Online MSW for student in the San Francisco Bay Area?

[crarymia]

Hi all, 

I'm considering applying to some online MSW programs (Indiana University, LSU, University of New Hampshire, etc) and have a lot of questions. 

Here are my specific questions:

What online program did you attend?

How did the program help you get a field placement? Where were your two field placements?

And for anyone in the SF Bay Area...were you competing for field placements with UC Berkeley, CSUEB and SFSU students? Were you at a disadvantage?

Have you had to note (to a potential employer, for example) that your degree was online at any point?

If anyone can advise I would be really grateful! Thanks so much for any insight you can offer  

[taraw]

I'm currently attending the online MSW with Boston University. I am one of three students in the south Florida area so getting my placement was rather difficult, but if you find that there are other students in specific programs living in your area, that will help your ability to score a good placement. I will never have to tell anyone that my program is online (my transcript and degree will not state it), but it hasn't been met with any negativity. The most common response I get is "How do you manage your time being an online student?"-- it shows self-motivation. 

I do compete with other MSW students down here (Barry University, Florida Atlantic and some others) but I'm in a big city and am close to other urban areas so the opportunities are plentiful. I have not had any problems with competition personally (I also could've applied to programs at those schools specifically such as the Florida Atlantic University counseling center). 

[crarymia]

@taraw thank you so much for your response!

Can you please clarify what you mean by this?

"I am one of three students in the south Florida area so getting my placement was rather difficult, but if you find that there are other students in specific programs living in your area, that will help your ability to score a good placement." 

I'm in SF so there are lots of students getting on-campus MSWs, and I presume some people getting online MSWs. There are also lots of opportunities, I assume, since this is a big urban urea....

[pmaxhall]

Here's a great resource you can use -- this site has a dynamic table of all online (100% so it would work for you in SF or anywhere you travel or move to in the future) and all accredited by CSWE. All are sortable and even show current tuition rates.

https://mswcareers.com/education/find-an-msw-program/

Good luck with your MSW!

[crarymia]

@pmaxhall 

Thank you @pmaxhall most helpful! Did you attend an online program? My major concern is getting a field placement, especially in a place like the SF Bay Area that has on-campus MSW programs, who surely have better/more robust relationships with agencies or hospitals or other field sites. 

[taraw]

@crarymia I'm suggesting that there are a lot of students in my area, so in order to get a placement there is some competition and hoping that your placement semester starts at a transition time for the agency you are looking for. Boston University only has three online students in my area and that's including Broward and Palm Beach counties. I haven't run into any problems.

[pmaxhall]

I used to work with Boston University's online MSW and one of the things that they do is provide their online students with a list of approved organizations, agencies and hospitals that online students can connect with. They have a pretty high standard when it comes to that list but it is very extensive -- they do offer faculty support for the actual placement - and the bonus is the names of the agencies you get placed in really help your resume out too.

http://landing-onlinemsw.bu.edu/master/social-work?utm_source=mswcareers