MSW 2022 CANADA APPLICATION FORUM

[Waiting4AdmissionDecisions]

31 minutes ago, TikiRogers said:

Hello everyone!

Long-time lurker, sporadic contributor to the 2-year MSW thread of last year. Congrats to all those who have been accepted to various programs

I have been accepted to a school, rejected from two schools, and waitlisted at two others - one of my waitlist schools being UofT (like so many of us, it seems). Honestly at this point in my life and my academic career, it doesn't make a huge difference to me which school I attend (I am fortunate in that I will be able to relocate anywhere in the country without it being super hard on my finances, and I have no caregiving responsibilities anymore), and I've only applied to CASWE-accredited schools.

I've noticed a big emphasis on UofT in this thread. I understand that it's the number 1 social work grad school in Canada, has a good amount of focus on clinical work, and is close, for those of us who live in the GTA. But I am wondering if there's anything to recommend it beyond those factors. 

I don't want to take the wind out of anyone's sails if you're waiting on a response from UofT, or applying again next year, or to diminish your achievements if you got in (far be it from me to do so! I think it's an amazing achievement with such stiff competition), but I am wondering if you all know something I don't lol.

I am genuinely curious: why is it that people apply year after year almost solely to get into UofT? Is there something very unique about the skills it equips you with? Does it offer more opportunities to its students or graduates? Is it easier to get a position as an MSW in the job market if they see you've gone to UofT?

Yeah These are all the questions I can think of, but if you can also answer a question I haven't thought to  ask, that would also be cool! 

Good luck to everyone, and don't let this process get you down ❤️

I'm at UofT right now. Honestly, I think a good bit of it is that it is (afaik) the biggest school, so it makes sense that more spots -> more applications -> more people talking about their applications on forums. Similarly, Toronto is a big city, so it might make sense that a lot of students who are from the area/did their undergrad their might want to stay rather than deal with moving costs. The only other 2y program in the city (York) has much fewer spots.

It wasn't the case for me, but it seems like a lot of people also choose it for its clinical/micro reputation. Most of the other ON schools that offer a 2y program have a reputation for being more structural or having more of a macro focus/reputation (thinking like York, Laurier & Carleton). I'm not sure to what extent the reputations are "true" because I have nothing to compare my school/program with, but I think it might in part determine what schools people apply for. There are definitely lots of people in my classes with psych backgrounds and/or those who specifically come into the program wanting to be therapists.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Waiting4AdmissionDecisions

[alwayswaytoolatemsw]

waitlisted at UofT. Anyone know what are the chances of getting out of it ?  lol  

[T.O.hopeful]

45 minutes ago, TikiRogers said:

Hello everyone!

Long-time lurker, sporadic contributor to the 2-year MSW thread of last year. Congrats to all those who have been accepted to various programs

I have been accepted to a school, rejected from two schools, and waitlisted at two others - one of my waitlist schools being UofT (like so many of us, it seems). Honestly at this point in my life and my academic career, it doesn't make a huge difference to me which school I attend (I am fortunate in that I will be able to relocate anywhere in the country without it being super hard on my finances, and I have no caregiving responsibilities anymore), and I've only applied to CASWE-accredited schools.

I've noticed a big emphasis on UofT in this thread. I understand that it's the number 1 social work grad school in Canada, has a good amount of focus on clinical work, and is close, for those of us who live in the GTA. But I am wondering if there's anything to recommend it beyond those factors. 

I don't want to take the wind out of anyone's sails if you're waiting on a response from UofT, or applying again next year, or to diminish your achievements if you got in (far be it from me to do so! I think it's an amazing achievement with such stiff competition), but I am wondering if you all know something I don't lol.

I am genuinely curious: why is it that people apply year after year almost solely to get into UofT? Is there something very unique about the skills it equips you with? Does it offer more opportunities to its students or graduates? Is it easier to get a position as an MSW in the job market if they see you've gone to UofT?

Yeah These are all the questions I can think of, but if you can also answer a question I haven't thought to  ask, that would also be cool! 

Good luck to everyone, and don't let this process get you down ❤️

Think the answer is ultimately going to differ for every person. For me, I live in Toronto, have a mortgage, and work in a mental health hospital that I plan to switch to part-time during school. Going to any other city would have complicated things. And as for UofT vs. York, like previous people have said, each school tends to have a different focus and given my mental health background, the MH specialization at UofT stood out to me over the more social justice focus of York. I looked into Ryerson and think it was only AS standing/also very social justice focused. So UofT just made the most sense given my clinical MH interests. 

But to be honest, I don't know if I agree that significantly more people on this forum have mentioned UofT, i think it could be timing of results. For e.g., when Dalhousie or Carleton released their results, the forum was pretty much just posters talking about those schools lol. And now that UofT released their results, the convo seems to be about UofT. So, it can be a bit misleading when a school's just released results because naturally that's the program everyone will be talking about

[SWKMSW11]

43 minutes ago, MSW20222023 said:

Congrats!!! ?I just accepted York AS! Are you planning on going to York or Western? 

