Canadian Universities MSW. The waiting game 2015 admissions

[jjmr89]

Hey!

 

Thanks for your great insights and advice. You obviously did a lot of research and prepared yourself well. Congratulations on your admission to UBC-O, too! 

 

Down the road, I actually think that I want to focus on policy in my MSW (another thing UVIC does not adequately prepare students for). But I think that having good clinical experience will be an important prerequisite and I would like those skills. I know that in academic programs the university you are graduating from is privately weighted and I am worried that this is also the case in MSW programs. UVIC has some pretty fringe ideas and I worry that their post-modernist orientation will close the doors for me with schools having an orientation more similar to my own. I am glad to see that that has not been your experience and that you got one (possibly two) of your preferred choices!

 

In any case, thanks for your great advice. Best of luck in September!

 

If your interest is policy with a clinical component, perhaps U of T would be a good fit for you?

 

Are you sure the university privately judges which school you obtained your BSW from? I am skeptical of this. I am curious about where you got this info? I think more important considerations would be relevant experience, grades, admissions statement, references, etc., but I could be wrong.

 

I am on the same page with the U Vic stuff. Post-modernism is fascinating from a sociological standpoint, but in terms of actually applying postmodern theory as a social worker/therapist... it is so difficult. Because the entire premise of post-modernism is that we cannot know things with certainty and everyone's reality is different. But yet, as a therapist we need to at least have some sort of expertise to offer the client, otherwise they might as well be talking to a friend. In SOCW 413 we keep learning that it is possible to practice social work from this place, but like you I am not finding it useful to conceptualize a helping relationship in this way. Sure, there are elements of post-modernism that will be helfpul, such as coming from a place of not-knowing, but this is not unique to post-modernism; any practitioner coming from an evidence-base will approach their clients in that manner.

 

It's funny, but the most useful class out of my entire U Vic experience was the first one with the on-campus component (SOCW 312 - Collaborative Conversations). At least we were actually able to practice concrete skills, expressing profound curiosity towards another person, and actually getting to practice them with our classmates. Every class since then has essentially been a hoop that I had to jump through to get the piece of paper that would allow me to apply for an MSW!

 

Good luck on your future applications

Edited March 4, 2015 by jjmr89

[chasethecat]

 

OH WOW mid- march for UofT 2- year!!!!! I am soooo scaredd! When are we expecting decisions from Laurier? The beginning of April??

 

Looking at the past few years, it seems like Laurier sent out emails for the 2-year program March 20-25ish...so we could hear in 2.5 weeks!

[smpalesh]

Congrats to all those who just heard about Advanced Standing at UofT! 

 

littlelass - I am also in the Social Justice and Diversity stream.

 

For those who are wondering about ROSI - you don't have to look anywhere, it is there right when you log in.  If you are in it will stay status Invited.  If it doesn't say anything it usually means you are waitlisted or not accepted, but they might still be processing things.

As for the status being "under review" mine said under review for 4 weeks after I already knew I was accepted so don't worry about that.

Edited March 5, 2015 by smpalesh

[littlelass]

I just looked at my status and it still reads as "under review" which is very odd. Thank you for your congratulations and good luck!!

 

 

Littlelass, congrats on getting in! I am just wondering if prior to getting the acceptance letter if your status online changed from "under review" to something else. I am getting paranoid as mine still remains "under review". Thanks!

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Did you check your ROSI to see if that changed. I believe that your app status does not change until much later on.

To ADVANCE STANDING APPLICANTS FOR WINDSOR U

I talked to them today. They sent out the first batch of acceptances a few weeks ago. Will send out second batch in a couple of weeks. After second batch, they will send out rejections and wait lists. If you have been accepted you will get a letter mail. For rejection you will get an email. 

From the way she spoke, it sounded like checking the status online might not be very reliable.

 

Just checked again and my status has changed to "decision made" so it happened sometime this afternoon.

