Cali_Coast

Thanks for the group Sh!zaam. It's pretty quiet in here since most the board is bound for L.A. Crazy how fast everything is going. Already have my registration time posted and classes picked out. Looking forward to the move. Cheers!

Hey there. I think your best bet would be to take a look at the Social Work forum if you haven't already. There's a lot of good info floating around over there. Good luck! http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/65-social-work/

I saw that thread a while ago (which is why I originally posted the question there). It was started last year and the posts are few and far between with the last being in March and mainly deal with actually applying to SDSU, not about attending this fall, or even being accepted. I definitely agree with this. One of the few programs that actually wants applicants to take the GRE, which is a feat in and of itself to do well on while getting transcripts, recommendations, and personal statements in order. SDSU is a great program and campus and has comparative tuition to the other CA programs. It was a top choice for me and to echo what Porte049 said, most proud of getting into SDSU above the other programs. For me though, the deciding factor between the schools was the funding. I was surprised that out of all programs, SDSU offered the most which I wasn't expecting from a state school. I honestly thought (or perhaps hoped) that the L.A. schools would have better financial aid packages to make their programs more attractive considering the competition within that area and the likelihood of applicants applying to programs in the surrounding area.

Congratulations on CSUSM. I definitely agree with you on the majority of people either being from the L.A. area or looking to move to the L.A. area for their program. Surprised there aren't at least a few people going to San Diego considering the proximity to L.A. and without the huge competition/concentration of all those MSW programs that L.A. has. So far I have only come across one other person on the boards that will be attending SDSU next fall. Anyways, congrats again on your acceptance.

Hey all, just wondering if anyone out there is going to be attending SDSU this fall? There's a lot of talk about all the programs in the Los Angeles area, but no one seems to have had SDSU as one of their top choices. Anyone?

Just curious if anyone else out there is going to be attending SDSU in the fall? Most replies are for the programs in Los Angeles, but not much talk about San Diego.

I'm definitely ready to start. I took a year off between undergrad and grad school and this is the longest yet shortest year ever! Like some others mentioned I got a full-time 9-5 job right after graduating and it's been a crazy (but also rewarding) experience. It definitely made me appreciate the college life and classroom atmosphere. I have 3 months left before my program starts and I'm counting down almost every day. I'm most looking forward to not only being in a learning environment again, but being around more like-minded and open (hopefully) people in terms of career paths, ideologies, etc. More so interested in being in a new area as I'm moving from NorCal to SoCal. Should be interesting.

Just heard back from Professor Goldman. Missed his call though but received an email right after. Was accepted to the Health/Mental Health Program. Did anyone else hear back for that specific program? I turned them down via email, as he asked for a reply right away and I have already put a deposit down for SDSU, though I will say to stay in the Bay Area is mighty tempting. Good luck to everyone!!!

Like a previous poster said, I'll be dirty thirty going into the MSW program, 32 when done. Spent most my 20's working full-time, school part-time plus took time off after high school and a year each between A.A., B.A.'s and now MSW.

I heard back from PSU after a much too long awaited wait. I said yes to SDSU first more as a safety because it was the second school I heard from but Portland was my top choice. I definitely agree with you that they seem disorganized and I hear great and not so great things about their program. All-in-all, because they waited so long to come out with a decision, and the disorganization I felt their program had, I decided to decline their offer and stick with SDSU. Good luck to those who are still waiting it out.

My focus is also directed towards the clinical track like Drdoom stated. My last job focused on housing the homeless population within my county while my current job works specifically with veterans as a non-profit grantee from the VA. I actually really enjoy working with veterans and the intersectionality of care that takes place in working with them. Especially right now, there is a lot of funding being provided targeting the veteran population and serving those within the population who are being underserved i.e. the homeless, people of color, and/or women sub-populations. I start SDSU in the fall and am hoping my second year I can be placed in something either working specifically with veterans again, or in a health/hospital setting, as health/hospital social work is where I ultimately would like to end up (Hopefully VA Medical). I'm hoping once I get to San Diego I'll find more likeminded people who want to serve the veteran population but aren't necessarily a veteran themselves, but have the passion to serve those who served. Looking forward to seeing where the road leads the next two years and if I change course...time will tell.

Congrats!!! Ditto, just received mine this evening, want to know about financial aid though first.

Too many to list, but congrats to all that posted acceptances the past couple of days. Hope the stress levels have eased a little bit.

