Read_books

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

And suddenly the cops are at your door.

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

I got an email from a university about FAFSA. I forwarded it to my friend and it said "time ta do some taxes bitches. help me- I'm poor."
 
Yeah, I forwarded it not to my friend but a guy on admissions.... he responded with a long polite email about how they didn't have my tax information, and I should seek help for my FAFSA.  I responded, and explained I was morbidly embarrassed and that my friend who does my taxes has his same name, and that was an accidental email.
 
Luckily, he immediately responded back and said that was the first email during the whole admissions process that made him laugh, and it was ok, sending a wrong email just showed I was human.
 
He was cool but still, how awkward. 

Today while doing the morning check of applications I realized one of the portals looked different. Instead of "application pending" there were different links talking about fincial aid, and money and scheduling classes. I flipped out, as this was my first choice school, I anxiously waited for the site to finish loading.

Then site loaded back to the default "application pending." I had already pulled out my phone to call my Dad with news of my acceptance

For another school I keep recieving emails and getting oh-so-excited at seeing the University's name in my email. The first line "The faculty and staff welcome....... your interest in our x program at the University x" Sent me in a tailspin, only to realize the email is generic and sent to everyone about the school's program, also welcoming ME to the program and welcoming my interest are two very different things. Also, the last line of "and we hope you will choose to study here" is just a kick in the gut because it's like uh I applied- YOU decide if I study there or not at this point.

COME ON SCHOOLS - GET IT TOGETHER PLEASE

I think you won this topic.

Winner

..when you have to send the following mail to four universities after you submit the online application.
 
   
Two let me submit a new SoP, one attached it to my application, and one never got back. I hope this doesn't hurt my chances...

... when you join GradCafe and realize everyone applying to your programs has better work experience/GPA/GRE scores!

...When you get rejected from one of your "safety schools" 

Firstly - It's never too late to do almost anything.
 
Secondly, what you do have is a long-term history of volunteering, period, and a long-term history of volunteering for people who are disadvantaged in some way or another, which goes along with your interest in serving "people in the margins." The fact that you volunteer when you can shows your capacity, willingness, and ability to "serve" the public, as social workers do.
 
Work experience is different. But volunteering is volunteering. Whether it's one day or one year.
 
Jump into the game. It's never too late, and it almost always means something to do so.
 
Edit: And, I think it's great that you volunteer your time.

One letter with a "slightly negative comment" should not ruin your chances. I would advise against asking your professor what he/she wrote. I would do your best to let it go. If it comes up in an interview, you can always talk about why you had to leave the project.

This past May I was submitting some requests for information to a couple departments, and I pasted my generic inquiry paragraph into the form then submitted it without changing the name of the last school I had sent it to. 
 
The graduate program admin responded back with a link to the other program's website, and nothing else.  Oops

What I've learned from this thread: You can see who gives you up and down votes!  I just did it.  It was life changing!
 
On a side note: maybe this thread has gone off-track?

Hoo-boy, I think I voted down two or three of your posts, and because I disagree with them, as I do with the post you left above. A tad bit paranoid, there?
 
Relax, pal. It's just a message board. No need to get yourself in a big twist about it.
 
ETA: Just gave you a few more downvotes, just so you could feel better about it.

I don't know man, the waiting game is tearing me apart, especially now that I turned in my last PhD application yesterday.
 
Word to the wise: for the love of God, DO NOT re-read your writing sample or statement of purpose after you turn in your apps. All that will happen is that you'll find little minor issues you couldn't see before (for some reason or another), and you'll get a minor panic attack (when in reality it really won't make or break you).
 
The worse part is thinking back and wondering if you could have done something better, or if you could have done a/b/c if you had waited another day to review your app.
 
Ah well. What's done is done...best of luck to everyone!

I went through applications for Msw programs last year, and I promise you all do not have anything to worry about! In your statements just talk about your experiences that relate to psychology, social work, or anything related to public service or volunteering, as well as your career goals (like what population you want to work with, whether you want to do therapy or case management or non-profit admin, etc). And if you have had any personal experiences that have led you to the social work profession, tell that story as well. They just want to get a feel for who you are in the essay. Good luck!

