- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
LGBT Parenting
Grad School Acceptance!
Ooooh, I have good news to share! I found out today that I was accepted to one of the 3 graduate schools I applied to. As of now I am definitely starting a master's in social work program next year! I want to do macro-focused work, and a lot of MSW programs don't seem to offer strong programs with an emphasis in policy and community organizing, so I cast my net pretty small and just applied to the schools that have the best programs in this area so I can be competitive with job applicants from other more traditional fields. I love the idea of doing macro work from a social work perspective, though - it fits my values and interests and focus much more than a public policy or nonprofit/public administration degree ever could have.
Columbia, the school I got accepted to, isn't my first choice, but it's a darn good "backup" school. I'm still holding out for the University of Michigan, which is my top choice (and more affordable tuition and cost of living.)
Either way, the thought of moving from central CA, where we live now, all the way across the country and maybe even to NYC, is kind of overwhelming. We just did a cross-country move 2 1/2 years ago when my wife started her PhD program, and now we'd be moving almost all the way back! She'll be moving with me and finishing her dissertation from afar with fellowship funding, so it's a great opportunity for both of us. I almost thought I'd be happier than I am... I am definitely getting bogged down in all the details. I only have about 1 more month to wait before I should hear back from the other two schools, so wish me luck!
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Grad School Acceptance!
Congratulations! I also have my MSW with a macro focus (and a certificate in Nonprofit Management from a school of Public Administration.) But after my second field placement (and subsequently short stint in a job), I realized I missed direct service work and have been doing that for the past 8y.
But I loved my macro classes and found them super interesting. I have a co=worker who went to Columbia and loved it, but my advice would be not to put yourself in too much debt for an MSW. It will never pay off. Also, choose a location where you can see yourself living post-graduation. You will get a lot of networking opportunities through classmates/field placements/etc that can be very helpful for job leads.
There sure are a lot of MSWs and MSW students on this board! YAY!
Thanks, both of you!
I remember a few people on here have their MSWs, so thanks for the tips! I've never really done direct service work (I currently work as a nonprofit community organizer) so I can't really see switching focuses, but I'm sure once I'm actually in school it could all just fly out the window.
I definitely want to choose a program based on a combo of opportunities in the program itself as well as the financial considerations, but I'm honestly not too worried about debt. I wiped out all my undergrad debt in just two years using superstrict budgeting and we can do it again if we have to. For us it's more about prioritizing school and career opportunities than things like having kids (an expense we'll probably never have) or buying a house (we could care less at this point). I also need a research-focused program that can act as a springboard to a PhD program if I decide to go back for one later on, which is definitely a possibility. I'd love to do higher-level social welfare research at some point in my career or even teach.
Unfortunately, while location is a big deal to me personally because I want to like the area we relocate to, there is no way we can really plan for a post-graduation life at this point. I'd be willing to live in all 3 of the cities I applied to school in long-term, but being married to an academic-track PhD means that there are no guarantees. She'll graduate with her PhD the same year I'll graduate with my MSW, and I'll be the "trailing spouse" probably for the duration of our careers if things go according to plan. Academic jobs are incredibly difficult to get and it's unusual in her field for applicants to decide where they end up living - it's more like the jobs and postdocs that are available at the time control where the applicant moves if they're lucky enough to land anything at all. In some ways I'm hoping attending a top school will at least open up networking opportunities across the country that may not be as available at a more locally or regionally known school, but that comes with a pricetag tradeoff as well, obviously, and speaking with alums from the 3 schools I chose gives me a lot of hope that not all is lost!
I'm so excited to finally be going back to school. I've been researching and planning for this for some time now, so it's a great feeling to be this close to it.
Congrats
My dw is in last semester of her MSW at Boston College. She has really loved it and is currently doing her 2nd year placement at one of the Major teaching hospitals in Boston on the Gynecological Oncology service. She is really happy and we are hoping she can get a position at the hospital when she graduates. It is great to get in to your first school. Good luck with the move!
YAY!! Congratulations!!
