past experience in social work undergrad and considering for an msw for fall 2015

[yankeefan027]

I graduated from Ramapo College of New Jersey in Spring 2014 with a B.A in Social Sciences. I originally entered as a Social Work major for a BSW, but i got screwed over by my program for supposedly "failing" my field placement. I wasn't failing my classes at all, i came to my field placement on time, and did my assignments. All in all, My then now fired field supervisor from my school told me that i was not allowed in the program for next semester. I had a negative experience with my school and my supervisors during my time in the Social Work program. I am now looking into MSW programs and will apply for the  Fall 2015 semester. Should i forget my past experience in my undergrad and apply for an MSW program?

[smpalesh]

How are you planning to handle social work at a graduate level when you couldn't at an ungraduated level?  I don't mean to be rude, but social work is about a LOT more than showing up on time and doing your assignments.  There is no proof that anyone screwed you over, maybe they didn't think you were suitable for the social work profession.  I highly doubt someone would fail field education without a good reason.

[nugget]

Could you say more about why you failed the placement? The supervisor should have provided specific reasons as to why you were not successful. Did you think there were extenuating circumstances that caused you to fail that would not have occurred at a different placement or that would not occur in the future? ex: personal problems/health reasons impacting your performance, personality conflict between you at your supervisor, etc....

 

While it is very rare, I have heard of MSW students who had to end their placements early and do another one the following semester. But in those cases the students did not fail, they were granted an "incomplete" and had to do another placement the following semester instead.

 

I think it would be worthwhile to take a careful, honest look at why the other placement did not work out and to realistically consider whether or not this would or would not happen again at a different placement. Going back to school is very costly and time consuming, not to mention the outcome of your coursework and placements would permanently stay on your academic record. So I think it would be wise to think through this decision very carefully and to make sure that this goal is feasible and realistic and the best choice for your future career.

 

Best of luck.

Edited December 7, 2014 by jenste

[yankeefan027]

@smpalesh Why say i don't mean to be rude, when in honesty you are. I know that social work is not just  waking up early in the morning for class and doing the coursework. I've done field placements and i know the struggles of coming two to three times a week for 8 hours each day in addition with the coursework. I feel that you are not really understanding me as to why i wasn't able to continue in the program and  assuming that if i couldn't handle an undergrad social work program, how can i be able to do the same for an MSW program. I struggled with professors who were discouraging me and judging me for no apparent reason and they were social workers. I don't understand it when they have to follow a code of ethics for their profession they should adhere to it for everyone not just clients. I didn't enjoy my field placement, because there were communication and structure issues with my supervisor. i felt lost, because my supervisor didn't explain how things were suppose to be done or gave me the opportunities to prove myself in the placement. I got frustrated at times thinking if i was doing enough in my field placement . i never got upset with her or came late to field placement. My undergrad program never told me the real reasons as to why i didn't pass my field placement or received an evaluation as to what lead to my dismissal in the program. I've talked to all the necessary people in my program including the dean and the only thing they asked was to switch majors. 

[rising_star]

If you're really passionate about social work, perhaps you could get a job for a year or two that lets you gain experience in the field. That will make you a stronger candidate and help show admissions committees that you have what it takes to excel and won't fail (for whatever reason) another field placement.

[yankeefan027]

Could you say more about why you failed the placement? The supervisor should have provided specific reasons as to why you were not successful. Did you think there were extenuating circumstances that caused you to fail that would not have occurred at a different placement or that would not occur in the future? ex: personal problems/health reasons impacting your performance, personality conflict between you at your supervisor, etc....

 

While it is very rare, I have heard of MSW students who had to end their placements early and do another one the following semester. But in those cases the students did not fail, they were granted an "incomplete" and had to do another placement the following semester instead.

 

I think it would be worthwhile to take a careful, honest look at why the other placement did not work out and to realistically consider whether or not this would or would not happen again at a different placement. Going back to school is very costly and time consuming, not to mention the outcome of your coursework and placements would permanently stay on your academic record. So I think it would be wise to think through this decision very carefully and to make sure that this goal is feasible and realistic and the best choice for your future career.

 

Best of luck.

@jenste I talked to a lot of people in my social work program ex: my advisor, the dean, social work chair, and my field work supervisor. I never got a straight answer from them at all as to why i wasn't allowed back into the social work program. The answer that i got from my advisor was that i failed the field placement and it was really bad that i failed it. I didn't get a report or a evaluation as to why i didn't pass my field placement. I have thought about what had happened during my semester in my field placement and there were times that my supervisor wasn't their all the time. she had to do things and dealt with emergencies outside of the school and i would be without any supervision during the day. She didn't give me the faith to get students and have one on one sessions, though i asked her that i needed one for a case study paper and she hesitated to give me one. I would get frustrated at times because i was so eager to interact with students and teachers, but instead i would be doing office work and forms that were given to her and she made me do them. i never got mad at her or came late to my field placement. There were communication problems, where she didn't explain things to me when i would be assigned a task and there was no structure as to what she expected me to do

[yankeefan027]

How are you planning to handle social work at a graduate level when you couldn't at an ungraduated level?  I don't mean to be rude, but social work is about a LOT more than showing up on time and doing your assignments.  There is no proof that anyone screwed you over, maybe they didn't think you were suitable for the social work profession.  I highly doubt someone would fail field education without a good reason.

@smpalesh Why say i don't mean to be rude, when in honesty you are. I know that social work is not just  waking up early in the morning for class and doing the coursework. I've done field placements and i know the struggles of coming two to three times a week for 8 hours each day in addition with the coursework. I feel that you are not really understanding me as to why i wasn't able to continue in the program and  assuming that if i couldn't handle an undergrad social work program, how can i be able to do the same for an MSW program. I struggled with professors who were discouraging me and judging me for no apparent reason and they were social workers. I don't understand it when they have to follow a code of ethics for their profession they should adhere to it for everyone not just clients. I didn't enjoy my field placement, because there were communication and structure issues with my supervisor. i felt lost, because my supervisor didn't explain how things were suppose to be done or gave me the opportunities to prove myself in the placement. I got frustrated at times thinking if i was doing enough in my field placement . i never got upset with her or came late to field placement. My undergrad program never told me the real reasons as to why i didn't pass my field placement or received an evaluation as to what lead to my dismissal in the program. I've talked to all the necessary people in my program including the dean and the only thing they asked was to switch majors.