CSU's: Anyone accepted yet?

[rjose]

Does anyone know of folks who have or are currently in the MSW program at Cal State LA? I am really thinking of attending and would like to chat with someone who is attending or has attended their program and wouldn't mind sharing their experience.

Thanks in advance!

[rjose]

@ MSW Bound, that's funny that you can't remember which concentration you chose lol. I know it stated it on the page that you had to turn into the department for acceptance. As of right now, I've only been accepted to CSUDH so we may very well be studying together! I chose the community capacity building concentration. I was just saying up above how I hope to be put in CSULA's waitlist because it seems as though they've accepted their first round already and what's left will be for the rest of us. According to the department I'll find out this coming week. Either way though I'm totally stoked that I got into a program. That said, I'd absolutely be ecstatic if I got in anywhere else so I could have a choice to make lol. And san jose's program I chose I really like too (their health and public health option)...I like it equally to the community choice at dominguez.

@ LittleLo it's nice to see someone who applied to San Jose and San Francisco, I almost applied to Chico but decided I just didn't want to live there, my mom lives in Redding so it would have been really close to her, but it was just too far from a larger urban area for me (great housing prices though). Keep me posted about SF and San Jose! I'll let you know if I hear anything from either too.

@Blueled, nice to see you on this post too. As far as Cal States being competitive:

1.First it's because the economy is not so great so there has been a surge in applications in the last few years compared to maybe the past, basically people can't find jobs and so they're going back to school to get more education so they don't just waste their time without work...and also they're choosing cal states more now because of their extremely low cost relative to other schools.

2. Certain CSUs are competitive because of different reasons, in general certain CSUs are competitive because of their general rankings on websites like US News report or other similar sites. They rank the CSUs against each other and other public/private schools and they look at such things as quality of teaching, career prospects, graduation rates and levels of debt accrued. These rankings can be iffy since such things as "career prospects" or "quality of teaching" can be very difficult to rate and the statistics are definitely bias in some way or another (example: your career prospects could have everything to do with your experience that couples your education and how much effort you put into job searching etc. ) Regardless, these rankings make people (especially young impressionable people) talk and talk and talk until everyone knows which school is ranked "better" than the others. I know from this type of talking that CSULB is ranked well among the cal states for various reasons. Also San Luis Obispo has been ranked number one for years...but that's because of things like they are amazing in engineering and science and still have a low cost compared to equally ranked other science schools etc. So as you can see depending on what you study these rankings could mean nothing.

3. Location is another thing, I mean who doesn't want to live by the ocean and have great weather and a cal state that's cheap and that people say is a great school (CSULB or SDSU).

4. Certain schools are just a lot bigger than others too, so they have more departments = more to offer all around and more people to talk about it. All of these things add to the competitiveness of these programs (aka how many good applicants apply).

In general the MSW programs that are better known or those that are in Southern California (because of weather and it's SoCal so people want to live here) these will be competitive. It's simply that less people go to the other programs and less people talk about them. So even if they have a great program, it's less talked about and therefore less people in turn apply each time. Example from myself, I almost applied to CSU East Bay too, but the location is definitely not as great as where I'm living right now (for me that is) and I've heard less about it. When I called them up and told them that CSULA has like over 700 applicants a year the lady laughed and said something like "lol yeah we don't have that many applicants, we have around 200+ each year". This is because LA county has around 17 million people in it. And then there's people who Want to move here! I mean wow right? That right there makes CSULA, which is totally a great price, competitive. LA is where people want to be just like New York or San Diego etc. the weather, or the job prospects, or the entertainment business. So if you're wondering why then all that which I just mentioned is why they are competitive right now lol. And keep in mind there are those programs that are not as competitive and that does not necessarily mean they are not good programs. You just might have to move somewhere you won't Love for 2 years, but I would consider applying to at least one school that's not as well known to up your chances of getting in somewhere if your biggest goal is to get into at least One program. If you don't mind waiting and location or something else is a bigger deal for you, then if you don't get in where you want just gain more experience in any way possible and try again.

