WUSTL Fall 2016 Admits

[Joy418]

Hey! I would love to connect with others who are considering WUSTL for their MSW It's my first choice program-wise, but would be a major stretch financially. Has anyone visited? 

[anony2888]

Hello!  I think we are rowing the same boat. WUSTL is my first choice as well but I cannot justify the cost for an MSW alone.  I am a dual degree applicant (MPH) and if I am admitted to the MPH program too, I am 100% sure I will be going.  I have not visited yet.

I'm still waiting on all of my state schools for MSW and they are all a lot cheaper than WUSTL, so if I do not get an MPH admit from WUSTL, I will be attending one of my state schools (providing I get an admit!). 

Are you interested in direct practice or macro?  I have an extensive non-profit fundraising/administration background (10 years +) so I want to obtain direct practice training. 

[Joy418]

1 hour ago, anony2888 said:

Hello!  I think we are rowing the same boat. WUSTL is my first choice as well but I cannot justify the cost for an MSW alone.  I am a dual degree applicant (MPH) and if I am admitted to the MPH program too, I am 100% sure I will be going.  I have not visited yet.

I'm still waiting on all of my state schools for MSW and they are all a lot cheaper than WUSTL, so if I do not get an MPH admit from WUSTL, I will be attending one of my state schools (providing I get an admit!). 

Are you interested in direct practice or macro?  I have an extensive non-profit fundraising/administration background (10 years +) so I want to obtain direct practice training. 

I know, it's very pricey. I am looking at direct practice, particularly in trauma. WUSTL's violence prevention program looks amazing and is one of the reasons it's my first choice.

[ediblestranger]

This is one of my dilemmas as well.  The program seems like a really good fit for me, but it's expensive.  Because I intend to practice as a clinician probably in a community mental health setting, big returns on this investment are pretty much outside the realm of possibility.  But I am very interested in looking more into income-based loan repayment and public service loan forgiveness, which forgive the remainder of your student debt after 25 and 10 years of on-time income-based payments, respectively.  The only thing about public service loan forgiveness is that you have to work for tax-exempt or otherwise qualifying employer/employers, and it is not clear to me how to determine that other than by asking agencies directly.  I am assuming that community mental health agencies would fit into this category, but then again I'm not sure.

[Joy418]

1 hour ago, ediblestranger said:

This is one of my dilemmas as well.  The program seems like a really good fit for me, but it's expensive.  Because I intend to practice as a clinician probably in a community mental health setting, big returns on this investment are pretty much outside the realm of possibility.  But I am very interested in looking more into income-based loan repayment and public service loan forgiveness, which forgive the remainder of your student debt after 25 and 10 years of on-time income-based payments, respectively.  The only thing about public service loan forgiveness is that you have to work for tax-exempt or otherwise qualifying employer/employers, and it is not clear to me how to determine that other than by asking agencies directly.  I am assuming that community mental health agencies would fit into this category, but then again I'm not sure.

I've heard it's really hard to get the public service forgiveness so to not count on it. 

I wish the program were more affordable.

[ediblestranger]

59 minutes ago, Joy418 said:

I've heard it's really hard to get the public service forgiveness so to not count on it. 

I wish the program were more affordable.

Likewise.  I have heard that too.  However, I can't imagine that social workers wouldn't at least qualify for income based-repayment, after 25 years of which the remainder is forgiven.  But still, that's 25 years.

[Joy418]

4 hours ago, ediblestranger said:

Likewise.  I have heard that too.  However, I can't imagine that social workers wouldn't at least qualify for income based-repayment, after 25 years of which the remainder is forgiven.  But still, that's 25 years.

Yeah, I don't think I'd be willing to carry debt around with me for that long. Ugh this process is hard! 

[ediblestranger]

12 hours ago, Joy418 said:

Yeah, I don't think I'd be willing to carry debt around with me for that long. Ugh this process is hard! 

Well, there is always the option of leaving the country to escape student loan debt

[anony2888]

I was admitted to the MPH at WUSTL and can now do the dual degree with the MSW!!! I go back and forth between excited and totally committed to absolutely terrified of the debt.  It will be six figures. I will be 40 when I finish and that 25 year IBR payment plan?  I will be 65 when the remainder is forgiven. I'm running out of years. What about retirement?  

