bragierrnot

This is actually not just UMD. Many schools have offered this option, including Columbia University. I think faculty probably won't think twice about it since a good chunk of schools are providing this as an option. 

If you have stable and affordable housing in D.C.. I think staying local sounds like a really good option. I'm not sure what your ultimate goal is, but especially if it is to be a practicing clinician, the ranking of the school is probably not that important as long as it is generally in the range of strong, highly-rated programs.
DC is an area a lot of people want to go but find to be financially infeasible and I believe Howard in particular would open up a lot of doors network-wise as one of the nation's premier HBCUs. 
In short, I wouldn't discount the local opportunities just because you feel like you need to push yourself out of a comfort zone and/or you feel you need to go to the #2 school in the nation?

I'm a second year PhD student at WashU. I have never felt unsafe walking down the street holding my girlfriends hand. There is definitely an LGBT community here, with student organizations, gay bars, and community centers. I won't pretend that it's the same as Portland, but I have been really happy here!

Congratulations! I've had several friends who graduated from WashU's MSW program and they speak highly of it.
I made it through St. Louis without driving. And I saw transportation options improve greatly from when I started and when I ended. Washington University provides all of its students with a Metro Transit Pass.  The Metro Transit Pass allows you to ride the buses and light rail in St. Louis. The light rail map can be found here: https://www.metrostlouis.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MK180468redblueline_update_CORTEX.jpg

The Skinker stop drops you off right by campus as does the University City-Big Bend stop. 

Popular neighborhoods that grad students decide to live in (that also offer easy public transportation options) include:
Central West End
Skinker/DeBaliviere
The Loop/University City
Clayton-Tamm*
Hi-Pointe*
*Clayton-Tamm and Hi-Pointe along with a few other neighborhoods also make up what's known as Dogtown. I think these two neighborhoods are the most bike-friendly and are the closest to the University if one were inclined to walk or bike. There are a lot of great local restaurants in Clayton-Tamm including Nora's which was named one of 33 best sandwich shops in the country by Thrillist.

I lived in different neighborhoods throughout my time in St. Louis and I never felt like I had a need for a car. It might've made certain aspects easier but I think having access to the buses and light rail made a huge difference in my experience. The transportation is significantly better than people tend to give it credit for. Buses run approximately every 30 minutes on the weekdays and the rail runs every 6-10 minutes depending on the time of the day.

Thank you for the heads-up! I was wondering why I haven't heard back from them and I submitted my app back in Jan, so I was getting super anxious!

I just got accepted to WashU!! Does anyone know how difficult this program is to get into? I'm still in disbelief that they accepted me lol

Eek! Thanks for the heads up. I did not know that.

I just got accepted to WashU!! Does anyone know how difficult this program is to get into? I'm still in disbelief that they accepted me lol

I just got accepted to WashU!! Does anyone know how difficult this program is to get into? I'm still in disbelief that they accepted me lol

I just got accepted to WashU!! Does anyone know how difficult this program is to get into? I'm still in disbelief that they accepted me lol

A lot of schools are closed right now. Does anyone know if this affects their decision rendering timeline? Asking this because Penn hasn’t gotten back to me for three weeks... every time I asked them, they just gave me some approximate dates, but my decision was never released on those days. I was always nervous all the time on those days, but nothing happened lol 
They told me last Friday that my application was under faculty review... and this Tuesday they told me that I’d hear something on Wednesday... the waiting’s stressing me out ?