Evs22

Absolutely! My GPA in my last couple of years was an 8.0 on a 9.0 scale (not sure about what that is on a 4.0 scale but it's basically an A average). My overall GPA for undergrad was an A-. I did an English major with a Psychology minor, also took a couple of counselling courses & did a 5 week French language thing in Quebec (not sure if that helped with my application or not but definitely bring up if you are bilingual in your application. I am not bilingual, my French is probably at the level of a 2 year old LOL) Adding up all volunteer & work experience, I think I had between 3000-3500 hours. My work experience is community support services for people with disabilities/mental health support needs, my volunteering was with youth with developmental disabilities, children who were first and second gen immigrants, and a mental health companionship program. I also had some experience as a research assistant in the psychology department at my university. Nothing stellar or out of the ordinary, but I was able to reflect on my experiences and themes/problems within social services and how I'd like to change them. I think I am one of the youngest in my cohort & everyone else has a lot more life experience - I graduated uni in 2022 and took the year off between degrees so a) I'd have more life experience and b) I didn't have to deal with applications & schoolwork at the same time LOL To be super honest, I have no IDEA how I got in when I compare myself to my peers and people on this forum. I'm guessing it was my personal statement? I did an English degree so maybe I just have decent essay writing skills. I would recommend trying to let some of your personality shine through in your statements, they're probably really boring to read for the admissions department and if you ease their boredom, they'll like you! Sorry for the ramble, please message me or reply to this if you have any more questions. *EDIT* oh, and I got REALLY good references from my bosses. Not sure how good my academic references were, but (though I never saw their letters obviously) my bosses were extremely supportive of me going to do this degree

Wanted to add - MSW helper is a frequent poster here, she is an excellent resource! She is on tiktok & has a facebook page where she shares great advice!

Hi everyone! I loved this forum during my applications & wanted to stick around to help out if I can. I applied to 7 foundation MSW programs in total, here were my results: UVic: admitted & accepted my place there WLU: admitted UFV: admitted UofT: waitlisted King’s at UWO: waitlisted Dalhousie: rejected Carleton: rejected I also considered applying to Windsor, UBCO & UNBC but was so tired of writing those darn essays! If you have any questions about my GPA, work/volunteer experience, application essays or letters of reference please ask! I so hope you all get the outcomes you want and please keep your heads up, these programs are so competitive and a rejection says NOTHING about your worth as a person, your intelligence or your potential as a social worker❤️

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!

Omg I got in at UFV too but will decline because I have already committed to UVic - I am still waiting to hear from WLU (will update once I get a response) and I'll share my stats if I get in. One pro at UFV is that apparently tuition is relatively cheap, and all of my experiences with the admin were super nice & positive. Definitely call/email WLU and explain your situation/goals, their admin is also pretty friendly in my experience. I have never been to UFV, but I did my first year of undergrad at a small school (VIU) and compared to the larger school I finished my undergrad at (UVic), profs were a lot friendlier, the atmosphere was more relaxed and less competitive, and my grades were a good 5-10% higher at the smaller school. From conversations with other people from smaller universities, that seems to be a pretty common trend. That probably wasn't too helpful sorry

I haven’t heard from laurier yet and my last name starts with O, I don’t know if that’s helpful

I think it would be cool to put together a big list of advice for next year's MSW hopefuls, what do you all think? There were definitely a few things I didn't know when I was putting my application together. Maybe we could also pre-emptively answer some FAQ's too?

For the UVic MSW students (advanced, Indigenous & foundational) I have made a facebook group, feel free to join! Its called ‘UVic MSW students Fall 2023’ :)

Yep!! sorry, should have specified

I was also waitlisted at King's/Western Ontario! I will be declining if they end up offering me admission unless there is insanely good funding, if that helps anyone!

My UVic application status for the MSWF changed to admitted!! Woo hoo!

Thank you so much for this detailed, thoughtful answer!

Whilst we're all waiting on decisions (going nuts waiting for my official offer letter but have heard promising things about my application status), I had a couple of questions for you all and would appreciate your answers/thoughts! - Is anyone going into their MSW already planning on doing a PhD later in life? I've had a longterm dream of being a professor one day and it seems like you can also do high-level social policy work after getting a doctorate. - What does funding look like for your programs? Scholarships? I am struggling to find detailed information on graduate/social work scholarships in my province other than what is on my prospective university's website. - Would it be feasible to work part-time whilst in a full-time program? Do people do this & survive? I worked during my undergrad, but I know that grad school will be a lot more intensive and require a larger time commitment. - For those of you interested in doing a thesis, has anyone heard about what the process is like specifically for MSW students? Looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say!

I had checked it this morning & had no changes but that would have been a few hours before I received the rejection email - my last name begins with O, if that is helpful?? And good luck with your applications!

Got rejected from Carleton today (foundation/2yr track) but it looks like I should be expecting an offer letter from UVic soon! I did apply with less experience hours than Carleton wanted though so no big deal. Just out of curiosity - for those attending full time programs, are you expecting to work/TA/RA?