Canadian MSW Applicants 2021

[MSWJJ]

1 hour ago, scarey said:

Same boat as both of you waiting for Western and Windsor as well. I spoke to someone at Kings who said some years theres a ton of movement and some theres not as much, I hope we start seeing some movement. Positive thinking!!

 

I know that not all applicants are on this forum, but with the amount of people here that are on the waitlist for Western and only one person moving off the wait list I’m genuinely surprised there hasn’t been a bit more movement then that. 

[MSWAPP2021]

On 5/12/2021 at 12:34 PM, Alex24 said:

I didn’t either! Sad times. 

I didn't either , I feel better knowing that it was only 25 successful applicants out of I am assuming a lot of applicants, but disappointing none the less!

[olivolia]

14 hours ago, viglet said:

I only applied to Laurier, as it’s the only fully online program.

Windsor asks for in person 2 days a week, alternating weeks. I find that part time schooling plus commuting to work is enough time away from my kids, so I didn’t want to add more time out of the house. 
 

Honestly I really struggle with how post secondary education is structured. They want work experience, high grades, volunteering, etc. How are those of us who started with nothing supposed to acquire all of these things? I’m luckily that I had most of them, but having had a child as a teen, I have been parenting for all my adult life. I don’t have tons of time to volunteer on top of trying to build my life. /rant lol 

 

I’m not sure what I’ll do next. I wanted to go into private practice one day, so I need to see what my options are for other online programs. 

Have you considered Yorkvilles Counselling Psychology program? Many people fall back on that who do not get in!

[olivia473]

Does anyone here have experience with the post-degree programs at Dalhousie (online) or York? I'm trying to decide between the two of them and would appreciate any advice!

[viglet]

Now that my mourning is over LOL....I am seriously considering the Windsor program.  I don’t want to spend time away from my family but it may be my only option.

 

Can anyone who was accepted to the working professionals regular track MSW share their experience? 

[YouBetterSocialWerk]

8 hours ago, olivia473 said:

Does anyone here have experience with the post-degree programs at Dalhousie (online) or York? I'm trying to decide between the two of them and would appreciate any advice!

Hi! I got accepted to the York post-degree program about 2 weeks ago. I'm still on the waitlist for UofT. I'm just wondering, have you got any information about funding for the post-degree at York? i.e. if there is any? ?

[AlexaS]

I was just accepted off Windsor's 2-year regular track waitlist!! My process date changed three times before I was accepted. Hope this helps for anyone who is on the waitlist! 

[InfoMSW2021]

Has anyone got off  UofT's advance standing MSW waitlist ? I know the odds aren't great, but I wanted to know if anyone 'got lucky' 

[olivia473]

16 hours ago, YouBetterSocialWerk said:

Hi! I got accepted to the York post-degree program about 2 weeks ago. I'm still on the waitlist for UofT. I'm just wondering, have you got any information about funding for the post-degree at York? i.e. if there is any? ?

I think there is! If you look on their website they have some info about scholarships and stuff I'm not sure when you apply for them though

[YouBetterSocialWerk]

7 hours ago, olivia473 said:

I think there is! If you look on their website they have some info about scholarships and stuff I'm not sure when you apply for them though

Ok great! I saw those but I wasn't sure if they gave out any entrance scholarships for the post-degree program, nothing was mentioned in the acceptance letter but I know York doesn't usually cheap out on students haha. If you accept let me know! I will be accepting the program while staying on the waitlist for UofT 2-year. 

My understanding of the York program is that it's very macro and social justice based, similar to their masters program. It's also very flexible, when I spoke to the admissions person, she said you can chose to schedule all your classes to just 2 days a week, which is great for me as I can keep working and if classes are in person, I can limit that days I have to do the long commute. She also said the first year is all classes but you can choose for the second year to be all practicum if you want, which is really nice! 

