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At this point in time, I'm pretty sure I'll be attending Oxford and immigrating to England! It's a huge life move that I wasn't really expecting to do anytime soon, but I think it's for the best. I'm in touch with someone who did the same course at Oxford and is now doing a PhD at Columbia, so I'm waiting to hear back from her and get some input until I make the final decision between the two schools. It's hard to believe I'm so close to making a decision! What about you guys? Have any of you made up your mind 100%? Good luck to those of you still waiting to hear back .

I don't know anything about the programs' comparative strengths and weaknesses, but GWU is a highly respectable school. It seems like an excellent balance between great reputation + minimal debt.

I'm curious to hear about this too. I'm thinking of deferring at NYU or Columbia for a year to save up money while also applying to cheaper programs in case I still can't afford it. Does your program require that you send in your deposit to save your spot for 2011? Mine does, though I'm not sure if this is legally binding or not.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the admitted students website says the social work program operates on a flat-rate tuition and not a credit by credit fee. Tuition will definitely be ~$33k/year. I looked into taking some summer classes at a state university to save a few grand and was told that it won't make a difference financially, it would just give me more room for electives. Congrats on sending in your deposit though! Have you heard about your overall financial aid package yet?

They're exceptionally busy right now, I wouldn't read into it. I called them 2 weeks ago to ask if I could have an extension on the date I had to accept/decline their offer by and got a call yesterday. Good luck!

I think you guys are right about the international focus, I just wanted to make sure. I've spent hours on their website and my understanding is that we don't have to decide on a concentration until the second year. The first year curriculum for all 2 year students is identical. I'd imagine they'd let you switch between clinical and policy, though it may take longer to get the degree then. I called them with a few quick questions the other day and was told funding should be out in the next 2 weeks, if not sooner. I'm still undecided between NYU, Columbia, Oxford and taking a year off but I'm not sending anyone a deposit until I know what the final figure is. Columbia offer loans at a 5% interest rate, which is lower than a lot of federal loans, so that might be an option. And apparently Columbia's grad housing is amazing and inexpensive (for NYC, anyways) so you have that going for you too.

Aww, thanks! Unfortunately there are no jobs for my husband there so I won't be attending . Robot_hamster, try not to look at it as 'something you did wrong.' All universities are struggling right now and many just don't have the funds. I also have a few acceptances from universities with very little funding. I wrote a letter to one of them asking if it was possible to be considered for an increase in merit scholarships and they said yes. I wrote a little paragraph pleading my case and they gave me an extra $1,000 in scholarships. So it can never hurt to ask. Like others have said, email about assistantships and stuff. Some universities may still have RA positions open as well, though I'm not sure if that's a possibility since you're married. You could also consider deferring for a year if your program allows that in order to save up more money and not rely on loans so much. Best of luck to you!

Are both of you international students? Their website is a little confusing and I can't tell if it says you have to be from another country in order to qualify for the international social welfare field of practice or not. The placement of the "and" and "or" is throwing me off. "The prerequisites for the International Social Welfare field of practice are that students must have at least nine months (non-consecutive) of social work type experience overseas, be from another country and have worked in this capacity within the U.S., or have worked within the U.S. with immigrants, refugees and internally displaced persons. Written and verbal proficiency in a second language is preferred."

One of the universities I applied to also promised funding info would come with the acceptance letter but there was no mention of it when I opened the package. However when I called them to follow up, they said it would arrive in a separate letter this year because the financial aid office was a little behind. I wouldn't give up hope yet. Give them a call on Monday and see what's up. Good luck!

Congrats on all the acceptances! You'd think that with their $5 billion endowment, Columbia could afford to throw some more money toward social work students. Well done on your funding packages from Michigan and WashU! I can't imagine turning down big scholarships from schools that consistently outrank Columbia anyhow.

I hear ya! I'm going to either NYU or Columbia in the fall and finances are a big concern for me. I will mostly finance my education through student loans, though I am determined to stick with federal loans instead of private ones. Both NYU and Columbia offer work study options which add an extra few grand into the mix. My understanding is that there are a lot more scholarships available for second year students, so I'll look into those when the time comes. After graduation I'll almost definitely look into some of the loan forgiveness programs for working in high need areas. There's are the federal loan programs too, like Income Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness that allow you to discharge all remaining balances on your federal loans after 10 years of repayment. Good luck with your FAFSA and your applications .

