morningjunky

No one else heard back about the Tuition Fellowship or the Pre-MSW Research Fellowship? I've decided to commit to UW, so I'll be making my way to the West Coast soon. Looking forward to meeting some of you in the fall!

Yes! A few sent me photos via email while others were looking at securing a new apartment/lease for the upcoming school year. Your best bet is through there. I actually have a friend who lives in Boston so we are finding an apartment in early to mid July.

That makes sense. Honestly, if Michigan admitted me with a scholarship, I would have attended because, like you, my program was so tailored to what I wanted to do (Global Social Work). But coulda, woulda, shoulda. We are in great positions and I'm sure we will do fabulous things in the future. Good luck at UM!

Did you make an account on BC Off Campus Housng? I created an account two months ago and have been emailed by 5-7 prospective roommates.

We are in the opposite situation! UM was my top choice, but they rejected me in early January. In all honesty, I'm okay with it because I realized even with substantial funding for the specialized programs (I think $20K annually), UM"s out-of-state tuition is so expensive and is on par with private schools which would render me in over $30-40K in debt. UW wasn't even on my radar until I received notice about the GA for the SIS position and I realized it would be a funding package in excess of $49K a year. Honestly, if UW is your first choice, I would just wait until this week (they are releasing all decisions for the MSW Tuition and Pre-Research Fellowships this week beginning tomorrow. The MSW Tuition Fellowship is only a one-time award for one quarter. I can't imagine it being substantial in any way, perhaps at most 10-12K. Out-of-state tuition is approximately $27K a year. How much is UM offering you funding wise? Are you willing to attend UW if they only offer you anywhere from $5-12K for the first year? For the second year, UW offers more specialized tuition fellowships/scholarships as well as various GA (SIS, Information Technology and Writing Tutors). However, these are very limited for a class of over 200 students. Two SIS positions, one IT and two writing tutors. These positions offer tuition remission/waiver as well as a monthly stipend, so they are quite financially lucrative. I've already accepted my loans and submitted my intent to enroll. I logged onto My UW and I found out I can still decline my loans even after accepting it. Moreover, UW's tuition deposit isn't due until June 1st, so depending on the results of the SIS position, I will decide how to move forward. If I receive the SIS position, I will submit my tuition deposit the last week of May and it will arrive before the deadline. If I don't, I'll simply rescind my offer via email and attend the program I've already submiited a deposit to back in March which gave me a sizeable scholarship as well. It's not the best thing to do, but I have to do what's best for me and finances are a huge consideration for me as I've already accrued debt from undergrad and want to graduate from my MSW program with no to little debt so I can have more freedom once I graduate to secure internships that may not pay well, but are good for building experience and skills. Good luck!

I received an email for the MSW Tuition Fellowship last week. They awarded me a one time award of $7K for one quarter.

Congrats on making a decision! I'm glad you petitioned and they gave you some more funds. I'm still a little sad I couldn't attend Columbia due to finances, but life moves on! Best of luck to you in your studies!

I finally received an invitation to interview, but decided to withdraw my application. Good luck to all waiting on Hunter!

I just received an email for the first round of interviews (phone) for the SIS position! Has anyone else heard back?

Has anyone received any scholarships or funding from Hunter post-acceptance?

Ah, Juanita left her position as DIrector of Admissions late last year so that was why you never received a confirmation email. Yikes! That's a shame.

Don't be worried. Hunter is all over the place. I applied on 11/20, my application was complete that very same day a few hours later. However, my application just changed to 'pending interview' last Thursday 3/31, but 6 days later, I still haven't received an email to schedule my interview with them. I can only imagine how many interviews they must conduct for the MSW program since they receive well over 1,000 applications, but it's already April. I do wish they would be more open and receptive (I tried calling them several times to no avail).

I've committed to another school and sent a tuition deposit, but UW is my top choice. I applied to two GA (the SIS and SCC) and I haven't heard back so I reached out to Admissions earlier this month and they basically said I should hear back later this month or early May if I will receive an interview and will move forward in this process or not. They also mentioned tuition fellowships/scholarships will be sent via email as well in early to mid May. If I get a GA, I'm going to forfeit my deposit at the other school and commit to UW. The other program starts last week of August and UW starts last week of September, so it's about a month difference.

