ljo377

Hey there! This is the website for the small property management company I rent from. All of the houses are historic & charming, reasonably priced, great locations for grad students, and the property manager responds very promptly to requests. You should give Bob a call and see if he has any available places that would interest you!

@dormcat - you actually asked the perfect person because I moved up to MI from North Carolina and turned down UNC to attend My walk is actually about 25 minutes to class, and it is not too bad. Though I have been told countless times that this winter has been extremely mild - it only snowed a handful of times, and it was only below freezing for a few weeks total. Looks like we'll get some more snow this week and next, but on the whole I've gotten away unscathed from what I expected coming here. So it could be terrible next year, or global warming/weirding just continues and Michigan keeps getting mild winters... I definitely had to gear up a LOT. I spent more money than I anticipated on good quality gear - Uniqlo heat tech line (leggings, undershirts, knee socks, etc.) was a lifesaver. Also bought several pairs of (surprisingly expensive) wool socks, fleece-lined tights, snow boots, other rugged boots for when it's not wet but I have to wear super thick socks, a heavy-duty long winter coat (I didn't have one until after winter break and my boss at my work study was so concerned with my ill preparedness she asked if she could give me one of her old ones). I also got a backpack that is water resistant for when it is snowing when I walk to class. These costs along with the costs of moving across the country definitely strained my grad student budget, but thankfully everything will last a long time, though your shoes will get ruined early from all the salt on the roads and sidewalks. I didn't get snow tires but I don't have to drive very often and got lucky with mild weather on most of the days I have to drive to metro Detroit for my internship - if I were going to be driving more I would probably get them. It really is true that if you have the right gear the weather is not so bad! Also sometimes if I have evening classes I have time to go home and get my car to drive to campus, where parking is free in some lots after 5/6 p.m. depending on the lot. I don't really like to walk home in the dark by myself (no matter where I live), and there have been a string of armed robberies/muggings in one area of campus in the past few months (south campus where all of the undergrads live in group houses). If you are walking from campus to Kerrytown everything will be pretty bright even at night! Hope this helps; happy to answer if you have other questions!

I agree that those apartments are probably best for families (and medical students). For grad students in other parts of the university I'd suggest looking for an apartment in a house in Kerrytown, Old West Side, or Burns Park area. These are all areas with more graduate students. Anything near Packard Ave is going to be almost exclusively undergrads, many of them unofficial Greek houses. I live in the Old West Side in an old, charming house divided into three apartments. All of us are grad students. Found the place on Craigslist! It's a great location walking distance to campus, downtown and the stadium. My downstairs neighbor signed the lease on his place without even having a roommate yet and then just found a roommate/subletter. If you find a great place that is probably not too risky; you'll be able to find someone to live with!

@ediblestranger - 20 months (straight through - to accommodate special program requirements) but my other placement will likely be over next summer, so you're right that hopefully I can avoid another winter! Good point! We'll see how it goes... I'm doing the SEEDS course on "How to Determine Program Impact: Consulting with a Community Agency." And just signed up for the orientation breakout session about art, critical intersectionality and social change in Berlin + Detroit! Social work is cool

Thanks @ediblestranger! Honestly it wasn't a problem of being blocked from choosing classes that were full (pretty much everything seemed available when I registered); it was just finding the right schedule mix of times. It was like a puzzle, seriously! I'm definitely a little anxious about the schedule but hopefully I can make it work. Frankly more nervous about driving 40 miles to Detroit and back two days a week in the snow... Which SEED courses are y'all taking? I think it is such a cool idea for a kind of alternative orientation!

@ediblestranger The registration appt. they gave me was July 26, so I registered then. I read through a lot of the old syllabi that are available on the website, as well as professors' bios to try to identify folks who had interesting experience or research interests that seemed relevant to my field. I got a couple recs from folks in the special program cohort above mine. But mostly I was just trying to jigsaw together some course times that fit my schedule since I was trying to fit in free space for two full days of field placement in Detroit, business hours time for work-study, and a required course for my program that is outside the school of social work (and thus doesn't mesh very well with the rest of my schedule) Unfortunately this means evening classes Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday, but it's just for the semester...

Are y'all living in apartment complexes, @ediblestranger & @KatieJaiYen? My landlord is letting us move in any time after the 25th for no additional charge, as long as we are okay with them doing some of the cleaning/turnover while we're still in transition. He just has a small property management business, though, so maybe it is just more lax. I think the social work (or maybe just general grad school) orientation is earlier than the undergraduate calendar, and it seems the town and its rental market is based on undergrads' schedules. My special program orientation starts on Sunday the 28th

I weighed this decision too - if I had chosen not to go to UMich for my MSW I would have likely chosen the MPA program at UNC over UNC's MSW. Ultimately I was impressed enough with Michigan's strong macro focus to feel confident that I could gain the "hard skills" I need to grow as a nonprofit administrator. And above all it was important to me that all of my coursework was imbued with an intentional social justice perspective. That was definitely not going to happen with the MPA program, which reminded me more of an MBA (except everyone was going to make way less money...). I do get a lot of confused reactions when I tell people (especially older folks) I'm going to get an MSW because they think only of the degree in its traditional sense of counseling or case management. I hope folks in the nonprofit world understand that my experience will be much different when I'm applying for jobs afterward!

Anyone have any favorite day or weekend trips from Ann Arbor? Where's the closest place to hang out on the beach at a lake?

