USC v. Columbia

[dkouznetsova]

Hi everyone -

I was accepted into the 2 year MSW program at both USC and Columbia. I know a few people who are in or who have graduated from Columbia's program, but I do not know much other than what is on the website about USC. I have lived in NYC my whole life, and was reeeeeally hoping to get into a school in the Bay Area - that's my desired place to live, but am left with LA v NY. While I am itching to make a change, I don't know enough about the USC program to make a decision. Also USC is giving me at 8 days, while Columbia is giving me 2 months to send a deposit!!

I don't want to move to LA just for the sake of living somewhere new. I also don't drive so if I choose USC, the next few months will have to involve moving out of my family's home, learning to drive, getting a car, etc. etc. None of which I am nervous to do, but I need to know I am making the right decision in terms of programs (placements)!

Help?

[erinl]

Wow - it's good to see someone else in a similar situation! I only applied to USC and Columbia, and while I have been accepted to USC, I am still awaiting Columbia's decision. I'm originally from the Bay Area, moved down to LA about six months ago, and am in love with living down here. I was born and raised in the East Bay and went to Berkeley for undergrad, so I had never experienced living anywhere else for 23 years. However, I have visited NY several times and Manhattan still remains my favorite city in the US. As you can see, we draw a lot of parallels!

At the moment, I'm having a hard time grappling with decisions. I had to extend my response deadline to USC by 3 weeks simply because Columbia has had my app under review for over a month. I love living in LA a lot, and every time I visit USC I fall in love with the campus, faculty and students, but USC is $41k, and after speaking with everyone from the fin. aid director to students to faculty, there is really no way around that price tag. USC does not offer fellowships, so the only funding you'll receive is from very meager USC scholarships you'll have to apply to, or outside scholarships, which are hard to come by for social work programs. After speaking with several students, it seems the price tag and amount of loans everyone has taken out is on everyone's mind constantly. No one has regrets about choosing USC -- in fact, everyone is quick to sing its praises. But no one denied that it was perhaps the only downside to such a well-rounded, high-quality education. The last time I went to campus, a renowned faculty member who had graduated from UCLA with his MSW quickly shot down UCLA's program in comparison to USC's. The amount of student caucuses (basically student groups) keeps things very social, the closeness of the students within the dept. is very evident, and the amount of professional connections available within LA County to current students and alumni simply doesn't compare elsewhere. Plainly, if not for the price tag and meager amount of scholarships, selecting USC over another school would have been done a while ago.

If you received funding at Columbia, I would say that should make your decision pretty easy. I can effortlessly put myself in your shoes -- after all, I never left the Bay Area until six months ago -- but you also have to consider your situation. You will absolutely need a car out here in Southern California, and at USC's price tag, the move + car will just add significantly to your debt. You are already in NY, and if you received funding at Columbia, you will be receiving a cheaper ride to an Ivy League institution that offers a slightly better education in comparison to USC's. You won't have to invest in a car, and if you plan on returning to NY to become licensed, you'll run into less of a hassle if you choose Columbia. In less than 20 months of classroom time, you will graduate and with significantly less loose ends.

I take it you applied to Berkeley's program. Just curious as a native of the Bay Area myself: why favor the Bay Area over anywhere else?

Hi everyone -

I was accepted into the 2 year MSW program at both USC and Columbia. I know a few people who are in or who have graduated from Columbia's program, but I do not know much other than what is on the website about USC. I have lived in NYC my whole life, and was reeeeeally hoping to get into a school in the Bay Area - that's my desired place to live, but am left with LA v NY. While I am itching to make a change, I don't know enough about the USC program to make a decision. Also USC is giving me at 8 days, while Columbia is giving me 2 months to send a deposit!!

I don't want to move to LA just for the sake of living somewhere new. I also don't drive so if I choose USC, the next few months will have to involve moving out of my family's home, learning to drive, getting a car, etc. etc. None of which I am nervous to do, but I need to know I am making the right decision in terms of programs (placements)!

Help?

