Social Work MSW/PhD, PhD Applicants!

[SWstudent]

Hey @wisdomspeaks, same! Congratulations btw! I also got into NYU's MSW program (not a dual program, it was more of a safety for me), but still I'm really proud of myself/excited. Malinda suggested I ask for an extension, because it sounds like they won't be getting back until late Feb to invite people campus, and even then, it's not set in stone that you'll be accepted. I really hope they'll offer it to us, because otherwise, it's a lot to ask of poor pre-graduate students. 

[JointPhD-Social Work Guy]

@MCinephile, First of all, good luck!! I don't know who you will be interviewing with but from what I experienced you will want to be relaxed and confident with your knowledge of what you want to do in the Ph.D. program. It seemed to me that they wanted to know that I was a good fit for the program and that I would be able to handle the education load. Make sure you know why you applied and why you want to Wayne. Make sure you ask questions, including what they are looking for, ask questions that show that you are interested. If you know who you are interviewing with, take a look at their bios and know a little about them. 

My committee made me feel really welcome, try to have fun with this interview. They are looking for a fit, show em who you really are. The way I look at it is, it was an experience, I wanted to make it a fun and educational moment so no matter what happens with the decision I still feel like I gained from the experience.

 

Good Luck! 

[JointPhD-Social Work Guy]

Also...I have no idea how long after the interview it takes to get an answer...sigh

[wisdomspeaks]

@AMStudent I will call the MSW program today. Thanks for the info!!! Ya I really can't afford it. I work part-time because I left my full-time job to earn more research experience and no one would hire me full-time given my plans to leave within a year  so I'm pretty poor right now. I'm realllyyyy lucky I have a partner or I would be in real trouble financially. Btw, the MSW program contacted me again today saying I got a scholarship. Hmm... Hopefully that won't be applicable because I'll be accepted into the MSW/PhD program!

to everyone else, good luck on interviews and hope you hear back soon!!

[saraisabel118]

Hey.  I am wondering if anyone is applying to the University of Minnesota-TC for their MSW?  If they are, has anyone heard back yet?

[wisdomspeaks]

@saraisabel118 University of Minnesota-TC does not have an MSW/PhD program, so I am afraid not  Have you checked the results?

@AMStudent I got my MSW deadline extended to March 1st!

[saraisabel118]

University of MN-TC definitely does have an MSW and PhD program 'cause I applied there.  I checked the results but my application is currently at a standstill so I am just wondering if anyone else has heard anything yet. 

[wisdomspeaks]

@saraisabel118 I was referring to a combined MSW/PhD program. Sorry for the confusion! Those are the programs to which I have applied.

[saraisabel118]

Ohhhh gotcha @wisdomspeaks, I apologize.  Yeah, they don't have that!  OK, thank you. I'm just trying to track approximately when I'll hear back.  

[wisdomspeaks]

@saraisabel118 If you have time on your hands, go back through previous years of the results page and take note of rejections, interviews, contacts, and acceptances. Make an excel spreadsheet and calculate an average for each of those outcomes, as well as a range of dates. Crazy, I know. But I did that! lol It has been pretty accurate so far.

[JointPhD-Social Work Guy]

@wisdomspeaksI am definitely not surprised by the disappearance of indigenous women, especially when it comes to the creation of "adoptions" so that some colonizer can have a child.  It breaks my heart to even think that people would harm somebody so that they could have a child, yet that is the premise of colonization. You move in, take what you want and forget about the wake of tragedy, death and destruction in your path, 

Now, please forgive me, I have to just get this anxiety off my chest and facebook is not the place to do it. It has only been day two since I interviewed 4/6 committee members at Wayne State U for the Social Work Anthropology program (SWAN.) I don't really know what my expectations were, but the anxiety has become even worse now that I have interviewed. As I mentioned before, they were looking for fit, and I felt pretty good about the interview but the more time the more self-doubt the more fear sets in.  I think the fear that arises in my chest, like an air bubble rising to the top of the surface, is there because I only applied to two joint programs, WSU and UMICH and I don't have too much faith that I will make the cut into UMICH. It is fairly important to me, clearly, that I make it in, my backups were MSW only programs, but Anthropology has become a new lens alongside my SW lens and no longer do I see things from that one perspective. 

