kurkz

Are you moving to LA?? What for??

Thank you for your input! I actually have decided to also not attend USC. I am actually not attending school at all this coming year. I have decided that I fell in love with LA more than the school. After doing A LOT of research I saw a lot of problems with USC that I honestly cannot bring myself to put money into. I have had a lot of negative feedback from the current student body of my dream to pursue women's rights. I find it interesting at USC that they state that it is "not very social work like" to promote one sex....when all of their caucuses are based in racial background and sexual orientation.....besides one, which has a global focus. Going into a school and having to fight with the student body to prove my passion and the need for women's right's activism just is not worth it when I am going to school to flourish this path of life. I am moving to LA in the fall due to the amount of activism, grassroots organizations, and growth potential for my own self. It took me a long time to reach this decision but in the end, I cannot put that amount of money toward a school that is surrounded by poverty and continues to live in a dream world that is surrounded by gates. We are going to school for social work to fight against discrimination and against institutions that place barriers on others, when clearly USC has a major factor of discrimination and seclusion. Good luck to all

DreamCatcher- I live in New York. Do you like the freezing cold (-35 at times with the windchill)?? You cannot have a car in NYC and the trains do not go far enough to take you to mountains or large bodies of water. You are trapped. Trapped in a brick city where it is either too hot to stand in the underground (130+) or too cold to walk outside of your apartment. Sorry for my negativity toward NYC but honestly, I do not understand why anyone would choose to live there?! You never see the light of day because you are trapped under the city! Also, I know of multiple people who are completing their MSW's currently at they are expressing that they cannot find jobs in the field within NYC. A lot of them a having to move to Upstate New York to work for the state or outside of the city. The problem with this is that you already don't have a car from living in the city and now you somehow have to move out of NYC?? Sounds crazy if you ask me..... just my opinion!

does that work?!

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1391444617841313?tsid=0.3438770684879273&source=typeahead

Good choice on not choosing UMich or Columbia! It is cold here in New York and even colder in Michigan (where I grew up) Some days it is difficult to make it to class because you have fear of turning into a snowman or being blown away!

@theatricalmadi No problem! I actually am very interested in global women's rights. I had to visit USC to make sure that I was going to be able to follow through with this passion of mine. If I am paying this much for school, I have to make sure that there are connections outside of USC linked to feminist activism. It seems that USC is very helpful in allowing you to grow within your area of interest. Although the area I am looking to go into is quite a bit smaller, it seems that I can really help make this movement stronger and connect with masters students in different programs! After speaking with a professor, I explained that I want to work on building a non-profit incorporating war, photography, film, and women's rights! She explained that this year they just started working with digital arts and activism and that this would be an awesome opportunity that they would help me grow. Very exciting! i think one thing people forget when going into MSW, especially macro, you have to pay for connections and opportunity. I can easily get a MSW from a local school but that is not going to help me grow as a person or give me the tools to change the world. Who knows? USC might not be my best fit BUT a lot of it comes down to, how much effort are you putting in? How much are you willing to give up to make your dreams come true? END RANT. Anyway, I am signing my life away to USC today Anyone who wants to connect.....USC MSW Cohort Fall 2015.....Facebook