I swear to you, she said 700+ applicants, or maybe that was CSULB!

[aalariemy]

Sorry to post AGAIN, but I'm an undergraduate at Chico State right now and was just told that their admission decisions are coming out this week and that they want to get them done before our spring break (which is next week), keep your fingers crossed!!!!!!

I applied to Chico State as well...dam...more stress on top of FINALS WEEK!!!!! im freaking out!!!

@LittleLO hopefully we are colleagues in the future!! that would be Awesome sauce...

[rjose]

Cal State Los Angeles MSW versus Cal State Long Beach MSW - anyone have any comments/suggestions as to which is "better" for the MSW program?

Note, I quoted "better" because I know that both are really great schools, but I was wondering if anyone had any comments or reasoning as to why they like one over the other, or why they applied to one and not the other, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[LittleLO]

I applied to Chico State as well...dam...more stress on top of FINALS WEEK!!!!! im freaking out!!!

@LittleLO hopefully we are colleagues in the future!! that would be Awesome sauce...

That would be awesome!!! wow you have finals this week, thats horrible? thank god i have an iphone so i get my emails immediately, or else I would be checking NONSTOP!!

[aalariemy]

That would be awesome!!! wow you have finals this week, thats horrible? thank god i have an iphone so i get my emails immediately, or else I would be checking NONSTOP!!

Quarter system sucks here at Davis.

[Lisbeth]

I swear to you, she said 700+ applicants, or maybe that was CSULB!

Hey I'm not sure if this was meant for for my long crazy thing but it was quoted w/ it lol. If it was to me, then in my post I was speaking of CSULA that did have 700+ each year but the lady who laughed on the phone was from CSU East Bay and she said they (east bay) gets around 200+. Otherwise maybe you meant it for someone else?

[rjose]

Oh yeah, sorry about that Lisbeth, I thought the 700+ was pertaining to CSU East Bay. Thanks for clarifying. Any comments on my post earlier about CSULB vs CSULA?

[Lisbeth]

Hey abt. 1 hour ago I checked my mail, actually my bf went down and checked the mail (kinda angry because I've been waiting to open the mailbox and see something LOL) but he gave me CSULA's letter. I knew since it was FLAT like just a one pager, that it was either NO or waitlist and it was WAITLIST!! WOOHOOOO. Totally stoked that I didn't just get rejected! Although I know it's a long shot still because others need to reject for me to get a chance now haha... Here's the odd thing kind of, it says "Applicants on the waitlist will be considered for acceptance when the admissions process has been completed for all applicants. You will be notified of your final admission status no later than June 15, 2012". This sounds odd to me now because it's as if they're saying that I will now be put up against the rest of the people who applied after the Dec. 15 priority deadline (which I did apply by). At first I was thinking oh this means that once those people who were accepted choose to go somewhere else, then I'll be considered against other waitlisted people, but if I remember correctly rjose said (correct me if I'm wrong), that her acceptance stated that she has until like July 15th not June 15th to pay dues and make it completely official?? That would mean that I'm going to find out Before people who have been accepted have to solidify their acceptance...which means they're not even waiting on them, but going to compare me now to the next round of people which I know from asking is A LOT, a lot of people apply after the Dec. 15 deadline, in fact at the info. they said it's the Majority. Shoot...well rjose comfirm that for me if you will lol. Now I'm all bummed out again cuz I'm gonna be compared (rightfully so) to everyone now lol.

