MSW Applications Fall 2020

[MCSW23]

1 hour ago, Liza123 said:

Hey there, does anyone know if University of Denver is willing to give out more financial aid and how to go about asking for more? I received an 11k scholarship, as well as federal loan and work-study aid, so I'm not sure if I would be able to ask for anything more? I saw up there that Michigan does  a re-review, but I'm not sure how to go about talking to Denver. 

How did you find out the other financial aid you qualified for? I never got a follow-up email or anything. 

[MSWSTRESS]

44 minutes ago, Mmgaf said:

No I believe this is kind of a technical error, I’m sure we aren’t supposed to see this until they actually send out acceptances. Assuming it’ll be Monday/early next week and all that info will be on our actual portals/in the offer letter. 

Oh wow lol well thank you ! Hopefully they do send it out soon !

[basw]

I got accepted to Columbia and denied from UT Austin. I know that I shouldn't care but for some reason my feelings are still a little hurt! How do you guys get past the icky feelings that come with rejections?

[MSWSTRESS]

2 hours ago, Polcc said:

no nothing yet! hmm weird but that’s okay I’ll find out soon if I got in or not

Yeah I think by Monday or Tuesday, everything should be out because there is no other information on the portal

[Polcc]

17 minutes ago, MSWSTRESS said:

Yeah I think by Monday or Tuesday, everything should be out because there is no other information on the portal

probably! I'm not too worried about it since Im already set with BC so I don't have to stress too much lmao ?

[Css1087]

3 hours ago, MSWSTRESS said:

Thank you so much for this, I didn't even think to check there, but I looked and I got accepted too ! Congratulations to you !

No problem!  Congrats to you too!

[MSWSTRESS]

51 minutes ago, Polcc said:

probably! I'm not too worried about it since Im already set with BC so I don't have to stress too much lmao ?

Exactly lol I just want to see what the financial aid is looking like and then I think I'm submitting my deposit for BC next week, I already signed up for their admitted students day and everything lol

[IvySWCu]

19 hours ago, SMLDC said:

I'd welcome any takes on the below scholarship awards and whether it's worth contacting the schools to get an increased award. The below amounts are assuming the same amount of scholarship funding for the entirety of the program, not just annually.

• UChicago: $50,000 (50% of $100K tuition, $50K leftover)
• Pitt: $16,000 (24% of $66K tuition, $50K leftover)
• UMich: $9,000 (9% of $74K tuition, $65K leftover)
• Smith: $0 (0% of $71K tuition, $71K leftover)
• Columbia: $24,000 (21% of $116K tuition, $92K leftover)

I was planning to appeal UMich and Columbia since UChicago is a much more competitive offer than the other two. I'd initially been interested in Smith and still might appeal their scholarship decision, but the initial lack of financial support has left a bad taste in my mouth especially since I applied early decision. I reached out to Pitt, and they said scholarships were non-negotiable and referred me to fellowships (that are really only available to advanced-standing and second-year students).

You could totally get more money from CU. So definitely appeal there. I’ve done it.

 

Im not sure about Umich personally, as I didn’t try there, but seems like lots of people are saying they were able to be successful from it. 
 

If UChicago is giving you the most, how come you don’t consider that program first? 
 

I guess how important is the scholarship amount to determine what program you end up choosing?

 

Also - even if smith didn’t offer anything initially, it’s worth trying if you have competing offers. I believe they would definitely give you a scholarship if they are seeing offers from all the other great schools. 

Edited February 15, 2020 by SWColumbia

[IPmsw2020]

3 hours ago, habitualniki said:

 

Weighing in here as a long-time Chicago resident formerly from the Ann Arbor area--cost-of-living is not lower in Ann Arbor. I've been in Chicago for 12 years and to this day, the most expensive apartment I've ever lived in (price per square foot) was on the University of Michigan campus. And that was in 2003-2005. I still have lots of friends in Ann Arbor and the cost of living is comparable to Chicago. Cost of living next door to Ann Arbor in Ypsilanti, however, is far lower. Something to consider. ?

