Graduate School Advice

[soonerhubs]

Okay I know this is rough, but I'm looking into my options of getting Mrs S.H. and I back to Oklahoma for graduate school. (May be the last chance I have to live in OKlahoma before I get into my career back here in Utah).
My problem: OSU is the only school in OKie with a Marriage and Family therapy program.

I heard the other day that a Masters in Social Work is sufficient to practice Marriage and Family Therapy.

THis could help me to eliminate my option of Pokeystate and get to be a genuine attending Sooner.

Anyone know much about the Social work program at OU?
The goal is to be a professor in Family Science at a University and to practice Marriage and Family therapy on the side.

Calling all Experts! Help! (As much as I detest being a poke, it may be my only option.)

[yermom]

they have their own building East of Jenkins... i've parked there a lot

other than that, i got nothin'


well, except a link: http://www.ou.edu/socialwork/

[Jimminy Crimson]

they have their own building East of Jenkins... i've parked there a lot

...and it is the old ATO house.

I had a couple of friends go through the social work school. One is in grad school now and i think the other two work for the state.

[soonerhubs]

Thanks for the link.

[Ike]

Before dismissing OSU on principle (I know, it sounds like the right thing to do, but hear me out), you should seriously visit each of the schools you are interested in and spend a little bit of time meeting the faculty in the department you'd be applying to. Because more so than choosing which school you attend, the three most important decisions a graduate student will ever make are (in order of importance):
a) choosing your advisor.
b) choosing your advisor.
c) choosing your advisor.

Seriously. The decision on which school to attend should be made with that in mind. Even a crappy school might have one guy in a particular department that is both widely respected and easy to work for. And some of the best schools can have a lot of people that aren't much fun to work for, and maybe even get in your way. On the above list, choosing a school is like 15th.

[SicEmBaylor]

Just remember that going to a grad school someplace doesn't exactly turn you into a total homer for that school. Your school is wherever you went for undergrad, so I wouldn't worry TOO much about where you go for your masters.

That being said, there's no way in hell I'd ever step foot on the campus of aTm in any capacity as a student nor would I give them any of my money. (Except MAYBE the Bush School of Government).

[soonerhubs]

Before dismissing OSU on principle (I know, it sounds like the right thing to do, but hear me out), you should seriously visit each of the schools you are interested in and spend a little bit of time meeting the faculty in the department you'd be applying to. Because more so than choosing which school you attend, the three most important decisions a graduate student will ever make are (in order of importance):
a) choosing your advisor.
b) choosing your advisor.
c) choosing your advisor.

Seriously. The decision on which school to attend should be made with that in mind. Even a crappy school might have one guy in a particular department that is both widely respected and easy to work for. And some of the best schools can have a lot of people that aren't much fun to work for, and maybe even get in your way. On the above list, choosing a school is like 15th.
Fair enough. I like those thoughts and will put them into my application process this fall.

That said, Here's the LIst of Schools I'm applying to for the fall of 07:
OU's social Work (If it works out)
Texas Tech
Colorado State
K-State
N... n... Nebraska
OkState
Oregon
Ohio State
East Carolina
Florida State
Penn State
UNC Greensboro
Georgia

These all have AAMFT approved programs and most have PhD programs to boot.

[Ike]

Fair enough. I like those thoughts and will put them into my application process this fall.

That said, Here's the LIst of Schools I'm applying to for the fall of 07:
OU's social Work (If it works out)
Texas Tech
Colorado State
K-State
N... n... Nebraska
OkState
Oregon
Ohio State
East Carolina
Florida State
Penn State
UNC Greensboro
Georgia

These all have AAMFT approved programs and most have PhD programs to boot.

thats a fairly lengthly list. If you plan on shooting for the PhD, amplify by a factor of 10 the advice I just gave you. Chances are that at each of the schools, there will be at least one faculty member that would make a good advisor for you. some quick criteria to look for are:
a) does he/she have funding?
b) does he/she graduate their students in a reasonable amount of time?
c) do his or her students have an easy time getting jobs after graduation?

if the answer to all three of those is yes, then you have a good potential advisor, provided that you do not have any major personality conflicts with him or her.

Also, your plans for the future come into play when choosing a school. If you want to stay on the cutting edge of the field and do research after graduation, the advisor and group that you work for are far more important than the school you went to. Mainly because you hope that the people offering research jobs will have heard about your advisor and your group and have high opinions of them. However, if you plan on getting a 'normal' job, then the prestige of the university comes into play. Most employers aren't familiar with who's who in any particular field and only know what US News and World Report tells them about any particular school (which is jack, and crap).

