May 7, 2008 New Accepted Student Reception

DEADLINES
Advanced Standing/Transfer: January 15
Full-time Program: March 1
Part-time Program: Rolling Admissions

Application Materials
You will find all the information you need to apply to GSSW on our website. You can apply online for both the MSW and PhD program.

While applications will be accepted until the class is filled, early filing is recommended as the School operates on a rolling admissions policy and qualified candidates outnumber the spaces available.

Qualifications
The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work is an academic community whose doors are open to all students without regard to race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, parental or marital status, disability, veteran status, gender or age.

The Admissions Committee of the School reviews all applications, forming its decision to accept a candidate from evidence that the applicant has the personal and academic qualifications necessary for success as a graduate student of social work and as a professional social worker.

Personal qualifications include intelligence, maturity, and the ability to relate to people in a professional, helping manner. Candidates should be temperamentally suited for social work and, in general, possessed of a character and disposition that will make for leadership in the field. The Admissions Committee attaches particular importance to knowledge about current social issues. Paid or volunteer experience in the field of social welfare is also valuable, however, academic credit is not given for life experience. The admissions decisions are based on a combination of criteria rather than on any one factor.

References
References should be persons who know the candidate well enough to evaluate his/her potential for the field of social work. If the applicant has been employed in a social agency, one reference should be the most recent employer or supervisor; if currently or recently a student, one reference should be a faculty advisor or instructor. General references on file in college placement offices are not usually adequate for the purposes of this application. References should be persons best able to assess potential for the profession, e. g., supervisors of any community or volunteer activities in which the applicant has engaged.

Academic requirements include:
A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and a broad liberal arts background with at least twenty semester hours in the social, behavioral and biological sciences.
A strong undergraduate record which gives evidence of ability to complete graduate edu-cation. No standardized tests are required, however, non-traditional transcripts or Junior/Senior GPAs below 3.0 may be strengthened by submission of the results of the Miller Analogies Test (or GRE), available through most -university testing services. The BC GSSW school code is 3219

All students whose first language is other than English must present evidence of English language proficiency through scores achieved on the Test of English as a Foreign language (TOEFL). Information regarding dates on which the TOEFL is given may be obtained from the American Embassy in the applicant’s country or, in the United States, by writing to the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey 08540. It should be taken no later than the October prior to the year in which admission is sought. The department code for the TOEFL is 5939.

Transfer students
Students who earned course and/or field work credits in an accredited MSW program may receive up to the equivalent of one-half of the total credits needed for graduation. Students may request transfer of not more than six non-MSW graduate credits taken prior to admission. Only courses in which a student has received a grade of B or better, and which have not been applied to a prior degree, will be accepted. Credit received for courses completed five years prior to a student’s admission to his or her current degree program are not acceptable for transfer.

Interviews
An interview is not required but may be requested by the Admission Committee. “Informational Seminars” are offered periodically during the Fall and Winter at Mc-Guinn Hall, as well as at regional sites.