Columbia - Fall 2016

[caitmcguire]

6 minutes ago, MSW88 said:

Thank you! It's good to have a time line for my anxiety ?

No problem! I hope you get some good news

[morningjunky]

On March 7, 2016 at 2:40 PM, caitmcguire said:

How long did it take to hear back from them about your appeal? I appealed and the last thing I heard from them was that it was under review last Thursday. Not sure if it's good or bad that I haven't heard anything :/ 

sorry you won't be attending Columbia but good luck to you! 

Hey Cait. It took me about a week. Good luck! Are you attending Columbia?

[morningjunky]

On 3/9/2016 at 5:34 PM, jc1532 said:

Would you mind sharing some of the external funding options? 

Here are some funding options/resources I found:

WUSTL: https://msw.wustl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/External-Scholarships-2014.pdf

NYU External Funding: http://socialwork.nyu.edu/admissions/msw/external-funding.html

Fordham's Guide: http://www.fordham.edu/downloads/file/3582/2015_–_2016_financial_aid_guide

Tulane: http://tulane.edu/socialwork/prospective/studentscholarships2.cfm

NASW: http://www.naswfoundation.org/fellowships.asp

CSWE: http://www.cswe.org/CentersInitiatives/ScholarshipsandFellowships.aspx

Pride Foundation: http://www.pridefoundation.org/what-we-do/scholarships/scholarship-funds/

A lot of these scholarships are very particular and niche. You must possess some identity marker, study a certain type of social work or plan to work with certain populations. 

Also, for those who are seeking supervision for their clinical hours in order to become a licensed clinical social worker in hopes of becoming a clinician/therapist, a Post-MSW Fellowship is a great opportunity. If my goal was to become a therapist, I would definitely apply for these fellowships as they are great training opportunities, look great on your resume, offer clinical supervision and can likely lead to a great job with the same organization (large hospitals/colleges/universities). Here are some:

http://studenthealth.emory.edu/cs/professional_training/post_msw/

http://www.menningerclinic.com/education/training-programs/social-work

http://www.simmons.edu/student-life/student-services/counseling/training-opportunities

http://www.wehealny.org/services/BI_PalliativeCare/socialwork.html

https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/care/services/services/fellowships.aspx

http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/joinourteam/cps/mswintern/letter.shtml

While you're an advanced standing student, regular two year MSW students should note that their second year could possibly be free or waived in some manner in return for some form of work. Most large, research universities offer stipends/tuition waivers/tuition remission for second year Master students through a graduate assistantship. Right now, I am waiting for another university that might offer me a graduate assistantship (I applied for four), which would waive my tuition and also give me a small stipend for room and board ($1,000-$1,600/month). I also applied to several small scholarships as well ($500-1,500) just to help with books and living expenses for my first year since the deadline for most large scholarships passed. Basically, there are a lot of funding and scholarships out there and it's just waiting for your application. Good luck!

[caitmcguire]

1 hour ago, morningjunky said:

Hey Cait. It took me about a week. Good luck! Are you attending Columbia?

Thanks! I am not sure yet! I really want to but I didn't receive that much more aid from my appeal. I have a meeting next week with the director of admissions to discuss my situation and see if there is any way we can work past some of the financial barriers so I can attend. I am trying to be optimistic but also don't want to get my hopes up! If I don't end up going to Columbia then I will go to UNC which I would be very happy with as well. 

[Opt4theBest]

Finally, I got into Columbia's 2 yr program! Yahoo! 

[AwkwardBlackKid]

Congrats Opt4theBest!

 

=/ I applied during the rolling admission period, and finished my application at the beginning of March. I'm really hoping I get in, I wonder how long it'll take them to let me know. 

[Opt4theBest]

7 hours ago, AwkwardBlackKid said:

Congrats Opt4theBest!

 

=/ I applied during the rolling admission period, and finished my application at the beginning of March. I'm really hoping I get in, I wonder how long it'll take them to let me know. 

Thank you! I applied on Jan 4. However, the fact that I earned my bachelor degree from overseas required me to go on an extra step: international applicant interview. My interview was scheduled on March 4th then they rescheduled for March 11. So I completed the interview last Friday and after a few follow up emails I heard the decision today. I hope this helps.

[jamieekim]

On 2/3/2016 at 6:33 PM, jillchristine said:

They almost always extend the admission deadline, probably also to give themselves more time. But I believe they review everyone from the original pool of applicants and then start admitting from later applicants. I believe I found out my acceptance to CSSW late-February and I was the second round of admissions. They continued to admit people until March, but I think the first group of people heard February 15th. 

