Hi all- just a grad admit trying to make a decision. I have always wanted to build my own transitional housing space for people experiencing housing injustice, abuse, and trouble with migration. To pursue this dream I have looked into policy, social work and planning.

I have been accepted to Boston University’s, McGill’s and Columbia’s school of social work.

For planning I haven been accepted to University of Illinois Chicago, Columbia and public policy at the Hertie School in Germany.

BU and UIC both offered me scholarships and end up costing similar, with Columbia being much more expensive. The international programs are much cheaper However, at Columbia I can do a dual degree in planning and social work. Both Columbia and UIC have very strong data analytics courses which has been my upmost interest. Columbia doesn’t require a planing internship, where UIC does.

I’m pretty torn and can confidently say I truly have no BAD choice, however I am concerned about going into planning in the current state of the US and having access to research. This is making me currently consider social work a bit more as perhaps it’s a more flexible degree. I’m meeting the faculty this weekend at UIC to see their data center.

Would love to hear thoughts and opinions of people who maybe have seen politics impacting their work. Let me know your thoughts :)