solar

Hey folks, Thanks so much for the great advice. None of you have mentioned UT Austin yet, It's a pretty highly ranked program and has some international placement opportunities, which is great for someone like me whose interested in working abroad. What do you think is the value of having those international placements if you are thinking of working in the future for NGO's abroad? Also, what are your thoughts on getting an MSW at a Canadian school? There's an accreditation agreement so that accredited schools in Canada are totally recognized in the states. Do you think getting a degree from McGill (which is still cheaper than any of the other schools mentioned above, even taking into account financial aid) would hurt me? I did my undergrad there so I'm not sure if that will hurt me. I've heard Canadian schools for SW aren't as good, so I'm worried it will hurt me for getting a job internationally or in the US. Any thoughts? Has anyone heard anything about this? Thanks SO much!!

I'm in the middle of choosing where I want to do my MSW and am having a hard time deciding. I don't know any social workers so I don't really have anyone to talk to about this. Anyway, I wanted to ask if anyone had any input on how important you thought the school you get your degree at is in terms of working opportunities in the future and salaries etc (even tho obviously MSW's don't make a lot). Pretty much, I have this list of schools I've gotten into and don't know what to prioritize...big names generally, or highly ranked MSW programs. Two have pretty big names in terms of being Ivy League (Columbia and UPenn) and others don't have big names but have highly ranked programs (The University of Texas at Austin), and others have given me more funding than others (NYU= 17,000, UPenn=13,000, Columbia=5,000). How important would you say it is in terms of finding work to go to an ivy league school vs going to a place that has a highly ranked program for SW (Columbia has already been ruled out though bc they didn't give me enough financial aid). I'm also still waiting to hear back from other schools (BU, BC, Simmons, and McGill) but have to decide on the others this week. Also, does anyone know anything about doing an MSW in Canada? I'm still waiting to hear back from McGill (where I did my undergrad) but I've heard that Canadian programs are generally not as good as US ones. I really want to go here because I really want to stay in Montreal (where I've been living for the last 6 years and where my longterm partner is), but don't know if this would hurt me in terms of working in the US or abroad. I'm really interested in working with sexual survivors clinically both in the US and in Colombia, where my family is from so I want to keep my options open! In terms of international social work, is it best to go to an Ivy League or American school? Last question I promise, at UPenn I got into a dual degree program in SW and Social Policy. This is more expensive but I think it might open doors for me in the future in terms of getting a higher paid job or potentially switching fields in the future (macro level work is something I might be interested in doing in the future though right now my interests are mainly clinical). Do you think that getting a dual degree makes a big difference? I've been getting a lot of mixed advice from people who aren't social workers. Some say that going to a well known school is best because just having that name attached to your degree opens doors for you, but others say that it isn't the place where you got the degree that matters, but the work that you do once you are finished, so I should just go to the cheapest one since paying back loans is crazy on a SW salary. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thank you so SO much for your help! ANY help would be really really appreciate it. This decision is obviously a big one and I'm just not sure what to prioritize or who to listen to. I know where I want to be but that might not be the best career-wise, and I'm also scared of taking on a TON of debt. How did you find paying off student loans? Was it as bad as I imagine?