey there - I made a group on Signal (for non-FB users like me!) for the UBC-Vancouver Advanced Standing Program. I'm new to running a group so private message me here if you want to join and I will send you the link/add you.

Wow! Congratulations on all that hard work and your many acceptances! I'm so happy for you that it paid off. My advice in making a decision would be to see if you can get a look at the course outlines for the program and the specific courses you want to take. When I was trying to decide between two schools, I downloaded the course outlines for both and went week by week, reading by reading, assignment by assignment to compare them and see which ones I got most excited about and which ones best fit my learning goals. It can also be helpful to contact the practicum coordinator and ask about what practicums they offer (for example, UBC specifically says in the practicum instructions that counselling practicums are very hard to get and require additional education). I also found it helpful to consider where I wanted to work/live in the long-term. For me, I know I want to live and work in my home community so taking a program locally, where I could meet people I would likely work with and make connections with programs who might hire me was important. I am also interested in working in healthcare which is very regional and provincial so I wanted to do a program that would focus on my local context in terms of programs and policy. I hope that helps! Talking to current students is also a good way to get an inside look at a program. It was a stressful decision to make (I actually accepted at one and paid the deposit and then ended up switching to a different program later) but in the end, I feel more confident. I had to remind myself that there was no wrong decision, just different options that would give me different experiences. Congrats again and good luck on your decision-making process!

Hi Everyone - Has there been a group chat started for UBC-Vancouver students? I'm not on FB but would love to know if there is a group started on another platform or if anyone would like to connect, please message me! Looking forward to meeting you all in September!

Congratulations! I also just received an email offering admissions (first and last name starts with an M). I don’t know that I can attend as I have already put so much work into planning courses for another program and I’m leaning more towards an in-person program but it feels good to be accepted, especially since I was declined last year. All the best to everyone still waiting to hear and those on the waitlist - good luck!

I am in the same situation and had a minor panic yesterday that maybe I didn't even submit the application! I find LORIS so confusing because your documents just sit there saying "no further application required" but nothing showing it was submitted or even a status section. I agree, it is very frustrating that Laurier waits so long and I imagine other schools must get upset as well if a bunch of people start declining offers they had accepted once Laurier releases their decision. I, too, have put a lot of work into accepting and arranging courses for UBC so don't think I will be accepting Laurier even if I do get in. I am still curious why it is seen as such a highly regarded school and so popular with applicants. The draw for me was initially an online program and there aren't too many options out there. Good luck to everyone waiting for an initial decision or a decision about the waitlist!

Hi There, I also (re)applied to the part-time online MSW program at Laurier and have not heard back yet. I saw online that they aim to send out results by May so there might be a few more weeks to wait although some school issue before when they say they will. I applied last year for January 2022 start and did not get in. I received an email a few weeks before when they said they would send results and my denial was actually in the email itself (I didn't need to log into LORIS, although I did, hoping it was a mistake :P). Good luck to you and I hope you get an acceptance soon!

I agree with what others have posted. I went back and forth on this so many times and did hours of research and each time came back to doing an MSW. I already have a BSW and didn't have some of the psych courses that Counselling programs wanted so it was also a quicker way to get going on my goals. I also really wanted to situate my counselling "training" within a social justice framework and I felt social work had more to offer around that. I don't expect to feel fully competent coming out of my MSW to go into private practice (although my social work college told me I could do it now with my BSW!!) but have a master's opens a lot of other doors to ongoing training in specific modalities.

Hi There, I received an offer of admission on March 2nd with an initial deadline to accept by March 24th (they have extended it by a bit when I requested more time). They told me that they finalize admissions around end of March to let people on the waitlist know. If you haven't heard anything at all by now, I would recommend checking the application portal or contacting the school. I noticed too that there is a lot more discussion about programs in Ontario and further east, I think maybe because there are just so many more programs than in BC and Alberta. In trying to make my decision between schools, I have done a deep dive of the Health and Social Care courses (outlines are available on the website) so feel I have a pretty good understanding of that side of the program. If you'd like to connect to discuss more, feel free to DM me.

Hey, not sure if you are looking for the UBC-O or UBC-Vancouver program info - I got my UBC- Vancouver advanced standing acceptance letter at the beginning of the month. The deadline to accept is March 24th.

