Canadian Universities MSW. The waiting game 2016 admissions

[Sarah Erwin]

26 minutes ago, MSW-UofT said:

Did u log into lakehead website and check your application status because last year that is where it showed up first.

Yeah, there's nothing there yet. I'll just have to come up with some more patience:) lol

[CalendarGirl]

1 minute ago, phd2msw said:

I am totally in the same boat as you and @MSW-hopeful-2016. I am committed to becoming a social worker and earning an MSW. I am going to start taking courses toward the 1 year BSW at Waterloo next fall if I don't come off the U of T waitlist. I only applied to UofT, which I now regret. I should have applied to more 1 year BSW programs as well. It might take an extra year out of my life, but this is my dream profession. Good luck you guys  

Hey PHD2MSW! Why don't you apply to the BSW waterloo part time program, you can still apply for winter semester! I am going to start my BSW in the fall and will only be taking 2 classes per semester but will finish in 5 terms!

[phd2msw]

Just now, CalendarGirl said:

Hey PHD2MSW! Why don't you apply to the BSW waterloo part time program, you can still apply for winter semester! I am going to start my BSW in the fall and will only be taking 2 classes per semester but will finish in 5 terms!

I spoke to Lauren on the phone today and she mentioned entry in January was for part-time. I want to be full time though, does that matter? Can I switch to full time after? I basically don't have time to kill and I need to finish the 1 year degree as soon as possible. The problem is I need to take a lot of the prerequisite courses (my BA and MA are in the humanities) so I don't even have a lot of pre requisite courses they require. This means I'll probably take 1.5 years to do the BSW. You accepted their offer right? I'll send you a PM if that's okay? I might have some questions. 

[CalendarGirl]

1 minute ago, phd2msw said:

I spoke to Lauren on the phone today and she mentioned entry in January was for part-time. I want to be full time though, does that matter? Can I switch to full time after? I basically don't have time to kill and I need to finish the 1 year degree as soon as possible. The problem is I need to take a lot of the prerequisite courses (my BA and MA are in the humanities) so I don't even have a lot of pre requisite courses they require. This means I'll probably take 1.5 years to do the BSW. You accepted their offer right? I'll send you a PM if that's okay? I might have some questions. 

Feel free to Pm !!

[Mar1]

Hey guys,

I've been following this forum for a while now.. but just decided to comment today! I have also been wait-listed at UofT  

[cpun]

Hey guys,

I didn't expect this but somehow I ended up on the wait list for the 2 year MSW at U of T. 
My credentials are not as competitive as most of you no here and I was honestly expecting a rejection. 
I have decided to remain on the wait list though. 

[JHC]

1 hour ago, phd2msw said:

Okay so had some time to kill and I went ahead and made a list of us who are wait-listed at UofT. If your name is missing, let me know. This is kinda fun to track. 

Applicant#1000

phd2msw

ChristopherMcG

MSW-hopeful-2016

FrogMirror

Ed07ti

notafortuneteller

katkatkat (declined)

BernadetteKay

Parrthunax

TheGrapefruit

rabschaud

patience_is_a_virtue

Eveileb

radiance1313

Sam.E

My girlfriend and I were both wait listed as well!

[JHC]

has anybody heard from Windsor's 2 year program? My girlfriend and I are still waiting to hear something from them. I called a few weeks ago and they said they had sent out their initial acceptances.

[JHC]

18 hours ago, Paarthunax said:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Best. Post. On here! 

 

Don't give up hope guys, everyone on here is obviously passionate about getting into this field, keep working your ass off and it will happen for all of us sooner or later!

[Eveileb]

I enabled the stats of the survey to be visible, but I'm not sure if it's working...

so far it's at (43) accepted wait-list offer, and (2) declined wait-list offer. Keep in mind this is only people who know of this forum. I'll post screen shots/try and figure out the settings later because I'm at work right now.

But seriously...Forget the numbers, just keep positive! We're all valuable candidates worthy of a spot  

 

[MSW-hopeful-2016]

1 hour ago, notafortuneteller said:

I'm also job hunting and if I don't get in, I am going to take a couple of the intro to social work courses from either Thompson Rivers or UVic and apply to the distance UVic BSW program and possibly the Lakehead one in Orillia. Would have to talk to my parents about staying with them for a few days a week if I do the Orillia one (I'm from Orillia but live in Toronto). Then once I have a BSW I will reapply to the U of T 1-year MSW programs for the geriatric specialization. That's my plan. I am determined to become a geriatric social worker no matter what it takes. I want to focus on helping trans older adults and ensure they have safe spaces to live and turn to when they need support.

