MSW 2022 CANADA APPLICATION FORUM

[lindseyw]

Yes! I have questions. 

[PhilipT24]

Hey Everyone,
I am a little confused with the new University of Toronto's application process, as they changed and are now using a different website.

I would like to know from those who have paid for UofT, once you have finalized payment, can you still log in and submit your transcript, written statement, etc.? Or do you need to upload those before payment?

[ChipDip]

20 hours ago, PhilipT24 said:

Hey Everyone,
I am a little confused with the new University of Toronto's application process, as they changed and are now using a different website.

I would like to know from those who have paid for UofT, once you have finalized payment, can you still log in and submit your transcript, written statement, etc.? Or do you need to upload those before payment?

Hey! Yes you can. I emailed them because I was confused too on the wording (I agree it’s poor). You can log in after paying and hand in the statement of interest etc. but you can’t change any of the main info about you like your name, last name, school history, etc. Hope this helps!

[coffeegirl20]

Hey everyone,

Just trying to do the application on UofT's portal. Looks like it's different than last year. for the section of current employment status, should I still include past employment? Cuz looks like it lets you add that stuff in. This year's application portal is worded in a really confusing way. If anyone knows, please let me know! 

[teaandSW21]

hey- any folks applying to UBC Okanagan and/or Carleton for the 2 year MSW? 

[priawet]

6 hours ago, teaandSW21 said:

hey- any folks applying to UBC Okanagan and/or Carleton for the 2 year MSW? 

I applied to the Carleton 2 year MSW! 

[MSWcallmemaybe]

Any less-traditional applicants/students with advice? 

I am a mature student (late-30s) who has already completed a Master's degree (unrelated to social work) and a teaching degree. I do not have a BSW. I've been working for ten years teaching at the post-secondary level. While teaching in that space does involve engaging with diverse populations facing a range of life situations, and I have a strong grounding in research and critical theory, I am feeling concerned about my ability to create a compelling application that is competitive in a pool of people with robust experiences in roles and organizations directly related to social work. I do have some volunteer experience in areas that would be considered relevant, but not thousands upon thousands of hours like many seem to have.

If anyone has advice for a candidate like me through this application process, I'd be very open to hearing it! I intend to apply to UBCO, U of T, York, Dal, and Carleton. 

[gradnotsad]

Hey folks-- I had a question about funding. Both Dal and UBC ask about how you're planning to fund your Masters education and I'm planning to work as well as using student loans and applying to bursaries and scholarships. Do they need more extensive info?

[ElliMSW]

Any FB groups for UWindsor's MSWwp Program? (Jan 2022 start, advanced track)

Edited October 27, 2021 by ElliMSW

[madamemsw2022]

HI @ElliMSW

I am not sure about the group chats for mswwp. I was wondering how you found the application process and how long it heard for you to hear back from uwindsor after applying?

TIYA,

 

[ElliMSW]

11 hours ago, madamemsw2022 said:

HI @ElliMSW

I am not sure about the group chats for mswwp. I was wondering how you found the application process and how long it heard for you to hear back from uwindsor after applying?

TIYA,

 

Hey! 

I found the application process pretty straightforward! The instructions on the site made it all pretty clear. The info sessions are also very informative. I applied in January 2021, so pretty immediately after the application opened since they usually open a year before the section starts. I heard back right around the 6 week mark from my application being received, which was a lot easier of a wait than the several months it usually takes to hear back from other programs.

[riaveda]

Hi all. Does anyone know how the Lakehead BSW program went this year? Was it online or in person? 

[alyssa2559]

Hi everyone! 

