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Canadian Universities MSW. The waiting game 2014 admissions


AccioMSW

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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.

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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.

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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 :P), 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 :) )

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  • 5 months later...

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.  :P 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

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