pdwilks

I would know your schools requirements for Supervision with a MSW Supervisor while in your internship. In doing a search on the web there are notations of needing at least one hour of direct supervision per week from a MSW Supervisor. I know for my own, I am going to be surrounded by MSW people or so it seems, haha. I am going after my PPSC certification and so I have to be supervised by a MSW and a PPSC person.

Hi, I'm "middle aged" and did my own resume, that includes much of my past years of working in corporate America. I've no volunteer experience specifically except what I've done during my internship for BA. What I have done during my years in corp America is volunteer for United Way campaigns, put together a supply donation program that gave supplies to local schools when departments closed and things like that. I never saw this as anything more than part of my job, until I started writing my SOP and a professor and friends started asking me questions. Play up on your years in the business community, look to things you've done while working, helping out at the kids schools (if you have them). Think outside the box. Ask some questions at a local college and see if they have a BSW or like program and ask if there are some opportunities for volunteer work or suggestions. Depending on the area of social work you want to pursue is maybe where to look for some volunteer work: schools for school social work, work with vets in some way (Wounded Warriors, think more than Vet Admin) for military social work. There are a TON of companies out there looking for volunteers. Use your SOP to address some light or missing areas if you can. Pam

BSW will get you advance standing, less classes by a year it seems in most cases, thus saving a year in tuition. I did Sociology with Social Service option, which let me study a broader version of the BSW. However, I do not get to lay claim to the title BSW nor do I get to do advance standing. Not a problem for me. I also added two minors in Psych and Human Dev to offset what I felt I might be missing in getting specifically a BSW, did it help, no idea, but it worked for me. Do a BSW major and minor in other subjects if it seems like it might work for you. I didn't feel the pinch taking the extra subjects, it actually filled in the required units for financial aid and didn't add extra time to my two years for a BA

This came across my Facebook today and it seems like it might work good for you or at least provide some ideas to make the week easier. Prepping on a Sunday for the week, storing ingredients in a baggie in the frig or freezer. Adapt if you are not Gluten free. 20 Gluten Free Slow Cooker Freezer Packs from Costco for $150 {Watch Me Assemble Them in Less Than 2 Hours!} Read more: http://www.5dollardinners.com/gluten-free-slow-cooker-freezer-packs-costco-meal-plan/#ixzz3ATbhL4AU http://www.5dollardinners.com/gluten-free-slow-cooker-freezer-packs-costco-meal-plan/

Interesting about the APA program. What is it, I would like to check it out? As far as knowing APA, I agree it helps, but I will say for my summer class I was having some frustrations dealing with APA writing style. I asked the professor what her opinion was and she said that each professor in individual in how they interpret APA or wants students to write like. Read the manual and then ask each professor what they are looking for is going to be your best bet. There are cookbooks for cooking once and eating for one month. In this case team up with some other students who are in the same boat and do group cooking. I know my son is going to make some breakfast burritos and put them in the frig or freezer and eat as he wants. Chili Casserole- Chili, corn tortilla, and cheese (lots) put together, heat and eat. Can make your own tv dinners by using some frozen veggies, bbq chicken. Find someone who has a BBQ (traeger) works well and grill up a dozen chicken breasts, slice them up, put into separate bags and freeze, can eat as sandwiches, on salads or in dishes. Buy a big amount of ground beef and cook it all up adding only pepper and onions as this is works well with most recipes, drain fat and bag into baggies and freeze. Use for pasta sauce, homemade chili, etc. Make some homemade chicken soup for those cold days or days when you aren't feeling so hot. A small panini grill or George foreman grill cooks up chick breast in a jiffy. A crockpot is a godsend. Pinterest is amazing for recipes of all kinds. There is one draw back to all this cooking - you might have more visitors for dinner...

