ediblestranger

Uhm, yeah... you bet. But just for shits and giggles, I would be interested to hear @UrbanMidwest's argument against recognition of privilege and how they plan to work with disadvantaged groups or carry out their social justice mission without this. Unless social justice isn't a concern of theirs, in which case I'd say social work probably isn't a very appropriate career choice.

That's awesome! I'm glad you were able to get more funding and I'm sure sharing your experience will give more hope to the future stressed out MSW hopefuls lurking on this forum. How is Ann Arbor? I'm moving in this Friday and am starting to freak out lol! Like you, I am a huge introvert so hopefully being on this forum and being in the mentorship program will help me get out of my shell a little bit and make more connections. BTW, that's one of the mini-courses I wanted to take but by the time I went to register it was full so I'm totally jealous lol. Well good luck with everything! Social work is the coolest. I signed up for the breakout section on economic inequality and its consequences for children. My first and second choices were full which seems to be a recurring theme for me. It's been hard for me to make phone calls at work, I don't know how y'all manage it! Either way, I take it as a sign that there are a lot of really motivated, passionate students in our cohort which is what I would hope for and expect of this program!

It's not a kiss of death in social work. Far from it actually. What he said. In the field of social work, recognizing your privilege (whether rooted in SES, race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or some combination) is considered perhaps the single most important step you can take toward acknowledging the social injustices that exist in society and beginning to chip away at your culturally-programmed biases, blind spots, and ideas/stereotypes about marginalized groups. Take those who deny white privilege and class privilege, for example - do they tend to be the kind of people who view racial/ethnic minorities or the poor as deserving of our help? Generally, no. Because people who have that mindset tend to think that everyone has the same life chances - or that racial/ethnic minorities and the poor receive unfair advantages, even. By "checking your privilege" you are rejecting the status quo, acknowledging injustice, and opening yourself up to thinking critically about race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, etc. which is what it takes for most people to develop social justice values. Convey this thoughtfully, and it'll make a great addition to your personal statement.

Holy crap @ljo377, that sounds tough re: driving to/from Detroit 2 days a week, especially during the winter. Are you in the 16-month track? If so, at least you'd just have one real winter to go through. Hopefully your placement agency will be understanding if you don't feel comfortable to drive some days? I know when I worked in community mental health the agency never closed due to the weather because they were responsible for clients' medications and payee clients' money, but we never had to come in or go out in the community if we did come in if we didn't feel comfortable driving. For SEED I am taking 510-009 (Critical Intersectionality). It's a subject I already feel pretty knowledgeable about, but I'm sure it'll still be interesting. I really wanted to take 002 (Self-Reflection, Mindfulness and Self-care Strategies) or 005 (Partnering to Promote Whole Health Recovery) but they were full What about you?

That is a lot to juggle. I'm not sure I could handle all of that in the first semester, lol! But we do what we've got to, right? I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work, and hopefully your subsequent semesters will seem easier by comparison. I am grateful my field placement doesn't start until winter term. I have managed to get all day classes so far on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I'm still waiting to hear back re: petitions for two classes that would be on Mondays. It's still far from the perfect first semester schedule I had hoped for, but apparently that's pretty common. If evenings are going to be super difficult for you, you might be able to petition to get into some day courses. I was told that petitions are pretty much the norm and that they set the number of available seats for each class lower than they actually are, as a way of ensuring that those who need a particular course to graduate on time get in.

Just out of curiosity, how did y'all decide who's classes to take? I have found very few instructor reviews online, and lack the advantage of word-of-mouth that comes with being more integrated into the school community. There are instructor profiles on the SSW Faculty Directory, but of course that gives little/no indication as to their teaching style. Since I am in the mentorship program I was able to get some useful information from my mentor, but I'm curious as to how all of you have been making your decisions. My registration appointment isn't until later today and yet a few of the foundation courses I need are already closed (what?!), but I was told by the Office of Student Services that this is pretty typical. There is a petition process for closed courses, but it's still frustrating not knowing what's going to happen. Anyone else in this situation or were you all on your A-game and able to secure the earliest registration appointments?

I'm also doing the new student session on the 29th. Still no word on Integrated Health activities, but there is a section of orientation that covers special programs in general so maybe they'll discuss it then. I'm going to shoot them an email just to be sure. Good luck with your move! It's great that you have someone to help you move so you can focus on orientation activities! That is pretty much the only way I can see juggling moving and doing orientation on the same day! Thank you for the information! I have decided to move forward with the $600 early move-in on the 26th to avoid rushing around to get moved during or between orientation and classes. But this seems like a great resource for others on this forum who may find themselves in the same situation!

Wow, that's awesome (re: getting to move in early for free)! I am living in a mid-sized apartment building owned by a giant rental company. It's not ideal, but it'll have to do. I need to email my special program (Integrated Health) and see what's going on with them - so far I haven't heard a peep.

Does anyone know if there is a good alternative to Livescribe other than the Smart Writing Set? I too have Android so the Smart Writing Set won't work for me. I have read over and over that the Livescribe pens are useless unless you are able to continually edit content to make it readable. Plus the pens look huge which I don't think would work for me. Anyone have a different experience? If not, anyone have a recommendation for a good alternative?

