alisham

I haven't exactly ironed out my summer plans yet, but I'm thinking of taking a couple of summer courses to have a lighter schedule my last year. I also have a friend who works at a social service agency as a Child Development Specialist and she tells me they are constantly looking for more workers, so I'll probably work there full-time in the summer and cut back to per diem once school starts (I've spoken to them and they seem pretty flexible when it comes to scheduling). I'll also continue my volunteering duties at my state's NARAL pro-choice chapter.

I have a friend in my MSW program who's currently working full time as a psych technician as well as going to school full-time. She's able to do that because her concentration, Individuals Groups and Families, is set up in a way that she only has to take 3 courses the first semester. She's taking a winter intersession course as well in order to have 3 courses next semester and continue to work full time. However, she has mentioned that she's going to have cut back during her last year of the MSW because field hours increase, so she won't be able to go to school full time and work full time. I, on the other hand, have a Community Organizing concentration and thus can't work full time because my course load is 4 courses the first semester and four courses the next. So, that coupled with field education, work study, and graduate student organization duties means that there are not enough hours in a day for me to be able to work full time. If you do manage to find a full time job related to Social Work, you might be able to do your internship there as many schools have programs for employed persons (with some stipulations, of course).

I agree with Louise to bring it up in your statement. However, I would not overly focus on it. I knew someone who dug herself into a hole by over-addressing it and basically mentioning that she had a low GPA because she couldn't keep up with a full-time undergrad course load, while she was applying for a full-time Masters, which tends to be more academically rigorous. So, bring it up, briefly address it, and then move on. But I think you have a shot. Someone in one of my classes mentioned that she was on provisional status this semester (our first semester) because she had a low GPA. In order to remain in the program, she has to have a 3.0 GPA by the end of the semester. So, schools definitely don't just look at your GPA and a low one wouldn't automatically disqualify you.

From what I've been told from the students in my school's PhD Social Work program, here in the US at least, if you have post-BSW experience, then you're qualified to teach BSW theory and practical classes. If you don't have post-MSW experience, you can still teach MSW theory classes, but you can't teach any of the practical courses since you won't have the experience to back it up, so to speak.

Okay, so I can't really answer your first question. As for the second question, I'm also interested in getting my PhD in Social Work. In the US (which is where I'm from), most PhD SW programs should waive your tuition if you're a competitive enough candidate. I've been researching PhD programs for a while now and some programs waive your tuition for two years, others will waive it for the whole four years (by having you be a research assistant and/or teaching assistant), and others will do that and throw in a living stipend. However, from what I've seen, a lot of US programs also require two years of post-MSW work experience if you're planning on teaching any practical courses, but I'm not sure if Canadian programs require this. Not sure if you're planning on teaching, but just something to keep in mind if you apply to US programs.

I actually think you're a great candidate for an MSW. While my undergrad was in psychology, I had a similar GPA and my only relevant experience was my volunteer experience also teaching ESL and being a youth mentor on-and-off for a few years. I ended up getting into every program I applied to. Developing the community arts program is going to look great on your application and also ties into your previous field as well as social work, so it should be easy to connect the two on your personal statement. You might not even have to retake your GRE since a big chunk of MSW programs don't require them. As long as you have a good personal statement and great letters of recommendation, I think you have a great shot at getting into a program.

I always volunteered in my undergrad, but never got involved in any school activities. I went to meet with the professor I'll be doing my work-study with and after talking a bit, she asked me if I wanted to be the chair of Latin American Student Organization for my school (which would be completely separate from my work-study). I said yes and though I'm excited, I'm also pretty nervous to see how I'm going to balance this along with the other requirements that come from a full time MSW program.

I start on the 29th at UConn and start my field education September 5th. So excited!

I'm also starting UConn's MSW program in the fall, but I'm doing the Community Organization concentration. Their macro program seems to be incredibly solid.

http://www.bc.edu/offices/stserv/financial/finaid/grad/grad_forms.html Yeah, you just mail it to them. I mailed mine in last week, but I'm still waiting for them to process it and upload it as received.

I don't think it does since you get the scholarship from the school of social work & not from the financial aid office. I know the scholarship amount is taken into account when they're considering financial aid. And you still have time to hand in your grad school financial aid form since the deadline is April 18th.

Update: Finally got in touch with the admissions people at Rhode Island College & I did get in. Now I'm just waiting on my admissions packet & I'm going to inquire on grad assistantships to see how that process goes.

Well, I got a voicemail from Rhode Island College last week, but it just said to give them a call back. I've been trying since Thursday & I can't get anyone on the phone. According to the website, if they call you that means you've been accepted. But I'm aggravated that despite leaving 2 voicemail messages & an email, I can't get anyone to get back to me. It makes me think the program is not that well run. I'm also still waiting on University of South Carolina. However, I'm about 95 percent sure, barring a basically full ride from the above schools/UConn, I'll be going to Boston College.

I think it's just a waiting game. I logged in to my student admin account, but it still says aid not available. In other news, I received a voicemail from Rhode Island College admissions, but it just said to call them back. I wonder if that's good or bad...

Who did you email about getting an extension? I'm about 70% sure I'm going to Boston, but would like to wait for some financial aid info from UConn before I commit.

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.

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.

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.

I started a job as a preschool teacher this week, so I'm going to take advantage of the 3 day weekend and just relax. Run a few errands, watch a couple of movies, and read a book. I'm not going to do anything that requires too much energy.

Yay! Congratulations!

That's a pretty good commute, but yeah, traffic into Hartford is a holy terror from 7:00AM-10:00AM and 4:00PM-6:00PM (with a minor spike at 12:00pm and 3:00pm). I passed by the campus about a month ago and the building didn't look done at all. I'm hoping that they have it done by August because it'll suck to get familiar with the West Hartford campus and then have to get acclimated to a new campus. One of my pros for Boston College is that I won't need a car to get around. I also don't have my license (working on it now) and would relish not driving as I'm not too fond of it. However, if I go to UConn, I'll definitely need a car.

When it comes to the social work program, I have to say that BC tends to give out higher amount scholarships than other private grad schools (or at least when it comes to this thread). They offered me a scholarship that would make their school cheaper than my in-state school (assuming my in-state school only offers me loans and not the grants that they sometimes give out), so I would definitely apply there.

The wait for financial aid is, at this moment, more aggravating than the wait for acceptances. I just want to know if UConn is only going to offer me Stafford loans because, if that's the case, Boston College ends up being cheaper (not counting their horrendous cost of living) for me. I also want to know if they're actually on time to finish building the Hartford campus because it still looks like a pile of bricks to me. Are you planning on commuting from MA or are you moving to CT?

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.

BC would basically have to cover most of my tuition with scholarships and work study for me to able to afford it. I would then have to take out loans for living expenses, at least until I can find a part-time job. I've been looking into graduate assistantships and I read in one of the MSW handbooks that the school of social work tends to only give them out to second year students. Honestly, I won't be too bummed if I can't make BC work since I researched all of the schools I applied to extensively and both like and can see myself in any of them. So, at this point, I'm going with whatever school is cheapest.