UW vs. Suny Buffalo -MSW

[wings of bone]

hello.

I was accepted to Uni of Washington and Suny Buffalo for their MSW programs.

I have lived in Seattle for a year.

SUNY will cost SO MUCH LESS than UW. $ 8,000 a quarter for 6 quarters scares me whereas Suny would only be around $ 25,000 once I get NYS residence.

After looking at the programs, SUNY fits better with me.

I have visited Buffalo before and have family there. I liked it well enough.

I have no family in Seattle. it is expensive here.

In terms of prestige, I'm not sure which school is higher.

I realize that ranking does not matter much, especially since I will not stay in Seattle after I finish.

Yet even still I am leaning towards SUNY and already sent in my intent to enroll.

Does anyone have any experience with SUNY MSW program or with UNI of W MSW?

I mainly want to save money and not pay ridiculous amounts at UW for the same degree where it is cheaper at SUNY.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Henry Hudson]

Buffalo is also has a fairly cheap cost of living.

I don't know MSW at all, so that's all I can contribute.

[Mikeden]

hello.

I was accepted to Uni of Washington and Suny Buffalo for their MSW programs.

I have lived in Seattle for a year.

SUNY will cost SO MUCH LESS than UW. $ 8,000 a quarter for 6 quarters scares me whereas Suny would only be around $ 25,000 once I get NYS residence.

After looking at the programs, SUNY fits better with me.

I have visited Buffalo before and have family there. I liked it well enough.

I have no family in Seattle. it is expensive here.

In terms of prestige, I'm not sure which school is higher.

I realize that ranking does not matter much, especially since I will not stay in Seattle after I finish.

Yet even still I am leaning towards SUNY and already sent in my intent to enroll.

Does anyone have any experience with SUNY MSW program or with UNI of W MSW?

I mainly want to save money and not pay ridiculous amounts at UW for the same degree where it is cheaper at SUNY.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hi,

I attended SUNY Buffalo (I assume you mean the University atBuffalo as opposed to Buffalo State College) for my undergraduate degree. I majored in psychology and some of my friends from the psychology undergraduate program went on for the MSW after they finished their undergraduate degree. As an undergraduate, I LOVED the school. Many people didn't like UB because it is so massive (it is by far the largest SUNY school by both population and campus- actually 3 campuses- size) but I used the size to my advantage for the numerous opportunities (research, etc) that it afforded me. Really, UB (like most other schools) is what you make of it. The campus is beautiful and looks more like a private school than a public school (UB used to be a private schooland tries to maintain the "private school image"). The one complaint that many students had was that it seemed like professors cared more about their research than teaching. I am not sure if that would be an issue for you in graduate school but I just wanted to mention that.

I grew up just outside of NYC and many of my friends from the NYC area didn't like the Buffalo area (they found it too"hickish" for their tastes) but I liked it (in fact, I was going to stay up in Buffalo after graduation but couldn't find a job and needed to come home).

Please keep in mind that Buffalo is the second largest city in NY and compared to my friends who went to other SUNY schools (Oneonta, Binghamton, etc), the city has much more to offer than the cities that someother SUNYs are in. The airport is also only about 20-30 minutes away from the school, which is convenient. You can find a nice apartment for a very reasonable amount of money (I am sure it would be MUCH cheaper than anapartment in Seattle). You will probably always be able to find a parking spot and traffic (at least compared to NYC standards) is a joke. People always talk about the snow in Buffalo and while it does snow at least a few times a week between November through March, the city is pretty serious about the snow and always did a good job of clearing the roads.

I can't speak about the MSW program as I didn't take any social work classes but I do believe it is a fairly popular program at UB. One of my friends loved the program.

Hope this is helpful...Please PM me or reply if you would like any more information or have any questions about the school or area.

Edited May 4, 2011 by Mikeden