sooperGILLY Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 I'm wondering the same thing! My interview is on Monday via Skype, Eeek!! I have never done one of those before. I'm thinking we should just ask about what kind of student they look for, how they want to improve the program, what makes a candidate grad student material in their eyes, etc. I'm not too sure! Good luck! When is your interview? Mine is on Monday too! So good luck to the both of us. Are they going to tell us their username for Skype or something? LOL
futurelcsw Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Right?!?!? I was just wondering that! I am going to call in the morning since they didn't ask for my username.
Lisbeth Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) I was wondering if you would mind sharing your stats? How much work experience did you have, and what was your GPA upon applying? I am extremely nervous, as I know their program is very competitive. I had a 3.1 gpa overall (had originally studied biology and done poorly in a few courses here and there and also spent 3 years at my JC before transferring, so this accumulation of units and not knowing what I wanted to study yet = slightly lower gpa than I would have had if I knew what I wanted to study, I just wasn't focused enough to care even though I love bio.), but my last 90 quarter/60 semester (which some schools use) ended up being 3.25 because I had gone back to school to take courses for nursing and done well. As for work experience, I have 3.5 years of continuous experience working with children, adolescents and young adults with disabilities (down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome, MR etc.) in which I was trained towards the end in some applied behavioral analysis. That was at a nonprofit and with people from all different backgrounds, so I received a rounded experience with minorities/socioeconomically challenged individuals. After that I've worked as a researcher for the past 2+ years on joint federal/state/local public health and safety plans of which most have been federally funded and the largest was a multi million dollar plan for California. I still work as a researcher, but last year I wasn't given much work and I actually was going to take the time anyways and I went back for those nursing courses and became a california state certified nursing assistant (CNA) so I also had some practicum clinical hours added as experience since it was direct patient care. So I had over 5.5 years of experience that would be helpful to some degree depending on what type of social work I'd do...mental/child&family/medical/research. I had a letter of recommendation from a professor at my undergraduate school, one from a supervisor at my work with persons with disabilities, and one from my manager/boss at my researching job. I got to read the one from my boss because she's nice like that, same with my former supervisor, and I had originally planned to apply to another program but didn't, so I got to open up the remaining unused letter from my professor (yes I know this was wrong but mostly it's because they don't want you getting upset/questioning them, and it was actually a very nice letter and I was pleased with their writing abilities so that was nice) and the other two letters were very good as well. I feel my personal statements were strong too, I spent a long time planning out each essay for each school to fit their needs, however SFSU was definitely a challenge and I actually e-mailed them abt. line spacing and made mine single or 1.5 to fit those 4 questions on a page each since they didn't mind and said we could do it on our own if we added the question above (the filler one they had was like double spaced and offered no room), that was annoying and difficult! So all in all, I think my gpa may be low for SFSU, however I had a fair amount of experience. I did not directly say I wanted to work only with children/families/groups, I worked my essay to say the truth which is that I have certain interests which included becoming licensed and working clinically in mental health/medical social work, but I also made it clear that I have interests in research as well as other things. So, they may have liked those things but found someone else better suited, or wanted someone who really had more experience/interest with Just children/families or didn't simply have room for me...there were many qualified applicants and I do believe if I had really wanted to go there I could have targeted my essay to say so better, but I was Myself and I wasn't going to lie/stretch abt. anything when it's the career I want to go into. I just wanted to be accepted for exactly who I am! Edited April 30, 2012 by Lisbeth
sooperGILLY Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Right?!?!? I was just wondering that! I am going to call in the morning since they didn't ask for my username. Oh ok! Post it if you hear from them. LOL
futurelcsw Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Oh ok! Post it if you hear from them. LOL I called and the woman that answered didn't know. She took down my Skyper username and said they would call me back with that information. I'm so nervous!
sooperGILLY Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 I called and the woman that answered didn't know. She took down my Skyper username and said they would call me back with that information. I'm so nervous! You got this! I heard they were very nice, so that should make the interview a lot easier. And having talked to them a few times on the phone, they really do sound nice. So be confident! This is your big chance to showcase yourself to them! =) Let me know how it goes, and if you can share your experience and maybe questions that they asked, that would be cool! I'll do the same after my interview.
futurelcsw Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks! My interview is at 10:30! The admissions coordinator just called and added me on Skype. She will be calling me at time of the interview. I'll post an update once it is done!
futurelcsw Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 The interview went really well. I scored really well on all areas of my application. It lasted over 30 minutes. They asked about weaknesses in my application. They didn't tell me if I was accepted or not. But she said she was impressed by my application. It was laidback, not high pressure. I felt really goo about it when until she started talking about the waitlist and being considered for the three year program. I hope I hear soon and I hope that I get into the the two year!
sooperGILLY Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 The interview went really well. I scored really well on all areas of my application. It lasted over 30 minutes. They asked about weaknesses in my application. They didn't tell me if I was accepted or not. But she said she was impressed by my application. It was laidback, not high pressure. I felt really goo about it when until she started talking about the waitlist and being considered for the three year program. I hope I hear soon and I hope that I get into the the two year! Aw nice, at least you're done with it and can relax now. Mine is at 1:00pm so I'm preparing just a little bit. Sounds like you did well though!