I've been browsing this thread and the one from last year and it's been very helpful for answering questions, but I'm also very nervous about applying! I'm currently finishing up my honours degree in Psychology (thesis is evaluating student perceptions on bystander intervention and sexual violence on campus) and I think I have quite a bit of social work related experience (probably around 3200 hours, maybe a bit more) but the majority of it is volunteer work. I've seen someone else share that they considered working in a café to be social work related experience, but I'm confused about whether to include that or not on my summary forms? I had a job lined up as a residential counsellor in a group home for adults with disabilities this fall, but unfortunately had to put it on hold because I tore my ACL and meniscus and they didn't feel comfortable having me work with a knee brace. Instead, I've been managing a local café while also working 2 other jobs.

My first choice is Dal, but I'm also applying to Carleton, UVic, and either King's College Western or UBC Okanagan. I'm also a little bit confused about how much personal experience to actually include within the personal intent statements. I understand that committees want to know more about your personal experiences, but I feel like I'm trying to find the happy medium between sharing past personal experiences and trauma dumping- I'm not used to applications like those for the MSW! 

Here's my current social work related experience, for reference:

- Currently café manager for a local café (I manage a team of 3 other staff members, organize private bookings, create café menus/offerings, generally interact with the public!)

- I am a student coordinator for my university's sexual violence prevention program (paid position). I organize and facilitate sexual violence prevention education, organize awareness events like Take Back The Night, frequently handle disclosures (not part of the job but a consequence of being involved in this work!)

- I founded a pen pal project in April 2020 to tackle social isolation and loneliness (fostering intergenerational relationships by pairing seniors with university students and younger elementary/high school students) that continues presently and received a year-long grant from my university. I personally managed a team of over 200 volunteer participants and worked with many community services providers. I attended and was featured at 2 conferences, featured in quite a few news sources. Have an ongoing holiday card event that I launched to provide handwritten cards to socially isolated individuals/ organizations serving seniors over the holidays (collected almost 600 cards last year, aiming for 1000 this year!)

- Shift lead (volunteer) for our university's Peer Support Program, supporting students with mental health and sexual violence.

- I have over 4 years of paid and volunteer experience coaching youth soccer players and received the youth coach of the year award for 2021. I also have a year of coaching experience with child and youth athletes with special needs.

- I was a COVID support assistant with my university, directly supporting isolating students

- Volunteer tutor for adults, providing ESL tutoring and literacy education

- Volunteer for an after-school sports program for Syrian refugee children

- 2 years of volunteer experience in the emergency department of a local hospital

Would love any insight on what to include for social work related experience and tips/best practices for statements of intent! Thank you in advance and best of luck to everyone applying!!

[teaandSW21]

On 10/25/2021 at 10:00 PM, priawet said:

I applied to the Carleton 2 year MSW! 

amazing I just submitted my application today, a bit of a relief I must say since I have 2 more applications to complete. 

[ElliMSW]

On 10/30/2021 at 1:00 PM, alyssa2559 said:

Hi everyone! 

I've been browsing this thread and the one from last year and it's been very helpful for answering questions, but I'm also very nervous about applying! I'm currently finishing up my honours degree in Psychology (thesis is evaluating student perceptions on bystander intervention and sexual violence on campus) and I think I have quite a bit of social work related experience (probably around 3200 hours, maybe a bit more) but the majority of it is volunteer work. I've seen someone else share that they considered working in a café to be social work related experience, but I'm confused about whether to include that or not on my summary forms? I had a job lined up as a residential counsellor in a group home for adults with disabilities this fall, but unfortunately had to put it on hold because I tore my ACL and meniscus and they didn't feel comfortable having me work with a knee brace. Instead, I've been managing a local café while also working 2 other jobs.

My first choice is Dal, but I'm also applying to Carleton, UVic, and either King's College Western or UBC Okanagan. I'm also a little bit confused about how much personal experience to actually include within the personal intent statements. I understand that committees want to know more about your personal experiences, but I feel like I'm trying to find the happy medium between sharing past personal experiences and trauma dumping- I'm not used to applications like those for the MSW! 

Here's my current social work related experience, for reference:

- Currently café manager for a local café (I manage a team of 3 other staff members, organize private bookings, create café menus/offerings, generally interact with the public!)

