Canadian MSW Applicants 2018

[h8omb]

Hi all! Any other University of Calgary applicants out there? I'm currently living in Vancouver and only applied to Calgary for the course-based Foundation MSW. Is anyone else obsessively checking their email and their application status online? Any idea when decisions might start coming out?

[Meemoo]

28 minutes ago, h8omb said:

Hi all! Any other University of Calgary applicants out there? I'm currently living in Vancouver and only applied to Calgary for the course-based Foundation MSW. Is anyone else obsessively checking their email and their application status online? Any idea when decisions might start coming out?

Me me me!! We won't hear until end of March, apparently they are behind??? I am anxiously waiting with you

[youngbswtomsw]

Hey everyone,

I was waitlisted at King's for 1-yr MSW,

No news yet from U of T for 1-yr MSW (not 'invited'),

And I've applied to the University of Manitoba for the advanced standing MSW as well, haven't heard anything. Has anybody else applied here?

Also, is anyone aware of how many students King's waitlists? Especially because they only accept 15 to their program?

Thanks and congratulations/good luck to all!!

 

[danemom]

58 minutes ago, h8omb said:

Hi all! Any other University of Calgary applicants out there? I'm currently living in Vancouver and only applied to Calgary for the course-based Foundation MSW. Is anyone else obsessively checking their email and their application status online? Any idea when decisions might start coming out?

Me too! I applied for the course-based foundation MSW. Like Meemoo said, they aim to have everyone notified end of March. Still seems so far away

[cat_not_kitty]

Happy to know that I’m not alone in this! I can’t access ACORN either — just tried. I was able to log on yesterday evening, though. Likely just a temporary glitch with the system that will be resolved well before we’d actually need to be checking anyway (not that that will stop us checking, obviously ).

3 hours ago, foxstock said:

Yup! Feeling the same.... I can't access ACRON for some reason so I'm checking my mail more frequently than normal, even though I know I'm weeks away from getting any mail hahaha

 

18 hours ago, spers said:

I am with you! I hope we can hear back in early March

 

[MSWpost]

19 hours ago, hamlam said:

Wow congrats!! That's a nice surprise to get when you just get home. Sorry if you answered this already: did your status on acorn or SGS change? and are you applying from out of province?

Also wondering if you can give some stats on what type of experience/grades you applied with

Thank you! It was definately nice coming home after a long day and seeing the package in the mail!

My status on acorn and SGS have not changed. I am applying from Toronto, so not our of province. 

My education: Gerontology degree from Western, SSW diploma, Post-degree BSW from York (in my final semester). My grades from Western were ok- not stellar. I think it helped me to have the ssw diploma and the bsw since my grades were a lot better. My GPA is around 8 out of a 9 point scale from York. 
I have been noting that there were some comments about having many many paid hours to have a good chance of getting in, but I do not think that is true. Most of my experiences are from school placements or volunteer hours. I do not work during the school year to focus on my studies, and generally work in the summers that are somewhat related to the social services field. 

I hope this helps answer your questions! Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck to you and the rest of any one who is reading this and has not heard yet. It will come soon!!!  

[hamlam]

1 hour ago, MSWpost said:

Thank you! It was definately nice coming home after a long day and seeing the package in the mail!

My status on acorn and SGS have not changed. I am applying from Toronto, so not our of province. 

My education: Gerontology degree from Western, SSW diploma, Post-degree BSW from York (in my final semester). My grades from Western were ok- not stellar. I think it helped me to have the ssw diploma and the bsw since my grades were a lot better. My GPA is around 8 out of a 9 point scale from York. 
I have been noting that there were some comments about having many many paid hours to have a good chance of getting in, but I do not think that is true. Most of my experiences are from school placements or volunteer hours. I do not work during the school year to focus on my studies, and generally work in the summers that are somewhat related to the social services field. 

I hope this helps answer your questions! Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck to you and the rest of any one who is reading this and has not heard yet. It will come soon!!!  

Thanks for responding! Good to know your status hasn’t changed. Gives me a bit of hope! Hope your experience at u of t is incredible!!

[spers]

21 hours ago, smntoronto said:

Angela said that decisions for the 2 year program at U of T will be mailed out mid April, so I’m not sure now after reading your comments whether that implies we won’t be receiving ANY news until then. If that’s actually the case, they’ll be the last university (it seems) to send out offers meaning many applicants will likely have accepted offers elsewhere. 

2

Mid-April is so long! I don't know about anyone else, but that might be right at the end of exam period for me. 

