ontheswpath

I'm also curious about what your professor said. Also from what I understand, people aren't eligible to apply until 2017....

As mswhopeful2015 stated, Berkeley's MSW program doesn't have a minimum score and only looks at Verbal. Don't worry about the quantitative reasoning score. My score was really low for Q. I didn't study for that part at all and didn't try (at all) when I took the test. However, I did study for the Verbal portion. I found that each time I took a practice test, my score increased by a few points. Basically, if you practice taking the test it's very probable that you will do better each time, because you're getting better at taking the test. When I took the actual test, I didn't get a super high score but I achieved the score I was aiming for. You may want to consider re-taking the test if you are feeling like the rest of your application isn't that strong. I think the last day to take the test in time for Berkeley's deadline is November 25th or around that time.

@jujubi - I don't believe they had 20 spots for this year's incoming IV-E program. From what I understood it was about half of that (10 - 12 spots). It was probably half IV-E and half non IV-E (assuming there were 20 - 25 spots total for their IFG program). I would suggest calling the department and find out if they will give you that information (if you haven't already). And yes, it is very selective since it's a smaller program. I wouldn't take applying to the IV-E program lightly. Yes, you receive a stipend but you must also work for a CA county child welfare agency for at least 2 years right after you graduate. If you are not interested in Child Welfare and working within foster care system, it may not be right for you (particularly if you are interested in doing therapy right away). On the other hand you would be exposed to working with various providers, populations, etc. Which is great experience, but just be sure you are willing to make that commitment.

Absolutely. Feel free to send me a private message.

Hey folks! Good luck with your application process this year. I found this post to be extremely helpful when I was writing my SOP, Personal Statement, and Analytic Question essays for Berkeley and for other schools: Read through the whole post (if you haven't already). There's a lot of great info from socialworkphd and others contributing to the discussion. The Personal History Statement essay for Berkeley can seem somewhat intimidating and when I went to the info session some people were confused about the difference between that and the Statement of Purpose. If you can or are in the Bay Area I highly suggest attending one of the program's MSW info sessions. I found it really helpful. It was really hard for me to get started on my personal statement too, but I think the most important thing is to just start putting words on paper so to speak. Let me know if you'd like to send me any ideas you have about how you want to frame your essay or if you'd like feedback on any first drafts. I'd be happy to help!

Hi Folks, I received my acceptance letter in the mail today. I will be declining since I have committed to another school. I applied just a few days before the deadline. It looks like they are sending notices out by mail. Hang in there! Good luck to all!

I hear you! I've been working full time for 8 years! This will be quite a transition for me too.

You should ask your financial aid office for the student budget (total cost of attendance: tuition, fees, books, living expenses-room & board), although I think it should be noted on your financial aid offer, and see why there is that much of a gap... unless maybe you anticipate your living expenses will be more than what is indicated in the student budget...

Under the income based payment plan I don't think you'd be paying as much as $1,250 per month in loan payments. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be paying that much of a monthly amount. I say this because I have considerably more than $40,000 in student loan debt due to my undergrad and 1st graduate degrees and under the IBR plan I pay just under $400/month and I make more than 40k a year. The payment plan is capped at a certain percentage of your income. You should play with the payment plan calculators available online because it really does depend on your amount of debt and what your income is. I almost always found that they overestimated what I actually ended up paying. **However, that being said nightwolf makes a very good point. Social worker salaries are not great, especially if you end up working for a non-profit. You'll be paying off the loans for a long time before you're eligible for forgiveness. Are you okay with that? If not, you may want to think about a less expensive institution. In California, we have the title iv-e stipend (the program I'm doing at my school) and some other loan repayment programs for social workers after graduation and once you're in the workfore. They require you to work in high need locations/area or work with certain populations, doing certain work. So there are options (as long as those programs stay funded). You should check out what is available in your state of practice. Again as nightwolf said, keep looking at the numbers and have an idea or plan on how you plan to pay off your loans. A realistic plan and one that you're realistically comfortable with.

Congrats!

Congratulations!

Congrats on your acceptance to SDSU!

Hi CreativeSocialWorker, Would you mind explaining what those caveats are? Let me know if it's best to send you a private message. Thanks.

I got a call today from prof Ralph at around 4pm and she wasn't even halfway through the list! So don't lose hope! She will prob make calls on Monday too!

Hi paige_elizabeth10, Thanks for posting the information about the online summer class you took. One of the schools I applied to requires a human bio or human anatomy/physiology class as pre-req so it's great to know about online options in case I need it!