Thanks for sharing @Jewelz423! I wonder if it is different because of the concentration (macro vs. clinical)? I just checked my application online-pending interview! So I'm hoping for an interview in the next few weeks.

Congrats on your acceptances! Rutgers and Columbia's programs are both great for clinical routes. Rutgers has plenty of therapy courses for you to become the best clinician (Columbia does as well). It's just a matter of personal fit and what your values are and what you ultimately want out of your education. Per Rutger's website: 19:910:507 Psychopathology (3)19:910:530 Solution Focused Therapy19:910:550 Play Therapyhttp://socialwork.rutgers.edu/current/mswcourses.aspx Fieldwork is one of the most important parts of an MSW program (this is, after all where we learn the foundation of social work and translate theory into practice) and a few of my friends have/are attending Columbia and Rutgers and many of these programs offer the same field placements. Can you see what sorts of field placements are available for your first and second years at both schools? More importantly, your second year field placements are extremely important as it can lead to a good percentage of being hired. Will this company/place of employment offer your supervision for your LCSW? Look at Post-MSW fellowships' requirements as this is a great way to build your resume, learn critical clinical skills while offering clinical supervision for your license. Berkeley's Post-MSW Fellowship in Clinical Social Work: QUALIFICATIONS: Applicants must have a master's degree in social work from an accredited training institution. All applicants must have graduated by July 25, 2016. Course work must include personality development, psychopathology, and theories and techniques of psychotherapy. Applicants must have two years of supervised clinical experience as part of their master's training. Candidates with a demonstrated interest in working with multicultural populations are preferred. http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/joinourteam/cps/mswintern/training1.shtml So if you decide to enroll at Rutgers, you could still apply for various Post-MSW fellowships since you have access to various clinical/therapy mode courses. And you would save money. However, if name recognition is more important to you for whatever reason (personal or professional such as wanting to practice outside of the East Coast, then Columbia's name might possibly help since it is well known). It's entirely a personal decision. Some questions you should ask yourself include: 1) How large/small are classes? What is the average class size? Do you prefer larger or smaller class sizes? Do you enjoy a smaller cohort or larger cohort? 2) Where do I want to practice after I graduate? Do you want to stay in the state you attended your MSW for or do you want to move? There can be lots of issues with licensing and rolling over hours if you decide to move to a notoriously difficult state to do so (i.e.: California). 3) What sorts of field placements are available? Do these field placements line up with what you want to do as a social worker and your areas of interest? 4) How many students find a job within 6 months (within 12 months) post graduation? 5) How large is the alumni network? Are there career services for alumni? 6) What is the average salary of an MSW graduate down the time line (1st year, 5 years, 10 years)? 7) What sorts of electives and classes are offered? If you are interested in getting your LCSW and already know you want to specialize in a specific sort of model of therapy (i.e.: CBT), look to see if CBT is offered. 8) What are current faculty conducting researching on? Are there are specializations or concentrations or areas you are particularly interested in? 9) Lastly, finances. How much do you want to take out in loans? Will you be happy with your quality of life if you accrue over $80K in debt and make $45K your first year post graduation? Do you have hefty loans from undergrad? Make sure to use the following link below to estimate your monthly loan payments and how much your initial loan will result in due to interest charges. For example, a $60,000 loan with an average interest rate of 6.8% with a term of 10 years ends up becoming over $82K. Your total interested paid will be in excess of $22K. Nearly all of us in MSW programs will take our loans and accrue debt, but it's especially important to educate ourselves of the reality of repaying back these loans once we graduate. Luckily, there are plenty of resources and programs offered for social workers in assisting us in this process. However, we shouldn't rely on these resources solely to help us. As social workers, we advocate for others, but we must also learn to advocate for ourselves and educate ourselves. Let's be honest. Debt can be crippling and can vastly affect one's quality of life. http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/091514p14.shtml http://socialwork.nyu.edu/alumni/career-licensing-resources/loan-forgiveness.html A great old thread on the public college vs. private college debate for MSW programs: