ellie811
-
Posts
57 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by ellie811
-
Some general questions about the MSW, please help
ellie811 replied to blueled's topic in Social Workers Forum
Two things I want to chime in on: 1. Law jobs are totally dependent on YOU. My husband is in law school (3L) and his school doesn't rank, but he's in the top 3. He hasn't had ANY trouble finding jobs. If you're willing to bust your butt and finish at the top of your class, you'll be fine. He spends 60-80 hours/week studying. Your call on whether you're up for committing that amount of time. 2. Child welfare jobs are HARD. I worked as a caseworker and it was so, so challenging. (I worked in Cincinnati and my pay started at 32k with the bachelors and basically no experience --- pay goes up for experience, education, etc...I had co-workers who started at 40k. Supervisors usually started at 46k) It was challenging partly because I wasn't properly trained/equipped to deal with the mental health and substance abuse issues. But even with that knowledge, the workload is astronimical, the emotional strain is unbelievable. It takes incredible organization, and top-knotch coping skills to deal with it. I will never forget the first time I had to remove a child from a home, I can still see the tears, I can still hear the questions. I can't count the number of times I sat in my car and cried for the pain of the children I was responsible for. The trauma, the abuse, the neglect, the horrible conditions...you won't believe it till you see it. BUT WE NEED COMPASSIONATE, COMPETENT WORKERS! I know I just made it sound like an awful job, but workers are so desperately needed. The horrific cycles of abuse need intervention, these families need to be empowered, justice needs to be sought. I see so many kids every day in the juvenile detention center I currenty work in who would not be in their situation if someone had helped years ago. -
Well, I finally heard back on financial aid (it's been 4.5 weeks since I was admitted). I only got $3,000 a semester. Attached to my email was an acceptance to the Community Based-Initiative Program, which was interesting because I applied to the Child Welfare program, NOT the CBI. So, I called to find out what was up and they basically said "oh, sorry, we sent you the wrong form". So, no scholarship. Still waiting on the Child Welfare decisions, but it's looking like I'm not going to be attending school this year with only $3,000 (and a fake scholarship offer).
-
I submitted 10/17. My app status/friend account email from Michael Dermott came on 10/19. My application wasn't complete until 11/7 (waiting on a letter). I was admitted 2/6. So, it was 3 months from the time my application was complete until I received a decision.
-
At my current job it's not an issue because I'm only in this city for 3 years (husband is in law school) and they've known all along I'm going to be leaving. I have a small department (just 4 of us) and they're plotting to kidnap me so I can't leave (Whether I get to go to grad school or not, I'm moving in August for my husband's job post-graduation this spring) At my last job, I had been there less than a year before I knew I'd be leaving to come where I am now. I ended up giving 5 weeks notice. I wanted to give more, I was a caseworker and it's a lot of work to transfer cases and I wanted lots of time to notify my clients and providers, but our union representative advised me to not give more than 5. He actually told me to do just 2 weeks, but I wanted to do more. My supervisor was very appreciative of my extra notice and I worked very hard to help the transfer of my cases go smoothly. Some things to consider: 1. How long will it take them to hire your replacement? (at my last job there was a hiring freeze so no one was being hired, at my current job they had spent 6 months interviewing people before hiring me) 2. Will you help train the new worker? 3. What have other employees done when leaving? 4. What is your supervisors education/work history? (this will give a little bit of insight into how they'll respond to your departure) Not knowing your details, it's hard to give a suggestion. However, I think 6-8 weeks is generally plenty of time. Wait until you're settled on your school and know exactly when you'll need to move, and count backwards from that.
-
They just posted this on facebook: "You will receive notification separately about your status with any special programs. We are working very hard to send out notification on the special programs as quickly as possible!" My original deadline was TODAY, I got it extended to 3/24. As I haven't heard anything about financial aid, I don't know how those deadlines work.
-
Did anyone apply to the Child Welfare Program? Have you heard back about it yet?
-
Congrats! ....and 3.5 weeks after my admission I'm still waiting to hear anything about financial aid. BUT, I'm doing a much better job coping with the frustration/anxiety now than I was last week. Here's a cool calculator I found today that I've been playing with, maybe some of y'all might be interested in plugging in some numbrs to see how things come out for you, too. Not that we're in the field for the money, but it's a good thing to consider. http://www.learnvest.com/2012/01/grad-school-calculator/#content
-
I emailed ssw.msw.info@umich.edu, and when I called today to check to see if they got the email, I was told it had been received, printed and placed on the desk of the person who made the decisions and they would email me back. Haven't heard anything. I'm really confused about why I haven't heard anything yet. I applied Oct 17 and was admitted Feb 6. People who were admitted after me have heard back. If they're not gonna give me any money I wish they'd just say it so I could move on! I'm moving to Ann Arbor for my husband's job and so Michigan is the only school I applied to.