I found this this booklet which really helped, it also has all of the course descriptions: https://www.yorku.ca/laps/sowk/wp-content/uploads/sites/217/2020/11/BSW-Student-Handbook-2020-2021-SEPT-2020-FNL.pdf

[olivia473]

On 5/16/2021 at 1:22 AM, YouBetterSocialWerk said:

Ok great! I saw those but I wasn't sure if they gave out any entrance scholarships for the post-degree program, nothing was mentioned in the acceptance letter but I know York doesn't usually cheap out on students haha. If you accept let me know! I will be accepting the program while staying on the waitlist for UofT 2-year. 

My understanding of the York program is that it's very macro and social justice based, similar to their masters program. It's also very flexible, when I spoke to the admissions person, she said you can chose to schedule all your classes to just 2 days a week, which is great for me as I can keep working and if classes are in person, I can limit that days I have to do the long commute. She also said the first year is all classes but you can choose for the second year to be all practicum if you want, which is really nice! 

I found this this booklet which really helped, it also has all of the course descriptions: https://www.yorku.ca/laps/sowk/wp-content/uploads/sites/217/2020/11/BSW-Student-Handbook-2020-2021-SEPT-2020-FNL.pdf

That's great thanks for the info! I'm really interested in macro social work but I'm worried they program won't prepare me well for micro-level work and counseling. Do you happen to know if we'll be trained in this as well? 

[Kal008]

Has anyone heard back from Yorks 2 year program? It's definitely the "latter" part of May now haha ?

[xtrahotlatte]

Anyone hear back about OGS from UofT? 

[MMSW]

6 hours ago, Kal008 said:

Has anyone heard back from Yorks 2 year program? It's definitely the "latter" part of May now haha ?

I haven't heard anything yet. I hope we all find out soon...the latter part of May is a ambiguous timeline.

[AngKam]

On 5/12/2021 at 4:29 PM, Jomoch said:

I also got Rejected today from the PT Laurier program. It seems a lot of us did(it is nice to know I am not alone :)). Did anybody get in? If so would you mind sharing your work experience and academic achievement?

 

Thanks

Hello, 

I did get into the PT Laurier program MSW to my surprise. I applied for the Advance MSW Program as I have my BSW. Academically I am pretty average, B+ average roughly. My work experience is 6 yrs in Child Protection  (5 years in the NWT and 1 year in an urban setting), and currently I am working as a Placement Social Worker. Before receiving my BSW I have had a lot of work and volunteering in Community Development, in Canada and Internationally. 

Don't give up. As I applied to several University through out the years and got rejected....persistence  is key :-) 

[Mswhopeful97]

Hey all! A while back I posted about getting into U of T’s 2 year MSW and today I got a call from York saying I got into their 2 year MSW as well! However MyFile hasn’t updated yet. Just wanted to give a heads up that offers seem to be rolling out by phone call (which I’m not surprised by as there’s only 20 admitted for the 2 year and they’re probably trying to see who’s still interested considering it’s so late). Fingers crossed for all you! 

[angelicpiano]

On 5/11/2021 at 10:49 AM, emnull98 said:

Hi everyone! I am a long time lurker and have finally decided to make my first post. 

This year I decided to only apply to the post-degree BSW program at York, since I had strong doubts that it would be feasible for me to move within the next year (I am currently residing in Newfoundland). Applying to this program was to keep my options open just incase. Fortunately, I'm scheduled to be fully vaccinated by the end of August, and am seriously considering accepting admission if it is offered to me.  

I have a couple of questions for those who have been enrolled in this program: 

1. Is it worth the extra year to receive a post-degree BSW and then a Advanced Standing MSW? What are the pros/ cons of going this route instead of just applying to the 2 Year MSW? 

2. What was your experience like at York and in this program? 

Thank you so much in advance, and good luck to everyone still waiting for an offer!!! ❤️ 

I am not a Social Work major, however I myself applied to 2-year MSW programs (Western, U of Toronto and University of Windsor). I also applied to the post-BSW at Windsor. I did not get into any of the 2 year programs, only the post-BSW. At first I was really stressing about the extra year as I already did a fifth year in my bachelor's degree. However, I talked to a social worker and also did my own research and came to the conclusion that this option is better than doing a 2 year master's.

