SMLDC

Congrats! I feel like we've all been on this journey together. Columbia always seemed to be your top choice, and I'm thrilled -- like the others on here -- that you were accepted. Best of luck on your visits this weekend.

I don't expect this is advice you want to hear, but my #1 piece of advice as someone who went straight from undergrad to grad school is to either defer for at least a year to get some work experience/perspective or make sure to keep the amount of student debt to a minimum. Like many, I took out loans to help with living expenses, and I am now bogged down with six figures of student debt. Try to avoid that if you can -- it all sounds theoretical now but it is a lot to manage long term.

I heard back from BU this afternoon. Received a $31K scholarship off $70K tuition. I hadn't been seriously considering BU, but after scholarships, it's the lowest-tuition school on my list, with UChicago second (about a $10K difference).

What makes you both recommend UMich over UChicago if tuition is the same? (If it helps at all, I'm focusing on clinical work and some research.)

If UMich would match UChicago, that would be incredible. Have you heard of others getting it matched like that? Those are my top two choices. Columbia just seems like such an uphill battle + NYC living expenses...

I'd welcome any takes on the below scholarship awards and whether it's worth contacting the schools to get an increased award. The below amounts are assuming the same amount of scholarship funding for the entirety of the program, not just annually. UChicago: $50,000 (50% of $100K tuition, $50K leftover) Pitt: $16,000 (24% of $66K tuition, $50K leftover) UMich: $9,000 (9% of $74K tuition, $65K leftover) Smith: $0 (0% of $71K tuition, $71K leftover) Columbia: $24,000 (21% of $116K tuition, $92K leftover) I was planning to appeal UMich and Columbia since UChicago is a much more competitive offer than the other two. I'd initially been interested in Smith and still might appeal their scholarship decision, but the initial lack of financial support has left a bad taste in my mouth especially since I applied early decision. I reached out to Pitt, and they said scholarships were non-negotiable and referred me to fellowships (that are really only available to advanced-standing and second-year students).

My two cents: If you can get U of M with in-state tuition, it'll be hard to beat the value of that program. (Columbia tuition alone would be more than twice U of M in-state.) I haven't heard the same thing about licensing -- quite the opposite, actually. Especially at this top programs, you'll be prepared for licensing for different state exams. Personally, I plan to move back to DC after school so that my supervised training is where I plan to apply for my license.

When did you apply? I applied at/before the early deadlines at Ohio State, UMich, and Columbia (all Dec 1), and I've now received acceptances from all three. Ohio State's came first on December 14, UMich was next on January 7, and I just heard back from Columbia yesterday, February 12. If you check out the main MSW Fall 2020 Application thread (which has tons of people), you'll see that many people still haven't heard from U of M or Columbia yet. Not sure about Ohio State. If you applied early decision, I don't think it would hurt to reach out to the schools to check in; most likely, they'll tell you they should provide a decision sometime this month since that's the general timeline for early apps. To be honest, I'm surprised about Ohio State -- I was sort of shocked by how quickly that came through for me.

It's not, mainly because of cost (tuition + cost of living). I have always been drawn to the program itself though. If I miraculously get a generous scholarship package, maybe I'd reconsider it. If I were to end up at Columbia, there are some disciplines I'd like to explore like DBT and complicated grief. Also very interested in the Narrative Medicine program at Columbia, which I'd try to connect to if I were there.

Just got my acceptance from Columbia! Been waiting since the December 1 deadline. Wanted to report out since so many have been waiting.

Got it. That's still a great award, though not as likely to tip the scales in terms of cost vs. other schools. If you do choose Philly, you will love it there. It's a wonderful, vibrant, oft-underappreciated city. I live in DC but visit Philly often.

Nice! Did they offer $36K total or annually? That's a big difference. Seems like a lot of schools are generally trying to shave overall tuition costs down to $50-70K total with scholarship aid taken off. Is that what others are seeing?

Is anyone else considering Smith College? I was accepted Early Decision last week, and commitments are due next week (though I just received an extension to 2/26). I was disappointed to not receive any scholarship/merit aid since I've received it other places; I had expected applying early to maximize the potential of receiving those awards. Most likely, I will choose to defer decision to the regular applicant pool (which means my application gets thrown back into the mix), but I don't have much to lose since I am not abdicating any grant/scholarship aid.

Fair point. Grad school tuition is a total racket, so just trying to shave off costs as much as possible

I would hope so, too, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I feel like this is a really common predicament for mid-career professionals returning to school, yet I don't see much guidance out there about it. I assume if I reach out to financial aid here or any other school they'd be able to answer it quickly and definitively. The reason I raised it in this context is that the scholarship I received from the UMSSW was partially need-based in addition to academic performance... hence, if my need were seen as higher, maybe that scholarship could also increase. Does that make sense?