-
I called the University Financial Aid office today and they told me they won't notifying anyone of financial aid (loans, etc) until next week. They wouldn't even confirm they had received my FAFSA. My deposit deadline is Thursday and I'm pretty frustrated. I requested an extension on Friday (via email as I was told on the phone). I called this morning to see if I had been granted an extension and they said they'd get back to me, but haven't yet. I cannot make an enrollment decision without ALL my financial info (scholarships, special programs, grants, loans, etc) ... I'm really afraid I'm going to have to say NO just because I don't have the information.
-
My husband got HUGE scholarship increases for law school by asking for more money. He'd write and explain that he was honored to have been offered what they did, but he still couldn't afford to attend. He would say "X school is offering me Y amount more". Almost every single time he got more money. One school went from $10,000 to $30,000! Obviously law school is different than MSW, but it can never hurt to ask!
-
I asked for an extension on my deposit deadline. Haven't heard on any scholarships/loans/grants/special programs yet...3 weeks since my admission!
-
It's driving me crazy not having any info about financial aid! I applied in October because I was told scholarships are given out on a rolling basis. I've decided that isn't true and at this point I'm not anticipating getting ANY merit aid, which means I won't be able to go to school. Boo.
-
Aw that sucks! Did you get an email or what?
-
Congrats! Did it actually said a few days? My letter said "please expect to receive a separate email from the School regarding financial aid in the near future." As for the date you need to respond by, if you received an email look at the attachment - that's the formal letter where my date was. OR, online click "respond now" and it'll have a date (you don't have to actually give them an answer when you click respond now, you can go back/cancel out of the page)
-
Congrats on getting in! What not-so-good things have you heard? My co-worker applied. It's ranked #1. Her only thing was that it seemed pretty research focused when she's more interested in clinical. Did they say it's standard to be interviewed for scholarships? (just asking b/c my co-worker is curious)
-
1-2 weeks? They want a decision on whether I'll enroll on March 1... that doesn't give me a lot of time to think about whether it's possible once I find out my financial aid offer!
-
I'm not sure, you'll need to talk to your bank about that. I do know they're uliminating the subsidized loans in the future - not sure what that does to exisitng loans. My husband is in law school and has some subsidized loans and he's been told by the school that it will start accruing interest in July (he graduates in May, so this is before the 6 month waiting period). We haven't heard this directly from the bank though. Interest rates will be going to around 7% in July I believe. (I am not a financial expert, I am not a banker, do not take any of this as 100% truth. I have done research, but don't have time not to re-research or provide sources. Do your own research and borrow conservatively.)
-
I'm not sure if this program is in place, but, even if it is now, doesn't mean it will be later. They could eliminate the program next month, next year, in 5 years. Please don't put yourself in a situation of depending on a program that can go away in an instant! It's like how the subsidized loans that don't accrue interest while in school are being eliminated as of July 1.
-
I got an official acceptance email from Michigan this afternoon. Still nothing on financial aid. (The email says I'll get financial aid at a separate time, but links to where it says I'll get it at the same time, ha)
-
I would be very, very cautious about thinking about loan forgiveness programs. Most of those are from federal funding which can change in the blink of an eye. You're better off paying off a loan quickly and saving on interest than paying it for a long time and getting the last little bit forgiven. I had $17,000 in loans for my undergrad, and worked my butt off to pay it off in 1 year, saving about $4,000 in interest by doing so. No, it wasn't easy. I didn't buy any clothes during that year, no vacations, basically no fun money for anything....I was paying over half our monthly income to the loan. But, it was nice 1 year out of undergrad to be completely debt free! (no credit card debt, paid cash for a used car)
-
I got my acceptance on Wolverine Access and did not receive an email.
-
I'm hoping to do the webinar, but I never can know when I'll get off work. I asked about it a few weeks ago and they said they'll post the transcript online within a few days. I doubt I'll go to the Spring Open House as I live out of state and have to work. I went to the open house in the fall and found almost everything covered I had already read online. But it was nice to be able to see campus for the first time.
-
I will under no circumstances pay Michigan's $38,000/year out of state tuition. I am very passionate about social work, but part of my passion involves being fiscally responsible. They will need offer me A LOT of financial aid to persuade me to attend. It is not worth being in debt. If it doesn't work out this fall, I plan on applying to a state school sometime in the next few years once my husband's career has gotten underway and we've settled somewhere as we've been moving a lot lately (it will be 5 times in 6 years)
-
I think it's worth calling about the discrepancy between your UPS delivery confirmation and their system. I mailed my transcript, so they do accept them from individuals.
-
I was complete 11/7 and got my acceptance today through the website. My GPA was just 3.1 but I have lots of experience and great letters of recommendation as I've been out of college for almost 5 years. I haven't received any financial information. You can look online to see when your transcript was received, and when your letters of recommendations were submitted. Until everything is there, your application isn't complete. So, you could have submitted your application on November 1st, but if your last letter didn't get there until mid January, you missed early admission.