Let's start with the pros of a post-BSW. You can skip to the end where there is a more concise answer. I am comparing the practicum hours out of interest. 

1. First let's look at the practicum hours you need at post-BSW programs:

University of Windsor - 700 hours minimum in year 2/last year of the program

Western University - 225+ hours in first year and 500+ in second year. Approximately 725 hours total. 

As I am going to apply to one year master's programs after my post-BSW, I will write down how many hours I will need for those programs and then compare with the 2 year programs.  Keep in mind that regardless of whether you do a post-BSW of 2 year MSW, for the most part you will only be doing a practicum for two years. For a post-BSW it is usually in the second and last year of the program (except Western which has it each year of the post-BSW), then during your one year MSW and for the two year MSW, you do a practicum each of the two years.

1 -Year MSW programs:

University of Toronto - 575 practicum hours

University of Windsor - 450 practicum hours

Western University - 450 practicum

York University - 450 practicum hours

Now let's look at the 2 year programs.

University of Toronto - You do approximately 450 hours in Year One and then merge with the Advanced standing (1-year MSW) students and do 575 hours in the second year. (Total 1,025)

Western University: 450+ hours each year. (total approximately 900 hours)

University of Windsor - 450 hours each year (total 900 practicum hours)

York University - 550 hours in first year and 450 in second year. (total 1000 hours). 

I only looked at universities I applied to this year. For the most part for 1 year MSW's you get only 450 hours with the exception of U of Toronto. In the 2 year MSW programs for the most part you get 900 hours  Max in one program 1,025. 

If you we compare this to taking the post-BSW + 1-year MSW route, you get minimum 1,150. If you get a 1-year MSW at U of Toronto, you now have 1,225 practicum hours. 

After these long calculations my point is that with a post-BSW even though you only do a practicum for one year and then another one year practicum in your MSW, you get more hours than doing two years of a practicum in the 2-year MSW. Why do you need more hours? Social Work is a competitive field, the more hours you have the better it is for your resume. 

2. A post-BSW is also good if you are not yet sure what group of people or setting you want to work in. My programs has courses on working in the community, with families etc. With the practicum, you can also explore a field you think you might want and make sure that you are sure of the specialization you want to do. I want to do clinical social work, but I want to explore all of the MSW fields through courses etc. to be certain I am making the right choice for me.

3. The final reason (not final, there are many more, but final important reason an psot-BSW is good). Without a BSW, your options for 2-year MSW programs are really low compared to Advanced Standing programs. Some universities do not have 2-year MSW options, or require certain courses such as 6 sociology courses, human development, statistics etc. Hence, I only applied to a handful of programs. With a post-BSW you are on the same level as a BSW students and have so many more options for programs.

Here are the cons:

The obvious con is that it takes an extra year. However, the Windsor 2-year MSW program for example is 32 months. Which is almost two years. Other MSW programs require to be in the program 12 months a year (for some you finish your course work in June and do the practicum in the summer). The post-BSW I am and the York one is only two semester's a year so September to April. So you get the summer off to work and save up for your future or for rent/living expenses if you will be renting or living on campus. 

Another con is that you have to go through the stressful period of applying to master's programs in your second year and going through the harsh waiting game. However, with a post-BSW it is a lot easier to get in, so if you have very good grades, a good reference from your prof and practicum, and perhaps some volunteering you should be set. 2-year MSW programs require a lot of volunteering to show you did not make this choice on the whim, I got rejected at Western for not enough hours. 

I would recommend doing a post-BSW program first.That being said, if you really want get into only U of Toronto or another school, that has a 2-year program that you qualify for, and do not think you care to much about an extra 200-300 hours of practicum, go for the 2-year MSW. It is ultimately up to you, I just laid out some points that helped me not feel so bad about not getting into an MSW and realize that a post-BSW is a better choice for me and my future career. 

