doctormelody

Yeah, I read that on the website a couple minutes after I posted this! It's a lot to consider. How's the weather up there? (One of the reasons I don't like Pittsburgh is the cold, haha.)

I’m seriously considering throwing my hat in the ring! My only concern is that an online program might be looked at differently by employers. Obviously they wouldn’t be able to tell from the degree itself but it seems like the kind of thing that would probably come up in casual conversation. Does anyone have any insight on this?

Congratulations, that's amazing!!

Oh my God... that's the cheapest MSW tuition I've ever seen. Looks like they might not be fully accredited for the master's program, though? Hmm. Thank you so much for the info, either way!

Thank you so much for responding. Do you mind sharing the name of your school? There definitely do seem to be some cheaper options out there but most of them seem to be state schools which of course is not helpful if I am not a resident. Thanks again for the words of encouragement. I wish you the best of luck with your PhD applications and your move!

I'm so sorry you're feeling like this. I hope everything works out for the best.

Alright, I'm gonna be brutally honest here and admit that I have been having some doubts recently about whether or not I am truly ready for grad school. I want to go, and have for years, but I am worried that I want it for the wrong reasons - namely, that I lack a sense of purpose in my life. I want to go to school for social work for a couple reasons - obviously, I want to help people, and more selfishly, I don't want to struggle the way I have been since I graduated college in 2015. Since then, I've had a series of jobs in retail and food service, most of which I deeply hated, and I've never made more than around $12,000 a year. I constantly get the sense that my family is confused and disappointed by my choices in life, but what they don't understand is that I don't feel worthy of or qualified for a better job than the ones that I have had. I struggle with depression and a lack of motivation and I also have somewhat significant back issues, all of which have contributed to me not being the world's most stellar employee, so I've never been up for a raise or a promotion (also haven't really stayed at any job long enough to merit one). I was accepted to several MSW programs last year, but chose not to go for a variety of reasons, including that they all would have required me to take on a monstrous amount of debt. I found this website in February of last year and learned about the guaranteed admission program at the University of Pittsburgh. My partner and I were looking to move anyway, so we chose to uproot our entire lives to come here. I was accepted to the program in early January, but received a disappointing scholarship offer of only $4,000 a year, which means that I will have to take out almost $40,000 in loans for tuition alone. I already have $46,000 in debt from undergrad, so I'm questioning whether it is truly a wise financial decision, which is in turn making me question whether or not I am actually ready to take this next step in my life. Maybe this is stupid, but I guess I feel like if this was truly my calling, I wouldn't let anything give me pause. It's complicated. I'm not sure this is what I'd want to do with my life, or even the graduate program I'd want to attend, if money were no object, but of course, money rules all of our lives whether we like it or not. I chose social work because it seemed like a career I could feel good about at the end of the day, and because therapy has been helpful to me in my own life and I want to be that resource for others. I'm just having so many doubts now, though. I have a friend who is currently getting her MSW at Columbia and she said that at her internship the first semester they basically just threw her into sessions with clients with no preparation whatsoever. I guess everyone has to start somewhere, and I know that not all field placements are the same, but that really, really scared me. I feel like Grad Cafe tends to skew towards the younger side, so maybe no one will get this, but one of my other friends said something the other day that really resonated with me. She basically just reminded me that although I may feel like I'm behind in life, it's okay to still be figuring things out at 25. I know that especially with a professional degree like social work, a lot of people choose to go back to school a little later in life, and that would be okay by me if I could just get a better job in the meantime. The only problem is that I have no idea how to do that, and no confidence in my ability to do so. I guess it doesn't make sense to wait if I know that I want to get my MSW eventually. I'm just worried about the debt (obviously) and also that I won't be able to handle the demands of grad school. My mental health is kinda fragile at the moment, and it doesn't help that I really don't like Pittsburgh as a city. I think I can handle the coursework as long as I don't allow myself to procrastinate too much, but I'm really worried about the field placement component. To put it bluntly, why would anyone trust me, a 25 year old who doesn't even have her own s*** together? I'm worried that the admissions committee saw this in me and that's why I was given such a small scholarship. I'm worried, if I am truly being honest, that I am just not cut out for this. I'm worried I'm not cut out for anything, tbh. I know this is a really long post and I appreciate anyone who took the time to read it (and my other posts, of course) more than I can possibly say. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has been in this situation or a similar one before and has any advice for me. I feel like I sound pathetic but my confidence really took a hit when I saw the scholarship I was offered, and it wasn't all that high to begin with. Does anyone else have similar worries? It's so lonely feeling like this.

