VCU

[Sassafrass2]

Sorry. Wrong button.

But since I misposted... Anyone have any information or thoughts on VCU's MSW program?!?!

Edited April 1, 2011 by Sassafrass2

[amanda lauren]

From everything I've read/heard about it, it's an awesome program...there's gotta be a reason it's ranked 14th in the nation! I took a tour of the campus, grad school, MSW department, etc in August and was really impressed with VCU. I honestly couldn't find a single thing that I didn't like about it, and I got to speak with a woman who worked for the MSW program and had been an MSW student there a few years earlier. She gave me some fantastic advice and left me with a great feel of the MSW program overall. I'm not sure what your concentration is, but for me personally, VCU offers everything that I want - it has a school social work licensure program, a huge variety of fieldwork placements, the program is a great size, they have international study options (ie. over winter or summer break), it's a very diverse school, it's a public school (I went to a private university for undergrad, so the price difference is HUGE - VCU costs less than half of what I paid for my undergrad tuition), and not to mention Richmond seems like a really wonderful city - it's not huge or overwhelming, but it's big enough that there is still plenty to do and keep you interested. At least, this is the impression I've gotten after visiting VCU and browsing through the website. Not sure if any of this is at all helpful, especially since I haven't even started at VCU yet, but I figured I'd give you my perspective

Are you going to VCU for the MSW program this fall? I just accepted their offer a few weeks ago!

[Sassafrass2]

I was accepted, but haven't decided if I'm going to attend yet.

For me personally, it come down between Denver and VCU. Denver has more of the program I want and a MUCH more desirable city (as I'm born and raised in VA and RIchmond has a bad rep for many years - but is defintiely improving!)

Overall, I'd much rather attend Denver's program; however, you are completely right when you said its public and therefore cheaper. Even with a very large merit scholarship (around 30K from Denver), VCU will be almost half the price, and thats assuming I don't get a cent from VCU in the form of scholarships or anything (of course I'm really gunning for some money!! haha).

Perhaps you'd know... but most of the scholarships from VCU appear to be faculty nominated to already enrolled students. Do you think they give these out to first years AFTER enrolling? I guess I was just a little taken back by the vague acceptance email from VCU with not a single mention of finances; whereas, at every other school I applied, my acceptance letter included some sort of language on scholarships or other financial incentives.

[odugrad2011]

VCU's program looks fantastic. I haven't been on a tour or anything, but I have researched their program extensively. Their program is highly ranked, the tuiton is more than reasonable, they have a ton of specialized concentrations, as well as placement sites. I'm from Virginia Beach and Richmond has always had a pretty miserable reputation, but I love it there. There is so much to do- great restaurants, museums, coffee joints, art exhibits and festivals. I also love their campus!

I haven't recieved any word from VCU minus the fact that I made it trhough their preliminary screening of the applications. I submitted my app January 31st and am dying to hear from them. When did you guys apply and hear back. I am just wondering because they said it could take until May 15th. I would really like to know where I am going before I graduate!

[Sassafrass2]

I've been living in the DC area for several years now... so honestly, the move to a smaller city (i.e. MUCH MUCH lower cost of living and less traffic) would be a godsend right now. And you're right, there is still plenty to do in the area!

For me... its that bottom dollar. And you can't argue a very reasonable price from a highly ranked program!

I applied right before the deadline - so the last week of January. I got my acceptance on April 1st.... I just hope it wasn't a cruel April Foos joke! Haha.

Just stay optimistic odugrad2011. I'm lucky that one of my colleagues (and LOR writer) knows one of the professors there and I've pretty much bugged them crazy with questions. When I called early last week (March 29th) I was told that they were JUST getting around to sending out acceptances since the review of applications had just wrapped up, and that the process to hear an acceptance could take up to 3 more weeks (so with that estimate you could potentially still be hearing acceptances for another 2 weeks or more). When I questioned about seeing other people posting their acceptances on online forums and such, I was told that for the most part, it was only the advanced standing applicants that were notified earlier. Of course, don't take what I'm telling you as gosple truth - I've already found out that you can call the same program 3 times and typically get a different answer each time (but that has been my experience with other programs and not VCU.... so far).

