Hi everyone and welcome!
My name is Lauren McGowan, and I'm the
Director of Recruitment and Admissions
for the UB School of Social Work.
Today, we are talking about the application process.
So, in addition to going over the components
of the application and logistics,
I'm hoping to impart a bit of advice
on how to submit a strong application
to the MSW program.
So, let's get started!
First, I want to go over the basic prerequisites for our programs.
In order to apply to any of our MSW program tracks,
you must have a bachelor's degree
by the time that you would start in the master's program.
We do admit students from all undergraduate majors
so your undergraduate degree can be in any subject.
As a part of your undergraduate coursework,
we also look for at least 24 credits of liberal arts.
So, these classes come from specific categories.
Six credits must be social and behavioral science,
so any psychology, sociology,
or anthropology type course.
Six other credits must be arts and humanities,
which can include things like
English, literature, foreign language,
visual and performing arts, and history.
And the final 12 credits can be from
any of the categories I just mentioned,
plus natural science and math.
Most students who have completed a general education curriculum
or who have a liberal arts degree
do meet these requirements,
but if you would like us to double-check for you
if you're unsure,
feel free to email us a copy of your transcripts,
and we can take a look and make sure that you meet
all of these liberal arts requirements.
Next, while we do recommend a 3.0 GPA or higher to apply,
it is not required for our traditional MSW programs.
So that being said,
the lower your undergraduate GPA is,
the stronger case you're going to want to make for yourself
through the other application documents,
which we're going to talk about in a little bit,
since admission is still competitive.
We also require an undergraduate level three-credit human biology
or anatomy and physiology class.
So, if you haven't taken this yet, don't worry.
You don't actually have to take it before you apply.
You can actually complete it either over the summer
or during your first semester in the MSW program,
if you're admitted.
So, in addition to all of these requirements,
in order to apply to our 35 credit
advanced standing MSW program tracks,
students must also have the following:
Our advanced standing program is for students that
have a bachelors degree in social work,
otherwise known as a BSW degree,
from a CSWE-accredited program
conferred within six years of starting the MSW program here,
as well as a B-
or--sorry--a minimum BSW GPA of 3.0 or higher,
and a B- or better in all of their social work major classes,
which are the classes that have your school's
social work prefix on them.
So, this advanced standing criteria is
extremely strict.
So, if you do not have a bachelors degree in social work
then you must apply for the traditional 60 credit program,
no exceptions.
I always tell students, don't feel bad
if you don't meet the advanced standing criteria.
It is very, very specific.
The majority of our students are in our
traditional program tracks
because the advanced standing is really just for students
that meet all of these specific requirements.
Now let's talk about what you'll actually need to submit
for the application process.
The application process is completely electronic,
and so in addition to the application form,
you're going to need to submit
contact information for three
academic or professional references,
copies of all of your academic transcripts,
a personal statement essay,
and an application fee.
You will note that we do not require GRE scores
or any other standardized test scores
for our MSW program application.
However, if you are applying to one of our
dual degree programs,
then you will need to complete a second,
separate application for that other department
and they may or may not require
standardized test scores.
So, just make sure you know what the requirements are
if you're applying to one of the dual degree programs
for the other department.
There are some additional application requirements
for international students.
They must also submit official
English proficiency scores for any student that's from
outside Canada and the UK,
and then some additional financial documentation
showing that they can cover the first year of
tuition fees and expenses.
There is more information about this on our website
if you are an international student
and this applies to you.
So, next we're going to look at the application
components in a little bit more detail,
and I'm going to try to give you some tips on submitting a
strong application to the program.
So, first, let's talk about recommendations.
So, you must send the recommendation requests
to your three recommenders
before you actually submit the application form.
So, these three people should be individuals
that you know either
academically or professionally,
and they should be people who have
directly observed your work.
So we're really not looking for personal
or character references.
So, if all they can say about you is that you're a nice person,
then you should really choose someone else.
Once you submit the request,
they are going to receive an email with a link to
upload their electronic letter of recommendation
and to complete a brief evaluation form.
So, you should note that the recommendations
must be completed by the recommenders directly.
You cannot upload a letter on their behalf.
So, you may want to choose people that are
technologically savvy enough to be able to
upload that letter electronically.
Next, let's talk a little bit about transcripts.
So, you can actually upload copies of your transcripts
either before or after you submit the application form.
We do need one transcript from each school
that you earned college-level credits from
after high school.
So, the transcript does have to be from the
original school you earn the credits from,
so even if you have
ECC credits, for example, that show up on
your Buffalo State College transcript,
we would need a transcript from Buffalo State
and one from ECC.
So, hopefully, that is clear and makes sense.
These transcripts can be unofficial copies for the application,
however, we're not looking for
advising reports or web printouts.
