Canadian MSW Applicants 2018

[msw3]

7 hours ago, rks27 said:

Hi everyone, 

People who applied to UNBC and got waitlisted, what type of social work related experience do you have and what is your gpa?  

Warm wishes, 

R.

 

Hey!

I did my undergrad at UofT. My gpa for my last two years was about 3.2 - I have about 4000 hours of experience as a youth worker in group homes/foster homes, PSW, support worker at community living, rehabilitation therapist, recreation therapist and most recently an addiction service worker!  

Good luck to everyone else!!! 

[242penguin]

My fingers are crossed for both of us!!

On 3/14/2018 at 2:11 PM, Emactastic said:

Hey,

 

I emailed them regarding the waitlist and they said that due to people pulling themselves off the waitlist and them sometimes pulling conditional offers etc that the don't release where you are on the waitlist!  I know they have a small program, so I'm being cautiously optimistic about getting off of it. I was previously rejected from their program in 2013 when I first finished my BSW, so getting on the waitlist is a step forward!

 

[CGal Social Worker]

I think I also just got accepted to Ryerson?

I received the following email... but they said I won't be able to access an official letter for 24 business hours... so Monday... Has anyone else accepted got this e-mail?

We are pleased to inform you that the Dean of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the Graduate Admissions Committee of the Graduate Studies Social Work program has reached a final decision regarding your application to the Full Time Master of Social Work program.

To access this document, please login to your Student Centre in RAMSS (my.ryerson.ca) and look under the "Communications" section, located on the bottom right corner.

Note that communications may take up to 24 hours to appear in your Student Centre.

Thank you for your prompt attention and we look forward to your positive response, within the deadline date noted in the communication.

Graduate Admissions and Recruitment

Yeates School of Graduate Studies

[lastsupper]

1 hour ago, CGal Social Worker said:

I think I also just got accepted to Ryerson?

I received the following email... but they said I won't be able to access an official letter for 24 business hours... so Monday... Has anyone else accepted got this e-mail?

We are pleased to inform you that the Dean of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the Graduate Admissions Committee of the Graduate Studies Social Work program has reached a final decision regarding your application to the Full Time Master of Social Work program.

To access this document, please login to your Student Centre in RAMSS (my.ryerson.ca) and look under the "Communications" section, located on the bottom right corner.

Note that communications may take up to 24 hours to appear in your Student Centre.

Thank you for your prompt attention and we look forward to your positive response, within the deadline date noted in the communication.

Graduate Admissions and Recruitment

Yeates School of Graduate Studies

That is so intentionally vague! But them saying "positive response" in the end makes me think you did get accepted 

[socialwerqer]

2 hours ago, CGal Social Worker said:

I think I also just got accepted to Ryerson?

I received the following email... but they said I won't be able to access an official letter for 24 business hours... so Monday... Has anyone else accepted got this e-mail?

We are pleased to inform you that the Dean of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, on the recommendation of the Graduate Admissions Committee of the Graduate Studies Social Work program has reached a final decision regarding your application to the Full Time Master of Social Work program.

To access this document, please login to your Student Centre in RAMSS (my.ryerson.ca) and look under the "Communications" section, located on the bottom right corner.

Note that communications may take up to 24 hours to appear in your Student Centre.

Thank you for your prompt attention and we look forward to your positive response, within the deadline date noted in the communication.

Graduate Admissions and Recruitment

Yeates School of Graduate Studies

I think you got in? Or at the very very least wait listed, but even that I doubt. I feel like it is a positive overall letter and rejection letters don't usually start with "we are pleased to inform you". It's SO weird how vague it is though! That's so annoying that you have to wait for them to upload the official letter. They could have thought this out way more. 

[mswworrier]

Hi everyone!,

New to this forum...and I really, really need some support! I'm very paranoid actually. 

On uoft's application page, they mention that all the statements become their property- does that mean they can turnitin? can they do that?

I was checking other grad school programs and they state explicitly that they can do that but this is nowhere to be found on the fifsw application...

York mentions that "Replaceable documents become the property of York University and will not be returned. We keep supporting documents for one year, after which we destroy materials related to your application." - can someone please explain this to me? are replaceable documents the same as supporting?