Hi There, I'm wondering if there are folks on here who are planning to attend University of Calgary's online clinical program - or who know any current students or recent alumni? I've been accepted to that program as well as UBC and I'm waiting to hear from Laurier. Due to some health issues, I'm really feeling an online program would be best for me for more flexibility. I haven't seen many posts about University of Calgary and it makes me worried that it isn't as good a school, although I have no info to back this up. They've been really friendly and accommodating throughout the application process which I think is important and I like the idea that they do synchronous lectures online (and a few in-person residencies) rather than Laurier where it is pretty much reading and posting on your own with no synchronous or in-person opportunities. I would love to hear people's thoughts/experiences - deciding is so hard and there is so much self-doubt!

Thanks very much! My name (first and last) starts with an M – not sure if that matters at all. I’m happy to share my background but I would say I don’t know if it’s as easy as comparing grades, work experience, etc. From what people have shared on this forum, it seems there are so many diverse backgrounds (which I think is a real strength of social work) and different schools also prioritize different parts of the application so never count yourself out just because your grades aren’t as high or you don’t have as many work experience hours as someone else. You are unique and have a lot to bring from your own experiences! I have a BSW (from UVic) as well as B.A. in Human Rights (from Carleton), a certificate in Criminology, and a certificate in ASL and Deaf Studies. I get super confused trying to translate GPAs from different schools but my average across all programs was A+. I have 6 years post-BSW full-time experience in as a community outreach social worker in the mental health and addictions field and I am also the program coordinator for the program. My total work experience hours for “relevant work” (I was really broad in defining this and basically made almost all my work, pre and post-BSW) tie into social work) was 13,500 hours at the time of application. My volunteer experience (including practicums) was 1,600 hours. For volunteer experience I included all the social justice activism work I have done and was again very broad. I hope that helps and I hope you hear soon! My fingers are crossed for you!

Thanks! I was accepted for UBC Vancouver (I didn't apply to UBCO).

Hey there, I applied to UBC advanced standing and was just about to post that the website says decisions can be expected in April when I randomly checked my email and got an acceptance letter! Now accepted to U of C and UBC and waiting to hear from Laurier which is tricky because U of C starts in May so I can't line them all up and decide.

Congrats on your acceptance and scholarship! Carleton is definitely very generous with their funding. When I did my B.A. there, the graduate department offered me a $27,000 scholarship and I hadn't even applied a program! I just got an email today that I have been accepted into UBC 1 year advanced standing. The email didn't say anything about funding but I haven't been able to check the official acceptance letter in the online portal yet. They may have some external scholarships as I know U of C doesn't offer funding with their acceptance but there are quite a few scholarships that are specific to social work students that you can apply to directly or that the program can recommend you for, as well as some internal scholarships once the program starts.

Hi Everyone, Congrats to everyone who has been accepted to a program, hope to those still waiting, and courage to those who did not get accepted this time around - it will happen! This might seem a bit random to pop into the conversation at this time but just in case there is anyone looking at this thread who is wanting to apply to Laurier for their ONLINE program January start, the application opens on March 1 (the first part - OUAC application) and I recommend doing it ASAP. It says the application is open until April 15 but has a disclaimer that it can close any time. They seriously mean this. I applied for the September start (still waiting to hear back) and the application opened October 1 and said it was open until December 1 but they closed it by October 15th because they had already reached their maximum capacity for applications (they said in an info session they were limiting it to 200 applications). I don't know if they will be doing the same thing this time around or if January start is as popular as September (I was told by the advisor it wasn't). You only have to do the OUAC part and then you have the rest of the time to do part 2 even if they close part 1 applications. I hope that makes sense - I'm happy to clarify any of this if there are questions. I just didn't want anyone to miss out on applying because I never expected it to close so early.

I didn't apply to Dal or Windsor but I just want you all to know I'm watching this thread by the hour and cheering for you all! It's great to see such a community of support and it's so uplifting to see everyone supporting each other. We all got into this field for a reason and I think this thread shows why. Good news or disappointing, you are all going to be amazing social workers and we will get there one way or another!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Way to go and keep persevering All the best to you in your future career!

