Department of Social Work - Ohio University

Application Procedures

Graduate Information Handbook
Cambridge MSW Information Handbook

Process

Students may obtain application information via regular mail, e-mail, telephone or the Ohio University website. In response to a request for an application, the Office of Graduate Services will send each applicant an application packet within three days and a Graduate Catalog will be sent within six weeks in the United States (the latter is sent bulk mail, and is prohibitively costly to send out of the country). The Department of Social Work will simultaneously send applicants a letter that includes the outline for the personal essay. All applicants will be referred to the University's website, where application forms, reference forms and other information and materials are available at http://www.ohio.edu/graduate/.

Social Work Graduate Admissions Checklist

Forms

These forms are all available from the Graduate Studies website and are linked here for your convenience.

The files above require Adobe Acrobat version 6 or higher to fill in the forms.

Admissions Criteria

Consistent with the Ohio University School of Arts and Sciences' Liberal Arts focus, applicants will be required to have earned a Bachelor's degree that reflects courses in quantitative analysis, human biology, the humanities and the social sciences, and with coursework in at least one social science content area beyond the introductory level.

Policy on Prior Paid or Volunteer Work or Life Experience

Consistent with the policies of the Council on Social Work Education, no credit is ever given for paid or volunteer work or life experience. On the other hand, proof of paid or volunteer experience in the human services is required by the program to demonstrate an interest and awareness of public service.

Additional Admissions Criteria for Advanced Standing Applicants

The Advanced Standing Program is an accelerated curriculum option available to highly qualified graduates of baccalaureate social work programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Consideration is given only to those undergraduate social work graduates with superior academic standing and exceptional references.

Applicants seeking Advanced Standing admission must meet all the admissions criteria required for standard admission. In addition, Advanced Standing applicants must:

have, within five years of graduate school admission, earned a baccalaureate degree in social work from a program accredited by the CSWE. The transcripts of applicants with a baccalaureate degree from a CSWE accredited social work program that is older than five years will be individually reviewed to ensure that completed courses comply with the current CSWE Curriculum Policy Statement.
have a GPA of 3.25 for all undergraduate coursework.
have a GPA of 3.5 for all undergraduate social work coursework.
have a reference from their senior year field instructor.
submit a copy of the most recent evaluation of their senior year field placement.

Students admitted to Advanced Standing will be expected to engage in the concentration field placement process during the spring quarter prior to their program enrollment. The Advanced Standing Program commences in the second session of summer school with an orientation seminar on rural social work practice. Upon successful completion of the orientation, students will begin their graduate studies fall quarter in the concentration curriculum of clinical or administrative practice with families.

Additional Admissions Requirements for International Students

Recognizing that it takes additional time to obtain documentation and for students to obtain exit visas, the deadline for international applications is August 15 for admission a year from the following September. Admissions materials received after this time will be reviewed, but admission may be deferred to the following year.

All undergraduate cousework must be reviewed and approved by the Arts and SciencesGraduate Office to ensure that they meet the content and grade standards of the program. In addition, all international students must submit TOEFL or IELTS scores. The minimum scores that will be accepted on this is 620 for the TOEFL and 7.5 for the IELTS. No other form of proof of English fluency will be accepted. The program reserves the right to deny admission to students based on low TOEFL or IELTS scores alone, in consideration of the primacy which the ability to read, write, speak and understant English plays in Social Work coursework and fieldwork. The program alos reserves the right to require that international students enroll in the Ohio Program in Intensive English (OPIE) prior to their enrollment in the MSW Program for as many quarters as necessary to sharpen their ability to speak and comprehend spoken, idiomatic English, and to require that students enrolled full-time cut back to part-time status to enable them to continue taking OPIE courses during their first year of study if necessary.

Transfer Students

Students may transfer up to 12 graduate-level credits which were taken during the last four years and resulted in a grade of B or better. These courses must be equivalent to courses required in the Graduate Program in Social Work, as core courses or electives. Up to 7 credits from any discipline relevant to Social Work may count as electives; the remaining 5 credits must have been earned in an accredited graduate program in Social Work, and be equivalent to a course required in the student's program of study. Students may be required to provide syllabi or other supporting materials to verify the course content.

Individuals with Disabilities

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and protect qualified individuals with disabilities with reasonable accommodations that do not impose undue hardship. An individual is considered to have a disability if that individual either (1) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of that person's major life activities, (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.

Ohio University and the Department of Social Work are committed to providing all admitted students with opportunities to take full advantage of the University's educational programs. It is further the policy of the university to enable those with disabilities to participate as independently as possible in Ohio University activities so that campus life will be enhanced and the individual lives of members of the university community will be enriched. Students should request accommodations and specify their requirements as fully as possible in their Application Essay.

Individuals Who Have Been Convicted of Felonies

Applicants are advised that the Professional Standards Committees of the Ohio Counselor and Social Worker Board, in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code, may refuse to issue a license or certificate of registration to any person who has been convicted in this or any other state of any crime that is a felony in this state. Most other states have similar restrictions on Social Work licensing and/or certification.

Applicants who have been convicted of a felony are required to identify that fact in the Application Essay, and to supply documentation of the nature and disposition of the offense. If admitted to the program, these students may have restrictions placed on them in regard to field placements related to the nature of the felony conviction. Certain field placement agencies require criminal background checks as well. Students may be automatically denied admission or, if enrolled, terminated from the program if they have not provided full and truthful information and documentation with the essay concerning felony convictions.

About Taking the GRE (Graduate Record Examination)

Applicants with an undergraduate GPA below 3.0, who are ineligible for regular admission, may be considered for conditional¹ admission if they submit a GRE score demonstrating that they are capable of performing graduate-level work. For this purpose, only the general examination, which includes verbal, quantitative and writing sections, is required.

All GRE examinations are computer-based. Students will be asked at the end of the test where they want their scores to be sent, and can choose not to send their scores then and instead, to retake the test at a future date.

Locations for CBT are being added frequently. To find the nearest test site, call 1-800-GRE-CALL or contact the GRE website, http://www.gre.org. The website also has a free, downloadable study guide. Students on or near the OU campus may take the GRE at OU's Educational Testing Center by calling 740-597-1537.

Applying for the Modified Part-Time MSW Degree Option

Applicants may opt to take the first half of the MSW program over two part-time years rather than a single, full-time year. It is generally recommended that applicants whose undergraduate GPAs are below 3.0 apply to the part-time option. The application procedures for the part-time program and the full-time program are otherwise identical.

Applying for the Non-Degree Option

Applicants who would like to take a single course may do so by applying for non-degree status. Non-degree applications must be accompanied by an application fee and proof that the applicant has earned an undergraduate degree in the Liberal Arts with at least a 2.75 GPA. Applicants who meet degree program admission requirements may apply for admission to the degree program, and non-degree social work or other relevant graduate elective courses may be applied to the degree program provided that all coursework for the degree is completed within a four year time span.

¹ Conditional admission requires that the student earns a 3.0 average during the first quarter, with no course grades below a B, in order to continue in the program. Students admitted conditionally are not eligible for department or university stipends or scholarships.