Canadian Universities MSW. The waiting game 2014 admissions

[hopefuldee]

Hi Everyone!

 

For those of you attending U of T's program, particularly Advanced Standing students who have taken the mandatory Diversity Workshop, can you tell me a little bit of what it entails? Does it go the full 3hrs? And do they take attendance at the end? I know this is a weird question but I may need to run away from the workshop a few mins before the 3 hr time slot, just want to see if it is a possibility.

[nugget]

Mswhopeful1,

 

I encourage you to apply to U of T. U of T is the most forgiving in terms of hours and has accepted people before who do not have a lot of experience so I think you'll be just fine.

Good luck.

[LetsPlayHungryHungryHippos]

Hi Everyone!

I've been lurking this forum for a while and it seems y'all would be a fantastic bunch to get some advice from.

Here's the thing - I would like to do an MSW, but I don't know if my application is going to fly. Here's my credentials:

-undergraduate thesis in cognitive psychology

-4.00 GPA in my last 5.0 credits, 3.94 CGPA and 2.0 credits left to do this year

-80 hour placement working with children with hearing impairments

- ~50 hours volunteering in an elementary after school program

-certificate in religious diversity dialogue from the multifaith center at U of T - attended training sessions and organized/presented at a retreat to attain this

-2 year campus club exec experience including president of a large club

-2 year convention organizer for a convention with 2,000 - 3,000 attendees

-camp counsellor for a once a year, 5-day youth camp 3 years in a row

-research assistant for a year (mostly a paper pusher but still)

As you can see, I don't have a lot of direct social/community service experience compared to most other applicants (will be doing more this year). I was thinking that academically, if I keep up the grades then I would have a pretty good shot at U of T atleast, but probably not other programs where experience counts for a lot more. In addition, even if I could get into U of T I don't know if that would be wise because I feel like having more experience under my belt would give me more confidence and insight and make me more ready for the masters program.

I don't know, what do you guys think? Is it worth it to apply to other than U of  T? Should I consider some post-grad college programs to get better placement opportunities? Should I just do a second bachelors?

Looking forward to your responses!

 

I think your application looks great! I agree that it is not for all schools, particularly ones that look for professional experience, but there is no harm in trying (except for application fees ), particularly since GPA is a large part of applying.

A lot of your experience can be called community service experience (schools, children, etc).  I encourage you to look at Calgary's application profile, as they had a list of things that were considered community and social work volunteer hours that you might not expect.

If you want to be a social worker or do an MSW, then I think you should go for that and not worry too much about other programs - since you seem to be on the right track for an MSW.  If you would like to take a year to volunteer and take a break from school, then there is nothing wrong with that (i did it!). However talking to people I know that have graduated from MSW programs, even with boatloads of experience beforehand, a lot of them never feel "ready", that just likely comes with years of career experience and gaining a level of comfort the the actual profession.

What would you do a second bachelor's in - are you referring to a BSW or something completely different?  Also, if you do apply to post-grad college programs keep in mind that UofT does not accept academic references from college professors, only ones from universities.

Have you looked into Waterloo (1 year BSW, 1 year MSW) or programs outside of Ontario (if you didn't want to only apply to UofT)?

I wish you luck and keep us updated, you seem to be on the right track for at least some programs, and it's good that you are thinking about this thoroughly.

-LetsPlayHungryHungryHippos

(ps, I got into UofT this year and I also feel a little unprepared and overwhelemed by going into a Masters program, but I'm just going for it anyways )

[msw22]

There's a new topic started for 2015 applicants Thanks smpalesh!

[MSW-UofT]

Got accepted to UofT 2 year MSW today! And just after I'd convinced myself that it was a blessing in disguise that I wasn't accepted this year.  Such a whirlwind! Best of luck to all those still waiting it out:

They already started sending out acceptance for the 2 year program at uoft??.am I seeing this correct. Congrats by the way

[smpalesh]

This is the 2014 thread.  Why did you bump it up?  People might get confused and start posting on this thread.