Good luck!

[amanda lauren]

Ah, yeah...I was a little bit nervous about Richmond's reputation, but I figure I grew up in New York and went to school in Boston at Northeastern (it's right where Roxbury and Mission Hill are, and both are notoriously dangerous and sketchy areas of the city - we've even had a few students who were murdered there, if that puts it into perspective), so hopefully I can handle what Richmond throws at me! I've also heard from a lot of people that the city's reputation has been improving, and as long as you have some basic street smarts, you should be ok...hopefully that all ends up being true

I applied to grad schools REALLY early, like abnormally early (I think I sent out my applications in early September) because I studied abroad last semester, and I didn't want to have to try to get my applications together while living halfway around the world. I probably came off as a little over-eager since I got everything in so early, haha! I did call the school in mid March and asked when we could expect to hear back, and I explained that other schools had given me deadlines to accept/decline their offer, and I wanted to see if I'd be hearing back from VCU before making those decisions. Not sure if that call ended up helping push my application along, or if it just so happened that I called right around the time that they had reviewed my application, but 3 days later I got an acceptance letter from VCU (it was on St. Patrick's Day)! I was told that I would hear back anytime from mid-April to early May, so you should be hearing back any day now!!

[odugrad2011]

Ah, yeah...I was a little bit nervous about Richmond's reputation, but I figure I grew up in New York and went to school in Boston at Northeastern (it's right where Roxbury and Mission Hill are, and both are notoriously dangerous and sketchy areas of the city - we've even had a few students who were murdered there, if that puts it into perspective), so hopefully I can handle what Richmond throws at me! I've also heard from a lot of people that the city's reputation has been improving, and as long as you have some basic street smarts, you should be ok...hopefully that all ends up being true

I applied to grad schools REALLY early, like abnormally early (I think I sent out my applications in early September) because I studied abroad last semester, and I didn't want to have to try to get my applications together while living halfway around the world. I probably came off as a little over-eager since I got everything in so early, haha! I did call the school in mid March and asked when we could expect to hear back, and I explained that other schools had given me deadlines to accept/decline their offer, and I wanted to see if I'd be hearing back from VCU before making those decisions. Not sure if that call ended up helping push my application along, or if it just so happened that I called right around the time that they had reviewed my application, but 3 days later I got an acceptance letter from VCU (it was on St. Patrick's Day)! I was told that I would hear back anytime from mid-April to early May, so you should be hearing back any day now!!

I'm pretty sure you have lived everywhere I want to live and now you are coming here, so funny!

I am hoping I will hear from them soon, as I know people who have gotten responses. I am worried though because I don't have the bio pre-req, I planned on taking it in the summer if i got accepted. i have a really good gpa and a lot of volunteer experience, but am worried they will choose someone over me because of this. I did email the director of admissions for the program to let her know that I did intend to take the class over the summer so hopefully she jotted my name down somewhere to tell the committee

hopefully we'll be classmates in the fall, i am definitely keeping my fingers crossed!

[amanda lauren]

I'm definitely not an expert by any means, but I don't think that would be much of an important factor - from what it says on their website (and what I was told when I visited), the most crucial factors for deciding who gets in are GPA (and possibly GRE scores tie into this, but only a small amount), Personal Statement, Letters of Recommendation, and Volunteer/Work Experience. From everything you've said it sounds like you're good to go in all 4 of those areas!! And like you said, you've let them know that you'll be fulfilling the bio requirement ahead of time. Honestly, I took bio back in freshman year, aka the year that I did nothing except get drunk, stay up til 4am every night, and pulled plenty of all-nighters studying/writing essays one day beforehand, so I was doing pretty horribly in bio for most of the semester (around a C). I got my act together, signed up to take the class pass/fail and passed it, but all it says on my transcript is that I passed. I was kind of worried about that for VCU since I wasn't sure if a requirement could be fulfilled with just a "pass" instead of a grade, but it seems to have worked out. I brought this up when I was checking out the MSW department and they said that the prereq courses are in place just to make sure you get a solid foundation and are all starting with the same basic background, and as long as you pass the courses and finish them before you start in the fall, it's fine, so I wouldn't worry too much - it sounds like it definitely won't make or break your application. Like I said, it sounds like you've got a strong application and I can't imagine that you wouldn't get in! My fingers are crossed for you too

