Hi I’ve been active in this community while applying to universities and it was so helpful in me getting transferred to the school of my choice. I’m now trying to get ahead of the stress as much as I can of applying to grad school, because without grad school my degree is pretty useless, so it has to work out. I’m graduating with a degree in psychology and social behavior from UC Irvine in spring 2018. I have to apply to grad school in fall 2017. What can I do to be a competitive candidate for USC, UCLA, CSULB and CSUF? A side not I work in the substance abuse field but took some time off to focus on school. I am also pursuing an AS degree in alcohol and drug studies for certification as a substance abuse counselor. My long term goal is to work in more of a therapist role as an LCSW in the addiction treatment field, and from there move out to other aspects of social work. Please share with me what you can, any information would be great, and if you can suggest what you think is the best GRE prep program. thanks !!!
First of all, you can work with a BA in psychology and social behavior. Your degree’s not useless, and if you don’t want to go to graduate school right away you don’t have to.
But if you do want to go straight into an MSW program, hopefully you are getting some sort of experience (volunteer or paid) in social services organizations working with people in need/at risk. Social work programs usually like to see that people know what they’re getting themselves into. Given your history in substance abuse, you should be okay.
There are lots of good GRE prep programs. I suggest that you start off by taking a diagnostic test, like the GRE’s own PowerPrep test on its website. Then decide whether to take a prep class based on your scores.