The alternative is to go to one of my state schools and start as an MSW admit, then add the MPH, but I will have to retake the GRE.  Math is very hard for me.  I scored a 6% on the quant and feel that I should take any MPH admit I get because I highly doubt I can teach myself enough to get above the 50th percentile like they want.  I have analytical skills; statistics makes a lot more sense to me than algebra, for example.

I'm still waiting on Berkeley for the dual degree but I am a long shot because of that GRE.

Is anyone else in a similar situation?

[Joy418]

7 minutes ago, anony2888 said:

I was admitted to the MPH at WUSTL and can now do the dual degree with the MSW!!! I go back and forth between excited and totally committed to absolutely terrified of the debt.  It will be six figures. I will be 40 when I finish and that 25 year IBR payment plan?  I will be 65 when the remainder is forgiven. I'm running out of years. What about retirement?  

The alternative is to go to one of my state schools and start as an MSW admit, then add the MPH, but I will have to retake the GRE.  Math is very hard for me.  I scored a 6% on the quant and feel that I should take any MPH admit I get because I highly doubt I can teach myself enough to get above the 50th percentile like they want.  I have analytical skills; statistics makes a lot more sense to me than algebra, for example.

I'm still waiting on Berkeley for the dual degree but I am a long shot because of that GRE.

Is anyone else in a similar situation?

Congratulations!!!

In my heart, I think I've already committed to WUSTL I am going to spend all day March 9th visiting the school and hopefully sitting in on a class, etc. I think it's the perfect school for me and it's only a 5 hour drive from home, which is really nice.

The loans do scare me. However, after talking to more people, I think working at least part time is realistic so that will help me during school. My loans won't be 6 figures, so that is one difference, but I think for me at this point I'd rather go to my dream school even if it's not the most viable financial option. 

[anony2888]

That's awesome to have made your decision! It sounds like the right one. I hope you will share your impressions when you go next month.  I will likely come out in April.

It IS two professional master's degrees in areas that I am really interested in that will give me a wealth of career options.  I really like all the resources WUSTL seems to offer and there is an assistant professor doing research in my main area of interest (cancer survivorship). My career now is my default career and I know I cannot continue like this. I'm not at all opposed to working, especially if I am getting experience in these new fields.  I may be able to do some freelance/consulting at my professional rate but since the idea is to gain experience in something other than fundraising, I'm not sure how wise that would be in the long run. This would be a major move for me; I've never lived in a place that snows!

Honestly I think it's a better fit for me than Berkeley would be and I never thought that UCLA's MPH programs were in line with my interests.  I'm going to be 65 anyway, right?  (If I am lucky enough to live that long.)  Perhaps I would rather be 65 with this experience and education to my name than not, or some less than ideal compromise I make because I am scared of the cost.

[ediblestranger]

I am in the same boat as you guys re: trying to rationalize the cost because WUSTL is such a perfect fit for me.  It seems like this could be a good choice especially for you anony, because you're going for the MPH too in which case school reputation matters more, and there is greater potential for higher earnings in that field, as I understand it.  It is a little less clear-cut for me because I plan on working as a clinician.  However, I am not totally averse to sticking it out with IBR to attend this program if it means being a better-prepared clinician.  St. Louis is only about 5 hours away from home for me as well, and geographically I prefer it over Ann Arbor because there will be more opportunities to work with diverse and disadvantaged populations.  If I went to UMichigan, I would most likely end up commuting to/from Detroit for my field placement which sounds kind of exhausting.  And rents are really high there for what seems like not a very exciting place to live.  Not to mention that without scholarships, UMichigan will actually be more expensive than WUSTL.  I'm still waiting to hear back about funding from other programs but unless I get some really impressive offers, I will probably be heading to St. Louis.

[anony2888]

I too want to be a clinician, but I also want the public health perspective to inform my work as a clinician.  However, the issues I am interested in aren't very high profile yet and I may want to do a doctorate in public health and really dig into research in those issues.  That's what I like about WUSTL's program, the MPH in particular, is that it is very open ended, and I like that it has such close ties to social work because the issues that I am interested in also need the perspective that comes with an MSW!  I started thinking maybe I will just choose one and save myself a year but they are so linked in my head now that I don't think I can. 

It sounds like WUSTL is a good fit for you; that potential drive sounds terrible!  When I was looking at Ann Arbor, I was pretty shocked at the rent.  I thought it would be a lot cheaper than where I am now (SoCal) and while it was more affordable, it seemed like a lot.

