mr1988

UCLA is less expensive, the campus is beautiful, it has just as much name recognition, and Westwood is amazing. I may be biased, I am a Bruin.

What are your thoughts? Any Ideas on which of these things are the most important? How important is name recognition really? Pro/Con lists KU Pros Name recognition, extremely good program Affordable (In-state tuition) Classes all available on Saturday (Wouldn't interfere with work) Working relationship with every social work group in town. KU Basketball (Just kidding... kind of) KU Cons Larger work load than comparable programs Longer drive Must pick a focus on clinical or administrative (no generalist program) No grants UMKC Pros Grant packages available Close by Less work load (I work more than full time, this is an important factor) In-state tuition UMKC Cons No name recognition Classes start at 5:30pm on weekdays, making it difficult to get there after work Park University Pros Brand new program Small class size (15 or less) All the professors are working MSWs (No graduate or Phd Assistants as teachers) Emphasis on behavioral health Flexibility to work with a variety of places for practicums and accommodating Private school with a low tuition (about $28800 for the whole program) Park University Cons No name recognition The accreditation will not go through until next year (since the program is so new it is provisionally accredited but the CSWE says it should be accredited within the next year) Classes start at 5:30pm on weekdays, making it difficult to get there after work

Anyone have any thoughts on the program at UMKC vs. KU?

I am applying to MSW programs because I'd like to become an AASECT certified LCSW and work in the area of sex therapy. Specifically, I'd like to work with people who have experienced sexual disfunction or have some sort of lack of acceptance concerning their orientation or fetish. The reason I am interested in said programs is because I have struggled with vulvodynia and I have a fetish. Using sex therapy, I have been able to have a very healthy sex life and find peace and acceptance. (Side note: I am also a recovering food addict so I am also interested in dealing with eating disorders/addiction) As I attempt to write an honest statement of purpose, I find that much of the reason why I want to purse an MSW is taboo and I'm not sure what is appropriate to include on an essay. Here is a very rough draft of what I was thinking about for the first few paragraphs: At nineteen years old, I tried to have sex for the first time. My thirty-year-old boyfriend, Rob and I got into his bed very carefully, he had never been with a virgin and he was scared of hurting me. The night was full of romance and passion and curiosity and anxiety and excitement; it was everything that The WB told me it should be, until we tried to have sex. It was extraordinarily painful for me. We unsuccessfully tried a few more times, and the lack of physical intimacy started to weigh on our relationship. Two weeks later, my gynecologist diagnosed me with vulvodynia, a disorder that changed my view of the world and myself. The National Vulvodynia Association (NVA) defines vulvodynia as “chronic vulvar pain without an identifiable cause.” It is a disorder that is estimated to effect up to one in four women, but despite its prevalence, it is rarely talked about and often misdiagnosed. Moreover, with this diagnosis, I felt like less of a woman. What man would want to be with me if I couldn’t have sex? Thoughts?