That is really so awesome we need more people like you who want to help such a vulnerable minority population! My goal is to help LGBTQ+ youth and adults who struggle with substance use. Too many people from the community turn to drugs to help mask their suffering and trauma, and I find there is not nearly enough support for them. The fact that CAMH was the only gender identity clinic for 3 provinces in our country is so wrong....

[MSWHopeful22]

51 minutes ago, JHC said:

has anybody heard from Windsor's 2 year program? My girlfriend and I are still waiting to hear something from them. I called a few weeks ago and they said they had sent out their initial acceptances.

Hi!

I applied for the 2 year MSW and I am still waiting too.

i have e-mailed and called the school and received the same information. Essentially, the initial acceptances were sent out, as well as initial rejections. They told me that the initial acceptances have 2 weeks to respond, and once the two weeks hit or someone rejects sooner, that space is then offered to someone else right away. I inquired and they said it is done on an individual basis, so it can trickle in at any time and it won't necessarily be a second "wave" of acceptances. They said it is a process that will take until the end of April/early May, if I remember correctly?

I'm usually a pretty patient person, but I am getting very anxious about all of this. Best of luck to you and your girlfriend, JHC!

[FrogMirror]

2 hours ago, notafortuneteller said:

I'm also job hunting and if I don't get in, I am going to take a couple of the intro to social work courses from either Thompson Rivers or UVic and apply to the distance UVic BSW program and possibly the Lakehead one in Orillia. Would have to talk to my parents about staying with them for a few days a week if I do the Orillia one (I'm from Orillia but live in Toronto). Then once I have a BSW I will reapply to the U of T 1-year MSW programs for the geriatric specialization. That's my plan. I am determined to become a geriatric social worker no matter what it takes. I want to focus on helping trans older adults and ensure they have safe spaces to live and turn to when they need support.

Just curious, notafortuneteller, 

You didn't mention the accelerated BSW at Waterloo, are you not considering that one? If so I'm just genuinely curious as to why.  I will most likely be starting that program in the fall (applied and accepted, waitlisted at u of t) and have heard very good things about it, and field placement opportunities.  Yet most people on this sub mention the Lakehead BSW at Orillia and say that U of T likes graduates from that program.  I went to several info sessions for the U of T program and they frequently mentioned the Waterloo program, but not really the Orillia one.  Is there a major difference/preference factor I'm missing between the two?  Travel and living is far more accessible to me with the Waterloo program so I didn't apply to Lakehead because it just didn't seem realistic.  I was able to take the pre-requisite courses at Waterloo online as a non-degree student and got some equivalencies as well.  The program isn't really 10 months, the pre-recs make it longer, but doing them as a non-degree you can do them in tandem with your application so that if you are confident in your ability to get in you, you can complete everything in the same amount of time it would take to apply, accept, and complete a 10 month program.

Any thoughts you might have on the Waterloo program or others would be appreciated.

FrogMirror

[notafortuneteller]

1 hour ago, MSW-hopeful-2016 said:

That is really so awesome we need more people like you who want to help such a vulnerable minority population! My goal is to help LGBTQ+ youth and adults who struggle with substance use. Too many people from the community turn to drugs to help mask their suffering and trauma, and I find there is not nearly enough support for them. The fact that CAMH was the only gender identity clinic for 3 provinces in our country is so wrong....

Thanks! That's awesome that you also want to work with the LGBTQ population. There is still a lot of work to be done to help trans identified persons, and work is just starting on the needs of trans older adults.

[notafortuneteller]

51 minutes ago, FrogMirror said:

Just curious, notafortuneteller, 

You didn't mention the accelerated BSW at Waterloo, are you not considering that one? If so I'm just genuinely curious as to why.  I will most likely be starting that program in the fall (applied and accepted, waitlisted at u of t) and have heard very good things about it, and field placement opportunities.  Yet most people on this sub mention the Lakehead BSW at Orillia and say that U of T likes graduates from that program.  I went to several info sessions for the U of T program and they frequently mentioned the Waterloo program, but not really the Orillia one.  Is there a major difference/preference factor I'm missing between the two?  Travel and living is far more accessible to me with the Waterloo program so I didn't apply to Lakehead because it just didn't seem realistic.  I was able to take the pre-requisite courses at Waterloo online as a non-degree student and got some equivalencies as well.  The program isn't really 10 months, the pre-recs make it longer, but doing them as a non-degree you can do them in tandem with your application so that if you are confident in your ability to get in you, you can complete everything in the same amount of time it would take to apply, accept, and complete a 10 month program.