Ditto, Lifesavers information. Relax, because come Sept we are going to be rocking the books and internships like mad people. Your notebook or schedule book will become a lifesaver then. I've had a short summer class for Human Bio which took up some of my summer, I'm more than ready to get going. This is the first summer in three years I've more or less not been in school full time. My garage is getting cleaner though so there is an upside to this.. haha. With my internship starting one month before school starts due to 5 weeks of orientation it will help with keeping me occupied. I'm excited to get started, meet everyone and see some friends from undergrad who are in the same program. Pam

I have to say, really give your professors something to work with, like resume, copy of the SOP so they see who you are. Perhaps even a letter detailing how you know them, class, grade etc. I had three professors write my first application LOR and I saw only one (tried to be brave and go without looking). The one I did see scared the crap out of me because it was one of those basic Hi, I recommend this person. Kind of made me a bit miffed because I knew that professor, took several classes with him, did well in each and spoke to him about the LOR's and provided the above mentioned items. On my second application I saw two of the three letters and I was pleasantly surprised how glowing they were, one was two pages detailing out my internship and what I wanted to do with my degree, something we had spoken about. Two of the letters were from my internship and one from a professor who I requested from the first time. (she wrote a similar letter for that one though I didn't see it til later). What I'm saying is take some time to talk to the LOR people, refresh there memories, make nice with them so they can write more than " I recommend so and so for the MSW program". If you can get away with sending in an extra one do it. I really think because I had an extra one on the first application it helped. I was accepted into both programs with my letters.

While normally I would agree, I've already had a Biology class with the professor who is requiring the book in the fall. She is a stickler for being exact. I've found it was helpful for the summer course and its better safe than sorry. Normally I use OWL with no problems. No worries for me as it wasn't that expensive. Bargain shopper here.

Human Behavior 1, 4 units – 1 book and APA manual (This book was used in undergrad, but I traded it in.. Grrr) Can rent text book for ¼ of the price about 40-50.00 for the quarter Race Gndr Inequal , 4 units - No books required (Yet) Generalist Practice 1, 4 units - Two books, expensive at the school bookstore, but reasonable on amazon. Field Instruction 1, 4 units – not sure if this is weekly, bi weekly or monthly yet. 1 book Internship - no books that I’m aware of yet. Parking pass is 130.00 per quarter (three quarters, actually get the summer off, woo hoo). We can park where ever we can find a spot on campus, but most of these classes are in the afternoon and evenings so parking shouldn't be too bad by then, I hope. With the exception of the APA manual, most of the books are 130-158.00 a book new, and used is only slightly less at the campus bookstore. To get a head start on what I was going to be reading for fall, I found some of my books in a previous edition and got them for less than 10.00. Here is to being able to use these instead of the newer more expensive versions.. Most likely I will have to spend 300-500.00.

Look at renting the books. I was just doing the same thing with my books and renting the books will cost me no more than 150.00 whereas buying them will cost me over 500.00. There is also the option of getting as an E-book. Also ask the professor if an early edition is an option. I know in undergrad I was able to do this quite a bit and save some bucks.

I applied June 6 and heard back on July 2. I applied for the Fall Sept cohort, but was accepted for the Aug cohort. A few things I've done is keep in contact with my adviser, we spoke about what was needed and or missing. Because I was married so I had two different names and one thing was held up in pending because it didn't connect with my app under my maiden name. I never received anything telling me papers were missing. I also told myself that there had to be at least 50% of the tuition being covered by grants or scholarships for me to accept an offer, the rest could be loans, but I wasn't going to fork out the whole thing on loans. These were my boundaries. On the flip side I've not heard anything back from FA and that is a determining factor for me. If FA is all loans and no scholarships, I'm not going to accept. I don't want to loan debt load that comes with this school, even if it has the concentration I want with the Military. Using the pay after 10 years etc it still is astronomical the amounts I will have to come up with for 10 years. When I called about scholarships I was told the person would not be back in until Monday (the day my 280.00 is due to hold my place) and they won't know about FA for a few more weeks. I was accepted into my local CSU MSW program at $15,600.00 approx for two years. The grant I might qualify for is just barely under the tuition and so if I take loans it will be to help with living expenses. The loans will also be a much smaller amount in the long run. When I started the USC app my app for the CSU was declined, the day after I submitted my app to USC, CSU called and offered me a spot in the program. Call your adviser and talk to that person, ask them whats up or call the school directly. Mine had given me great tips of what the committee was looking for, what I needed to get across in the personal statement etc. Stats for those who want them. Overall GPA 3.09. Major GPA 3.45. BA Sociology with the Social Service Option, minors in Psych and Human Dev. My major since it was along the lines of a BSW, but not, still had an internship and hours to keep track of and minimums I had to meet. I have over twenty years of real life experiences in corporate America, but could show that in these jobs I did volunteer work for their fundraising campaigns etc. I was always asking for more. I know at least one of my recommendations was amazing. The others I had not seen. One professor and two people at my internship. PW

Hmmm... My class is online, perhaps you can get into it or another online course at a different school.

