[MSW program-Decisiveness is not my strong suit...]

Hi all-

I am trying to decide which Master of Social Work program to attend in the fall and am a nervous mess as a result of my indecisiveness.

I have narrowed it down to three schools: UNC-Chapel Hill, Columbia, and NYU. I have visited all of the schools and found positives and negatives about all of them--

-Columbia: technically the best ranked program I am considering and has good name recognition, but it is the most expensive of the three.

-NYU: ranks significantly lower than Columbia and costs only a little less, but I really liked the school and its location when I visited.

-UNC: ranks just a little below Columbia and is significantly cheaper than the other two (but still quite expensive as I am out-of-state.)

My main concern is the cost of the programs. I am going to owe a large sum by the end of my MSW anyway and I can't decide if it's just worth it to spend the extra on Columbia or NYU. I also feel like I might prefer to live in a busier and more diverse place like New York, but I can't decide if it's worth the extra money.

I have to decide by tomorrow so any and all advice is appreciated!! Thanks!

Just curious... which school did you end up choosing?

[2011 Applications]

Was accepted to NYU and Maryland! NYU is really my top choice but they offered $8,000 in financial aid, which would make the tuition 26,000 for the first year. Maryland is 20,000 a year but I haven't heard back about an award yet.

Anyone who's decided on NYU found a way to negotiate their financial aid package, or just settled on taking out the loans?

Still waiting to hear from Boston U.

[2011 Applications]

Was rejected by SFSU via snail mail. At least they were nice about it. I guess it's a good thing because they weren't my top choice but I would have been able to go there for free, and probably would not have been able to turn down a free education had I been accepted. Oh well. Still waiting to hear from NYU, BU, and Maryland. Really on pins and needles here...

[2011 Applications]

I got an e-mail from SFSU today telling me to view my financial aid offer. I got a significant financial aid award, but no acceptance letter. I want to be excited but I've heard of people, from this exact forum, getting a financial aid package but then getting a rejection letter shortly afterwards... Anyone else in the same boat?

[2011 Applications]

Hello. I'm a long time reader who finally decided to join. I've applied to 4 schools for MSW Fall '11:

NYU, Boston U, University of Maryland, and SFSU. I haven't heard back from any of them but I"m not surprised as I applied shortly before the deadline for each of them. I have seen people mention NYU, SFSU, and Boston U but has anyone applied to Maryland? Or know of someone who has?