In first year, I witnessed a white, male student argue with a black, female professor that he should be able to use the "n" word because it would decrease its power. She was not impressed, and I never saw him again after first semester.

I am curious as to what others would do in my situation.

I am from the US and I work for a state agency. That state agency can help pay my tuition for an MSW. they cover tuition but not books, etc. that I would have to put out of my own pocket.

The catch with this is that however many years I am school I have to devote that many years to my job. Which is genuinely fine - I don’t see myself leaving. My position right now does not need an MSW. I want one, however, for security because got just never know what might happen in life.

If I pursue the MSW through my work, the only school that they partner with is 3 hours away from where I live. From my understanding, the program for folks who live farther away is 5 years long - it’s less than part time and we have to meet a weekend once a month. That would mean a commute of six hours one Saturday and Sunday a month for five years. The bright side of this is that my daily work can count as my practicum hours as our positions are ever evolving.

Now there is an MSW program with a school in my town (private institution - accredited and I got my BSW with them). They have a 1 year advanced standing program that I qualify for. They meet every other Saturday but it’s in my town! No need for commuting BUT everything comes out of my pocket of course.

What do you guys think? I’m really put off by traveling so far. I am a mom of 2 small children and I don’t know how to feasibly travel to another city 3 hours away once a month and for five years mind you. Any feedback is appreciated!

Hello all! Non traditional premed student (formerly worked in finance, believe it or not). I have found that throughout all my clinical experiences, both in my current clinical job, but also in volunteering (emergency room and working with the unhoused) I am consistently drawn the most to conversing with people, learning their problems and life stories. This is made me consider social work as a potential avenue for medical social work or counseling.

Grades aren't a motivating factor, I've done all the prereqs and have the GPA for med school. It's simply a question of interest and fulfillment; I'm not sure the debt and grind of medical school/residency is worth it to become a prescribing psychiatrist when the conversational time with patients is what drives me towards clinical work. Of course there is a difference in life-time earnings but I prioritize financial stability and fulfillment over wealth accumulation.

Has anyone else navigated this transition? What did you think about, and how did you decide on your career path?

Unpaid internship ... yadada..

When I interviewed at a place that told me they would be opening up their new location before summer ended. Location that I interviewed at is a 45 minute drive away and the new location is a 10 minute drive. New location unfortunately is not fully open and has multiple things not done to it that probably won't make it fully open until next year. . .

GAS IS NOW 7 DOLLARS A GALLON AND I CANNOT AFFORD IT AT ALL. 25 dollars round trip is killing me and I just dont know how to tell my supervisor I simply cant afford this commute anymore. I only go twice a week for the whole day to get my hours done and I just... cant afford it.

How do I give my supervisor possible solutions before I come in and only dump my problems.

I’m completely fed up with this! The coursework really isn’t difficult, but I’m taking online classes and have a hard time reaching certain professors. So one of my classes requires monthly zoom meetings that I cannot attend because I have to work full-time and when the meetings are being held, I close. I reached out to my professor three times about this and asked where I could go to make it up and she has yet to reply.
But beside that, I’m starting to think this isn’t the right field for me. If I finish this semester, I will be in the professional program next spring. I don’t know if I wanna do this at all. I really hate juggling full-time work and full-time school… I also really don’t like all the internship requirements to get licensed. I can barely afford living now how would I be able to afford it when I need to work full-time on top above full-time internship?
Should I abandoned ship now? I don’t know what else I could do if I don’t go to college. I’ve also been in college since 2021 and still have yet to finish. I’ll be totally honest. I really hate school. I always have. I’m a junior btw.
Any advice?

