zoetrope

God (Allah) woke me up with a functioning circulatory system and a functioning brain and has blessed me with a decent job.

TAKE YOUR TIME IT ISN'T

Wow really? I thought he went to Penn. I would Google it but I don't want to look at his face...

From my perspective, this seems like an easy decision: go for the MPA. 1) It provides a more direct route to your professional goals. 2) No debt. 3) It is in the area you want to work in, so you will be making relevant connections in your program. These are all huge considerations.
I do think that name recognition and prestige are less primary concerns in social welfare fields.
You could consider doing a graduate certificate in social justice in addition to the MPA. I found this, for instance: https://priceschool.usc.edu/programs/certificate/social-justice/

From my perspective, this seems like an easy decision: go for the MPA. 1) It provides a more direct route to your professional goals. 2) No debt. 3) It is in the area you want to work in, so you will be making relevant connections in your program. These are all huge considerations.
I do think that name recognition and prestige are less primary concerns in social welfare fields.
You could consider doing a graduate certificate in social justice in addition to the MPA. I found this, for instance: https://priceschool.usc.edu/programs/certificate/social-justice/

Congratulations! Hopefully a good sign that non-advanced standing applicants will begin to hear back soon.

Congratulations! Hopefully a good sign that non-advanced standing applicants will begin to hear back soon.

I received my physical acceptance letter the other day, and it said that this year was the largest and most competitive applicant pool that SSA has ever had. Congrats to everyone else who got in! I look forward to hopefully meeting anyone else who decides to attend.

I would echo @lincoln.hawks and say don't sell yourself short. This season is my first applying to graduate programs and so far I've been accepted to University of Chicago with a 3.14 undergrad GPA (major GPA around 3.5). I graduated from a small lib arts college in 2013 and have no clinical experience, but some experience more tangentially related to social services.
I think my statement of purpose and letters of recommendation were very strong. I also took several post-bacc courses in psychology this year and received all A's; in one course in particular I excelled and received a great rec from the professor.
I was thrilled, and admittedly surprised, to be admitted to UChicago (my top choice). It taught me that GPA is just one factor, and a potentially small one at that. The scholarship they offered me was on the lower end of the spectrum, which makes sense to me. But I am low-income and a first generation college grad, so I'm hoping for some significant need-based aid.
Basically, my undergraduate record does not reflect my current abilities or state of mind, and I think I managed to effectively convey that in my application (not that I directly addressed my GPA). I think I made my personal growth clear to see. I think I am also genuinely a good fit for UChicago's program.
Especially since it sounds like you have some great work experience under your belt, I would not worry, but rather focus on crafting a high quality, sincere statement of purpose.

Your professor comes across as highly judgemental and unprofessional to me. I think if I was in your cohort due to my anxiety I would've been triggered and left to the bathroom as well. Just because she does not personally suffer from mental illness, does not give her the right to publicly criticize or state her opinion like that to a classroom of students. I would honestly report her to a dean or whoever her higher ups are so that she can be alerted to be more sensitive in the future when stating HER personal opinions/feelings to her paying students. People with mental illness and any other disability can do whatever career they choose so I don't see why she felt the need to randomly speak on that. Definitely report her and also check out your schools EAP services. All universities have services they are able to provide to students don't be afraid to reach out and get some help so you can succeed and prove that professor wrong. Also you are highly capable of earning your degree, don't stress her comments. She is one of the many negative nancys you will encounter on your grad school journey. Just remember these people won't matter in 10 years when you are a successful counselor.

