Catlovers141

I got my letter today (finally!) and I got in! So I guess we are classmates.

Thank you. Still no word. I'm hoping that you heard several days before me because you submitted your application earlier, and not because I was rejected and they are sending rejections after acceptances. :/ The waiting continues to drive me crazy!

Congratulations! Maybe mine will come today. Now I'm nervous! (As if I wasn't before...). I'm very happy for you that you got in. Hopefully we will be classmates!

I haven't heard anything either. When I wrote to them, they said it would be 2-3 weeks, and that was two weeks ago. So I'm guessing we should hear sometime in the next week. I have been tempted to contact them again and ask for an update on a more accurate time frame, but I don't want to be annoying. I will post here when I hear something. I hope we both get in!

I kept most textbooks from classes related to my major, and a few of the other novel-type books that we had to read. But I rarely re-read entire books, so I got rid of most of the ones I did not think I would need to briefly reference again. They are just too heavy and I have limited space, and I know I will accumulate a lot more in grad school!

I know! It is very odd that we got different responses. I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that we would hear by 4/26 but I can't find it. I guess the anxiety will have to continue for a little while longer, but hopefully once we get the letter it will be replaced by excitement and relief.

I pre-make a lot of salads, and I also eat a lot of frozen foods (frozen vegetables and pre-cooked chicken). I also really like the individual servings of mac and cheese that you microwave for 3 minutes. They are really cheap, and if you get the store-brand they are only around 80 cents each.

hiclub2, I applied to the online program. All that is missing from my application is a reference letter. I'm not sure I will be able to handle it though with my job. They require more field hours than the other online option I am considering, which can be really great, but I don't know how I would do it time-wise with my job. I am disappointed though because out of all of the ones I applied to, it seems like the best program. The other thing that I've found frustrating with applying to BU is that their deadline is May 1st, which is a few months after all of my others were due. I will receive all my other offers before BU even looks at my application.

I also wrote to Admissions yesterday to check when the decisions would be sent out, and they responded that it would be in 2-3 weeks by mail.

I have also heard good things about CASA, and they do appear to be in most areas. It sounds like really great experience.

Figaro, you said it perfectly. As Gloria Steinem as stated in the past, when a career is dominated by women, the pay and benefits are low, and the reverse is true when a field is dominated by men. I think it is insulting that pay is so low -- this is such important and difficult work, and it feels like it would be worth more to agencies and the public. I've seen jobs that require master's degrees and years of experience that are only willing to pay $25,000. Really?!

I hope you do get in and you don't have to worry about applying again, but I do want to tell you about some volunteer work that I have done. For the past three years I have volunteered a few hours a week at an online hotline. It was really great, because it was like IM and you would have clients from all over the world. And since it is on the internet, you don't have to be in a specific place either (it was the only volunteer job that I was able to do in my room in my pajamas!). I thought it was good experience, and I was able to say a lot about it in my personal statement, which is also important. You are right that experience is important, but it is equally important to demonstrate what you have learned from it. If you want more information about the hotline I use, feel free to message me. Full disclosure is that it is sponsored by a religious organization so some of the training is faith-based. However, it is far from a prayer line and really operates like a regular hotline once you get past the training. Just thought you and anyone else should know in case that would be a deal-breaker.

More is always better than less. When you did the mentoring and teaching, were you working with children? If not, it might be a good idea to find some experience related to children before you apply, especially if you are planning on applying to the more selective schools, like the ones you mentioned. I think the other important thing is what you get out of your experience, and how you convey that in personal statements and interviews. If you feel like you have a lot to say about the experience that you have gained, it might look better than someone who perhaps has a little more experience than you do but does not have a lot to say about it.

Two of the schools I applied to had a human biology requirement, but would not deny you admission just because you did not fulfill it. However, they would make you take it before the end of your first year of grad school. So you could wait and see if any of the schools you apply to want biology and if so, maybe take it at a community college over the summer so it is not a part of your regular course load?

I am in the social work field, and I would say that it is easier for men to find jobs in this field and related fields because there are so many women employed in this field and not very many men. In an effort to even out the ratio of women:men and for other reasons, agencies often view men very favorably. Of course, that does not mean that just because you are a man that you will automatically be hired, but you do have an edge.

I completed last week, so I might find out a little later than you unfortunately.