CSU East Bay has the same requirement. To meet this the college offers a class in the summer called Human Biology for Social Workers Look at the school you are going to attend to see if they offer something similar. Community Colleges offer human bio, but often it comes with a lab requirement. Really talk to the college and see what they will accept.

I learned that lesson a slight bit in community college and more so in the second two years. I agree, rent as much as you can, most are fine with notes and highlighting. I've used both the kindle to rent and in book form from Amazon. Easy to return. I used the save the book and use as reference too. Fail... I will say, selling my book back is going to bite me in the arse for one class in the MSW program. We used it in undergrad. ~sigh~... Oh well.

First of all, age is not the issue. Anyone with drive can go to college to start or finish a degree. If you want the degree go for it. I just turned 50 and walk in 3 days for my BA and will be 53 when I walk for my MSW. I actually feel as if my age has worked for me because I see my goals more clearly. My outlook on class and professors is different than it was when I was 18 and just out of HS. I appreciate professors now more than I ever did back in the 80’s. There is also the big factor of money; because I am paying for this myself (or paying it back because of loans) I take my classes and grades seriously. I study more now, enjoy the books or texts more and get out of the class more than I might have 25, 20 or even 15 years ago. I have life experience to bring to the table that the younger students don’t and it helps me to understand or see things differently. On the other hand the younger students help me to see things from their perspective too. As for different online schools, look at your state school where tuition will be cheaper than private schools. An example for me, CSU East Bay $2610.00 a quarter not including books and other fees on the other hand Private schools are $30000.00-50000.00. Public schools may have some grants, but private schools have different funding. As my financial aid person said, “Can’t hurt to try for private and see what they will offer”. Look up your local schools first, see what they have to offer, then look to state schools to see if any are online. Some online schools do have restrictions for who can attend. While my BA degree was not an online degree, I completed one of my minors all online. They are not that bad, however there is A LOT of writing and reading. It felt like more than an on campus class. Also they take a large amount of self-regulation to keep on top of due dates, papers, postings and tests. Falling behind can cause you to lose points and perhaps a grade. As I said in the beginning, age isn’t your issue.

Woo hoo got in. Turned out to be a great birthday present.. yay.

Really depends on the books you are asked to get. If they are school or teacher specific (I mean they put it out or there is an agreement to make it "special" to keep costs down) it will be more expensive. This one book cost 138.00 (verse the previous edition 14.00 that wasn't special she told us in class we could use, ugh). If you can shop amazon and rent the books verses buying them, a huge savings. Sometimes ebooks are good, depending on your learning style. Figure at a minimum 500.00 for a full load. This was the most I spent including a 130.00 parking pass for a quarter. I put time in shopping around, looking at previous editions, or if I feel ebooks will work then I go with them. A note on ebooks I've found is that I do better with ebooks for online classes and in hand copies for on campus classes, Just me though. Look up the classes you have to take see what books they are requiring and then shop the different book buying and renting sites. So many options are available.

I suppose it depends on the state you live in and the kind of job you are looking for. There seems to be quite a bit of gray area at the moment while employers figure out what is acceptable and what isn’t. These articles bring up some good points about funding through government or state where there aren't laws in place that allow for it. If the feds are against it, then funding could be cut off. I am not an expert in this, nor do I know the laws on mm. Perhaps there are stricter laws about who can use medical marijuana state by state, county by county and so on. Look up companies you are interested in working or interning with to see what they say. Also look on linked in to see if anyone has made some comments about MM for that company. I don't know if someone is going to put that on their profile, but they could. Medical Marijuana Law Creates A 'Gray Area' For Both Employers And Employees In The Workplace http://www.progressillinois.com/posts/content/2013/11/01/medical-marijuana-law-gray-area-both-employers-and-patients-workplace Denied a job, medical pot user sues Maine employer http://www.pressherald.com/news/Woman-who-failed-drug-test-because-of-medical-marijuana-sues-former-employer-.html?pagenum=full This is an interesting article on the subject Medical Marijuana in the Workplace http://www.dritoday.org/feature.aspx?id=510

A friend called and spoke to Lyn, she said not all the letters have gone out, she said between both programs they were mailing out 4-600 letters. The last of the letters would be mailed out the the end of the month. That was the extent of the information given. She did not mention if accepted or declined, only that everyone would be responded to by mail. I've not heard myself, however two in my class group have been accepted, they received their letters last Fri. They said their mycsueb has not changed still shows as being reviewed. Hope this helps as we all run to the mail box each day.

