Question about getting into an MSW program

[BeanBrown]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am planning on returning to school in the fall of 2012 for my MSW. I have a ton of volunteer and internship experience, 3.1 GPA, as well as a year of AmeriCorp under my belt, where I worked with newly resettled refugees. I graduated last year with a BA in Psych and a minor in Social Service Administration. I currently have about $20k in student loan debt, which I'd like to pay off before starting a graduate program. I have been looking for an entry level job in social services in the NYC/NJ area since June and I haven't had much luck. Recently, a family friend wanted to know if I wanted to nanny for her full time. If I took the job, I could pay off my student loans in one year. It's very good money. My question is, will that hurt my chances of getting into an MSW program? I know its not related at all, which is what worries me. I'm looking to get into a program on a clinical track. Thanks!

 

[wigflip]

I am planning on returning to school in the fall of 2012 for my MSW. I have a ton of volunteer and internship experience, 3.1 GPA, as well as a year of AmeriCorp under my belt, where I worked with newly resettled refugees. I graduated last year with a BA in Psych and a minor in Social Service Administration. I currently have about $20k in student loan debt, which I'd like to pay off before starting a graduate program. I have been looking for an entry level job in social services in the NYC/NJ area since June and I haven't had much luck. Recently, a family friend wanted to know if I wanted to nanny for her full time. If I took the job, I could pay off my student loans in one year. It's very good money. My question is, will that hurt my chances of getting into an MSW program? I know its not related at all, which is what worries me. I'm looking to get into a program on a clinical track. Thanks!

I can't imagine that the nanny job would hurt your chances. Your GPA could be higher, but I think it's probably fine for most MSW programs, and you can craft a personal statement that draws together your volunteer and internship experiences and relates them to your nanny work. Smart too to pay off your undergrad loans before accumulating more debt, though I'd caution you about spending a ton on an MSW if you can go to a cheaper public school. Good luck!

You know, and I'm probably going to get nailed by someone for this, but you can also lie. Several of my undergrad mentors advised me to lie about a number of things when I was applying to grad school. The idea horrified me. Now I know many folks do it and it's not the end of the world. It's not like you'd be concealing your past as serial killer--but you could say that the kid has a special disability or other issue that resonates for social workers. I was in an MSW program for a semester and generally speaking, they treated us like cattle. The idea that they would check on those kind of details (employment) was laughable with 200+ admits and probably at least twice as many total applicants.

 

[paramour]

I can't imagine that the nanny job would hurt your chances. Your GPA could be higher, but I think it's probably fine for most MSW programs, and you can craft a personal statement that draws together your volunteer and internship experiences and relates them to your nanny work. Smart too to pay off your undergrad loans before accumulating more debt, though I'd caution you about spending a ton on an MSW if you can go to a cheaper public school. Good luck!

You know, and I'm probably going to get nailed by someone for this, but you can also lie. Several of my undergrad mentors advised me to lie about a number of things when I was applying to grad school. The idea horrified me. Now I know many folks do it and it's not the end of the world. It's not like you'd be concealing your past as serial killer--but you could say that the kid has a special disability or other issue that resonates for social workers. I was in an MSW program for a semester and generally speaking, they treated us like cattle. The idea that they would check on those kind of details (employment) was laughable with 200+ admits and probably at least twice as many total applicants.

Ding, ding, ding! 👍

However, I'm not going to nail you necessarily--because I ran into umpteen million of these types of frakkin applicants during interviews. They pad their CVs; they exaggerate what minimal accomplishments they may have managed to acquire; and they downright lie. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone advised them to do it; they simply chose to because they're full of themselves and think that highly of themselves or do not see anything wrong with such behavior.

Prior to my applications, I thought that I was a fairly okay applicant . . . until I ran into these paragons of wonder. These folks were a decade younger than me, and I honestly had no idea how they managed to obtain such experience with everything they were claiming. I really must have come from a backwards school. It was starting to get intimidating. After making the rounds, after getting to know these folks, I finally came to recognize that the majority of them are full of ****. They have accomplished zilch, but rather than admit it, they might as well profess to curing cancer or being the next Mother Theresa. It quite frankly disgusts me.

^^ Granted, I applied to primarily clinical psych (and a few counseling) programs, so perhaps more neurotic, deceitful, cut-throat folks apply to this area. 😛

 

[wigflip]

Ding, ding, ding! 👍

However, I'm not going to nail you necessarily--because I ran into umpteen million of these types of frakkin applicants during interviews. They pad their CVs; they exaggerate what minimal accomplishments they may have managed to acquire; and they downright lie. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone advised them to do it; they simply chose to because they're full of themselves and think that highly of themselves or do not see anything wrong with such behavior.

Prior to my applications, I thought that I was a fairly okay applicant . . . until I ran into these paragons of wonder. These folks were a decade younger than me, and I honestly had no idea how they managed to obtain such experience with everything they were claiming. I really must have come from a backwards school. It was starting to get intimidating. After making the rounds, after getting to know these folks, I finally came to recognize that the majority of them are full of ****. They have accomplished zilch, but rather than admit it, they might as well profess to curing cancer or being the next Mother Theresa. It quite frankly disgusts me.

^^ Granted, I applied to primarily clinical psych (and a few counseling) programs, so perhaps more neurotic, deceitful, cut-throat folks apply to this area. 😛

That's not even what I had in mind when I suggested lying, but wow! Mostly my mentors suggested I lie about things like my living arrangements, distort my research interests, conceal my interest in doing clinical work, omit my MSW transcripts from apps (I left after a semester), maybe fib about my age.

I'm just curious--how did your fellow applicants' wondrous accomplishments come out? Did they sit there in the waiting room boasting about their 10 peer reviewed articles, waving their padded CVs in the air or...?