vmpancucci Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 I just got an email from the admissions office - I didn't get in. At least the waiting on pins and needles is over. Not sure where to go from here. My GRE, grades and letters of rec were solid, my essays good (I think?), but I have at this point a year of volunteer experience, which is what I suspect got me. At the time of my application I had 10 months total experience. Reading through these forums, I am unclear how Berkeley qualifies a year of volunteer or work experience. I had 7 months of interning 15 hours a week, and as of this moment 5 months of volunteering 2 hours a week. How do they define a year? Is that a year of 40 hours a week? Can anyone clarify? SIGH.............. I'm sorry to hear that!!!! I'm sure that you were qualified, but due to space, they probably had to make some hard decisions! I'm still waiting to hear back, which is horrible to say the least. =(
mapletree Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Hmmm...I was sent an acceptance email on 3/9/12, but I still haven't received the official email confirmation from the Graduate Division. Now I'm now starting to worry that I was sent the acceptance email on accident... I visited a professor at the Social Welfare department after I got admitted and we talked a little about admissions. I asked him why the email's wording is "School of Social Welfare has recommended you for admission" and he said because it is ultimately the grad division's decision if they want to accept you into Berkeley. After receiving a recommendation from the department, the grad division goes through the application to calculate GPA and look at other info again. But, for the most part, the recommendation basically means you're in "unless Social Welfare messed up the GPA calculation or something, but it is very rare that someone who gets the email does not get in." He also said a lot of students worry that they got in by mistake, lol. It's possible that the grad division just hasn't gotten around to confirming yours yet. In your admissions email from Melanie, did it say "Dear Mr/Ms (your last name)"? If so, I do not think it was a mistake. Someone had to type your name into that email, you know? If you're unsure or stressing over it, email Melanie/the department to double check! Have you checked your online status yet? Also, has anyone completed their statement of intent? I took a gander at it, but couldn't tell if they ask for a deposit--how much is it? I did on Wednesday. I was really surprised that it didn't ask me for a deposit at all. Maybe that comes later? Don't know. I just got an email from the admissions office - I didn't get in. At least the waiting on pins and needles is over. Not sure where to go from here. My GRE, grades and letters of rec were solid, my essays good (I think?), but I have at this point a year of volunteer experience, which is what I suspect got me. At the time of my application I had 10 months total experience. Reading through these forums, I am unclear how Berkeley qualifies a year of volunteer or work experience. I had 7 months of interning 15 hours a week, and as of this moment 5 months of volunteering 2 hours a week. How do they define a year? Is that a year of 40 hours a week? Can anyone clarify? SIGH.............. I'm really sorry to hear this, especially since you're CMH . I asked one of the admissions people at an info session in 2010 about that, and they said their definition is the equivalent of 40hrs/wk for a year. I was really worried about the full-time definition thing the first time I applied because I had a lot of different pieces of work experience/volunteering/internships, instead of an actual 40hrs/wk full-time job for a year. I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do in the future.
briefinterviews Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Oh mapletree, you're so helpful! Thank you I find it curious that there is no deposit as well.. Would also hate for it to be a surprise!
vmpancucci Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 (edited) The wait is over...*drum roll* "Dear vmpancucci, I regret to inform you that you have not been accepted for graduate study in Social Welfare at UC Berkeley. All of the material submitted with your application has been reviewed by the Social Welfare admissions committee. Unfortunately, they were unable to recommend you for admission. The Berkeley campus has a strict enrollment ceiling and thus we are very limited in the number of students we may admit each year. The School of Social Welfare also experienced a record number of applications for fall 2012 resulting in the admissions committee having the difficult task of selecting a small number of students from a large pool of well-qualified applicants. Unfortunately, this results in not being able to accept many applicants who are capable of excellent academic work. I am sorry that we do not have a place for you in this year's entering class and hope that you will be able to make other arrangements to achieve your goals. Sincerely, Admissions Office School of Social Welfare UC Berkeley" Good luck to all of you still waiting to hear and for the support provided through this forum! You're all gonna be amazing social workers! Edited March 16, 2012 by vmpancucci
lccsf Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 So sorry to hear vmpancucci!! Seems like today is the day for these emails. Good luck to those still waiting!
vmpancucci Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 So sorry to hear vmpancucci!! Seems like today is the day for these emails. Good luck to those still waiting! So sorry, vapancucci! Thanks, SarahSW and lccsf! It's for the best! I'll be happy regardless at one of the other schools I was accepted to! Good luck to you both! =)
MommyMSW Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Yup, got my rejection letter today as well, which wasn't surprising considering the thread on this blog today. I was also in the CMH group btw. Best of luck to everyone out there...I am certain all will work out as it should :-)
angelamarie32 Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Just got that same email vmpancucci and MommyMSW! Also rejected from CMH. I really had hope since my GPA is high and I've worked in the field for over 2 years. Well, at least I know and can start planning. I told my boss (A SW professor at SFSU and one of the most amazing social workers I know) and she told me she was also rejected from Berkeley when she applied for the MSW (they later accepted her for the PhD), so I feel somewhat better. Still very sad though. Congrats and good luck to everyone!
SarahSW Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 I was on the phone with my husband telling him that I had pretty much given up any hope, when I got the e-mail that I'm waitlisted! I feel so honored just to know that I was considered!
MommyMSW Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Wow, congratulations SarahSW!!!!!! That is such great news - I guess you're dad was right about the "W" part. So hard to tell how they made their decisions. I've emailed asking for feedback to improve my application.
lccsf Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Sorry to hear MommyMSW and AngelaMarie. I had hopes that at least one of us still waiting would make it in. MommyMSW - would you mind sharing what the admissions department says if they get back to you regarding your application? Congrats SarahSW!!