Mila, This is a tough decision only the two of you can make. You will have to talk it out, all the pros and cons. That being said, I wish I had kept going to school, but instead I went to work full time, got married, had two boys and ended up divorced (not that this is a bad thing in my case, it is where we needed to be, not good for each other). I don't expect this to be your story or one similar, but I really do wish I had gone to school 15-20 years ago, although then my wants for education were different. Since my divorce I've gone back to school, got my AA, soon my BA and hopefully soon will be accepted into the MSW program. I am my moms full time care giver and I can tell you shes sick of hearing "I have homework". This keeps us at home instead of running around town doing other things, but after some long conversations, we agreed, me in school helps my future and hers too as she ages. We make it work with cooking, chores, shopping and just about everything else. We argue like mother and daughter, we laugh and cry too. She is my biggest champion in this endeavor. Is your husband the same? What I'm trying to say, is really talk it out with hubby. If he knows what it was like when you got your BA, then hes on board some at least with it being time consuming. I'm guessing you will be working at some point and earning a good income that will help the family after you graduate. Now to the not so lovely side, if something happens and you do end up on your own, wouldn't it be better to have the education under your belt when it comes to working instead of having to go back to school to finish out a higher degree? Good luck.

@CaliforniaDreamer Yes, the Hayward campus is where the full time students go. Oakland is for part time students.

Not that this means anything! But, on the master field calendar for 2014-2015 (a pdf), it shows some dates starting June 9th for the Three year program out of Oakland. So It makes some sense that notices should start going out soon. If you want to check this out yourself, go to the Social Work Department Site, under MSW students. Hayward's program doesn't start until later. Summer Quarter 2014 Oakland Students June 9 (M) Begin Field - Oakland Summer Block Students June 23 (M) Academic Instruction Begins June 23 (M) Begin Field - Oakland Extended Year Students July 4 (F) Independence Day - University Closed (Oakland Campus closed July 5) July 12 (S) Learning Agreements due - All Oakland Summer & Extended Students July 26 (S) 1st Progress Report due - Oakland Summer Block Students August 31 (S) Last Day of Academic Instruction September 1 (M) Labor Day - University Closed September 2 (T) Progress Reports due - Oakland Summer Block(Final) & Extended Block (1st) students Hayward Fall Quarter 2014 September 3 (W) Begin Field - Advanced Year Training Title IV-E Students September 9 (T) Field Instructor Symposium 9-2pm September 17 (W) Title IV-E Orientation - All Title IV-E Students (subject to change) September 20 (S) MSW Orientation - All Oakland Foundation Year Students September 23 (T) MSW Orientation - All Hayward incoming Students (MSW 9 - 12 noon, Field 1-4 pm) September 24 (W) Academic Instruction Begins September 24 (W) Begin Field – All Hayward Students September 24 (W) Begin Field - Oakland Traditional, Extended, & 9 Month Models October 7 (T) Title IV-E Workshop/Seminar October 21 (T) Learning Agreements due - Hayward Students

This is what occurs to me. No school is going to want to put a student in a dangerous situation. This doesn't mean it doesn't happen on occasion, but you have a responsibility to say something to your professor/adviser if you are being put in this kind of situation on a repeated basis. One thing that was made very clear by my adviser during my internship during my practicum class, was that I should never knowingly go into a dangerous situation. I should talk to my FI or her. There are rules for you to follow, most likely in your student manual. What does it say? That being said, have some conversations about how this all works. Are you transporting with a driver so you can sit with the client? Or is the client medicated and going to be siting in the back seat while you drive? Ask specific questions to get better answers.

We are all wishing for it to be sooner.

A friend made the call and that is what she was told. Another friend had seen where it takes 8-12 weeks roughly from the final turn in date before we would hear anything so between the two it seems about right. I've asked a bunch of friends I go to school with at CSUEB who I know applied for the MSW program too and none of us have heard anything, but we all are waiting.