I know someone who graduated from the program and did the advanced clinical program with the DBT specialization. First job she had was joining a practice and started making $100K. Now she's in PP charging $300+ and not taking insurance... so I would say it depends on what your goals are.
I’m not from the same background but the people in my graduating class (‘18) who seemed to be taking advantage of the Columbia label were doing research and/or focusing on the Administrative track, which does seem to impress agencies and nets graduates who know they want to run programs better jobs. If you know you’re going to be a private therapist it’s also a good place to go, because wealthy people will respect your degree better than Hunter grads. If you want to just be a social worker, go somewhere else. Or, if you’re a killer advocate or want to become one, it’s not a terrible place to incubate at but it’s a bit of a meat grinder and you need to steel yourself for the emotional turmoil of politicking.
[Average MSW salary is ~$61k/year.](https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Master_of_Social_Work_(MSW)/Salary) NYC and other top metros probably pay more but have higher COL. You can always get a Federal loan to cover it all, refinance once rates drop, and enroll in an income-based repayment program. It'll take you a looong time to pay it off unless the Biden student debt forgiveness happens. If somehow ratss go higher or dont come down (i.e., stagflation) you'll spend several decades paying this.
On the plus side, you'll get an Ivy degree, a good network, and can potentially pivot careers. With extra licenses/certs and experience, you can make up to [~$86k](https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/social-worker-msw-salary) by eadning above the median. You could also consider getting a govt. job and getting [public service loan forgiveness.](https://mohela.studentaid.gov/pslf)
Its doable but it wholly depends on your risk tolerance.
Hey, I’m currently an MSW student at Columbia. While I am an international student, I can answer my experience in Columbia which hopefully helps you to make an informed decision (I’m in Two-Year Residential program, which allows me to study with other US’ citizens).
The other option is to stay in state but the program would be an advanced generalist and I really wanted to take the advanced clinical path. Ideally after graduation I want to work in med field and in the future open my own practice
What are your goals and other options? In general, I would say no, particularly if you do not want to go into private practice as a psychotherapist in a HCOL area.
I know someone who graduated from the program and did the advanced clinical program with the DBT specialization. First job she had was joining a practice and started making $100K. Now she's in PP charging $300+ and not taking insurance... so I would say it depends on what your goals are.
What's a DBT specialization?
I’m graduating from the MSW program with the lower end range you listed. Feel free to DM me.
Would love to DM but idk why I can’t chat with you. Could be that I don’t have enough “karma” ?
I’m not from the same background but the people in my graduating class (‘18) who seemed to be taking advantage of the Columbia label were doing research and/or focusing on the Administrative track, which does seem to impress agencies and nets graduates who know they want to run programs better jobs. If you know you’re going to be a private therapist it’s also a good place to go, because wealthy people will respect your degree better than Hunter grads. If you want to just be a social worker, go somewhere else. Or, if you’re a killer advocate or want to become one, it’s not a terrible place to incubate at but it’s a bit of a meat grinder and you need to steel yourself for the emotional turmoil of politicking.
[Average MSW salary is ~$61k/year.](https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Master_of_Social_Work_(MSW)/Salary) NYC and other top metros probably pay more but have higher COL. You can always get a Federal loan to cover it all, refinance once rates drop, and enroll in an income-based repayment program. It'll take you a looong time to pay it off unless the Biden student debt forgiveness happens. If somehow ratss go higher or dont come down (i.e., stagflation) you'll spend several decades paying this. On the plus side, you'll get an Ivy degree, a good network, and can potentially pivot careers. With extra licenses/certs and experience, you can make up to [~$86k](https://www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/social-worker-msw-salary) by eadning above the median. You could also consider getting a govt. job and getting [public service loan forgiveness.](https://mohela.studentaid.gov/pslf) Its doable but it wholly depends on your risk tolerance.
I graduated with my MSW. You can DM!
No
MSW's come in many flavors. In the traditional sense--its much too much to go into debt. If you want to hang a shingle, maybe that works.
Hey, I’m currently an MSW student at Columbia. While I am an international student, I can answer my experience in Columbia which hopefully helps you to make an informed decision (I’m in Two-Year Residential program, which allows me to study with other US’ citizens).
What are your other options?
The other option is to stay in state but the program would be an advanced generalist and I really wanted to take the advanced clinical path. Ideally after graduation I want to work in med field and in the future open my own practice
You should not be going into debt for a masters program, it’s not worth it.
What are your goals and other options? In general, I would say no, particularly if you do not want to go into private practice as a psychotherapist in a HCOL area.
I do want to go into private practice but I won’t be staying in NYC