 

I just signed up for ROSI yesterday and it said yesterday evening that I was "invited" - how formal sounding.

 

Thank you for the love - I hope everyone participates in a self-care activity this evening  

[littlelass]

Congrats to all those who just heard about Advanced Standing at UofT!  Littlelass - I am also in the Social Justice and Diversity stream.

 

For those who are wondering about ROSI - you don't have to look anywhere, it is there right when you log in.  If you are in it will stay status Invited.  If it doesn't say anything it usually means you are waitlisted or not accepted, but they might still be processing things.

As for the status being "under review" mine said under review for 4 weeks after I already knew I was accepted so don't worry about that.

Amazing! 

[anonynon]

Your comment about hoop jumping is so perfect! I feel the exact same way. I honestly think that I am drawing more on my first BA for my social work practicum than my social work classes. Like you, I feel that postmodern theory does not apply easily in practice, but more than that, postmodernist theory only ever criticizes everything and replaces it with nothing, which I find it frustrating as I feel like I come away classes with nothing at all. I suppose that I just need to suck it up and focus on developing my experience to strengthen my profile overall. 

 

As for your question about schools being weighted, I meant to make that comment in relation to academic programs (so, MA and MSc). I know this because a friend of mine was told so by a professor. As I remember the story, he was looking at a particular MA program in his subject of interest and his undergrad thesis advisor told him in no uncertain terms that he should not study there if he intends to do a PhD because their graduates are not taken seriously within the academic community (something along these lines). And having once gone through the graduate school application rounds myself (and admitted to 3 of 4 programs I applied to), I have to say that it seemed abnormally easy to get in compared to the experiences of some of my other more brilliant (with higher GPA) friends from other unis. I credit the reputation of my BA institution as producing grads who are well prepared for graduate studies, although I suppose that I cannot know this for sure.

 

I was simply worried that this would also be the case with the MSW, but was not sure. What you say makes absolute sense. You are right that admission likely has much more to do with the experience that you bring to the table as well as your personal statements. I think that I am being overly anxious and building imaginary barriers in my mind, which I am wont to do.

 

One last question: when they ask for academic references, did you submit references from the BSW or from your previous degree. I am not sure what BSW professors can really say about us, given they only know us digitally.

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to chat with me. You have helped tremendously (genuinely).

 

 

 

If your interest is policy with a clinical component, perhaps U of T would be a good fit for you?

 

Are you sure the university privately judges which school you obtained your BSW from? I am skeptical of this. I am curious about where you got this info? I think more important considerations would be relevant experience, grades, admissions statement, references, etc., but I could be wrong.

 

I am on the same page with the U Vic stuff. Post-modernism is fascinating from a sociological standpoint, but in terms of actually applying postmodern theory as a social worker/therapist... it is so difficult. Because the entire premise of post-modernism is that we cannot know things with certainty and everyone's reality is different. But yet, as a therapist we need to at least have some sort of expertise to offer the client, otherwise they might as well be talking to a friend. In SOCW 413 we keep learning that it is possible to practice social work from this place, but like you I am not finding it useful to conceptualize a helping relationship in this way. Sure, there are elements of post-modernism that will be helfpul, such as coming from a place of not-knowing, but this is not unique to post-modernism; any practitioner coming from an evidence-base will approach their clients in that manner.

 

It's funny, but the most useful class out of my entire U Vic experience was the first one with the on-campus component (SOCW 312 - Collaborative Conversations). At least we were actually able to practice concrete skills, expressing profound curiosity towards another person, and actually getting to practice them with our classmates. Every class since then has essentially been a hoop that I had to jump through to get the piece of paper that would allow me to apply for an MSW!

 

Good luck on your future applications

[Unknown13]

Does anyone know what the chances of actually getting in based on wait list status are?!

[magfish]

Does anyone know what the chances of actually getting in based on wait list status are?!

Bear in mind I have no actual idea. BUT someone mentioned (for the U of T advanced) that 75 people or so are waitlisted. I believe the program accepts around that number, or less, of students. So it depends a lot on your position.

