Info on possible safety schools in Boston and Chicago areas

[HaleyWantstobeaTherapist]

Hello everyone!

I'm looking into narrowing down my list of MSW programs to apply to. I know that i definitely want to apply to Boston College, Smith, UChicago, and University of Illinois at Chicago. If it wasn't obvious, I'm particular to being in Boston or Chicago. Possibly Philadelphia.

However, I realize that all of the programs previously mentioned are extremely high ranked, so I am looking into some safety schools. I am particularly interested in going into clinical social work, and I can't seem to find any reliable info on the reputation of these schools:

Rhode Island College, Salem State University, Bridgewater State University, Chicago State University and West Chester University (In Pennsylvania)

Does anyone have any info at all on any of these schools? Or possibly even some recommendations of schools I haven't mentioned that are in those areas?

[pippapants]

I wouldn't worry too much about spending app money safety schools; you're very likely to get in to at least one of those schools, if not several -- if that's where you want to go.  MSW programs have some of the highest acceptances rates of any graduate programs, and acceptance rates do not correspond to "rankings" in anyway (I'm not actually sure what "rankings" correspond to).  As I mentioned in another post, some of the highest ranked and most expensive schools have the highest acceptance rates, because their actual yield is so low (i.e. very few people can actually afford to attend, so they accept large pools of students knowing that most will turn the offer down).  Something like only 30%-40% of the MSW students admitted to Boston U, BC, NYU, Fordham, and Penn actually end up there.  I don't have stats for all the schools you listed, but Chicago's acceptance has been up around 70%, same as the University of Michigan and Washington University in St. Louis.

[HaleyWantstobeaTherapist]

On 11/15/2015 at 10:37 PM, pippapants said:

I wouldn't worry too much about spending app money safety schools; you're very likely to get in to at least one of those schools, if not several -- if that's where you want to go.  MSW programs have some of the highest acceptances rates of any graduate programs, and acceptance rates do not correspond to "rankings" in anyway (I'm not actually sure what "rankings" correspond to).  As I mentioned in another post, some of the highest ranked and most expensive schools have the highest acceptance rates, because their actual yield is so low (i.e. very few people can actually afford to attend, so they accept large pools of students knowing that most will turn the offer down).  Something like only 30%-40% of the MSW students admitted to Boston U, BC, NYU, Fordham, and Penn actually end up there.  I don't have stats for all the schools you listed, but Chicago's acceptance has been up around 70%, same as the University of Michigan and Washington University in St. Louis.

I didn't know any of that haha thank you! Do you know what University of Illinois at Chicago's acceptance rate is? Or smith? I can't decide how many to cut off my list (because, in reality, the list of schools I'm interested in is much longer than what I put here) because I'm worried that if I only apply to like 5 well known schools, I won't get into any.

[pippapants]

I Googled the Journal of Social Work Education article by Kirk, Kil, and Corcoran from 2009.  The data is at the bottom.  I think it puts Chicago at 60%, Smith at 50%, and UIC at 68%.  It's an interesting read.  It also puts "rankings" into perspective.  Most social workers will tell you that one MSW is no different from another, regardless of where you got your degree.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Journal-Social-Work-Education/193406211.html