So basically, this means that your
transcript copies should look like actual
transcripts that you scanned in,
and not a web page or a web printout.
If you would prefer to send official copies to our office,
that is totally fine, too--
although it usually does take a little bit longer for
official copies to get here,
so just make sure that you are requesting them
well in advance of the deadline.
And our mailing address here at the School of Social Work
is different than the undergraduate admissions office address,
so just make sure that you're
sending them to the correct location.
Our address--our mailing address--is on our website
as far as where to send those official transcripts.
And then finally, you will need to pay an application fee.
What you're going to do, only
after you submit the application form.
There is a link in your portal that you're going to use
to pay via credit card
and the current amount is $100 for the online
and dual degree programs and
$75 for the on-campus MSW programs.
Now, let's talk a little bit about what is arguably
the most important component of your application,
which is your personal statement.
So, you can only upload the personal statement
after you submit your application form,
so you're not going to see the place to upload it
until you actually submit the application
and get redirected to your portal,
so just be aware of that.
You have to submit the form first before you can upload your statement.
While we don't enforce a minimum or maximum length
for the personal statement,
there are specific guidelines you have to follow.
Five to six pages double-spaced is kind of the average length
that most statements are.
We are looking for a full essay format,
not a question and answer,
although when you look at the web page,
it does have the list of bulleted questions
that you must address.
So, our guidelines are quite specific in that way,
but we're really looking for something that's that's
well-written and organized as an essay.
So, what are we really looking for here
in a strong personal statement?
When it comes to the actual essay itself,
we're looking for a lot of different things.
First and foremost, this is a writing sample,
so we're looking for strong technical writing skills.
We are also making sure that your essay is
well-organized and it answers all of the questions
that we asked in the guidelines.
So basically, did you follow directions
and answer all of the questions?
Then when it comes to the actual content of the essay
and the answers to the questions,
we're really looking for responses that show
critical thinking and
self-reflection, and that really go beyond
surface-level platitudes.
So, I always give the example that wanting to help people is really great,
but it's just not specific enough for this essay.
We also want you to demonstrate that you really
understand what social work is
as a profession and that you've really done your research on it and can
explain why you want to pursue social work,
as opposed to any other helping profession
that may be out there.
Finally, your personal statement is
really your chance to explain
any low grades or other things that you
think might be of concern to the admissions committee.
So, if that applies to you, if you have a lower GPA, let's say
from your undergraduate degree,
make sure you own it and reflect upon it in a constructive way
and tell us how and why things are different now,
and what you're going to do to be successful in the future.
Your personal statement is really your chance to let us get to know you
beyond just the numbers of your transcript,
so make sure that you really are taking your time on it.
It is a very heavily weighted
component of the application and sometimes it can be
the make-or-break factor for whether
a student is admitted or not.
So, make sure you're really editing it and taking it seriously
and taking your time on it.
Finally, let's talk a little bit about timing.
First, you're gonna want to make sure that you
look at the chart on our website
to figure out what the application deadline is
for your program.
The deadlines are different depending on which program
you're applying to--
whether you're applying to a traditional program versus
an advanced standing program,
part-time, full-time, online--they all have different deadlines.
So, just make sure that you're certain about when your
application is due so you can plan accordingly.
All documents for the application must be submitted
by the application deadline,
not just the application form.
Because of this, once you find out what the deadline is
for your program,
you really want to begin the application process
as soon as you're able to.
You don't have to complete it in one sitting,
so you can always start it and then save it
and go back and
complete it over time as you have
the rest of your documents completed.
And you should be sending the recommendation requests
to your recommenders at least one month,
if not sooner, before the deadline,
but preferably, as soon as possible.
So, I can say that when students miss out
because their application is incomplete,
probably four out of five times, it's because we are
missing a recommendation letter.
So, you really want to give yourself time to remind people
or to deal with any issues that might come up
with recommenders and recommendations,
just because that's usually a
big factor that could go wrong or something that
you're relying on other people to do for you.
So, you want to give them as much time as possible
to complete those for you.
Next, you should really be submitting your application form,
all of your additional materials,
and paying the application fee at least a
few weeks before the deadline.
Although there is an incentive to do it sooner,
because for most programs
the sooner you complete your application,
the sooner you get a decision on whether or not you're admitted.
The one program
exception to this would be our traditional online part-time MSW program,
since that one is especially competitive.
So, those students aren't typically notified about admission
until after their deadline passes
and all of the applications have been reviewed,
but for all of the other students for all of our on-campus programs,
we usually give decisions out
as soon as applications are completed and reviewed.
So, that's an incentive to get it in before the deadline,
as soon as you can.
So, hopefully this helped clarify the application process
a little bit for you, but certainly, if you have any questions at all,
feel free to reach out and I'm happy to chat with you further.
Thanks and have a great day!