@rjose as far as CSULA and CSULB, I don't have personal experience for either. I put most of my input in general in that last long post about competitiveness, but I think that the most important thing for you would be to think about which concentration you chose at each. Did you choose the child and family option at both so they're the same option? Or did you choose one under a diff. option and the other school another one? I can't remember which options you chose. That would be my first go to move in terms of deciding, because CSULA is the only school in california and probably one of very few with a forensic option and they have a great fairly new forensic building dedicated to criminal justice (i have a friend whose attending their MS in Criminalistics), and the LAPD use the top floor as their full time crime lab!! So that's that, but if you didn't choose that option which I'm assuming you did not lol since most people don't, then it's also going to be about where you might want to work or gain intership experience or which faculty you like...like check out each of the faculty that teach in the MSW programs and really see what they did ( I know from looking that CSULB has some longer descriptions of certain professors, like they have a link abt. themselves or something) so see if you can find anyone who really catches your eye that you'd want to learn from or make connections w/ for future experience/work. How did you like CSULB's info session? I didn't go to that one (almost did but didn't make it out). Also, you could go visit the areas again. Long Beach is a great area w/ the beach and all, but just like LA there are not so good places to live and nicer up and coming places for students to live. Hard decision! Once upon a time my bf really wanted to go to LB because they were ranked really well in a lot of departments and he had a 3.8 gpa and california resident so he got in, but then after a while he gave up on that idea and realized that all that shit is bogus and now instead of going this spring he's waiting on where I get in LOL. I did not apply to LB since both of us no longer want to move out there, but the point is that it's really a feeling you'll get from something that will help you know. Also think abt. the point that someone else made a while back on one of these boards that CSULA (at least they said this...dunno if it's true) has 17 stipends for child and family and 25 people accepted to that concentration...if that's true then those odds are better than anywhere I've heard of...I thought and was told each school gets diff. amounts each year because it's federally funded so depending on the budgets and all. But hey if it's even 10 or 12 that's awesome odds (it's $18,500 or so!!) And you should call up maybe each school and ask how many on average they give out to compare (if that's your concentration). You seem to have a good chance of getting one with your research background etc. so I'd say that's a good place to start examining. Also, are you going to consider berkeley or other schools if you get accepted?

Edited March 12, 2012 by Lisbeth

[rjose]

Congrats Lisbeth!!!! From what I hear Cal State is very competitive (I was actually more worried about my CSULA acceptance than my Penn one lol). Wait list means there is hope, that you still have a chance! Since you applied before the Dec 15th date, I REALLY hope they take that into consideration!

So, I looked back at my acceptance letter and you'er right it says that I must pay the Enrollment Confirmation Deposit by July 15, 2012. Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for your suggestions about CSULA vs CSULB. I'm going to definitely call the folks from each school up and see. I'm even following your suggestions:

1. How many stipends are being offered in each school, and in relation, how many students will I be "competing" against for these stipends.

2. Look at the faculty profiles and see if any of our interests align

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

And again, congrats. Would you go to CSULA when you officially get in?

Yes, I would probably go to Berkeley if they accept me.

[angelamarie32]

Has anyone heard from San Francisco State? I know their MSW program is super competitive...

I was accepted to San Jose State! Yay! But I really wanted SFSU or Berkeley. I pretty much gave up hope already on CSULB.

[love2012]

Has anyone heard from San Francisco State? I know their MSW program is super competitive...

I was accepted to San Jose State! Yay! But I really wanted SFSU or Berkeley. I pretty much gave up hope already on CSULB.

Congratulations on your acceptance to San Jose State.

I am waiting on SF State as well. When i log on to sfsu portal it says, accept admission offer - pending admission decision. Is that what it says for you? And also has anyone heard back from CSU East Bay?

[LittleLO]

Has anyone heard from San Francisco State? I know their MSW program is super competitive...

I was accepted to San Jose State! Yay! But I really wanted SFSU or Berkeley. I pretty much gave up hope already on CSULB.

Wow you already heard from San Jose, that's lucky! They told me it could be anywhere from March through May to hear. I heard from CSULB, but not SFSU. I have heard San Francisco can take a long time!

[angelamarie32]

Congratulations on your acceptance to San Jose State.

I am waiting on SF State as well. When i log on to sfsu portal it says, accept admission offer - pending admission decision. Is that what it says for you? And also has anyone heard back from CSU East Bay?

Thanks! I know SJSU is a good school but I would like to keep living in SF and commuting from SF to SJ for classes sounds awful.

Yep when I log on to sfsu gateway it says the same...pending admission decision. If you click on it it says all my docs are submitted and my application is under review. Guess we'll just have to wait. Nice to know others are waiting with me though.

