How to tell if you are competitive or not for MSW

[marina415]

Hello friends,

 

I'd love to get some guidance on how to determine one's competitiveness when it comes to choosing and applying to MSW programs.

 

This would be a career switch for me, and I don't have direct experience in social work, but I have international experience with social justice issues, and am really passionate about pursuing direct practice (individual or community level) with refugees and immigrants, or working internationally in post-conflict areas. Long term I could see myself in an advocacy or policy-making role but I would like to start out working directly with people in a more hands-on way; I will therefore probably go the clinical route though I am not ruling out the macro track.

 

So how can you gauge the likelihood of getting into certain schools without an obvious background in social work?

 

I am really interested in Columbia, UW-Seattle and Boston College. However, I am not sure if it would be a better strategy to apply to less sought-after programs, because my primary aim is to gain the core skills of an MSW program and work as a social worker as soon as possible. I suspect I would also be quite happy working with non-international populations, and/or I could integrate my international background into my career down the line. 

 

Some background: I have been out of college about 5 years, working full-time in the non-profit sector supporting social justice/environmental campaigns in Africa, in a program administration capacity (I am based in DC but have traveled extensively to West Africa and am bilingual in French/English). Prior to that job I was an organizer in the 2008 presidential campaign in a rural part of the US. I do not have strong volunteer work to point to in an application. 

 

I majored in anthropology at a very well regarded department at a top US university. To be honest my overall GPA was not fantastic, but definitely above the 3.0 cut-off, and I am hoping that my undergrad university's reputation will help offset the OK but basically unimpressive grades. I have not taken the GRE.

 

I would love to apply to the dream schools, but if it is too much of a long shot, I'd rather apply somewhere where I have a higher chance of getting in. I recognize that the importance of name-brand prestige is pretty moot with MSW programs, so I don't feel "Harvard or bust" about it in any way, but I would like to be somewhere that offers strong course and placement options in my core interest areas. 

 

I'd love to hear about: 1. how you went about assessing your own competitiveness (especially those of you coming to social work from another track); 2. if you have any thoughts about my particular competitiveness; 3. any schools I should consider either as good "safeties" or "reaches" (I've ruled out Michigan despite its strong global focus - too expensive imho).

 

Thanks much for reading this long post! 

[Purplescarves]

Most people that post on here asking about their chances of getting into grad school don't need to worry and that includes you. Though it's grad school, social work schools tend to be far less competitive than other programs. I think you have a great chance at those schools, but I would recommend that you apply to a mix, same advice most of us received when we were applying to college. Choose some 'reach' and then some 'safe'. Seriously, even if you get into all of them, it just creates a peace of mind during the wait process. Also, write superb essays!

[marina415]

Thanks guys! Great advice to focus on the essays and to diversify my schools a bit. Feeling reassured about all this, thanks!

[alesso]

Hello friends,

 

I'd love to get some guidance on how to determine one's competitiveness when it comes to choosing and applying to MSW programs.

 

This would be a career switch for me, and I don't have direct experience in social work, but I have international experience with social justice issues, and am really passionate about pursuing direct practice (individual or community level) with refugees and immigrants, or working internationally in post-conflict areas. Long term I could see myself in an advocacy or policy-making role but I would like to start out working directly with people in a more hands-on way; I will therefore probably go the clinical route though I am not ruling out the macro track.

 

So how can you gauge the likelihood of getting into certain schools without an obvious background in social work?

 

I am really interested in Columbia, UW-Seattle and Boston College. However, I am not sure if it would be a better strategy to apply to less sought-after programs, because my primary aim is to gain the core skills of an MSW program and work as a social worker as soon as possible. I suspect I would also be quite happy working with non-international populations, and/or I could integrate my international background into my career down the line. 