It also depends obviously on how many people drop out, and I think less people turn down a school like U of T. So hope for the best but expect the worst, I suppose.

Wishing you lots of luck on spontaneous waitlist movement!!

[smpalesh]

Unknown13 - I wish I knew!  I am waitlisted for Laurier and it is my #1 choice and even though I know I shouldn't hope, I still do.  If I got into Laurier I'd be giving up a UofT spot for someone else.  I can only stay on the waitlist until I've arranged a placement with UofT because I don't feel right about arranging a placement and then backing out (I had to do that last year because of health problems causing me to defer a year and it felt very unprofessional towards the agency).  Still hoping that lots more people get the good news they are waiting for!

[MSW&MD]

Good luck everyone!! I cross my finger for your guys.

[goodnews]

Hey everyone, For those that applied to Windsor 2 year I have a question for you. When I try to login to check if there's any changes it gives me a message in red stating the application is unavailable. Is anyone else getting this and if so any idea what it means???

[bswgrad92]

Has anyone been waitlisted or rejected from U of T?

[Unknown13]

Thanks everyone. No I haven't actually received a waitlist yet, but am hoping it is that and not a rejection haha! If you are waitlisted is there any way to tell where you rank on that list? Good luck everyone!

[bswgrad92]

I hate waiting, I just wish they would tell me already! It seems like UofT advanced standing applicants got their acceptances already. Is it safe to say that people who haven't heard are not getting in?

[b39]

I hate waiting, I just wish they would tell me already! It seems like UofT advanced standing applicants got their acceptances already. Is it safe to say that people who haven't heard are not getting in?

 

Have you checked the apply.sgs website recently? Last year, that website did not change for a while after letters were mailed out but it seems like this year they are actually keeping the ROSI/sgs sites pretty much in sync. Angela also mentioned in her e-mail to blh22 that they would be updating the sgs site with "decision made"

 

UofT seems to be doing things differently this year though so I wouldn't give up hope. They might be waiting to see how many declined offers they get from the first round of letters and then sending the next wave before they even get to waitlists etc. 

[bswgrad92]

Have you checked the apply.sgs website recently? Last year, that website did not change for a while after letters were mailed out but it seems like this year they are actually keeping the ROSI/sgs sites pretty much in sync. Angela also mentioned in her e-mail to blh22 that they would be updating the sgs site with "decision made"

 

UofT seems to be doing things differently this year though so I wouldn't give up hope. They might be waiting to see how many declined offers they get from the first round of letters and then sending the next wave before they even get to waitlists etc. 

Yes I have checked.. still says "under review" and "No registration history" on ROSI. Which is why my confidence level is failing!

[bswgrad92]

Have you checked the apply.sgs website recently? Last year, that website did not change for a while after letters were mailed out but it seems like this year they are actually keeping the ROSI/sgs sites pretty much in sync. Angela also mentioned in her e-mail to blh22 that they would be updating the sgs site with "decision made"

 

UofT seems to be doing things differently this year though so I wouldn't give up hope. They might be waiting to see how many declined offers they get from the first round of letters and then sending the next wave before they even get to waitlists etc. 

Also.. many people who have got acceptances still have their status as "under review" on SGS.  

[msw22]

haha, well best of luck to us and everyone else waiting for the 2 year offers.

 

Last year for me was a bummer getting rejections and waitlisted, so this year my back up is to try and upgrade my degree to a BSW with the one-year programs. Imagine...if I don't get into any this year :\ (I deny/refuse to think about that possibility).

 

P.S. I also find that cooking helps take my mind of things. I love seeing people that I care about eat delicious food!!!