Jōsh Medina Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 Just got a letter from Cal State LA. I've been waitlisted. Better than a rejection I suppose.
Lisbeth Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 I got a call this morning from San Jose State, I had emailed on Friday stating how I need to know the status of my app. by May 1st if possible, and if waitlisted that'd be great too. They called and said I had originally been waitlisted, but that now they were offering me my first fricken choice of mental health/health option 2 year!!!!! I seriously can't believe it, I was pretty darn sure that I was not getting in there, so this is a shock and kind of difficult since I was almost hoping they'd reject me and I'd just be able to go to CSUDH or see abt. CSULA (waitlisted) and keep living in southern california where I'm comfortable lol. But now I need to decide. hmmm Well either way I'll be giving a spot to someone since I already had accepted CSUDH, so that makes me feel good!
sooperGILLY Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 The interview went really well. I scored really well on all areas of my application. It lasted over 30 minutes. They asked about weaknesses in my application. They didn't tell me if I was accepted or not. But she said she was impressed by my application. It was laidback, not high pressure. I felt really goo about it when until she started talking about the waitlist and being considered for the three year program. I hope I hear soon and I hope that I get into the the two year! I just had my interview and thought it went well, in my opinion. Like you said, it was pretty laid-back and more of a conversation than an interview. She picked at my brain a bit, but I'm hoping my answers were enough to be able to be granted admission to their program. I got scared too when she brought up all the "just in case" scenarios such as doing the 3-year program or the possibility of not getting in. But of course, they have to warn everyone about that, right? Good luck to all of us though and hopefully we'll be future classmates soon. =)
futurelcsw Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 I just had my interview and thought it went well, in my opinion. Like you said, it was pretty laid-back and more of a conversation than an interview. She picked at my brain a bit, but I'm hoping my answers were enough to be able to be granted admission to their program. I got scared too when she brought up all the "just in case" scenarios such as doing the 3-year program or the possibility of not getting in. But of course, they have to warn everyone about that, right? Good luck to all of us though and hopefully we'll be future classmates soon. =) Yeah I feel like it went well but when she brought up the alternatives I freaked out! Did your interviewer mention when we would hear? Mine didn't. I know there are more interviews Thursday so I imagine it won't be until at least next week. By the way, which concentration did you choose?
mizzle Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 is anyone attending the part time CSUN MSW program orientation next month?
sooperGILLY Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 Yeah I feel like it went well but when she brought up the alternatives I freaked out! Did your interviewer mention when we would hear? Mine didn't. I know there are more interviews Thursday so I imagine it won't be until at least next week. By the way, which concentration did you choose? She said that they would be talking about it with the committee within the next week or two, so I'm assuming we should expect to hear back from them within that time. I chose the two year CYF program as my number 1, but I let them know that I wouldn't mind the 3-year if it came down to it. (I made it clear the the 2 year was my preference though, but I guess I'd settle for the 3 year if it came down to it.)
Sacstatehopeful Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 Waitlisted into Sac State I'm sorry you didn't get a for sure answer but at least you got some kind of correspondence. I still haven't heard anything good luck! I hope you get in off the wait list I'm not sure what to think anymore since I have seen some people get rejected, accepted, and wait listed. I guess they are just slowly moving through their pile of applications.... Let us know!
aalariemy Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 I will! Looks like I'll play the waiting game a bit longer!
nimo6211 Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 (edited) Ok. I got a satisfactory response from SFSU. Good luck to the rest of you Edited May 1, 2012 by nimo6211
manubarack Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 Hey! Congrats !! Did you get your response by e-mail ?
nimo6211 Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 Hey! Congrats !! Did you get your response by e-mail ? Thanks! Yes, via the SFSU portal. Just got it today
cschapman Posted May 1, 2012 Posted May 1, 2012 Checked my status today on SFSU website and was denied admissions! Good thing I'm already going to CSUN! They took wayyyyy to long to get back to students! Good luck to those still waiting and congrats to those who heard the good news!
Lisbeth Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Thanks! Yes, via the SFSU portal. Just got it today Congrats! Wow first to get into SFSU on here I think, awesome and good luck. If you got the time, please post your stats like i did (doesn't have to be so long, I tend to keep writing when i start lol) but it'd be nice to compare since my gpa was lower, but experience was decent..maybe others for next year can draw some conclusions from yours too!
Lisbeth Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 I decided I'm going to go to San Jose's Mental Health/Health option 2-year. I had done a lot of thinking the past month and oddly my first choice changed from CSUDH to SJSU and although I hate to leave LA because I'm so comfortable here and it's so warm lol, It's worth it for me! So now there will be a spot for someone at CSUDH! If anyone is going to SJSU remind me, I can't remember the 2 who had got in earlier, I'll go searching when i have the time perhaps!
SWMDG2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Posted May 2, 2012 Is anyone going to the MSW Orientation at CSULB on the 12th ?
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