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Thinking of going back to school for an MSW. Simply because I enjoy education and love the possibilites of what I can do in the field. Is the degree as marketable as it once was or is the field saturated? I remember 10 years ago- college advisors, professors, etc.. telling us that obtaining an MSW was the way to go (for students with a BS in family and child studies which is what I have, as well as psychology/sociology students). Just hate to get an MSW with no hope in finding a job afterwards----
The important question to ask yourself is what you are interested in. Then figure out what career tracks will offer you more of what you are interested in. There are tons of options in different fields. I don't suggest going into a career because 10 years ago it was considered "safe." The market changes and if you embark upon something that does not interest you, it will be a waste of time and money. I think when you ask this open-ended type of question, you need to give us some more background. What stage of your life are you in? Will you be working while in grad school? Are you interested in a particular area like language or families or counseling or early intervention or special needs? Is autism a big interest of yours? Do you like the idea of having a private practice? In fields like social work and speech therapy, private practice means you can contract yourself out to agencies. Are you settled in a particular state? Do you want to work in the schools?
Many people give advice based solely on their personal experience. I am a speech language therapist in private practice and I love it. It pays well, I work part-time and I work in areas that are of interest to me - articulation and language/literacy, and I am bilingual so have a large Spanish-speaking client base. I am working on getting licensed in other states so that I can render therapy via telepractice. My friend is an SLP and works full time contracting herself out as an early interventionist and she does mostly speech-language evaluations and rarely takes on cases and her client base goes up to age 3. Yet another classmate does rehab and rarely sees a client under the age of 50. Have a friend who has an early intervention agency and the state required that she have her MSW. There are lots of different ways to work a career, do what you love, and pay your bills - especially when you are talking about fields such as social work and SLP. There are many social workers who do counseling and have nothing to do with agencies after graduation. I would think long and hard about what you like and don't like, then go from there.
If you have specific questions, I know a little about social work and a LOT about speech-language therapy.
So you think it would make more sense to "add-on" speech and language rather than an MSW? I would love to incorporate my Child Development degree with SL pathology.
SLP requires a grad degree and if you do not have an undergrad degree in SLP, you need to take prerequisites or a second undergrad degree. There are many programs to help you get the prereqs. But you need to pay attention to the requirements of every grad school you apply to. And the programs are very competitive, requiring a high GPA and most often GRE scores. I had the high GPA and the prerequisites, but then ended up re-taking some classes I had taken when I was a traditional-age undergrad because it was over 10 years ago. And I was convinced the GRE was the devil. But I really love the field so it was all worth it.
Thinking of going back to school for an MSW. Simply because I enjoy education and love the possibilites of what I can do in the field. Is the degree as marketable as it once was or is the field saturated? I remember 10 years ago- college advisors, professors, etc.. telling us that obtaining an MSW was the way to go (for students with a BS in family and child studies which is what I have, as well as psychology/sociology students). Just hate to get an MSW with no hope in finding a job afterwards----
Basically, this question again, but 6 years later.
Thinking of going back to school for an MSW. Simply because I enjoy education and love the possibilites of what I can do in the field. Is the degree as marketable as it once was or is the field saturated? I remember 10 years ago- college advisors, professors, etc.. telling us that obtaining an MSW was the way to go (for students with a BS in family and child studies which is what I have, as well as psychology/sociology students). Just hate to get an MSW with no hope in finding a job afterwards----
If you want to be a social worker, you will need an MSW. I have an uncle who was an electrical engineer. He says he never really had a passion for it.. He also did volunteer work with disadvantaged youth.
In his late 50s he realized that he was more gratified by his work with the Police Athletic League than his actual job.
He quit and went back to school. While he had a BS in engineering, he had to take many undergraduate classes in sociology and psychology. That took him two years. Then, he went back to get his masters inn social work.
Getting the MSW was certainly important to my uncle, who, is in his eighties and still works part time with at risk youth.
There are many jobs for social workers. From what I hear, in many places the BSW is not enough. I know to do an adoption home studies a BSW is not enough.
Thinking of going back to school for an MSW. Simply because I enjoy education and love the possibilites of what I can do in the field. Is the degree as marketable as it once was or is the field saturated? I remember 10 years ago- college advisors, professors, etc.. telling us that obtaining an MSW was the way to go (for students with a BS in family and child studies which is what I have, as well as psychology/sociology students). Just hate to get an MSW with no hope in finding a job afterwards----
Get a degree that pays the bills, then go back and get an MSW later.
Degrees that don't help you get a well paying job are luxuries. Look at it this way - would you pay $200K (the cost of a bachelors degree) for anything else (a used Ferrari, for example) that offered no return on your investment?
The real world: I have a BS in Comp Sci. Last year I made $220K. My sister has an masters degree in social work. Last year, she made $50K. What kind of life do you want to have? There's your answer.
Get a degree that pays the bills, then go back and get an MSW later.
Degrees that don't help you get a well paying job are luxuries. Look at it this way - would you pay $200K (the cost of a bachelors degree) for anything else (a used Ferrari, for example) that offered no return on your investment?
The real world: I have a BS in Comp Sci. Last year I made $220K. My sister has an masters degree in social work. Last year, she made $50K. What kind of life do you want to have? There's your answer.
Who pays $200k for a degree? Not very many people unless you count living expenses, but you have living expenses whether or not you go to college. A very small percentage of people go $100k in debt for a bachelor's, so going $200k is even rarer. And, I'm pretty sure very few people can afford to pay $200k out of pocket.
Just with a BA in Social Science, for which I paid nowhere near $200k, I nearly doubled my wages. That's a return on investment. I earned two bachelor's and a master's without spending $200k. I'm almost finished with a doctorate, and I still haven't spent $200k. No one I work with spent $200k.
Some people would rather be happy and fulfilled in their jobs rather than wealthy. I have the aptitude for programming, but I cannot suffer through a job that's boring.
A good friend of mine completed her MSW and was never able to find work in that field that would have let her live anything close to a comfortable life. She’s ended up working back in the field her BA was in, right where she left off a few years prior. As she put it, it left her with the ability to identify and be angry at power structures and injustices, but basically no way to change them, and a lot more debt than before (not 200k; I think it was less than 100k, which is still a lot for something you aren’t using).
My late ex-mother in law also had an MSW and was never comfortable economically, but she truly loved and believed in what she was doing. My ex complained that at times it seemed like her mom cared more for her clients than her; many times, plans were interrupted so she could pick up an at-risk teenage girl from a drug dealer’s house and lecture her on going back to making poor choices. When she died, her funeral was filled with people who said that they owed their lives to her help. It was tough to see as it was happening because they were poor and her moral crusade often put her relationship with her daughter at risk, but she definitely did positively impact people around her.
It depends on you, and what you are willing to sacrifice or gain.
I don’t know why people are answering an old post, but the answer remains the same.
MSW. No. Don’t do it.
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