IPmsw2020

I'm honestly so irritated with CU...I applied Nov 1st, I hear nothing except for social impact live emails until March 2nd when I finally call them. Then I coincidentally get an updated portal yesterday, the day I finally called? Like if you knew I was waitlisted why couldn't you have told me, I find it hard to believe they just made the decision yesterday. It is so annoying it took four months just for them to give a "maybe". Ugh. Kept me waiting SO long just to wait some more. And I don't wanna sound paranoid, but CU was the only application I disclosed that I have Borderline Personality Disorder because I assumed they would be chill about the disorder (it is SO stigmatized) because of the DBT program, which I would've wanted to do, which I talked about in my essay. Now I'm thinking I shot myself in the foot by disclosing that. I'm regretting that essay so much rn. Just needed to vent. Also, CONGRATS to everyone that got in!!!! You got into a freaking IVY!!!!

UMich also waitlisted me lol. I know it's not a no, but I don't really agree with people saying it's a yes. I'm essentially benchwarming, I'm not really playing for the team. I am so happy I'm never applying to schools again, the process is so unbelievably frustrating.

well cu finally sent my decision, i got waitlisted.

“you should be receiving an email with an update soon”

if it makes you feel any better, i applied nov 1st and haven't heard anything. I'm going to call monday

I was making a joke about how many gd emails CU sends but has yet to send any decision info

Hi yes, just one thing I'd like to discuss--AM I IN OR NOT?!?!?

Congrats!!!!

at this point, i think the social impact live emails from cu are just being sent to me as a sick joke

idk for sure but im pretty sure i got multiple emails about my application being complete. i think it's a tech error but idk for sure

FOR REAL! When did you apply?

OMG CONGRATS!!!!!

does anyone know when Loyola Chicago sends financial aid packages?

I am so sorry you got rejected, being rejected really, really sucks, and it is totally normal to be hurt by it. But first things first, you just got admitted into an Ivy League School!!!! That is INCREDIBLE!!! Seeing as you got into CU but not UT Austin, I would assume UT Austin either got full, had too many people applying for a certain concentration, had a quota for admissions based on locations, etc. Honestly, it really seems like the admissions process for any grad school is incredibly flawed. I truly do not believe that acceptances or rejections from a school is a good judge of your character, intelligence, or qualifications. A GPA, three letters of recommendations, a transcript, a resume, and an essay(s) is not enough to judge someone's ability to become a social worker or to get the full picture of who you are as a human. Not to mention there was literally a scandal recently about rich people paying their childrens' ways into college (idk about people doing this for MSW programs but who knows). Maybe you had just gotten dumped last fall by your partner of 4 years, and then immediately had to write a bunch of grad school essays as well as be a full-time student, are those going to be good representations of your actual abilities in social work? Are those essays going to be the best quality you could do? These are only snapshots of your academic career that neglect any outside forces affecting your quality of work, and do not represent you wholly. Like, you could date someone for over a year and still be learning new things about them daily, how could an application with such little information about you be an accurate and complete representation of your skills and personality? Again, it is totally normal and valid to be hurt by rejections. It hurts, it makes you question your abilities. Let yourself be disappointed and sad, but don't let it dictate your self-worth. You clearly have qualifications if you got into CU. If you were truly incompetent/stupid/a bad fit for social work/etc., you wouldn't have gotten into anywhere (and even then it could've just been bad luck or an overly competitive year).

Current Ann Arbor resident here to confirm that COL in AA and Chicago are pretty much identical, and AA has a lot less to offer compared to Chicago yet is as expensive (I've have family in Chicago and am decently familiar with the city). If you go to U of M, live in Ypsi for the love of all things holy, it just is not worth it to live in AA. Also, AA rent is skyrocketing up. I don't know about Chicago but AA is just a ticking time bomb in terms of rent prices. I mentioned it before in this thread but I'm currently paying $750 + utilities for one bed in a five bed apartment that's a ~15 min walk from campus and is very much a college apartment in terms of quality. This house that has been turned into apartments comfortably holds like 8-10 residents MAX and currently has I believe 16, and the South Campus area will be same pricing and even worse quality. Parking is an absolute nightmare despite the fact that a car is incredibly handy because this is just barely a city and you will likely be in a food desert. I am double parked in a parking lot that holds 5 cars comfortably currently holding 9. I am extremely lucky to get free parking with my apt, landlords like to charge 50-100 a month for a spot. Street parking is a nightmare as well. Frankly, if UChicago and UM are the same price, I do not know what the Ann Arbor area offers that Chicago doesn't plus more. I really, really advise not to make the decision of UM over UChicago based on COL. Only stipulation being that Detroit has SO much to offer for field placements, but I feel like many of those same opportunities can be found in Chicago's more low-income areas. Honestly, you get much more bang with your buck in Chicago based on what that high COL gets you. There are townhomes a block down from Main Street, Ann Arbor and they cost $1 million, and it is almost hilarious how much it isn't worth that. Like my manager and I have joked about how much of a waste of money that is. What's appealing of AA over Chicago is the somewhat college town-y feel, but that's being geared more and more for rich students every year (UM is the least socioeconomically diverse college in the entire country for a reason). Many of the dive restaurants/eccentric shops that you find in a normal college town are disappearing rapidly and being replaced with Soulcycles and poke restaurants (there's like 3 within a ten minute walk of my place that didn't exist before I came to college). Ann Arbor may seem like a city if you're from a small town like I was. It really isn't. I would say it's barely urban leaning suburban. If you want to work in a suburban area then UM is your choice, but personally, I think it's worth it to pick UChicago instead. Obviously, you're choice, you may view things differently than I do, but as someone who has lived in AA for four years (and has worked downtown for 2) and knows Chicago pretty well, the COL is much, much more justified in Chicago. Chicago is a city, AA is a slightly urban college town. Edit: Obviously, choose the program that fits best with your career goals. Don't not come to UM just because the area isn't as bustling as Chicago. I just wanted to say that I wouldn't pick UM over Chicago just because of the COL.