Thank you. And honestly I don't know what my plan is. I'm definitely going to ask them if there might be any need-based aid available later in the season, but I am not sure how to go about negotiating without any offers from other schools. If anyone has any advice on this point, I'd be grateful.

@Rhea Henry That makes sense! I have a little bit but I need to do more research for sure. I know they have a stipend available for the Integrated Healthcare track but I was leaning towards the Mental Health track so we'll see.

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that my experience discouraged you from applying. I do think I am going to go - the difference and tuition between Pitt and my home state with the scholarship they gave me is only $12,000 for two years, and if I moved back home I'd have to wait another year to apply. If you want to do the dual degree program I think you should go for it and not let my experience dissuade you! I don't think you would get any merit aid because you didn't apply by the deadline (12/31), but who knows, maybe there will be need-based aid available later on? That's what I'm hoping for - either that or that enough people who got higher offers decline their offer and free up some money. It's hard feeling unwanted, but I just keep telling myself that I'll get the same degree in the end...

Yes. Honestly not to worry you but I feel like maybe you should contact them because you already received your letter of admission with all the info about the statistics course and the enrollment deadline, right? The info about my merit award was in that letter, which was oddly long but then there were only like three sheets of paper in a giant envelope, lol. Stay safe in the snowstorm and I hope you hear back about finances from more schools soon!

Contact whom? Sorry, I'm confused. And no I haven't but I don't have any other offers to use as leverage since Pitt was the only school I applied to this year. If anyone has any tips for me on how to ask for more scholarship money in this situation, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Yeah. It seems like a great program but there are some issues that make me very wary of relying on it.

Does anyone know of online programs that offer scholarships? Or just cheaper MSW programs in general? Pitt is my first choice but they gave me so little money that I don't know if I can make this work. I'm so sad.

Did you ever get your financial info from Pitt? I got the details of my merit award yesterday and it was really disappointing - only $4,000 a year.

Would you recommend it even if it was from an Ivy League school? There are only two Ivy League schools that have MSW programs, and Case Western is higher-ranked than Penn. Not disagreeing with you about the cost being absurd, the Ivy League comment just kinda threw me. I got into Columbia last year and everyone told me it wasn’t worth it because of the price. I saw someone saying on here that they kinda coast on their name and I pretty much agree with that.

Just received my letter in the mail with details of my merit award, such as it is... I only received $4,000 a year. I’ve never seen an offer that low on here and I’m honestly almost embarrassed to post this. I knew I should have worked harder on my essay. Although it could also be due to my lack of experience... my GPA is fine (3.5), so I doubt it’s that. I don’t know if Pitt is doable for me with this scholarship. I’m so sad.

Thank you! And best of luck to you with all your applications.

I only applied to the University of Pittsburgh. I actually was accepted last week but I’m still waiting on scholarship info which will determine whether or not I can attend. ?

Thank you so much!! That is very true. I think I’m gonna try and stay away from Grad Cafe the rest of the weekend... we’ll see how I do, haha.

Gotcha, thanks so much! You sound like a great candidate, I’m not surprised you got a good scholarship (for Pitt) and I’m sure you’ll have many more offers to choose from in the coming weeks/months! ☺️

Thank you so much, this is really helpful. Honestly it helps to know just that others are or have been in the same boat, but when it gets to the point of re-reading threads I’ve already read ten times, I think maybe I need to take a step back. I also like what you said about self-efficacy and how we are all more than our grades/experiences/ etc. It’s so hard to remember sometimes, but it’s so important. Best of luck to you with all of your applications, and thanks again for responding.

Does anyone have any advice on how to stop obsessing about grad school? I sent an email to someone at Pitt today and they haven’t responded yet. I feel like I can’t even enjoy the weekend because I just want it to be Monday so I have a chance of getting a response. I check the mail multiple times a day hoping to see scholarship info (or just any info, really, the letter on the online portal was quite vague). I’m on here all the time. I check threads that aren’t even relevant to me because I’m just desperate for some kind of distraction. It’s getting to the point where it’s annoying my partner and interfering with my life but I just can’t seem to stop.

I emailed someone at the university today to ask a couple questions, but I was too scared to ask about when the scholarship info will be sent out. They also haven’t responded yet so my anxiety is through the roof. Ugh. I can’t believe I was considering putting myself through this process again. Twice is bad enough.

Please ignore this, I can’t edit it now but I found the info I needed with a simple Google search, lol. I’m so used to asking questions about grad school on this website that I forgot how to Google! ?‍♀️