I know whatever happens will happen, Que Serra Serra, right? The fact remains, had I never received that interview email, I feel like if I do receive a rejection it would hurt less. Plus WSU is where I feel like I belong and have a much better chance of getting into, so I think that anxiety rises and sits there. And since the SWAN program is so new, there is no historical data to figure out decision timeframes. 

Anyway, sorry for the long rant...that fear and anxiety make a terrible brew yet I concocted it when I signed the application and sent it through.

[Happysoul]

@wisdomspeaks

Yeah, you are right. Malinda is really helpful. I just read that you have already received the extension. Hope this will help you plan and take the decision now. 

I have seen USC being not given enough credit around this forum but from an outsider (international student) perspective, Malinda and professors out there have been really welcoming to reply to queries.

I was most disappointed with UCLA (Luskin) and BC (Boston College) as neither the admission coordinator nor any professor bothered to reply inspite of mailing them couple of times. Maybe international students were not of priority or something wrong with my approach. 

 

Edited February 4, 2016 by Happysoul

[wisdomspeaks]

Definitely, Indigenous women have always been collateral damage to colonizers.  This is largely due to the lack of hierarchical ranking common to many indigenous cultures and the patriarchal Fear/hatred toward a society that centers women as leaders and views all gender identities/expressions as complementary to one another. Raping, murdering, and degrading women in such a society is a key strategy for dismantling it.

 

No apologies needed! I feel your anxiety, though I'm sure not to that extent. would you be happy with settling for an MSW program? If not, I suggest looking at your application, experience, scores, everything and finding ways to improve them for the next year. I know that sucks and it's not what you want to do, but I knew I wouldn't be happy with just an MSW program for financial and time reasons and planned to do just that if I got in nowhere. Then I would suggest applying to some combined MSW/PhD programs as well, and looking for faculty with anthropology-related interests. Social work is VERY interdisciplinary and that's what's so great about it. You can make it as anthropological as you want!

 

But that's the worst case scenario. You can't think that you won't get in, especially since your interview went so well. Has anyone else heard back? Are there results from this years interviews yet, or No? And lastly, would you be considered for their MSW program, too? If so, do they allow students to apply to the joint program in their first year? 

 

It's perfectly understandable you'd be more upset having met with them in person. It makes the rejection more personal. It's like someone saying they liked you On paper enough to meet you, but didn't like you in person enough to accept you. That's hard and definitely painful, but try not to personalize if it happens. It could just be that someone else fit with faculty a bit better than you did. Often rejections have little to do with you, and more to do with other people. I have faith you will get in, though!!

@JointPhD-Social Work Guy (wouldn't let me tag this higher in my comment??)

@Happysoul I'm sorry you had a bad experience with BC. I felt that way with U-M. No one responded to me... I had the same experience with USC. No one ignored me at all out there. It was great! Attracting international students SHOULD be a priority. There is a social work world outside of the U.S. I am a firm believer that experience (wisdom) speaks. 

[SWstudent]

Just found out, via checking the website, that I was admitted to Rutgers' MSW program. Now for the PhD decision! C'mon USC and Rutgers, don't leave us hanging for that long. 

[CrimsonEyes]

I just got an email for Berkeley!!!!.... I Didnt get in!   Congrats to those who got accepted!

[Happysoul]

I too received an email from Berkeley to check my status.  Not selected

all the best to others.

[wisdomspeaks]

@CrimsonEyes and @Happysoul I am sorry to hear that! You're in good company though

 @AMStudent Malinda called me back today returning a previous call I had made to her. She told me that we should hear back between Feb 17th and 23rd. That's when they are contacting finalists for the campus visit at the end of March. Not sure if that's new info to you. I know she told you end of February 

[SWstudent]

Thank you @wisdomspeaks! That is wonderful to know. I don't know if I mentioned I got into Penn State's HDFS PhD program, and I mostly just want to hear from USC bc a couple PI's from USC are collaborating with a couple PI's from the HDFS program on a project I am obsessed with--lines up perfectly with my research interests...the week of the 17th-23rd will be here before we know it and if I don't get in, at least I'll have a better idea of where I'll be moving to in August. 