Congrats to you as well! I haven’t decided yet because I’m still just processing all of it. I will definitely update once I’ve decided  

[ShaDiMSW2022]

1 hour ago, TikiRogers said:

Hello everyone!

Long-time lurker, sporadic contributor to the 2-year MSW thread of last year. Congrats to all those who have been accepted to various programs

I have been accepted to a school, rejected from two schools, and waitlisted at two others - one of my waitlist schools being UofT (like so many of us, it seems). Honestly at this point in my life and my academic career, it doesn't make a huge difference to me which school I attend (I am fortunate in that I will be able to relocate anywhere in the country without it being super hard on my finances, and I have no caregiving responsibilities anymore), and I've only applied to CASWE-accredited schools.

I've noticed a big emphasis on UofT in this thread. I understand that it's the number 1 social work grad school in Canada, has a good amount of focus on clinical work, and is close, for those of us who live in the GTA. But I am wondering if there's anything to recommend it beyond those factors. 

I don't want to take the wind out of anyone's sails if you're waiting on a response from UofT, or applying again next year, or to diminish your achievements if you got in (far be it from me to do so! I think it's an amazing achievement with such stiff competition), but I am wondering if you all know something I don't lol.

I am genuinely curious: why is it that people apply year after year almost solely to get into UofT? Is there something very unique about the skills it equips you with? Does it offer more opportunities to its students or graduates? Is it easier to get a position as an MSW in the job market if they see you've gone to UofT?

Yeah These are all the questions I can think of, but if you can also answer a question I haven't thought to  ask, that would also be cool! 

Good luck to everyone, and don't let this process get you down ❤️

IDK about other people but for me UofT is going to remain my #1 effort for a few very specific reasons:
TLDR: The way they evaluate transcripts, my comparative likelihood of getting accepted, the location, financial incentives, and prestige = why I'm personally most invested in applying to UofT.  Now I'm going to write a specific numbered list breaking it down more: 

1. UofT only looks at 1 year of marks vs. every other Ontario school except Laurier looks at 2 years of marks. As someone who reentered school with a messy past this makes my odds of getting in at UofT higher then it would be at be at most schools. 
2. UofT vs. Laurier vs. most schools simply: I live Toronto. I'd rather not move to Waterloo, Western or Windsor.
3. Out of province schools are even more expensive soooooo.... also IDK how funding works outside Ontario but OSAP pretty extensively covers my finances... (seriously mature student + disabilities + multiple degrees = my finances are covered before I even start looking into scholarships and bursaries and I'm good at getting scholarships and bursaries soooo... I'm also writing this out because way too many people are unaware of these things and seriously everyone should look into it!)
4. UofT accepts more people then most programs do. It accepts about four times the amount of people that York does if I remember correctly. So: if I'm going to try to perfect one application UofT makes the most sense based on how many people are accepted.
5. It is ranked highest.
6. They ask for.. less formal work experience then...a lot of schools so... for people like me who have lived experience with a lot of volunteer and activist hours it's a better bet then Carlton or Kings +++
7. I have never done a stats course and I don't intend to do a stats course. I'm bad with numbers. I'm worried a stats course will torpedo my GPA. I'm strategically avoiding schools that only accept people with stats courses at the moment. 

[hogsmeador]

12 hours ago, Melibera said:

OMG. Where do I check in the portal if they have updated scores?

I wrote to the admissions at UBC an hour back regarding my scores not displayed on the portal - and they uploaded it right now and replied to my email.

[BillyWong024]

Anyone has recent updates from UBCO social work program? 

[MSWapplicant1998]

22 minutes ago, BillyWong024 said:

Anyone has recent updates from UBCO social work program? 

I emailed them today wanting more information on when we should expect to hear back (it's taking longer than I expected!) and they said notifications are being sent out via email between now and end of April. So we could be waiting for another month... I really hope it comes sooner though  

Edit: Also they got my name completely wrong in the email greeting which tells me they're just copy/pasting email responses lol

Edited March 30, 2022 by MSWapplicant1998

[BillyWong024]

8 minutes ago, MSWapplicant1998 said:

I emailed them today wanting more information on when we should expect to hear back (it's taking longer than I expected!) and they said notifications are being sent out via email between now and end of April. So we could be waiting for another month... I really hope it comes sooner though  

Edit: Also they got my name completely wrong in the email greeting which tells me they're just copy/pasting email responses lol

oh my god XD

[BillyWong024]

And I also want to know you guys preference of uoft vs UBC in terms of their social work?

What are the strengths and weakness in these two..

[Unicornfrrf]

Does anyone know how likely it is for people to get off the waitlist for uoft  it seems really hard to lol 

[Nus219]

I'm wondering what's the average number of people get WAITLISTED each year and how many people usually get off the waitlist for uoft 2 year program?!  Does anyone know the ratio? 

