MSW Applications Fall 2020

[ZoeD]

Ok I never look forward to Mondays but hoping a new weekday means we finally get some news from CU ?.

 

[Mmgaf]

On 1/31/2020 at 9:11 PM, Allanaj said:

Do those of you who got into Columbia mind sharing your stats? Or tips! Thanks ❤️

Graduated from a top 20 with a 3.56 in 2018 with a psych major and education and public policy minors. I did an AmeriCorps program working/teaching in dc the following school year. I honestly have very little social work related experience from college because I was a varsity athlete and just didn’t do much else in terms of extracurriculars, so my essays were more focused on my service year and then my goals for the future. I think I was competitive because my application had a very consistent theme—I worked with students in a struggling school district, saw a lot of issues that didn’t come directly from school that made it difficult for kids to focus/succeed, now I want to go into social work to work towards alleviating some of those issues. Just a guess, but I’m thinking the obvious theme paints a picture of someone focused and purpose driven, where the school can see a direct path forward. 
 

Good luck with the apps!! 

[IvySWCu]

16 hours ago, habitualniki said:

 

Hi HannahJoy and Zayah, 

That's actually not the whole story in regards to Ann Arbor. While it's true that Ann Arbor city proper is affluent and not very socioeconomically diverse, it borders Ypsilanti to the east, which is an incredible racially and socioeconomically diverse area. 30% of the residents in Ypsilanti live in poverty; 40% of those 18 and younger. The median family income is just shy of $36k. Ann Arbor is also only a 30 min drive east to Detroit, and just about everything off I-94 between Ypsilanti and Detroit is racially and socioeconomically diverse. Ann Arbor is a pocket of wealth, but it's closer to the exception in that area. Also, while Ann Arbor is reasonably populated, the city itself really isn't that big in terms of actual area, so you should expect to travel outside of Ann Arbor city proper for field placements, likely to places like Ypsilanti. 

How do I know all of this? I'm from Ypsilanti and I lived in Ann Arbor for 5 years before moving to Chicago a decade ago. I'm starting the AM program at UChicago SSA starting in the fall. Just for some perspective, for the UChicago field placements, I'm expected to be able to travel anywhere within the entire 228 square miles of Chicago city proper plus 44 surrounding suburbs. Ann Arbor, by comparison, is only 28 square miles. Considering the nature of the work we hope to do as social workers, it seems unlikely that your field placements would stay within that 28 square miles when the true southeastern MI diversity is outside of it. 

All of this is to say, don't discount UofM if you're into their program.

Thanks

Edited February 3, 2020 by Zayah

[Liza123]

Perhaps Denver will leave us a nice surprise in our inbox today...finally.

[SMLDC]

Not sure if anyone here applied to University of Pittsburgh, but I received an acceptance last week in a bit of a roundabout way. I received an email from admissions about an admitted students lunch this spring, but I had not received an official message from the school about an admissions decision. (I also received an email from them about a fellowship they suggested I apply for, having reviewed my application, though I was not actually eligible for the fellowship since it was for advanced-standing and second-year students.) The only indication I had was when I logged into the portal, I had an "accept/decline" page that was literally otherwise BLANK... When I noted this to the person who reached out about the admitted students lunch, she said that was effectively an acceptance, though a letter is forthcoming with more detail. An odd way to get to "yes," but I'll take it. Wanted to share that in case others were waiting to hear back. (I applied on their early decision deadline in January.)

[msw715]

41 minutes ago, SMLDC said:

Not sure if anyone here applied to University of Pittsburgh, but I received an acceptance last week in a bit of a roundabout way. I received an email from admissions about an admitted students lunch this spring, but I had not received an official message from the school about an admissions decision. (I also received an email from them about a fellowship they suggested I apply for, having reviewed my application, though I was not actually eligible for the fellowship since it was for advanced-standing and second-year students.) The only indication I had was when I logged into the portal, I had an "accept/decline" page that was literally otherwise BLANK... When I noted this to the person who reached out about the admitted students lunch, she said that was effectively an acceptance, though a letter is forthcoming with more detail. An odd way to get to "yes," but I'll take it. Wanted to share that in case others were waiting to hear back. (I applied on their early decision deadline in January.)

Wow thanks so much for this post - I called admissions after seeing this (turns out I had been looking at the wrong portal oops) and found out I was accepted as well!! Congrats to you!!

[MCSW23]

Denver’s system messed up on Saturday and didn’t send out anything when it was supposed to send out all decisions so they have to fix it and make sure they come out today

[NicoleDes]

For those who got into CU and noticed the portal change, how long before you received the acceptance did the “awaiting final transcript” show up?

[ZoeD]

52 minutes ago, NicoleDes said:

For those who got into CU and noticed the portal change, how long before you received the acceptance did the “awaiting final transcript” show up?

Have you seen any change today? All quiet still for mine... 

[BrendonSW]

19 hours ago, habitualniki said:

 

Hi HannahJoy and Zayah, 

That's actually not the whole story in regards to Ann Arbor. While it's true that Ann Arbor city proper is affluent and not very socioeconomically diverse, it borders Ypsilanti to the east, which is an incredible racially and socioeconomically diverse area. 30% of the residents in Ypsilanti live in poverty; 40% of those 18 and younger. The median family income is just shy of $36k. Ann Arbor is also only a 30 min drive east to Detroit, and just about everything off I-94 between Ypsilanti and Detroit is racially and socioeconomically diverse. Ann Arbor is a pocket of wealth, but it's closer to the exception in that area. Also, while Ann Arbor is reasonably populated, the city itself really isn't that big in terms of actual area, so you should expect to travel outside of Ann Arbor city proper for field placements, likely to places like Ypsilanti. 

