Kahlah

I was accepted to both UC Berkeley and CSULB for my MSW. I actually accepted UC Berkeley first, before I found out that CSULB had also accepted me. As of now, I am enrolled to attend both schools. Obviously, I cannot be in attendance at both schools, so I need to decide asap which school I am going to attend. Being a Bay Area native, my dream was always to attend UC Berkeley. If I do attend Berkeley, I will live at home in San Francisco with my family. The MSW program at Berkeley is supposedly held in high regard since it's 'Berkeley.' However, the tuition is whats holding me back. Tuition is basically $20,000 a year, so I would be in a total of over $68K in student loans if I do attend Berkeley (accounting also my student loans from undergrad). I am now unsure if attending Berkeley is actually worth it since I will be in so much debt. My field placement for Berkeley is just okay, it's basically case management/counseling with the homeless population in the Bay Area. The only reason I would attend Berkeley was because it was once my dream school, the prestige, renowned faculty, and to gain networks in the Bay Area. CSULB also accepted me and has tuition substantially less than what Berkeley wants. CSULB is about $8K a year (my first year at CSULB is actually paid for from a grant I received). So when I graduate, I will only owe about 26K (accounting undergrad/graduate loans) compared to the 65K I would owe if I attend Berkeley. Supposedly the MSW program is also well-known as being a good program, but the school obviously doesn't have the same prestige that Berkeley has. As of right now, I live in Southern California with some other family, so living situations would not be an issue. I also graduated with my bachelor's degree at CSULB. My field placement at CSULB is with a school district also doing case management and counseling. Basically, I will graduate with substantially fewer loans than if I attend Berkeley. Basically, I am just unsure if Berkeley is the right decision because of the cost of the school. I feel that with all the hard work I have done in terms of my education and work experience, I deserve to attend Berkeley. But I am just not sure if the tuition is actually worth it...Is Berkeley actually as great of a school that they make it to be...or is it just over-hyped? Or will my degree from CSULB be the same as getting my MSW degree from Berkeley? After my MSW, I do plan to move back home to the Bay Area for work. I am hoping that if I attended CSULB, finding a job won't be an issue than if I had attended UC Berkeley. Thanks for reading if you got this far. Please let me know as to your opinion and what you would do in my situation. Thanks.

@MSW_bound2018 Hi, I just got accepted this afternoon into the aging concentration. Honestly, I did not at all expect to get accepted into Berkeley! My GPA is only a 3.1, however, I believe I wrote a really strong personal statement and statement of purpose. I have 4+ years of work in nursing homes as a medication technician and lead care manager. I also have an internship right now with Kaiser Permanente in their hospice department. My references were from my sociology professor/advisor, LCSW I worked for, and the head nurse of the nursing home I worked for. I am completing my bachelor's degree in Sociology with a minor in Psychology at CSULB. I also think it helped that I have done a lot of research. Because of my degree in sociology, we had to conduct our own researches in school, and I heard that because Berkeley is very research-based, they do like research experience. So yeah, totally excited to go to Berkeley!! This is seriously like a dream come true. I literally started crying when I got my acceptance.

I actually heard back on Saturday that I was accepted!

Just wondering if anyone applied to Cal State San Marcus' MSW program & if they have heard anything yet from them?

I too have been waiting to hear from UCB. I'm a little doubtful of getting into the school, but I thought I would never know if I got in unless I tried. I applied to the aging program. Still waiting for a response or just anything...

I applied for the aging concentration. I applied the last day (I'm a really bad procrastinator). My GPA isn't that great, it's a 3.1. I have 4+ years of experience working in nursing homes. I also have an internship right now with Kaiser Permanente's Hospice Program. My references were pretty good. It's not my top school, but I'd still love to get in if all else fails.

Hi @LeeSav I also applied to CSULB and CSULA, how did you get your acceptance? Was it through email? Also, would you mind telling me your stats & when you applied? I've been nervously waiting and always checking my email!