Grad/Professional School

[mariet58]

Greetings BlueGI, I understand your concern and would encourage you to return to school and begin working on your MSW. I'm in the graduate MSW program at the University of Cincinnati and loving every minute of it. As a mature student having received my undergraduate degreee in 1980, I waited to gain experience in the work force. Little did I know that many years later in order to get a promotion having a graduate degree is essential. Do not delay.

[CherryPepsi]

BlueGBI could you please email me ???

I am from PA too and a TSS and thinking about getting a MSW, but I have another career in mind.
Mariet I am going to need your help to. Matter fact anybody who is thinking about or have obtained their MSW email me pleeeease.

I cannot decide what I want to go back for.

Thnx in advance

[blueGBI]

Originally Posted by mariet58

Greetings BlueGI, I understand your concern and would encourage you to return to school and begin working on your MSW. I'm in the graduate MSW program at the University of Cincinnati and loving every minute of it. As a mature student having received my undergraduate degreee in 1980, I waited to gain experience in the work force. Little did I know that many years later in order to get a promotion having a graduate degree is essential. Do not delay.

Currently, I'm looking at Temple University and Bryn Mawr college here in PA and to get into the program, they want me to have at least 1,000 hrs working in the field before I come back. I plan to go back by mid-2008 to work on it, I just need to get in at a job where they'll pay for me to get the MSW. So, I'm praying I get a full-time social worker position.

[AKA_Monet]

YOU MUST have someone in your "corner" of the world... "Your mentor(s)" per se... And you need to have S-E-V-E-R-A-L mentors...

Mentors for good and bad days

Personal mentors

Life guiding mentors

"In your area of expertise" mentors--and this should be the most primary, with them serving as a role model giving supportive advice.

It is hard identifying mentors, the American Heart Association has a good mentoring book out there. Other good mentoring books are dealing with "coaching".

And I hate to say it, but it is all about "playing the game".

For me, I just had someone who barely knew me tell me that in my field, how to play the game...

Also, as for writing all documents, you MUST have--meaning purchase--E.B. Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" as well as other grammatical texts that you can use for your field...

I am a poor writer when it comes to grammar--especially when I write for science. So, I looked at several research articles in my field from Nobel Laureates and "imitated" their writing style. I improved somewhat. But either way, it takes practice.

So, how do you get to that point? Well, when there is "stuff" or "things" that your advisor needs to write that is of low priority on them, request if you could review it and write a blurb.

Also, in your meetings with your advisor, do it just like a "Robert's Rules of Order" type meeting, with an agenda and Old and New Business, with you taking the minutes--YES, as a matter of fact, you probably need to have that kind of documentation.

And YES, that is how "tight" you MUST play this "graduate/professional school" game.

[srjjames]

Ok, I'm in the process of applying to grad school. I'm applying for the master's programs in School Counseling and Social Work. I'm currently teaching a SPED Behavior Self-Contained Class. I hate it. I want to continue working in the school system, but I do not want to be confined to a classroom. I graudated from college Sociolgy. I was told that I had to have a certification to work it the school system as a counselor or a social worker so I've been working on getting certified. Now, I found out that I could have just gone to grad school and applied for an anciallary certifcation and been hired by a school district. I'm from Louisiana by the way. So now I'm in the process of applying to grad school. What is a TSS in the school system? I saw that on a couple of post above?