@K_Anne hi. 
I had to take the GRE since my GPA was low and I would have probably done so anyway as I do well on those assessments. 
I would expect anything about 70th percentile on the GRE would be big points in your favor. Low scores probably wouldn't hurt. 
Social Work programs are generally looking for applicants that will be good social workers, not necessarily those with the highest GPAs. Work experience, commitment to the SW values and mission, maturity, commitment to social justice and service, overcoming personal adversity and learning from it, as well as leadership potential and experience can all be indicators of that. Powerful essays/ personal statements are likely more important than high GPAs since they set you apart from other candidates. 
I'd also recommend tailoring your message to each school as to why their program, not just any MSW, is where you really want to be.
Remember, half of the accepted applicants had GPAs lower than the median. 3.3 is not bad. Don't sell yourself short. Remember that the school is looking for diversity, not cookie-cutter candidates.
Glad to have a conversation, answer specific questions, look over essays. send me a private message if needed
Good luck!

I’m interested in pursuing the clinical track but not necessarily interested in therapy—I am still open to it and would like to take classes in it. But in terms of career goals, I’m interested in medical social work and I think that’s more a mix of case management, advocacy, and maybe some therapy? But it’s not a big component as far as I know. And long term, I’d be interested in management or supervision roles, maybe program management or something like that. I want to get a MSW because of the social justice focus and how versatile it is. I can decide to get a LCSW and open a private practice if I choose to go that route. I can go into policy work (though may be a bit harder since my focus isn’t macro). I can definitely eventually land in some sort of non profit administration role, at least combined with my current professional experience. And I think direct practice will help ground me/give me the credibility I’d need to eventually serve communities in a more macro way.
As for your career goals, a MSW can definitely get you there. I don’t know enough about the other degrees to speak to how much easier it is to get into therapy, but from what I’ve heard, the other degrees are more limiting/less transferable. If you ever decided therapy was no longer for you, it may be more difficult to make a career switch, whereas with a MSW, I think the options are just broader. So you lose the specialization that a MFT may give you, but you gain marketability with a MSW, especially if you want to keep your options open. That’s just my take on it, and why a MSW is personally a better fit for my interests. Hopefully others can chime in too! I know it’s easy to second guess yourself, but you were drawn to the MSW program for a reason, so try not to lose sight of that!

Ah, thank you! That's reassuring. I'm determined to make it work, but wasn't sure if there was the possibility of more need-based scholarships, or if that was already incorporated in the initial scholarship offer that came with admission. I'll probably start researching external scholarships too, hopefully too many deadlines haven't passed yet... thanks again!

Congrats. 

Thank you, my friend.  Your path will lead you to somewhere great; and I hope to hear about it one day. 

I also was accepted to SSA with a good scholarship so this actually makes the decision much more challenging!  Good thing that we have until April to make that decision; so it’s possible we could end up in the same place. 

Many congrats!!! I share your excitement. 

I GOT IN!!!!!!
Congrats to others who did as well. I'm thrilled.
?

Everyone go check your admissions portal! They updated my decisions document today at 5 pm, but they did not email me about it! It was just very lucky that I randomly checked  

I didn't end up applying to UIC, although it is by far the most affordable option in Chicago, because it seemed to require a stats course prior to applying.
I haven't taken stats and did not want to invest time and money into a prerequisite for a program I may or may not be admitted to. That was my reasoning at the time.
In retrospect, I think it probably would have been a good idea (if I had started planning a bit sooner), especially since the stats course would have benefited my other applications as well.
At any rate, that's in the past now-- anxiously waiting these SSA decisions! ?
Hope everyone is hanging in there, and congrats to the advanced standing peeps already admitted!

Well, I’m married and only applied for schools in Chicago as it would be hard to move. The way I look at it is, I applied to Loyola, Uchicago and UIC. I was accepted at the 3 schools. Loyola costs $30k, Uchicago $48k and UIC $17k. All these numbers are approximate. With the scholarship offer I received, Uchicago becomes super attractive and competitive in price as well, besides being a top school. The other schools does not have many options for financial aid. I am hoping to receive more in need-base scholarship, but I am determined to get my masters, so I guess if we want to do it, we have no choice but to take some student loans and move forward with our dreams.

I submitted my application on the deadline, Jan. 3rd. I'm super nervous about it and so anxious to find out! Good luck everyone! 

I guess we are applying to a few of the same schools. Also turned mine in by the Jan 3rd marker!