[EmEsDoubleYew]

This waiting game is making me go crazy! I'm glad this forum exists so we can all bond over obsessively checking our admission status. Haha.

I've already heard back from SDSU (accepted) and CSULB (waitlisted ). I'm waiting on CSULA and couple other private out of state schools.

I was really disappointed with the decision from CSULB since I was leaning towards their program the most. Does anyone know the likelihood off getting accepted of the waitlist and when I can expect to hear back? I need to give my decision to SDSU relatively soon. Hmm.

[aalariemy]

These schools need to work together and stop forcing students to make decisions before hearing from other schools!!!!!

[Lisbeth]

Has anyone heard from San Francisco State? I know their MSW program is super competitive...

I was accepted to San Jose State! Yay! But I really wanted SFSU or Berkeley. I pretty much gave up hope already on CSULB.

Hey there angelamarie32, Congratulations on the SJSU acceptance!! that's awesome! Was that today (3/12)? And do you have to accept/decline really soon? And lastly did you apply really early or later like nov./dec./jan? Thanks, just wondering abt. stuff like that since I haven't seen anyone talk about sjsu much and now that someone's been accepted that's great! Which concentration did you choose?

and @ rjose, I just noticed down below on your page it says you were waitlisted for the Berkeley MSW but rejected for the msw/phd program there. So you may still be going there that's really great! Either way you got into two so that's beyond great. And that's good you'll be calling them up abt. their stipends etc., I think it's totally worth it. Which concentrations did you choose at CSULA/CSULB? And as for me if I get into CSULA I really dunno still, I purposely have not done any extensive research into faculty or the comparing of concentrations for me personally (at least not since I wrote my essays and needed to choose a concentration) because it really is a waste of my time until I'm accepted to two programs lol. So unless that day happens, I'm at CSUDH and if that occurs then I really have no idea, a part of me really wants to be in the health/public health option at SJSU, part of me LOVEs the community capacity option at CSUDH and another part of me thinks how neat would it be to have a speciality in forensics...As for SF state, I most likely will Not get in lol, and even if I do I will go an additional like 8-10K into debt and it's just not that worth it to me (because of Living costs there are ridiculous).

[angelamarie32]

hey lizabeth, I actually heard from sjsu last Tuesday (3/6) and I applied on the very last day possible, which I think was Jan 20th. The admissions person called me actually and said I had to about the end of the month to decide, but no later.

Also I applied to the 2 yr CMH program at San Jose.

[blueled]

If anyone applied to CSUF, I'd love to hear about your decisions. Do you guys think CSUF is particularly hard to get into because it's relatively new and recently accredited, or do you think it's more or less the opposite?

I am not sure what to expect from MSW programs. I looked at UCLA's MSW acceptance rate online and they accept around 50%, which is pretty darn high to me.

[Lisbeth]

@blueled, Hey I'm not sure where you saw that UCLA's acceptance for MSW was 50% but it's definitely not! On their website for their MSW program, under facts it states: "The department admits approximately 100 students to the MSW program each year. This is about 20- 25% of the applicant pool."

So definitely Not 50%, just wanted to let you and anyone else know since i knew they did not have that high of a rate. Did you see other people saying otherwise? I always stick to the school's website or direct info. from the actual departments when finding numbers like that. Since it's UCLA, there's probably never going to be a 50% rate, because they're so well known and it's public and cheaper than most private universities and again it's very well known (UCLA is one of the most known universities in the whole US, it's ranked very well, relatively cheap compared to equally ranked schools and they do amazing research, have a great medical school etc.) so as I stated in that nightmare of a post (lol) abt. competitiveness, people Talk and talk a lot about UCLA and people everywhere (including as far as japan and other countries) want to go there, they move here to LA and go to a junior college for two years and try to get in there lol that's how known they are!

oh and i'm adding this, I don't mean to say that you don't know how well known they are lol sorry you probably do, but my point is that any school that you know right off the bat from everyone just talking like harvard, yale, brown, columbia, UCLA, USC bla bla they are going to be hard to get into, but when one of those schools that everyone knows is like 13K for undergrad and 20k for graduate school, it's going to be very unlikely to ever see a 50% acceptance because of those high applicant amounts, simple statistics at play that's all.

