What do you think of these programs?

[acw]

Hello!

 

I am a rising senior at a liberal arts university and I am planning on applying to MSW programs this fall (with the hopes of deferring a year before enrolling in Fall 2016). I don't know much about MSW programs - I've been doing a little research on different programs' websites, but, to be quite honest, they all kind of sound the same. Aside from price and location, I'm not entirely sure what distinguishing qualities I should look for in a school. So I thought I'd come here and ask you what you think about the list of schools I've come up with so far. Are these quality programs? Will I be well-positioned for jobs post graduation? Any glaring merits or weaknesses? Based on the short summary of my resume below, am I a fit candidate for these institutions? Any schools I should add or remove from the list?

 

A little about me: I'm graduating with a 3.34 in English and Sociology. I've been volunteering for the past 6 months at a battered women's shelter, and I am currently undergoing 32 hours of training to be a victim's advocate at a center for sexual assault survivors. I've mentored high school girls for two years through a local church, and I also volunteer with disadvantaged children through a feeding program. I just returned from a 6-week internship in Kenya, where I worked under a social worker with women and girls in a local community on feminine health issues. 

 

List of schools: 

1. Columbia
2. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
3. NYU
4. University of Maryland - Baltimore
5. Boston College
6. University of Washington
7. Washington University in St. Louis (WashU)
8. University of Texas - Austin
9. Loyola of Chicago
10. Tulane

Thanks so much for all your help!

[Lifesaver]

Your resume is impressive. Especially for someone your age. I can't begin to tell you how many people I know went into graduate school with nothing more than retail or bartending experience. Definitely keep doing what you're doing. Study harder, get your GPA up.

 

As far as distinguishing qualities goes, different universities "specialize" in different things. MSW students generally only have two main options for their focus - macro and clinicial. You'll have to decide which you are looking to pursue, however, it seems like you're looking to go the clinical route. Some universities are stronger in macro, while others are stronger in clinical. You'll also have to decide if you're looking to pursue a certificate program on top of the MSW. For example, marriage and family counseling, disaster management (Tulane), Goldring Reentry Initiative (UPenn), geriatrics and aging, etc. Those types of specifics will help narrow down your search for you.  

 

Money was a big deal to me. I got into UPenn (and planned on going) and struggled for two months with the pricetag. It was going to cost me in the neighborhood of $200,000, and I just couldn't take that risk, knowing that I am going into a field that is notoriously underpaid. I got scholarships to two other schools and decided to go with one of them. Out of all the schools I applied to, Tulane had the shortest program and would cost me the least amount of money. I love Louisiana/New Orleans, so the decision was a good one for me, all around, but did cause me a lot of mental anguish, lol.

 

I'm originally from NYC and contemplated going back, especially after being accepted to Fordham and NYU. I spoke to a few of my friends who are MSW students (they actually just graduated) in the NYC area and they couldn't tell me one positive thing about their programs. All I heard was that they didn't get the field placement they wanted, the area is overpopulated with MSW students (there are A LOT of programs in the area) which hinders their ability to "do things," they are just a number to their programs, etc. Also a downside, I think only one of them has a job thus far. The last time I counted, I believe I came up with 11 MSW programs in the greater NYC area. That means they're cranking out a lot of students every year, who, for the most part, are competing for the same jobs. That played a big part in my decision to go elsewhere where there is less competition. I am selfish. I want the best opportunities for myself, and after hearing those things from the NYC people, I didn't want to knowningly put myself in a bad position.

 

I could go on forever, but I need to get going. My last question for you is, why apply and defer? Why not just wait and apply next year with the rest of the 2016 applicants? Based on what I've read, grad programs are a lot less apt to hand out deferments, and a lot of times require extenuating circumstances, especially if their is funding (scholarships) involved. I wouldn't risk it, merely due to the money. I do highly suggest a gap year, though. The admissions folks like them, too.

 

If you have any Tulane-specific questions, or questions in general, feel free to PM me.

[citychild]

I graduated this May from Loyola Chicago and was happy with my program overall and it was a good fit for me. There are a lot of MSW programs in Chicago, but felt I got the attention I needed and was heard out. I also had a remarkable internship. I received a good amount of aid and the program had a good start time (July) for me since I was moving cross country to attend. With the aid, I did not have to take out grad plus loans which was a perk.

After attending Fordham for a year as an undergrad, I felt the Jesuit education emphasized things that were important to me that I did not receive in my other years at a state school where I completed my undergrad work. Knowing this, that was another appeal to Loyola for me.

I also got into some other schools you listed but if you have Loyola specific questions, feel free to message me.

[kpsychapp]

I applied to MSW programs last year and ended up deferring my admission to take a year off. Of the ones on your list, I applied and was accepted to Columbia, NYU, and UT Austin. I am from the NY area, so I originally planned on attending Columbia (despite the heavy cost of living in NY). However, when I decided to defer, Columbia was a big pain about it and the people I spoke to about it acted very judgmental. Because of this reaction, I decided not to defer Columbia because I no longer wanted to attend the program. Instead I decided to defer UCLA and UT Austin because the faculty (especially the admissions directors) are extremely personable and helpful. They remembered who I was every time we spoke and just made me feel like home.

However, my advice is to talk to members of the faculty and/or students from the programs (if you ask the admissions office they can usually give you the name of some students). It helped me get a feel for the workload, internship opportunities, etc.

Also, UT Austin has a great career center solely for msw students (the only msw program that has this), which seems great.

In NY, Columbia is generally known as a more macro-oriented program and NYU is better known for clinical social work, although they both have both. Both programs are quite large, Columbia has over 500 people in their new student group on Facebook for class of 2014. So it depends if you are looking for a larger program or a smaller one. And keep in mind that field placements for both programs can span all of NYC, the five boroughs, NJ, and CT, which can leave you with a heavy commute to your field placement. But, because it is NY, you could be lucky to get a great placement at a well-known hospital.

Hope this helped a bit! Good luck in the admissions process!

[smpalesh]

Why are you applying now if you don't want to go until 2016?  Why would you just not apply in 2016?  I don't know how it is in the US but in Canada we are not allowed to defer acceptances unless there is a really, really good reason.

[bquinn]

Not on topic, but I'm curious about your 6 week internship- it sounds like something I might want to do! Can you tell me about what organization you did this through? Feel free to let me know in this thread or by PM! Thanks