MN_289

I'm sorry about your experience with BU. I am currently finishing my first year at BU. I was also coming from CA so if you have any questions you can ask away. I found that BU when I was looking at schools was "with it" and that is why I ended up coming here. It helped that I received a full scholarship. I actually love BU and found that BU has enormous prestige which is important when trying to find field placements. As far as clinical vs. macro. I am in the clinical track and get clinical classes. It is true you have to take certain requirements in macro (social policy, community development) but these courses are minimal. Profs are pretty great and so is my cohort and the 2nd years.

They are trying to gauge your cultural competence. I would suggest to go about that question by stating in what capacity you have worked with diverse populations and back that up with a story or two. So if you have worked as a case manager with the Latino population I would say so then maybe talk about one client and how your helped them..... This is what I did in my personal statement. I started with a story and carried that story throughout my statement as I wrote about my experience and my interests.

Has everyone been assigned field placement?

LittleDarlings, It sounds as though you do not have much experience in social work. As others have stated, social work is full of unknowns and possibly walking into dangerous situations. I would suggest that you volunteer in a residential facility or shelter this summer before you go off to your MSW program. You will gain valuable experience and some of your fears will be lessened with the experience. If you haven't been tested by a client that is actively SI or HI then you might find the clinical MSW not what you are looking for.

I hope this gets you there! https://www.facebook.com/groups/208444526031907/ If not the BUSSW page has a link that goes to it.

There is a facebook group for incoming students just search for: BUSSW Incoming Students Fall 2014

What session for field placement is everyone signing up for?

@SheTaz I received the field placement information today. Here is some of the info it had................ Welcome to the Boston University School of Social Work. We know that many of you are eager for information about field education and the placement process, so we hope the following will be helpful to you. In the spring and early summer, we will hold small group meetings at which the Field Education staff will present the purpose and design of the field education experience, describe typical placement sites and learning activities, and explain the process by which students are placed in agencies. You will also be able to meet individually with a staff member and talk informally with other incoming students. Please choose the session that you wish to attend and contact the Field Education office (617-353-3754 or sswfed@bu.edu) to reserve a spot on that date. Please note: if you intend to major in macro practice*, we encourage you to attend a session on Tuesday April 29th or Monday May 19th. All meetings will be held in the Conant Lounge on the 2nd Floor of the School of Social Work. Friday, March 28 9 AM-11 AM Thursday, April 10 3 PM-5 PM Thursday, April 17 9 AM-11 AM Tuesday, April 29 8:30 AM-10:30 AM* Wednesday, May 7 2 PM-4 PM Monday, May 19 2 PM-4 PM* Tuesday, June 3 3 PM-5 PM

Does anyone know how many students are accepted and how many attend? I'm curious to how big our cohort will be.

@sweetpiepear Escribes bien el español! We'll have to find some acceptable Mexican restaurants. @allstonrockers I love Salvadorian food; pupusas are the best.

@sweetpiepear thanks for the info! I will definitely need your experience in navigating my way around Boston. The cold will take getting used to. I'm Mexican and I can cook so if I can get to the ingredients we'll have to do Taco Tuesdays....

@ HopefulMSW: I'm in Southern CA (in the Valley 25 miles east of LA). I also plan on focusing on clinical work and hopefully get the trauma certificate.

Like Decaf I was also awarded the Urban Practice Scholarship (100% tuition). I will be attending BU in the fall. It'll be a change of pace for me as I'm coming from California and do not know the area.