Edited March 16, 2018 by mswworrier

[CGal Social Worker]

1 hour ago, lastsupper said:

That is so intentionally vague! But them saying "positive response" in the end makes me think you did get accepted 

 

59 minutes ago, socialwerqer said:

I think you got in? Or at the very very least wait listed, but even that I doubt. I feel like it is a positive overall letter and rejection letters don't usually start with "we are pleased to inform you". It's SO weird how vague it is though! That's so annoying that you have to wait for them to upload the official letter. They could have thought this out way more. 

Yess! That is the weirdest email/process ever!! On my Ryerson student centre it also now says “notification of approval” but no official letter or anything haha... I’m remaining hesitantly optimistic!!

[whatdidigetinto]

1 hour ago, mswworrier said:

Hi everyone!,

New to this forum...and I really, really need some support! I'm very paranoid actually. 

On uoft's application page, they mention that all the statements become their property- does that mean they can turnitin? can they do that?

I was checking other grad school programs and they state explicitly that they can do that but this is nowhere to be found on the fifsw application...

York mentions that "Replaceable documents become the property of York University and will not be returned. We keep supporting documents for one year, after which we destroy materials related to your application." - can someone please explain this to me? are replaceable documents the same as supporting?

Can you clarify for me what is worrying you?

I can see from an administrative standpoint that they claim ownership of anything submitted to them (including reference letters) simply to save the time/fees/etc of people asking things to be sent back to them.  It seems a logical option.  It could also simply be a legal phrase, to keep themselves from any liability when they destroy each year's applications.  The universities have the right to destroy applications because they own them .

[Erin32796]

On 2018-03-12 at 6:41 PM, cat_not_kitty said:

Thank you for the update, Erin32796! UGH . I remain hopeful that this is just her usual stock answer when asked about results (see a couple of past exchanges about this from earlier in the thread)! Did she say 'by' or 'until' mid-April?

 

 

Quote from March 10th of last year (referred to in my quoted post above), when results started being released March 23:

 

 

The screenshot that viclane96 posted is the exact response I received from Angela. Hopefully we hear back sooner!

[mswworrier]

4 hours ago, whatdidigetinto said:

Can you clarify for me what is worrying you?

I can see from an administrative standpoint that they claim ownership of anything submitted to them (including reference letters) simply to save the time/fees/etc of people asking things to be sent back to them.  It seems a logical option.  It could also simply be a legal phrase, to keep themselves from any liability when they destroy each year's applications.  The universities have the right to destroy applications because they own them .

i was wondering if they  can use turnitin to check our essays if it becomes their property? I applied to another program and had similar content as this one, so I was just paranoid if they’d use programs such as those...

My friend applied to the med school at uoft and they mentioned on their ouac website that they do use turnitin to do checks but I wasn’t too sure about fifsw since they didn’t mention it 

 

[SwagMaster]

11 hours ago, mswworrier said:

i was wondering if they  can use turnitin to check our essays if it becomes their property? I applied to another program and had similar content as this one, so I was just paranoid if they’d use programs such as those...

My friend applied to the med school at uoft and they mentioned on their ouac website that they do use turnitin to do checks but I wasn’t too sure about fifsw since they didn’t mention it 

 

I applied to 2 programs at UofT (fifsw and dalla lana) using very similar essays. I received admission into both, so neither of them seemed to care too much. I wouldn't worry too much about it. 

[CGal Social Worker]

Got official acceptance from Ryerson this morning ??

[socialwerqer]

2 hours ago, CGal Social Worker said:

Got official acceptance from Ryerson this morning ??

Congrats!! You must be relieved now haha And so annoying you had to worry about that for a day! 

[kiki14]

On 3/11/2018 at 8:34 PM, cat_not_kitty said:

I feel you re U of T admissions – hang in there...we've waited this long. 

Re OGS: Results vary wildly (like, literally by months) from school to school. Not sure when Laurier's are released, but last year a Grad Cafe member heard back from U of T for social work on May 31st (see linked forum). The online application site says updates will be posted there by the end of June...so looks like we shouldn't start holding our breaths anytime soon, but we may hear directly from the FIFSW or SGS before the system updates.