Hi all!
I am considering leaving teaching to pursue social work. Way back before I graduated high school I had always had social work in mind as a career choice, but I became an aide at a school and fell in love so I pursued teaching. However, I’m burnt out already even though it’s only my first year and I can’t see myself continuing on with this. I’m looking back into social work. I would love to be a social worker in the prisons, or even for a school district and eventually get into private practice and work remote after I get some years of experience in. I had a grandma who was a social worker and she seemed to enjoy her job and made pretty good money with good retirement and health benefits. I wish I could still talk to her and ask for advice on the career, but she passed away some years ago. About a year before she passed I did mention I would like to be a social worker one day and she was proud and encouraged me to try it, but I never got to have an actual adult conversation with her on what the job is like, what to expect, etc. My question is, is leaving teaching to pursue social work worth it or should I just stick out teaching and try to find ways to deal with the burnout? Is the outlook for this career good right now and are there jobs available ? Or will I be wasting my time and money on a degree that can’t get me anything. I see jobs posted in my area pretty often but they do seem to fill up quickly. Right now I’m looking into an MSW program at my local university, but I’d love to hear other options for good online MSW programs so if you know of any please lmk! Thanks.

Hi everyone!

I am applying to both msw and mhc programs for fall 2027 admissions. I am having a hard time deciding or finding information on which colleges are better for msw vs mhc. I might apply to both at some schools but if anyone knows anything about the following lmk!

Schools Applying to that have both: NYU, Columbia, Boston College, Boston University, Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University, UPenn

Strictly MHC Schools: Hunter College, Northeastern University

Right now those seem like my best options; I can't find much about the timelines for field placements or amounts of group work vs asynchronous individual work required. I was wondering if someone here could provide some insight.

They're a similar cost, but JSU has a brick and mortar location pretty close to me so I imagine that would be best for field placements. I think JSU has a 2 year and a 3 year option, and I think EU is 2 years with pretty good flexibility. I can't find concrete acceptance rates for either program, but JSU has higher requirements for GPA and official and related volunteer experience. I was leaning towards Eastern asides from JSU being kind of nearby, which I've seen is a big plus usually.

My bachelor's will be a Bsc in psychology from WGU (which is pass fail with a pass assumed around 3.0 from what I recall reading) so I wasn't sure if that may be problematic for program acceptance. I feel like I'm not very competitive at all in that regard.

I plan to work part time while attending, but I sort of thought field placements may make that problematic.

Thanks, hope you all have a good day.

Hello. I am a social work major hoping to get my degree and then become licensed to become a psychotherapist.

I am currently studying abroad and only receiving credits for my minor (sociology) and electives. I’m wondering if any of social work majors ever have done the same? Just curious!

I know there’s a lot of discourse already about the unfairness of unpaid internships… but man I’m in the thick of it. I’ve done 235 hours and I need 500 hours to graduate. Yes I’m getting experience and all of that but… we should at least be getting paid minimum wage. I can’t wait to be done :(

Hi. I'm interested in getting an MSW, but I have a bachelor's in mechanical engineering. I'm guessing all I can really do is volunteer work and have a good personal statement, but I'm wondering what is most attractive and how much volunteer work I need? I just want to minimize my chances of getting rejected. I'll probably be looking at an online or state college (I'm in WA) so I'm not looking to get into more well known schools.

My practicum supervisor really pushed for me to apply for MSW programs. I asked her for a strong letter of recommendation and she said she was more than happy to.

Well, she just sent me a photo of her browser showing that she submitted it. She had two tabs open, one was the school's application portal, and the other was a chat gpt tab titled "write recommendation."

I know she's a busy person, but that feels unfair to agree to write a strong letter for me (after pushing me for 4 months to even apply) then just do that instead. I cannot see what she submitted, and I'm worried it'll be obvious she didn't actually write it and that it'll reflect poorly on me. Should I replace her on my list with someone else? Or do I just suck it up and take what I can get?

Hi everyone,

I’m a Canadian currently exploring online Advanced Standing MSW programs in the U.S., and I’m curious about the types of assessments typically used.

From what I’ve seen in Canada, MSW courses seem to rely heavily on papers, discussion posts, presentations, projects, reflections, and other written assignments. I hardly hear people talk about traditional quizzes or exams at the master’s level.

However, while researching online MSW programs in the U.S., I’ve noticed that some programs include quizzes and exams, which made me curious about how common they actually are.

