MSW Applications Fall 2020

[NYCMSW2020]

Hi all,

I’ve really enjoyed following this thread - it’s been immensely helpful!

Does anyone know when we are supposed to hear back from Hunter? I applied by the February deadline but have not heard a peep from Hunter. Meanwhile I have heard back from both Fordham and Columbia.

[AlabasterSeas]

16 hours ago, RachelBMSW said:

I did not get into Berkeley MSW and I had a 3.51 GPA from UCSD undergrad and 2,000 hours from mostly social work from the last ten years. I also will be completing a one year masters from UCSD this Spring, so I am not sure what the MSW from Berkeley is looking for! I am a former foster youth and worked directly in the field. Waiting on SDSU right now and they are my first choice. 

Sorry you didn't get in, that hurts. It sounds like you have a lot of solid experience. But, keep in mind the decision could be less about your qualifications and more about weird factors that every graduate program deals with (i.e. wanting a class of candidates from a variety of states/countries, wanting people from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds, etc.). It's all a bit of a gamble, regardless of the strength of the actual application. 

Good luck as you wait to hear from SDSU!

[Kofowle10]

Has anyone heard back from UNC Traditional?

[gracie18]

6 minutes ago, Kofowle10 said:

Has anyone heard back from UNC Traditional?

I'm still waiting! Last school I have to hear from; that email they sent a while ago made it sound like we should hear this week.

[rockroad29]

17 hours ago, RachelBMSW said:

I did not get into Berkeley MSW and I had a 3.51 GPA from UCSD undergrad and 2,000 hours from mostly social work from the last ten years. I also will be completing a one year masters from UCSD this Spring, so I am not sure what the MSW from Berkeley is looking for! I am a former foster youth and worked directly in the field. Waiting on SDSU right now and they are my first choice. 

I'm so sorry to hear that. It must be suck checking all the boxes of what the SSW there stand for and did not get in, I find it difficult to believe they'd reject someone like you especially you're in-state, a former foster youth who had enough academic and professional experiences. I have a friend with similar profile (also a Peace Corps fellow), Berkeley BASW alumni herself, she still did not get in despite knowing all the professors in admission team personally. It's really a gambling game. I really hope you hear good news from SDSU.

When did you hear back? 

Edited February 24, 2020 by rockroad29

[Kofowle10]

26 minutes ago, gracie18 said:

I'm still waiting! Last school I have to hear from; that email they sent a while ago made it sound like we should hear this week.

I am TERRIFIED, I want to go so bad but after being denied from BC and Waitlisted from BU I have no hope honestly.

[Polcc]

1 minute ago, Kofowle10 said:

I am TERRIFIED, I want to go so bad but after being denied from BC and Waitlisted from BU I have no hope honestly.

Myself and a few others are declining our BU offers so that may open up a spot for you! I would check in with the office and see if they can tell you how far up you are on the waitlist

Edited February 24, 2020 by Polcc

[Kofowle10]

1 minute ago, Polcc said:

Myself and a few others are declining our BU offers so that may open up a spot for you! I would check in with the office and see if they can tell you how far up you are on the waitlist

I say this from the bottom of my heart, thank you? I am from NC and I want to leave and go to MA soooooo bad!

[Polcc]

41 minutes ago, Kofowle10 said:

I say this from the bottom of my heart, thank you? I am from NC and I want to leave and go to MA soooooo bad!

yes!! good luck

[MSWSTRESS]

56 minutes ago, Kofowle10 said:

I say this from the bottom of my heart, thank you? I am from NC and I want to leave and go to MA soooooo bad!

I declined my offer to BU yesterday,  so I hope that just brings you even further up the waitlist ! Good luck, you got this !!

[Skyone]

Anyone applied to u Chicago's SSA program by January 15th who has heard back? I am so anxious about it. 

[Behaviorscience]

50 minutes ago, Skyone said:

Anyone applied to u Chicago's SSA program by January 15th who has heard back? I am so anxious about it. 

Still waiting too

[chiligirl]

Hi guys!

