zachidacki

Check this website for scholarships for Scandinavia. Sweden is listed at the bottom. http://www.amscan.org/alternate.html

I'm not sure how much experience you already have, but it doesn't seem like a bad option at all. I would, however, urge you to only intern at places that you think are worthwhile for you and the community, not for your resume. Do something that will allow you to look back at it with positive thoughts, with real accomplishments under your belt (that mean something to you). I think a genuine experience will be much better, and that will come across in your SOP, LORs, and interviews. That being said, any work is good work at this point. Of course it will add to your resume. It seems like the question to ask is whether it adds anything special to you, or is it just another way to look better on paper.

This post is for all potential European Fulbrighters, and is something I wished I would have known before the process. Toward the middle of your grant, you will be notified of UNESCO Fulbright Fellowships. These fellowships are only for European Fulbright Grantees, and you typically need to speak French, but not always. The fellowships are for six months beginning the September after your Fulbright. So, if you have a Fulbright from Fall 2010 - Spring 2011, the UNESCO Fellowship would be from Fall 2011 - Winter 2012. Anyway, this year there are four positions available, but that varies. This year the positions are in HIV/AIDS, education, information technology, and evaluation. You would work with UNESCO at their Paris offices, and you would receive a stipend, readjustments costs, etc. If you are considering applying to graduate school during your Fulbright, and the UNESCO fellowships are of interest, plan ahead. These fellowships interested me a lot, but I contacted my graduate school for next year and, although my admission is deferrable, my financial package is not. This could be similar at other institutions. It could also be a great option for those still unsure about graduate school and the field to choose.

The answer to this question is probably dependent on country. For example, in Belgium, Research Grantees and ETA's all get 800euros a year for tuition. Our grant starts on September 15th and lasts until June 15th (last payment is May 15th), meaning you don't get funds until arrival in Belgium and they end with the last payment. You could, however, apply to extend your Fulbright and stay the summer after the grant for more language courses, but I highly doubt the Fulbright will cover your expenses for the summer prior to the grant. I applied for an ETA in Belgium as it is, to my knowledge, the only placement available (for French speakers) that places people in universities. I wanted university teaching experience, so it was perfect. The downfall (turned out to be a huge positive, though) was that I was placed in Flanders, the Dutch/Flemish-speaking part of the country. My allotted tuition stipend only covers (Dutch) language courses for 2/3 of the grant. I applied for more funding for language courses for the remaining 1/3 and for summer, and got more funding for the remaining time but not for summer. This is only my experience in Belgium, and the Fulbright experience is very different from country to country, but it gives you an idea. Once you get the confirmation that you have been awarded a grant, I would call the Fulbright Commission in your host country, as they are the ones that distribute your guaranteed funding and deal with any extensions or requests of extra funds.

I'll be starting a MSW program in the fall with a concentration in social and economic development. One of my interests is housing, so if I had to start over I think I would go into industrial design. It would be a cool way to tackle housing issues in a creative, non-trad route. Part of me doesn't think I'm creative enough to do it, and that challenge is part of the appeal. I used to dance and learned quickly from outside forces that the arts is a hard place to make it, so I threw the artistic ambitions out. No matter how many classes you take, it's never the same. A return would be nice, though!

I'm not really sure how to go about pushing for money. I called when I received higher scholarships at other schools, and was told the half-tuition scholarship I received was the highest award possible, and that no more money is available on an individual student basis. I didn't think there was much pushing I could do. I would just call them up or go by if you live close, explain the situation and your appreciation, and ask if there is more money available for a low-income student. If NYU is your first choice, let them know that and express the financial strain. Propose research assistantships, student work-study, depends on what you're willing to do. My hunch is they have more scholarship money available. Good luck!

To begin: this is only my 2 cents, and I didn't even consider Columbia, and decided not to enroll at NYU. I will just tell you why I even applied to NYU and what about Columbia was unnattractive. Similarly to you, I am interested in client-centered management and services, particularly in queer and HIV+ communities. NYU's program is fully centered on clinical skills (though it doesn't ignore policy issues), so that sounds like a good fit for you. (I actually, in the end, turned it down because of that fact.) Your clinical training would be fantastic, both in theory and in practice. NYU's Social Work department has amazing connections to inner-city clinical traineeships. The faculty also lines up well. Have you talked to James Martin? His research and area of practice is mainly in clinical intervention for at-risk or HIV+ queer men and adolescents. There are a couple other faculty with parallel interests, so take a look. Also, NYU gives scholarships - up to half-tuition, I believe. If you haven't been awarded one, I know I freed up a half-tuition scholarship, so just push for some more money. Columbia's program seems (from talking to people and the website) highly concentrated on the macro experience - administration, policy, social theory. I can only remember one faculty member who works with HIV+ and queer communities, but they're very well may be more. Columbia's highest scholarship is $8,000 a year, and if you're lucky you'll get some sort of assistantship. The lack of integration between social work methods and the stingy nature of the School just turned me off. I'm not sure if you're going into academia, but that, in my opinion, is the only reason to go into debt from Columbia. You can spend the two years after the program working and making a dent in your debt, then go back to graduate school where those loans will be deferred, and hopefully land a higher-paying job afterwards. If you want to go directly into clinical work, NYU is probably your better bet. The connections NYU has for clinical opportunities, from what I can tell, far surpasses those at Columbia. If you want to go into corporate responsibility, maybe HIV-awareness programming and administration, or something along those lines, Columbia might be your better bet. The prestige of Columbia will undoubtedly fade, and the prestige of NYU's clinical program (for which it is highly praised in clinical circles, along with Smith, Simmons, etc.) will come to the forefront.