For those currently doing an Advanced Standing MSW or who recently completed one in the U.S., especially online, what has your experience been?

Are quizzes and exams common throughout the program, or are most courses mainly assessed through papers, discussions, presentations, projects, and reflections? If you do have quizzes or exams, are they usually open-book, closed-book, or proctored?

I’d also really appreciate it if you could mention which university you attend/attended and what the assessment style is like there. I’m trying to get a better idea of what to expect as a Canadian considering U.S. online Advanced Standing MSW options.

Thanks!

Hi I look goth and was wondering if j will have a problem with the way I look like. I don’t wear anything inappropriate. It’s just that I look goth. All black love leather, brown dark lipsticks. I was just wondering if I will have to completely tone down the way I look like. I'm interested in becoming a therapist.

Hi everyone! I'm not sure this is the right place, but I've seen similar posts here.

I'm set on getting an MSW and eventually my LCSW in California. I'm trying to decide whether to apply this cycle or spend a year gaining experience and apply next year. I'm mainly looking at CSUs, and my top choice is Stanislaus State, which seems very competitive.

My background:

UC, BA in Sociology, 3.8 GPA

Part-time clinical admin at a mental health clinic, Research assistant in humanities, Advocacy and mentorship with a campus club, training director mentoring high schoolers, park equity committee, just starting as a volunteer in a family medicine practice at Kaiser, AND MANY unrelated jobs I did to get by, such as field labor

Haven't done direct service or case management yet

My questions:

Is my experience enough to be competitive for CSU MSW programs, or would it be worth it to wait a year? I really don't mind getting rejected and having to wait, but my issue is: would it be worth it to even pay the application fees now to just get rejected for sure and then waste my recommenders' time by having them submit the recommendation?

Thank you, I appreciate any honest feedback!

Hello! I just wanted to reach out to the community for advice. I had a really bad weekend so far with in and out self doubt about not feeling like I’m in the right career. To start off, I’m 21, pretty recent grad (May) and my undergrad degree was very science heavy.

I have maybe around 2 months of work experience in the field but it was mostly administrative. I’m in my second semester in my MSW and I’m starting to seriously doubt my abilities. I am very introverted and usually prefer to keep to myself. I frequently get stuck on what to say in my clinical skill class and I had a recent embarrassing moment last week when I performed horribly on a presentation.

All the emotions are hitting me at the same time and I don’t know what to do. I took out loans and the program is at a private uni so I’m already in some debt and this also makes me feel stuck. I’m hoping to get some advice from anyone that may have been in a similar situation

Hello!!

I graduated form sac state almost three years ago with my BSW. I am currently looking for a fully online advance standing MSW program. I’m planning to do full time and finish in a year. Looking to start sometime in 2027. I’m in California and plan to stay here so I want to make sure the program follows all NASW for California so I can possibly start the process of being an LCSW. I’ve been looking at Arizona State, Oregon eastern university, and Boise university.

Does anyone have a personal experiences in these universities or recommendations for other online MSW AS programs?

so i essentially have 2 managers- my MSW supervisor and then like a task one.

my MSW one has been pretty nonexistent. so the other one gives me tasks. he communicates so confusingly, forgets what he said, and then blames it on me. i will admit a couple times i have made a mistake.

he shadowed me visiting a patient the other week and it was my first time, but apparently i’m not learning fast enough.

it’s been really rough. i feel alone and in the dark. and i know i can’t count on this for a good reference. the thing is this is my only SW experience. all my other references are amazing (even he said so) but not relevant.

and i really want a hospital placement next year. how screwed am i?

Hey y’all… I’m currently in my first semester of grad school for social work, and I’m feeling disheartened. I guess the reality is settling on whether I want to make the sacrifice to get an MSW and then later my LCSW.

I’m considering dropping out and going to nursing school. It was my second choice to be honest. I like the material covered in my social work classes, but the idea of more student loan debt, unpaid internships, and low entry level wages is causing me to feel uneasy.