I work in a social worky field in NY and therefore know tons of people who have MSWs from Columbia. If you end up coming here we should talk!
Do not take the NYC cost of living lightly. It is freaking expensive, and Columbia is freaking expensive, and neither SW nor most areas of academia pay all that well. I was going to agree with 2brides' assessment regarding networking opportunities, but that matters less if you plan to follow your wife's career.
Good luck, I hope you have choices ahead of you!
IVF Oct/Nov 2012
Beta #1 = 77, Beta #2 = 190, Beta #3 = 1044
Cautiously optimistic.
Thanks, everyone!
I'd love to talk to anyone who lives/has lived in NYC if we do go the Columbia route. As I said, it's not my first choice, but if it's where I end up going I'll be happy.
I can tell everyone thinks I'm a bit of a beebee with the school choice/finances thing, but I promise y'all we've got it under control.
I have a number of friends who have done grad school in NYC in the past few years and our budget living in a ridiculously HCOL area of CA is actually more than a lot of them spent living in the city, and we're pretty bare bones. We have the money saved for living expenses anyways, and since I don't have any undergrad loans at this point I feel comfortable borrowing for the remainder.
Like I said, I'm hoping for Michigan because they offer more scholarship aid in general and the COL is a bit lower, but it's pretty much all the same cost in the end. We're used to living on nothing, and if we can make it now in a HCOL area on a grad student TA salary and my part-time nonprofit job I am pretty sure we're going to be just fine, especially since we don't plan on having any kids to support.
No, I don't think you are crazy. LOL. I just wanted to give you a reality check (says the crazy woman who has been out of grad school for almost 9y and still has a HUGE chunk of debt to pay off - in fact it is slated to be paid off the same year my children will enter college. Sigh.) But it sounds like you have it more than under control.
Good luck with the decision!
25 years of my life was spent in CA and I never once heard of Santa Barbara as "central CA." I'm laughing at the fact that in this awesome news filled post, that is what stuck out to me.
Congratulations on getting into a great school! Sounds like you and your wife have a adventure in front of you. :-)
IVF Oct/Nov 2012
Beta #1 = 77, Beta #2 = 190, Beta #3 = 1044
Cautiously optimistic.
Sorry, I know I sounded grumpy! I didn't mean to go all "YOU DON'T KNOW MEEEE!!11!" but hey, I did spend a lot of time thinking about it before applying and I feel good about our choices.
Two - It's so funny you mention that about "central CA." Before we moved here I always thought SB was southern CA, but once we got here everyone gave us the
look and told us "no, southern CA is LA" and people from here call it the "south central coast" mostly. That was too long, so I abbreviated. CA, I don't get you! (I am not-so-secretly happy to be moving back east.)
Congrats!!! I just started my MSW this semester and am LOVING every minute of my classes. Good luck picking a school, I actually picked my backup plan and am so happy I did, I really love it there and being in the SW community in DC is awesome so far.
If you are talking about Fed loans look into the Direct loan repayment thing for people who work in public service. It is something along the lines that if you make 10 years of the 20 years of required payments you can have the remainder forgiven. I know there are a bunch of requirements that must be met but it is worth checking out.
Nuts. I just looked into this and you have to pay for 10 years after Oct 1, 2007. By then I had been paying for 4 years. I might qualify in 2017 and knock 6y off of the loan. Thankfully I consolidated when loans were low interest rates (3.3%) so it isn't too bad and I just continue to pay a little bit each month.
I am also definitely hoping to get some sort of forgiveness, but I'm not sure if the nonprofit-oriented jobs I'm intending to get after graduation will qualify me. The new income-based requirements for payment are also probably going to be helpful, though. They cap at a certain % of your monthly income and # of years you need to pay before the balance is forgiven.
We're also fortunate that I wiped out my undergrad loans on our lean budget the last couple of years and that S has no loans from graduate school. But yes, it's a daunting prospect! Good thing I didn't want kids that badly anyways, since we definitely couldn't afford them for a good long while.