Unfortunately, yes. Apply to as many scholarships as possible, talk to the financial aid offices and press them for any grants you may qualify for, and try to work during the summer (if you have summers off). Based on my own stress-induced dives into different MSW forums, I've learned it's kind of inevitable to end up with student loan debt with an MSW. It is SO BS because we're literally working for free and then we have to work for money as well as take classes, and this is all to go into a low-paying field. We want to help make the world a better place doing the jobs that are desperately needed, an MSW should not be this expensive. I highly recommend doing some student loan repayment calculations before deciding on going to a school and getting into way more debt than you will be able to afford to pay off. There are some loan forgiveness programs but from most accounts I've heard it's a super unreliable way to go about student loan debt as an MSW, especially under the current administration. I'm probably not going to my top-choice school, I'm most likely going to Wayne State in Detroit because it's cheapest and I will likely be commuting from my parents' house. Remember that where you get your degree from isn't as important as your experience in social work. I have been so stressed over finances I am legitimately considering finding a sugar daddy lol, it is totally normal to be stressed over MSW costs.

@madisonc7 good luck today!!!

I'm just gonna throw it out there that I'm an undergrad at UMich and if anyone has questions about life in Ann Arbor/surrounding area, parking (a nightmare)/transportation, the SSW (I'm in the minor so obviously not going to know MSW specific stuff but I know some things!), general UMich questions hmu! Also, the advice I've gotten about the financial aid for the MSW program is 1) expect little and 2) try to get a GSI position (aka TA) or try to find work at the SSW itself. By the way, as someone who knows some social workers in the Ann Arbor-area, you go to UMich SSW for the research they offer. If you are mostly interested in clinical work, not macro work or SW research, it might not be the best to pay this much for a school that is so heavily research-focused. The rep it has for clinical training isn't the best compared to other schools in Michigan. ESPECIALLY since where you get your degree doesn't matter nearly as much as your experience in SW. I heard it's good for political social work, though. PS: I highly recommend Sandra Momper if she teaches an MSW class while you're there! She's the best, and cares SO much about her students. PSS (PPS?): If you can avoid it, DO NOT live in Ann Arbor itself. I personally pay $750 a month (plus utilities) for one room in a five bedroom apartment that's a 15 min walk to campus and not luxury by any means. Ann Arbor landlords are notoriously horrible. Not to mention that you're only going to campus for class and not your field placement which could be anywhere in like a three-hour radius from Ann Arbor. If you are gonna live in Ann Arbor, avoid the high-rises unless you wanna go bankrupt for shoddily-constructed "luxury" apartments. If you desperately need a high-rise apartment, go with University Towers. Has a bad reputation but it's honestly pretty close to the same quality as the other high-rises for less, not to mention free coffee/tea in the lobby, a pool and gym. I also recommend joining some undergrad Facebook groups because someone is always trying to sublet/give up their entire lease and people can get pretty desperate with the prices. Your Student ID card allows you free unlimited bus rides and the buses go out to Ypsi. If you're willing to take a bus to the SSW instead of walking, live in Ypsi for half the cost and a much nicer place. There's stigma around Ypsi for being "dangerous" but that stigma is super racialized and you should be fine as long as you lock your doors and don't leave valuables in your car, which you should do anyways in Ann Arbor (if you want my rant about Ypsi's reputation DM me). Google Maps has all the bus routes programmed in, and you can put in possible apartments and see the buses that can take you to the SSW. PSSS: Do not be afraid of a Detroit field placement. Detroit isn't as dangerous as the national reputation is. It has a similar racialized stigma as Ypsi and the reputation is only because of the white flight leaving poor Detroiters of color to survive on their own with absolutely no resources. The community is wonderful, there is amazing work being done and would be invaluable experience for your work. The joke that Detroit is a wasteland of crime is really just code for "there are a lot of poor black people." If you're by Wayne State you will be especially fine, they have a faster police response time than UofM and I've heard of Detroit police literally following you as you walk around the campus until you get to your destination. Just use common sense as you would in literally any other city. You're not going to be mugged every time you turn a corner. If you want my rant about Detroit you can also DM me lmao.