Edited May 18, 2021 by angelicpiano

[MSW21-22]

hey folks! 

a facebook group has been created for students in the Wilfrid Laurier MSW Advanced Standing (one-year) 2021-2022 cohort! 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/286685833175983 

[Shaq1298]

49 minutes ago, MSW21-22 said:

hey folks! 

a facebook group has been created for students in the Wilfrid Laurier MSW Advanced Standing (one-year) 2021-2022 cohort! 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/286685833175983 

Hi ! I was waitlisted in the beginning of March, have you seen any movement?

[Pickmeplease]

21 hours ago, AngKam said:

Hello, 

I did get into the PT Laurier program MSW to my surprise. I applied for the Advance MSW Program as I have my BSW. Academically I am pretty average, B+ average roughly. My work experience is 6 yrs in Child Protection  (5 years in the NWT and 1 year in an urban setting), and currently I am working as a Placement Social Worker. Before receiving my BSW I have had a lot of work and volunteering in Community Development, in Canada and Internationally. 

Don't give up. As I applied to several University through out the years and got rejected....persistence  is key ?

I'm happy you were able to get in!

 

I was under the impression that the PT online program was specifically for people without their BSW. I feel really mislead by Laurier to be honest. I think they should raise their minimum requirements and be more transparent about how realistic it is to be admitted. They are obviously not going to take people who have just the minimum... it causes a lot of people to waste their time and money applying which seems scummy IMO. 

 

Again I am happy for you though, you seem to have some really interesting work experience. 

[nervousbutwaiting]

5 hours ago, Mswhopeful97 said:

Hey all! A while back I posted about getting into U of T’s 2 year MSW and today I got a call from York saying I got into their 2 year MSW as well! However MyFile hasn’t updated yet. Just wanted to give a heads up that offers seem to be rolling out by phone call (which I’m not surprised by as there’s only 20 admitted for the 2 year and they’re probably trying to see who’s still interested considering it’s so late). Fingers crossed for all you! 

Congratulations!! I'm waiting for York's decision and have been accepted to U of T's 2 year MSW also! Are you gonna take the U of T offer or the York one?

[shermsw2021]

5 hours ago, Mswhopeful97 said:

Hey all! A while back I posted about getting into U of T’s 2 year MSW and today I got a call from York saying I got into their 2 year MSW as well! However MyFile hasn’t updated yet. Just wanted to give a heads up that offers seem to be rolling out by phone call (which I’m not surprised by as there’s only 20 admitted for the 2 year and they’re probably trying to see who’s still interested considering it’s so late). Fingers crossed for all you! 

Hey congratulations!! Do you know the name of the person who called you? I just received an email to set up a call... Not quite sure what this means and im not sure if anyone else has received an email abt their applicaiton?

[Mswhopeful97]

2 hours ago, nervousbutwaiting said:

Congratulations!! I'm waiting for York's decision and have been accepted to U of T's 2 year MSW also! Are you gonna take the U of T offer or the York one?

Hey honestly I'm not sure yet! York is offering me a lotttt of money in funding whereas U of T isn't. However I want to go into clinical social work and U of T is known for its clinical affiliations and it's tougher to get a clinical placement at York. I've heard amazzzinngg things about York's program as well. I'm really not sure!

[angelicpiano]

On 5/24/2020 at 1:51 PM, mswto21 said:

Thanks @skittles15 for starting this thread! I came across this site a few weeks ago and have been lurking ever since. 

I've been back and forth on deciding whether or not I want to do my MSW right after I finish my BSW next year as I've been in school since 2016 (2 college diplomas and now final year of BSW) and I'm kinda tired. But, I think with the circumstances around COVID, I feel like I'm kinda missing school and campus life so I think I'm going to apply anyways and see what happens. 

Like @angelicpiano I had some health and trauma issues this year and I'm afraid of not being accepted because I finished our first research course with a C and then this semester's course with a B- (to be fair, it could have been a lot higher but a multiple choice midterm worth a majority of the overall grade was the death of me). But, I'm hoping that my 2+ years of experience within the sector will help make up for that.

I have a 9 page Google Doc of MSW programs and so far, I think my top choices are U of T, York and Ryerson. I'm so bored during this pandemic that I'm already itching to start applications. Hope you are all keeping safe during this time!