Thought I'd share what I'd found in terms of our chances, since the FIFSW has very little transparency around their OGS quotas (take this info with a healthy dose of salt, as it's all based on my own investigative work and conjecture). The only information I've been able to dig up on the number of awards granted is on page 38 of their 2014 Self-Study (http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/about-us/utqap-self-study-2014/), where they said that they awarded a mere four(!) external awards in 2013-14. This was down from an average of 17 over the 8 years prior (this massive shift downwards is likely due to the overhaul of OGS in 2013). This number could include CGS-M (for second year/advanced standing students pursuing a thesis...I've seen at least one get awarded in the past few years) and likely does include at least one international student OGS award (there's a quota between one to three international OGS awards allocated to each graduate unit, per the info on their "Financial Support" page, http://socialwork.utoronto.ca/current-students/financial-support/). Taken together, I'm assuming that a maximum of three OGS awards are awarded to all ~384 enrolled students (95 1-years + 145 first year 2-years + 145 second year 2-years – 1 international OGS recipient), meaning our chances of getting one are sitting at less than 1%. Please don't shoot the messenger ! 

Good luck!!

 

 

Just wanted to echo that it truly varies.

For UofT, I heard mid-July. I know the chances are probably slim, but I don't think it hurts to try especially on the off-chance that you get it. I really encourage my classmates to apply because I thought my chances were low too. 

I know funding isn't mentioned a lot with UofT, but they've actually sent quite a few emails about scholarships, research positions, and job opportunities, so these opportunities do exist. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by kiki14
Formatting

[cat_not_kitty]

1 hour ago, kiki14 said:

Just wanted to echo that it truly varies.

For UofT, I heard mid-July. I know the chances are probably slim, but I don't think it hurts to try especially on the off-chance that you get it. I really encourage my classmates to apply because I thought my chances were low too. 

I know funding isn't mentioned a lot with UofT, but they've actually sent quite a few emails about scholarships, research positions, and job opportunities, so these opportunities do exist. 

Thanks so much for the additional/insider info, kiki14! Wow, mid-July is SUPER late...but good to know, so we don’t assume the worst if we don’t hear sooner.

How have you enjoyed your first year at U of T so far? Any feedback or tips for us (hopeful) incomers?

Edited March 18, 2018 by cat_not_kitty

[kiki14]

1 hour ago, cat_not_kitty said:

Thanks so much for the additional/insider info, kiki14! Wow, mid-July is SUPER late...but good to know, so we don’t assume the worst if we don’t hear sooner.

How have you enjoyed your first year at U of T so far? Any feedback or tips for us (hopeful) incomers?

I was just going through my emails and I'm surprised others heard back earlier. Based on this link, people will hear back mid-July this year as well (http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/currentstudents/Pages/Ontario-Graduate-Scholarship.aspx ). Nomination was confirmed mid-June, then eligibility had to be verified and offer was given mid-July. 

Overall, I'm really enjoying it. It depends on what you're looking for as Toronto is primarily clinical and less critical than other SW schools. My biggest tip would be to get involved. The first semester can be overwhelming with so many courses, but it's actually the best time to be involved with school activities. They're a great way to meet other students, faculty, and alumni. I'm completely type A and I've been trying to work on that as the grading can be inconsistent based on the instructor. Honestly, it's so cliche and yet totally accurate to focus on your learning instead of the marks.  

[cat_not_kitty]

Yeah, there seems to be competing information even on the SGS site: after sign in, above the list of submitted applications, it indicates that "the result of your submitted application is expected to appear under the "Application Result Status" column in the table below by the end of June". Perhaps they mean that they'll update it to reflect the nomination, rather than the offer...wish they could be more transparent and specific about the process overall – I've seen way more more information available from other schools (to which I didn't/couldn't apply).

Thanks for the tip to get involved early and the heads up about lack of consistency in grading...tough pill to swallow – even though I'm certainly more focused on learning than marks – as there are material consequences to these inconsistencies in terms of funding and PhD applications, but such is the reality of academia.

