Does MSW program prestige matter for Out-of-state Jobs?

[greentea0]

Hi guys! My girlfriend just got into UCLA, SFSU, and San Jose State for her MSW program. I am a premed graduate taking a research gap year job at Stanford, which is near all the schools except UCLA. I plan to apply to med schools when she finishes her program, and we will move together off to wherever I will go to school. I am quite uncertain where I will go for med school, as acceptances for programs are very difficult to predict. She wants to get her LCSW, and the plan is for her to get a job in whichever new area we choose to move to.

Now the big question:

How much does program prestige play a role in her being able to get a job outside of California? If she chooses SFSU or SJ State over UCLA, will that limit her chances of getting a job, since UCLA will have greatest name recognition among those schools?

We would also like to prevent our relationship from being long-distance, which it will be if she chooses UCLA. However, if UCLA is a much better choice, we can deal with it for two years.

Would love some feedback from knowledgeable people!

[Tomlinson87]

13 hours ago, greentea0 said:

Hi guys! My girlfriend just got into UCLA, SFSU, and San Jose State for her MSW program. I am a premed graduate taking a research gap year job at Stanford, which is near all the schools except UCLA. I plan to apply to med schools when she finishes her program, and we will move together off to wherever I will go to school. I am quite uncertain where I will go for med school, as acceptances for programs are very difficult to predict. She wants to get her LCSW, and the plan is for her to get a job in whichever new area we choose to move to.

Now the big question:

How much does program prestige play a role in her being able to get a job outside of California? If she chooses SFSU or SJ State over UCLA, will that limit her chances of getting a job, since UCLA will have greatest name recognition among those schools?

We would also like to prevent our relationship from being long-distance, which it will be if she chooses UCLA. However, if UCLA is a much better choice, we can deal with it for two years.

Would love some feedback from knowledgeable people!

Don’t base anything off of a relationship. Go where you both want and can further yourself. Talking about years of experience in this. Unless you know you will marry her 100%, take care of yourself first. If she is the one, the long distance will work.

[MCC778]

I'm sure name prestige wouldn't hurt, but I went to a basically non ranked teaching school for my MSW and got multiple job offers in less than two months post-graduation/moving to new state. It especially isn't nearly as important (compared to many other fields) if she wants to do clinical work as I assume she does since you mentioned she wanted to get her LCSW.

More important than prestige is internship placement and level of experience. The bigger challenge to consider, depending on what she wants to do and how she plans to obtain her license, is being very cognizant of the different licensing requirements by state. Especially those you may be applying to med schools in the future. Some states require more than others and while most will work with you to transfer or let you know specific additional things you need to do (keep lots of documentation!) others require additional licenses for specializations (i.e., when I was in NC I could be a school guidance counselor and only needed some additional specific courses, but in TX I would have to go to a local community college to get an additional teaching certificate to do similar work). It's all do-able, but it does impact the time it takes to obtain a job so it's best to be prepared for those potential differences.

Edited March 10, 2019 by MCC778