[Joy418]

1 hour ago, ediblestranger said:

I am in the same boat as you guys re: trying to rationalize the cost because WUSTL is such a perfect fit for me.  It seems like this could be a good choice especially for you anony, because you're going for the MPH too in which case school reputation matters more, and there is greater potential for higher earnings in that field, as I understand it.  It is a little less clear-cut for me because I plan on working as a clinician.  However, I am not totally averse to sticking it out with IBR to attend this program if it means being a better-prepared clinician.  St. Louis is only about 5 hours away from home for me as well, and geographically I prefer it over Ann Arbor because there will be more opportunities to work with diverse and disadvantaged populations.  If I went to UMichigan, I would most likely end up commuting to/from Detroit for my field placement which sounds kind of exhausting.  And rents are really high there for what seems like not a very exciting place to live.  Not to mention that without scholarships, UMichigan will actually be more expensive than WUSTL.  I'm still waiting to hear back about funding from other programs but unless I get some really impressive offers, I will probably be heading to St. Louis.

I've gotten more money to BC, Case, and Chicago than WUSTL, but those are all super expensive schools so the savings aren't big enough for my to go to them over WUSTL. And cost of living is a lot higher (maybe not in Cleveland but the others). I still haven't gotten my Pitt scholarship in the mail, but I'm guessing that will be the best financially. But I just don't see myself there...

[anony2888]

I'm leaning heavily towards not going to WUSTL.  I cannot justify the cost.  It's like PhD admissions for me at this point: if a school doesn't think I am worth enough to significantly reduce my cost through scholarships or grants, I should not be considering it. 

[avchildre]

I'm also struggling with justifying WUSTL tuition on a MSW salary... Case offered a considerably larger scholarship than WUSTL, but as many have already said on this thread.. WUSTL is my "dream school". My sister attended WUSTL for law school and absolutely loved it. I had the chance to stay in St. Louis with her, visit the campus and study in the libraries. That's definitely when I fell in love with the school. In an effort to help me with this decision, I've tried, unsuccessfully, to find information regarding salary/employment stats of recent graduates for both Case and WUSTL. Would anyone know where I can locate them? 

Edited March 5, 2016 by avchildre

[anony2888]

@avchildre I too looked around for salary/employment stats for WUSTL grads and didn't find anything. I ended up using LinkedIn to see what jobs WUSTL grads had, so that would be my suggestion.  I've been getting a "sales" vibe from admissions that I don't like at all. Furthermore, I emailed them to find out if the Statistics class I was going to enroll in would count for their requirement. No one ever responded to me and I think that speaks volumes. 

[Joy418]

I don't know where but I did found the employment for WUSTL. It's good...mental health concentration had an average $38k starting salary. But I'm guessing it's comprable to Case

[ediblestranger]

What was your search criteria for digging up this kind of information?  I'd love to be able to look at each of my schools through this lens, if possible.

[morningjunky]

On March 7, 2016 at 7:47 PM, ediblestranger said:

What was your search criteria for digging up this kind of information?  I'd love to be able to look at each of my schools through this lens, if possible.

I did some research on various schools’ outcomes as well as alumni surveys solicited by said schools. Many schools do have alumni networking/organizations, events and publications which are on their respective websites, but do not seem to solicit surveys to their graduates to gauge where and what they are currently doing. However, the larger schools (with larger endowments and budgets) seem to be more engaged with their alumni and in retrieving this pertinent information. Even then, this information is dated, has not been updated and recent graduating classes have not been contacted for information. 

I also contacted a lot of schools, but many of them told me they don't have any up-to-date information on this or have solicited a survey in years. They did refer me to current students I could talk to and direct me to the website for more information. Graduate schools of social work need to make this information more readily available and more transparent. Furthermore, as future social workers, we also need to be proactive and advocate for these things (and also anticipate lots of obstacles and challenges along the way).

