MSW admission requirements

[Rwww]

Hello all! 

I'm (finally!) a senior and have been looking forward for years to my career in social work. I'll be taking a gap year to gain some experience and save up some money and I'll be applying for Fall 2020 admission to MSW programs. I'm a little nervous and am hoping to hear some insights because I can't seem to find admission requirements or statistics anywhere!

Anyway, I have a 3.43 GPA, which isn't amazing but I had a rough first several semesters because of my lack of college prep but have been working hard to raise my GPA in the last two years. I volunteer on a crisis hotline and interned for a non profit this summer, but other than that I don't have much direct experience and I'm worried I'm not the best candidate. I want to apply to NYU, UPenn, Columbia, and others (haven't decided where yet) and was wondering if anyone knows how competitive this field is and if I stand a chance. I can't see myself doing anything other than Social Work and I'm so committed to the field, but I'm afraid my college stats don't represent that so well. Any insights would be helpful!

Thanks!:)

[doctormelody]

I think you’ll be fine. NYU in particular has a very high acceptance rate. Idk about Penn but I got into Columbia last year with a 3.5 in an unrelated field and no experience. Might wanna consider adding some more affordable programs to your list though if cost is a factor.

[doctormelody]

Oh wait are you Advanced Standing though? That’s gonna make it more competitive if you are.

[Rwww]

3 minutes ago, doctormelody said:

I think you’ll be fine. NYU in particular has a very high acceptance rate. Idk about Penn but I got into Columbia last year with a 3.5 in an unrelated field and no experience. Might wanna consider adding some more affordable programs to your list though if cost is a factor.

Thank you for the response! I definitely will consider more affordable programs, like Hunter and other local ones. I haven't done much research on all potential schools yet so I just named a few off the top of my head for now

[Rwww]

4 minutes ago, doctormelody said:

Oh wait are you Advanced Standing though? That’s gonna make it more competitive if you are.

No advanced standing, my undergrad didn't offer a BA in social work unfortunately

[a.s.]

I highly recommend finding programs where their faculty or program interests align with yours. This can help with admission and will make the program far more enjoyable and applicable to your future. Most programs do not require the GRE and do not have a minimum GPA requirement because social work has a huge emphasis on the big picture that you can provide. I would say that even if a program does not state they require a stats course in undergrad, I would highly suggest still taking it. Many I applied to required it but some MSW programs do have stats or research courses that would be a lot easier if you have a basic knowledge of stats beforehand. 

It's great that you already have experience at a hotline and non-profit! These are the things they like to see because it shows that you have experience and dedication if it is for more than say a few months or so. I also suggest taking advantage of the gap year, as it sounds you plan to do. I think that if programs see you took time between degrees, they want to see how you have grown in that time. Of course, this doesn't have to be some huge commitment but just something that shows you didn't spend the whole year sleeping. 

I don't think MSW programs are necessarily incredibly competitive but if you are applying to "big name" schools then they want their cohorts to represent that big name. Standard two year programs are far less competitive than advanced standing at least. I think you definitely stand a chance and you should focus on the aspects of your application that can be changed. Your GPA is still good and you have a year to improve your experiences. One of the most important parts of the application is the essay because it's your chance to represent yourself in ways that data (GPA, test scores, etc.) cannot. I think if you apply to schools that represent your interests, spend time on the essays, and have a good gap year, there is nothing to worry about. I do agree with doctormelody that you should apply to some with either lower tuition or higher financial aid packages, though. That isn't always on the website but these forms have a ton of info on financial aid people receive. 

I hope I didn't say too much but uhhhhhhhh I spent a long time looking through places to apply so I'm still pretty psyched about it all. What is your area or population of interest? I may be able to recommend a few places to look at. 

[Rwww]

4 hours ago, a.s. said:

I highly recommend finding programs where their faculty or program interests align with yours. This can help with admission and will make the program far more enjoyable and applicable to your future. Most programs do not require the GRE and do not have a minimum GPA requirement because social work has a huge emphasis on the big picture that you can provide. I would say that even if a program does not state they require a stats course in undergrad, I would highly suggest still taking it. Many I applied to required it but some MSW programs do have stats or research courses that would be a lot easier if you have a basic knowledge of stats beforehand. 

It's great that you already have experience at a hotline and non-profit! These are the things they like to see because it shows that you have experience and dedication if it is for more than say a few months or so. I also suggest taking advantage of the gap year, as it sounds you plan to do. I think that if programs see you took time between degrees, they want to see how you have grown in that time. Of course, this doesn't have to be some huge commitment but just something that shows you didn't spend the whole year sleeping. 

I don't think MSW programs are necessarily incredibly competitive but if you are applying to "big name" schools then they want their cohorts to represent that big name. Standard two year programs are far less competitive than advanced standing at least. I think you definitely stand a chance and you should focus on the aspects of your application that can be changed. Your GPA is still good and you have a year to improve your experiences. One of the most important parts of the application is the essay because it's your chance to represent yourself in ways that data (GPA, test scores, etc.) cannot. I think if you apply to schools that represent your interests, spend time on the essays, and have a good gap year, there is nothing to worry about. I do agree with doctormelody that you should apply to some with either lower tuition or higher financial aid packages, though. That isn't always on the website but these forms have a ton of info on financial aid people receive. 

I hope I didn't say too much but uhhhhhhhh I spent a long time looking through places to apply so I'm still pretty psyched about it all. What is your area or population of interest? I may be able to recommend a few places to look at. 

That was so helpful, thank you! I'm particularly passionate in the domestic and sexual violence realm, but I don't plan to do clinical/therapy work but more hands-on work with the victims if that makes sense. (I haven't fully articulated yet what I hope to do but I've always been interested in that and the hotline I volunteer with focuses on sexual abuse so I think I've found my niche in that.)

[doctormelody]

13 hours ago, Rwww said:

Thank you for the response! I definitely will consider more affordable programs, like Hunter and other local ones. I haven't done much research on all potential schools yet so I just named a few off the top of my head for now

Makes sense! You probably already know this but Hunter is definitely gonna be the toughest to get into. This surprised me when I started but a lot of state schools are more competitive than the big name ones, I guess because of the lower tuition. Are you definitely looking to be in either New York or Philadelphia?

[Rwww]

8 minutes ago, doctormelody said:

Are you definitely looking to be in either New York or Philadelphia?

 I haven't fully researched other schools yet, but I am open to going elsewhere. I'm just from NYC and have lived here my whole life so those are the schools I'm familiar enough with to start with. 

[doctormelody]

17 minutes ago, Rwww said:

 I haven't fully researched other schools yet, but I am open to going elsewhere. I'm just from NYC and have lived here my whole life so those are the schools I'm familiar enough with to start with. 

Gotcha! Well, I wish you the best of luck with everything!

[Rwww]

25 minutes ago, doctormelody said:

Gotcha! Well, I wish you the best of luck with everything!

Thank you! And you as well