- I am a student coordinator for my university's sexual violence prevention program (paid position). I organize and facilitate sexual violence prevention education, organize awareness events like Take Back The Night, frequently handle disclosures (not part of the job but a consequence of being involved in this work!)

- I founded a pen pal project in April 2020 to tackle social isolation and loneliness (fostering intergenerational relationships by pairing seniors with university students and younger elementary/high school students) that continues presently and received a year-long grant from my university. I personally managed a team of over 200 volunteer participants and worked with many community services providers. I attended and was featured at 2 conferences, featured in quite a few news sources. Have an ongoing holiday card event that I launched to provide handwritten cards to socially isolated individuals/ organizations serving seniors over the holidays (collected almost 600 cards last year, aiming for 1000 this year!)

- Shift lead (volunteer) for our university's Peer Support Program, supporting students with mental health and sexual violence.

- I have over 4 years of paid and volunteer experience coaching youth soccer players and received the youth coach of the year award for 2021. I also have a year of coaching experience with child and youth athletes with special needs.

- I was a COVID support assistant with my university, directly supporting isolating students

- Volunteer tutor for adults, providing ESL tutoring and literacy education

- Volunteer for an after-school sports program for Syrian refugee children

- 2 years of volunteer experience in the emergency department of a local hospital

Would love any insight on what to include for social work related experience and tips/best practices for statements of intent! Thank you in advance and best of luck to everyone applying!!

Hey! Social work involves supporting people in improving their social functioning and usually social workers are working with populations who are facing challenges and/or are vulnerable in some way. When I applied to the program that I was accepted into, we were specifically asked to write how our experience was with vulnerable populations. I wouldn’t count your work in the cafe as social work, but I would count the other stuff. I’m glad you brought this up because over the years, I’ve seen posters count stuff that definitely isn’t social work just because it involved working with people. I wondered if that impacted the quality of their applications, so this question will probably be helpful to others:)

Edited November 2, 2021 by ElliMSW

[SMSW1]

Has anyone else completed their application for the university of calgary’s clinical 2-year foundation program??? Don’t see many people taking about it on here!

[ChipDip]

5 hours ago, SMSW1 said:

Has anyone else completed their application for the university of calgary’s clinical 2-year foundation program??? Don’t see many people taking about it on here!

I applied for this program as well! 

[Waiting4AdmissionDecisions]

On 10/27/2021 at 2:31 PM, MSWcallmemaybe said:

Any less-traditional applicants/students with advice? 

I am a mature student (late-30s) who has already completed a Master's degree (unrelated to social work) and a teaching degree. I do not have a BSW. I've been working for ten years teaching at the post-secondary level. While teaching in that space does involve engaging with diverse populations facing a range of life situations, and I have a strong grounding in research and critical theory, I am feeling concerned about my ability to create a compelling application that is competitive in a pool of people with robust experiences in roles and organizations directly related to social work. I do have some volunteer experience in areas that would be considered relevant, but not thousands upon thousands of hours like many seem to have.

If anyone has advice for a candidate like me through this application process, I'd be very open to hearing it! I intend to apply to UBCO, U of T, York, Dal, and Carleton. 

Hey! Can't really speak as much to other schools but I'm a current UofT 2-year MSW student. For calculating your hours of experience, UofT (and I believe also Laurier) would absolutely include something like teaching, and then you can speak more to how that fits with social work in your essays. I think in terms of experience you'd actually be a step ahead of many other applicants!

[madamemsw2022]

On 10/29/2021 at 11:14 AM, ElliMSW said:

Hey! 

I found the application process pretty straightforward! The instructions on the site made it all pretty clear. The info sessions are also very informative. I applied in January 2021, so pretty immediately after the application opened since they usually open a year before the section starts. I heard back right around the 6 week mark from my application being received, which was a lot easier of a wait than the several months it usually takes to hear back from other programs.

