The New Social Worker Vol. 19, No. 4, Fall 2012 | Page 21

students can use the college/university
career development center for consultation in creating a résumé. Typically,
alumna can use the college/university
career center, if convenient, for up to a
year. Online sites also exist for templates
and suggested formats. Consider dropping off employment or activities that
occurred in high school or earlier.
9. Be honest in your application,
your résumé, and your professional
statement/essay.

Accurately portray your work
experience, skills, and knowledge. If
asked to identify challenges or deficits,
instead of simply stating, “I overschedule” (for example), frame your response
with what you are doing to remediate
that—“As overscheduling is a challenge, I
am careful to schedule time for completing paperwork and meetings using a day
planner.”
10. Write your professional statement
or essay for a specific program.

Generic letters read that way! Some
ideas, phrasing, or perspectives may fit
with many programs, but tailor your
writing to the mission and admissions
criteria of each program. And keep the
names straight—nothing is more offputting than to have one’s institution
referred to by a competitor’s name!
11. Do you have specialized experience related to a specific part of the
program mission?

Do you have professional expertise
that would be augmented by study in an
area of the curriculum or with a particular faculty member? Do you have experiences that would enhance the student
body? Make sure that it is included in
your professional statement or essay.
12. References are always required!

Applications will likely have reference forms or specific points they want
covered by a reference. Be clear about
what kind of reference you need. There
is a difference between someone who
watched you grow up and thinks you are
fabulous no matter what you do (personal reference) and a professional reference
who can speak to the specific qualities
that graduate programs are looking for,
such as leadership, ethical behavior, and
academic readiness. Supervisors (past or
present), instructors (past or present), or
colleagues who have had sufficient time
to know you and your work are all po-

tential references. Talk to the people you
ask to be a professional reference and
make sure they are willing to address the
specific questions the program is asking.
Provide them with your résumé as an
information source, and remind them of
examples of your work. A letter that specifically addresses your application, the
criteria, and your readiness for graduate
study can make a difference. After you
are accepted, thank them for their help.
13. Avoid anything that can make
your application and or professional
statement or essay difficult to read.

Colorful paper, exotic fonts, and
illustrations are not appropriate for this
type of writing. A white or linen colored
paper, with an easy-to-read font of a
reasonable size (Times New Roman, 12
point, for example), printed clearly and
cleanly, are good choices.
14. Carefully review what should
be mailed or done online, and by
whom.

Some programs only accept references online, whereas others require
them to be mailed in with the application. An 8½ x 11 envelope for mailing
is a better choice than folding multiple
pages into a legal size envelope.

Realistically, the graduate school
application process is competitive, and
you may not get in the first time you apply. Don’t give up! Sometimes graduate
programs will offer you feedback—ask!
Attend another information session, if
available. Talk with a mentor about how
to improve your chances. Talk with the
admissions person about classes you can
take at a graduate level to demonstrate
your readiness and improve your GPA.
Work and get additional experience.
Developing a relationship with a social
work program in your area can help
you know if it is a good fit. If you have a
BSW/BSSW, consider becoming a field
instructor for an undergraduate student.
Don’t give up! Rework the application
and reapply! Many successful social
workers did not get into graduate school
with their first application!
Robin R. Wingo, MSW, LISW, joined the
Department of Social Work at Minnesota
State University, Mankato faculty in 2001.
She received her MSW from the University of
Missouri-Columbia. She annually reviews applications for admissions to the MSW program.

Letters to
the Editor
Dear The New Social Worker Online
Team,
I have been such an immense
intermittent benefactor of your collective efforts in regularly bringing out
the e-editions of THE NEW SOCIAL
WORKER ONLINE, that today I have
sat down to write this e-mail.

Ms. Linda Grobman, please accept my heartfelt appreciation and
thanks. I am roughly 9,000 miles away
from you, but I feel so much a part
of the concerns of U.S. professional
social workers. In each issue, you
offer so much to ponder, reflect, and
compare. I am a modest learner and
teacher of social work at the Faculty of
Social Work, The M.S. University in
Baroda, Gujarat, India. I feel, although
the nature and details of the social
problems faced there and here are
different, the disciplinary concerns are
quite same. But I always felt that the
social work education is best imparted
in the U.S. We too have tried to indigenize it to suit our ecological requirements, but there is heavy academic
sourcing from the U.S. in terms of the
books, journals, individual scholars,
and so on.

Wishing you, the team, and THE
NEW SOCIAL WORKER ONLINE all
the very best. You are really doing a
good work.
Sincerely,
Professor Chhaya Patel

Ms. Grobman,

Thank you so much for offering
this valuable resource. I have been accepted into a pre-social work program
at Auburn University-Montgomery in
Alabama where I live. This newsletter
has been so good for me. It allows me
to read real-life social work stories,
seeing all the good, bad, ugly sides
of this field...ALL REAL, very, very
HELPFUL to me in deciding whether
or NOT to actually pursue this field!
(Still undecided.)
God Bless,
Aris Vaughan

The New Social Worker

Fall 2012

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