I've been a long time lurker on this discussion post and I am so glad that we have this community to talk about our applications! Congratulations to those who have been accepted to their top choices!

Currently, I have been accepted to University of Pittsburgh with a 12k scholarship (renews every year) but I will most likely decline their offer. I am still waiting on GMU and UMB, which seems like not a lot of applicants here have applied to lolol.

I have a question about FASFA based aid. Did your acceptance letters include if you guys were eligible for federal loans and work study? Or do we receive that separately/have to contact financial aid office to find out? I'm a first generation college student so I am a bit behind about the working of financial aid.

[amb22]

I emailed financial aid at columbia asking how I can be reconsidered for a scholarship and informed them of a competing offer. I was told that I must complete FAFSA in order to even receive any scholarship, but I didn't think this was the case. can anyone share any info? thanks!  

[msw2020waiting]

On 2/19/2020 at 12:10 AM, Paul-BSW said:

You'll be ok, I believe some of us can relate to what you're feeling but stay encouraged, I am sure nothing is wrong with you and big deal having to withdraw from a program on health grounds. You'll be fine. I hope this helps. 

Thank you so much. It really helps. I will try to stay encouraged ☺️

Edited February 24, 2020 by msw2020waiting

[msw2020waiting]

On 2/19/2020 at 1:40 AM, Jen985 said:

Hey- let me tell you a story (don't worry, swear its true lol). So now I'm in my early 30's but when I was 18-20 in college, in undergrad, I had the worst grades. I almost got kicked out twice due to academic probation. My dad had cancer and I was working three jobs- I frankly did not care at all about grades or school. I would blow off class constantly, for work usually, or because I worked all night and needed sleep, etc. Needless to say, my grades were horrible. Not only low, but I kept taking semesters off because I felt ashamed at my low grades, so I had lots of W's. This was in the early 2000's. So finally, at 23 or so, I went back. I decided I was done feeling ashamed and I was going to walk back into the psych department (I was a psych major) even though my professors probably saw me as a failure, and I was going to work super hard...and thats exactly what I did. I ended up with straight A's and a few B's in my final year or two years (whatever it ended up being). I took on 17 credit course loads and studied like crazy. I eventually had a few psych professors come up to me and commend me for how hard I was working. I then did a one year degree at UCLA, a few years after my bachelors, in marketing (post-bac) and graduated with honors (3.9/4.0 GPA). I then took a few non degree graduate classes, got A's in all of them. I then applied to Northwestern University for a masters degree which I am currently finishing up, and I have a 4.0 GPA. My point is- You've got this. You have SO got this. I know all too well how easy it is to look back at those old grades and think wow, I really messed up. But flip that mindset around- Look at how hard you worked later on to raise that GPA to a 3.8. Admissions committee's - everywhere you apply- will see that turn around and think wow, this person is determined.. look at that work ethic.. they are amazing. It would be one thing if you had bad grades and W's and never came back from it.....but not only did you come back from it, you soared  You've got this. From one former W's kid to another- you've got this. 

Hi Jen! Thank you for such a heartfelt message! I'm sorry that its been a few days. I was busy with school and didnt check the forum.

I can totally relate to some of your experiences. Im sorry that you had to go through some difficult times as well. I dont know how to put this in words but thank you so much for sharing your experiences!!!! It really helped me a lot. I almost cried when I read your message because of how much it encouraged me. It is indeed really easy to look back and think how much I messed up... and ignore all of my improvements. I feel so much better now. Thank you!

Also can I just say that you are such a strong person for making through all the hardships!  You definitely deserve the amount of achievements that you have today because you are such an amazing person!

[Behaviorscience]

I love all of the positive energy on this forum, I continue to wrack my brain waiting on a decision but reading everyone's posts have really helped me not completely lose it! Everyone here will make amazing social workers!!

[msw2020waiting]

28 minutes ago, Behaviorscience said:

I love all of the positive energy on this forum, I continue to wrack my brain waiting on a decision but reading everyone's posts have really helped me not completely lose it! Everyone here will make amazing social workers!!

can't agree more! Everyone's so empathetic and encouraging.

