Canadian Universities MSW. The waiting game 2012 admissions

[FH 2012]

Wow everyone is providing such great advice!

So Im still waiting on York's Post-Degree BSw program, and was rejected from U of T and York's MSW programs. I tried contact York to find out how to improve my application but they would not talk about individual cases, and still waiting for a response from U of T.

I was wondering if anyone can suggest some good programs within toronto thatI can use to beef up my academic resume as I am not sure why I am not even reaching consideration. I have an HBa in Socio-cultural Anthropology, a diploma from George Brown's Assaulted Women's & Children's Counsellor Advocate program and post degree certificates in Advanced Counselling, Mental Health Case Management and another in Criminal Justice; all with work experience which previous applicants stress is what is important. I also have a 89% in a research course from Athabasca to fill the research credit requirement.

I have thought of the possibility of improving my grades from my HBa at U of T (all the others are steller) but am unsure how to go about that as I have already graduated a year ago.

Any ideas or information would be great!

Thanks.

[ghetto blaster]

Is anyone waiting for a reply from Ryerson? The waiting is killing me

[gorillacake]

For those who will be going to UofT's 2 year MSW program, we've made a facebook group at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/339475559457019/

Congratulations to making it this far in the application process- it's been a stressful year! Good luck to everyone still waiting to find out, I'm sure things will work out for everyone!

[pinsandneedles]

I was reviewed - unsuccessful this week from York congrats to those that were successful!

still nothing from u of c !!!

[uptowngirl]

OMG.. I thought I was the only one going through this until I finally googled "two-year MSW waitlist, U of T". I also applied to York, U of T, and Laurier. I've been waitlisted for both U of T and Laurier!! Haven't heard back from York yet and I also emailed them several times asking whats the deal and kept getting the same answer!!! So bad!!! This waiting game for U of T and Laurier is also killing me sooo sooo bad. Does anyone know when they START giving out waitlist offers? Because the deadline to be on the waitlist was May 28th, so it's gotta be sometime after that. Anyone have an idea? It's killing me!! At least I finally know some people in the same boat though!

[Nala851]

Hello everyone, I hope everyone is in good spirits or at least trying to keep their sanity for those who haven't heard from their respective programs that they have replied and/or who are waitlisted. I just returned from York's msw orientation today and there is still hope as I spoke with someone who just found out they were accepted this Monday. Also, there is another orientation in August for those who could not attend today's session and will be n

[Nala851]

-continued from my previous post...those who will be eventually admitted. All the best!

[Laurie S.]

Thanks Nala, for the update! Was the orientation just for people registered in the 2-year MSW? I'm wondering if you got an idea of how many people have already accepted (i.e., did it look like a full class)?

Cheers,

Laurie

[LOLBRBY2K]

Just found out I did not get into York today. Took long enough! Such a relief.

[FH 2012]

Hi guys,

My myfile was updated today for the MSW 2-year program at York so maybe they are finally getting around to telling us what is happening.

(My status was reviewed-unsuccessful). Good luck to everyone!

Hey kk12345

I noticed you also applied to the Post-Degree BSW at York U. I was wondering if you heard anything from them on MyFile or otherwise as I'm still waiting and still getting the famous York run around.

Thanks.

[pinsandneedles]

Also unsuccessful at U of C... life feels like shit right about now, not much of a Plan B. Anyone have any suggestions? What were the backgrounds of those who were accepted? I thought I was pretty well qualified, but I guess not. U of C apparently had over 300 applicants this year... but still... such is life I guess...

[FH 2012]

Im in the same position as you pinsandneedles. Time for plan b, yet somewhat shocked that I didn't even get in to a program due to my background.

[pinsandneedles]

My mother thinks I should apply for a BSW, but the thought of having 3 undergrad degrees! makes me a little bit sick...

[Nala851]

Hi Laurie, the orientation had around twenty odd students which was comprised of both the one year msw and the two year msw. There were more one year msw students. Also someone asked about York's post degree bsw, my friend just recently accepted her offer. The deadline to accept was June 8th.

[FH 2012]

So I found out I was unsuccessful with the Post-Degree BSW at York, but received an alternate offer of admissions from them to complete a BA in Sociology. So frustrated! If I wanted a degree in sociology and to start from scratch as a first year student I would have applied for the program myself! To top that off, I already have a degree in Socio-Cultural Anthropology which is sooo similar to Sociology that I would basically be doing the exact same degree all over again!n

[KA2012]

Hi FH 2012,

Did you find out on my file? I still haven't heard back re: pd bsw at York.

[Bayguy1207]

I did not get into York and still on waitlist for U of T but will be attending NYU... Hello NYC!

[heneyka]

Also unsuccessful at U of C... life feels like shit right about now, not much of a Plan B. Anyone have any suggestions? What were the backgrounds of those who were accepted? I thought I was pretty well qualified, but I guess not. U of C apparently had over 300 applicants this year... but still... such is life I guess...