Congratulations! I was accepted into the 2-year clinical online program (for some reason I lost the thread and hadn't seen any of the posts about U of C and was wondering what had happened??). I'm waiting to talk to an advisor to clarify about zoom classes for the online program because when I was looking more at the schedules for the upcoming terms, it seems they have a lot more synchronous lectures (classes are listed for two days a week, three hours each) than was mentioned on their website or any of the info sessions I attended. Does anyone know more about this? For those asking about background: I have a BSW as well as a B.A. in Human Rights, a certificate in Criminology, and a certificate in ASL and Deaf Studies. I get super confused trying to translate GPAs from different schools but my average across all programs was A+. I have 6 years post-BSW full-time experience in a social work position and I am also the program coordinator for the program (someone had strongly advised me to highlight any management experience in my applications). In my application, I basically linked all of my work experience and volunteer experience to social work/social justice dating back to high school (it seemed like a long way back to go but that's what they said to do in one of the info sessions I attended and I guess it worked!). Good luck to everyone anxiously waiting - take a moment to breathe!

I wonder if it would be worth talking with an advisor at U of C to see if they ever extend the deadlines? I was accepted into the 2-year online program for U of C and my deadline to accept isn't until February 23rd - maybe they would be willing to give a few more weeks? Good luck with your Dal decision!

I seem to remember seeing that UBC Vancouver lets people know around May. It makes it so hard to line-up all the acceptance dates and pick a program because U of C program starts in May and UBC and Laurier don't let you know until May!

Hello, I am applying for the advanced standing online part-time program at Laurier but it looks like the supplementary documents are the same regardless of the program. I definitely hear what you're saying about how difficult it is to balance detail with the limited word count - I am also struggling with that a lot in all my applications! This is my second application to Laurier and I am trying to be more detailed and let more of "me" come through. I am going to try and put in a few brief specific examples that don't require a lot of background but hopefully help make my application more personable. For the statement of interest secondary questions, it does say to "Please be sure to address the four points above" but I think that can be done in any way. Originally I thought of answering them as four questions but looking over them again, I think I will write a statement and just make sure to touch on each of those points in some way or another. I attended a few of the application info sessions and I wrote down a note that specially said for the social issue section, the questions are just prompts and we can decide which ones to give more weight to in our answer. I hope that is helpful! I'm currently working on my 350 word statements for the Experience Profile and trying to figure out how to explain all of my different experiences as well as highlight how it shows that I am "ready to take action on equity and decolonization." Good luck to everyone!

I've interpreted these questions to mean they just want to know that you have thought about it and planned for your education and your answers seem to reflect that. I was curious where you saw that question in the UBC application - I'm working on mine right now and I didn't see it (now worried I somehow missed the question!). For the UBC application, I also wondered how people are going about answering the Learning Plan questions - they seem quite repetitive and very different from other applications I've done (more focused on academic/research planning than on critical self-reflection)? I'm particularly stumped by the last question that asks you to "Briefly explain the relevance to your responses above to your future career as a social worker." Given that each of the other questions asks you to answer it in relation to the program, what did you do different in this last question? I reached out to a program advisor to ask what they were looking for more specifically in this question but, unfortunately, I didn't get much of an answer and UBC doesn't seem to have info sessions specific to the MSW program. I'd appreciate any insights others can share!

I also agree that teaching gives you a great background and experience for social work. I think the strengths of the profession come from the diversity of experiences and I agree that having a different background might actually make you more competitive - I have a BSW and 6-years experience in the field and I worry that my experience doesn't look diverse enough! It's so easy to doubt ourselves but I think it really comes down to how you link your experience to your practice. If it's helpful, the University of Calgary's social work program has a really helpful document of what they consider to be human/social services work. It might be specific to that school but they name teaching as relevant experience and when I was on one of their webinar talks, someone asked if being a single parent could count and they said absolutely, just make the connection clear (for that program you can actually write in a section in your resume under each job to explain the relevance which was super helpful). You sound like you'd make a great social worker - good luck with your applications!

I also wondered if anyone else on this forum had applied to U of C. I just submitted my application for the part-time (online) advanced standing program clinical specialization. I really liked how friendly and helpful they were throughout the application process and how open they were to considering different types of experience - including teaching and being a single parent. Fingers crossed for us all!