A Graduate School Reference Letter from Your Therapist?

Dr. Tara Kuther, of About.Com's Graduate School site, recently addressed the question of whether or not to ask one's therapist for a reference letter for graduate school.

She said, in part:

A letter from a therapist is not a good idea. It will not help your application. Recommendation letters speak to the student's academic competence. Helpful letters are written by professionals who have worked with you in an academic capacity.

Read her full response here.

I am wondering...what do you think?  Is the answer to this question different for those applying to graduate school in the helping professions, or should it be?  What ethical issues might arise for the therapist who is asked by a client to write a graduate school reference letter?

Choosing the Right Social Work Graduate School for You!

Do you have questions about choosing the right social work graduate school?  Chances are, you do!  Your questions might include the following:

• Does the school have the right accreditation?
• What concentrations does the school offer?
• How long does it take to complete the degree?
• How much does it cost?
• When should I apply?

THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine published an article on these and other questions you may have.  The article was published several years ago and is still just as relevant today!

Read it HERE!

Tell us what other questions you have that are not addressed in the article, or tell us about your experience in getting your questions answered.

Models of Macro Social Work Education

by Jesús Reyes (excerpt from The Social Work Graduate School Applicant's Handbook)

    The approaches to macro social work education vary a great deal. They are often as unique as are the faculties of the various institutions. There are those programs that view social policy strictly from the perspective of social workers. In those programs, faculty are, for the most part, trained in social work. Other schools, however, have multiple disciplinary perspectives present on their faculties. Such schools are just as likely to have faculty trained in economics, public policy, public health, and law as they are to have faculty trained in social work.

    The policy course offerings will be a good reflection of the faculty’s training and interests. If you have particular interests in specific policy areas such as international social work policy, healthcare policy, immigration policy, or Latin American affairs, to name a few, a thorough review of the course offerings and faculty publications would serve you well.

    Another important area of exploration is, interestingly enough, the offerings of other graduate and professional schools that are also part of the host university of the social work program. If the university has programs in public policy, law, international studies, business, or other areas of your interest, there may be the opportunity to round out your education outside of the social work program. Of course, you need to find out how available classes outside of the school in other areas of the university will be to you and whether they will count as credits toward your degree. If the given university does not have programs in the particular areas of your interest, find out if cooperative arrangements exist with neighboring institutions. If this is the case, you definitely want to explore implications to cost, financial aid, and the total number of courses required for graduation.

    Examples of macro concentrations you are likely to come across in your search for a program are:

    •    Social and Economic Development
    •    Community Organization
    •    Management and Planning
    •    Fund Raising
    •    Research and Evaluation
    •    Social Welfare Administration
    •    Social Policy and Planning

Order THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT'S HANDBOOK here.

Have you considered a graduate school fair?

Idealist.org is presenting several grad school fairs this Fall. Recruiters from a variety of schools, including schools of social work, will be available at these fairs to provide information to prospective students. The upcoming fairs  will be in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Houston, New Orleans, and Miami. You can get details at http://www.idealist.org/info/GradFairs.

If you have attended one of these fairs in the past, please comment and let us know about your experience!

Tips on Making Your Social Work Grad School Application Stand Out

Robin R. Wingo, MSW, LISW

Applying for graduate school is a big step! Whether you are just graduating with your bachelor’s in social work or you have been out for a few years, preparing that application takes time, energy, and careful consideration. Your grades are only one indicator of readiness for graduate study. It is highly likely that you will be asked to write a professional statement or essay along with completing a standardized application form.  Although some admissions committees conduct personal admissions interviews, your first representation will be in writing, and your readiness will be evaluated on how you present yourself, your experiences, and your professional aspirations.
    Every graduate school’s application process is different. Some are fully online and others use hardcopy, but they are all looking for the same thing—students who can clearly and thoughtfully make a case for how they are the best fit for acceptance into that particular graduate program.
    As that applicant, you want to be successful, but making the most of the application process is a relatively unexamined process. Each program will provide forms and directions as part of the application, but little direction is provided regarding what works to meet the expectations.

