Amanda87

If they said the end of May, I'd wait since it's still the beginning of May.

Hey y'all! Just got my acceptance letter from Boston College  So far, their scholarship is the best I've been offered (also applied to Michigan and Denver). Very much considering Boston now, especially since they have a global practice concentration, and my goal is to work with refugee and immigrants!
I just made the mistake of looking at rent prices on Trulia, and woah... 2000$ a month for a studio!!? I didn't even know rent could be that expensive. (I'm currently playing 450$ a month for a one bedroom, and last year I was paying 250$ with a roommate...) Are there any towns or suburbs in commuting distance from Boston College with lower cost of living, or is that just what I should expect in Massachusetts? 

I never actually thought of the whole "adding the deposit to what Loyola should have to give me" aspect. That's a great idea, thank you!
i ended up just putting the deposit down. I'm gonna see what I can do if Loyola somehow makes it way cheaper to go there, but I don't anticipate that happening.
I'm SO excited now. I was thinking grad school really wasn't gonna work out for me this coming year and I can't believe I'm moving to Boston!
I've been researching for quite a while now and it looks like Brighton and Allston are definitely gonna be the move. I'm totally cool with having roommates, so I'm just gonna look for the cheapest/best option I Can find when it comes to housing.

You and me are in the same boat. I got accepted to NYU and I'm going to a HUNTER interview today. I'm very torn between what school I should attend. I hate that Hunter is so competitive.

BC raised my scholarship amount to more than anyone else has offered. Now I'm rethinking ? But I only have until Friday to respond to them and Loyola won't give me my scholarship amount until after March 1st. I'm not sure what to do! 

I just found something on my portal that says "Application Status" check, and it seems like everything was received. Hopefully I'll hear back by next month, the waiting game begins!

I think it took about 2 days for BC to send my agora portal log in. But I never received a confirmation email when all my stuff was in. 

I applied to Lehman, NYU, Fordham, and Hunter. I've been accepted to NYU and Fordham. I'm waiting for Hunter's decision and really just applied to Lehman as a back up school. I keep going back and forth on NYU and Fordham and have no idea which one i should go for. 
I know I would go to Hunter if they accept me but i don't have high hopes since i know the program is very competitive.That's why i've decided to pick between NYU and Fordham until i receive a decision from Hunter.
Fordham is cheaper and still a great program but so is NYU although it's about 6,000 more per year. However, I'm interested in a clinical concentration and know NYU's focus is clinical. Then again, Fordham also has a good clinical concentration. Ahhh I don't know what to do

For me, everything comes down to aid.  I haven't heard back from my in-state school, regarding financial aid.  UConn does offer need-based grants at a graduate level and I've heard a few people say that they covered most of their grad tuition with these grants.  UConn's social work program only offers graduate assistantships to PhD students, so that wouldn't be an option for me.  They also don't seem to offer much in the way of scholarships.  So, the only way I'll do UConn is if I'm offered substantial grants.
Boston College, on the other hand, has offered me a scholarship that covers 75% of my tuition. I'd still have to take out about 10,000 in loans per year for the rest of the tuition and more for the high cost of living.  Then again, Boston College seems to have a great program (so does UConn, though) with so many opportunities for amazing internships.  I'm also slightly sick of CT (there's very little to do here) and would love to live somewhere else.
Assuming UConn covers most of my tuition, I would have to make a big decision because while I love BC's program, UConn's is more convenient. Not only would I not have to go through the trouble of moving, I also have a few more connections here.  I've volunteered at a few programs run by social service agencies in the city where UConn's SW school is located.  My current job is as a preschool teacher in one of the school readiness programs funded by a huge agency that offers so many services, so I already have an in here if I choose to pursue a different role after grad school.  I also know someone who works as a LCSW in a mental health clinic in Hartford and she tells me that bilingual social workers are in hot demand there. 
All this is to say that I have no idea what I'm going to do yet and I'm still waiting for offers from two more schools.  My pros and cons list are getting huge.

Congratulations!

Congrats on your decision, Amanda! I'm sure it feels incredibly freeing to have finally made the decision of where you're going to school.  I, unfortunately, am still deciding and will be until UConn gives me financial aid info.  But I'm about 70-30 in favor of Boston College at the moment.

Congrats Amanda!

YAY congrats Amanda!

I have good news! I wound up getting an RA position at BC, so my room & board would be covered! Hopefully I'll get into BC and I'm praying they give me a decent scholarship!

Yay! Congratulations!

Congrats Amanda!!

That's good to know! I'm not a Mass resident, but I can look into Salem State. I don't know much about the area, though. I applied to schools in cities because I don't have my license (hopefully I will soon, but I wouldn't have a car). Salem State seems like a good match for you!

Hi everyone! My name is Tara and I'm a current BC student who applied to Simmons and is waiting to hear back, and is about to apply to BC. I'm from NY and got into Fordham today (with minimal aid) and am waiting to hear back from Hunter.
I'm worried that I'm applying to BC too late, even though the deadline is March 1st and it's not rolling admissions. Since I'm coming right out of undergrad, I really can't afford BC or Simmons without a scholarship.
Congrats to everyone in this thread!
-Tara

I made my pro and con list last week without the offer yet that I'll hopefully get! Let me know if you want to compare notes, feel free to send me a message.

I'm pulling for you Amanda87! I know you'll hear soon!

So, I was all set to discard Boston College from my list because it's too expensive, but I just got my acceptance packet and have been offered a pretty decent scholarship, which would probably make it doable.  Definitely tight, but doable.  I'd still have to take out Stafford loans for living expenses AND work my ass off at a part-time job to afford the high cost of living, though, unless I could get a GA or work-study.  So, now, I'm making a pro and con list for both BC and UConn, while hoping UConn starts sending out financial aid info soon.  I also might plan a visit to Boston College in a few weeks to get a feel for the campus. Unfortunately, I can't do that at UConn because they're in the midst of moving to another location that they're still building.

I am applying to Boston College as well! For MA in History, anyways. I really hope they get it over with. 

When friends told me last year that getting multiple acceptances really wasn't a good thing, I thought they were being insensitive @-holes. Now I see what they were talking about.. the constant weighing - and then even as you get closer to a final decision, the self-doubt about whether you made the right choice.. Good luck @Amanda87, at least we're closer to being done!
Also, I think it'd be good to know if the faculty you really are crazy about will stay at that school throughout your studies. I guess this would be less of an issue for a Master's, but I've heard so many stories of advisors leaving mid-way through ppls' phds

That's my main choice right now, too - a bigger department with more funding or a smaller department. Being at a smaller department, I feel like the faculty will have more time to take interest in my research and academic success and I'll never be just one of 100 students. On the other hand, the larger school may translate into a larger alum network once I graduate.. but then again, would a large group of alums (who I don't know) be more helpful than a couple of faculty that will work really hard on my letters of rec or using their own networks to help me get a job? There are pros and cons, but I really do think it's good to know how excited a program is about you. Even if it's a big program, maybe you're really on the faculty's radar.. Unfortunately, we don't really get the answer to this question all the time.. 

Hi!
I think, if possible, I'd like to know how excited the school is about me. Was I their first choice and there are faculty members really looking forward to working with me? Are my potential advisors or professors easily available? 
I say this because I have this friend who got into a phd program (can't remember exactly what field, but not STEM) and got a generous fellowship and everything so he was super excited, chose that school over another and all that. He got there, none of the faculty knew who he was and didn't seem to care too much whether he was there or not. 
I'm actually a bit stumped, too. I had a pretty clear-cut personal ranking in my head but am worried that perhaps I'm writing off some programs too soon....