Odds of getting into schools/assistantships + scholarships

[meyerjm]

Hi, everyone! First time posting here. I'm in my last year of undergrad (BS in psychology), and I'm going to start applying to MSW programs for Fall 2019 within the next few months. I was wondering if any of you could weigh in on how my odds look for getting into the following schools:

University of North Carolina, Columbia, NYU, Boston University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, and University of Texas.

Stats: major GPA 3.85, 4 volunteer positions (2 food banks, homeless coalition, and 24 hour counseling hotline), letters of rec from tenure track professors and volunteer supervisors.

Are these the stats that would also be considered when applying for assistantships? 

Have any of you received large scholarships? All of these schools are out of my home state (Florida), so I'm hoping to be able to receive some scholarships. 

[MSW_MK]

I can weigh in on University of Michigan. I applied in my last year of undergrad (got a BSW, so it was for the advanced standing program). I am an out-of-state applicant. I got in. They only gave ~9.5k in aid. I deferred to Michigan for two years, and planned to work to save money (lol, I did not save any money living in NYC for two years). When I did the FAFSA the second time I was no longer being claimed my parents on their taxes and I was making under ~$40k a year. Michigan gave me a $39.5k scholarship towards my tuition. It was unreal to get that letter. I had a 3.36 GPA/3.89 in my major (social work), good research experience, but at the time I got the larger scholarship money I had already gotten accepted so I don't know if it was a factor. 

I had a phenomenal experience at Michigan, even though it was short (one year for AS students). I also would've paid more had I lived at home and gone to my in-state MSW program. I tried to apply to research assistant positions but they're usually reserved for doctoral students. I got a "paid" field placement instead (it paid $10/hour for 20 hours a week so it barely covered my rent). I did take out federal loans and mostly lived off those. It was financially challenging for sure, and I'll probably be paying loans till I'm 40 but I can honestly say I have no regrets. Hope this helps, and good luck!

[TheCrow]

Some public schools without a doctoral program will have "assistantships" that will cover some/all of tuition. You are unlikely to find these at top schools with doctoral programs. A lot of how much you get has more to do with the school than with your stats - my understanding is that UChicago gives out a lot of aid compared to Columbia and NYU, for example. Out of state public schools are also much less likely to give large amounts of money, with some exceptions (like Michigan, which is mostly run on private funds).

Depending on your interests, other schools you might consider that might also have a good amount of money include WashU and Case Western.

Another thing to consider is your goals and your ability to get a good job now. For example, you might actually be financially better off for attending a part-time program while working a good full-time job (even if you have to pay full tuition), than you are going full time with scholarships. Of course, often you need the degree to get the job, but just something to think about.

[MSWadmissionsgirl]

I know this may not be exactly what you were looking for, but I know that private universities with smaller MSW programs often give a lot more in financial aid to students. Plus, you wouldn't have to pay out-of-state tuition!

I got my Master's in Social Work from Abilene Christian University, and I truly loved my experience! Although it isn't like this for every student that applies, I basically graduated my MSW only owing about $5,000-$7,000 as a result of paid field placement opportunities and scholarships! They're really great about giving scholarships directly based on your need and merit awarded individually based on the student.

Also, they pay for graduating students to go present their thesis research (or any other research conducted during their time in the program) at conferences all expenses paid, even up to a year after graduation! When I was a BSW and MSW, I presented at about 6 state and national conferences. If you click on this link, you can also see the tremendous reach of the published theses by social work students for the past three years. (Theses prior to 2015 were not published online, but were published in print). As you can see on the map, ACU students' social work research is constantly being downloaded by education, government, and organizational institutions across the world! Also, the faculty are incredible researchers and many are doing incredible internationally-recognized research in various fields within social work. See the following links for more information!

If you'd like to get more information about their MSW program (and our remote-learning online option), you can contact socialwork@acu.edu. I'm not sure if you're looking for Spring enrollment, but they also admit in Spring!

List of ACU BSW and MSW Research Presentations and Publications

Faculty member Dr. Wayne Paris conducting research on the very first trials of xenotransplantation

Faculty member Dr. Wayne Paris international presentations on xenotransplantation

Community Research Partnerships

MSW Student Implements State-wide Research Project on Foster Care