@mswto21 Are you planning to apply this coming September or did you apply already? I also had a poor average due to health issues/some difficult courses in my program that most people had to retake. I have a 71% average to be precise. I was not hopeful on anything. Somehow Western calculated my average to be 83%, I don't know how. They said my average was within the range offered and had I had much more than 2000 volunteering/direct service work, I would have had a competitive application. At least it seems, Western uses their GPA system which makes my GPA higher. Windsor I know uses the system of the university you are from in calculating averages.

Anyways, I was worried no one would take me, but Windsor did. They required 70% GPA, but said averages are usually 5-7% higher. I did not have that much volunteering that was direct social service work, but I think a strong personal statement and references. Anyways if your GPA is not that great, make sure to focus on the other components. If you look at Western's application information page and some other university sites, they sometimes post the breakdown of your admission score. The grades are only part of it. 

If you are not planning to apply for the fall or only for the winter of 2022 and want to boost your grade for a research methods course. I recommend doing an Athabasca course. It is all online. It is an Alberta University. I took SOSC336 titled, "Research Methods for the Social Sciences", they have others too. It was a lot of work, as in you had to do your own study at the end and do several steps starting from a research proposal, but it really prepared me well for a master's and I did well in the course. You get 6 months to do the course at your own pace, which I liked. It was just stressful for me as I took the course in July and was not motivated all summer to do it, then I had a full-time course load and basically had to finish a 6-month course in like 1.5 months or less. That was my own fault, but otherwise if you pace yourself, it is not bad. The quizzes were not that hard. For the mid-term, you can take as long as you need to complete it. I enjoyed doing the study to on whatever topic I wanted. I would recommend this course. I think you can do well. Also, I know some universities say you need a research methods course, but don't require a certain grade in it. U of T does sadly. 

Also, a tip I got from someone who coaches people applying to master's programs. He is my friend, so he gave me tips for free. Anyways, if you had a health issue or something that affected your grades, do not dwell on it in your statement. Rather if you GPA is low, make sure to emphasize your strong points and try to draw the attention away from your grades. He said it is best to only briefly mentioned it, if you want to state how you grew and improved from it. Do not try to get them to feel for you. I thought it was a good idea, but he says that admissions committees do not care much for these types of written statements. For example, through my mental health crisis I met a Social Worker, and she inspired me to go into this field. In this, case he said it is ok to go into my health issues, as I am bringing out a huge positive. 

Also, find something unique about you if you can. For example, I learn languages for fun and also in university. I won't bore you with a list, but I have some languages up my sleeve. That is my unique point. Try to find something about yourself that is unique to bring to the Social Work field. Put emphasis on that. 

Of course, some programs unfortunately still weigh your GPA heavily in the overall application. I already expected a rejection from U of T for my low average. 

I know that Western for example, puts a lot of weight on your experience. Though they say they recommend/require a minimum number, as I mentioned the admissions officer told me that I needed much more than 2000 to be competitive. Again this is for the 2-year program, not sure about the 1-year program. 

Do not give up! Keep on pushing through. As I am really passionate about this career, I told myself I will keep pushing forward until I finally get my master's. I support you all the way and am cheering on for you. I hope that your difficult moment in life has passed or will pass, and that good luck will come to you. 

Sorry for the ramble, I am bored during covid and love helping people out. 

[emnull98]

22 hours ago, angelicpiano said:

I am not a Social Work major, however I myself applied to 2-year MSW programs (Western, U of Toronto and University of Windsor). I also applied to the post-BSW at Windsor. I did not get into any of the 2 year programs, only the post-BSW. At first I was really stressing about the extra year as I already did a fifth year in my bachelor's degree. However, I talked to a social worker and also did my own research and came to the conclusion that this option is better than doing a 2 year master's.

Let's start with the pros of a post-BSW. You can skip to the end where there is a more concise answer. I am comparing the practicum hours out of interest. 

1. First let's look at the practicum hours you need at post-BSW programs:

University of Windsor - 700 hours minimum in year 2/last year of the program

Western University - 225+ hours in first year and 500+ in second year. Approximately 725 hours total. 

