<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I applied to both NYU and Columbia for my MSW (Master of Social Work). I was accepted to NYU and I am still waiting for Columbia. However, NYU urged me to make my decision by the end of this January while Columbia won't make any admission decision until March. In other words, I must either take NYU now or wait for the decision from Columbia under risk.</p>
<p>For me, I am really interested in clinical social work and I think NYU is a good fit for me since its MSW program is renowned for clinical focus. On the other hand, I have no clear ideas about what the MSW program at Columbia would be like. Would it offer the same or more amount of clinical training as NYU? I am confused whether I should wait for Columbia or not. I need your advices.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance. :)</p>
<p>Knowing absolutely nothing from that field, based on that information I would easily pick NYU. Of course, the quality of the program, costs, etc should be considered.</p>
<p>I know nothing about that field either. However, have you tried telling Columbia that you have an offer and a deadline from another school? I’ve gotten companies to move quickly to decide whether they want to hire me because of offers from other companies. I’m not sure if Columbia would do the same but I know people sometimes get schools to increase financial aid offers based on what other schools have offered them so it would be worth a shot…</p>
<p>Like the other two posters, I know nothing about your intended field of study. However, my sister was in a similar situation just five months or so ago. She was waiting for an answer from one (truly fantastic school) and let them know that she had already been accepted at another. They gave her the answer that she was told previously would take another two months! She was accepted to both graduate programs. Try calling the admissions department at Columbia like the poster before suggested.</p>
<p>Can you accept your NYU bid and rescind later if you find out you got into columbia? If not I would jsut go with NYU. Columbia is very selective, and the smartest most qualified students in the world get rejected to Columbia. And NYU is a great school anyway, so it’s a better trade off to have that peace of mind knowing that you got in somewhere</p>
<p>hi william, fatsheep, elephantambition and jim,</p>
<p>Thank you all for your sincere advices. After almost two days of intensive information searching, I realized that the program at Columbia might be more policy and international social work oriented, in which fields I have little interest. Therefore, I am leaning towards NYU now.</p>
<p>hey IanYoung,
I was recently accepted into Fordham and NYU (didnt apply to Columbia for the same reason you mentioned above— not as much of a clinical focus), and am wondering as a fellow soon-to-be-msw, how u reconciled with the fact that nyu tuition is outrageous? any private institution has outrageous tuition, something that may not be a big deal as a law or med student with high salary promise after graduation, but something pretty scary for us future social workers. basically im trying to decide between the “better” private schools and cheaper public schools. how much do jobs, etc look at the school u graduated from on your resume? the fact that u are going to nyu makes me think uve come to the conclusion that the reputation of the school is worth the high cost…</p>
<p>basically, im trying to decide where to go so any advice anyone has, HELP ME!
also looking at some state schools in california (cali-resident)</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Both of you should consider Berkeley. Far stronger overall universitiy at the graduate school level and, after one year, you can qualify for instate tuition at the school, saving you thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>Don’t social workers qualify for the 10 year loan forgiveness program and IBR? </p>
<p>Although I think you have to work for a state or government agency.</p>
<p>im a california resident so i considered berkely. but uc schools are the only ones which require GRE scores. big hastle for probably not getting accepted, no?</p>
<p>The fact that Berkeley’s Social Welfare program requires applicants to take the GREs contributes to the reason why a Berkeley MSW has more prestige and legitimacy. The MSW program as a graduate degree is not given a lot of respect. Just look at the inquiries about MSW programs on these threads. Very few ask about the comparative selectivity of MSW graduate programs. One other thing about Berkeley. There is no hand holding there. If you don’t maintain the average, they will ask you to leave. Some other programs such as Columbia’s are term paper focused, and provide more leeway about staying in the program. Last time I was at Berkeley, while you had term papers and a Master’s thesis, there were some law school like exams where you had one test determine your grade for the course. Screw up on the test, and you flunked the course. Lots of pressure there.</p>
<p>@ Galanter</p>
<p>Lets be honest here, it has been pretty well established that standardized tests like the GRE only prove a persons aptitude for taking standardized tests, and have no real bearing on grad school performance. Suggesting that the GRE adds privilege, is a little silly no?</p>
<p>Darth, I am not defending standardized testing. In fact, I think over reliance on these tests is responsible for things like the economic collapse of 2008 and other societal issues. And I don’t want to say that the tests give the imprimatur of “priviledge” either. What I was attempting to say is that in the firmament of graduate programs, Social Welfare programs are looked at in an askance way because most seem to have lax standards for admittance. And, rightly or wrongly, programs that require the GREs are looked at as more “rigorous”, and deserving of its graduates being taken more seriously as competent graduates of a legitimate graduate course of study.</p>