SamU

This is my third year applying. First time around I was fresh out of my BSW with barely any experience. Now I have a lot more due to work experience. I applied to advanced standing programs at Carleton, UofT (Social Justice and Diversity Stream), Waterloo and TMU for a September 2026 start. My GPA is a 3.7/4.0; and I've worked in the field for approximately 6000 hours (including volunteer work). I have two bachelors degrees, including a BSW. I feel like I have a higher chance of getting in this time around compared to last year (I only applied to Laurier for a January 2026 start). I unfortunately didn't get in after being waitlisted. My personal statements are pretty strong and I tailored them to each university's mission and values. Fingers crossed that this time things work out!

I've been looking through all the posts on this forum and have not come across one person who applied for Ryerson's MSW Advanced Standing Program. I get that it's less popular because they don't have a 2 year stream, so if you applied please let me know! I would love to connect with someone who applied for it. I mainly only applied to Ryerson because my field placement for my BSW might extend beyond April which would result in a Fall 2022 graduation. I found that Ryerson MSW is the only program that accepts people for Fall 2022 even if they are graduating in Fall 2022. I might be wrong though, but I've been to all the information sessions for Toronto MSW programs and Ryerson was the only one that mentioned this. Also, I am doing my BSW at York and I like how they structured the program to be very social justice based. The foundation from my BSW program made me realize I want to keep going down the path of macro level social work. I would've applied to York as well, but it would be a waste of money to apply if I'm graduating in Fall 2022. If I don't get into Ryerson, I'll probably look for a job in my line of work and then reapply for Fall 2023 at York and UofT. I am mostly planning on applying within Toronto even if it's for Fall 2023 because of some commitments I have here. That may change if applying to more schools gets me a better chance of getting in, because there's less of a chance I would reapply for Fall 2024.