TLC

I am taking a undergraduate psychology course in research design and analysis and I cant think of a creative hypothesis to test. I will embark on my graduate studies this fall in Social Work and would like that major to be the crux of my research. I am interested in children (in and out of DCFS), mental health, LGBT issues, homelessness, veterans, CDCR (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation [ arguably the lack of rehabilitation] )... the list goes on. Can anybody think of a research topic/experiment that embodies any of the aforementioned issues? Thank you very much for your time.

Of the 40 LCSW's I work with at the VA in San Diego, two graduated from USC decades ago. 7 graduated from SDSU in the past 5 years and several went to other schools nationwide. I was extremely interested in USC's military concentration. My goal is to serve in the Navy as an active duty LCSW. Speaking with recruiters in the military my military experience will aid me more than a degree from USC. I set up interviews for the social work department at the VA and I see MSW transcripts and resumes and the school is not weighed heavily. Job experience and relative knowledge of mental health and trauma is deemed favorable. And you can find those concentrations in several programs. Lastly, I work with one clinician who went to SDSU and did her practicum at the VA and she was hired post graduation. If you are applying/accepted to schools that offer such practicums I would suggest aggressively seeking a field placement at the VA or with the DOD. USC is a phenomenal school with a great MSW program. I attended many information sessions, am friendly with the admissions advisors, and know plenty of alumni. I had to realisticly asses the cost and sadly, my military benefits wouldn't even cover half. Thats quite disconcerting. I applied to it as a back up school, and luckily I dont have to fall back on it

@michelle_ct If I could offer you any advice, I would caution you to not doubt yourself. I know its easier said than done. I applied to seven programs and have received five acceptances. I too wondered if I was a good enough candidate after seeing other peoples specs on here. You will drive yourself crazy if you obsess over it ( I know that I did). I know you wont relax until you get your acceptances, but please, be optimistic and confident. Your hard work wasn't for not, and you will get very sweet validation when you get that first acceptance letter/phone call/ email. I wish you and everybody else the absolute best.

@Dawn321, you are very welcome! It has been my absolute pleasure. That was incredibly nice for you to acknowledge that. @CityChild... Do you work for HudVash? Thats awesome that you and your agency changed the lives of 79 individuals

I got into Simmons. If anybody is interested in the school, feel free to message me. A lot of you weren't terribly interested in my initial post, so I don't suppose it's a popular school among this group. Good luck to you all.

I have a phone interviewed scheduled with the Dean in a few days.... I hope this is a good sign

Your very welcome. They want applicants to have the minimum of 4. 5 or 6 is nice but you won't be frowned upon for having a 4.

Good Morning, I have not been accepted but I went to their info session back in August. They don’t have rolling admissions per se. Admission responses won’t be sent out until after the 30th (because of the budget restrictions and the Prop 30 and 33 responses). They make admission decisions based on a tiered rating system. They have three tiers and they place applicants in the tiers as they review them. I'm not exactly sure when they begin to notify people of acceptance or rejection. They also said that you only need a 3.0 to apply, but anything above a 3.5 is very competitive and as long as you have a 4 on the AW section of the GRE your safe. GPA is 40% of the admissions process and they look favorably at experience with diverse populations. I know you asked for information from somebody who got in, but SDSU was my number one school until a few months ago and I did a lot of research and went to alot of information sessions to make myself familiar with the process.

MissH, First of all, THANK YOU FOR RESPONDING. I seriously appreciate your feedback. I just got out of the military but have years of experience as a drug/alcohol counselor while in the military and the sexual assault victim advocate/response coordinator while I served. I aslo work with the VA (Veterans Affairs) with the Social Work department and we advocate for homeless veterans. I think my experience is relative and I have a 3.7 undergrad (Will be done in June 2013). I hope my still being a student is not counted against me. My application is currently under review. They are my number one school.

Has anybody applied to Simmons? What were your stats? Outcomes? How do you like it now?