Any thoughts you might have on the Waterloo program or others would be appreciated.

FrogMirror

FrogMirror,

I honestly haven't looked at Waterloo. My thing is that I live in Toronto and have no desire to move anywhere else, I have moved enough and want to stay here. So I would need either a distance program (which UVic offers), a program in the GTA, or go to Orillia a few days a week and stay with family or friends in the area but still be able to come home to Toronto on days I don't have school. I may look into the online courses Waterloo offers though. I know to get into the UVic program I need 2 courses I don't have yet, I could have taken them as part of the degree I am finishing up but there were too many other courses I wanted/needed to take, so figured I would leave them for after the degree if I don't get into U of T.

[LP3]

2 hours ago, FrogMirror said:

Just curious, notafortuneteller, 

You didn't mention the accelerated BSW at Waterloo, are you not considering that one? If so I'm just genuinely curious as to why.  I will most likely be starting that program in the fall (applied and accepted, waitlisted at u of t) and have heard very good things about it, and field placement opportunities.  Yet most people on this sub mention the Lakehead BSW at Orillia and say that U of T likes graduates from that program.  I went to several info sessions for the U of T program and they frequently mentioned the Waterloo program, but not really the Orillia one.  Is there a major difference/preference factor I'm missing between the two?  Travel and living is far more accessible to me with the Waterloo program so I didn't apply to Lakehead because it just didn't seem realistic.  I was able to take the pre-requisite courses at Waterloo online as a non-degree student and got some equivalencies as well.  The program isn't really 10 months, the pre-recs make it longer, but doing them as a non-degree you can do them in tandem with your application so that if you are confident in your ability to get in you, you can complete everything in the same amount of time it would take to apply, accept, and complete a 10 month program.

Any thoughts you might have on the Waterloo program or others would be appreciated.

FrogMirror

Not a part of this conversation but I finished my BSW at Waterloo this passing summer. It was one of the best things I'd done to advance my SW career. It was intense,  I worked part time on top of the full time courseload and practicum. I highly recommend the Indigenous Perspectives elective. My other piece of advice is to be firm about what placement you want and what you want from your practicum experience. Practicums were competitive for Micro experiences and some students felt that they were placed in certain agencies out of convenience to the school-ie Renison has great relationships with some local agencies. Feel free to connect with me any time about the program. 

[FrogMirror]

3 hours ago, LP3 said:

Not a part of this conversation but I finished my BSW at Waterloo this passing summer. It was one of the best things I'd done to advance my SW career. It was intense,  I worked part time on top of the full time courseload and practicum. I highly recommend the Indigenous Perspectives elective. My other piece of advice is to be firm about what placement you want and what you want from your practicum experience. Practicums were competitive for Micro experiences and some students felt that they were placed in certain agencies out of convenience to the school-ie Renison has great relationships with some local agencies. Feel free to connect with me any time about the program. 

Thank-you so much! I would love to be able to ask some questions to someone who has been through the program.  I'm really wanting to capitalize on the program as much as I can, especially since its so quick, and so I'm wanting to get my game plan sorted out now.  I am definitely looking at a micro focus--though my long term goal with school is to do clinical work for X number of years, and then eventually do a Master's of public/health policy and move into public policy, trying for a focus on mental health and palliative care.  I am in the midst of exams right now, but I'd love to like send you a few pms with questions later on next week.

Thanks again!

[Student_101]

Also on the waitlist for U of T. Only applied there due to the lack of hours that would be competitive for applications to other schools (Laurier, York, etc.) and also do not have a BSW but rather a BAH in Criminal Justice. 

 

 

[cpun]

Anyone know how long the waitlist is for Lakehead Thunder Bay?

[amcguirk]

Has anyone received a rejection from Ryerson? I still haven't heard anything. 

[CalendarGirl]

20 hours ago, LP3 said:

Not a part of this conversation but I finished my BSW at Waterloo this passing summer. It was one of the best things I'd done to advance my SW career. It was intense,  I worked part time on top of the full time courseload and practicum. I highly recommend the Indigenous Perspectives elective. My other piece of advice is to be firm about what placement you want and what you want from your practicum experience. Practicums were competitive for Micro experiences and some students felt that they were placed in certain agencies out of convenience to the school-ie Renison has great relationships with some local agencies. Feel free to connect with me any time about the program. 

