Nala851

Hi Laurie, the orientation had around twenty odd students which was comprised of both the one year msw and the two year msw. There were more one year msw students. Also someone asked about York's post degree bsw, my friend just recently accepted her offer. The deadline to accept was June 8th.

-continued from my previous post...those who will be eventually admitted. All the best!

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is in good spirits or at least trying to keep their sanity for those who haven't heard from their respective programs that they have replied and/or who are waitlisted. I just returned from York's msw orientation today and there is still hope as I spoke with someone who just found out they were accepted this Monday. Also, there is another orientation in August for those who could not attend today's session and will be n

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know for those on the waitlist for York, you should hear something really soon from them regarding yoru status. I just received an email from their department that the department's orientation is next month (June 13th). Fingers crossed for favourably results! And yes I do agree that it is ridiculous that York has been so unorganized! As a former undergraduate student, I knew that this was one of the negatives dealing with York. However, I think that each school and their individual departments have their own cultures which includes the negatives and positives. It is certainly something to think about when considering which school to go to. I have personally heard of both the good and the bad from former students at the three universities I applied to for social work.Anyways good luck and keep us posted!

I would definitely be interested in being a part of the Facebook group. What an excellent idea!

Hey Heneyka, yes I have made my final decision-I am attending York this fall. I am super excited and nervous. I hear you with not wanting to have to take stats in that way. I was prepared to take a course in stats at the undergrad level as well as start reading stat books I bought, in case I did not get into any program and had to re-apply at a later date to other MSW programs that require stats. I believe McGill, Windsor and a few other programs I looked into require stats. I know it is necessary for the Doctorate level and other endeavours, so somewhere down the line me and stats will be meeting lol.Have you made a final decision or will you wait to hear from York?

Hmm, definitely was surprising with 3 acceptances and one waitlist.

Hi LOLBRBYSK, I also graduated last year in York with Anthropology and Sociology as my majors. I can understand your frustrations with this process and GradCafe is an excellent resource/support community so feel free to rant. As with York, I do hope they keep their word with letting you but this is York we are talking about so be prepared worst case scenario that you may not find out your results till next week.

And Congrats to you Thumper86, I told you that it was just a formality with being recommended by the Faculty of Graduate Studies! I have heard of great things about Laurier's program and I'm sure you will do fab

Congrats Heneyka! I know that you were really looking forward to going to Calgary! Now you don't have to take stats again lol

Hi kk_2012, Congrats!!! Will you decide to accept their offer? It's nice to know of other posters possibly coming to York this September! Don't be surprised if you do not get your funding package right away. I was accepted March 29th, and I just received my package yesterday. If you do decide to come to York, perhaps we can exchange contact information? It would be nice to know someone before I heading back to York this September. Congrats again

Congrats Thumper86!! I am happy to hear of your acceptance.I believe that once the actual Faculty of Social work has recommended you, you are pretty much admitted. It is just a matter of formality to receive the letter from the Faculty of Graduate Studies confirming this. In the package from Laurier I received today, they pretty much have the letter of acceptance from the Faculty of Social Work, the acceptance letter from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and then three copies of the offer of admission from the Faculty of Graduate Studies. You have to mail back two copies of the offer of admission, signed and dated from the Faculty of Graduate Studies. The date given to accept or decline is April 25th. There is also the $100 Tuition deposit to mail back if accepting. On their website, it says that there are 90 full-time spots and based on last year's stats around 500 people applied. I hope that this information has been helpful.

Hi everyone, I just got my acceptance letter to Laurier. So for those who have not heard from particular social work programs, do not give up hope. You are still in the running. Also, for those who are waitlisted, it is difficult that the waiting period is extended but like a lot of people have said...it is still an amazing accomplishment given how competitive these programs are. It is a very frustrating process, however just remember you are not in a race with anyone. We often have to go the roundabout way to get to where we want to get to, but we still make it there. The individuals who apply to social work programs are often very resilient which is something that you need in the field. A social worker that I met last year while volunteering, told me that it took her 15 years to get her BSW and she is now working at a governmental office for children and youth! Heneyka- I have read probably some of the same reviews about the social work profession on the internet. It was important to me to really research the profession before I committ to pursing this. Keep in mind, that some of those reviews are based in the States and the structure of the social work profession is different. For example, the common starting wage with a MSW in the states can be as low as $30,000. While in Canada, I believe it's more like $40,000-$45,000. When I was on Laurier's website reading the Employment survey for 2010, which is a self-reported survey for those who are working in the field, the starting wages varied widely however still mostly in the $40,000's. I did see someone report that they started about $55,000 after completing Laurier's MSW program, however I believe they were working for the government. It also depends on the subfield you want to work in (Mental Health, Children,Youth and their Families, Gerontology, etc) and whether you are interested in direct clinical practice (micro) or community organizing/advocacy/social research/policy (macro). The social workers that I have interacted with also have discussed the need for self-care and the feeling of being burnout. Keep in mind, that in particular subfields such as Child Welfare this is a significant problem as there is a high turnover rate due to the nature of this subfield. However, as you pointed out this field is really diverse and there is room to move around because of the many options available, which makes the prospects really exciting. I knew pursuing this field that I would not be making $100,000 and I am content with that. Some individuals with a social work education do make perhaps around $80,000 but that is after many, many years in the field and usually they are directors of an organization or agency. In short, I feel that with most professions, it really is what you make of it and spending time really researching the prospects is key to having a career that matches your talents, skills, and expectations. At a former workplace, I came into contact with many professionals who were making a lot of money but had major, major regrets about the career they chose. Life is short and all too often we spend too much time with regrets.

