Canada MSW 2019

[the.social.nurse]

On 3/1/2019 at 10:01 AM, Ihatethissomuch said:

I certainly didn't mean to downplay anyone's accomplishments, and I'm sorry that you interpreted my comments that way. I also wasn't referring to 'wow-ing' on paper as the personal statements - as obviously I have not read everyone's statements. What I meant was that some individuals get in who may not have the highest GPA / highest amount of hours of experience. Obviously they have displayed something else that certain schools feel is fantastic/ beneficial / relevant to their program. 

I was not discrediting anyone's accomplishments. I was not minimizing anyone's efforts or dis valuing celebration of hard work. 

ALL I meant was that comparing yourself to others on here will not help anyone 'guess' or determine what their admission status will be.

 

I found your comment to be somewhat personally attacking of my character - however I'm not assuming that that was your intention. I am guessing you felt somewhat defensive of your acceptance. 

 

I get it! It can cause a sense of anxiety to read everyone's posts and there are certainly urges of self-comparison. At least that's what I do, haha! I find it helpful and interesting for me though, I enjoy to connect with folks who have similar goals as I.

Seems like you're having a reaction to this, and it's ok! Let your experience be your guide, if this forum is unhelpful, no need to look. However, perhaps you could be curious about the experience well and see if there is anything else you are reacting to underneath the surface.

All the best I hope you get in!

[acciojenna]

Does anyone know when we might be hearing from western re the 2-year msw program? Shouldn't it be around this time? ?

[Nicole22]

55 minutes ago, acciojenna said:

Does anyone know when we might be hearing from western re the 2-year msw program? Shouldn't it be around this time? ?

I was wondering the same thing, I sent an email to the admission advisor to find out when we should be hearing back. Will let you know!

Edited March 4, 2019 by Nicole22

[Anniemsw]

Just to clarify for Ryerson and York's acceptances people will be getting a phonecall? I hope they leave voicemail cause I work almost everyday this week?

[getthatbread]

1 hour ago, Anniemsw said:

Just to clarify for Ryerson and York's acceptances people will be getting a phonecall? I hope they leave voicemail cause I work almost everyday this week?

From what I've read/heard, both schools called their applicants last year. However,  I remember Ryerson saying they also e-mail. Not too sure about York although I think they will update myfile upon acceptance.

[mriley26]

2 hours ago, acciojenna said:

Does anyone know when we might be hearing from western re the 2-year msw program? Shouldn't it be around this time? ?

 

1 hour ago, Nicole22 said:

I was wondering the same thing, I sent an email to the admission advisor to find out when we should be hearing back. Will let you know!

I spoke to Julie the other day and she said that they are not done. They are aiming for mid March but she's hoping for sooner. Someone else told me that the social work department just did a hiring so that process probably took time away from reviewing applications. 

Good luck to you both!

[Purple-Elephant]

I applied to the 1 year advance standing MSW at Western and haven’t had my status change on the student centre yet or heard anything. 

[WaitingEndlessly]

5 hours ago, Anniemsw said:

Just to clarify for Ryerson and York's acceptances people will be getting a phonecall? I hope they leave voicemail cause I work almost everyday this week?

For York ,last year they called n showed it on myfile thing

[Laurabeth79]

1 hour ago, WaitingEndlessly said:

For York ,last year they called n showed it on myfile thing

Did they call around this time, or closer to the middle of March/April?  Thanks in advance

 

[hellohamilton]

laurier.  CMMMMOOOONNNNNNN.  

that's all.

[MDS96]

11 hours ago, WaitingEndlessly said:

Hi, 

Are you advance standing student?

No, I applied to the 2-year program. ?

[Walking Ball of Anxiety]

Hey guys! 

I am currently on the waitlist for Waterloo’s part time program. I emailed them and found out that I am close to the top of the waitlist, so I was just wondering if anyone who has gotten accepted to Waterloo part-time has gotten a “due date” to accept by? Just curious to know when I can start giving up hope that I’ll get in haha

Also added bonus comment: if you got into Waterloo and have no intention of going please help a girl out and decline your offer now so my anxiety can go away sooner rather than later lol 

[sleepydeprived]

11 hours ago, Anniemsw said:

Just to clarify for Ryerson and York's acceptances people will be getting a phonecall? I hope they leave voicemail cause I work almost everyday this week?

 Ryerson called people last year starting the 6th of March all the way to the beginning of April. They also send an update on RAMMS 

[sleepydeprived]

On 3/2/2019 at 3:25 PM, Chantalilly said:

Ugh I wish you so much luck, so are ryerson acceptances rolling? Also do you know how many people they accept? 

 

What is is your interest in ryerson ? I honestly have heard little about the program on here but it’s my first choice 

Good luck to you too! I'm not sure how many people they accept. I'm gonna guess it's anywhere from 20-40. I went to one of their information sessions in 2015 and received a ppt from them after. I was just looking at it again now, and it said "Admissions decisions will begin to go out on the 3rd week of March" - hopefully, they are quicker this year, but this seems to fall in line with what happened last year. And yes they have rolling admissions. 