I also have the option of moving in early too - I can move in August 26th versus September 1st FOR AN EXTRA $600. My lease originally goes from 09/01/16 to 08/18/17 so I strongly suspect that my rental company moves people out early on purpose so they can bust heads on early-move in fees. Seems a little unscrupulous to me, but at the same time, the alternatives (whether hotel or airbnb) are also very expensive, especially when you consider the cost of traveling back and forth to Ann Arbor first for orientation then to move, rather than just going straight there. I think I will probably give in and end up paying the extra $600, since I'd really rather not have to move in the weekend after orientation activities/right before classes start. What day are you registered to attend the new student session? Are you supposed to move in on the first day of orientation (the 30th) or the new student session that's on the 29th? If you're talking about the new student session on the 29th, you may be able to move yours to the 15th, 22nd, 23rd, or 25th - although that would probably also require travel and lodging, but at least you'd be able to focus on moving. If you're talking about orientation on the 30th though, yeah, I guess you'd have to move that evening unless you could stay somewhere until the weekend and move in then. Maybe get back in touch with your landlord and see if they can let you move in a day sooner? All of these options suck, lol

Well, there are lots of positives here. Admissions looks favorably on an upward trend in GPA, which you demonstrate. Your work history may also help justify your grades. You have several highly relevant volunteer and work experiences, which is something admissions looks for in applicants. You have 2/3 strong letters that you know of, and might be able to get a third. And you have personal life experiences that have informed your interest in social work, which can definitely be construed as an asset in your application as long as you can relate those experiences to your interest/passion/knack for social work. I'd say that overall, you have a pretty strong application. My application was very similar in each of these aspects, except a higher GPA (but also with an upward trend) but I only had one strong letter - and I got into all of my top choices. Most people aren't perfect and have deficits in one area or another. I think it's pretty much okay as long as overall, you seem like someone who will succeed in the field - and you definitely do! And I wouldn't really worry about lack of research experience, especially if your focus is micro/clinical.

Anyone else in a situation where they have to be in Ann Arbor for orientation for a week before they can move? My lease starts September 1st, but my orientation activities literally go from Monday, August 29th to Friday, September 2nd, which is probably mostly the same for all of you. I suppose I could stay at a hotel for a week and move the following weekend (it's a 3-day weekend due to Labor Day), but that seems pretty stressful with classes starting the following Tuesday! And I definitely don't want to move in after classes start, although I did successfully pull that off during undergrad. I'm interested in hearing how others are resolving what I am assuming is a common conflict.

Make sure you get the math right before you make a final decision. I know I overestimated the cost of Michigan by about $25,000 until I really, really broke it down. And there are so many other factors to consider. Ultimately, only you can decide what's best. For me, there's no way I could juggle working near full-time, school, and field work because I have a debilitating sleep disorder that steals several extra hours from me each day. I've known others without disabilities to go this route successfully, but a frequent complaint is that it compromises their social life. PSU is supposed to have an excellent program though so if you can pull it off, it may be worth it. Not too sure about SDSU, but I know it doesn't rank as highly as PSU if that's something that matters to you. Both sound like great opportunities to me; whether you're staying with your parents or working you're going to end up saving a lot of money off the sticker price. I don't think you can really go wrong here. You're not leaning one way or the other?

I took neither the SAT/ACT or GRE. I was not required to produce SAT/ACT scores when I transferred from CC to university because I had an associate's degree. I believe it is a fairly common practice now for schools to waive the SAT/ACT requirement for students with associate's degrees, but I doubt it's true in every case so your friend will need to check each school. None of the programs I applied to required me to submit GRE scores because I had a high undergraduate GPA. High SAT/ACT and GRE scores may help strengthen an application, but in my case I didn't feel it to be worth the time or effort and as it turns out, it wasn't. I spent 3 years in community college and 2 years at a state school to complete my bachelor's degree. My 3 years at CC can be explained by my deficits in math and science - I basically started out in the lowest level remedial classes possible, and had to work my way up through several courses before I could even take college-level math. It took a lot longer but was absolutely crucial to succeeding in later coursework. If your friend doesn't need to take remedial classes, they could easily finish CC in two years.

I started out with an associate's degree from community college, and I was accepted into some very competitive programs. Prior to CC I only had a 9th grade education. If anything, I think it strengthened my applications by showing perseverance in the face of adversity, which I placed a heavy emphasis on in my personal statement. I think schools of social work in particular are accepting of non-traditional students because it ties into the social work mission of embracing diversity, empowering disadvantaged populations, etc.. In my opinion, a CC/A.A. background is more likely to be interpreted as a sign of fortitude rather than weakness.