Schools with alumni employment surveys:
1) Social Policy and Practice Career Plans Survey Class of 2012 
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/sp2survey2012.pdf

2) Portland State - Class of 2011
https://www.pdx.edu/ssw/sites/www.pdx.edu.ssw/files/MSW%20Alumni%20Survey%20-%20Executive%20%20Report%20(2012)_0.pdf

3) Rutgers - Class of 2009
http://socialwork.rutgers.edu/prospective/Surveys/MSWSurveys0910.aspx

4) DePaul - 2012
http://las.depaul.edu/academics/social-work/about/Documents/Alumni_Survey_2012_Summary_for_web.pdf

5) Dominican University - 2012
http://socialwork.dom.edu/sites/socialwork.dom.edu/files/documents/2012AFS_GSSW_Results(1).pdf

Schools with information on selected alumni who are successful:
1) NYU
http://socialwork.nyu.edu/alumni/alumni-in-action/stories-of-alumni-in-action.html

2) Michigan SSW Alumni Employment Data
http://ssw.umich.edu/offices/career-services/employment-data

3) WUSTL
https://msw.wustl.edu/your-experience/alumni-experiences/

4) UW-Seattle
http://www.washington.edu/alumni/partnerships/socialwork/201002/alumni.html

5) Berkeley Alumni In Action
http://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/alumni-in-action

6) Chicago SSA
http://www.ssa.uchicago.edu/alumni-profiles

7) Boston College
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs146/1110936526727/archive/1120240094586.html

8) USC
https://sowkweb.usc.edu/alumni/success-stories

[ediblestranger]

8 hours ago, morningjunky said:

I did some research on various schools’ outcomes as well as alumni surveys solicited by said schools. Many schools do have alumni networking/organizations, events and publications which are on their respective websites, but do not seem to solicit surveys to their graduates to gauge where and what they are currently doing. However, the larger schools (with larger endowments and budgets) seem to be more engaged with their alumni and in retrieving this pertinent information. Even then, this information is dated, has not been updated and recent graduating classes have not been contacted for information. 

I also contacted a lot of schools, but many of them told me they don't have any up-to-date information on this or have solicited a survey in years. They did refer me to current students I could talk to and direct me to the website for more information. Graduate schools of social work need to make this information more readily available and more transparent. Furthermore, as future social workers, we also need to be proactive and advocate for these things (and also anticipate lots of obstacles and challenges along the way).

Schools with alumni employment surveys:
1) Social Policy and Practice Career Plans Survey Class of 2012 
http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/sp2survey2012.pdf

2) Portland State - Class of 2011
https://www.pdx.edu/ssw/sites/www.pdx.edu.ssw/files/MSW%20Alumni%20Survey%20-%20Executive%20%20Report%20(2012)_0.pdf

3) Rutgers - Class of 2009
http://socialwork.rutgers.edu/prospective/Surveys/MSWSurveys0910.aspx

4) DePaul - 2012
http://las.depaul.edu/academics/social-work/about/Documents/Alumni_Survey_2012_Summary_for_web.pdf

5) Dominican University - 2012
http://socialwork.dom.edu/sites/socialwork.dom.edu/files/documents/2012AFS_GSSW_Results(1).pdf

Schools with information on selected alumni who are successful:
1) NYU
http://socialwork.nyu.edu/alumni/alumni-in-action/stories-of-alumni-in-action.html

2) Michigan SSW Alumni Employment Data
http://ssw.umich.edu/offices/career-services/employment-data

3) WUSTL
https://msw.wustl.edu/your-experience/alumni-experiences/

4) UW-Seattle
http://www.washington.edu/alumni/partnerships/socialwork/201002/alumni.html

5) Berkeley Alumni In Action
http://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/alumni-in-action

6) Chicago SSA
http://www.ssa.uchicago.edu/alumni-profiles

7) Boston College
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs146/1110936526727/archive/1120240094586.html

8) USC
https://sowkweb.usc.edu/alumni/success-stories

So helpful!  Thanks morningjunky!

[DisasterBin]

I have paid the deposit for attending Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Due to that I am an international student, I wish to know more about WUSTL. Could anyone help me realized the features of this program?

[lishalynn]

I just got contacted for an admission interview with the Brown School! I've been admitted and offered money to Case Western and admitted to U of I at Urbana. The Brown School at WashU is definitely my number one choice and I am a St. Louis native. Did anyone else have to do an interview? I am curious as to why they picked me for this, but I am guessing it's because they are on the fence about me. 

[ediblestranger]

I just received an email from WUSTL offering me additional funding, which I inquired about several weeks ago.  It was a substantial amount ($10K extra) but I have already made my decision.  Still, anyone who plans to attend should definitely ask for more money!  They said they don't *often* re-evaluate scholarship packages but from what I've seen on this forum, it really seems like they do.