It was always my dream to go to UofT however at the start of this year while working in the field and taking about 8 courses I just didn't have the energy to apply to more than one school. Ryerson was also the only school that only required 2 references so I figured at least that makes it a little easier to apply there. I do highly doubt that ill get in seeing as I wrote my application on the day it was due however one can dream.

Also since I did my BSW at Rye, I'm familiar with a lot of the profs that teach MSW courses and all of them are pretty awesome and their values really align with my own. They really live and breathe AOP practice. There wasn't a single point in my undergrad where I felt stressed since all the profs were so wonderful and went out of their way to be accommodating.  They inspired you to not only be better professionals but people (there was no completion between our peers and we did everything we could to help each other). All the classes are interesting and engaging. 

I know a lot of people that want to go to UofT because of the connections they have to hospitals however I know there were a few students in my undergrad program who received their placements in hospitals. In my seminar class, a lot of my peers that were in clinical settings shared that they absolutely hated it because to them it was a toxic environment and they hated how the clinicians were treating patients. 

I would say the biggest downfall of the program is that there is no part-time option. You only have the 3 semesters to complete the program and if you don't finish your research paper on time and have to stay an extra semester you have to pay an entire semesters worth of tuition (at least that's what they told us back in 2015). 

[kidsndog]

Laurier’s admission emails just came out! For the Advanced Standing 1 year program!

Edited March 5, 2019 by kidsndog

[jjinjjin]

Hi, First of all congratulations to all of those people got into MSW program. Does anyone got into McGill’s MSW?

I recently got wait listed into Mcgill’s MSW program. Does anyone know what are the chance of getting off the waitlist?

Thank you,

[hellohamilton]

yay!  got into laurier!  oh gheeze - time to make some decisions.  good luck to all <3 

[moonsun.jang]

23 minutes ago, kidsndog said:

Laurier’s admission emails just came out!

For the 2 year program????? 

[Roosterduck]

Hi, I am currently in the advanced standing student at the U of T program and will be finishing in April of this year. I have a few thoughts for those applying and feel free to DM me. Please understand that I come from a pretty "heavy academic background." Social work has been really, really easy and understanding that no one can really be completely unbiased ,these comments are my own, but there are others in this program that would agree with these thoughts.  

These are just the "raw" details for the program -

I was waitlisted, but I did get in. I told them blatantly that my end goal was social justice, but not social work. I had pretty decent marks A-/A when applying and several years of experience. My competition was against other BSW students. Most people that enter are pretty young. Profs said "we were the creme of the crop" - this is a not true. Our program is 150-160 2 year program and 84 advanced standing. Most programs are around 40-70 (2-year and advanced standing). How can the biggest program in Canada have all high quality students?? 

Finances- 

When you enter, you pay for three semesters automatically - yes, it is a money making scheme because this was only changed in the past 10 years (my supervisor finished her program in 2 semesters and was charged accordingly). So I paid $11,500 even though I will not take courses this summer. When you finish ALL your required credits, you are "auto graduated" meaning I cannot take courses this summer even though I paid for it (I would have to drop a course now or have enrolled in one less course this term). U of T states this in one of their acceptance packages they will not return your summer money. I would highly recommend taking courses in the summer (online courses if in another city) before the fall so that you can take less courses and find a part time job during the year.  OSAP provided me ... $10,000, that covers tuition pretty well, but I am also getting robbed by Toronto rent. Entrance scholarships are not huge and with many applicants, don't expect to get one or even a large one if you do (unless you are a social work god). Bursaries are offered, but they range from 4k-7k and again, they are highly competitive because there are so many students and getting As these days in undergrad is not hard...

"School of thought" - 

This program is clinical - more traditional. It honestly does not care about AOP, structural or the other more sociology leaning streams of social work. Do not expect your colleagues or profs to talk about gender, class, race in a deep manner. Not to shame, but the profs are mainly white and come from wealthy backgrounds and its evident in who it admits and the ethos of the school. It's all superficial (ie. tagged question at the end of a essay paper) if they do talk about it. This may be a downfall of the program, but coming from a structural background, I wanted a different perspective and was happy to learn some real clinical skills...and not have profs waste class time on a rant about how all white and rich people were evil. 

Placements - 

Placements in the hospitals are highly competitive and they are not all good. I've heard of some amazing positions (I have an amazing placement) and some horrendous (my colleagues have cried to me) - understand that many SWers are in the hospital setting, they are there for the salary and the good working environment (by good, I mean you're not in an underfunded shelter that can't afford pens) - most SW positions in hospital settings are discharge planning (you are there to "transition patients into the community"....kicking people out to keep the manager happy as to not waste "taxpayer dollars").  There are some positions that are counselling, these are legit and I would recommend them. The matching here is algorithm based and no one actually knows how it matches people. Supervisors often say "no" to students in interviews if they do not think you are competent enough - hospital SW is a lot of work. These are "real" interviews. Do not take them lightly - previously in my BSW, you were pretty much given the placement if you asked. Here, you are given a real caseload by supersivors. 