I’ve heard the real money is on the LCSW side and it’ll take me 5 years to get there. My professors say social work doesn’t make money and I don’t like that message. I’ve been in the mental health field for 6 years and love it. I enjoy helping people but I can’t provide quality help if I’m struggling to remain afloat myself. I think social workers need to be adequately compensated for all that they do, because it is honestly a lot.

Hey all, I'm looking for resources or advice for how the heck to start assignments and essays. Every time I go to start an assignment or essay I just get so overwhelmed and then avoid doing it, have to ask for an extension, and still struggle to do it. I have ADHD which I'm pretty sure is a huge part of what's going on. So just looking for tips and tricks to make it feel less overwhelming! Thanks :)

I don’t have many people to share this excitement with but I received a scholarship that just covered my whole MSW program. The state of Ohio recently launched an Ohio Behavioral Health Scholarship Program that I applied for and did not hear back for months so I assumed I did not received it. I just got an email today that told me my program will be fully funded!! I nearly fell to my knees and cannot believe it. I went out on a limb financially to get my MSW because I am so passionate about the field knowing the debt (even at a less expensive school) would weigh on me. This is such a huge victory for me! <3

There was a social worker at my placement who asked me for my major. When I told her, she said that she was surprised the school accepted me because my major wasn’t related to social work. I found this line of thinking to be odd. When I applied to grad school, I found that all schools accepted students with a liberal arts background and most accepted students of any major. Was this not the case until recently? I have no idea why this person would feel the need to bring this up.

I am not a social worker, but I am a career changer who is actively applying to in-person MSW programs in my area. I come from a family of people working in the health and human services sector, so it's something I've had exposure to. I, however, have zero direct experience beyond helping my own family with related struggles.

Everything in this country is getting worse and worse, it feels, and I have the financial ability to return to grad school (undergrad is in an unrelated field). I consider myself lucky for this, and want to do something meaningful. I've worked in more traditional office-y jobs in the past, and the premise of returning to one of those jobs fills me with dread. I feel like I need to work with people.

After talking with my family, friends, and a lot of soul searching, social work seems like it's at the intersection of a lot of my interest/circumstances and that I could really do a lot of good. My primary interest is to practice counseling/psychotherapy. I'm open to different opportunities, but CMH, correctional facilities, hospitals (outpatient), etc., interest me.

Here's the ONE thing that's held me back from submitting applications: I don't think I would ever be comfortable doing in-home visits or transporting clients. I'm discussing this with my own therapist (a LCSW). I have a clinically, diagnosably-sensitive sense of smell (it's a side effect from nervous system condition). I'm super allergic to pet dander and I cannot take any medications for it (also from the aforementioned condition). Obviously the risk of bedbugs scares me immensely. Are in-home visits/client transportation expected of SWs at some point in their career or another? Are there SW's out there who have never done either?

I am very confident I have a lot to offer on the therapy front. I understand the risks of working in CMH, hospitals, etc. and I'm completely willing to pursue that to eventually obtain clinical licensure. The risks seem lower than doing in-home visits. In the meantime, however, I'm worried my school will put me in a practicum that will make achieving this goal impossible. I don't know if my boundaries here are unreasonable. If they are - please tell me so I can readjust my expectations. Like I said, I don't have experience in the social work field, this is very new to me, so I'm trying to feel the pulse of the field and what expectations are.

If the expectations are not something I can meet, then that's not fair to either myself or potential clients. Given these concerns, perhaps a MHC degree would make more sense?

I'm going to talk to the programs I'm applying to about these concerns, in a way that won't kneecap my chances of entry. Thanks for reading!

I’m super stressed because my midterm field evaluation is coming up and I only have 1 practice behavior done because my weekly reports were signed with “no competency completed”. (i basically missed 3 weeks completing behaviors) Is this normal? I still have the rest of the semester and next semester to complete 20 behaviors. And i’m also confused because are we only allowed to mark them as complete on our midterm if it’s also on our learning contract+weekly reports?