<p>Hi guys! I was wondering if I had a good chance of being accepting into a state-school Master's in Social Work Program. I am currently a senior at UMASS double majoring in Psychology (clinical track) and History. My GPA's are: CUM 3.65, PSY 3.8, HST 3.7. I have taken three counseling/fieldwork experience classes which involved an internship at a group home and I have also volunteered at a facility for autistic children. I have taken independent research, and I am in both the Psy and Hist national honor societies. I have also presented at 2 research conferences. I was just wondering if MSWs were competitive and if I stand a chance. I also have no idea when I should hear back from the Admissions Office, the deadline was January 25th for the Fall 2009 semester.</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the school you're applying to, however I will say that after working in the field for a year now, it seems as if you're actually overqualified compared to other people I've seen with MSW's. </p>
<p>However the one thing that may work against you is the work experience portion which is
usually taken into consideration for these programs.Otherwise, I'd advise you to get a few years under your belt and then aim high. I've seen people with WAY less accomplishments get into pretty well recognized programs. I'm not a SW myself, but I'm moreso familiar with the ones in NYC. </p>
<p>As far as I can tell, you'd probably get into the accelerated program at NYU.</p>
<p>edited: I just noticed that you didn't have the BSW, so the work experience may be even more crucial.</p>
<p>you will be fine. I think you'll definitely get in considering your strong GPA and experience in the field. MSW programs are generally easy to get into if you have done the work, shown a passion, and gained some sort of experience. If you look at my first post I ever did on this site, I put my stats and did a "chance" thread (didn't know it was a common thing here at first!) if you would like to compare. I have recently received an offer for admission from U of Chicago so I think you'll do great! good luck!</p>
<p>Well state schools are actually harder to get into than BU or BC because it is more competitive to get into. BU and BC cost around $50k a year to go to school whereas a state school would be less than 20k a year for an occupation that doesn't pay very well. I applied to Bridgewater State College, its about a half hr away from Boston. I had a friend that had pretty much no experience and she was a 3.3 GPA double majoring in Psych and Sociology. However, I'm not sure if this economy is pushing more applicants to go to graduate school or if less will actually pay money for graduate school. So I feel like I have a 50/50 chance. Since I have no time for anything right now, I was planning to find a social service job when I graduate from UMASS in May.</p>
<p>MSW schools are not too competitive as long as you have work, volunteer and academic experience related to the field. If you have a stable job already, I would recommend postponing grad school until the economy gets slightly better. I am interested in MSW admissions too, but I'm working to improve my MBA materials.</p>
<p>Your stats are excellent and you have appropriate work experience in the field for someone your age. In my opinion you'll be competitive for the top MSW programs in the country as long as you write a strong personal statement that shows why you want to be a social worker. The only reason you might be denied would be that you'll have less experience in the field then some applying due to your age. If that happens for some reason you should be able to get in after a year off from school working in the field (several of my classmates did this and got in the second time).</p>
<p>Hi. I'm interested in an MSW as well.
How would one go about getting experience in the field? There's a local domestic violence shelter near where I live. Would volunteering there count as experience?</p>
<p>To get into MSW programs you need two things: a pulse and a checkbook, and the former can be waived.</p>
<p>So they're easy to get into?</p>
<p>That might be true for 1.5/2nd-tier universities but it can't be true for all programs, right? What about Berkeley's or Columbia's? (Especially Berkeley's since that's my #1).</p>
<p>Columbia's is especially easy and I am sure Berkeley's is also.</p>