Considering MSW and/or JD - opinions?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello all! :)</p>

<p>Am in search of a graduate program and cannot make up my mind. I have narrowed it down to these two for several reasons. I guess we all have unique challenges that complicate the decision. Here are mine:</p>

<p>1) I have a BA in psychology, which would be kind of incompatible with a graduate program in, let's say, biotech, even if it does interest me. I'm assuming that even if I did end up being accepted in such a program, I would not have an easy time given my educational background.</p>

<p>2) Time: I'm 32 and feel like I can't spend 6-8 years in a program because that means I will be over 40 by the time I get to practice! (as in the case of a clinical psychologist, which used to be my preferred career path.) Not to mention I cannot spend that long without working at this age lol.</p>

<p>3) Finances: I'm not doing great financially, and even though I am a pretty good student (GPA 3.8) I don't want to make plans based on the remote possibility that I could earn a scholarship. So, I want a graduate program that is relatively affordable (f.e. I saw a MSW program that cost only 30k)</p>

<p>4) Flexibility: I have 2 small children and will be working throughout grad school, so I cannot have it be as intense as a Ph.D program (correct me if I'm wrong) which I heard takes a full time commitment, another reason I've given up on a psychology Ph.D.</p>

<p>5) Earning Capacity: I have two small children (separated) as well as older parents so I will have to consider a profession that allows us all to survive (it would probably help more to make 80k than 40k as I'll be the only breadwinner!). This definitely makes a JD attractive.</p>

<p>6) Interests: My interests are pretty wide but mainly science (medicine, cellular and molecular biology, genetics, immunology, evolutionary biology) and psychiatry/psychology, sociology and social justice issues. </p>

<p>Anyways, I saw a combined MSW/JD that caught my attention, the only issue would be cost (it might make more sense to choose just one). The MSW degree sounds like a nice alternative to a Ph.D in psychology, which I feel I'm too old and busy for. I heard LCSW's can perform many of the same tasks as a psychologist (except for research and diagnostic). On the other hand, a JD seems to have more possibilities for advancement (f.e. judgeship). </p>

<p>I suppose I'm just looking to hear other people's thoughts on what they would do if they were in my situation, feel free to suggest any other programs that you think might suit me :) </p>

2

<p>There is but one reason why law school application pools collapsed: the legal job market is horribly glutted.</p>

<p>Don’t know about social work, though.</p>

3

<ol>
<li>There are JD/MSW programs, but not sure of the utility of those programs. A big issue would be cost, and as a practicing attorney, I don’t believe that having both degrees will make you any more employable.</li>
<li>In just about every state, after obtaining the MSW, if you go through the appropriate post-graduate training, you are able to become licensed as a therapist. The rules vary from state to state, but as this is your interest, I’d strongly recommend that you take a look at the licensing requirements for your state in order to become a LCSW.</li>
<li>Cost: If you go the MSW route, see if your state school offers this degree. Where I live, we have both private and public colleges which offer it; for in-state, the state school is half the cost of the private school.
4… The demand for lawyers is slack, to say the least. I’d strongly recommend that you scan the internet for both the scam blogs and the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It can be a big challenge finding a well-paying attorney job out of school, and the debt can be enormous.</li>
<li> LCSWs are in demand, but it is not a high-paying field. If you pursue this line of work, you’ll need to weigh debt v. salary also.</li>
</ol>

4

<p>1) It would depend on the specific biotech program and whether you were willing to take some prerequisites as a non-degree student before you began.</p>

<p>2) If you were in a good clinical psych PhD program you would be getting a stipend, usually between $25-30K a year. Or at least, the only way that you should do a clinical psych PhD program is if you are getting funding. But that might be too low for you.</p>

<p>3) MSW program cost vary greatly based on the location and university. You could go to a local public university and pay only tuition if you have a place to live and spend very little, or you could go to an elite university and easily spend $70K a year.</p>

<p>4) You could, actually. I just finished my PhD and I had many colleagues who had small children during their PhD programs. But this is a personal decision. In some departments they take longer to finish; in other programs, they don’t take much more time than childless people. It depends on the individual and also the support available in the department.</p>

<p>5) The law market is terrible right now. JDs don’t always make crazy money - it depends entirely on what you do. You have to go to a top-tier law school and incur a lot of debt to have a chance at making crazy money; otherwise, you might make middle-class money but not necessarily six-figures. A JD is not a promise of a six figure income the way it used to be; in fact, it never really used to be that way, but it certainly isn’t now.</p>

<p>Have you considered [genetic</a> counseling](<a href=“http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/53/Genetic_Counselor]genetic”>Genetic Counselor)? That’s a nice blend of genetic science/medicine and psychology. What about nursing? You could do a 3-year entry to practice program and get your RN and MSN at the same time, and go into being a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. (There are prerequisites, of course). Schools like Columbia, Penn, and Yale have formalized 3-year programs, and many other nursing schools will let you go directly from an accelerated BSN program into an MSN program even if they do not have a formalized 3-year program. You can also do the MSN portion part-time while you work as an RN, which reduces the amount of time you have to live like a student.</p>

<p>Yes, LCSWs can do the same things as clinical psychologists when it comes to therapy - and yes, they do do diagnosis and research (I have two friends who are LCSWs). You also have the opportunity to work on your PhD later - there is a such thing as a PhD in social work. MSWs are also very flexible; not only can you do direct therapy but you can also go into the administration of social service organizations. So I think that’s a really good option for you.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t do the JD/MSW. Joint degrees are often not necessary, and they’re not really a good solution for people who simply can’t decide what to do. They’re really best for people who have specific plans for how they want to utilize both degrees in their career.</p>