Uhhhhh..... social work?

[basille]

Any social work MSWs or PhDs out there? I'm guessing this is the best spot to place this.

Howz it going? Any good news?

1 program a yes for me thus far... waiting on others.

[shellybe]

hi, basille, sorry no one has replied. i was going to apply to social work programs and go for the phd, but i decided on sociology. i really want to do research on education, inequality, etc and i decided soc would be a better path for me. i read the chicago forum, so i gather you got into UIC? that's excellent!!! i was going to apply there. are you going for the phd or ma?

good luck! UIC seems to have an excellent program

[basille]

Hey

I didn't think I would find too many social work students on here, but it never hurts to check.

I was accepted to the PhD program. I am actually just finishing up my MSW from a different school. I am so excited about my UIC admission. It had the right mix of things that I needed - it was really the ideal program for me. It is hard to find faculty that are working with homeless people, active drug users and incarcerated people (even in a social work program if you can believe it!), so I had a tough time scouting out appropriate programs. Don't get me started on how social work schools don't really support students that want to work with the "undesirables." But UIC fit to a T ... I couldn't be happier.

Have you heard anything from your programs yet? I've checked in on the soc forum now and then because I have some pals that applied to soc programs and I kept telling them to visit this site. So I've been checking to see if they had signed up. Which they never did. Tsk..tsk..tsk!

[shellybe]

i'm surprised your friends didn't sign up. i'm going so crazy, i don't know what i'd do without this site!

i'm not doing so well in my pursuits. i applied to 6 programs. i've been rejected by 5 and wait-listed by 1. so i applied to 1 more program that isn't so good i guess. but if i get in there (which i think i will because it seems that it's a program where most people who apply get in as long as they meet certain requirements, which i do) i'm going to make the best of it, work really hard, and get into a good phd program in a couple of years. 

i meant to say msw, i've just been immersed in this soc ma stuff. so are you doing research or more applied/clinical stuff? congratulations on getting into the perfect program!

[basille]

Tsk.. this admissions process is something else. The more I hear from people going through it, the less I understand it. I applied to the PhD program at my current school and was not offered an admission. Since I am a current student they offered to discuss the decision with me, and I think that I am going to take them up on their offer. I'm curious to know if it was more an issue of qualifications or an issue of fit. Prior to this whole process, I never gave the notion of "fit" much credit. But I am beginning to see how heavily that weighs into the process.

I am looking to do research. I don't have a lot of clinical therapetuic training through my MSW.. I followed more of a research/policy track. I'm really interested in learning more about the social determinants of health - what ecological functions impact the health decisions and health behaviors of certain populations. I really like the idea of exploring social capital and health behaviors, but I haven't really thought it through fully.

Education is a very interesting area of study. I've taken one or two classes on urban education and found them very interesting. I've also done some research in high schools. Lots of work to be done in this area!

What do you hope to do?

[Guest SHELLY]

i definitely want to do research and teaching. hopefully i'll be a professor one day...within the next decade

[Guest guest]

I have been checking this site for weeks and have just now discovered your post about social work programs, thank goodness. I have applied to PhD programs in social work and have been going crazy with this process! Have you found out anymore about your schools or have you accepted the offer at UIC?

[basille]

Hey

I received two offers and a waitlist and two rejections. But I have accepted the UIC offer because it was such an excellent fit for my interests and for the work that I hope to do.

How about you?

[Guest guest]

I received one acceptance (UNC), one waitlist (University of Washington) and two rejections (UMich and WashU). I also received a fellowship at UNC. I am ready to know where I am going, but I really want to wait for U of Wash. It's making me crazy waiting!

Do you know if anyone else has accepted an offer from UNC?

[basille]

I was rejected from UMich and WUSTL, too. That's funny, but not really. Actually, so was my friend, who is currently taking MSW classes with me. I don't know of anyone in my personal circles that applied to UNC or University of Washington. My husband wanted me to apply for schools on the west coast, but the school didn't have strong faculty representation in what I hoped to do. But I would have really loved Seattle, I think. My fingers are crossed for you!!

What do you hope to focus your studies on?

[Guest traci]

I was rejected from UMich and WUSTL, too. That's funny, but not really. Actually, so was my friend, who is currently taking MSW classes with me. I don't know of anyone in my personal circles that applied to UNC or University of Washington. My husband wanted me to apply for schools on the west coast, but the school didn't have strong faculty representation in what I hoped to do. But I would have really loved Seattle, I think. My fingers are crossed for you!!

What do you hope to focus your studies on?

[basille]

hi, basille--I am interested in risk and resiliency of youth, youth violence, adolescent development and lgbt issues. How about you? I wish more social work people were part of this site. it has been a great support for me through this process. it would also be nice to learn about others' process and plans. So, thanks for starting it!

Sweet. I am doing some excellent work now with youth and issues of violence. I've been enjoying it. Plus, I have a long history of lgbt work - good to see people wanting to do more with this. I am hoping to integrate it into my work as well.

I am interested in working with active drug users. I am also interested in exploring the "harm reduction" model as a social work model for working with active drug users. Plus I am fascinated with health care issues. And marginalized/stigmatized populations. I'm not 100% sure how I am going to tie it all together yet, though I like the idea of doing health disparities research, but focusing on more marginalized populations - homeless people, incarcerated people, active drug users.