vmpancucci

Same here. No, not about the child welfare stipend. I'm talking about any fellowships or aid that the department gives to MSW students. There has to be some department support, right?!

Has anyone heard about merit/departmental aid/fellowships?! I've only heard about the child welfare stipend?! I'm getting nervous!

UCLA!

Ugh. So upset I can't be at the admitted students open house.

I did!!! =) Is there a Facebook group you found? Also, I have not been able to get in touch with Lance at all to have some questions answered. I submitted my SIR and SLR yesterday and want to know about when we can expect to hear back about merit based aid. I also want a tour of the campus.

Has anyone found a group on Facebook for those of us attending UCLA this fall? =)

I just spoke with Amber from the USC Office of Admissions and she told me that all 10 recipients of the Dean's Leadership Scholarship have been notified. If we have not been notified, we were not selected as recipients. Bummer, right? UCLA it is!

Thank you so much for your feedback and response! Small cohort size is really important to me! From what I hear, USC has an incoming class of like 900+ students, which is outrageous! What specifically have you heard about UCLA's curriculum with regards to going through transition? I'm totally with you on the cost. Also, did you just drop by the department or did you schedule something? I live in Boston right now, but am from LA and I'm visiting campus next week. Lance has not gotten back to me about scheduling a time to meet with someone in the department and am unfortunately unable to attend the admitted students orientation. Thanks for your reply!

@FutureMSW2012: It's between USC and UCLA for me! What was your rationale in applying to just UCLA? What have you heard about the program? What are some big sellers about the program for you! Trying to make my mind up! Hope we see each other this fall!

It's between USC and UCLA for me!

Thanks, Inspired10! Leaning towards UCLA. I'm visiting family in LA area next week and am visiting USC and UCLA while I'm there. However, I'm trying to call and email Lance to see if I can get a brief tour of the department and to possibly sit-in a class, but he hasn't been responding. Are you going to choose UCLA?

I submitted my application before December 15th and wrote a diversity statement for fellowship/merit-based consideration. Still waiting to hear back!

It's most likely the letter is from the graduate division financial aid office. The same thing was told to me at USC: that I would receive a letter from the university financial aid office that would just be loans and work study. My scholarships, grants, merit-based need award letter would come from the department/school of social work.

Was the awards letter from the UCLA graduate division or from the Department of Social Welfare? If they're like any other school, the grad division solely gives out loans/work study. It's the department that is responsible for notifying you of scholarships, grants, etc.

Hey everyone, now that many of us have gotten in, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss what we've heard about the program itself. For example, incoming class size, Teacher to Student ratio, and general impressions of the program. I'm trying to choose between USC and UCLA and need to know more about the program besides what's on the website. Thanks!

Congrats! What does the email say? I'm still waiting for my Grad Division notification!

Has anyone received notification from the UCLA grad division? My acceptance letter said to wait for it, but how long will it take? I need to get back to USC before April 6th.

Again, prestige doesn't matter. We have it pounded into our heads our whole lives that we have to go to the most "prestigious" universities to get ahead in life. For social work, that's simply not the case. Social work is social work and licensing is all the same. Employers don't care where you went as long as it's accredited and that you passed your licensing examination. In the end, we're all going to take the same exam to become LCSWs, except some of us will be in more debt than others. Take a look at a few programs. Most of them are exactly the same. You have foundation courses and specialization courses. The curriculum is pretty standardized across the board, with minor variations in specializations and elective courses. Unless you're going for your PhD it matters very little how prestigious an institution it is. Go to Chicago over Columbia. Just my two cents.

Just got the email from Lance! I was admitted!!!!!!!! Good luck to everyone still waiting!!!!!!!!

Has anyone else heard from UCLA?! The wait is unbearable!

I hope that I hear back this week!!!

Thanks, SarahSW and lccsf! It's for the best! I'll be happy regardless at one of the other schools I was accepted to! Good luck to you both! =)

The wait is over...*drum roll* "Dear vmpancucci, I regret to inform you that you have not been accepted for graduate study in Social Welfare at UC Berkeley. All of the material submitted with your application has been reviewed by the Social Welfare admissions committee. Unfortunately, they were unable to recommend you for admission. The Berkeley campus has a strict enrollment ceiling and thus we are very limited in the number of students we may admit each year. The School of Social Welfare also experienced a record number of applications for fall 2012 resulting in the admissions committee having the difficult task of selecting a small number of students from a large pool of well-qualified applicants. Unfortunately, this results in not being able to accept many applicants who are capable of excellent academic work. I am sorry that we do not have a place for you in this year's entering class and hope that you will be able to make other arrangements to achieve your goals. Sincerely, Admissions Office School of Social Welfare UC Berkeley" Good luck to all of you still waiting to hear and for the support provided through this forum! You're all gonna be amazing social workers!

I'm sorry to hear that!!!! I'm sure that you were qualified, but due to space, they probably had to make some hard decisions! I'm still waiting to hear back, which is horrible to say the least. =(

Thanks, Inspired10. That's very nice of you! I'm from California, but have been living in Boston for 2 years. I definitely want to go back to California. I would happy with Berkeley and UCLA. I would love to go to USC, but am waiting to hear how much it's going to cost to go! What's your first choice if you don't mind me asking? =)