Of course! USC is right in the middle of LA. This means, if you are not living close to campus, you will be in traffic ALL THE TIME....but hey thats Cali! The area around the school is....interesting...but this should not take away from the school itself. If anything, the environment around the campus is an eye opener and great to see...especially going into social work. The campus takes up most of the area...it is quite large but also small enough that you will not be lost or having to take the bus to a different side of the campus (this is usually not the case for bigger schools such as University of Michigan). You have campus and then you have student housing all around the campus. Outside of this area, there is a ghettoish kind of side and a large homeless population on the other. Who are we to judge though? Everyone needs a place to live and everyone is doing the best they can. On the further outskirts (7 minute drive or less) you actually come into a pretty cool/funky area. It is the downtown area of LA....you can tell that people are really working on restoring this area....it is working quite well....lots of lofts, nifty old buildings, coffee shops.....it seems that quite a few students live in this area! One thing to note is that EVERYONE is biking and long boarding....I think this is because people will live in downtown and it is so much cheaper to just bike onto campus. There are literally bikes EVERYWHERE....which is pretty cool The campus itself is BEAUTIFUL. There are parking garages, makes parking very easy for students, on the outsides of the campus. When you enter into campus, all of the buildings are pretty central to the middle. There is a middle campus that is full of grass, beautiful buildings, student tables doing campaigns and things, palm trees, coffee shop, bookstore, food....etc. a lot of the buildings are built off of this. The Social Work building is very very close to this area. The social work building is very nice and you can tell that it is updated. I met quite a few current students in the program and they had wonderful things to say! I would say, going to USC and seeing it first hand was the best decision I made. I got to meet with professors and students and see how I would fit into the program. Some things I noticed: The students that go to USC are VERY diverse (it does not seem like you can classify a "typical" USC student), everyone is very friendly, everyone is very happy. Before I visited USC I read a bunch of things about the campus...such as...."everyone is rich" "everyone is beautiful" "the price tag for the school is not worth it" "the area outside of campus is gross".... I will say, everyone is not rich. The school is very difficult to get into, you have to be smart NOT rich. Some students (a lot) have money but it really does not seem like they sit there and flaunt it. Not everyone is "beautiful" whatever that means....everyone is happy and really seems to genuinely like their school. The price tag is high because it is a private school. I was concerned about this at first. I really had to see if I would be successful after completing this program. After meeting with a professor in the macro field, USC is the only place to go. I have spoke to many local's, current students, and people who have even gone to UCLA. The resources that USC has are the best of the best in California. I have heard this from multiple people....when you become a Trojan, you almost join a family that wants to see you succeed. For me, I loved the macro program. They help you build a business, start a non-profit, or do WHATEVER it is that YOU want to do. They are able to give you tools and resources to succeed. On top of this, they really allow you to grow and work with them. The professors want to help you and want to give you extra support. I asked how hard it is to drop below a 3.0. It was stated that you would really have to be trying to fail to drop that low. The MSW program at USC seems to be the right fit for people who want to have support, be prepared for the real world, and know what they want in life. This program is rooted in advocacy but also has a huge stance in research. USC seems to have it all if you can push your own self and make it happen! -Let me know if you have any other questions

I visited USC Tuesday! I decided that the best way for all future MSW students at USC to connect would be through Facebook! I created the group "USC MSW cohort Fall 2015"! I did this because I wanted to see how others from not the California area are making this happen (costs, housing, etc) YAYYYY FUTURE TROJANSSSS!

This totally happened to me also!!!! I put that exact address and my transcripts were lost for about a month. I finally talked to a student and she went on a hunt to find mine...luckily she did! I can't remember where that address was posted but that is 100% what happened to me! quote name="alex bo balex" post="1058260342" timestamp="1427300303"]Just got an email from them saying they don't have any of my transcripts. Meaning...they lost them, since I sent them in December/January. : / I'm annoyed, because there's a cost associated with re-sending the transcripts that I don't feel like dealing with (again), and I likely wouldn't have accepted an offer from USC anyway since I was accepted somewhere else (that's much more affordable)....but, it would have been nice for my application to not be a total waste of time and money, and at least find out if they were going to accept me or not. Anyway. I guess it doesn't really matter. Anyone else have their transcripts lost by USC? (FTR, I sent them to the address listed on their FAQ page: University of Southern California Office of Graduate Admissions University Park Campus Los Angeles, CA 90028-0915 but the address they gave me in the email is totally different: University of Southern California USC Office of Graduate Admissions3601 South Flower StreetRoom 112 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0915 I wrote to them to clarify--but for anyone planning on applying, I'd be cautious about using the MSW FAQ address. )

Has anyone heard about financial aid yet or have an idea of when we will receive this information from the school?!

How did everyone find out if they were accepted? email or snail mail?

I applied before that and have yet to hear back. You are not alone!

Hi all! I am flying in from New York from March 20-25th if anyone around the area would like to meet up! I do not know anyone from the school and have a few friends in San Diego. I would really love to meet some of my potential MSW cohorts and adventure around the area! Let me know if anyone is interested! yayyyyyy!

I called today and my application is still being reviewed! UGH! hurry hurry BC!