lms202

@hantoo I lived in Gainesville for a few years while my husband got his doctorate. I know someone who lived at the continuum and had a great experience. It was a nice place and the location is perfect. You're extremely close to campus and you're only a few blocks away from downtown which has restaurants and bars that are more popular with grad students versus undergrads. A few bars you'll be within walking distance to that were always fun: tall paul's, Rockey's dueling piano bar, and the midnight (has a great trivia night). If you like hiking around you're only a 15 min drive from the north entrance of Paines Prairie (this part is better than the south entrance in Micanopy) Just google maps the La Chua Trail. You should take SE 15th Street (you'll probably feel like you're lost at some point but it's at the end of the street). This is a beautiful trail and I guarantee you will see animals. There's tons of alligators, wild horses, bison, etc. It's a great place to catch a sunset. There's also a good biking trail at this entrance, it's not actually in the park though. We both loved our time in Gainesville and still try to get back every once in a while. Some other things worth checking out Devil's Millhopper, Ichetucknee River (for tubing or kayaking), Satchel's Pizza, the Hyppo popsicles, Krishna lunch on Campus (located in the Plaza of Americas - cheap delicious lunch), butterfly rainforest and natural history museum, wok n' roll, and the flying biscuit for breakfast/brunch. If you're up for a day trip, drive over to St. Augustine or Cedar Key. Good luck! I hope Gainesville is as nice a home to you as it was to us.

I know Pitt will let multiple students interview for the same placement if they're interested. It definitely put pressure on me for my basw placement. I interviewed and was offered the placement but wanted to interview a couple of other places first but the school told me they'd be sending others over to interview so I accepted the placement. It can be a stressful process but you'll end up where you're supposed to be! Good luck!

I'm sure it depends on the program, but I think social programs are looking at the bigger picture - at least, I would hope they are since that's what they are teaching us to do!! I would think it might be something you'd want to address in your personal statement. It doesn't hurt to meet with people in admissions to talk this through with either. They may give you some tips and/or peace of mind. Good luck!

Pitt has a certificate for MSW students through the gender, sexuality, & women's studies program http://www.gsws.pitt.edu/students/ma-certificate-msw-students I think a big thing would also be where you do your field placement. Pittsburgh has PAAR (Pittsburgh action against rape), the center for victims, and several women's shelters - msw students are placed in all of these settings. I'm sure most cities have similar programs.

I submitted my application to Pitt December 30th and received my acceptance end of January. A link will appear on the bottom of the application dashboard saying something like "a decision has been made..."

Me! Anyone advanced standing? What kind of field placements are you looking at? To anyone who is advanced standing and attending Pitt, fill out the field placement form and start the field process now http://www.socialwork.pitt.edu/academics/msw/field-education. No one from the school reached out about field, but when I spoke to the dean of admissions last fall he recommended starting the process as soon as you're admitted. All of the first years are applying now. I'm not sure at what point the school usually reaches out to start looking into field, but you don't want to get stuck with the leftovers.