MSW Admissions & Program: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
- Is your MSW offered online or at a distance?
No, our MSW is not offered online. Students will need to attend in person and the majority of classes are held during daytime hours, although there may be an opportunity to complete the Advanced Year Practicum at a distance.
- Is the MSW offered on a part-time basis?
Our MSW is designed for full-time study, and classes are offered Monday to Friday during the day. Occasionally we are able to offer an elective course in the evening. All applicants are evaluated, scored and ranked in the same pool, regardless of whether full or part-time. In the past, we have been able to admit a maximum of 3 part-time students each fall, but it depends where they fall within the rankings.
- Can I apply for entry into the MSW in the Winter or Summer terms?
No, the fall term is the only term of admission.
- Will you accept late applications for the MSW?
Late applications are not accepted by the School of Social Work. We have an active waitlist for both programs, and decline many qualified applicants due to limited enrolments Please ensure you allow yourself enough time to upload the required documents by the December 1st deadline.
- Will you accept advanced standing for previous graduate-level courses?
The School of Social Work will not grant advanced standing for course work completed prior to entry to the MSW.
- How competitive is admission to the MSW?
Each year we accept approximately twenty-five students into each MSW program. We typically receive 160-180 applications for the two year MSW program, and approximately 80 for the one year MSW.
- Is your MSW considered a clinical program?
Our MSW program is not strictly clinical – it’s a blend of policy, clinical, research and generalist practice. Our MSW has elective course requirements that provide students an opportunity to take courses in their preferred area(s) of practice providing instructor and seat availability.
- Can I apply to both MSW programs to increase my chances?
Applicants are only eligible to apply to one program. If you have an accredited Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), then you apply to our one year MSW. If you have a four year undergraduate degree, apply to our two year MSW program.
- I have more than one university degree and decades of relevant experience, can I be admitted to the one year MSW program even though I don't have a Bachelor of Social Work?
Unfortunately, without an accredited Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), applicants could only apply for the two year MSW program. If admitted, advanced standing is not possible for experience, or for any coursework completed prior to admission.
- I have a three year university degree, am I eligible for admission to the two year MSW program?
Unfortunately, without a four year university degree (sometimes referred to as an honours degree), you would not be eligible for admission to the MSW. We do not have a qualifying year program, however you may want to consider applying for admission to our Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). If admitted, a course transfer assessment will be completed of your previous post-secondary studies. Although we cannot guarantee year of admission in advance, generally those who are admitted to the BSW with a previous undergraduate degree are able to enter into the third year of the program, leaving two years of full-time study (or the equivalent in part-time study) to complete the degree. This would then meet qualification to apply for the one year MSW Advanced program.
For those educated in Quebec, CEGEP and a university degree, which is usually 3 years, is considered equivalent to a 4 year degree..
- I do not have the recommended amount of hours of social work-related work experience. Can I still apply?
Yes, you can still apply. Your social work-related experience will be evaluated for quantity as well as the quality of experience from an equitable perspective. Examples of equitable considerations: applicants from a rural or isolated community may have less variety of experiences; applicants with a disability may have less hours & variety of experience; applicants who are parents of small children may have less recent experience; etc
- What is considered social work-related experience?
Applicants are welcome to include any experience they feel is related to social work. The Admissions Committee will evaluate that experience and score it on quality and quantity of experience.
- I'm not sure if my application is strong enough to apply. What should I do?
1. Apply and see what happens. All applications are given full consideration, regardless of grades and experience.
Applicants to our two year MSW program might consider applying to our Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program as well, in case their MSW application is unsuccessful or waitlisted. If you are offered admission to the BSW, and the offer is accepted, your previous post-secondary studies are assessed for possible transfer credits Pending the outcome of the transfer credit assessment, you might be starting with upper year standing. The BSW program can be done at your own pace, which makes it easier to keep working full-time while going to school. Having a BSW makes you eligible to apply for the one year MSW program which is considerably less competitive.
2. Raise your grades, and/or get more social work related experience before you apply. The quickest way to raise your grades is by repeating lowest graded courses within last 10 credits, and getting a higher grade.
3. Apply to multiple MSW programs in order to increase your chances of getting an offer of admission.
- How do you calculate the GPA for MSW admission?
We find your most recent university course on your uploaded transcript documents, and start counting backwards from it until we get to 10 credits of graded courses. Generally this will be the last 20 courses, which is the equivalent of half (or two years) of a four year degree. It doesn’t matter if the university course(s) was taken as part of a degree or not, it just needs to be a regular university course. If any course in the last 10 credits is without a grade and/or not used towards GPA calculation at your university (ex: practicums, etc), we will skip over it and continue counting backwards until we reach 10 credits of graded courses. If your last 10 credits includes an F grade, it will be used towards GPA calculation. If you have repeated a course in your last 10 credits, we will use the most recent grade. If you have withdrawn from a course within your last 10 credits, we will skip over it and continue counting backwards until 10 credits.
- How much will it cost to attend the MSW?
Cost and Fees are outlined https://graduate.carleton.ca/financial-assistance/cost-and-fees/
- Are there any scholarships available for MSW students?
All successful full-time domestic applicants are considered for admissions funding. Once we have the list of applicants who will get an offer, we have a certain amount of funding we can add to their offer. In the past few years, we have been able to provide some scholarship funding to all applicants, and we hope to do so in the future, but available funding changes every year. Equity along with GPA is a consideration for this funding. For applicants whose last 10 credits are 80% and above, you may want to consider applying for an External Award such as OGS (Ontario Graduate Scholarship), or Tri-Council Funding (SSHRC or CIHR). You apply for these awards in the fall of the year before you intend to begin your full-time studies. More information is at https://graduate.carleton.ca/financial-assistance/external-awards/ and https://gradstudents.carleton.ca/awards-and-funding/external-awards/
- Do you have a list of approved Research Methods and/or Statistics courses?
We do not keep a list of approved courses because there are too many to evaluate. Generally speaking – if you took a university course with “Research Methods or Qualitative” or “Statistics or Quantitative” in the titles, then there is a good chance the course would meet the requirements.
- I do not have a Research Methods or Statistics course, can I still apply?
Yes, you can still apply, and if the admissions committee decides they would like to make you an offer of admission, it would be conditional upon completion of one of these courses before program start in September.
If you need to take a Research Methods or Statistics course, consider taking Carleton’s SOWK 3001 – Intro to Research Methods in Social Work or SOWK 3002 – Intro to Statistical Analysis in Social Work. They are usually offered online as well as in-class.
If you are not a Carleton student already, you’ll need to become one in order to register. Visit the Registrars Office.
- I did my degree outside of Canada, how can I tell if I am eligible to apply?
Please refer to the guidelines for minimum admission requirements of relevant country.
- I am an international applicant, what are my chances of admission?
We receive 30-40 applications each year from International applicants, and we might make 1 or 2 unfunded offers of admission if ranked among the highest in the pool of all applications.
- Do I have to upload all my documents before I pay for and submit my application? I want to make sure my referees have adequate time to complete the reference before the December 1 deadline.
No, you don’t need to upload all your required documents before you submit your application. Once your payment is processed, you will receive an email from Carleton within 1-3 business days. This email will include your 9 digit application number, and have instructions for logging in to Carleton Central to upload your remaining required documents.
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