Volunteer work before applying

[Insaniac]

Hello everyone,

 

I am thinking about applying to a MSW program at the end of this year for Fall 2016. I am trying to find some places to volunteer that would be related to social work to get some experience, give a little boost to my application, and hopefully get a letter of recommendation or two. I was wondering what places any of you guys volunteered at prior to getting accepted into your MSW programs. I have my bachelor's in Psychology from SFSU, and I currently live in Southern California. It would be great if anyone from the area could recommend a place, but of course any advice or response is welcome!

[SocialWaiter]

Maybe find something that appeals to what you want to help with in the future. For example, if you're interested in helping the elderly/seniors, maybe find a nearby nursing, retirement, or convalescent home.  Many hospices want volunteers too. If you want to help kids, maybe try a tutoring program, children's hospital, after-school program, or DCFS http://dcfs.co.la.ca.us/community/volunteer.html

 

Maybe also try

 

Google

http://www.volunteermatch.org

http://www.laworks.com

http://www.meetup.com/LAVolunteer

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/search/vol

 

Even though you're applying for 2016, look at the applications of the schools you're interested in.  Many 2015 applications should be available on a school's MSW website.  You don't have to pay anything to access their application. Some schools strongly recommend 1-2 years of volunteer experience.  And on their applications, you'll see they want you to list how regularly and consistently you volunteered...for example, they'll ask how many hours per week you volunteer.  So if you're serious, maybe find one thing you can volunteer at for a decent amount of time...plus you increase your chance of having someone write you a strong letter of recommendation since they know you and you aren't just some one-time volunteer but a regular, dependable, and reliable person.  You have a lot of time, so you have an advantage to prepare early.  Look over the 2015 applications, what they require, what they ask for, etc..., and that should better get you ready to know what to do once you start on 2016 applications.  Good luck.