How hard is getting an MSW?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My fiancee will be going back to school to get a Master’s degree in Social Work. She had been working for 4 years as a Social Worker up until this point, and has a lot of relevant experience in her field. She hopes to get her MSW (and also an Licensed Clinical[certified? can’t remember what the C stands for] Social Worker) so that she can work for the local County. She is feeling anxiety about it because the timing will be pretty crazy (getting married, moving) but first and foremost worried about the workload/coursework.

In her program she has a 24 hour/week internship along with classes. She has a grant but is stressing because she has to maintain a certain gpa to keep the checks coming in. All the people I’ve known who have gone to grad school completed school successfully, most got scholarships/grants to pay for it, juggled work, etc. My fiancee has a very strong worth ethic and she’s the smartest person I know.

I had always believed the concept that Grad school was ‘fun’ because you got to take courses specific to your area of study/career, and work toward spearheading new research in the topic. But fiancee associates it with her undergrad experience, with lots of classwork, papers, all-nighters, etc. I had always believed grad school wasn’t the same kind of experience/workload that undergrad was, and am trying to put my nervous fiancee at ease that she will not only pass, but excel because of her motivation, experience, and work ethic.

Has anyone pursued this major, or something similar? how was your experience?

2

Any graduate program I’ve ever heard anything about is going to be several orders of magnitude harder than an undergraduate degree. The expectations are much higher, the competition is tougher–everybody in grad school was probably in the top third or so of their undergrad program.

That said, it is doable. It takes commitment, discipline, and more work than you can even begin to anticipate. Raw brain power is less important than the will power to stick it out even when it sucks…and there will be times when it sucks like Monica Lewinsky hoping for another internship. There will also be times when it rocks the house like Led Zeppelin.

3

Did you wife make sure this is going to be able to land her a job with the county. I ask, 'cause I have known MSW and they are in Chicago and/or Cook County, IL and they say the competition even with the degree and license is so fierce a degree no means guarantees work.

I was thinking if the extra money and stress burden will be worth it? I’m not saying it won’t be, but just asking to make sure she thoroughly checked it out.

4

Hi, there. I just graduated with my MSW less than one month ago.

I too, had a 24 hour weekly internship, and since that is actually an unusually high and distinctive number of internship hours, I’m wondering if she was accepted to Penn.

I think the basic answer is that it depends on the program and the school. I went for a particularly rigorous program. It is incredibly stressful and feels like running a marathon. In our Dean’s orientation speech, he said, ‘‘When you arrive next week, we are going to ask you to run as hard and fast as you can. And the next week, we’re going to ask you to run even harder. Just remember you wouldn’t be here if we didn’t know you would succeed.’’ He scared the pants off of us, but boy was he ever right. I’ve done my share of hard work, but grad school is the hardest I have ever had to work for something I wanted. I think I aged ten years in two.

I went to University of Michigan for undergrad and the level of coursework I had getting my B.A. can’t even compare with the M.S.W. at Penn. I spent about 60 hours a week, on average, between classes, homework and internship. We were expected to read about 600 pages of text every week. I had an average of one paper due every week, and a number of presentations and projects.

Something else that sucks very specifically to social work. Think of the most depressing and infuriating social issue you can imagine. Now imagine for 60 hours a week you are utterly absorbed into it. When you aren’t observing it firsthand, you’re spending hours reading about it and talking about it and deconstructing it. But then, it’s not that one issue - it’s every issue. Imagine you spend 60 hours a week just constantly immersed in what’s wrong with the world, dealing with problems that are way bigger than you are. For a normal person it’s stressful enough - for a person with past experience with any of these issues, or mental health vulnerabilities, it can at times seem impossible.

