MSW at Catholic University or George Mason

[Jooks84]

Hi! Has anyone looked at Catholic University's MSW programs versus the GMU one? Which has the better reputation for learning experience, field placement experience, etc? I live in southern Virginia, and my parents live in northern VA, so I'm looking at schools that are local to them in order to save money on cost of living. I was interested in CUA and GMU over University of Maryland and Howard University because CUA and GMU both have military social work aspects. My main goal is to go in to clinical social work, hopefully working with military clientele and their families. Any thoughts on these programs? Or even, military social work?

[CJMSW]

Hi Jooks! I have actually looked into both of those programs for the same reason you have. The price tag was a bit much for me but I'm going back to look at both of them again. I haven't heard anything either way regarding the program from people who have applied or attended.

 

As for military social work, I can tell you it is very difficult to find/sustain a job with the military right now. Most of the positions are contract positions but unfortunately the funding has gotten cut...which as you can guess, means those contracts are getting sliced. There are some positions through branches of the DoD on usajobs.gov but a lot more through the VA. I have to say, some of the best work I've seen being done is by non-profits that assist military families and there tends to be more sustainability in some of the larger non-profits as opposed to working directly for the DoD.  Hope that helps!

[Lifesaver]

It's taking the VA 6+ months to process fieldwork interns right now making them nearly impossible to deal with right now. Just an FYI. I'll write more about certifications in the morning.