Welcome, @DavefromGeorgia! Love to see another southerner heading up to Ann Arbor this fall I know where you're coming from with the financial piece - for me it was between my in-state school (UNC, which also has a great program) and Michigan. I received enough funding from Mich to make the tuition and living expenses basically a wash, but there will still be costs associated with moving, living in a somewhat more expensive area, traveling back and forth for breaks, etc. Also I love my community here and didn't have much desire to leave! But ultimately I was so impressed with the macro program on my visit, and could so clearly identify the pretty significant resource/opportunity differences between Michigan and Carolina, it made the choice clear.

I agree that it's very problematic that these internships are unpaid! I almost considered pursuing a different degree for this reason but am going to make it work ("thanks" only to semi-fake money from the government).

My mother is a hospice nurse - it is such a special profession! She says people who choose that route have a true calling. I talked to another person at a meeting today who said that even though she is on the administrative/management side of things at her nonprofit, she wishes she had taken some courses in counseling since she often works very closely with youth leaders. Made me think that it might be helpful to learn more about facilitation skills, creating healthy dialogue, etc. So many things to learn, so little time!

Now that I've decided where to go, I've been thinking a lot about what I hope to gain during the VERY short two years I'll be pursuing an MSW! I've worked for 5 years since undergrad and spent the past 2.5 years or so deliberating on how and where to take this step to continue my education, so I feel like I have some direction, but I'd be curious to hear what others plan to challenge themselves to learn or experience. And do you have any plans or advice for maximizing your time (and getting your money's worth) in grad school? Here are some things I hope to gain through my macro-oriented degree program and time in grad school: Practical skills in nonprofit administration (especially budgeting/finance, organizational change, executive leadership, etc.) After talking to a current student in my program, I was inspired to hopefully take some courses in program/policy evaluation. Hopefully become involved in intersectional justice work in my new community. Or maybe take a break from that because I'm super burned out. We'll see Take advantage of broader university resources like lectures, cultural experiences and performances, classes that aren't in my department... Time and space to read, write, discuss and reflect (I miss this SO MUCH -- it becomes such a low priority when you're always hustling between work, volunteering, etc.) Have an open mind as I hone in a little more on potential career paths for after the program

@ediblestranger & @BrendonSW - I am going to PM y'all about housing stuff. I just signed a lease and may have a good lead!

The lease for the place I found in Old Westside officially started September 1, but the property manager is letting us move in any time after August 25 at no additional cost, as long as we affirm that the turnover (cleaning, work, etc.) is okay to still be in progress upon move in. We were able to see the place in person when we visited, so I felt comfortable knowing it wasn't in terrible shape to begin with So there may be some flexibility here; worth checking in to see!

I would ask for an extension for your decision deadline for Michigan rather than put down several hundred dollars if you're not sure you will attend. It is worth a shot!

Awesome! See y'all soon! And glad there will be at least one other southerner up there

Sorry to hear that, @BrendonSW I was pulling for you!

I officially accepted admission today for the fall! Bittersweet because it will be tough to move away, but I think this program has a lot to offer, and the financial aid made it cost the same as my in-state option. Anyone else officially decided yet?

@BrendonSW, I am going to PM you the name & contact info of the student I met with as he is involved with LGBTQ communities locally!

Yes, for sure. I went to UNC-Chapel Hill for undergrad, which is certainly far from perfect as far as homogeneity, but does better than a lot of schools (Chapel Hill the town is another story, much more like Ann Arbor). I thought UMich would feel very similar, but it was definitely more reminiscent of private schools like Duke or WashU to me as far as resources and types of students. Many students from NY/NJ because they have around 40% from OOS. The School of Social Work itself felt more diverse, FWIW...

@RCtheSS, YES! My partner and I both were very conscious of the fact that the only time we were around PoC was when we visited Ypsilanti (it was about 20 minutes away by car in the afternoon). Even the areas where we visited friends in the Detroit suburbs and downtown were overwhelmingly white. That said, Ypsi is a cool place, and I'd much prefer to live in a more diverse area, but I don't think I want to risk having a difficult commute as I get acclimated the first year.

@RCtheSS -- The online notice includes all of my aid, including the fellowship funds, "Michigan Opportunity Grant," work study and federal unsubsidized loans. @BrendonSW -- Yes, I was definitely impressed by the diversity of the faculty and students that I met within the social work school (as well as the incredible social justice work they are doing in Washtenaw County and greater Detroit). When I was there a group of students who had visited the Mexican-American border in New Mexico over spring break had created an installation in a common area about their experiences and reflections on immigration issues. Also the school is one of the only places on campus that has designated gender nonspecific restrooms. The rest of the university and Ann Arbor seemed prettyy homogeneous to me, though...

@BrendonSW - I sat in on a child & family policy course. There were only about 25 students in the class, which was 3 hours long. The first half was a guest speaker, then a 15-minute break, and then I headed out because the class was going to work on group projects for the second half. It wasn't the best day to sit in because there was a guest speaker from a local teen sexual health organization presenting (so I didn't actually hear any of the professor's lecture). The professor was VERY welcoming and kind, though. She had recently published a book, and it was displayed in a hallway with all of the other recent publications from faculty. Most of books published by faculty in the display seemed to be macro oriented, and that was the general sense I got from the school. That said, I'm sure the interpersonal practice tracks are very strong as well - overall it was clear that there were a lot of resources and opportunities for students within the social work school and at the broader university. I could really sense the resource differences between Michigan and UNC (the two schools I've visited and am considering), even though UNC is highly ranked as well.

Hey y'all - I just got back from my visit to UMich! I was actually able to spend several days in Michigan visiting downtown Detroit and some of its suburbs (Royal Oak, Ferndale) as well as the campus and the towns of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Had a really nice time and was impressed by the school (though I think the 60 degree weather may have clouded my judgement somewhat). Let me know if you have any questions!