Edited March 13, 2012 by Lisbeth

[blueled]

Here is the link I used. It shows the average number of people who applied and who were accepted between 2006 and 2010.

http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/progprofile/result.asp?selectmajor=0864

[blueled]

I was just citing the stats I saw. I could be wrong though. I wasn't aware that MSW programs were so competitive.

I called CSUF's office today and they told me, in the last 4 or 5 years they've been opened or so, they have around 300 students that apply and around 35-40 of them matriculate. They wouldn't give me a number or percentage as to how many are actually admitted though. And of course the person I was speaking to stressed how competitive it was (naturally....no program is going to straight up acknowledge they aren't competitive and they take anyone).

They also told me they just wanted at least 1 year of social service work experience/volunteer work/internships, that they only look at analytical and verbal section for GRE, and that there were only 28 full time CalSWEC stipend recipients at the moment, meaning there was probably like 11-14 people per class, so 11-14/35-40.

Just random info if anyone was interested...

Edited March 13, 2012 by blueled

[aalariemy]

anyone hear from chico yet?

[Lisbeth]

Here is the link I used. It shows the average number of people who applied and who were accepted between 2006 and 2010.

http://www.gdnet.ucl...electmajor=0864

Hey yeah so I guess once upon a time when the economy was better, they had a lot more room for acceptance than they do now. I'm assuming the msw facts section is more current since it states they accept abt. 100 people and that this equals abt. 20 to 25% of the total applying. I suppose it used to be higher because UCLA maybe isn't as well known for their MSW in the past, and they had more money so they accepted more at least some of those years, but that is on average...the stats could be that they accepted 200 in 06 and 07 and then dropped down a lot the next years to get that average (173 admit) between 2006 and 2010. Now compared to those years on average, 42% less people are accepted because of budget cuts and other resource restraints (i'm guessing). Thanks for showing me that, now I know that certain departments at UCLA aren't necessarily as difficult as I thought if the economy is good ...although right now it's not so great so maybe my kids will have a better chance lol. Although really, 20 to 25% is actually pretty good odds...but then again it's not that you and I necessarily have those actual odds: I could have a 2.5 GPA and you could have a 4.0 making your odds possibly more like 75% chance and mine zero since they probably have the 3.0gpa mark off like the other schools lol...or similar things that we don't know of like how much they'd want one of us because of our unique experiences, so even though there's those odds out there, your odds could be a lot better...or could be crap in reality. So I guess that's always good to keep in mind, you can probably tell from reading other people's old posts on here (who got in last year) what they studied or did and where they got into, what types of things certain schools are looking for, and that might give us all the best idea of what our personal chances are. Afterall, if the first 100 people who apply to UCLA or CSULA have 3.7 GPAs, 5 years of experience in the specialty they chose and they speak 2 or 3 languages etc., my chance or someone elses could be more like 1% chance of getting in at that point!! lol get it? Statistics are deceiving...

Edited March 14, 2012 by Lisbeth

[allyba]

Congratulations on your acceptance to San Jose State.

I am waiting on SF State as well. When i log on to sfsu portal it says, accept admission offer - pending admission decision. Is that what it says for you? And also has anyone heard back from CSU East Bay?

I emailed CSU East Bay recently after hearing from someone here that they were given a 4-6 week time frame. They are just now looking at apps from Nov. and December. It looks like it will be 4-6 weeks for everyone else. Also did someone really say they only get 200 apps? I am pretty sure they get more than that at CSU East Bay. I´ve heard ppl use it as a backup too a lot for other schools in the area so the competition is probably decent especially considering the stats of a lot of ppl that use this school as a backup for SFSU and even CAL. They do do rolling admissions which probably helps if you don´t have the best stats. I hope I turned in my app early enough for them to still have hope of snagging a spot there. I also have to wait on CSUN. I wasn´t in the earlier admissions group and it seems they also take some time with their later applications.

Edited March 14, 2012 by allyba