[JointPhD-Social Work Guy]

@wisdomspeaks Women are the ultimate nemesis of the patriarchy and the power of white heteronormative patriarchy depends on suppressing everyone who is different. We know that this is the only power they really have, if indigenous beliefs, customs, cultures etc... were allowed to survive and ethnocide never happened, colonizers would not have the same control that they have today. They wouldn't be able to create policies that allow social services to take away children based on perceived differences. They wouldn't be able to minimize the importance of indigenous culture and ultimately lives, but the way that our society has evolved, that is exactly what they do. The problems will only continue to grow, in the USA, the population of the first Nations People is one of the fastest growing. That leaves huge gaps in mental health care and if left unchecked, the issue of illegal adoptions. which I imagine plague all of North America, will continue to grow.

In regards to the MSW program, I would settle, I would get my MSW and reapply to the Ph.D. programs. Honestly, I spent a solid four months under the guidance of a grad school admissions board professor and a lot of editors to get these applications ready. I, however, should have spent more than two weeks on the GRE prep, while my score was better than the Wayne average, it probably wasn't the best for UMICH. I think I started to overanalyze the perception of fitting into the program. I have aspirations of doing Macro work in the Ph.D. program, creating new therapeutics models based on ethnographic community work done. and someday applying that work on a micro level. Of course, I told them this. They are a Macro program, which is great and focused on my current goals but it is worrisome that they might perceive me as not fitting for that reason. I did explain that I had a million goals and that I would worry about the Micro education component later. 

Really I am fairly intuitive, Initially, I felt that the interview went well, but the more I overthought, the more the intuitive feeling of good turned into that terrifying feeling of anxiety and dread. The director of the social work program has since forwarded me a lecture happening on campus and said "You might not want to make the trip, however, you might want to. This is happening in the same building as your interview." To that, I replied "Wild snowflakes couldn't keep me from attending, this looks like a great opportunity for me. Thank you" and she replied with "you are welcome." As I try to overanalyze this, I feel like she wouldn't bother with inviting me if they weren't considering me. 

I think this is the killer because there are only two Universities in the nation offering this and I don't see another way that I would be happy with. Social Work is amazingly versatile, but I cannot see my world without that Anthropology component, it is the vehicle that will help me research the storytelling aspect, the vehicle that allows me to see the world even more empathetically and the vehicle that really brought me to the point of pursuing a Ph.D. I feel like I can, of course, try to integrate it myself but it won't be the same. I feel like I need them both in my life as equal partners. Both disciplines are why I chose to spend my own money doing research to begin with and so I guess I won't go out without and anxiety ridden fight!

Okay, that being said. Any more news from your side of the application table?

 

@MCinephile How did your interview go??!??!?

[MCinephile]

@JointPhD-Social Work Guy  I really liked everyone I interviewed with! It only lasted about 30 minutes so that had me a little worried. They seemed very friendly and academically oriented so I appreciate the positive vibes I got from them. They asked me my research area and I told them my ideas and the Director responded "well that could be your dissertation tight there!".....which made me feel awesome. I really like that they are a newer and smaller program, which gave me the community feeling! I just want to know already lol 

[JointPhD-Social Work Guy]

That sounds awesome!! I think everybody has different interview time lengths. I definitely understand the need to know. Here's to waiting !

[hyronomus4]

Hey all!

I was in your position this time last year anxiously waiting for my future to be revealed. I know the torture of waiting and I don't envy you at all!  Now I'm happily enrolled (albeit completely stressed and overwhelmed) in my top choice program.  I just want to wish you all the best of luck in whatever happens over the next few months!! 

P.S. I didn't get my #1 acceptance until mid March even though previously people reported acceptances in December and January.  Don't lose hope, Grad Cafe doesn't know everything!

[royerful0]

Hello everyone !

As an international student with MSW degree (obtaining it in the US), I am curious about whether it is normal that there is no notification of interview from CSSW so far......

Is there anyone knowing that information? Thx a lot~

[MCinephile]

Just got the e-mail: I got into MSU's PhD program!! They are my number one choice and have a consortium on gender-based violence. I'm sooooooooooooooooo excited!!!

[SWstudent]

Congratulations @MCinephile! What a huge relief! I hope the financial package was great too!