<p>I am a senior at a semi-well regarded university (top 50) but have not gotten good grades. I will most likely graduate with a cumulative GPA of 3.2. I really want to go to graduate school for a masters in social work, but don't know if it is even worth applying given my grades. I really don't want to take the GRE either, so that narrows down my options of schools even further. And i do NOT want to do an online college. </p>
I think the big question is - do you have real world experience in the field?
I graduated last May (2014) with a BA in psych/social work. Okay (3.4) GPA. Got lots of fieldwork experience during undergrad (thanks to my school’s great social work department) as well as volunteer experience. I’ve applied to MSW programs for the fall 2015 but haven’t heard back yet (likely will in the spring) but I can 100% recommend taking a year or two off to do full time work in a human services agency (or something along those lines) to get experience and to really make sure that you want to commit to doing this for the long haul. I wavered between applying for right after graduation, but I’m SO GLAD I made the choice to do full time work for a bit (which was highly encouraged by all the social work faculty I consulted with.)
Since graduation I’ve been working full time as a case manager at a large, well-known nonprofit organization and am making very good income considering I’m fresh out of undergrad, plus I’m gaining tons of experience and learning from people who have been in the field waaaaay longer than I have. Most MSW programs want to see a good amount of work experience (I think it’s something like AT LEAST 1000+ hours, or 6+ months of full time work.)
You could definitely bolster your chances that way, plus earn some money and just learn more about the field and also network.
My two cents, anyways…