I will say, very briefly, that U of T is not the best fit for me in terms of its clinical approach, but I feel like I'm going in with my eyes wide open about this. I've done enough research and soul searching to know that my scholarly/political goals should be (adequately, if not entirely) fulfilled via the Social Justice and Diversity stream (I'm very excited about the prospect of working with and learning from the Coordinator of that stream, in particular), and by (potentially) doing the Collaborative Program in Women and Gender Studies. I'm a mature student/activist with an already well-developed critical framework of praxis; my decision to go to U of T – as opposed to York, for example – is based specifically on a desire to further develop my theoretical and applied understanding of the paradigmatic frameworks I intend to spend the rest of my career critiquing  . Let's see a) if I can even get in, given this issue with fit and b) if I do manage to get in, whether I'm as comfortable about this decision after attending year one, with its emphasis on 'professionalism' and clinical skills...

11 hours ago, kiki14 said:

I was just going through my emails and I'm surprised others heard back earlier. Based on this link, people will hear back mid-July this year as well (http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/currentstudents/Pages/Ontario-Graduate-Scholarship.aspx ). Nomination was confirmed mid-June, then eligibility had to be verified and offer was given mid-July. 

Overall, I'm really enjoying it. It depends on what you're looking for as Toronto is primarily clinical and less critical than other SW schools. My biggest tip would be to get involved. The first semester can be overwhelming with so many courses, but it's actually the best time to be involved with school activities. They're a great way to meet other students, faculty, and alumni. I'm completely type A and I've been trying to work on that as the grading can be inconsistent based on the instructor. Honestly, it's so cliche and yet totally accurate to focus on your learning instead of the marks.  

[nicoleMSW]

Hey! So this may be a stupid question/me overthinking things... But I left my phone somewhere recently and won't be able to go pick it up until later this week. I know that York is expected to call for offers of admission this week for the two year program... if I don't answer my phone, and they call me, will it impact the decision if I can't pick it up or get the message until later in the week? Admission won't get revoked if you are not able to acknowledge their message in the first couple of days right? Also, what if my mailbox is full and they can't leave a message?

I already know this is a bit of a silly question... but I would appreciate the reassurance anyway  Thank you!

[Casper13]

Hey I was wondering if anyone else also has yet to hear back from the two year msw program at University of Calgary. Still waiting . Thanks ! 

[msw3]

4 hours ago, Casper13 said:

Hey I was wondering if anyone else also has yet to hear back from the two year msw program at University of Calgary. Still waiting . Thanks ! 

I'm in the same boat... I'm afraid that this might mean we did not get in.. 

[SWYorkie]

13 hours ago, nicoleMSW said:

Hey! So this may be a stupid question/me overthinking things... But I left my phone somewhere recently and won't be able to go pick it up until later this week. I know that York is expected to call for offers of admission this week for the two year program... if I don't answer my phone, and they call me, will it impact the decision if I can't pick it up or get the message until later in the week? Admission won't get revoked if you are not able to acknowledge their message in the first couple of days right? Also, what if my mailbox is full and they can't leave a message?

I already know this is a bit of a silly question... but I would appreciate the reassurance anyway  Thank you!

I don't think that should be an issue. If you're worried though, try calling them at the end of the week to see if they attempted to contact you. I'm certain they wouldn't revoke admission just because you couldn't answer the phone. 

[Aslwin]

49 minutes ago, mitchae said:

I'm in the same boat... I'm afraid that this might mean we did not get in.. 

I’m also waiting to hear back about the 1 year program and also assuming at this point that I didn’t get in. I remember reading somewhere on this thread that they were going to have their decisions out by March 19th? If so, that means we should find out today at least

[smntoronto]

For anyone who heard from York in the past couple weeks, did Ammad happen to say specifically when this week people would begin hearing? 

[SWYorkie]

6 minutes ago, smntoronto said:

For anyone who heard from York in the past couple weeks, did Ammad happen to say specifically when this week people would begin hearing? 

As long as the strike did not delay things more so than it already has, admission phone-calls should be out by mid-end of the week. Fingers crossed everyone! 

[cat_not_kitty]

Fingers and toes crossed, stomach in a knot, heart full of trepidatious hope, butt cheeks clenched — this could be the week we start hearing from U of T!! 

Hoping the York hopefuls hear back this week too!!

Edited March 19, 2018 by cat_not_kitty
Weird formatting as I’m posting from my phone