Kristopher

I'm about to graduate from the MSW program at Ohio State.

I imagine that all programs handle things differently so it's going to be tough to get you a clearer picture, and frankly if other people were in the same boat it won't help you much unless it was at the same program. With an online program, you're really at their mercy since you can't see anyone in person.

The fact that you made an account specifically to give "tough love" is pretty awful. If you're going to be rude, at least have the courage to use your real account.

I currently attend Ohio State. When I applied everything was submitted on March 1st and the decision came on April 1st.

Downtown Columbus is like any major city, it has it's good areas and bad. I live with my wife in a suburb outside of the metro area and feel very safe. Columbus/Franklin County is a great community, there are lots to do, it's young, and economically it's very healthy. There are many social work job so career outlook seems to be pretty good,

I'm going to copy and paste my opinion about admissions since I have discussed it in a few other threads and I am lazy: "GPA is just part of the picture that programs look at. Most programs I have seen require GRE scores for those under 3.0 in order to help bolster it. MSW programs look at much more than GPA. Work/volunteer experience, LOR, and personal statement are all considered. I would say that out of many grad school programs, MSW programs don't weight GPA as heavily as other programs. I am sure at the very top tier schools like Michigan or Columbia GPA may matter more since they get a ton of applicants. If you search this message board you'll find many people get into programs with GPAs below 3.0. Don't worry about prestige unless you want to obtain a PhD and become a professor. Going to an accredited program and having relevant field placements are what is important. Personally, I only applied to one school: Ohio State. I had a 3.04 undergrad GPA (3.5 last two years/60 credits) and no direct social work experience. I obtained solid LOR and explained how my work experience in retail and experience in my personal life motivated me to obtain my MSW. Social Work is a field where individual experiences and circumstance matters. Schools don't necessarily want everyone with a 3.8 GPA. MSW programs "love" to see stories where someone didn't have a high GPA because they had to work two jobs to support family, or other reasons. It's experiences like that which make great social workers, not necessarily good grades." I don't feel like admissions were too difficult. My stats were not stellar nor did they set me apart and I got in. I did ask someone who works in the field office about applicants and they said they get about 500 applicants and admit about 150. I really enjoy the program. Columbus/Franklin County is a huge area and OSU is the only school with a MSW in the area so there are lots of opportunity for field experience with different populations. There is a a huge Somali population here and many of my peers have done projects on this population and work with them. The field office does a good job of working with you to find a proper field placement. There are literally hundreds of options. There are a lot of different classes that offer a variety of different and useful clinical skills. Take a look at this: http://csw.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MSW-Course-Descriptions.pdf I can't speak on financial aid, but they do offer different opportunities (http://csw.osu.edu/degrees-programs/msw/financial-aid/). I just utilize Stafford loans which pay for everything. As a resident of Ohio its about $12k a year, so $24k for two years. Some internships are paid as well so that can help. Many students I know are able to work part time so that could be option. I intern for the VA and I love it. I feel like a lot of my classroom schools are applicable in the field. I love the program and I cannot say enough positive things about it. Feel free to ask any more questions about the program!

I currently attend Ohio State and graduate this May.

This is a good message board to learn about admission's, but it is definitely geared around a handful of school. Reading this board with little knowledge would make me think that there aren't too many MSW programs.

Ranking matters very little. If it's accredited and if you have the opportunity for good internships, that's all that matters.

I agree, from my experience only the specific departments require letters. The graduate office usually just verifies that you meet the requirements for admission that submits your stuff to the specific department.

Yes that is what I said "Work/volunteer experience, LOR, and personal statement are all considered."

Daisy isn't wrong, but it's not unheard of to get into programs without social work experience. You also have volunteered already, that's good experience and more than I had. I've posted this here before and I'll posit it again: GPA is just part of the picture that programs look at. Most programs I have seen require GRE scores for those under 3.0 in order to help bolster it. MSW programs look at much more than GPA. Work/volunteer experience, LOR, and personal statement are all considered. I would say that out of many grad school programs, MSW programs don't weight GPA as heavily as other programs. I am sure at the very top tier schools like Michigan or Columbia GPA may matter more since they get a ton of applicants. If you search this message board you'll find many people get into programs with GPAs below 3.0. Don't worry about prestige unless you want to obtain a PhD and become a professor. Going to an accredited program and having relevant field placements are what is important. Personally, I only applied to one school: Ohio State. I had a 3.04 undergrad GPA (3.5 last two years/60 credits) and no direct social work experience. I obtained solid LOR and explained how my work experience in retail and experience in my personal life motivated me to obtain my MSW. I had experience ONLY working in retail sales and I highlighted how similarities to working with people, solving problems, and finding solutions was similar to clinical social work. Social Work is a field where individual experiences and circumstance matters. Schools don't necessarily want everyone with a 3.8 GPA. MSW programs "love" to see stories where someone didn't have a high GPA because they had to work two jobs to support family, or other reasons. It's experiences like that which make great social workers, not necessarily good grades.

It's apparent Eigen doesn't understand the field of Social Work at all, nor the importance of field work. But I guess if his program (chemistry) had to do a year long rotation learning how to be a chemist from an astronomer, that would be OK. Bluebird, I think you have been doing the right thing. You mentioned a professor also said they knew of troubles regarding the site. Perhaps if the field office is still giving you grief you can "recruit" that professor to help advocate for you. I'm not sure how it works where you go to school, but where I do, the field office and MSW/Social Work office, while working together, are very separate entities. So just because some field coordinator is pissy, doesn't mean the whole program will dump on you. I've known a few students who didn't fit with their initial placement and were moved with no stress or problem so I'm hopeful you will too. Get a new placement and start fresh and I'm sure you will have a good experience. Good luck! And keep us posted.

