Peter Nincompoop

You know it's bad when York gets the jump on you.

You know it's bad when York gets the jump on you.

Hi Erin,
 
I'm not sure why I was successful to be honest, but I'll speak briefly about my experience here.  The entrance requirements for social work in particular seem hard to gauge because they put so much weight on the more subjective parts of your application (personal statement/preparation/apparent motivation and work/volunteer experience).  I'll apologize in advance for what is going to be a long post.
 
Last year, I applied to 3 schools (Calgary, Laurier, and York).  I was accepted into Calgary and Laurier, and waitlisted and ultimately rejected by York (who took an absurdly long time to give any notifications). 
 
I actually think my work experience was the weakest part of my application: I had about 8 years of working with vulnerable people (ill elderly persons) and a bit of not-for-profit experience, but nothing directly related to social work (though I now do).  I also volunteered as a case worker with a local politician for a few months, but that was really about it.  
 
I did have pretty decent undergraduate grades.  My overall average was between an A- and an A, and I had a solid A average in my last three semesters.  I also did a double-major, which meant that pretty much all my 3rd and 4th year courses were upper level ones (which I have been told by profs looks pretty good on a grad school application).
 
I think the strongest points of my application were my references and my personal statement.  My referees gave me glowing letters and I feel that in my personal statement I was able to very clearly describe both my motivation for pursuing social work and how my personal, academic, and professional experiences had informed my decision to apply to an MSW program.  I also had a friend of mine who is currently in grad school look over my personal statement and give me feedback.  
 
Finally, I also contacted a couple of school prior to applying to see if I would be a good fit in their program.  I also studied the faculty at each school with an eye towards who I would like to work with and even emailed a professor whose speciality is very similar to my own interests.
 
One other point, because of the current economic situation and because of the glut of persons, like myself, with generic BA's, ALL graduate schools are becoming harder to get into.  Being rejected isn't necessarily a negative reflection on yourself, your experience, or your application; it's just really hard to get into professional graduate programs at the moment.  
 
Sorry for the long-winded reply, I hope this makes sense and that it helps you in some way.  Good luck next year if you decide to reapply, LOTS of people get admitted into graduate school after initially being rejected, so don't lose hope.

Hi Erin,
 
I'm not sure why I was successful to be honest, but I'll speak briefly about my experience here.  The entrance requirements for social work in particular seem hard to gauge because they put so much weight on the more subjective parts of your application (personal statement/preparation/apparent motivation and work/volunteer experience).  I'll apologize in advance for what is going to be a long post.
 
Last year, I applied to 3 schools (Calgary, Laurier, and York).  I was accepted into Calgary and Laurier, and waitlisted and ultimately rejected by York (who took an absurdly long time to give any notifications). 
 
I actually think my work experience was the weakest part of my application: I had about 8 years of working with vulnerable people (ill elderly persons) and a bit of not-for-profit experience, but nothing directly related to social work (though I now do).  I also volunteered as a case worker with a local politician for a few months, but that was really about it.  
 
I did have pretty decent undergraduate grades.  My overall average was between an A- and an A, and I had a solid A average in my last three semesters.  I also did a double-major, which meant that pretty much all my 3rd and 4th year courses were upper level ones (which I have been told by profs looks pretty good on a grad school application).
 
I think the strongest points of my application were my references and my personal statement.  My referees gave me glowing letters and I feel that in my personal statement I was able to very clearly describe both my motivation for pursuing social work and how my personal, academic, and professional experiences had informed my decision to apply to an MSW program.  I also had a friend of mine who is currently in grad school look over my personal statement and give me feedback.  
 
Finally, I also contacted a couple of school prior to applying to see if I would be a good fit in their program.  I also studied the faculty at each school with an eye towards who I would like to work with and even emailed a professor whose speciality is very similar to my own interests.
 
One other point, because of the current economic situation and because of the glut of persons, like myself, with generic BA's, ALL graduate schools are becoming harder to get into.  Being rejected isn't necessarily a negative reflection on yourself, your experience, or your application; it's just really hard to get into professional graduate programs at the moment.  
 
Sorry for the long-winded reply, I hope this makes sense and that it helps you in some way.  Good luck next year if you decide to reapply, LOTS of people get admitted into graduate school after initially being rejected, so don't lose hope.

Hi Erin,
 
I'm not sure why I was successful to be honest, but I'll speak briefly about my experience here.  The entrance requirements for social work in particular seem hard to gauge because they put so much weight on the more subjective parts of your application (personal statement/preparation/apparent motivation and work/volunteer experience).  I'll apologize in advance for what is going to be a long post.
 
Last year, I applied to 3 schools (Calgary, Laurier, and York).  I was accepted into Calgary and Laurier, and waitlisted and ultimately rejected by York (who took an absurdly long time to give any notifications). 
 
I actually think my work experience was the weakest part of my application: I had about 8 years of working with vulnerable people (ill elderly persons) and a bit of not-for-profit experience, but nothing directly related to social work (though I now do).  I also volunteered as a case worker with a local politician for a few months, but that was really about it.  
 
I did have pretty decent undergraduate grades.  My overall average was between an A- and an A, and I had a solid A average in my last three semesters.  I also did a double-major, which meant that pretty much all my 3rd and 4th year courses were upper level ones (which I have been told by profs looks pretty good on a grad school application).
 
I think the strongest points of my application were my references and my personal statement.  My referees gave me glowing letters and I feel that in my personal statement I was able to very clearly describe both my motivation for pursuing social work and how my personal, academic, and professional experiences had informed my decision to apply to an MSW program.  I also had a friend of mine who is currently in grad school look over my personal statement and give me feedback.  
 