 

@swrk I spent last Friday baking two dozen pumpkin muffins and three dozen brownies - managed to make them healthy too! Unfortunately, it does not seem to matter whether I am baking, cooking, working, volunteering or at the gym this is constantly in the back of my mind haha

[MSW&MD]

Blh22 get a nice deep tissue massage and that will help

Edited March 5, 2015 by YWEANG

[msw22]

@YWEANG thank you for sharing your experience, I hope things have since turned around for you!

[aay]

I hate waiting, I just wish they would tell me already! It seems like UofT advanced standing applicants got their acceptances already. Is it safe to say that people who haven't heard are not getting in?

 

I would keep checking ROSI until Mid-March, because Angela had said that letters will continue to be mailed out until then. Seems like they're doing it in waves as opposed to sending the letters all at once!

[jjmr89]

Your comment about hoop jumping is so perfect! I feel the exact same way. I honestly think that I am drawing more on my first BA for my social work practicum than my social work classes. Like you, I feel that postmodern theory does not apply easily in practice, but more than that, postmodernist theory only ever criticizes everything and replaces it with nothing, which I find it frustrating as I feel like I come away classes with nothing at all. I suppose that I just need to suck it up and focus on developing my experience to strengthen my profile overall. 

 

As for your question about schools being weighted, I meant to make that comment in relation to academic programs (so, MA and MSc). I know this because a friend of mine was told so by a professor. As I remember the story, he was looking at a particular MA program in his subject of interest and his undergrad thesis advisor told him in no uncertain terms that he should not study there if he intends to do a PhD because their graduates are not taken seriously within the academic community (something along these lines). And having once gone through the graduate school application rounds myself (and admitted to 3 of 4 programs I applied to), I have to say that it seemed abnormally easy to get in compared to the experiences of some of my other more brilliant (with higher GPA) friends from other unis. I credit the reputation of my BA institution as producing grads who are well prepared for graduate studies, although I suppose that I cannot know this for sure.

 

I was simply worried that this would also be the case with the MSW, but was not sure. What you say makes absolute sense. You are right that admission likely has much more to do with the experience that you bring to the table as well as your personal statements. I think that I am being overly anxious and building imaginary barriers in my mind, which I am wont to do.

 

One last question: when they ask for academic references, did you submit references from the BSW or from your previous degree. I am not sure what BSW professors can really say about us, given they only know us digitally.

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to chat with me. You have helped tremendously (genuinely).

 

It makes total sense that undergrad has more of an impact on traditional grad school programs (i.e. MA or MSc). I had not really considered whether my BA had affected my MSW admission, but maybe it did. Thanks for explaining!

 

I did submit a reference from my BSW. The prof from SOCW 312, which as you know is the only course we have with an on-campus component, ended up writing one for me. I really enjoyed her class last summer and we kept in touch after the semester was over. Her area of practice was related to the work I was doing at the time, and so she was able to speak to my academic ability as well as my professional interests. I would not have asked any of the other U Vic profs for a reference, though, for the reasons you stated. I wanted a genuine reference from someone who knew me face-to-face. My second reference was from a prof I had during my BA. I took every single one of his classes, some of which were quite small, and got to know him well over the course of three years. My last reference was my boss at my place of employment - she has an MSW from U of C, and was able to write about my ability to work in a clinical environment.

 

Good luck with everything, and please let me know if you have any more questions

[jjmr89]

I hate waiting, I just wish they would tell me already! It seems like UofT advanced standing applicants got their acceptances already. Is it safe to say that people who haven't heard are not getting in?

 

 

Has anyone been waitlisted or rejected from U of T?

 

I haven't heard anything at all yet. Still checking ROSI a couple times per day, but not seeing any updates. I have to give UBC-Okanagan my answer by tomorrow so I will likely decline U of T if they accept me.

[b39]

Have any advanced standing students heard back from York yet?

[wxyyyz]

Have any advanced standing students heard back from York yet?

 

Nope. 

I checked back a few years and it looks like they have always sent out their responses at the END of march.  (March 28-31)  So if this year is the same, it'll be a while still.  However, it sounds like this year might be slower because of the strike.

So....blah?