Thank you for getting back to me. I'm hoping I will hear around the same time you do, but maybe mine will be a little later since I just completed my application last week. :/ Good luck to you; I hope we both get in!

Also, do you know if we will hear by email, phone, or snail mail?

Did you apply advanced standing? The deadline for the regular program was just this past Saturday. I thought they had until April 26th to get back to us. The end of next week seems very fast (but I hope this is right -- the waiting is already killing me and it's only been two days!). If you get in, are you choosing this program? I think I am. I'm guessing that no decision was made on your application because it has not been read yet by the committee, so I don't think it means anything bad. At the grad school where I used to work, each application had to be read by two members of the committee, and if they disagreed on whether someone should be admitted a third person had to read it. Not sure if it is the same in other places, but they could have a similar process.

Why were you advised to apply to those schools? I think the schools you apply to depend a lot on where you want to be geographically while you are pursuing your degree, and what you hope to do in the future (macro or micro work, etc.). I disagree with the person who said to take the GRE. I wouldn't do it automatically. None of the schools I looked into (which was about 15 until I really narrowed it down) required it, and it is a lot of studying, preparation, and money for something that isn't necessary. That said, there are some schools that do require or recommend it, in which case you should take it close to the year you are applying (I think GRE scores are good for five years, but the more recent the better). Schools that require it seem to be in the minority, and the ones who don't require it don't seem to want to see it, so it won't really add anything to your application unless they request it. (Someone else feel free to disagree with me there.) GPA is important, but social work is different from a lot of programs in that it considers the whole person more than scores. Your personal statement is very important, so spend a lot of thought on this. It is your chance to show who you are and why you are a good fit for this field, and why the specific university will help you accomplish your goals. Between now and applying, think about what you are learning from your volunteer and relevant life experiences. Being introspective in this way will help you when you have to write your personal statements and also help you have more of an internal sense of clarity that this is the right field for you. The volunteer experiences you have done so far sound great -- if you can stick with them for awhile so you have more years of experience that will do a lot for your application. Ask yourself now, because others will ask you this later in one form or another, what you hope to gain from your career and what you hope to be doing (what populations you would like to work with, etc.), and as you start to consider specific universities how you think studying in that specific program will help you get there and what unique perspective you will bring to them. These are not things you need (or even should) know right now, but they are things to think about, and combined with experience in the field knowing the answers to questions like these can really help you in your applications.

I like your ideas! I know how to knit and have been making a blanket. But I agree with you that it is still sometimes hard to concentrate on what is currently happening.

I went to Smith for undergrad, and while I was there I worked part-time in the SSW admissions office, so I know a little bit about it, although not from the perspective of an SSW student. During the year, field placement is like a full-time job, and you end up doing a lot more hours than you would in other programs. When you fill out the form detailing what geographical area you want for field placements, you can include any special reason why you would want to be in that area, i.e. you have family there. Generally, I think people get one of their top two or three choices. Since all of the coursework is during the summer, it is more fast-paced than what might be expected in another program, and holding an outside job during the summer is discouraged, as it is during the rest of the year due to the number of hours in the field. I am now also applying for MSW programs, but I won't be applying to Smith. Smith is a really great, high-ranking program, but the structure is very different from other programs and that can either be a really great or really bad thing, depending on what you are looking for. A lot of people really love it. I personally enjoy doing both classes and field work at the same time, so that I have more than one major thing going on in my life at once, and I am not into the general structure of Smith, and of having to find housing in the summer, and again in the fall, and again the following summer, etc. Since I was at Smith during undergrad, if anyone has any questions about things like the campus, housing, the town, etc. I would be happy to answer them. I loved my time at Smith, although undergrad is quite different from the MSW program.

I definitely believe that! I just don't want to accept it, lol! Glad I'm not the only one.

I am waiting to hear back from one of my top choices for an MSW program and I'm feeling really anxious. I'm trying to find something new to do over the next month or two to help keep me busy. I have a full time job, so I am busy during the day but my mind is often wandering even then. I would like to find something fun that I could maybe get excited about, so that my mind is more likely to wander to that than to obsessing about grad school decisions that are now out of my control. Anyone have any ideas, or any input on what has worked for them?

So the deadline for applying for regular admission was two days ago. Who else is waiting on a decision? Edinboro is one of my first choices, so I am quite anxious!