[dkouznetsova]

Very similar situations indeed! Why Bay Area? I have lived in NYC almost my whole life and while I really love it, San Francisco spoke to me in the right way - it has a NYC vibe but is close to nature and functions at a slightly slower pace. Public transportation can be a hassle with all the bus transfers in SF yes, but it's still easy to get around without a car - coming from NY and our very thorough public transportation, I am spoiled in that way. You can even walk around the city - I like to walk. But there are reasons I love San Fran which I cannot explain - just a feeling, you know? I traveled there twice last year because of that feeling, and am planning to visit for a few weeks next month as well. Ultimately, I would live to move there (or try my hand at that), and I was hoping graduate school would help me with that, but alas Cal rejected and SFSU waitlisted! I know the importance of studying social work in the area where you want to live, but we all make changes - nothing is impossible. I just wanted to try on the Bay Area for size!

LA is so spread out that it would be impossible to have a good all encompassing transportation system, and you can't walk there for sure! I was in Hollywood and walked for 8 hours and got absolutely nowhere, only to have a friend drive me back to where I started in 5 minutes! LA has a lot of negative stereotypes which I do not think much of, but I don't really know anyone there - so that makes me anxious especially if I have to learn to drive and own a car moments before I move there!

Columbia is also 40k, I have gotten 7k in aid (general scholarship fund + work study grant), but everything else will be loans. So that is something for you to consider as well. Living iin NYC is not cheap. LA is the cheapest of the SF -NY - LA triad. But, yes, you wouldnt need a car unless you plan on leaving the 5 boroughs often.

I hear good things about Columbia as well. I have two friends in the MSW (advanced standing, clinical track) program there and they are positive. The negative things I have heard have come from this forum actually! (Not worth the money, only the name, etc, etc). But it is really about the placements. Do you know anything about the placements at USC?

I can't believe Columbia still has not gotten back to you! I have until the 8th (that's one week in total from when they accepted me) to respond to USC. Maybe I should extend? This isn't an easy decision to make!

Good luck!!

Wow - it's good to see someone else in a similar situation! I only applied to USC and Columbia, and while I have been accepted to USC, I am still awaiting Columbia's decision. I'm originally from the Bay Area, moved down to LA about six months ago, and am in love with living down here. I was born and raised in the East Bay and went to Berkeley for undergrad, so I had never experienced living anywhere else for 23 years. However, I have visited NY several times and Manhattan still remains my favorite city in the US. As you can see, we draw a lot of parallels!

At the moment, I'm having a hard time grappling with decisions. I had to extend my response deadline to USC by 3 weeks simply because Columbia has had my app under review for over a month. I love living in LA a lot, and every time I visit USC I fall in love with the campus, faculty and students, but USC is $41k, and after speaking with everyone from the fin. aid director to students to faculty, there is really no way around that price tag. USC does not offer fellowships, so the only funding you'll receive is from very meager USC scholarships you'll have to apply to, or outside scholarships, which are hard to come by for social work programs. After speaking with several students, it seems the price tag and amount of loans everyone has taken out is on everyone's mind constantly. No one has regrets about choosing USC -- in fact, everyone is quick to sing its praises. But no one denied that it was perhaps the only downside to such a well-rounded, high-quality education. The last time I went to campus, a renowned faculty member who had graduated from UCLA with his MSW quickly shot down UCLA's program in comparison to USC's. The amount of student caucuses (basically student groups) keeps things very social, the closeness of the students within the dept. is very evident, and the amount of professional connections available within LA County to current students and alumni simply doesn't compare elsewhere. Plainly, if not for the price tag and meager amount of scholarships, selecting USC over another school would have been done a while ago.

If you received funding at Columbia, I would say that should make your decision pretty easy. I can effortlessly put myself in your shoes -- after all, I never left the Bay Area until six months ago -- but you also have to consider your situation. You will absolutely need a car out here in Southern California, and at USC's price tag, the move + car will just add significantly to your debt. You are already in NY, and if you received funding at Columbia, you will be receiving a cheaper ride to an Ivy League institution that offers a slightly better education in comparison to USC's. You won't have to invest in a car, and if you plan on returning to NY to become licensed, you'll run into less of a hassle if you choose Columbia. In less than 20 months of classroom time, you will graduate and with significantly less loose ends.

I take it you applied to Berkeley's program. Just curious as a native of the Bay Area myself: why favor the Bay Area over anywhere else?

[erinl]

Reading over your post, I realize I should have included more useful info regarding both living in LA and the program itself. Well, here goes...

