IJustWantAMSW

Congratulations!! I got accepted last night around 7pm. I applied for the online program. Also hoping to get a good award package ??

No way! Congratulations!!! I also applied for the online program. I haven't seen a status change yet but hopefully I’ll see you in a class in Spring! so excited for you!

I’ve been checking my email obsessively every hour since I’ve submitted ?. Did you apply for online or on campus?

Hi everyone! I just submitted my application for the Spring 2022 term at Columbia. I was wondering if anyone else applied for Spring as well?? I know they said the average time to hear back is 8 weeks, but I do hope they start rolling out decisions earlier since they don't get as many applicants in the spring.

Hi! I had this same question, since I live in DC currently and Maryland is obviously the closer choice. But I really wanted to do an online program as it would allow me more flexibility between my career and personal life. However, I spent a lot of time looking into each schools research programs, the bios of each professor, where alumni ended up, and then determined based off that which school aligned with my educational and career goals the most. At the end of the day, you will be qualified to be a social worker from either school and both programs are excellent, but try to read up on the professors and determine which ones you would like to study under the most. You can also look up professor ratings and reviews from students on sites like RateMyProfessors. If you would like to stay in the DMV area and try for a high-pay government social work position, I don't think you can go wrong with either as u-maryland has connections in DC, but so does Columbia and it has that known Ivy League name. If you want to try eventually for a leadership position in any location, you might get more of a foot in the door by having the Columbia name in your resume. Butttt, if you are just a really good social worker and get good references and recognitions from the places you work, you can obviously still have opportunities to land high level positions regardless of the school you went to. I hope you are able to figure out your perfect match!

I was wondering if you could share which program you accepted and your thoughts on the program?

Thanks! Yeah after reviewing it it seems like these programs have the same staff delivering both online and on-campus courses. I would apply to on-campus but being in DC proper I don't qualify for in-state tuition for any MD or VA MSW programs, making the few programs here such as Catholic and Howard being just as expensive as online. I spoke to a admissions counselor from Columbia yesterday and they told me I would be able to use my current employment as my field experience in their reduced residency program, so that is extremely attractive as I already work full-time and it would be amazing to not add 16 hours at a different agency on top of that with coursework.

I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience of online MSW programs and the quality of professors teaching the online courses? I am currently looking to apply for the advance standing online programs at Boston University, University of Michigan, and Columbia. I currently work full-time as a victim advocate in Washington, D.C. so I'm not sure if Columbia would be a good fit since they are full-time only and require 21 hours of internship a week.