Applicants must have a minimum of 100 hours of relevant volunteer or work experience in order to be considered for admission. Most successful applicants exceed this minimum.
The experience should focus on social service or health related activities and have direct and ongoing contact with vulnerable or disadvantaged members of society. Examples of relevant experience would include working on a crisis line, working in battered women’s support services, helping residents of a long-term care facility, or working with disabled children.
The closer the experience is to social work practice, the better.
Applicants can find current volunteer opportunities through websites such as Volunteer Connector or Volunteer BC or iVolunteer.ca or Charity Village.
Examples that would not be considered relevant experience include the following: fundraising, babysitting, coaching, tutoring, service jobs such as serving in a restaurant or bar, retail work, or administrative jobs such as reception and filing.
Although we consider all relevant experience, we strongly recommend current experiences within the last five years, preferably in a Canadian setting. A substantial number of hours, both paid and volunteer, is generally favourable for your application.
These introductory courses help students to explore whether or not social work is the right profession for them before they make the commitment to a social work degree program.
They also enable the School to see if students have an aptitude for our courses.
Yes, all pre-requisite courses must be completed by April 30 for admission for the following September. This deadline will not be extended since there are many more applicants than spaces available and priority is given to those who have completed pre-requisites.
No. Applicants must have a minimum 68% (2.67) average for the most recent 30 credits completed at the time of application. Applicants must be registered to complete 60 credits by April 30th in the year of application.
All applicants must achieve a minimum of “B” in both SOWK 200 and 201 or their equivalents.
Mature applicants must meet the stated minimum requirements to be considered.
Normally students are expected to complete the program on a full-time basis, and because of the demands of the program we advise against significant amounts of part-time work during the program.
The School must receive all references by the application deadline. If you can no longer find professors who remember you well enough to write references, we accept letters from employers or supervisors of volunteer work. Letters from friends, family members or personal therapists/counsellors will not be accepted.
The School admits approximately 60 students per year. The number of applications varies from year to year, although typically we receive approximately 130 applications.
We admit students only once per year, with classes starting in September. The application deadline is January 15.
Since our admissions process is multi-faceted, there is no one answer. You should try to have the highest GPA possible and accrue both work and volunteer experience. The less competitive applicants are in one of those areas, the more competitive they need to be in the other areas.
With the exception of the current Covid-19 pandemic, our program is day-time and campus-based.
Details about undergraduate tuition and miscellaneous student fees are found at UBC Tuition and Fees. Note that authorized student fees are added to tuition.