Current Ann Arbor resident here to confirm that COL in AA and Chicago are pretty much identical, and AA has a lot less to offer compared to Chicago yet is as expensive (I've have family in Chicago and am decently familiar with the city). If you go to U of M, live in Ypsi for the love of all things holy, it just is not worth it to live in AA. Also, AA rent is skyrocketing up. I don't know about Chicago but AA is just a ticking time bomb in terms of rent prices. I mentioned it before in this thread but I'm currently paying $750 + utilities for one bed in a five bed apartment that's a ~15 min walk from campus and is very much a college apartment in terms of quality. This house that has been turned into apartments comfortably holds like 8-10 residents MAX and currently has I believe 16, and the South Campus area will be same pricing and even worse quality. Parking is an absolute nightmare despite the fact that a car is incredibly handy because this is just barely a city and you will likely be in a food desert. I am double parked in a parking lot that holds 5 cars comfortably currently holding 9. I am extremely lucky to get free parking with my apt, landlords like to charge 50-100 a month for a spot. Street parking is a nightmare as well. 

Frankly, if UChicago and UM are the same price, I do not know what the Ann Arbor area offers that Chicago doesn't plus more. I really, really advise not to make the decision of UM over UChicago based on COL. Only stipulation being that Detroit has SO much to offer for field placements, but I feel like many of those same opportunities can be found in Chicago's more low-income areas. Honestly, you get much more bang with your buck in Chicago based on what that high COL gets you. There are townhomes a block down from Main Street, Ann Arbor and they cost $1 million, and it is almost hilarious how much it isn't worth that. Like my manager and I have joked about how much of a waste of money that is.

What's appealing of AA over Chicago is the somewhat college town-y feel, but that's being geared more and more for rich students every year (UM is the least socioeconomically diverse college in the entire country for a reason). Many of the dive restaurants/eccentric shops that you find in a normal college town are disappearing rapidly and being replaced with Soulcycles and poke restaurants (there's like 3 within a ten minute walk of my place that didn't exist before I came to college). 

Ann Arbor may seem like a city if you're from a small town like I was. It really isn't. I would say it's barely urban leaning suburban. If you want to work in a suburban area then UM is your choice, but personally, I think it's worth it to pick UChicago instead. 

Obviously, you're choice, you may view things differently than I do, but as someone who has lived in AA for four years (and has worked downtown for 2) and knows Chicago pretty well, the COL is much, much more justified in Chicago. Chicago is a city, AA is a slightly urban college town. 

Edit: Obviously, choose the program that fits best with your career goals. Don't not come to UM just because the area isn't as bustling as Chicago. I just wanted to say that I wouldn't pick UM over Chicago just because of the COL.

Edited February 15, 2020 by IPmsw2020

[IPmsw2020]

3 hours ago, basw said:

I got accepted to Columbia and denied from UT Austin. I know that I shouldn't care but for some reason my feelings are still a little hurt! How do you guys get past the icky feelings that come with rejections?

I am so sorry you got rejected, being rejected really, really sucks, and it is totally normal to be hurt by it. But first things first, you just got admitted into an Ivy League School!!!! That is INCREDIBLE!!!

Seeing as you got into CU but not UT Austin, I would assume UT Austin either got full, had too many people applying for a certain concentration, had a quota for admissions based on locations, etc.

Honestly, it really seems like the admissions process for any grad school is incredibly flawed. I truly do not believe that acceptances or rejections from a school is a good judge of your character, intelligence, or qualifications. A GPA, three letters of recommendations, a transcript, a resume, and an essay(s) is not enough to judge someone's ability to become a social worker or to get the full picture of who you are as a human. Not to mention there was literally a scandal recently about rich people paying their childrens' ways into college (idk about people doing this for MSW programs but who knows). Maybe you had just gotten dumped last fall by your partner of 4 years, and then immediately had to write a bunch of grad school essays as well as be a full-time student, are those going to be good representations of your actual abilities in social work? Are those essays going to be the best quality you could do? These are only snapshots of your academic career that neglect any outside forces affecting your quality of work, and do not represent you wholly. Like, you could date someone for over a year and still be learning new things about them daily, how could an application with such little information about you be an accurate and complete representation of your skills and personality?