Choosing to live in LA was difficult, especially because my Bay Area friends gave me such a hard time about it -- no one gives LA a harder time than those in the Bay Area, simply because (in my opinion) the Bay Area is pretty elitist...they tend to believe Northern CA is perhaps more educated, well-rounded, brainy, unsuperficial, etc. than Southern CA. I visited LA immediately after undergrad, thinking I'd move for better job prospects, and hated it. I only had one friend down here at the time, and he was in the music business, so we were out in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills a lot. I wanted to avoid that crowd at all costs. I went back up to the Bay Area relieved. Then I made the decision to move to LA this past October, and it was the best decision I ever made. I fell into a great group of friends who are all young and successful and intelligent, ranging from engineers to graduate students to finance managers. Everyone I have met down here has been down-to-earth, smart, and laid-back. Very giving, kind people. I haven't befriended anyone you'd stereotypically imagine is "LA." As with anywhere, you surround yourself with good people, and everything will work out. As for transportation, the light rail runs right by USC. They are currently extending that rail further West, so those living as far as Santa Monica/Culver City will be able to access public trans. It's a great thing, and hopefully it will be finished within the next year. You obviously don't want to live anywhere outside the couple blocks-radius of campus, as it's one of the worst areas in LA, perhaps even the country. But travel a few miles out in any direction, and you should find a place that's decent to more-than-decent (Manhattan Beach is really only 10 miles away).

Placements are tricky at USC, from what I hear. Your first year, either you could land something really awesome or you could get stuck somewhere pretty crummy. It's basically a crapshoot, and you can petition to get placed elsewhere if the conditions are particularly bad. Your second year, you choose exactly where you'd like to intern. Interviewing gets competitive and the stakes get higher, but the students I spoke to could not have been happier with their placements. We get top bid, from what I hear, above UCLA and state schools.

I would also argue that LA and the Bay Area are about the same as far as cost of living goes. I would also add that you can get away with living fairly cheaply in both places in comparison to NY. Anyway, as far as responding to USC, just email Amber in the admissions office and request an extension. They should be able to grant you one, and hopefully that will buy you some more time!

Very similar situations indeed! Why Bay Area? I have lived in NYC almost my whole life and while I really love it, San Francisco spoke to me in the right way - it has a NYC vibe but is close to nature and functions at a slightly slower pace. Public transportation can be a hassle with all the bus transfers in SF yes, but it's still easy to get around without a car - coming from NY and our very thorough public transportation, I am spoiled in that way. You can even walk around the city - I like to walk. But there are reasons I love San Fran which I cannot explain - just a feeling, you know? I traveled there twice last year because of that feeling, and am planning to visit for a few weeks next month as well. Ultimately, I would live to move there (or try my hand at that), and I was hoping graduate school would help me with that, but alas Cal rejected and SFSU waitlisted! I know the importance of studying social work in the area where you want to live, but we all make changes - nothing is impossible. I just wanted to try on the Bay Area for size!

LA is so spread out that it would be impossible to have a good all encompassing transportation system, and you can't walk there for sure! I was in Hollywood and walked for 8 hours and got absolutely nowhere, only to have a friend drive me back to where I started in 5 minutes! LA has a lot of negative stereotypes which I do not think much of, but I don't really know anyone there - so that makes me anxious especially if I have to learn to drive and own a car moments before I move there!

Columbia is also 40k, I have gotten 7k in aid (general scholarship fund + work study grant), but everything else will be loans. So that is something for you to consider as well. Living iin NYC is not cheap. LA is the cheapest of the SF -NY - LA triad. But, yes, you wouldnt need a car unless you plan on leaving the 5 boroughs often.

I hear good things about Columbia as well. I have two friends in the MSW (advanced standing, clinical track) program there and they are positive. The negative things I have heard have come from this forum actually! (Not worth the money, only the name, etc, etc). But it is really about the placements. Do you know anything about the placements at USC?

I can't believe Columbia still has not gotten back to you! I have until the 8th (that's one week in total from when they accepted me) to respond to USC. Maybe I should extend? This isn't an easy decision to make!

Good luck!!

[erinl]

I have just been accepted to Columbia! I still need to hear back about funding -- but I'm wondering where you're at in the decision-making process. Any progress? I'd love to hear your thoughts, as I'm now more confused than ever!