[ShaDiMSW2022]

5 hours ago, RiceCrackerrr said:

Nothing from UofT yet… No offer, no waitlist, nothing. Been refreshing my SGS page and email every 5mins. Geez I’m soooo done with this waiting game ?

 

Still holding a tiny bit of hope on alphabetical orders… Last name initial Y. Anyone with last name starts with U-Z received their decision? 

Last name "D". Got mine at 10:39am. No clue if it's alphabetical considering this year the acceptances don't seem to be alphabetical but GL ?I know that waiting game is tough . Try to be kind to yourself.

[hogsmeador]

seems like UBC Sauder is SLEEPING...

[EMWC]

6 hours ago, teaandSW21 said:

see you in the fall at Carleton

See you there my friend! ?

[BingBongBingBong]

Its honestly u of t or bust for me

[IWantMSW]

Hey all, got my waitlist email from UofT 2 year MSW as well. I've already accepted my offer to King's, so just wanted to let people know I'll be rejecting UofT and thus making the waitlist a little bit shorter ? congrats to everyone who got accepted, and good luck to everyone still waiting. Please don't give up!

[SWKMSW11]

For those who have accepted Kings, did you receive any information on funding after you accepted the offer? I’m reading my offer of admission and it mentions that I’ll only receive information around funding once I accept. 

[22Msw]

Hi everyone, I am just wondering who all got waitlisted for Kings 2 year MSW program? also, is anyone not accepting their kings offer? Thanks!!

[shani101]

21 hours ago, ShaDiMSW2022 said:

?Where did you hear that the unranked waitlist is based on similar candidate profile? This might change my RNGesus prayers because I can get a lot more specific with them ?

One of my friends applied last year and was waitlisted. She reached out to the admissions department for feedback on her application and through that, they explained the waitlist process to her. Again, it could be that she was misinformed but from what I've seen so far, that explanation helps makes sense of why it is difficult to get off the waitlist for UofT's MSW program. 

[IWantMSW]

2 hours ago, SWKMSW11 said:

For those who have accepted Kings, did you receive any information on funding after you accepted the offer? I’m reading my offer of admission and it mentions that I’ll only receive information around funding once I accept. 

I accepted the offer last Friday but did not hear any info yet, only a confirmation email from the staff.

[mrshappygolucky]

21 hours ago, TikiRogers said:

Hello everyone!

Long-time lurker, sporadic contributor to the 2-year MSW thread of last year. Congrats to all those who have been accepted to various programs

I have been accepted to a school, rejected from two schools, and waitlisted at two others - one of my waitlist schools being UofT (like so many of us, it seems). Honestly at this point in my life and my academic career, it doesn't make a huge difference to me which school I attend (I am fortunate in that I will be able to relocate anywhere in the country without it being super hard on my finances, and I have no caregiving responsibilities anymore), and I've only applied to CASWE-accredited schools.

I've noticed a big emphasis on UofT in this thread. I understand that it's the number 1 social work grad school in Canada, has a good amount of focus on clinical work, and is close, for those of us who live in the GTA. But I am wondering if there's anything to recommend it beyond those factors. 

I don't want to take the wind out of anyone's sails if you're waiting on a response from UofT, or applying again next year, or to diminish your achievements if you got in (far be it from me to do so! I think it's an amazing achievement with such stiff competition), but I am wondering if you all know something I don't lol.

I am genuinely curious: why is it that people apply year after year almost solely to get into UofT? Is there something very unique about the skills it equips you with? Does it offer more opportunities to its students or graduates? Is it easier to get a position as an MSW in the job market if they see you've gone to UofT?

Yeah These are all the questions I can think of, but if you can also answer a question I haven't thought to  ask, that would also be cool! 

Good luck to everyone, and don't let this process get you down ❤️

From my experience working closely with people who hire in social services and education, I've never met an employer who gave preference to a candidate because of their school's ranking--it's not a consideration at all. Your competency, your degree of work experience, how well you communicate, and whether you're good to work with (based on your references/interview) trumps your school's ranking/reputation. As long as your program is accredited, you're a contender. E.g. I worked in a school where they hired the best counsellor for the job--she completed her Masters online from a lesser known institution and beat out many candidates from "top tier" schools. She was just awesome at what she did, period.

[Hoping_MSW]

1 hour ago, 22Msw said:

Hi everyone, I am just wondering who all got waitlisted for Kings 2 year MSW program? also, is anyone not accepting their kings offer? Thanks!!

I found out March 16th, I was waitlisted for Kings 2 year. Really hoping I get it, it’s my first choice program. 

[saintsaens22]

Has anyone heard back from York 2 year program?

[Unicornfrrf]

If anyone gets off uoft’s waitlist please let us know here ☺️