p.s. you're interested in living in NY and/or Boston? Awesome! I'm a MUCH bigger fan of NY than I am of Boston, but I'm also biased because NY is my home. Don't get me wrong, Boston is great and it's a really nice place to live, but I've been here for 5 years and I'm getting kinda stir-crazy. It's a much smaller city than NYC and isn't anywhere near as active, so after being here for such awhile I feel like I've seen and done most of the things that there are to see and do in Boston. Plus, the weather here is absolutely awful...a couple of weeks ago we had one day that was sunny and 60 degrees, and two days later it was in the 20s and we got a few inches of snow. I even remember it snowing once during our finals in the end of April! Boston is more of a "cozy charming" city, while New York is more vibrant, diverse, and fast-paced. Both are really great places and I hope you get the chance to live in them!

[odugrad2011]

I'm definitely not an expert by any means, but I don't think that would be much of an important factor - from what it says on their website (and what I was told when I visited), the most crucial factors for deciding who gets in are GPA (and possibly GRE scores tie into this, but only a small amount), Personal Statement, Letters of Recommendation, and Volunteer/Work Experience. From everything you've said it sounds like you're good to go in all 4 of those areas!! And like you said, you've let them know that you'll be fulfilling the bio requirement ahead of time. Honestly, I took bio back in freshman year, aka the year that I did nothing except get drunk, stay up til 4am every night, and pulled plenty of all-nighters studying/writing essays one day beforehand, so I was doing pretty horribly in bio for most of the semester (around a C). I got my act together, signed up to take the class pass/fail and passed it, but all it says on my transcript is that I passed. I was kind of worried about that for VCU since I wasn't sure if a requirement could be fulfilled with just a "pass" instead of a grade, but it seems to have worked out. I brought this up when I was checking out the MSW department and they said that the prereq courses are in place just to make sure you get a solid foundation and are all starting with the same basic background, and as long as you pass the courses and finish them before you start in the fall, it's fine, so I wouldn't worry too much - it sounds like it definitely won't make or break your application. Like I said, it sounds like you've got a strong application and I can't imagine that you wouldn't get in! My fingers are crossed for you too

p.s. you're interested in living in NY and/or Boston? Awesome! I'm a MUCH bigger fan of NY than I am of Boston, but I'm also biased because NY is my home. Don't get me wrong, Boston is great and it's a really nice place to live, but I've been here for 5 years and I'm getting kinda stir-crazy. It's a much smaller city than NYC and isn't anywhere near as active, so after being here for such awhile I feel like I've seen and done most of the things that there are to see and do in Boston. Plus, the weather here is absolutely awful...a couple of weeks ago we had one day that was sunny and 60 degrees, and two days later it was in the 20s and we got a few inches of snow. I even remember it snowing once during our finals in the end of April! Boston is more of a "cozy charming" city, while New York is more vibrant, diverse, and fast-paced. Both are really great places and I hope you get the chance to live in them!

thanks for giving me some comfort! i am really hoping to hear back sometime this week since i just got my acceptance letter from nyu yesterday and need to make some type of decision as id really like to know what i am doing before i graduate! and i am absolutely DYING to live in new york. boston i just want to go to. i saw that movie the town and have wanted to go since then...but probably only for a visit. the only thing with new york is the price! nyu is pricy even with the scholarship but then the cost of living...it is so intimidating. im willing to be broke for a few years for the experience though, but i really do want to go to vcu at the same time!!!

[2011 MSW Hopeful]

Just got an acceptance via email! Excited. I don't know that it's a top choice for me, but definitely the most economical.... lots to think about!

[odugrad2011]

Just got an acceptance via email! Excited. I don't know that it's a top choice for me, but definitely the most economical.... lots to think about!

awesome! congratulations!

[odugrad2011]

just wanted to let you all know that i finally got my acceptance letter! relieved...not to make the hard decision of choosing a school!

maybe we will all be classmates in the fall

[Joni Holmes]

Has anyone heard back about the part time program?