Can One Gain Admission To An MSW With...

[TMS@1987]

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A bachelors in English? Recently I have fallen prey to another one of those "Am I one the right path?" moments and have begun to question my career in psychology.

The career I am now considering would be that of an English/Literature professor (I know the job market sucks, but literature and writing have always been a very big passion of mine). So, what I would like to know is: Can one gain admission to an MSW program with a BA in English, or to an English Literature PhD program with a BA in psychology?

 

[Maroon]

Probably, but the adcoms are going to wonder why you have such a different major than the graduate program you'll be applying to. It's not a big deal IMO...students apply to med school with drastically different majors than the traditional Biology subject. If you have ECs to back up the field you want to go into, it can only help your application.

 

[TMS@1987]

Probably, but the adcoms are going to wonder why you have such a different major than the graduate program you'll be applying to. It's not a big deal IMO...students apply to med school with drastically different majors than the traditional Biology subject. If you have ECs to back up the field you want to go into, it can only help your application.

Sorry, I'm not good with abbreviations: whats IMO and EC?

 

[pingouin]

IMO= in my opinion
EC= extra curricular activities

Don't worry about the English major, it'd be fine. In the BSSW programs, there are mandatory English courses. Besides, we need SWs with good language skills, both written and oral. Plus there's a fair amount of critical thinking in the literature courses. When I took my mandatory Bus and Prof Writing course, I kvetched the entire semester. Then when I got to TRW (The Real World) and had to start writing letters to physicians, case summaries, affidavits, and all the various other things I've had to do... boy was I glad they made me do it.

Have some good people-oriented activities or jobs and you should be set. I'd venture a guess that more admissions offices would be intrigued by an English major than opposed to it. MSW programs are filled with people who decided to pursue it after a different career- I've known accountants, computer programmers, and even nurses who went back for a MSW. Do what you like.