I'm graduating from the program in May, if you have any questions about the program or why I decided to ultimately chose it feel free to ask! Best of luck all! 

Hi jillchristine, 

I got accepted into CSSW program and I am waiting to hear back from BC. I am having a very difficult time choosing which program is better suited for me. How did you come to your decision for Columbias program?

I have also heard classes are not always taught by the faculty and PhD students might teach instead and class sizes tend to be bigger. Is this true?

Edited March 17, 2016 by jamieekim

[KmmAlaska]

22 hours ago, caitmcguire said:

Thanks! I am not sure yet! I really want to but I didn't receive that much more aid from my appeal. I have a meeting next week with the director of admissions to discuss my situation and see if there is any way we can work past some of the financial barriers so I can attend. I am trying to be optimistic but also don't want to get my hopes up! If I don't end up going to Columbia then I will go to UNC which I would be very happy with as well. 

Hi caitmcguire, I am interested in how your meeting goes, as I didn't get as much as I had hoped with my appeal.  I sent Debbie L. an email about it, so I'm waiting to hear back, but curious to see if you are successful.  I'm not excited about ending up with over $90k in student loans when I graduate.  Thanks!

[Opt4theBest]

Hi! Has anyone mailed in their $400 Enrollment Deposit?

I wonder if we can pay it online with credit cards, but I don't think so. Right? They ask me to mail the check/money order in before April 4th which is around the corner. However, I am still waiting for my financial package info and would like to see if they will offer me any scholarship. Should I wait for this before placing my deposit? 

Thank you!

[jillchristine]

18 hours ago, jamieekim said:

Hi jillchristine, 

I got accepted into CSSW program and I am waiting to hear back from BC. I am having a very difficult time choosing which program is better suited for me. How did you come to your decision for Columbias program?

I have also heard classes are not always taught by the faculty and PhD students might teach instead and class sizes tend to be bigger. Is this true?

I was torn between NYU and Columbia primarily, but I was looking in Boston and Chicago as well. I ended up really choosing Columbia because I liked the campus much better than NYU. I was a NYC newbie, so the thought of living in/ near NYU downtown scared me a bit and I liked the quiet uptown area. However, I took a few things into consideration other than the location. I heard from others that Columbia had better field placement options including the best associations with major hospitals such as NY Presbyterian (where I currently intern) and Mt Sinai. I don't know what other schools have but Columbia has thousands of placement options and you almost get your first choice. Also, I know this is cliche but the name does go far (especially in other areas of the country) and I think for me it was the best choice. That being said, CSSW is not perfect but no school is so if you set your expectations too high, you are absolutely going to be disappointed. From what I've heard, CSSW doesn't receive any of Columbia's larger endowment so the school is not as funded as most people think. However, we have a nice building and I believe the professors that come to Columbia are looking at the name for their resume, so we tend to get the best in the field (some not all, of course). 

Classes are typically 10-20 people and some of the larger ones (HBSE, first year courses) may be 30-45. I haven't ever been bothered by the size of the classrooms. In fact, most of the clinical classes need to be larger size to do role plays. I've never had a teaching assistant teaching a class but they may be there to hand out an exam or do something like that. I had one professor who was a PhD student but she was middle-aged and well into her career so she was very much qualified for teaching MSW students. 

I don't know if that helps, if you have any specific questions id be happy to answer 

[KmmAlaska]

6 hours ago, Opt4theBest said:

Hi! Has anyone mailed in their $400 Enrollment Deposit?

I wonder if we can pay it online with credit cards, but I don't think so. Right? They ask me to mail the check/money order in before April 4th which is around the corner. However, I am still waiting for my financial package info and would like to see if they will offer me any scholarship. Should I wait for this before placing my deposit? 

Thank you!

Hi Opt4theBest, congrats on your acceptance by the way!  I submitted my Intent to Enroll today and I also saw that they only accept mailed deposits, so I stuck mine in the mail today.  Mine should arrive in less than one week, which won't be a problem for the April deadline, and I'm from Alaska.  Hope that helps.  

[Opt4theBest]

11 hours ago, KmmAlaska said:

Hi Opt4theBest, congrats on your acceptance by the way!  I submitted my Intent to Enroll today and I also saw that they only accept mailed deposits, so I stuck mine in the mail today.  Mine should arrive in less than one week, which won't be a problem for the April deadline, and I'm from Alaska.  Hope that helps.  

