FAQ

MSW Program Questions

1. I'm confused about the application deadline. You say it's June 1 but recommend that I send it in as soon as possible. Why?
2. Yes, I'm seeking financial aid. What do I do?
3. What kind of financial assistance could I anticipate to receive?
4. Will my GPA make or break my admittance into the MSW program?
5. Do I have to take the GRE?
6. I'm an international student. What do I need to score on the TOEFL?
7. Who should I ask to write reference letters for me?
8. What prerequisite courses are required before I begin the program?
9. How many students are in the program?
10. How do I apply for the dual degree program?
11. Are there any other dual degree programs with social work?
12. Are there summer courses?
13. Do I get to choose my internships? When do they start and how long are they?
14. Do you offer night classes? Can I work while I'm in school?
15. Do you have distance learning classes or do I need to come there?
16. Does Baylor have a wireless network?
17. Is this a religious graduate program?
18. Why should I come to Baylor if I feel called to work with people in need?
19. What if I don't feel called to work in a congregation or faith-based program-is there a place for me here?
20. Tell me about Waco.
21. Where can I live?
22. Where is the School of Social Work at Baylor?

MSW Program Questions

1. I'm confused about the application deadline. You say it's June 1 but recommend that I send it in as soon as possible. Why?
Our application deadline is June 1. The crunch for time has more to do with financial aid. We receive a specific amount of money to give out in tuition remission, and when it is gone, it's gone. It is recommended that you apply one year in advance.

2. Yes, I'm seeking financial aid. What do I do?
If you are seeking financial aid to attend Baylor, you will need to complete a Financial Aid Application (online and in packets). If you are accepted, Marilyn Gusukuma will email you, then Dr. Myers will send you a letter to notify acceptance; it may also contain a financial offer if you have applied early and monies are available. You sign the letter (like an athlete's letter of intent) and return to the School of Social Work, so we then put aside that money for you.

We believe that you will find that this program is worth the investment whether you pay full tuition price or a portion of it. You are investing in your future as an advanced practitioner.

3. What kind of financial assistance could I anticipate to receive?
Depending on your application and the date you apply, your offer may include around half of tuition costs per academic year. The tuition remission is provided on a first-come first-served basis, so early application is recommended. Some also receive a stipend (or graduate assistantship), where one works for 10-20 hours per week for cash in hand during the academic year. However, the assistantships are merit and interest based. For example, if a faculty member seeks an assistant who has webpage skills, a student who has that knowledge would be more likely to receive that assistantship. We currently have a grant that involves work with the elderly as well as one that works with churches. If either is your interest, you may be able to conduct research with a professor on that grant as well as receive tuition assistantship.

4. Will my GPA make or break my admittance into the MSW program?
Many factors enter into the admission decision for a professional school; there is not one single indicator for admission. In terms of your GPA, one goal of an applicant might be to offer the admissions committee a GPA that predicts your success in graduate study. Providing this kind of support for the application is helpful, but may not be the factor that determines the admission decision.

5. Do I have to take the GRE?
No. The GRE is no longer required.

6. I'm an international student. What do I need to score on the TOEFL?
The minimum required score for TOEFL is 550 on the paper-based or 213 on the computer-based version. For the speaking test, 23 is the minimum required score, and 80 is the minimum score needed on the new Internet-based test. Our catalog is now online, and further information can be found under the Graduate Program, Admissions.

7. Who should I ask to write reference letters for me?
Three strong professional reference letters are required from each applicant. Select persons who have knowledge of you in some of the following areas: intellectual competence; potential for success; the ability to work with people about sensitive issues, including people from diverse backgrounds; possession of critical thinking and communication skills; and a sense of values and ethics. References from your faculty and those who have supervised you or know of your work in a social work related paid or volunteer setting are particularly helpful. Advanced Standing applicants will need a reference from the undergraduate program director, the director of field education, or the field instructor.

8. What prerequisite courses are required before I begin the program?
A couple of prerequisites that you will need to have are a science course with a lab (we prefer human biology) and a statistics course. Others include courses in the humanities, communication, etc. Please look at the application and/or the catalog.

9. How many students are in the program?
Currently there are about 80 students in all three programs. Non-practice class size averages about 20-40; practice classes average about 10-20.

10. How do I apply for the dual degree program?
You will have to be admitted to both Truett Seminary and the School of Social Work in order to pursue the MSW/MDiv dual degree (2 different applications). Please talk with the seminary re: financial aid because you may be able to get scholarship money that will help cover most of your social work courses. Truett has terrific tuition remission opportunities, and if you are Baptist, that opportunity improves even more. There are three Preview Days per year at Truett, and they will help you with expenses to come and visit.