I lucked out/didn't luck out in that my cheap back-up option (University of Pittsburgh) gave me a horrible financial aid package of $1000/year. That means that no matter what, I'm looking at tens of thousands of dollars for grad school. I like to think of it as a blessing in disguise. I really didn't want to live in Pittsburgh and NYC is better for my husband's career anyhow. NYU gave me a decent financial aid package but I'd much rather go to Columbia. I'm not really sure what any of us *can* do to make Columbia more affordable. We're all pretty much guaranteed $4,400 in work study for our field placement work and $20,500 in stafford loans. RA and TA positions are extremely difficult to come by and aside from working part time, loans are the only option. My understanding is that their scholarships are scarce and typically around $4k. I may defer for a year to work and save money? Congrats to everyone, though! Hopefully we'll all hit the lottery and attend together in the fall .

Quick update: I sent them an email and they ended up giving me another $1,000 in aid. Not fantastic, but better than nothing.

I was accepted to both the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and NYU, though I applied in mid October. Best of luck to you! For those of you Columbia applicants, I phoned the financial aid office today to ask about scholarships. Unfortunately financial aid info won't go out with acceptances this week and will instead be sent separately at the end of March or early April. The wait continues!

I was accepted to both the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and NYU, though I applied in mid October. Best of luck to you! For those of you Columbia applicants, I phoned the financial aid office today to ask about scholarships. Unfortunately financial aid info won't go out with acceptances this week and will instead be sent separately at the end of March or early April. The wait continues!

I was told that NYU has an appeal process for scholarships. My request will be evaluated tomorrow morning and I'll hear in the afternoon. Here's to hoping! I couldn't tell you how it works for programs where you'd have an advisor since I'm just applying for a masters at this point, but good luck! It certainly can't hurt to ask.

Yes, I have to respond by March 15th. Hopefully we get financial aid info by then! Strangely enough, I got the same email as Ish3742. Welcome to the forums, by the way .

I'm considering deferring for a year so that I can afford a very expensive master's program at NYU. Their online system gives you the option to defer via an online form without hassling the admissions office at all, which is really nice.

I applied for the 2 year program by the Jan 15th deadline back in October and I was accepted in late November. When I called the admissions office to ask a few questions, they were very surprised that I'd been accepted so early and said my application must've been accidentally bundled in with the spring applicants or something. I think it's a fluke I heard so early and wouldn't fret about it at this point. According to the results search, only me and possibly one other applicant has heard back so far. The results search says financial aid decisions weren't even rendered until the end of March last year! So unfortunately, it looks like there's a lot more waiting ahead of us. Good luck to you both. I hope you both get acceptances!

I considered applying to both counseling programs and MSW programs. After speaking with many counselors and social workers, I was told that the MSW is the way to go. Apparently insurance companies are more likely to reimburse for social work services as opposed to counseling services which means that social workers can work with a wider variety of clients. My understanding is that pay is the same among both professions, but a social work degree is more flexible. Hope that was helpful!

Thanks for your insight! I sent them an email and hopefully will hear from them in the next day or two.

Sorry if this topic has been covered before; I did a quick search and didn't see anything recent. I've been accepted to all of the programs I've applied to so far, but none of them are giving me competitive funding packages. Judging by the results search, nearly everyone who applied to one of my top choices got anywhere from $3,000-$8,000 more in funding than me. I'm a bit baffled as to why I'm not as competitive for funding and I'm genuinely not sure what I can do to make my application any stronger (I have a high GPA, strong letters of recommendation, numerous internships in the social services, etc.). Since applying, I got a 4.0 last semester and my GPA has gone up a tiny bit. I've also since received magna cum laude status for graduation. I'd like to email a few of the programs and ask for more aid. The thing is, I don't really have any fantastic offers to use as leverage and I'm unsure how to word it. Any tips on how to tactfully ask for more funding? I'm considering throwing in the towel and reapplying next year, since the funding offers seriously cannot get any worse than they are now.

Thanks so much for your supportive words. My husband and I have no intentions of ever buying a house either, so I can totally relate. I'm still considering NYU or Columbia but I've ruled Pitt out. We're also strongly considering a permanent move to California so I'll qualify for in-state tuition at Berkeley or UCLA next year. Thank goodness the hubby has a great career in software development! We still have a few months to figure everything out and I'm sure whatever happens is for the best. For now, I'm trying not to stress out about it. There are lots of options . Congratulations to you, Jade! Is NYU your first choice?

Nope, I haven't heard from Columbia yet. Just Pitt and NYU. I actually do have in-state tuition, but I was expecting a bit more than $2,000. As Kobe said, that hardly covers books . At this point I'm really considering doing AmeriCorps for a year or two and reapplying to cheaper schools in a year or two. Good luck with your funding package from WUSTL! I hope you all get loads of acceptances very soon .

Well, Pitt is only giving me $2,000 in scholarships. I'm not even sure I can afford any of these outrageously expensive MSW programs.... Congrats to you nessadub!