To add to TLC's great response, deposits are usually about $100 to hold a spot. $100 is not something to sneeze at, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not much to make sure you have a spot somewhere. Try not to apply by the deadline but try to apply by when the window opens for them to accept applications. You may not get everything in as soon as their window opens, but if you set that as a goal you'll get your stuff in well before the deadline.

People have already addressed how it saves you a year of tuition with a BSW because a MSW would only take a year to complete instead of two. But it also gets you on the job market sooner. So not only is it less tuition (which isn't a problem in your case) but it's one whole year extra of salary and one year shorter that you have to work before retirement.

I would check with the school. I don't think a University would care if it came from a class after undergrad. In fact, it could help and show how you tried to further your studies after undergrad and before grad school.

There are better ways to offer advice without having to resort to calling someone you don't know or have a relationship with "selfish". You have a condescending tone and if you think that because that kind of in your face attitude works in the military it will work with someone you don't know, then you are going to learn the hard way how inaccurate that is. I have read the entire thread, and I even responded to her earlier. I don't disagree with your facts about cost of living, but it's not your job to try and correct her behavior and thoughts by being in her face, what's best for you may not be best for her. You give advice and leave it at that. No need to condescend someone or call them selfish. What works in the military doesn't work with strangers online nor will it work well in the field.

I agree that moving to NYC would be quite a challenge and is asking a lot for her family, but Nightwolf, you sound judgmental and rude. I hope when you start working with people during school you have some more tact when giving advice.

I love Ohio State. The program has a great array of classes that reach all areas of social work. Columbus is a wonderful city with lots to do. The city and surrounding suburbs are very affordable compared to many places in America. I couldn't have picked a better program. California has great schools for social work, but the cost of living is too high for me to live out there on a social work salary (plus teacher salary since my wife is a teacher). I wouldn't worry about taking classes to raise your GPA yet. Apply to schools and see what happens. 2.8 isn't terrible and I think it could be a potential waste of money and time to retake classes simply to get over 3.0. If you have a "good" story that can help a lot.

GPA is just part of the picture that programs look at. Most programs I have seen require GRE scores for those under 3.0 in order to help bolster it. MSW programs look at much more than GPA. Work/volunteer experience, LOR, and personal statement are all considered. I would say that out of many grad school programs, MSW programs don't weight GPA as heavily as other programs. I am sure at the very top tier schools like Michigan or Columbia GPA may matter more since they get a ton of applicants. If you search this message board you'll find many people get into programs with GPAs below 3.0. Don't worry about prestige unless you want to obtain a PhD and become a professor. Going to an accredited program and having relevant field placements are what is important. Personally, I only applied to one school: Ohio State. I had a 3.04 undergrad GPA (3.5 last two years/60 credits) and no direct social work experience. I obtained solid LOR and explained how my work experience in retail and experience in my personal life motivated me to obtain my MSW. Social Work is a field where individual experiences and circumstance matters. Schools don't necessarily want everyone with a 3.8 GPA. MSW programs "love" to see stories where someone didn't have a high GPA because they had to work two jobs to support family, or other reasons. It's experiences like that which make great social workers, not necessarily good grades.

I'm not sure if you guys are familiar with Reddit, but the social work subreddit is fairly active. It's a mix of those in the field and students. http://www.reddit.com/r/socialwork/

Perhaps MSW15 is not billing, but the organization they work for is. I am almost certain you cannot bill independently in Ohio without an LISW.

Not an awful idea if you are 22 and just graduated from college. It's much more difficult to follow that advice when you are in your 30s with a newborn and a husband.

LCSW is the best license a social worker can have. It opens up many doors and opportunities. Will you be making $60k right away? Maybe, but chances are you will start out less. Also, while NYU is your dream school, cost of living and attendance is very high. $60k in NYC is much different than $60k in Columbus, Ohio, or anywhere for that matter. School prestige matters little, as long as the school is CSWE accredited it really doesn't matter. Just make sure the school has classes and a curriculum that is in line with what you want to do. I'd recommend volunteering or working somewhere before making an major decisions. This way you can work with a population you are interested in and pick the brains of other social workers. I would also set up a meeting at your local school that offers a MSW. While they may be CBT oriented (and that's what most clinical schools focus on) you may still be able to get classroom experience with psychodynamic theory. More importantly, you can inquire if there are internships available that have a focus on psychodynamic therapy. Classes are important, but it's your placement experience and licensing that most prospective employers care about. An LCSW (or LISW or LICSW depending on the state. There could even be more acronyms) is a bit challenging to get. You first have to take a licensing exam that is obviously focused on the clinical aspect, then you have to be supervised for 2 years. Basically you have to be in a position for 2 years (3000 hours) and meet weekly with someone who holds an independent license. This person doesn't have to be a boss or someone you work with. In Ohio, over the 2 years, I believe it's around 150 hours of face-to-face supervision during the 2 years. People will often charge $50/hr and up to supervise someone since it is on their own time. I imagine it's similar from state to state. While it can be costly, it's necessary to be able to make the higher salaries in this field. Just out of curiosity, why would you have to pay your husband back for tuition? Seems odd to have that kind of arrangement as a married couple. Based on your post it seems like it's being held against you, especially when he says he's the one holding risk and not you.

I'm surprised there is even an option to test out of classes for a MSW program. I would be skeptical this is possible.