Thank you KmmAlaska! This really helps. I think I'll mail my check in either today or early next week.

[KatFreeLee]

On 3/18/2016 at 8:19 AM, KmmAlaska said:

Hi Opt4theBest, congrats on your acceptance by the way!  I submitted my Intent to Enroll today and I also saw that they only accept mailed deposits, so I stuck mine in the mail today.  Mine should arrive in less than one week, which won't be a problem for the April deadline, and I'm from Alaska.  Hope that helps.  

Where did you find the information on where to send the check and how to address it? I couldn't find any specific instructions on website or acceptance letter.

[KmmAlaska]

39 minutes ago, KatFreeLee said:

Where did you find the information on where to send the check and how to address it? I couldn't find any specific instructions on website or acceptance letter.

Hi, when you submit your Intent to Enroll the instructions are on that site.  

[morningjunky]

On March 16, 2016 at 1:35 PM, caitmcguire said:

Thanks! I am not sure yet! I really want to but I didn't receive that much more aid from my appeal. I have a meeting next week with the director of admissions to discuss my situation and see if there is any way we can work past some of the financial barriers so I can attend. I am trying to be optimistic but also don't want to get my hopes up! If I don't end up going to Columbia then I will go to UNC which I would be very happy with as well. 

Best of luck to you! I think the average fund increase has been around $2K for most students, but I hope you get more and also apply for external funding as well. 

I have to say that Columbia's Admissions Office has been the most warm, receptive and welcoming out of all the schools I applied to (besides possibly UChicago). They followed up with an email after I declined my acceptance and prior to that, I also had a current graduate student call me to remind me about the mandatory Orientation date in August and if she could answer any questions for me, I could call her back (she left a voicemail since I didn't pick up). When I sent an email or called the Office, they were really patient and seemed to care about their students. 

[caitmcguire]

On 3/17/2016 at 0:01 PM, KmmAlaska said:

Hi caitmcguire, I am interested in how your meeting goes, as I didn't get as much as I had hoped with my appeal.  I sent Debbie L. an email about it, so I'm waiting to hear back, but curious to see if you are successful.  I'm not excited about ending up with over $90k in student loans when I graduate.  Thanks!

I will definitely let you know how it goes! My meeting is this Friday. I totally feel you about the loans...hopefully we are both able to get at least a little more money! 

[caitmcguire]

1 hour ago, morningjunky said:

Best of luck to you! I think the average fund increase has been around $2K for most students, but I hope you get more and also apply for external funding as well. 

I have to say that Columbia's Admissions Office has been the most warm, receptive and welcoming out of all the schools I applied to (besides possibly UChicago). They followed up with an email after I declined my acceptance and prior to that, I also had a current graduate student call me to remind me about the mandatory Orientation date in August and if she could answer any questions for me, I could call her back (she left a voicemail since I didn't pick up). When I sent an email or called the Office, they were really patient and seemed to care about their students. 

Thanks! I definitely agree about Columbia's Admissions Office. I have been so impressed with them throughout this whole process. Even if I don't end up attending I definitely will still have a great impression of the program and the school because of them! 

[KatFreeLee]

On 3/21/2016 at 8:15 AM, KmmAlaska said:

Hi, when you submit your Intent to Enroll the instructions are on that site.  

Thanks!

[Opt4theBest]

Does anybody know if we can appeal for more $$ after we submit our admissions response form (and placing our $400 deposit)? My deadline to accept the admissions' offer is April 4, but I have just received my scholarship package yesterday and submitted my appeal to the admissions yesterday. Thank you everyone!

[MSW88]

I am still waiting for an appeal decision (I applied last Tuesday)

[Opt4theBest]

Just to update all. My appeal has been granted and as a result I am awarded $3K extra.

[KmmAlaska]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 10:11 AM, caitmcguire said:

I will definitely let you know how it goes! My meeting is this Friday. I totally feel you about the loans...hopefully we are both able to get at least a little more money! 

I'm looking forward to hearing about your meeting today.  Good luck!

[KmmAlaska]

15 hours ago, Opt4theBest said:

Just to update all. My appeal has been granted and as a result I am awarded $3K extra.

Is that per term or total?  What is total scholarship now?  I'm curious as to what everyone is receiving, I feel like I didn't receive enough, compared to everyone else.

[Opt4theBest]

11 hours ago, KmmAlaska said:

Is that per term or total?  What is total scholarship now?  I'm curious as to what everyone is receiving, I feel like I didn't receive enough, compared to everyone else.

In total it's $13.5K / year