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I know someone who had a very difficult time getting an MSW while trying to work, due to the fieldwork reqirements. Keep in mind that grad school is no walk in the park and it's not for the uncommitted. I'm not clear on why you want to go to grad school if you want to turn your current job into something permanent?
I'm working as a Case Manager right now but want to be a Social Worker within their Veterans/Military Needs program which requires the LCSW, so I will have to go to grad school.
Last edited by ShoreStoreGal; 03-12-2013 at 06:13 PM..
Feel free to direct message me if you like but if you feel more comfortable talking here: 1. What online programs are you looking at?
2. Are the online programs comparable in price? If not, is it worth spending more money for online classes?
I would recommend doing an MSW program part-time and looking for a full-time job being a case manager or something similar, that way you can do your internship at your place of employment. You would presumably work more hours at your current job and your internship duties would be separate from your full-time duties. Definitely check with the schools you're interested in to see how this process works.
I know my school doesn't allow internships to work primarily at night. An occasional night is okay, provided you have someone to supervise you.
I hope this helps.
1- I looked at the USC program which is extremely expensive but they offer a specialization in the concentration I'm interested in. In addition to that they place all of the students within that specialization with an agency that deals with that population. That is one of the major draws for me.
2-The cost of the program is a bit more than most. The schools in my state are roughly 1/3 of the USC program but after researching them, I've learned that they aren't a good fit for me. My other option would be to just go to school out of state but I figure the cost of paying for rent/utilities/food would end up making up the difference between those out of state schools and the USC online program.
I've heard that the majority of MSW programs don't allow students to do their fieldwork at their job due to conflict of interest. Is that what most of you have seen?
I'm working as a Case Manager right now but want to be a Social Worker within their Veterans/Military Needs program which requires the LCSW, so I will have to go to grad school.
Maybe you could arrange to take a leave of absence.
I received my MA in counseling with a paid graduate assistantship as a career counselor for the college, a postion that doubled as my internship.
Before then, I worked as a case worker. The social work position you desire with your present agency will be a completely different job with completely different job description, pay, requirements. So you would in essence have to apply & qualify for that new position, and that position would have to come available, correct?
Oh, c'mon! If you're going to school full time, school should be your priority. There's nothing in the OP stating s/he has kids, or is the sole support of someone else, etc. You take out student loans and work part time, if at all. When my daughter was in physical therapy school, the school recommended the students not work, and DD said the students who did work had a much harder time. Why shouldn't there be a fieldwork requirement? The constant whine on this board (not necessarily from you) is that people come out of school with no practical experience. Well, fieldwork is practical experience.
I think the fieldwork placements are terrific. They often turn into the person's full-time first job. It's just that unpaid work for 40 hours a week, requiring a car and good clothes, is asking a lot of some students, which is why my co-workers worked 32 hours over a weekend and ran themselves into the ground. I think the length and time required for the fieldwork placement *does* assume someone who doesn't have to work for a living while in school, and that's just not the case.
Co-worker just told me that she got into a state school MSW program. She will move up to the school (too far from current apartment) and drive down to work the weekend package job she has at my job- work two shifts every weekend, get paid for three, and get pro-rated 16 hour benefits.
^^My point is that if you're going to school full time, school should be your priority. The person I knew who had such a conflict had a job in retail, not working the sales floor of Kohl's mind you, a little higher up than that, but she expected the school to accommodate her job, rather than the other way around. Made me wonder why she wanted an MSW.
^^My point is that if you're going to school full time, school should be your priority. The person I knew who had such a conflict had a job in retail, not working the sales floor of Kohl's mind you, a little higher up than that, but she expected the school to accommodate her job, rather than the other way around. Made me wonder why she wanted an MSW.
It would be nice to not have any other financial responsibilities that need to be taken care of during 2 years of grad school but unfortunately that is not the case for me. I completely agree that school should be priority, which it was during my undergrad experience and will continue to be while I'm earning my MSW but paying for all the other needs in life (food, gas, car insurance etc) is also a priority, one which requires an income. I was just trying to figure out how feasible it would be to work while going to school (even on a part time basis) would be but it doesn't look like it is realistic
It would be nice to not have any other financial responsibilities that need to be taken care of during 2 years of grad school but unfortunately that is not the case for me. I completely agree that school should be priority, which it was during my undergrad experience and will continue to be while I'm earning my MSW but paying for all the other needs in life (food, gas, car insurance etc) is also a priority, one which requires an income. I was just trying to figure out how feasible it would be to work while going to school (even on a part time basis) would be but it doesn't look like it is realistic
If I came across harsh, I apologize. I was probably responding on the basis of the person I knew who expected the school to bend over backwards for her so she could keep her retail job. I'd guess MSW students live on student loans. That's what physical therapy students do.
Besides my paid graduate assistantship, I also waited tables. At one point during post-grad studies, I worked evenings at a residential facility for the developmentally disabled. That sort of place that has a lot of turn-over might have openings for weekend and evening shifts. Plus, many masters programs are very amenable to students working out their internship in creative ways, so a group home could work.
1- I looked at the USC program which is extremely expensive but they offer a specialization in the concentration I'm interested in. In addition to that they place all of the students within that specialization with an agency that deals with that population. That is one of the major draws for me.
2-The cost of the program is a bit more than most. The schools in my state are roughly 1/3 of the USC program but after researching them, I've learned that they aren't a good fit for me. My other option would be to just go to school out of state but I figure the cost of paying for rent/utilities/food would end up making up the difference between those out of state schools and the USC online program.
I've heard that the majority of MSW programs don't allow students to do their fieldwork at their job due to conflict of interest. Is that what most of you have seen?
1. So, they have the specialization you want. That's cool. At the same time, is there any way you can do your field placement with an agency that works with the population you want to treat at another school? It would be very easy to confirm this with the other schools. Email or call up the field placement office and ask, "If I was accepted into your program, would I be able to intern at x agency (or agencies)?
2. What about these other schools makes it a bad fit for you, other than the perception that you can't work with the population you want to work with?
Another thing to consider, is this population you want to work with so specialized that you can't generalize knowledge gained from another field placement to them? Just wondering.
For example, a lot of my classmates want to work with the LGBT population. Well, LGBT people can be seen in many agencies, not just an agency that works ONLY with LGBT folks. You might work in a family counseling agency and a family may come in for counseling in dealing with their child coming out. You may work in a youth homeless agency-lots of LGBT youth experience homelessness. On the other hand, you may never come into contact with LGBT people in one agency but that isn't to say the knowledge you gained in a non-specialized agency can't be applied with LGBT people. I hope this makes sense.
I'm just trying to help you save money because as you know, salaries in social work are not all that high and I'd hate for you to have an unnecessarily large student debt load.
I realize you want a certain field experience but it also helps to be open.
My program allows people to intern at their place of employment. One requirement is that they can't have the same supervisor. It all varies by school.
It wouldn't hurt to apply out of state. Some schools may be in better financial shape to offer you an assistantship or scholarship. Also if you're in CA, I'm sure the cost of living will be lower in other states. Something to keep in mind.
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