Nope

Tuition at Michigan is wildly expensive, but it's still possible to cut costs in other areas significantly. For example, the school estimates that 40K should be allocated to cover room and board, but this is nowhere near what I will be spending. Although the rents in Ann Arbor are high, I still won't be spending more than 20K over a 16-month period and that includes rent, pet fees, utilities (estimated), and parking. I average about $170/month on food (thank you Mint), which is less than $3,000 over a 16-month period. And because Michigan has adopted the Medicaid expansion, I should be eligible for Medicaid versus spending over $6,000 on student health insurance (not 100% certain - still looking into this). So that's anywhere from 17-23K less than estimated by the school. Factoring in the 32K scholarship I was offered, that's a total 49-55K off sticker price, which places UMich among the cheaper schools on my list. I'm sure if you were really committed you could cut costs at other schools too, I just don't see enough wiggle room in the budget. For example, UW - Seattle's estimate for room and board is 38K, which I imagine would be a lot more difficult to reduce compared to Ann Arbor given the higher cost of living. You would have to get pretty creative (ex: 10 roommates, communal living, etc.) which I'm not really willing to do. While I really like the program and the idea of living in Seattle in general, I wouldn't be willing to attend unless I receive a very hefty scholarship offer. I knew the contact period was only one quarter, but I was under the impression that they awarded a few full-tuition fellowships. Looking back, I'm not sure where I got this idea. Maybe that they're calling it a "fellowship", I don't know. Anyway, even if UW ended up costing as much as U of M, I would still probably go with Michigan because the special program I was admitted is so tailored to my interests. Good luck with your assistantship applications! Now I wish I had applied, but at the time I didn't feel that any of them suited me very well. Worst case scenario, you still have an excellent offer from another school in the bag. These are good problems to have. Re: rescinding offers, don't feel bad. That's what the waitlist is for. I'd ditch Michigan in a second for a full or near-full ride somewhere else. I'd have to find someone to take over my lease which makes it a little more hairy, but it'd still be worth it. We should all be concerned about the financial aspect considering what most of us will be making out of school.

Not yet. I wonder if they release decisions all at once or one by one. I hope they email us regardless of whether or not we receive aid, that way we can know for sure and make our final decisions. I am almost completely certain that I will be attending U of M, but I can't commit myself to it fully until I hear back from UWashington about funding. I know we are supposed to accept/decline loans by 05/01 - @KatieJaiYen and @morningjunky, how are you guys approaching this? I don't want to accept but then run into problems trying to cancel if I decide not to attend. If we don't accept by the deadline though, I can't imagine that this would have huge repercussions - how can they run out of loans?

This is what I have: http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-S41-14-Inch-Laptop-80JU000UUS/dp/B00WR286FU?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00 It meets most of your criteria as far as being inexpensive (less than $600), lightweight (3.7 lbs), and having a decent processor (i5-5200U). The battery life is not great (around 4 hours), but it sounds like it's better than what you have currently. There is no DVD drive, but I have never had a problem using an external drive. It also has 8GB RAM and 1TB HD. There are better laptops out there, but I think this one is the most balanced in terms of being powerful, lightweight, and cost effective that you can find on the market at this time. Anything lighter you are going to end up paying a premium for, especially if you are looking for something with similar tech specs.

I finally received an email stating that they would still consider my application for the MSW Tuition Fellowship! Even though I have made plans to go elsewhere, I am still really in love with this program and would drop Michigan in a second if I got the funding. It's too bad their funding timeline is so out of sync with other schools.

I just received an email from WUSTL offering me additional funding, which I inquired about several weeks ago. It was a substantial amount ($10K extra) but I have already made my decision. Still, anyone who plans to attend should definitely ask for more money! They said they don't *often* re-evaluate scholarship packages but from what I've seen on this forum, it really seems like they do.

I hear ya - it would be nice if this issue were given more attention. And you make a good point about the utter lack of action from social work students and professionals themselves. That said, what did you expect when you applied to programs in social work? It is pretty well-known that the vast majority of internships in this field are unpaid. If you want to advocate for fair labor practices that's wonderful, and it's something we all should do - but things are not going to change overnight. In the meantime, I guess you have to decide whether or not it's worth pursuing. If you feel that it is, these are your choices: a.) accept an unpaid field placement, b.) reapply to schools that offer a field stipend (ex: Case Western), or c.) find a job that does meet the field criteria and complete your internship there - they may even help pay your tuition. It sounds like you're already in a better situation than most in that you at least have the option to stay with your parents. And if you are a competitive applicant academically and in terms of experience, you may stand a good chance at getting scholarship support. This doesn't solve the bigger problem of unpaid internships in general, but if you want the degree, you still have options.

I will PM you.

I emailed them to follow-up, since I thought it was suspicious that I never received a confirmation email. Because I attached the original email/submission in my inquiry, I received a response speculating that I had sent it to the wrong email address, since I had sent it to Juanita Ricks (as specified in 2015 instructions) and not swschol@uw.edu (as specified in 2016 instructions). I was supposed to receive an email within 24-48 hours from the correct account as to whether or not they received my application, but never did. I emailed them myself and the same thing - no response. Really disappointed that they couldn't at least let me know one way or the other, that way I don't waste $60 on the background check for no reason.

That's awesome, Brendon! Now that the frantic applying/waiting/deciding is over, we can instead focus our anxieties on relocating and its accompanying social isolation, finding housing for less than $1200/month that isn't totally substandard (good luck with this one), and investing in winter gear for the brutual cold. In all seriousness though, congratulations on having made a final decision! See you there!