harpert1
-
Posts
53 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by harpert1
-
Congratulations on your acceptance to UIC! I was in a very similar situation, and actually decided not to enroll (since I had received better offers elsewhere.) However, when I called the admissions office to ask for an extension I was told that they could extend my timeline, but doing so could not guarantee I would be accepted in the incoming class. So far there are 90 people confirmed/120 total seats. If UIC is one of your top choices, I would consider confirming the intent to enroll before there are no more seats in this class. If you have/expect better or comparable offers, then you might be able to hold off. The max financial aid is $4000 scholarship I believe, so it will make little difference more than likely.
-
That’s even better since it’s one year; should knock off a hefty chunk. Again, many congratulations.
-
That’s so great. You’re very deserving of this acceptance, I’m sure. Might I ask: Is the $16,000 award per year or total?
-
I’m so happy for you!!!! Yayyyyy. Congratulations.
-
This is such great news! I hope that all of us will be getting our acceptances in the near future.
-
That’s very brave to have only applied here; I admire that! In that case, I’m sure you’ll be accepted with a generous scholarship. Hopefully we all hear back before February 15th.
-
That’s so incredible! Congratulations.
-
How do you deal with the fear about debt?
harpert1 replied to doctormelody's topic in Social Workers Forum
@doctormelody Lots of different reasons. For example, some people were unaware that they had to make monthly payments for 10 years in addition to working a public service job for 10 years. Some people did not stay on top of their creditors for reporting their payments made each month (and if you miss one payment, then you immediately cannot qualify). Some people thought they were in public service jobs but really their jobs did not meet the criteria. All in all, this was a new program that was rolled out in a terrible way; transparency and clarity will more than likely be more upfront in the future. @bloome My partner is in law school and she has taken on a considerable amount of debt that I'm not happy about (lol) around $150,000 so I totally understand this predicament well. I am usually a realist, but I am incredibly optimistic for everyone on this forum, for some reason, to get into great schools with great scholarships! -
How do you deal with the fear about debt?
harpert1 replied to doctormelody's topic in Social Workers Forum
@doctormelody“The past is the worst predicament of future outcomes.” I think it’s important to remember that every situation is dynamic and usually varies among different people. As someone who studied economics in undergrad, I am a strong advocate for not incurring bad debt. That said, there is a such thing as good debt; and one example of that can be furthering your education. According to the Social Work Hiring Outlook, “The lowest-earning 10% of social workers earned less than $28,800”; and this number jumps to $40,000 for those who have an MSW. Thus, there is a really good chance that you could get a salary increase. Just for the heck of this example let’s say that you’re making $30,000/year and after taxes that would be about $1,750/month. If you kept your living expense in a similar predicament to what they are currently; saved a small portion of money each month; and paid back your loans you would be fine. I think it’s great to rationalize your future financial status, but you should also envision a plan to get out of any burdens and just stick with it. Moreover, you would probably get a new job that pays better or even a promotion, as you would not become complacent. Also as a tangent, in addition to the 27% of public service loan applicants with incomplete information; 72% of applicants did not meet the requirements of the program (it was not that the money wasn’t there or anything nefarious). If you stay on top of your payments, tracking/reporting, and also stay organized I think you’d be fine. I just would hate to see you be discouraged in not doing something you’d probably be really good at and would enjoy, just because of money, at this fleeting stage of your life. -
Thank you! I didn't realize how large this text copied from the website (haha, that was unintentional) I was on my cell phone, and it looked regular size; I wasn't trying to make an emphasis or anything. I currently have a concussion, so my brain has been working a bit slower in general!
-
@bloome Congratulations on your acceptance to Case! This is my number one choice, too. I’m a bit surprised that they want a decision by January 15th; my deadline to accept enrollment is a little later I believe (maybe we applied at different times, and that’s why?) I would maybe reach out to them and see if they could extend the deadline as @doctormelody suggested, or maybe just pay the non-refundable fee with the intent to enroll (to keep this as an option) and later you could decide to not enroll if you received a better offer elsewhere.
