Wishing

SFSU specifically is famous for this - it happened to my wife in a different program there and I also know several other people who had the same issue. According to the admissions dept. for that program, the aid award letters only go out to students who have been accepted and are not automatically processed for all students, but I don't know if it works that way for the MSW program. Apparently their turn-around time on sending out acceptances is pretty crummy and sometimes the aid arrives first. I'd call the admissions office and ask whether a decision has been made on your application.

Natalie, In general the advice is go to the least expensive place, which definitely includes the cost of living. Are you going for a clinical focus? If so, I'd choose the least expensive school. In general I think it's only worth it to pay more if there is something very specific at one school that you absolutely can't get someplace else. For me, I consider a well-developed macro program a necessity, since most programs don't have one. For most other people this logic doesn't make sense because the clinical options (aside from something very specific and specialized) are pretty much identical between schools. Good luck making your decision!

Cool, excited to be there with you! I applied for the relocation stipend when I submitted my deposit about a month ago. I haven't hard anything about it yet but I'll definitely post an update if I do so that others can get a sense of the timeline.

Boston University

See you there!!

MSW programs are actually exactly the type of program in which I think an extra year would benefit an applicant. Some people may disagree with this, but with other types of graduate programs (many types of PhDs and MDs come to mind) there is very little you can do to improve your application after a certain point and (anecdotally) people who re-apply don't seem to have different results. Plus, unlike those programs, MSW programs admit, on average, a much much higher number of applicants so there is no reason you would continually get rejected if you take steps to improve your application. IMO the major issues with MSW applications are a pretty east fix and basically fall into the following: 1. Additional human services experience is a must. Work or volunteer - it seems admissions committees like to see some combination of the two, and internships are also always good to add if possible. Show that you used this extra time to add to your experience and are committed to working in the field. 2. Grades. I don't know what your stats are (if you share them maybe we could give more specific advice), but if you have weaknesses in your transcript or could benefit at all from taking some additional classes to supplement your undergraduate coursework definitely consider taking some community college classes. If you have cash to throw around you could try to take graduate level courses in social work as a nonmatriculating student, but it's super expensive at most schools. Personally, I graduated with a BA in Political Science and Gender Studies, so in the time I took between undergrad and grad school applications I took some basic courses in psychology - intro, human development and in statistics. Research methods (in psych) is another good class to add to your record if you don't have it yet. If you can get good grades in these classes it will help boost your application and you may even be able to get letters of rec out of it if you are a particularly stand-out student. 3. Letters of rec. If you have any doubts about yours seek out different recommenders. Volunteer supervisors can make great recommenders. If you don't have strong academic recommendations you may be able to get better ones by taking extra classes. 4. Statement of purpose. Make sure you are able to articulate reasonable career goals for yourself as a social worker that are connected in some way to what the program you are looking at offers and to whatever extent possible your prior work or volunteer experience. Familiarize yourself with the programs you are applying to and make your application specific - why do you want to attend THAT school? What experiences will your bring to your class there? What drew you to this field and kept you interested? Answer the questions in the application as fully and completely as you can. I have not applied more than once, but I did get in to all the schools I applied to this time around and researched the process extensively for over 2 years before I applied. I have no doubt that I would have been rejected had I applied straight out of undergrad because I needed to work on areas 1 and 2 as described above in order to have a strong application. I needed more human services specific experience (rather than political experience) and coursework that showed I was capable of completing graduate level work in a discipline in which students (even macro students, like myself) need to have proficiency in understanding and working with people.

I am pretty sure it's never too late to rescind your admission as long as you haven't begun taking your classes. Obviously it's easier to rescind the less deep you are in the process, but don't feel like you HAVE to choose Columbia just because you already accepted. If NYU is the right school for you and/or they offer you a better financial aid package definitely consider it. You will lose the deposit but I'm sure this happens all the time. In my opinion, Columbia is kind of asking for this to happen because they admit students so quickly and then require a response soon afterwards. They know they're forcing students to commit before they have all of the information they need from other schools, so they shouldn't be too surprised when this happens.

I am pretty sure that is right, but obviously I am not the right person to ask. I know a couple of people who have moved to CA after going to school and practicing in other states and while it's been kind of a pain for them to get licensed it wasn't the end of the world. Also, knowing your boyfriend is in the military influences my answer to your question about the military concentration - if you think the school with the specific concentration is right for you, definitely go for it if you can afford it, but also consider doing some volunteer work or unofficial intern work where your boyfriend is stationed if at all possible. It sounds like you have some affiliations with the military that you could leverage to network if you take the initiative to do so.

I took post-bacc psych classes at a local community college, but I'm currently living in CA so it was very affordable. I'm not sure how expensive that would be in NY (assuming you live there.) I had a political science undergrad major so I wanted to show dedication to a deviation into social work from that. I took basics that were required by some programs - Intro to Psych, Human Development, Statistics, Research Methods. A lead on volunteer work with a time committment that isn't terrible is the Court Appointed Special Advocates program. In some states it is called Guardian ad Litem. Check to see whether your state requires you to be a lawyer or law student or whether anyone can apply. I am currently a CASA in California and I needed to do a 40 hour training before beginning but the time committment for the volunteer work is very reasonable - I do about 3 hour a week unless my child's case is up for review, and then it's more like 5 or 6 hour for a couple of weeks. In many programs MSWs supervise the volunteers, so you may even be able to get a letter of recommendation out of it. Other ideas are working at a women's shelter or domestic violence shelter, programs for at-risk youth, nonprofits dealing with social services. You can always contact organizations directly about volunteer opportunities and they're usually flexible on time committment. Good luck! It sounds like you are thinking in the right direction about how to improve your application and with that kind of attitude and the right experience you will definitely make it.

Oops, yes, this is what I was thinking of.

I don't know a lot about clinical licensing (I'm going to be a macro practice student and don't intend on seeking licensure), but if I recall correctly California is one of the states that requires supervised hours to be conducted in-state or with some other requirement that would make it desirable to begin one's supervised hours as an MSW student in field placement actually IN California. That said, I'd check out the concentration at USC. What exactly are they offering beyond the normal curriculum for this "concentration"? Is it experience you may be able to get elsewhere through a field placement working with the military/veterans? Or could you construct a similar experience at a less expensive school? Just some thoughts. I have a friend who went to USC and loved it, so it's definitely not something to rule out completely even if the debt is an issue. Good luck!

I thought I should post an update since I spoke with one of the BUSSW deans yesterday about the program. I didn't take super detailed notes, so bear with me. The school overall has about 425 students, but that is including the part-time students/students at other campuses, so the Charles River program is much smaller than that. He said class sizes are small: for foundation courses about 25 students, methods classes around 20, and advanced classes in the 2nd year are between 10-20, usually on the smaller end. He was SUPER nice on the phone, also. I have some phone conversations set up with current students over the next few days, so if I learn anything that might be of interest to others I will post it. Hope that helps someone!

I am actually from Boston - no worries! I don't mind the green line one bit.

Hah - I guess you are right.

Haha, yes Krisi, probably we should take the rest of this convo to PMs so people won't get too defensive! I'm sure UMich is a wonderful school and I defintiely have nothing against it! I just personally hate bureaucracy. Do I think they could do a better job being communicative with applicants/admitted students? Yes. Other people obviously have different experiences. No harm, no foul.