[BajaOklahoma]

Listen to Ike.

Since you plan to return to Utah, you need to see what credentials are required in Utah to practice Marriage and Family Therapy. License?

As this would be a secondary career, are you thinking of a group practice or solo? There might be a difference in the minimum education a group practice requires vs what you need to set up a private practice.

Any particular bias in Utah for or against the schools you mentioned? Down here, many think the can't-be-mentioned-on-Tuesday group hung the moon and can do no wrong. But there are certain parts of the state that having a degree from there would be a disadvantage (collie station, flat& sandy).

I would think (because I don't know) that a heavy psych background or double-major would be an advantage.....

[Okla-homey]

Listen to Ike.

Since you plan to return to Utah, you need to see what credentials are required in Utah to practice Marriage and Family Therapy. License?


I should think a temple card would be one of the credentials required to be a marriage counselor in Utah. Without one, you'll only get to work on "gentiles." ;)

[Rogue]

Hubler,

It all depends on what you want to do with your degree.
It sounds like counseling?

I have a BA and a MSW from the OU School of Social Work. It was a good program in the '90s and the MSW has proven to be a much more versatile degree than lots of other human service MAs. This is often the selling point you hear from social workers, but more and more I hear it from advisors and folks with other degrees. Like nursing, there are just so many social workers and the social worker organizations have positioned the profession well.

OU has a good "community counseling" program, both Masters and PhD in the Educational Psychology dept. The thing about Social Work is that the MSW is a "terminal" degree in the field meaning you can do almost any job unless your goal is to be a tenured prof. The PhD in Social Work is really a teaching/research degree.

I didn't find the advisor all that important, although mine was good. She has since moved. A big piece of social work education is the practicum experience. Make sure that any Social Work school you look at is accredited by CSWE. I would not recommend attending a school in "candidacy" for accreditation. http://cswe.org/

In most states, an MSW can be licencsed as an addiction specialist, LMFT, and/or Licensed Clinical Social Worker. The MA in counseling allows some psychological testing, otherwise I am convinced the MSW allows for more varied career opportunites and third-party billing, which is important to most employers.

My first love is Psychology. If you plan to get a PhD, stick with Psychology.

MSW schools I'd recommend looking at, depending on your GRE scores:
OU, of course
UT-Arlington
Chicago
Columbia
U/Wisconsin
South Carolina
Arizona State
Our Lady of the Lake - San Antonio
University of Utah has a MSW program I believe.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/majors/brief/major_44-07_brief.php

Finally, I'd talk to some LCSWs and LMFTs in your area. I bet you hear similar advice to what I've offered here.

Enjoy.

[Rogue]

Oh, the thing about UTA is that they have some "dual-degree" options that make it attractive. MPA, Criminal Justice, etc. I've hired a few grads from UTA and taken a licensure prep class there with a good teacher. Several of my classmates from undergrad went to UTA for the MSW program and spoke highly of it.


http://www2.uta.edu/ssw/mssw/dual.htm

http://www2.uta.edu/ssw/

[soonerhubs]

Rogue, Baja, Ike, Homey, SicEm, and yermom, thanks for each post. These will help me gain some more insight. I'm getting my bachelors in family science this December, and this last week or so was the first thought of pursuing anything other than a Masters in Family Therapy with a Phd in family Science.

Now I'm going to add MSW with a PhD in Family Sciences as an option.
Again thanks for the info.
Rogue, I'd like to talk more with you on this.

[SoonerInKCMO]

they have their own building East of Jenkins... i've parked there a lot


I've seen hot chicks going in and out of that building. That's a plus.

[soonerhubs]

I've seen hot chicks going in and out of that building. That's a plus.


Well, there goes my OU option. Mrs S.H. reads SF too you know. (JK) ;)

[slickdawg]

Osce0la will tell you Florid State is the place to go.


If you have a chance to get back to Oklahoma, TAKE IT. just MHO

[soonerhubs]

Osce0la will tell you Florid State is the place to go.


If you have a chance to get back to Oklahoma, TAKE IT. just MHO
Humble, but also my favorite.

[sooneron]

Why on earth would you want to live in Lubbock or Columbus?

[soonerhubs]

Why on earth would you want to live in Lubbock or Columbus?
Excellent question. Someone with connections get me into the OU Social Work Masters program. :)