-
How do you deal with the fear about debt?
harpert1 replied to doctormelody's topic in Social Workers Forum
I understand. The good thing, too, is that if you’re a first-time homebuyer you can qualify for an FHA loan where you only need 3.5% for down payment instead of the conventional 20-25%; and there’s the Public Service Loan forgiveness program which could wipe away your debt. Your day of goodness is coming! And I have a feeling that you will get a salary bump pass $12k, probably even double or triple your salary. -
How do you deal with the fear about debt?
harpert1 replied to doctormelody's topic in Social Workers Forum
@doctormelody “This is what I want to do with my life and I don't want to get discouraged, but damn.“ The former part of that sentence is most important, saying this is what you want. Money seldom fills the void of our inner desires. If you want to go to school for social work, I would not let $50,000 in debt or any negative thoughts stop you. Firstly, $50,000 isn’t really as vast as it seems because you probably have your entire life ahead of you. If you’re in your 20s or 30s, $50,000 would be like buying a nice, new car and making monthly payments. As long as you work toward paying it off diligently, which can easily be done post-grad school using the minimalism approach, you’ll be fine. Secondly, you never know how things can pan out: It very well could be that you have a rockstar first year and then qualify for a $20,000 endowed scholarship in your second year. At the end of the day, you must have faith in yourself and that everything, somehow, some way will workout. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” -
@doctormelody I’m sure your credentials are great and worthy of a $20,000 scholarship! To my understanding, one can take out the full amount of cost of attendance through using a Grad PLUS loan as there is no annual or aggregate limit; this bulletin from the Department of Ed has more info: https://ifap.ed.gov/dlbulletins/attachments/DLB0703Attach.pdf. “ SSA awards partial and full tuition scholarships based on merit and financial need to 95% of our master’s students. “ So both types of aid are awarded according to their website, but the amounts and proportions remain unknown.
-
Hey, doctormelody. I’ve heard that the aid is pretty good overall, even after January 15th, where most students get 1/4 tuition scholarships and many students get 1/2 tuition scholarships. I haven’t personally met any SSA student with a full-ride or close. My qualm with SSA is that even a half-ride makes the school still much more expensive than lots of other programs. I hope you apply though! And best of luck with all the apps.
-
Very happy to find yet another fellow applicant in the same position! Haha. According to the SSA website here (https://www.ssa.uchicago.edu/deadlines ), we should definitely hear back by February 15, 2019 at the latest. I’m definitely hoping to hear back in early January; my only skepticism is that the Christmas break would have probably slowed down the process a bit. I have heard these 50%+ acceptance rates as well; however, I have no data to support this so I’m not sure. I will say that UChicago’s Harris School has a typical acceptance rate of 25%. I would imagine that SSA is less competitive than the Harris School, so for that reason I’ll guess, with no data, that SSA’s acceptance rate is 30-40%.
-
I totally understand the closeness. I almost went to UIC for undergrad (could have been friends in an alternate reality!). UMichigan and UChicago are my top choices currently as I really like their macro-based programs in social administration. Like you, however, I’m keenly aware of the costliness so I’ll go to whichever school offers me the most money.
-
Congratulations! Is UIC one of your top choices?
-
Definitely, definitely. Every time I drive pass the school, I imagine myself attending there. Haha. I believe we should know something from Admissions by mid-February based on some folks at the school I've talked to recently.
-
Yes! I applied to the Urbana campus as well. In addition, I applied to UChicago, UMichigan, and Case Western. So far, I've received an acceptance to Case Western; and I'm very excited about that. The scholarship they offered me is pretty good; however, I am hoping for more money, somehow, to come in the near future.
-
I definitely understand. I selected the full-time, Social Service Administration program. I’m really excited because I live five minutes away from the school haha (in addition to its program and reputation).
-
I selected the Organization and Community Practice major at UIC. How about you?
-
I also submitted my application for December 1st for MSW! Waiting is indeed very hard. The anxiety!
-
Hello, everyone! I know that it's a bit early in the admissions cycle, but I recently submitted my application to UIC and I started getting excited. Hoping that we can share information about decisions and scholarships, and anxiety as time goes on!
-
Hello, everyone! I know that it's a bit early in the admissions cycle, but I recently submitted my application to U of I and I started getting excited. Hoping that we can share information about decisions and scholarships, and anxiety as time goes on!