How do I know all of this? I'm from Ypsilanti and I lived in Ann Arbor for 5 years before moving to Chicago a decade ago. I'm starting the AM program at UChicago SSA starting in the fall. Just for some perspective, for the UChicago field placements, I'm expected to be able to travel anywhere within the entire 228 square miles of Chicago city proper plus 44 surrounding suburbs. Ann Arbor, by comparison, is only 28 square miles. Considering the nature of the work we hope to do as social workers, it seems unlikely that your field placements would stay within that 28 square miles when the true southeastern MI diversity is outside of it. 

All of this is to say, don't discount UofM if you're into their program.

This is a great response! I'm from Nashville but moved to Ann Arbor for my MSW and lived there for 2 years. I lived in Ann Arbor for my first year and then in Ypsilanti for my second year. To add to your reply, many field placements end up in Detroit which is extremely diverse. Some field placements are also in Dearborn, which has a very large Arab population. Ann Arbor is a fairly affluent place but it does attract diversity in the study body. 

I also want to say that if you move to the area and have a car, I recommend living in Ypsi. I live in Baltimore now, and I miss Ypsi a lot, even more than I miss Nashville. It's a special place with a lot of diversity and people who care. But yes, definitely echoing what @habitualniki said on this topic. ?

[SMLDC]

2 hours ago, megan715 said:

Wow thanks so much for this post - I called admissions after seeing this (turns out I had been looking at the wrong portal oops) and found out I was accepted as well!! Congrats to you!!

Awesome - congrats to you! Did they happen to say anything about financial aid/scholarships or when letters will hit our inboxes?

[SMLDC]

Is anyone else waiting to hear back from Smith for the non-binding early decision? My understanding is that decisions will be sent via snail mail this week, after which we will have 2 weeks to accept, decline, or defer the offer.

[IvySWCu]

1 hour ago, NicoleDes said:

For those who got into CU and noticed the portal change, how long before you received the acceptance did the “awaiting final transcript” show up?

The day of - I think for me within the hour.

[NicoleDes]

28 minutes ago, ZoeD said:

Have you seen any change today? All quiet still for mine... 

Nope ?

[ZoeD]

22 minutes ago, NicoleDes said:

Nope ?

Ugh! Well it makes me feel better that we both want to study the same concentrations and haven't heard back yet...right now I'm a little discouraged about hearing soon but here's hoping that today we'll finally get some news. 

[ZoeD]

Just now, ZoeD said:

Ugh! Well it makes me feel better that we both want to study the same concentrations and haven't heard back yet...right now I'm a little discouraged about hearing soon but here's hoping that today we'll finally get some news. 

I also applied to BU and Hunter as well ? 

[cmongradschool]

For those of you who got accepted to CU awhile ago, how long did it take for you to receive your financial aid package? I think its been a week for me and I haven't received anything yet, I've even checked my spam folder.

[Mrhopeful]

I reached out to CU today and they were totally sweet. Told me my application was under review (finally) yet I haven’t seen any changes in the portal. Then they said they would be back to me BEFORE March. ??  anyone else apply for the advanced Clinical Social Work Practice and haven’t heard back yet. This wait is agonizing 

[ZoeD]

6 minutes ago, Mrhopeful said:

I reached out to CU today and they were totally sweet. Told me my application was under review (finally) yet I haven’t seen any changes in the portal. Then they said they would be back to me BEFORE March. ??  anyone else apply for the advanced Clinical Social Work Practice and haven’t heard back yet. This wait is agonizing 

Yurrrrp. I was told last week mine was in "final stages of review" and that I would hear "very soon," but I am losing hope on the very soon. I applied for Advanced Clinical Social Work with a focus on Children, Youth, and Families. 

[NicoleDes]

19 minutes ago, Mrhopeful said:

I reached out to CU today and they were totally sweet. Told me my application was under review (finally) yet I haven’t seen any changes in the portal. Then they said they would be back to me BEFORE March. ??  anyone else apply for the advanced Clinical Social Work Practice and haven’t heard back yet. This wait is agonizing 

Ughh I'm on the same page as you! I applied for the same track. 

[Mrhopeful]

13 minutes ago, ZoeD said:

Yurrrrp. I was told last week mine was in "final stages of review" and that I would hear "very soon," but I am losing hope on the very soon. I applied for Advanced Clinical Social Work with a focus on Children, Youth, and Families. 

Same program! I choose the online route. Fingers crossed 

[noooodle]

Has anyone heard from U. Mich about scholarship/aid yet?

[ZoeD]

2 minutes ago, NicoleDes said:

Ughh I'm on the same page as you! I applied for the same track. 

My OCD voice is telling me that maybe I'm potentially waitlisted and they're reviewing other candidates before making a decision about mine if I was in final stages of review and still haven't heard- but trying to quiet that lol. 

[NicoleDes]

12 minutes ago, ZoeD said:

My OCD voice is telling me that maybe I'm potentially waitlisted and they're reviewing other candidates before making a decision about mine if I was in final stages of review and still haven't heard- but trying to quiet that lol. 

Omg that's literally my logic lol. I so feel you on that but I'm trying to be optimistic! 

[Mrhopeful]

3 minutes ago, NicoleDes said:

Omg that's literally my logic lol. I so feel you on that but I'm trying to be optimistic! 

? I still got hope.