[msw2020hi!]

2 hours ago, Skyone said:

Anyone applied to u Chicago's SSA program by January 15th who has heard back? I am so anxious about it. 

 

1 hour ago, Behaviorscience said:

Still waiting too

i applied dec 1st and just heard back last night! so it might just be a bit delayed 

[msw2020waiting]

Just finished my Penn Interview. It was fine but I could have done better... I'm anxiously waiting for the decision ?

[IvySWCu]

1 hour ago, jennnguy13 said:

Hi guys!

I've been a long time lurker on this discussion post and I am so glad that we have this community to talk about our applications! Congratulations to those who have been accepted to their top choices!

Currently, I have been accepted to University of Pittsburgh with a 12k scholarship (renews every year) but I will most likely decline their offer. I am still waiting on GMU and UMB, which seems like not a lot of applicants here have applied to lolol.

I have a question about FASFA based aid. Did your acceptance letters include if you guys were eligible for federal loans and work study? Or do we receive that separately/have to contact financial aid office to find out? I'm a first generation college student so I am a bit behind about the working of financial aid.

Hey there, I applied to GMU and UMB. I heard back from GMU within a few weeks (fairly fast), and I heard back from UMB after 6 weeks. UMB does not award any scholarships until March, so you would not see it in your letter. GMU did not offer or even mention anything in regards to scholarships and I did not ask. No acceptance letter of any program mentioned Loans/Work study, FASFA is completely a different entity of the school. However if you fill out FASFA, you qualify for unsubsidized loans in the amount of $20.5k, and any additional loans may require a credit check. Work study will be offered there too if you requested you were interested and the school has availability.

 

Hope this helps,

Edited February 24, 2020 by SWColumbia

[IvySWCu]

1 hour ago, amb22 said:

I emailed financial aid at columbia asking how I can be reconsidered for a scholarship and informed them of a competing offer. I was told that I must complete FAFSA in order to even receive any scholarship, but I didn't think this was the case. can anyone share any info? thanks!  

Most schools use your FASFA information as a benchmark on what their grad program wants to award you. CU was able to revise my scholarship offer and is administered through the FASFA office, so maybe that is why they are asking for you to fill it out? (For instance - the revised scholarship did not come from the admissions team, rather I got the letter from the FASFA team). However, I am sure the admissions team was the one to approve it for disbursement. 

 

Hope that helps or makes sense.

[MCSW23]

Just emailed Penn and NYU for financial aid reconsideration. Fingers crossed. 

[chiligirl]

46 minutes ago, SWColumbia said:

Hey there, I applied to GMU and UMB. I heard back from GMU within a few weeks (fairly fast), and I heard back from UMB after 6 weeks. UMB does not award any scholarships until March, so you would not see it in your letter. GMU did not offer or even mention anything in regards to scholarships and I did not ask. No acceptance letter of any program mentioned Loans/Work study, FASFA is completely a different entity of the school. However if you fill out FASFA, you qualify for unsubsidized loans in the amount of $20.5k, and any additional loans may require a credit check. Work study will be offered there too if you requested you were interested and the school has availability.

 

Hope this helps,

Thank you so much for responding! This information was really helpful. If you don't mind sharing, when did you submit your application for both schools? For UMB, I sent it around the first-second week of Jan. For GMU, I sent it back in November but when I called in a couple of weeks ago, they said they implied that they start review on application deadline and that it will take about 8 weeks... GMU is making me thinking it's a lost cause at this point lolol

For FAFSA, as of this morning, they told me that the schools' financial aid office would tell me if I was eligible for any federal loans. For the unsubsidizied loan, is that something we sign up/apply for on the FAFSA website if we qualify for it? How do we get into the process of getting the unsubsidized loan?

[perfectamity]

1 hour ago, msw2020waiting said:

Just finished my Penn Interview. It was fine but I could have done better... I'm anxiously waiting for the decision ?

Let us know when you hear! I hear it can take some people a few hours to a few days for a response.