 

Some background: I have been out of college about 5 years, working full-time in the non-profit sector supporting social justice/environmental campaigns in Africa, in a program administration capacity (I am based in DC but have traveled extensively to West Africa and am bilingual in French/English). Prior to that job I was an organizer in the 2008 presidential campaign in a rural part of the US. I do not have strong volunteer work to point to in an application. 

 

I majored in anthropology at a very well regarded department at a top US university. To be honest my overall GPA was not fantastic, but definitely above the 3.0 cut-off, and I am hoping that my undergrad university's reputation will help offset the OK but basically unimpressive grades. I have not taken the GRE.

 

I would love to apply to the dream schools, but if it is too much of a long shot, I'd rather apply somewhere where I have a higher chance of getting in. I recognize that the importance of name-brand prestige is pretty moot with MSW programs, so I don't feel "Harvard or bust" about it in any way, but I would like to be somewhere that offers strong course and placement options in my core interest areas. 

 

I'd love to hear about: 1. how you went about assessing your own competitiveness (especially those of you coming to social work from another track); 2. if you have any thoughts about my particular competitiveness; 3. any schools I should consider either as good "safeties" or "reaches" (I've ruled out Michigan despite its strong global focus - too expensive imho).

 

Thanks much for reading this long post! 

Just a thought for you. I am 50 and I have always had a passion for helping others and slowly I started to meet up with women in bad situations to help mentor and encourage- that led to their teens and now I am interning with the mentally ill.  The volunteer hours in counseling /mentoring I thought would solidify that I was meant to do direct services but it actually led me to see the systems in place in a new way.  The direct services helped me see that what I wanted to advocate for initially was pointless without other changes that were structural.  I had no one in direct services agreeing and saying "go for it' so I thought maybe I was being an egotist. I mean all these other people cared just as much as I did and they didn't see it as significant.  I started to research and there is a professor at Berkeley who writes on exactly all the things I feel strongly about and he teaches how to implement the change!  I think my time in micro was critical in knowing what I wanted to do. I know you want to get it going but it saved me time in the long run and I have a solid focus. You have so much to draw upon and you could do so much to help. You could consider talking to those who are leaders in international social work (I know Berkeley has one of the leading professors in that area) and maybe gauge how it connects to your vision and experience that you have. It might be a direct hit.  I would be cautious of getting into a direct service program emphasis with out any previous work with that population.  Like I tell my children it isn't so much where you study it is who you study under.  You are obviously meant to do big things and you should be matched up with the right people to help you get them done.  

[Lola1233]

I would advise that if you're interested in macro, then take a closer look at the schools you're applying to. Boston College has a very weak macro program. I've said this in a prior post, but it's not the degree/name that matters for macro, but the selection of classes you'll get at a strong macro program vs. one that is clinically focused. Take a look at the course offerings -- you'll see a night and day difference between macro and micro. 

 

You mentioned a passion for direct service work -- refugee/immigrant services is a fairly decent market in international development, and that is clinical work. If that is your interest than Boston College and UW are good places for that. I do want to emphasize though, that if you're interested in direct services domestically -- then any school will probably be fine. 

[marina415]

Thanks Chrislee and Alesso for the insights. Chrislee, it's great to see how your career trajectory shifted as you gained more experience in direct practice and became passionate about bringing about systemic change. Berkeley is so appealing and I agree that its program aligns with my interests. Unfortunately I haven't taken the GRE and time is too short for me to add that into the applications mix... 

 

Alesso, thanks for pointing out Boston College's weakness in macro areas. That is important to keep in mind, though their international opportunities seem so impressive that it still seems like a good fit for me. My sense is that UW has a pretty good balance of macro and direct practice and international opportunities to boot. Do you know about Columbia's reputation? I know they have a specific track for immigrant and international populations and assume the Columbia brand would be good for someone trying to break into the policy world as an MSW (which is an option I'd like to keep open). But as we all know they are pretty pricey and if their macro program is extremely weak, that might be a deal-breaker....

 

Thanks again for your help!