They might offer you more depending on your stats and how much the original offer was for. When I talked to them, I could tell they had my stats in front of them because they were quoting them. Based off of that, they offered me more money. To be honest, I would go with UCLA, not only because it's cheaper, but because with USC you essentially are paying for the name, which has been discussed on here many times. Unless you are going into a more macro focus, the clinical track doesn't depend on what school you go to but rather what skills you have picked up while attending and how much experience you have. In California, we are all essentially learning the exact same curriculum, as all these schools are accredited by the CSWE.

Did anyone else get the "still too close to call" email from the director of admissions? Supposedly they said there were a lot of good applicants this year therefore even those who applied for early decision won't hear back until March 24th, but hopefully before that. Fingers crossed.

Yes, that is what I mean. Cost is definitely the main factor in my decision as well.

Just curious, those who have been accepted to USC and plan on attending, how are you paying the high tuition costs? I've already told them no twice, but they made me a new offer that I'm actually considering, just unsure if the debt to income ratio is worth it, even with the different loan repayment options out there. Any thoughts?

I don't believe they do, just because technically you've already proven you can do the work just by having your BSW and now doing the Master's in 1 year versus 2.

http://socialwork.sdsu.edu/stipend/msw.php This is through SDSU but it gives a good overview of what the stipend is about. It's basically available at all accredited MSW programs, at least the ones I've come across. Hope this helps.

I know in undergrad, at some universities they have financial aid specifically for summer session in which you can fill out forms through the school not through FAFSA and see if you qualify for any financial aid through them.

I think having a specialization is a good thing to have to some degree. In terms of MSW programs, some schools make you pick a certain track and you can't deviate from that such as CSULB or SDSU. I agree with hyronomus4, if you know what you want to do after graduation, then having a specialization could be a great thing. You can tailor your classes around your strengths as well as expand upon it during your field work making you a better candidate. On the other hand, having a specialization, like say the CYF track, you choose to solely work with children in a school setting, then yeah, that sort of narrows it down for you when it comes to jobs right after graduation. If that's the only population you truly worked with during your internships or even before you started the program it's not quite broad enough to just throw your hat in the pool of recent grads and apply to anything and everything related to social work, upping your chances of landing a job. You could wind up competing for limited jobs in a specialized area of social work against people that have their LCSW or at least x amount of years more than a recent grad. I thought about specialization a lot when it came to picking a program. Ultimately I picked a program that divided it up between a clinical practice concentration, and admin/community concentration. I picked the former because the classes within it are only recommended, not required making it easier to tailor classes to the health/mental health profession and also take classes outside of the social work department to satisfy requirements i.e. psychology or anthropology. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. But ultimately, like saidypoo said, it does come down to experience, the MSW just gets your foot in the door.

To redirect this topic, I've seen a lot about financial aid when it comes to master's and phd programs, but not so much about financial aid in the way of an MSW program. I know some of us are relying on at least a decent financial aid packet to help with the cost of tuition and living expenses, but it doesn't really seem there is that much funding out there beside the Title IV Stipend. Anyone out there been able to find out an average amount given for MSW programs without loans? Especially interested in the CSU's, as their tuition is already significantly lower so curious how much of a student's education they are willing to fund. Part of me thinks not much considering how many loan forgiveness programs there are in this field plus the Title IV Stipend. I think they stopped the Mental Health Stipend.

I'd try seeing if mods could have you retitle this topic. You might get more responses that way as a lot of us are either waiting to see what we want to specialize in once we get into our second year, or having known all along. Either way, it's a good topic to see what specialization most who are starting this fall have chosen and why.

That's pretty cool. I had heard it mentioned before but didn't see that much about it in terms of their website. I understand a little more now why their program is seen in such high regard with many having it as their first choice. SDSU only has 2 classes that will count towards pre-licensing coursework, that I know of but the other three aren't too bad for paying out of pocket. CSULB was definitely a contender for me but it came down to too many MSW programs within L.A. in competition (fieldwork wise).

I had a question about this, as I've seen it mentioned more than once in this board. Maybe I missed something on the CSULB website, but are you talking about the pre-licensing workshops that they offer or the actual MSW courses themselves? I haven't seen anything in their curriculum about MSW courses counting towards the continuing education credits for licensing, only the stuff on the pre-licensing workshops and with that, you have to pay in addition to tuition but you do get a discount if you're a student at CSULB. However, anyone can take these workshops that signs up and pays for them. Also, as far as I know, all accredited MSW programs, especially the CSU's follow pretty much the same curriculum, same books, give or take. Though it would be awesome to knock out some of the licensing courses as part of the program.