Again, it is totally normal and valid to be hurt by rejections. It hurts, it makes you question your abilities. Let yourself be disappointed and sad, but don't let it dictate your self-worth. You clearly have qualifications if you got into CU. If you were truly incompetent/stupid/a bad fit for social work/etc., you wouldn't have gotten into anywhere (and even then it could've just been bad luck or an overly competitive year).

Edited February 15, 2020 by IPmsw2020

[Liza123]

4 hours ago, madisonc7 said:

How did you find out the other financial aid you qualified for? I never got a follow-up email or anything. 

It was in my letter right after scholarship amount. But I haven't received any actual information about work-study or loans - or at least, I don't think I have. 

[Mrobocop]

Hello all, been monitoring this forum for a bit but haven’t really seen much about the schools I applied to.

i applied to Case Western, Temple University, Rutgers and Nazareth on 12/12. I was accepted to case about 2 weeks ago and temple a week ago, but I haven’t received my scholarship/aid package from Temple yet and I’m really anxious to receive it. Still nothing from the other two.

Anyone else waiting to hear back from these schools? 

[IvySWCu]

9 minutes ago, Mrobocop said:

Hello all, been monitoring this forum for a bit but haven’t really seen much about the schools I applied to.

i applied to Case Western, Temple University, Rutgers and Nazareth on 12/12. I was accepted to case about 2 weeks ago and temple a week ago, but I haven’t received my scholarship/aid package from Temple yet and I’m really anxious to receive it. Still nothing from the other two.

Anyone else waiting to hear back from these schools? 

I applied to Rutgers back in early November and did hear back early Dec, for the two year traditional program. I recently declined my attendance there (last week), as I’m now confirmed at CU. 
 

But hope you hear back soon!

[msw2020waiting]

Uchicago is still not releasing decisions... I'm so anxious lol

[Behaviorscience]

31 minutes ago, msw2020waiting said:

Uchicago is still not releasing decisions... I'm so anxious lol

Seems like they take the longest!!

[msw2020waiting]

Just now, Behaviorscience said:

Seems like they take the longest!!

I don't know how longer I can wait! It's my dream school. The longer I wait the more I start to doubt my chances?

[Behaviorscience]

Just now, msw2020waiting said:

I don't know how longer I can wait! It's my dream school. The longer I wait the more I start to doubt my chances?

ME TOO!!! lol

 

[Liza123]

Has anyone heard from UMich at all about dates for orientation/program schedule/start date?

[Polcc]

8 hours ago, MSWSTRESS said:

Exactly lol I just want to see what the financial aid is looking like and then I think I'm submitting my deposit for BC next week, I already signed up for their admitted students day and everything lol

yass! I know right I already put orientation on my calendar lmao. I am v thrilled to be done with applications and such 

[PeacefulMind]

Has anyone heard back from SSA UChicago??? 

Edited February 16, 2020 by PeacefulMind

[2020_UofC]

21 minutes ago, PeacefulMind said:

Has anyone heard back from SSA UChicago??? 

I haven’t heard! Some others have. What deadline did you apply?

[msw2020waiting]

23 minutes ago, PeacefulMind said:

Has anyone heard back from SSA UChicago??? 

nope:(

[Behaviorscience]

27 minutes ago, PeacefulMind said:

Has anyone heard back from SSA UChicago??? 

nope,applied Jan 13th

[PeacefulMind]

4 minutes ago, 2020_UofC said:

I haven’t heard! Some others have. What deadline did you apply?

Feb 15th, what about you? 

[GeorgiaTechPhd]

Hey Guys, 

I am from the CS background, and I just came here to tell you that I love looking at this thread. There are so many of you out there together, helping each others out -- well mostly sharing anxieties I guess?  
And it seems like this thread is one of the longest ones on the forum. Keep going guys, and I wish you all good luck, hope you all get in.