Cal State Universities for MSW

[blest]

Hello, I'm new to this site and have a question regarding Cal States and the MSW programs. I am thinking about applying to a few Cal States for a MSW and I wanted to know if anyone has any information or experience from attending a MSW program at a Cal State. I am currently looking into CSUEB, CSULB, CSULA, and CSUDH, however information/experiences from any Cal State is fine. I basically would like to know about the programs and one's expereince with the program. I think I have a somewhat good chance of being accepted, I have a 3.4 GPA, Double Major: Psychology and Sociology, the GRE is not required...

Thank you for ur time

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[Aggieanthony]

Hey there!

One thing I noticed about MSW programs at the Cal State Universities is that they really emphasize the role of "work experience" in the application materials to the program, and this is particularly true of the program in Sacramento. Instead of preferring academic LoRs, they prefer "work" LoRs, and will accept letters from supervisors as well as professors.

This means that a strong GPA alone actually is not as strong for admission as it would be in a traditional graduate program. You would be well served to get some volunteer hours (if you haven't yet) and also visit some sites for social work and see if you'd really be interested in an MSW and its pursuant licensure, the LCSW.

Why an MSW over a Master's in counseling (Feeder degree for the MFT licensure in California)?

 

[kucing11]

Hey there,

I know that CSULA does require the GRE. Don't know about other CSU's...

 

[Aggieanthony]

Hey there,

I know that CSULA does require the GRE. Don't know about other CSU's...

CSU Sacramento also does not. I believe it would be a warranted assumption to agree that none of the CSUs do.

To be honest, the GRE(either general or subject) would truly be overkill for either an MFT or MSW program. Not to besmirch the MSW by this statement whatsoever, but as the program is based more on real-life experience and often attracts students who already work in the field (e.g., in CPS, CalWORKS, independent counseling centers) and who may be years removed from undergraduate education and thus, a GRE would be inappropriate.

 

[xenobart]

No, none of the Cal State MSW programs require the GREs. The only MSW schools I know of in California that require them are UC Berkeley and UCLA. The programs, from my experience, are more hands-on and practice oriented than the UCs, which is nice if you want to be a clinician and not a researcher. The incoming classes are also smaller than the UC and USC MSW programs. One minus to these programs vs. those three is that they don't offer the same number of concentrations are have a more generalist curriculum, which may or may not be your cup of tea.

I would agree that the Cal States have different criteria than the UCs and USC. Like aggieanthony said they worry less about your grades (as long as you have an acceptable GPA) and more about the experience and diversity you bring to the program. Some of them are very competitive, with San Francisco State and Cal State Long Beach being the hardest to get into from what I could tell. SF State actually has a lower acceptance rate than UC Berkeley because more people apply and the incoming class is smaller!

Good luck, and remember it doesn't really matter where you get your MSW, as long as you're good at what you do.

 

[blest]

Hello,
I want to thank all of you for your post and the information you provided. All of the post were helpful. xenobart i agree with u about how it doesn't really matter where you get your MSW, as long as you are good at what you do!

 

[psychometric]

Hey there,

I know that CSULA does require the GRE. Don't know about other CSU's...

Only if your GPA is below a certain cut-off !