As I am going to apply to one year master's programs after my post-BSW, I will write down how many hours I will need for those programs and then compare with the 2 year programs.  Keep in mind that regardless of whether you do a post-BSW of 2 year MSW, for the most part you will only be doing a practicum for two years. For a post-BSW it is usually in the second and last year of the program (except Western which has it each year of the post-BSW), then during your one year MSW and for the two year MSW, you do a practicum each of the two years.

1 -Year MSW programs:

University of Toronto - 575 practicum hours

University of Windsor - 450 practicum hours

Western University - 450 practicum

York University - 450 practicum hours

Now let's look at the 2 year programs.

University of Toronto - You do approximately 450 hours in Year One and then merge with the Advanced standing (1-year MSW) students and do 575 hours in the second year. (Total 1,025)

Western University: 450+ hours each year. (total approximately 900 hours)

University of Windsor - 450 hours each year (total 900 practicum hours)

York University - 550 hours in first year and 450 in second year. (total 1000 hours). 

I only looked at universities I applied to this year. For the most part for 1 year MSW's you get only 450 hours with the exception of U of Toronto. In the 2 year MSW programs for the most part you get 900 hours  Max in one program 1,025. 

If you we compare this to taking the post-BSW + 1-year MSW route, you get minimum 1,150. If you get a 1-year MSW at U of Toronto, you now have 1,225 practicum hours. 

After these long calculations my point is that with a post-BSW even though you only do a practicum for one year and then another one year practicum in your MSW, you get more hours than doing two years of a practicum in the 2-year MSW. Why do you need more hours? Social Work is a competitive field, the more hours you have the better it is for your resume. 

2. A post-BSW is also good if you are not yet sure what group of people or setting you want to work in. My programs has courses on working in the community, with families etc. With the practicum, you can also explore a field you think you might want and make sure that you are sure of the specialization you want to do. I want to do clinical social work, but I want to explore all of the MSW fields through courses etc. to be certain I am making the right choice for me.

3. The final reason (not final, there are many more, but final important reason an psot-BSW is good). Without a BSW, your options for 2-year MSW programs are really low compared to Advanced Standing programs. Some universities do not have 2-year MSW options, or require certain courses such as 6 sociology courses, human development, statistics etc. Hence, I only applied to a handful of programs. With a post-BSW you are on the same level as a BSW students and have so many more options for programs.

Here are the cons:

The obvious con is that it takes an extra year. However, the Windsor 2-year MSW program for example is 32 months. Which is almost two years. Other MSW programs require to be in the program 12 months a year (for some you finish your course work in June and do the practicum in the summer). The post-BSW I am and the York one is only two semester's a year so September to April. So you get the summer off to work and save up for your future or for rent/living expenses if you will be renting or living on campus. 

Another con is that you have to go through the stressful period of applying to master's programs in your second year and going through the harsh waiting game. However, with a post-BSW it is a lot easier to get in, so if you have very good grades, a good reference from your prof and practicum, and perhaps some volunteering you should be set. 2-year MSW programs require a lot of volunteering to show you did not make this choice on the whim, I got rejected at Western for not enough hours. 

I would recommend doing a post-BSW program first.That being said, if you really want get into only U of Toronto or another school, that has a 2-year program that you qualify for, and do not think you care to much about an extra 200-300 hours of practicum, go for the 2-year MSW. It is ultimately up to you, I just laid out some points that helped me not feel so bad about not getting into an MSW and realize that a post-BSW is a better choice for me and my future career. 

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! This definitely helped make my decision easier  I actually just got confirmation this morning that I've been admitted to the post-degree BSW program at York!!!! Now I actually have to decide for real lol.

I feel that the major thing standing between me accepting my offer is the funding opportunities for the post-grad BSW program. I know that the 2 Year MSW program at York offers quite a bit of money to students, but I haven't been able to find funding options for the post-grad BSW besides awards/bursaries offered during the school year. Are you (or anyone else on this forum) aware of any funding offered to students in this program?? Thank you so much in advance!