Mmgaf

I would guess that having a car is super helpful in being able to choose a right fit in your field placement (aka rather than only having a couple of options because of transportation). I have a car, and both UPenn and Berkeley asked me whether or not I had a car for field placement purposes, as neither has great public transit. I'd guess that the schools themselves are very aware of this, and you could definitely reach out to admissions at your top choices to see what they recommend.

If it helps, I know that I'm going to be declining my CU offer soon so that's one spot at least! Just curious, what's the Penn online program?

Graduated from a top 20 with a 3.56 in 2018 with a psych major and education and public policy minors. I did an AmeriCorps program working/teaching in dc the following school year. I honestly have very little social work related experience from college because I was a varsity athlete and just didn’t do much else in terms of extracurriculars, so my essays were more focused on my service year and then my goals for the future. I think I was competitive because my application had a very consistent theme—I worked with students in a struggling school district, saw a lot of issues that didn’t come directly from school that made it difficult for kids to focus/succeed, now I want to go into social work to work towards alleviating some of those issues. Just a guess, but I’m thinking the obvious theme paints a picture of someone focused and purpose driven, where the school can see a direct path forward. Good luck with the apps!!

Delving into finances more seriously RE getting a dual degree... current solution is “maybe Bernie or Liz will actually succeed in cancelling my debt and I won’t have to worry about this!!!” Any better ideas? ?

8k/semester, renewable

Yes Penn gave me around 30k, I’m not entirely sure if that’s high or normal for them. I’d be doing a dual degree in social policy there though, so 2.5 years becomes ridiculously expensive since it’s two degrees

Same here—the grad loans are the same ones we can be approved for at any school though correct? They just chose to include it in their aid package where some schools only initially tell you scholarship amounts? Unfortunately their scholarship was lower than what I’ve been offered at Penn so no bargaining chip for me ?

Swfinaid@columbia

Update my CU aid email came to my spam last Thursday (one week exactly after acceptance)

No I also couldn’t tell, I’m just thinking maybe they would since both tuition and COL are insane there. It seems like otherwise they’d be a top SW school just producing grads who are too in debt to do anything productive

Mine was also a day or two after I applied, but I did so in November so it was early for their deadline

Tbh I’m not even considering Columbia but I want to know my scholarship to see if I can use it to get more money from other schools and then decline the offer haha

Ah I received my acceptance on the 16th and am still waiting for info about aid, would also be curious what that format looks like!

Yeah it seems like Columbia only released a small number of decisions yesterday, they sent us a link to the accepted students FB page and only 14 people are on it as of now. Obviously this isn't indicative of how many were accepted but its still clearly only a few, they definitely have a few more waves to send out!

I applied Dec 1 and received my complete application email Dec 12

Just got an acceptance to Columbia and to the dual degree I applied to at Penn in the span of 4 minutes wow what a RIDE

Anyone have insight on when BU releases decisions? I'd applied there as more of a backup, and am surprised they're taking as long as the top schools! Looks like in past years they may not have released decisions until late Feb/Early March?

Yeah I wouldn't be too worried, but interviews definitely vary based on the interviewer's style! I received 20k in merit scholarships, I have no idea if that's normal or high or low for them. Had a 3.56 at a T20 School, BA in Psych Minors in Education and Public Policy, taught full time through an Americorps program last school year if that gives you any reference.

Ahh any idea if this applies to regular MSW applicants as well?

I have been doing the same--Columbia and Berkeley are depressing as hell, and Penn looks better and better every day. I currently live in DC where there are no good MSW programs, but pay $1275 for a room in a shared house. Columbia and Berkeley would be way more, Penn way less, and BU pretty similar. I can't imagine how people afford Columbia with the insane tuition and NYC cost of living without some serious aid.

My interview with them was super easy! I had a last minute change in interviewer, so I'm not actually sure I had the typical experience. She took out a bunch of questions that she thought were answered in my application, so I'm not sure of those specifics but we went over the usual--what in your experience makes you want to pursue social work, what kind of career path are you looking for, why do you like Penn's program, what are your strengths and weaknesses etc.

I received an email from my interviewer a week after my interview, Dec 18th I believe. Just got my offer letter Monday! The holidays probably threw off most normal timing.

Hi all! I am also impatiently awaiting responses, February can't come fast enough. I submitted all of my applications in November, and applied to: UPenn MSW (accepted mid December, still awaiting financial info) UPenn Masters in Social Policy (dual degree program, interviewed Dec 23) Columbia MSW Berkeley MSW BU MSW Is anyone else applying to dual degrees at Penn? I'm also interviewing at Berkeley for their Child Welfare Scholars program, would love tips if anyone is doing the same.