But if this is what she really wants to do with her life, she is going to have to get used to these conditions. The whole point of the MSW program is to prepare graduates for the grinding nature of social work, which means learning to deal with burnout, learning to take care of yourself, learning to move beyond your own issues, and learning the concrete skills of practice on top of that. By the end of my time at the program, I definitely felt ready to take it all on. One thing I said during my second year, while I was looking over all the projects for the upcoming semester: ‘‘I’m becoming inured to being asked to do the impossible.’’ Every time you think, ‘‘No way in HELL can I do that!’’ and then you actually DO it, your confidence and sense of professional and personal competence grows that much more. I started out feeling almost completely helpless; I ended with the sense that I can pretty much tackle anything anyone throws at me. Not that I’ll be perfect, just that I will get through it, learn and become better for it.

My program changed my life. Through the people I met and networked with, I actually became less cynical about the state of the world and human nature. I went from believing that people are inherently selfish to believing they are basically good. My fellow graduates blow my mind, dude - amazing, intelligent, driven, incredibly talented social workers who humbled and inspired me every day. I learned concrete ways in which social movements have changed policy and by extension lives. I learned to believe in the power of people to throw off their own chains. I learned how to stop bitching about injustice and start doing something about it. I learned how to accept myself and what I stand for. I am not even close to the person I was before grad school and I am thankful for every painful minute of it. I am so freakin’ happy I made this choice I can’t even begin to describe it.

5

I’m just about to start my MSW program next month. I read your post and it made me feel great about my choice. Thank you for your eloquence and enthusiasm!

7

You signed up to threadshit? Lovely.

8

Clinical.

Signing people up for welfare is nowhere near an accurate description of what social work is like.

9

You charmer you. I am the Development and Outreach Coordinator of a small non-profit in Northeast Philadelphia that provides educational and leadership development programs for children and teens. I most certainly do NOT help people sign up for welfare. I beg for money.

10

Huh. That’s not the c-word that came to mind when I read the post that bumped this thread.

11

It makes more sense if you spell Clint’s name in all caps. Then squint a little.

12

You signed up just to insult someone - in a forum that prohibits personal insults, in a thread that’s the better part of a year and a half old? Look, Clint., we’re not going to work out. It’s not us, it’s you.

Bye.

  • Gukumatz,
    IMHO Moderator.
13

I am an LCSW, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other profession in the world.

However, one thing your fiancee needs to remember is that being a professional social worker does not make anyone rich. In fact, it’s relatively low paying, compared to the amount of education, training, experience and responsibility necessary to do a good job. Most of the rewards do not come in financial form.

But I love my work and wouldn’t change what I do.

Oh, and I haven’t signed anyone up for welfare in YEARS. That’s usually left to the bachelors level social workers that work in the county office!

14

I know Clint’s been banned, but it’s not like his attitude about social work is uncommon. I think part of the reason is that there is no formal definition of ‘‘social worker.’’ There are people in human service positions who would be described as ‘‘social workers’’ but who don’t have a social work degree. That is a far cry from MSW level social work which can range from trained clinical social workers to policy makers and community organizers. Some people without degrees are quite amazing at their jobs, and some people with degrees freakin’ suck at it, which only adds to the confusion.

It’s true, it’s not really a field where you make a lot of money. But it’s quite possible to have lofty aspirations (and make a decent amount of money) in the field of social work. My dream is to be Development Director of a major nonprofit - I sort of am Development Director by default at my current job because I’m the only person in my department, but I’d like to do actual managerial development work some day. My colleagues are taking on all kinds of leadership positions in Philadelphia, NYC and Washington D.C. and some of them are getting paid up the wazoo to do it. It’s not like you can’t have a distinguished high-paying career if you want one. It’s just that the sort of people attracted to this field typically don’t hold income as a top priority (though there are some good arguments that we should.)

I guess what I’d say is, being a ‘‘social worker’’ is easy. Being a good social worker is really quite an achievement. There are excellent social workers at every level, but there is a certain point where you’ll need an MSW to advance in the field.

dalderman, how’s your program going? Since you’re right in the middle of it I’m guessing you’re pretty worn out.