11. Are there any other dual degree programs with social work?
A new dual degree with George W. Truett Seminary is the Master of Theological Studies/Master of Social Work. It is significantly shorter than the MDiv degree.

12. Are there summer courses?
If you are in the 2 year program, you will begin an internship in your spring semester of your first year that will carry over into the summer session-either part time all summer or full time for the first summer session. If you are in the Advanced Standing program, you will begin that program during the second summer session, around July 5 and attend classes from 8-12 Monday – Friday for five weeks.

13. Do I get to choose my internships? When do they start and how long are they?
There are many opportunities for internships, and students may express preference of context and/or population. The first year internship (for the foundation program) begins in the spring of your first year and continues through that summer (spring-16 hours per week; summer-either 35 hours per week for first summer session for 2-3 days per week during both sessions). The concentration year internship begins that fall, but you only work 60-90 hours over the fall semester (about 1 day per week). In the spring, you work about 35 hours per week at the internship. Some of those internships may include out of town placements.

14. Do you offer night classes? Can I work while I'm in school?
Currently we do not have any evening classes, although course scheduling is set up on a semester by semester basis. Because most of the courses are offered in 3 hour blocks (for example, in the fall, your schedule would probably be all day Monday and Wednesday with a possibility of a Thursday morning class), there are opportunities of time to work.

15. Do you have distance learning classes or do I need to come there?
There are no distance learning courses. There is the possibility of an out of town/state concentration internship your final semester.

16. Does Baylor have a wireless network?
Baylor has AirBear, a system in most buildings where you do not have to plug in your laptop.

17. Is this a religious graduate program?
Our program is based from a Christian worldview, and there are reading assignments that include a Christian perspective. However, our program's chief purpose is to prepare and educate professional social workers, regardless of the student's faith (or non-faith) base. The integration of faith and practice relates to these ideas:

Self-awareness of the values, belief system, and/or faith of the practitioner (recognition of strengths as well as biases)
Ability to approach the helping process holistically, including the client's spiritual needs and strengths
Awareness and respect for the context in which the social worker practices, e.g., secular or faith-based organization.

18. Why should I come to Baylor if I feel called to work with people in need?
Our program could be a strong enabler of one's call to ministry with persons and communities in need. You will have that opportunity both as an MSW student as well as a dual degree student with Truett Seminary (MSW/MDiv degree). As a dual degree student, you would be in a context that would permit you to understand more deeply the intellectual and theological underpinnings of your sense of mission. You would be provided with an opportunity to reflect on the interface between your faith and social work practice and consider the ways your practice informs your faith. You would be challenged to give expression to your gifts of leadership and be equipped for advanced practice with families or physical or mental health.

19. What if I don't feel called to work in a congregation or faith-based program-is there a place for me here?
Yes! The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has fully accredited our program as one that provides excellent social work education and training for you to be a competent professional social worker. Not all social workers work in a faith-based context; in fact, most of them do not.

20. Tell me about Waco.
Waco's population is about 150,000 (including surrounding suburbs), which makes it a great size town for having lots of restaurants, stores, things to do, but not so big that traffic is a problem. The weather is usually mild from October to June, but is rather hot in the summer. The cost of living is low, people are friendly, and we are in what is fondly known or teased as "The Bible Belt." People are friendly here and say hello even when they do not know you. The Baylor campus is beautiful, and there is a vast array of things to do on campus! I invite you to come and visit and see for yourself. Many students come to our campus and have said that all they did was step out of the car, look around, and the feeling of ‘this is where I want to be' surrounds them.

21. Where can I live?
There are many apartments near campus as well as all over Waco. The closer you live to campus, the more expensive the apartment/house. There are also graduate dorms. Email Tom_Pope@baylor.edu for more information about on campus graduate housing.

22. Where is the School of Social Work at Baylor?
We are located at the Speight Plaza Parking Facility at 4th and Speight. To get here, take I-35 to Waco, take the exit for University Parks Drive-take that one and turn (left if from Dallas, right if from Austin) east on University Parks drive toward campus (you will see lots of red brick buildings). Pass 2 stoplights till the 3rd one, which is Bagby-turn Right. Stay on Bagby till you get to 4th St, turn Right. It is a short street that dead ends into the campus, but before the dead end is a 4 story red brick parking garage on the left-turn in there and park (bring in your license number for us to give to DPS to avoid a parking ticket). On the bottom floor are 2 gray double doors; enter and look to the left-see more double doors that say School of Social Work on them. The first office on the left is Krista Barrett, and she can direct you to Tracey Kelley, Dennis Myers, or Marilyn Gusukuma. Call if you get lost--254-710-6400 (Krista's number). Another option is to keep going on 4th street into the parking lot at the dead end--there are some visitor parking slots there.