Speaking to the classes -  

U of T has a reputation because of the research of the profs, not their teaching quality. The profs give out many, many A- and A which devalues the work of students that put in real effort. A+ are rarely given out (depends on the prof) because they have to meet the distribution. The concentrations are kinda a marketing gimmick. You only get 2 real courses that are part of your concentration and 2 electives that you can take in any of the fields. You CAN take courses in other concentrations - you just need permission from the prof. The mental health and health is the biggest one - it is a joke. The policy course was boring and poorly managed. I took 2 mental health courses that were at best okay (i'll pay for a crash course in CBT and DBT after this degree). You can totally finish the courses with their timetable recommendations if you are only doing school. I took 3 courses the first term and 4 this term - doing work after placement is hard but its possible. Taking into consideration getting an A- is really easy...you will survive this program even if you academically struggle (assuming you get in).... Students ask for extensions all the time and they are handed out. Some sections will get an extension behind the back of other classes and some kids start papers 2 days before they are due. It's kind of disappointing at a 2nd year graduate program at the "best school of social work". The final papers are objectively less pages (I have a friend at Carleton MSW that I did my BSW with that had a 17 page final paper while the most ive written is 10) and before you say "shorter papers are harder" - they mark them way easier ... so no.

Final recommendations -

do not get discouraged if you are not accepted here.  If you want social work, you as a person speak more than the degree on your resume. You can learn all the content by yourself and let's be real - sitting in class won't make you more passionate about social justice, empathetic or give you better conversational skills (experience will). This program is at best - "okay" for 2 year program applicants. BSW students entering will learn almost nothing from the classes as the program content is tailored towards 2 year students that are still learning the fundamentals and considering you're paying almost $12 000.....it's kind of a laugh. Pls DM me if you have questions  and again, these are my thoughts, but my friend laughed when she read over this because there was agreement. I am here because I wanted to work in Toronto after graduation (and I do have an edge over York and Ryerson - reputation and U of T has a monopoly on placements here) and I was not expecting to come to this school - I only applied for the fun of it. DM me if you have questions! 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Roosterduck

[Purple-Elephant]

I got accepted to Laurier advance standing full time as well, with excellent funding! However it is telling me that my response deadline is past due (back in January they accidentally said I was accepted to the on-campus full time, when they meant to accept me to the online part-time program. They never changed my response due date). So now I'm panicking and waiting for them to help me. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Purple-Elephant

[Laurabeth79]

Is anyone on here currently attending Carleton MSW Advanced standing program?  I only have until tomorrow to accept my offer and I can't seem to find out if it's a worthwhile program or not.  I just got accepted to Laurier, but they are offering far less funding, and U of T is offering nothing.  Money is really an issue for me at this point so I'm struggling with turning down a great funding package based on the fact that people tell me Carleton is a second tier school.  Just looking for some guidance...don't hear much about Carleton on here so if anyone has any insight I would be forever grateful!  Thanks and big congrats to everyone who has been accepted so far!  Exciting times

 

[kidsndog]

On 2/22/2019 at 10:17 PM, moonsun.jang said:

Anyone know when Laurier and Western sends out their acceptances??

 

25 minutes ago, moonsun.jang said:

For the 2 year program????? 

Sorry, just edited: for the advanced standing one year program.

[Roosterduck]

On 3/1/2019 at 2:17 PM, ayxl said:

I actually remember you from last year's MSW forum when I was lurking all day everyday. should I get rejected by U of T again this year, I will definitely remember what you wrote here to refine my application.

thank you for sharing your experience! 

Did you not get your letter yet? My friend got her waitlist letter already for U of T 

 

reach out to me if you have any questions! 

[JanineW]

Is anybody here currently enrolled in the U of Calgary MSW program? Just wanted to get the insights on the program. Thank you!

[Roosterduck]

4 minutes ago, Laurabeth79 said:

Is anyone on here currently attending Carleton MSW Advanced standing program?  I only have until tomorrow to accept my offer and I can't seem to find out if it's a worthwhile program or not.  I just got accepted to Laurier, but they are offering far less funding, and U of T is offering nothing.  Money is really an issue for me at this point so I'm struggling with turning down a great funding package based on the fact that people tell me Carleton is a second tier school.  Just looking for some guidance...don't hear much about Carleton on here so if anyone has any insight I would be forever grateful!  Thanks and big congrats to everyone who has been accepted so far!  Exciting times

 

I got accepted to Carleton MSW, and went there for my BSW. The profs are okay.... it's a small program and there aren't many profs to select from.  My friend did  (advanced standing) it last year and a friend is doing it now. They think it's okay, no complaints. I would recommend the other programs, tbh but Ottawa is a good student city and there are a lot of placements in the city.