Hi there, 

Thanks for replying  was it six weeks of waiting after your references submitted their forms or 6 weeks after you submitted the application? and how did you find out? email?

I submitted my application last sunday and I am now playing the waiting game haha! 

Edited November 7, 2021 by madamemsw2022

[ElliMSW]

4 hours ago, madamemsw2022 said:

Hi there, 

Thanks for replying  was it six weeks of waiting after your references submitted their forms or 6 weeks after you submitted the application? and how did you find out? email?

I submitted my application last sunday and I am now playing the waiting game haha! 

6 weeks after my references submitted their forms, so after everything was in! I got notified of a decision made via email:)

[Jm123]

I just got accepted into Windsors MSWwp Sept 2022 start. Is there anyone in that program that has insight into the time commitment other than course weekends? Any insight into the program and how you like it would be helpful

[MSW2022MM]

On 11/4/2021 at 4:13 PM, ChipDip said:

I applied for this program as well! 

I also wondered if anyone else on this forum had applied to U of C. I just submitted my application for the part-time (online) advanced standing program clinical specialization. I really liked how friendly and helpful they were throughout the application process and how open they were to considering different types of experience - including teaching and being a single parent. Fingers crossed for us all!

[MSW2022MM]

On 11/5/2021 at 2:10 PM, Waiting4AdmissionDecisions said:

Hey! Can't really speak as much to other schools but I'm a current UofT 2-year MSW student. For calculating your hours of experience, UofT (and I believe also Laurier) would absolutely include something like teaching, and then you can speak more to how that fits with social work in your essays. I think in terms of experience you'd actually be a step ahead of many other applicants!

I also agree that teaching gives you a great background and experience for social work. I think the strengths of the profession come from the diversity of experiences and I agree that having a different background might actually make you more competitive - I have a BSW and 6-years experience in the field and I worry that my experience doesn't look diverse enough! It's so easy to doubt ourselves but I think it really comes down to how you link your experience to your practice. If it's helpful, the University of Calgary's social work program has a really helpful document of what they consider to be human/social services work. It might be specific to that school but they name teaching as relevant experience and when I was on one of their webinar talks, someone asked if being a single parent could count and they said absolutely, just make the connection clear (for that program you can actually write in a section in your resume under each job to explain the relevance which was super helpful).

You sound like you'd make a great social worker - good luck with your applications!

[MSW2022MM]

On 10/27/2021 at 12:27 PM, gradnotsad said:

Hey folks-- I had a question about funding. Both Dal and UBC ask about how you're planning to fund your Masters education and I'm planning to work as well as using student loans and applying to bursaries and scholarships. Do they need more extensive info?

I've interpreted these questions to mean they just want to know that you have thought about it and planned for your education and your answers seem to reflect that. I was curious where you saw that question in the UBC application - I'm working on mine right now and I didn't see it (now worried I somehow missed the question!).

For the UBC application, I also wondered how people are going about answering the Learning Plan questions - they seem quite repetitive and very different from other applications I've done (more focused on academic/research planning than on critical self-reflection)? I'm particularly stumped by the last question that asks you to "Briefly explain the relevance to your responses above to your future career as a social worker." Given that each of the other questions asks you to answer it in relation to the program, what did you do different in this last question? I reached out to a program advisor to ask what they were looking for more specifically in this question but, unfortunately, I didn't get much of an answer and UBC doesn't seem to have info sessions specific to the MSW program. I'd appreciate any insights others can share!

[madamemsw2022]

14 hours ago, Jm123 said:

I just got accepted into Windsors MSWwp Sept 2022 start. Is there anyone in that program that has insight into the time commitment other than course weekends? Any insight into the program and how you like it would be helpful

hi there!

congratulations on your acceptance, that is so exciting! just out of curiosity, how many hours did you have of experience and if you don't mind sharing, your gpa?

just trying to gauge how competitive to expect this years applications to be.

thank you