A new article in THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER magazine gives 14 tips for putting your best application forward.  Read it here:

Your Social Work Graduate School Application: 14 Tips to Help You Get an Acceptance Letter

Social Work Graduate School: Selecting Your Area of Concentration

by Jesús Reyes (excerpt from The Social Work Graduate School Applicant's Handbook)

An important question to ask of schools is at what point in the program will you be required to declare your selection of area of concentration (i.e., clinical with an emphasis on children and family treatment, or administrative with an emphasis on community organization).

    The selection of an area of concentration is important because it will determine the emphasis of your graduate education. It should be noted, however, that it will not necessarily limit your job opportunities beyond graduation. As mentioned earlier in this book, all schools have a common core of foundation courses as required by the Council on Social Work Education or CASSW-ACESS. Therefore, all MSW holders, regardless of their school of graduation, have a core set of social work skills. The concentration adds a specialty to that core. For example, I was a clinical concentration student, yet I have held policy and administration positions, as well as clinical ones.

    Some schools do not expect students to declare a concentration until shortly before completing the program’s general requirements. The strength of that approach is that students are better prepared at that point than at the start of the program to make an informed selection. By that point, the general requirements will have given students a good background and foundation in both the clinical and administrative/policy aspects of social welfare.

    Other schools, on the other hand, require students to declare their concentration as early as the time of making application for admission. Inquire of those schools if it would be difficult for you to alter your selection if you should change your mind as a result of what you learn from the general requirement courses.

    Whether a school asks you to declare your concentration in the application for admission or not, it should not be difficult to change your selection if you do it before your concentration phase begins or even soon after beginning work on your concentration. Most schools either ask explicitly in the application what your intended area of concentration will be or infer it from your biographical statement. The reason the information is important to the school during the application phase is that it allows the school to balance the numbers of students who expect to be in the various concentrations the school offers.

Order THE SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE SCHOOL APPLICANT'S HANDBOOK here. 

Have you researched the schools of social work you are considering?

I read an article the other day on the U.S. News education site that says that the biggest mistake prospective graduate students make is not researching schools thoroughly enough before making a decision. According to Don Martin, the article's writer, people too often decide on a graduate school for reasons such as:

• my parents went there
• it's a top ranked school
• someone said it was a good place to go

And then, sometimes, they are disappointed when the school  isn't everything they had hoped for.

I have seen online discussions on Facebook and other places that go something like this:

• Student 1:  I hate my school.  I go to _____ U. and it is the worst school ever.
• Student 2:  Oh, thanks for posting that, because I was thinking of going there myself.

And conversely:

• Student 1:  I LOVVVVVE University of ______.  If you are thinking of going there, GO! It's the greatest.
• Student 2:  I'm applying there right now!!! Can't wait!

Problem is, one student's dream school may not meet another's needs at all.  And one person's nightmare might be another's dream.

Jesus Reyes, a former school of social work director of admissions and author of The Social Work Graduate School Applicant's Handbook, suggests that prospective social work students visit their prospective schools, talk with current faculty and staff, and contact current and former students, as well. Prior to the visit, you need to have done some self-reflection to determine what you want to get out of grad school, what you are looking for, and what your career goals are.  Then make a list of questions that relate to what is important to you in a school of social work.

In the book, Reyes provides an extensive checklist for the school visit, Making Your Visit Count: Questions to Ask and Things to Look For. This checklist serves as a starting point for you to develop your own questions about what the school of social work offers academically, socially, and otherwise.  What areas of specialization are offered?  Are there opportunities to work directly with the well-known professor that you so admire? How are field placements set up?  Is there a student association?  How good is the library?  (Don't just ask...visit the library yourself and take a look around.)  Is the campus safe at night? These are some examples of questions you might ask.

Going to grad school to become a social worker is a big decision and a big commitment. It's worthwhile to take the time to dig a little deeper, check things out for yourself, and find the one that is the best fit for YOU!