Finally, I also contacted a couple of school prior to applying to see if I would be a good fit in their program.  I also studied the faculty at each school with an eye towards who I would like to work with and even emailed a professor whose speciality is very similar to my own interests.
 
One other point, because of the current economic situation and because of the glut of persons, like myself, with generic BA's, ALL graduate schools are becoming harder to get into.  Being rejected isn't necessarily a negative reflection on yourself, your experience, or your application; it's just really hard to get into professional graduate programs at the moment.  
 
Sorry for the long-winded reply, I hope this makes sense and that it helps you in some way.  Good luck next year if you decide to reapply, LOTS of people get admitted into graduate school after initially being rejected, so don't lose hope.

Hi Erin,
 
I'm not sure why I was successful to be honest, but I'll speak briefly about my experience here.  The entrance requirements for social work in particular seem hard to gauge because they put so much weight on the more subjective parts of your application (personal statement/preparation/apparent motivation and work/volunteer experience).  I'll apologize in advance for what is going to be a long post.
 
Last year, I applied to 3 schools (Calgary, Laurier, and York).  I was accepted into Calgary and Laurier, and waitlisted and ultimately rejected by York (who took an absurdly long time to give any notifications). 
 
I actually think my work experience was the weakest part of my application: I had about 8 years of working with vulnerable people (ill elderly persons) and a bit of not-for-profit experience, but nothing directly related to social work (though I now do).  I also volunteered as a case worker with a local politician for a few months, but that was really about it.  
 
I did have pretty decent undergraduate grades.  My overall average was between an A- and an A, and I had a solid A average in my last three semesters.  I also did a double-major, which meant that pretty much all my 3rd and 4th year courses were upper level ones (which I have been told by profs looks pretty good on a grad school application).
 
I think the strongest points of my application were my references and my personal statement.  My referees gave me glowing letters and I feel that in my personal statement I was able to very clearly describe both my motivation for pursuing social work and how my personal, academic, and professional experiences had informed my decision to apply to an MSW program.  I also had a friend of mine who is currently in grad school look over my personal statement and give me feedback.  
 
Finally, I also contacted a couple of school prior to applying to see if I would be a good fit in their program.  I also studied the faculty at each school with an eye towards who I would like to work with and even emailed a professor whose speciality is very similar to my own interests.
 
One other point, because of the current economic situation and because of the glut of persons, like myself, with generic BA's, ALL graduate schools are becoming harder to get into.  Being rejected isn't necessarily a negative reflection on yourself, your experience, or your application; it's just really hard to get into professional graduate programs at the moment.  
 
Sorry for the long-winded reply, I hope this makes sense and that it helps you in some way.  Good luck next year if you decide to reapply, LOTS of people get admitted into graduate school after initially being rejected, so don't lose hope.

Hi Erin,
 
I'm not sure why I was successful to be honest, but I'll speak briefly about my experience here.  The entrance requirements for social work in particular seem hard to gauge because they put so much weight on the more subjective parts of your application (personal statement/preparation/apparent motivation and work/volunteer experience).  I'll apologize in advance for what is going to be a long post.
 
Last year, I applied to 3 schools (Calgary, Laurier, and York).  I was accepted into Calgary and Laurier, and waitlisted and ultimately rejected by York (who took an absurdly long time to give any notifications). 
 
I actually think my work experience was the weakest part of my application: I had about 8 years of working with vulnerable people (ill elderly persons) and a bit of not-for-profit experience, but nothing directly related to social work (though I now do).  I also volunteered as a case worker with a local politician for a few months, but that was really about it.  
 
I did have pretty decent undergraduate grades.  My overall average was between an A- and an A, and I had a solid A average in my last three semesters.  I also did a double-major, which meant that pretty much all my 3rd and 4th year courses were upper level ones (which I have been told by profs looks pretty good on a grad school application).
 
I think the strongest points of my application were my references and my personal statement.  My referees gave me glowing letters and I feel that in my personal statement I was able to very clearly describe both my motivation for pursuing social work and how my personal, academic, and professional experiences had informed my decision to apply to an MSW program.  I also had a friend of mine who is currently in grad school look over my personal statement and give me feedback.  
 
Finally, I also contacted a couple of school prior to applying to see if I would be a good fit in their program.  I also studied the faculty at each school with an eye towards who I would like to work with and even emailed a professor whose speciality is very similar to my own interests.
 
One other point, because of the current economic situation and because of the glut of persons, like myself, with generic BA's, ALL graduate schools are becoming harder to get into.  Being rejected isn't necessarily a negative reflection on yourself, your experience, or your application; it's just really hard to get into professional graduate programs at the moment.  
 
Sorry for the long-winded reply, I hope this makes sense and that it helps you in some way.  Good luck next year if you decide to reapply, LOTS of people get admitted into graduate school after initially being rejected, so don't lose hope.

I thought it might be a loaded question   .

I'm older than you (that's all you are going to get out of me  )

Absolutely.  I doubt many will care where you did your degree, except perhaps if your goal is to do a Phd.  Potential employers will be much more concerned with your qualifications, your experience, and what you learned during your studies.  As long as the school is accredited, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Officially accepted my offer from U of C this weekend (it was deferred from 2012).  Excited, but nervous about going back to school after all this time (I suspect that I am a fair bit older than most of the people on this site) and also about moving to Calgary; being from the west coast, temperatures below -10 sound like fantasy to me  .  

I applied and was accepted to U of C last year, I was notified in early March if I recall correctly.  I ended up getting a deferral until Sept. 2013, so beyond that I'm afraid I don't have much insight.

I applied and was accepted to U of C last year, I was notified in early March if I recall correctly.  I ended up getting a deferral until Sept. 2013, so beyond that I'm afraid I don't have much insight.