Wow I am so sorry you had to go through 2 surgeries in undergrad, that seems extremely hard to juggle with being a college student. I really hope your applications reflect how strong you are for making it through all of those health issues. I have PCOS but my disability is mental health related, which via therapy and medications is finally under control (usually lol). I also had "the worst case of mono" my doctor had ever seen, so that also involved hospitalization as well lol. (I woke up in a panic attack so bad that I thought I was actually having a heart attack the day of my interview with UM). I have had a lot of physical health issues as well but thankfully, besides the mono, haven't really interfered with academics. I had surgery my senior year of high school and it was horrible to try and catch up with everything. I couldn't begin to even imagine trying to recover from surgery in undergrad. Let alone twice. I don't know you and I am so proud of you. Do you have endo? Because I have heard that is absolutely brutal to manage. Regardless of what your disability is, it sounds like you have been through so much in college which is already extremely stressful by itself. Unfortunately, even if they do make an active effort to accommodate, sometimes disabilities just get in the way. As someone who has taken health leaves as well, I know how hard it is to try and manage everything and try to appear like a good candidate for grad school. Heck, it's hard enough to just try and graduate in a normal amount of time and feel like you're on the same path as your friends. Congratulations on being on the road to graduation (or if you've already graduated), that is a HUGE accomplishment of itself. The fact that you've been through all of this suffering and still come out wanting to go into a lower-paying field that is devoted to helping others, including making clients a priority over yourself, is a reflection of your character. You are so strong and you have such an amazing heart.

I don't think I deserve it more than anyone else here. Looking at some of the stats it sounds like everyone here is super qualified and passionate. I really, really, appreciate your comment though. I really needed some validation today. Thank you so so so so much.

Man I need to vent. Anyone just getting annoyed by this whole process? I applied CU and if they're still reviewing applications I don't understand why they wouldn't review all the priority deadline apps before releasing any decisions. I applied November 1st and am still waiting. I don't wanna be impatient and rude but ugh I purposefully tried to apply as early as I could to find out my status ASAP (and have a better shot of getting in). I know it's super immature to feel this way but it's frustrating to be waiting weeks after all of my other decisions. I applied UMich and they contacted and wanted an interview. I interviewed and then got waitlisted. It's really bothering me that they didn't know based on my application if they wanted me, and then their final decision was "I guess we'll leave it up to fate if you get in, we could go either way." It really hurts especially since I go here for undergrad and am in the minor through the SSW. I'm just getting really frustrated because I read a bunch of people's stats on here and I literally could not compete due to disability. 2017 I was hospitalized due to health issues 5 different times, for a total of over a month spent in a hospital that year, and have been slowly recovering and working up to being a fully functional adult, which I have been for the past year. But I still can't overwork myself that much for my own health and wellbeing. I work 10-15 hours a week, go to school fulltime, and volunteer online for like an hour a week. I am going back to volunteering at a local homeless shelter this semester after taking last semester off to do grad school apps. I disclosed my disability on my apps as well. I am SO happy for everyone who got in where they wanted, some of the people on this forum have truly done amazing things and clearly worked hard and deserve it. Like the world is so lucky to have y'all going into social work. Everyone here will be amazing social workers. I hope I don't sound arrogant, I just feel frustrated with myself and my situation. I've been so frustrated with my disability all through undergrad, as I've had to give up great opportunities in order to maintain my health, and now it feels like it's greatly affecting my future in grad school. Like there's no way I can compete with able-bodied people and I'm so mad that I'm in this situation. Edit: Not to mention I literally was in the ER the morning of my interview with UM due to a flare-up. I got discharged at 10 am and raced to my apartment to get ready before my interview at 1pm.

This is an older thread, but my therapist (who is the owner of a large private practice) said she refuses to hire people with an online MSW degree. She is older, however, so younger employers may view it differently. But that is one thing to consider.

I interviewed mid-January and was told of my decision (waitlist) yesterday. It's pretty chill. It feels like any job interview: what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, why UMich, describe a time you overcame something, where you want to do field placements, what are your interests in social work, where do you see yourself in 5 years. Then they kind of just went down the list of my volunteer experience and asked about the context of all of them.

I haven't called but I have read from previous years that they get around to notifying in mid-February. Columbia is the last school I'm waiting to hear back by lol