Congrats Track_22! It must be such a relief to know that you have a definite option for September. I have heard of great reviews of Windsor's social work program. I hear you Thumper86, I have not heard anything from Laurier either. Fingers crossed that you get in

How is everyone holding up? While I usually welcome long weekends, during this particular time...not so much lol. It would be nice to hear from Laurier anyday now lol. I know that Easter Monday in some regards is not considered a holiday. I heard that the banks were open, but no postal service!! Regarding the social work profession, it is important to reminds ourselves of the importance of self-care....particularly at this time. Remember that your self-worth is not tied to the outcome of your application. It is not uncommon for applicants to not get in on the first try. That being said, I do hope for favourable results for the posters on this forum.

Hi Laurie S, if you look up top of the page there is a tab called "Results Survey". Applicants submit their results to the programs that they have applied to ( accepted, waitlist, rejected) and how they were notified by (email, phone, postal service).Applicants may also use in the note section any pertinent information that is useful to applicants applying to the same program or ask questions to other applicants.

Lol, aww I also had a similar dream about another school and funding. Hopefully, your dream will come to fruition!

Thanks Laurie S!! I will have my fingers crossed that you receive good news soon! If you do wish to speak to me about my application, I would be happy to help! I will say this though unfortunately we do not know what really goes on with the admission committees. When I spoke with York they told me that they look for candidates to really match their mission statement to your personal statement. For example, York is known as this socially progressive program and they really stress anti-oppression and anti-racism principles. On a different note, the mail came and I ran like a kid on Christmas day. I just found out I was waitlisted at U of T's MSW program. I am not surprised. U of T is known for its clinical work and I am more interested in the macro/social policy which York is known for. I will be taking my name off the waitlist. I hope this helps someone who really wants to go.

Hi Laurie S, I applied to the two-year msw program and have received acceptance from York. Perhaps, the rest of the remaining offers will be mailed out by then. Most social work departments do start with the advanced standing applicants and then the two-year applicants. However, I know that there are times when both the advanced standing applicants and the two-year applicants receive their results at the same time. The two-year program has about 20 people and the one-year program has about 50 people at York. I was told those stats in an information fair by York's Faculty of Social Work. Since, York is such a small program, I suspect that this is the case. I was surprised to hear back from York as I was anticipating that I would not hear from them until ending of April may be May. However, they were the first program to get back to me. I have yet to hear from U of T and Wilfrid Laurier. Those are much larger programs. I believe U of T has about 125-140 spots and Laurier has about 90 spots. Anyways Good Luck! Btw I also had that problem with York and the recommendation letters not showing up on the online portal too!

Heneyka, I agree his is delusional! My friend fully put him in his place and that date was cut short as he had other undesirable traits. Thanks for the congratulations and congrats to you on your acceptance to Carleton. I know Carleton is an extremely competitive program as well! I did not apply there because I believe you needed to take a half-credit in Statistics? I know that Windsor and another program requires this. In my sociology methodology we did a bit of statistics and I hated it lol. I know that you also needed like 3500 hours of volunteer work too. While, I have a significant amount of hours in the last five years in the social services, I do not think I would have met that requirement. I had a part-time job throughout undergrad and I was a part of a few student clubs. So congrats again...it is quite impressive! I did not apply early to York. I submitted my application on the day of December 12th. I suspect that I am a part of the first wave of acceptances but I know York will send out another round of acceptances after April 12th and will notify applicants whether they have been waitlisted and so forth. I agree that two weeks is insane, as it puts a lot of pressure to find out the results of the other apps so I can make a well-thought out and informed decision. And yes let's keep it postive, it won't do any good to go to pieces!!

I definitely can attest to the sentiments described. I am not a competitve person. For me, the competition is with myself, in the fact that I always wanted to be the best that I can be. This whole process really is maddening and can take a toll on one's self-esteem. I know that the programs that I applied to in nature are competitive, but this constant comparing of stats and what not can at times really affect our mental health. For me, I just tride to tell myself that my worth is not tied to the outcome of my application. To to the other applicants, try to remember that you are still an amazing, accomplished candidate and do not try tie in you self-worth to a particular outcome. I know it is hard to not take a rejection personally.

When I called U of T, Angela was very abrupt..she has probably had her share of applicants calling to find out their results lol. What bugs me is that when I login to the U of T sgs, it still says "Under Review" lol

Hey, when I saw this post...just thought it is time to stop lurking and make a profile because I wanted to answer this directly and provide other social work applicants any information that I thought would be useful. First off, I have been submitting my results on the results survey. I know how frustrating and difficult this process has been. I know that there were times I felt like I was going crazy. Anyways, I have been accepted to York and when I received my acceptance package that is the date they outlined I had to give a response by. I found out via Myfile last Friday so it is pretty much two weeks that I have been given to accept or decline an offer. I had also applied to Ryerson for a Master in Immigration and Settlement Studies. I was notified by email on March 23rd and they gave me a deadline of April 13th. I have declined this offer. I am still waiting on Wilfrid Laurier and U of T Two-year MSW. While reading this particular thread, it is apparent that we all have a passion for social work and the right values and attitudes, so I really hope that everyone would receive favourable results. It boggles my mind when my friend told me of a horrible date who has a BSW and told her he was only the profession for the money and convenience! Unbelievable!