SarahSW Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 Thank you everybody. I wish I had discovered this website earlier. You're all so kind and supportive! Great social workers in the making!
ATohCe.24 Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 My condolences to vmpancucci, Iccsf, MommyMSW and all the rest that received the sad news from Berkeley. I really hope you guys get the opportunity to pursue social work elsewhere or reapply to Cal next year. All of you are competitive applicants that will enrich another program or make it tougher for people applying next year. For those that got in and wondering about financial aid--not that anyone asked, Melanie said financial aid office should notify people around April 15. For stipends and social work fellowships, she informed me that the department should figure that out by next week or the week thereafter. In other news, fieldwork will be Wednesday and Thursday next year; while classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Anyone else trying to work part-time and attend Berkeley?
Whitty Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Hey Guys!! I got rejected from Berkeley... womp! So far I got into UGA and I can't beat the instate tuition and the assistanship is nice. Waiting to hear back from UNC and UWashington but my heart is set on UGA I've already enrolled my toddler in school and registered for housing. I'm also planning on applying to the DUAL MPH program. Every thing happens for a reason! *chin up*
SarahSW Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Does anybody have any idea how many people Berkeley wait lists? I'm wait listed for CMH.
tschuss Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 Does anybody have any idea how many people Berkeley wait lists? I'm wait listed for CMH. I emailed the office today asking about the waitlist for CFS- I'll let you know when I hear back, they are probably similar!
batzmaru347 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 (edited) I visited a professor at the Social Welfare department after I got admitted and we talked a little about admissions. I asked him why the email's wording is "School of Social Welfare has recommended you for admission" and he said because it is ultimately the grad division's decision if they want to accept you into Berkeley. After receiving a recommendation from the department, the grad division goes through the application to calculate GPA and look at other info again. But, for the most part, the recommendation basically means you're in "unless Social Welfare messed up the GPA calculation or something, but it is very rare that someone who gets the email does not get in." He also said a lot of students worry that they got in by mistake, lol. It's possible that the grad division just hasn't gotten around to confirming yours yet. In your admissions email from Melanie, did it say "Dear Mr/Ms (your last name)"? If so, I do not think it was a mistake. Someone had to type your name into that email, you know? If you're unsure or stressing over it, email Melanie/the department to double check! Thanks, Mapletree! I emailed Melanie last night and she said that my admission was put on hold because the unofficial transcript that I submitted lacked the date that the degree was conferred (the transcript was a screenshot that I saved off the school's website back when I was still an undergrad and had access to my grades online). I picked up two copies of my official transcript in person today, dropped one off at Haviland Hall and faxed the other to Melanie, just in case. Hopefully, everything will be proccessed soon... Edited March 17, 2012 by batzmaru347
SarahSW Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I emailed the office today asking about the waitlist for CFS- I'll let you know when I hear back, they are probably similar! Thank you so much! I would really appreciate that!
BellaBear Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 I'm sorry to those who didn't get in and best of luck to those of you who were waitlisted! =) In other news, fieldwork will be Wednesday and Thursday next year; while classes are Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. Anyone else trying to work part-time and attend Berkeley? ahhh! Thank you!! I was looking for this trying to plan my fall schedule as I definitely want to work part time and need to figure out how doable it would be...I was looking as a reference point for last fall's schedule and noticed alot of the major classes have multiple times available...I wonder who gets priority or is it concentration based? Are you thinking of working part time as well? I really want to keep my job if possible so there's no gaps on my resume...
ATohCe.24 Posted March 17, 2012 Posted March 17, 2012 ahhh! Thank you!! I was looking for this trying to plan my fall schedule as I definitely want to work part time and need to figure out how doable it would be...I was looking as a reference point for last fall's schedule and noticed alot of the major classes have multiple times available...I wonder who gets priority or is it concentration based? Are you thinking of working part time as well? I really want to keep my job if possible so there's no gaps on my resume... I'm in that same boat. I have a dream job (for my current qualifications), part-time and the dream school (Cal). Wouldn't it be nice to keep both? So I set out this week to figure it out. Fieldwork is two days (Wed & Thurs next year; 16 hours total / week) and most likely during regular business hours. School is Monday, Tuesday and Friday next year (unlike this year where it was just Tuesday and Thursday for CMH). I got a copy of next year's schedule (should be online in a couple weeks) and will try to create a document like mapletree so everyone can access it now. Scheduling isn't by priority or concentration but rather random assignment in August...I think Berkeley formatted it that way to really discourage people from working at all. How much working are you contemplating?
Steve Bass Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 I went to Cal Berkeley. I am hoping to get my MSW at Columbia or U of Chicago. I ended up majoring in Sociology at UC Berkeley because their undergrad social welfare department was impacted. I don't know if that pertains to the MSW program. The state has made some big cuts and the social welfare dept was one of the first to take a big hit. I know for an undergrad you pretty much have to take the exact classes they want in the exact order. So if there is a terrible professor teaching a non core class, you would likely have to take it. That being said, I love Berkeley. There are so many organizations in the community and a lot of great resources.
tschuss Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Thank you so much! I would really appreciate that! Well, I got a reply but it really didn't say much!: "The waitlist is constantly changing and I'm actually not sure what the exact number is at this moment, but it is unranked and rolling"
SarahSW Posted March 19, 2012 Posted March 19, 2012 Ok, well that is still helpful. Thank you, tschuss So I was just accepted by San Jose, which is my second choice to Berkeley. Does anybody know what will happen if I accept to SJSU and then get chosen off the Berkeley waitlist? What would the process be like to then back out of SJSU? :-/
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