A few I know of: The Institute for Humane Studies, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Point Foundation (LGBTQ), and check out this link: http://staff.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/3gradinf.htm

When I was going through the medical stuff for my Fulbright last year, the prices were ridiculous. My total turned out to be about $800 (full blood work, x-rays, the exam). Since I had had a full physical nearly a year before (but not quite), and since my insurance only allowed one a year, the costs were high. I talked to my Fellowships Office and my university paid. It's worth a shot to ask if money is an issue for you.

If you're willing to go out of the country, I would look at some international fellowships. Most programs in Europe are one year, so it wouldn't be much time lost, and it would definitely be a step in the right direction for the PhD. Look at the Mitchell (http://www.us-irelandalliance.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=34), the Marshall (http://www.marshallscholarship.org/), Gates-Cambridge (http://www.gatesscholar.org/), the Clarendon (http://www.clarendon.ox.ac.uk/about/), and perhaps the Sauvé Scholars program (http://www.sauvescholars.org/). The Sauvé is independent research, but you work on getting published, which could be favorable in the PhD app process. All of these deadlines are early Fall typically, so you have plenty of time to prepare a great application. The other option is to look at MA and PhD programs that are a bit more interdisciplinary. I'm not sure what your particular interests are, but take a look at American University's PhD in Anthro program (http://www.american.edu/cas/anthropology/PHD-ANTH.cfm) and Arizona State's PhD program with the Justice and Social Inquiry program (http://justice.clas.asu.edu/). Those are just two examples that come at the social sciences from a very mixed perspective, which could be a good stepping stone from your undergraduate experiences. Also, I know that George Washington University's MA in Anthropology offers funding, so check them out (http://www.gwu.edu/~anth/grad/index.cfm). It's also a good option to build some Anthropology connections and foundational skills because it's more of a general MA, while the PhD is very specific. The third option I can think of is by doing a joint degree. Again, not sure what your interests are, but there are plenty of Anthropology programs that do joint degrees with public health, public policy, education, etc. You could get funding from the second department and, since some classes overlap, some of your MA in Anthro classes would be covered. Hope this is helpful! If you have any questions about international fellowships send me a PM; I have a whole list bookmarked I could share with you.

My understanding is that, if the program has separate MA and MS programs, the MA will often come with a language requirement whereas the MS doesn't. It should be in a program guide usually on a department's website. If you don't have significant language experience, and the department doesn't anticipate you meeting one or perhaps needing one, that may be why they have you registered for the MS. As the previous poster said, if you're still really confused and can't find the answer you want just call them up. For what it's worth, I don't think having a MS over the MA will be a huge hinderance for a PhD program. If it is in fact the language thing, and your future PhD program requires a language, and you don't already have one or two under your belt, it may be a problem.

My understanding is that the first year practicum is in general social work, meaning you may do some administration things, some clinical things, and some macro things. Since you do have some years of experience, I would look for schools that have agreements with organizations to do paid practicums. I have a friend at University of Washington, doing the MSW, and she just received a paid practicum for her second year at Children's Hospital. I'm pretty sure there are quite a few schools that have the option of doing a paid practicum, plus some schools that allow you to keep your current job for the practicum. It just takes some research.

As previously mentioned, I also think admissions to MSW programs is based primarily on personal character (including LORs), prior human services experiences, and undergraduate record. I've had friends rejected from WashU and University of Chicago because they were trying to go straight to a masters after undergrad with no work or research experience. If standardized tests aren't your thing, perhaps Berkeley, UCLA, and UNC might fare a bit tougher as they require the GRE. Really, though, if you have a decent resume, great LORs, and above a 3.0 GPA, I think all of those schools are pretty much the same in terms of competitiveness. Admissions may not be super competitive, but getting the degree funded will be. Social work research assistantships are pretty rare at the masters level, and internal scholarships are often limited and rarely do schools give out full-tuition scholarships. I would imagine if your friend applied to all of the listed schools, he or she would be admitted to at least one of them.

I came across this scholarship for people studying the health professions. Deadline isn't for a few months, so check it out: http://www.tylenol.com/page.jhtml?id=tylenol/news/subptyschol.inc

Could anyone offer some words of wisdom on how queer-friendly St. Louis is?