Hey LP3,

I am also attending waterloo's BSW program in the fall and would love your insights!

[LP3]

23 minutes ago, CalendarGirl said:

Hey LP3,

I am also attending waterloo's BSW program in the fall and would love your insights!

Send me a message any time! 

[Purple-Elephant]

Hello all. I am currently in Renison's full time BSW program. I'm planning to apply to MSW programs this coming year, feel free to tell me to get lost from this forum, but I thought maybe I could benefit from the wisdom you all have gained this year.

A few questions...First, has anyone heard anything about/applied to Western's MSW program? I have never heard anyone talk about it so I'm assuming it isn't great?

Second, is it true that your research methods mark is really important? I only got 72% in that course, back in the second year of my undergrad. Is this grade important for people with their BSW degree who are applying to advanced standing programs? My marks have been great since third year, and all my grades are above 90 so far this year in my BSW. I'm kind of scared seeing people's posts about research methods because I never thought a second year course could have such an impact on my future.

PS if anyone has any Renison BSW questions I'm happy to answer. 

Edited April 9, 2016 by Purple-Elephant

[SamSat]

On 4/7/2016 at 1:12 PM, mswbsw said:

Hey, I am very much in the same position as you. This year I applied for U of T and York's 2 year MSW, York's Post-Degree BSW and Carleton's BSW, to maximze my chances of getting into something. I thought I had a decent application and chance of getting into at least York's MSW but after checking out this forum for the past few months, I realise I am way under-qualified!

On Monday, my York Myfile account updated to show I was accepted into the Post-Degree BSW. I imagine if they invited me to the BSW they won't be accepting me into the MSW which is disappointing but completely understandable given the qualifications of everyone else here! As far as what they are looking for, I can tell you a bit about my application for the BSW. York is very much focused on anti-oppression and the like, so I tried to tailor my application to this. I focused on how I wanted to combine my undergrad degree in International Development with a social work degree, to work with Canada's immigrant and refugee population. I spoke a lot about the time I spent volunteering in Latin America post-graduation and I think my application might have been positively received as well because I focused on what I don't know, and what their program would teach me. Because I learned after my undergrad that although I know a lot, I still have a lot to learn, and York's program can help me get to where I want to go.

My advice would be to focus on getting unique volunteer and/or work experiences over the next several months so that your application will stand out from the rest!

 

On 4/7/2016 at 1:21 PM, emilynwt said:

Hey,

I've been on here many times but never posted.

I applied to Lakehead HBSW back in 2010 when I was graduating from my BA. I applied to both campuses but was only accepted at Orillia. I decided not to go as I had an opportunity to move to the Northwest Territories for work. I emailed Sonya a few weeks after hearing I got in to Orillia to ask for feedback on my application. I highly recommend anyone who didn't get in do this. She gave me a super detailed breakdown of my application and how I scored and where I could improve my application in the future. I think a big thing is experience. I know it is super hard to get experience when working full time but try and think outside of the box. 

I spoke with an admissions officer at UVIC in the fall and she told me about a few students accepted in to the MSW without any "social work" experience. They had both worked at summer camps and were able to justify how this experience had helped prepare them for social work. Think into your work history and see if there are any experiencea that you have that you can explain how they relate to social work. I worked on and off as a lifeguard and swim instructor for years and put this on my application when I first applied.

Perhaps take a couple social work classes online over the next year and reapply again next year.

Good luck!

Thanks so much to both of you for your advice!  @mswbsw, I have taken steps towards getting involved in a newcomer agency in Toronto and am also basing my research paper for my online research course on barriers to employment/ integrating into society for newcomers and refugees (still haven't narrowed down my topic). This interest really stems from my personal experience integrating into Canadian society and so hoping my passion for the subject really shines through in my personal statement. I still could use some further understanding of what the anti-oppressive framework is, and how I can mould my experience and interest to that framework, so if you know of any good reading material on the subject please let me know!

@emilynwt that's great advice about looking for a job with some skills that are pertinent to the field- that is the same advice I got from the Laurier dean a few days after you posted this here. I am starting to look for jobs that I can get with my business degree- employment advising, community engagement, and the like. Fingers crossed! 

[LP3]

Has anyone made a Laurier MSW Advanced Standing Facebook group yet? I've seen that the 2-yr full time cohort has been made... I'm really excited to meet the rest of my future classmates!