I was messaging with someone else and I told her this, thought I'd share here as well...
 
So last year I applied to UCLA and it was the ONLY place I applied, unfortunately, I was rejected. I was really upset, I don't think I ever cried so hard lol but I set out to do what I needed to, to get in to grad school. For me, I felt my grades from undergrad weren't that great, I messed around in community college and by the time I got my act together at CSU Fresno, the damage was already done. My experience in the field was also pretty minimal, just my one year interning with CPS, mentoring an at-risk kid, and doing an internship overseas as a camp counselor for underprivileged kids. So after graduating with my BA in Social Work in May of 2013, I went back to school as a post-baccalaureate and took 12 units, raised my GPA drastically from a 2.9 to a 3.7, re-took the GRE and earned a better score, really put time (4 months) into my statements, and started working in a group home. Unfortunately, UCLA rejected me again this year, but I applied to 3 other schools this time around, 1 of which has already accepted me with Title IV-E (SFSU) and I have an interview with Berkeley next week for Title IV-E. So don't beat yourself up over UCLA or any other school, I've learned UCLA is one of those programs that really looks at more established individuals, with at least 3-5 years of experience, and doesn't feel the need to give a chance to many people fresh out from their BA who also have major potential. Don't let this hold you back, things happen for a reason, I was told that a lot last year after I got rejected, and I thought it was full of shit lol but seriously, they do happen for a reason. I got a full ride to SFSU and hopefully Berkeley will offer the same, and none of it could have been possible if I didn't go through what I did.
 
When you re-write your statements, stay away from the sob stories, those panels have heard it all. I would definitely recommend writing about why you want to be a social worker, tying it to your experience, and what you've learned from it. Also what I feel helped me is that I wrote about what I'd like to do my Masters thesis on. That shows you are ready for graduate school and have actually put in some thought as to what you'd like to focus on, which sets you above the other potential applicants. Moreover, make sure you write your statements in a way that you aren't just going to that particular school to learn about social work; you should already know what your place in this field is, the program will merely be an asset to enhance and fine tune your skills, that's all. What I was told was not to sound like a social work text book. They already know what social work is about, they want to see how you interpret it, what you hope to gain from it, and how you plan to implement it.

Realizing you managed to apply to a completely different school than the one you thought you were. Two days before deadline, and you finally notice that logo isn't right. You already have transcripts in, the LORs are uploaded.
 
At that point you just curse, completely throw out the section on POI's in your personal statement, rewrite it with POIs for the school your application is actually for, change the school names, order GRE score reports to the school, and submit it. Because hey, at that point you might as well, right?

I have to chuckle a little as I read over these posts from people, most (or all) may be less than awesome in 1 area but are totally awesome in other areas.  If it makes you feel any better, I was not a stellar student but did get in to the 1 school I applied to (state school).  My abilities are there, but school just hasn't been the main focus for me for personal reasons.  Anyway, I had:
 
- barely 3.0 GPA, lots of withdrawals and a couple F's on my transcript
- GRE verbal 163ish math 153ish (sorry can't remember exactly) and writing 3 (didn't read up on what they were looking for)
- no idea if my references letters were strong or not, 2 of them I had to write myself and they just signed it, I had no idea what the school would consider "strong" or not
- a few months volunteering
- had just started state social services employment
- possibly unique life experiences
- me writing a statement explaining circumstances and asking that they overlook my low GPA (begging LOL)
 
About 1-2 weeks after submitting my application, I got my acceptance.  There was no feedback on what caused them to accept me so I have no idea.  I was super nervous and I'm so glad I'm in and can stop thinking about it.  Just remember the state schools will give us the same degree and lead to the same license as the more expensive schools.  Also remember your transcript does not define you as a person.  Good luck and I hope everyone finds the right fit in schools for them.