I am getting a bit nervous myself. I am coming right out of my undergraduate degree and the only relevant experience that I have is through my practicum. I have about 1000 hours of social service experience, but my GPA in my senior level courses is a 91. 

[MSWapplicant2021]

4 minutes ago, spers said:

Mid-April is so long! I don't know about anyone else, but that might be right at the end of exam period for me. 

I am getting a bit nervous myself. I am coming right out of my undergraduate degree and the only relevant experience that I have is through my practicum. I have about 1000 hours of social service experience, but my GPA in my senior level courses is a 91. 

Don't worry, I'm in the same boat as you. I've read a lot of posts in past forums of people with little experience getting accepted due to their personal statement, grades, and resume. So don't worry too much!! 

[spers]

3 minutes ago, MSWapplicant2018 said:

Don't worry, I'm in the same boat as you. I've read a lot of posts in past forums of people with little experience getting accepted due to their personal statement, grades, and resume. So don't worry too much!! 

Thank you for the reassurance

[viclane96]

Hey everyone! Angela from UofT emailed me back! I asked her about acceptances and she sent this! Hopefully this calms everyone’s nerves a bit  

[Toonies]

1 hour ago, spers said:

Mid-April is so long! I don't know about anyone else, but that might be right at the end of exam period for me. 

I am getting a bit nervous myself. I am coming right out of my undergraduate degree and the only relevant experience that I have is through my practicum. I have about 1000 hours of social service experience, but my GPA in my senior level courses is a 91. 

I've been reading this forum quite a bit since my partner was applying. So first of all, I want to thank everyone for all the great advice and tips! And second, don't worry my partner is in the same boat but she got accepted into the UofT MSW program. I think most people applying have the marks and enough experience (volunteer & placement) so your references and letter of intent are what separates you. As long as those are strong, you have a good shot. 

[MSW2018applicant]

1 hour ago, viclane96 said:

Hey everyone! Angela from UofT emailed me back! I asked her about acceptances and she sent this! Hopefully this calms everyone’s nerves a bit  

Thank you for sharing this! Sounds like the latest we'll hear is mid-April, but some of us will start hearing in March. Since applicants are given 4 weeks to accept or reject, the first wave for 2 years program might be mid-March or a bit earlier than mid-March.

[rks27]

Hi everyone, 

I will be applying for my MSW foundations program at UVic and UBC-O later this fall. The admission requirements for UVic state "a graduating cumulative GPA of 6.0 or higher in the last 30 units/60 credits" - will they be looking at my last 30 units or my last 60 units?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated! 

 

 

[cat_not_kitty]

Thanks so much for sharing, viclane96! I agree, MSW2018applicant, sounds like this is the stock answer she always gives ("BY mid-April"), which means we should start hearing mid-to-late March. Not too long now, considering how long we've waited thus far. Yay!

17 hours ago, MSW2018applicant said:

Thank you for sharing this! Sounds like the latest we'll hear is mid-April, but some of us will start hearing in March. Since applicants are given 4 weeks to accept or reject, the first wave for 2 years program might be mid-March or a bit earlier than mid-March.

19 hours ago, viclane96 said:

Hey everyone! Angela from UofT emailed me back! I asked her about acceptances and she sent this! Hopefully this calms everyone’s nerves a bit  

 

[laurap]

On 2018-02-13 at 9:01 AM, smntoronto said:

For any University of Windsor 2 year applicants, they said decisions won't be out until early Spring since they received a significantly higher volume of applications than in previous years. 

Just following up on this, I just got off the phone with Windsor and they said because they got DOUBLE the volume of applications for the 2 year program than usual, they're aiming to have decisions out in early April but it may be more towards the end of April  

[smntoronto]

1 hour ago, laurap said:

Just following up on this, I just got off the phone with Windsor and they said because they got DOUBLE the volume of applications for the 2 year program than usual, they're aiming to have decisions out in early April but it may be more towards the end of April  

Ah man that's too bad.. I knew they'd received more than in previous years but I wasn't expecting double! It's crazy to think of all the people who are applying for the second and third time and how each year their applications get stronger and the competition becomes even stiffer. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by smntoronto

[cat_not_kitty]

Wow – double the applicants in just one year?! That's bonkers. I didn't apply to Windsor (I'm unable to leave Toronto due to family issues), but this type of trend tells us a lot about the future of the field in general – both in terms of education and employment opportunities.

