Hello all,

I am new to this forum. I'm not a McMaster student but have plans to apply for the social work program for next year. I was wondering how hard is it to get into the program? How high an average do you have to have? What kind of marks? And how hard is the test? I would appreciate your response.

Thank you.

Hi! Great to see you're looking into McMaster for social work. They typically admit 45 people into the BA/BSW program and 25 people into the post-degree BSW program. The year I was admitted we had over 250 applicants. The admission weight is 50% grades, 50% SWAT. You need a full credit of intro social work or sociology, and then another full credit of more social sciences (psychology, anthropology, women's studies, etc, can be two half credit courses). The minimum average required is a C+, although aiming for a B+ is probably best for you.

The SWAT essentially tests your personal suitability for McMaster's program. You'll be asked to give your perspective on a social issue, then discuss why you would like to be a social worker (here you can highlight any experience you have, personal or professional), the last part is a case study where you have to discuss how you would help the individual. The best way to really prepare is to try and view the world through the philosophy of the School, which can be found here: http://www.socialwork.mcmast er.ca/

best of luck!

Thank you very much James. This was great advice. I was just wondering about the kind of marks people who got in had? If you have information about that I would greatly appreciate if you could share..

Thank you.

Hey!
Essentially you get into the program if your marks are low but you do really well on your SWAT and vice versa. I got in last year and my average was 9.5 on McMaster scale and i got around 80% on my SWAT.
Good Luck! If you don't get it this year then don't be discouraged, just try again next year.

Originally Posted by meandyou

Hey!
Essentially you get into the program if your marks are low but you do really well on your SWAT and vice versa. I got in last year and my average was 9.5 on McMaster scale and i got around 80% on my SWAT.
Good Luck! If you don't get it this year then don't be discouraged, just try again next year.

Thanks for sharing Nikki

Hi, I'm a prospective BA/BSW student.

What kind of volunteer experience (number of hours, etc.) or job experience pertaining to social work did you have when you were admitted?

Is volunteering 2 hrs/week too little to make an impact on the SWAT?

Originally Posted by kkd628

Hi!

What kind of volunteer experience (number of hours, etc.) or job experience pertaining to social work did you have when you were admitted?

I had about 8 months when I wrote the SWAT, I know people who had no experience, and some people who have been in the field for 20 years. The test is to demonstrate personal suitability for the program, so don't worry about the quantity of the experiences you bring, it's more or so what you learn from your experience. It doesn't have to be professional either, it can be personal experiences as well.