Hey Pinsandneedles, I'm so sorry to hear about U of C. Your posts on this board definitely suggested that you have a passion for social work and you are SO qualified, so I hope that you keep at it! I feel like you mentioned in old posts that you were thinking of taking a stats course - DO IT! I was accepted to Carleton but on condition that I take stats, and It was going to be an insane headache to fit that into the summer before starting. Lots of unis require this, so if you do one thing to improve your app for next year, I'd totally recommend that! It stopped me from applying to a ton of good schools.

As per your question in your post, I did get in to U of C, although I think in a 'second round.' I have no clue why I was successful while others were not, and am really grateful. I was accepted to 2 schools fully and flat-out rejected to 1, so it's hard to say what the key components were that worked for 2 schools but not for the other. I don't know what U of C focussed on, but since you were asking for qualifications, I personally had 2 ft and 2 pt years of health- and youth-related experience, and around 4500 hours of volunteer work, although not that much direct social-work experience and I didn't feel like I rocked my SoP! I'm 23 and graduated 2 years ago with an A- average. I also applied for the Intl and Community Development specialization and have an undergrad in International Development, so that was likely a helping factor. I don't know if I would have been successful if I'd applied for the clinical program, to be honest. That may be some food for thought - the fit of your background with the specialization? I know you have a ton of experience as well.... if I was on the committee I definitely would have accepted you!!

I wish we could all get some honest answers from schools about why they made their decisions, though. It would certainly help with personal and professional growth in the successful and unsuccessful cases, and definitely help for re-applying to programs.

Although I have ZERO knowledge of how admissions decisions are made, if you want to pick my brain about my application or quals for the sake of reapplying next year (and again, I have NO idea as to what got me accepted), feel free to message me. Best,

Edited June 17, 2012 by heneyka

[FH 2012]

Hi FH 2012,

Did you find out on my file? I still haven't heard back re: pd bsw at York.

Yea it was posted on MyFile, right above an "alternate" admissions offer for a Ba in Sociology. I was seriously pissed. If I wanted to start from scratch and do another Ba it wouldn't be one that was exactly the same as the HBa I just finished!

The director of the undergrad program is on vacation until june 25, so I sorta have a feelings that decisions for the BSW program have been finalized because she's gone for the month. If it's not on MyFile, you may have been waitlisted or something. All i know, is that one day I had reviewed unsuccessful and the next I had an email saying "congragulations! you've been accepted" for the sociology program :s. What a way to put me through a rollercoaster !

Edited June 18, 2012 by FH 2012

[FH 2012]

So everyone keeps mentioning stats courses, I was just wondering what are some of the better stats courses that people have taken? and are any offered online as opposed to in-class?

[Laurie S.]

So everyone keeps mentioning stats courses, I was just wondering what are some of the better stats courses that people have taken? and are any offered online as opposed to in-class?

I took my stats course on-line from University of Waterloo. It was definitely a challenging course, but the exam was open-book so that helped. You can take it online but you write the final exam at a supervised exam centre (or, you get a proctor). For me, success came from learning which formulas to use for what type of question but also (as it was open-book) to organize the text book really well with tabs and highlights so that you can find the correct formula quickly. I don't know if all schools have open book exams for stats (or even if U of Waterloo still does it that way). I took it a long time ago.

[glasswingz]

So has anybody gotten a reply from York for the BSW post-degree program yet?

[FH 2012]

So has anybody gotten a reply from York for the BSW post-degree program yet?

hey glasswingz,

I actually got a reply (see posts above) last week.

[Velociraptors]

I took my stats course on-line from University of Waterloo. It was definitely a challenging course, but the exam was open-book so that helped. You can take it online but you write the final exam at a supervised exam centre (or, you get a proctor). For me, success came from learning which formulas to use for what type of question but also (as it was open-book) to organize the text book really well with tabs and highlights so that you can find the correct formula quickly. I don't know if all schools have open book exams for stats (or even if U of Waterloo still does it that way). I took it a long time ago.

I also took this course at UW, about a year ago. It was as you described - online, open-book exam in set location or with proctor, etc.

Despite being quite terrified of taking a stats course, much less online, it ended up being my favorite course and my highest mark. Probably a big part of my MSW admission. I recommend it, but suggest only taking an online stats course if you'll have the time and persistence to sort everything out each week. Stats can be rough if you fall behind in a concept, since a lot is cumulative. Don't be afraid to call the prof, scan & email any work you have trouble with, etc. Also, whenever you get a question wrong, try to verbalize the steps you took and figure out exactly where you went wrong - talk this through with the prof too, if you don't see where the problem was. (Sometimes, you can even get bonus marks this way!)

Anyways, I'd be happy to share some tips and more thorough thoughts via PM, if anyone's thinking of taking the UW stats course. I totally ended up nerding out over it, so feel free to reach out - I really don't mind!

[stephanie.ms.antunes]

Does anyone know any information about the UofT Waitlist or how it works? Or what the chances of getting off it are this late in the game? I'm really not sure how high to set my hopes right now.