For comparison/information purposes, in the 2014 Self-Study that U of T has up on the FIFSW website (very much worth a read: http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/about-us/utqap-self-study-2014/), they indicated that total applications for their 2-year program had gone from just under 500 to over 800 between 2009 and 2013. Advanced standing applications increased much less substantially, from around 200 to 250. Enrolment numbers for both programs were increased by a mere 20 spots each across those years, for a total of 145 2-year students and 95 1-year students in 2014. But the bigger picture is that they were admitting only 75 students to each program in 2005, meaning that they had almost doubled enrolment for the 2-year program in eight years (while 1-year enrolment went up by 26% in this time). This was the last self-study they undertook – would love to know what current application numbers look like, as it's been four years and clearly the field is undergoing massive growth.

According to the self-study, "The FIFSW increased enrolment due to graduate growth has not impacted the competitiveness of the applicant pool. The average GPA of the admitted class for the two-year M.S.W. Program has been consistently in the A- range. The same is true for the Advanced Standing (full-time)". Interesting that they would focus on grades as the specific measure of competitiveness here – my guess would be that this is far from representative of the "competitiveness" of applications, so this is a bit a of a false premise...

 

2 hours ago, laurap said:

Just following up on this, I just got off the phone with Windsor and they said because they got DOUBLE the volume of applications for the 2 year program than usual, they're aiming to have decisions out in early April but it may be more towards the end of April  

 

1 hour ago, smntoronto said:

Ah man that's too bad.. I knew they'd received more than in previous years but I wasn't expecting double! It's crazy to think of all the people who are applying for the second and third time and how each year their applications get stronger and the competition becomes even stiffer. 

 

[smntoronto]

6 minutes ago, cat_not_kitty said:

Wow – double the applicants in just one year?! That's bonkers. I didn't apply to Windsor (I'm unable to leave Toronto due to family issues), but this type of trend tells us a lot about the future of the field in general – both in terms of education and employment opportunities.

For comparison/information purposes, in the 2014 Self-Study that U of T has up on the FIFSW website (very much worth a read: http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/about-us/utqap-self-study-2014/), they indicated that total applications for their 2-year program had gone from just under 500 to over 800 between 2009 and 2013. Advanced standing applications increased much less substantially, from around 200 to 250. Enrolment numbers for both programs were increased by a mere 20 spots each across those years, for a total of 145 2-year students and 95 1-year students in 2014. But the bigger picture is that they were admitting only 75 students to each program in 2005, meaning that they had almost doubled enrolment for the 2-year program in eight years (while 1-year enrolment went up by 26% in this time). This was the last self-study they undertook – would love to know what current application numbers look like, as it's been four years and clearly the field is undergoing massive growth.

According to the self-study, "The FIFSW increased enrolment due to graduate growth has not impacted the competitiveness of the applicant pool. The average GPA of the admitted class for the two-year M.S.W. Program has been consistently in the A- range. The same is true for the Advanced Standing (full-time)". Interesting that they would focus on grades as the specific measure of competitiveness here – my guess would be that this is far from representative of the "competitiveness" of applications, so this is a bit a of a false premise...

 

 

 

Whoa thank you for sharing this! It's my second time applying to an MSW program and I feel that as time goes on it will only become more difficult to measure up to/stand out from everyone else just because of the sheer number of people applying. 

Edited February 26, 2018 by smntoronto

[SwagMaster]

PSA: Laurier one-year acceptances are coming!

I didn't apply but I have a friend that just got in. 

[cat_not_kitty]

I know! And these implications extend (even more meaningfully so) into employment after graduation...

15 minutes ago, smntoronto said:

Whoa thank you for sharing this! It's my second time applying to an MSW program and I feel that as time goes on it will only become more difficult to measure up to/stand out from everyone else just because of the sheer number of people applying. 

[Jessabee7]

Hey all,

I received my letter from U of T putting me on the wait list. Does anyone know how likely my chances are of getting in? I have completed my undergrad (BSW) last fall. I have also applied to Laurier's 1 year advanced standing and I am very skeptical about getting in. Laurier is is very competitive. The waiting is driving my anxiety through the roof. Best of luck to all of you.

[Jessabee7]

1 hour ago, SwagMaster said:

PSA: Laurier one-year acceptances are coming!

I didn't apply but I have a friend that just got in. 

Did they receive their offer online or in the mail? 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Jessabee7

[SwagMaster]

28 minutes ago, Jessabee7 said:

Did they receive their offer online or in the mail? 

I didn't ask her explicitly, but she eluded to the fact that it was online. 

[Jessabee7]

5 minutes ago, SwagMaster said:

I didn't ask her explicitly, but she eluded to the fact that it was online. 

Okay. Thanks!