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Graduate School of Social Work

Admissions

| Application Procedures | Admissions Requirements | International Applicants |
| Conditional Admission | Deadlines | Review Process | Advanced Graduate Standing |
| Transfer Students | Postbaccalaureates |

Due to the sequential nature of graduate professional education in social work, students may begin their studies only in the fall semester. Admissions Seminars for Prospective

Applicants

Recognizing that many prospective applicants have questions about the M.S.W. program, its requirements, and curriculum, as well as about the social work profession, the GSSW offers a series of admissions seminars during the fall and spring semesters. Interested persons should telephone the school at (713) 743-8078 for information about dates and times.

Application Procedures

Application materials are sent to those requesting admissions information about the GSSW. Since the GSSW has its own admissions policies, procedures, and deadlines, applicants should submit all admissions documents and inquiries to:

Graduate School of Social Work
Attn: Admissions Assistant
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204-4492
Telephone: (713) 743-8078

A nonrefundable $45.00 application fee must accompany your application for admission. An application cannot be reviewed until all required materials and fees have been received.

Admissions Requirements

1. A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university. The applicant's undergraduate education must reflect a sound liberal arts foundation, including courses in the humanities, as well as in the social, behavioral, and biological sciences with content in human biology.
2. A grade point average of 3.0 or better (4.0 scale) for the last 60 hours of academic course work. Note: Applicants holding law degrees and those with grades in law courses must have a grade point average of 3.0 or above, exclusive of law school grades, for the last 60 hours of academic course work, and a grade point average in law courses of 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) or 75 (on a 0-100 scale).
3. Three letters of recommendation from persons who can address the applicant's ability and potential for graduate education and professional social work practice (i.e., former professors, employment supervisors, professional colleagues).
4. A personal narrative statement reflecting the applicant's academic and employment histories, as well as his/her interest in the social work profession, and a social issue statement.
5. A demonstrated ability to produce, in writing, a review and summary of a brief article or excerpt, plus a response to a social issue statement. Specific sessions will be scheduled at the school during the application cycle to enable local applicants to meet this requirement; for applicants who do not reside in the Houston area, arrangements will be made with other social work programs or agencies in the applicant's location.
6. A demonstrated understanding of statistics. Within three years prior to admission, prospective students should have taken and passed (with a grade of B or above) a course in statistics; documentation must be submitted on an official transcript. Through this course, prospective students should have acquired a working knowledge of central tendency and dispersion, standardization and graphic illustration of data, levels of measurement, and bivariate inferential statistics.
   Applicants admitted to the program without having met the statistics requirement will be required to do so prior to enrollment in research courses. Full-time students must meet this requirement prior to their initial fall enrollment since it is a prerequisite for the first research course taught in the fall semester. Typically, the Graduate School of Social Work offers a statistics course in the summer for newly admitted students. This course is limited to those who have been accepted for admission and will not apply as credit toward the M.S.W. degree.
7. Proficiency in English. Any student, prior to admission or during the course of study, may be required to demonstrate English proficiency through submission of a satisfactory score on a test designated by the associate dean of the college. Students whose written or spoken English proficiency is marginal in relation to the communication skills needed for effective social work practice may be required to seek instruction outside the college.
8. A personal interview may be requested by faculty admissions reviewers or by the applicant.

International Applicants

Any applicant who is not a United States citizen and is the holder of a nonimmigrant type visa is classified as an international student or applicant by the University of Houston. While some of these regulations are listed below, persons in this category should contact the GSSW Admissions Analyst for more detailed information regarding admission requirements.

General Regulations for International Applicants:

1. Applicants from countries where English is not the usual means of communication must submit a TOEFL score of no less than 550. Test scores may not be more than two years old.
2. International students on nonimmigrant visas must carry hospitalization and medical insurance.
3. Visas issued for the purpose of study do not normally carry employment privileges.
4. New students on nonimmigrant visas are required to enroll for an orientation program which takes place at the beginning of the semester.
5. Holders of nonimmigrant visas must be enrolled full time for each semester.

Conditional Admission

Conditional admission may be granted to applicants who have grade point averages of less than 3.0 (A=4.0) only if the applicant: (1) has a grade point average of at least 2.6 in the last 60 hours of academic work; (2) meets all other admissions requirements; and (3) submits a written request to be considered for conditional admission based on having met at least one of the following criteria:

1. completion of six hours of graduate level course work taken outside the GSSW with a grade point average of 3.0 or above (A=4.0), with documentation on an official transcript; OR
2. submission of official GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores on both the verbal and quantitative sections of the general test, taken no more than five years prior to application to the GSSW. (Note: Verbal and quantitative scores are examined separately and are evaluated as one information source in the total application); OR
3. evidence of outstanding paid or volunteer experience in social work agencies or related human service organizations (documentation by additional letters of recommendation is required). To be considered outstanding, experience must (1) clearly be experience in a social work capacity; (2) be no less than the equivalent of two years of full-time experience; and (3) entail performance that far exceeds the norm, convincingly documented in support letters from persons who supervised the applicant. Note: Students holding visas (F-1 or J-1) are not eligible for conditional admission at the graduate level.

Deadlines

Since the GSSW admits students only once a year (in the fall), the deadline for receipt of all materials is March 16; applications completed after this deadline will be reviewed only if there is a reasonable likelihood that space will be available in the fall incoming class. Admission in the summer is possible only for students who have not yet met the statistics requirement (see Admission Requirement #6) and who plan to meet this requirement through the summer course offered by the GSSW. Interested persons are urged to begin the application process far in advance of the deadline, as the school reserves the right to close the application cycle at an earlier date if all available slots are filled.

Applicants approved for admission must return the GSSW confirmation form to hold their slot; if not confirmed, that slot will be given to someone on the waiting list. Additionally, students who fail to enroll in the semester they are admitted must reapply for admission and are not guaranteed automatic admission in any future year.

Review Process

Applicants will receive postcard updates on the status of their application, including a notice that the application is complete and ready for review. When a decision has been made, applicants will be notified by letter from the associate dean of the GSSW; no admission decisions are given by telephone. The admissions process is coordinated by the associate dean as part of the GSSW Student Affairs Committee. In evaluating applicants, faculty admissions reviewers take into consideration many factors and no one criterion alone automatically determines acceptance or nonacceptance into the program. Among the factors examined are the applicant's undergraduate course work in relation to a strong liberal arts base and past academic performance as reflected in the cumulative grade point average (last 60 credit hours of academic work). Consideration is also given to employment or volunteer efforts in social work/social welfare, letters of recommendation (submitted by persons selected by the applicant), demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in writing, and motivation for a career as a professional social worker.

Special Admissions Categories

Advanced Graduate Standing

Applicants holding a Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.) degree or its equivalent from a Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredited undergraduate program may request consideration for Advanced Graduate Standing (i.e., waiver of specific foundation courses).

To be considered for advanced graduate standing, applicants must meet the following requirements:

1. Hold a B.S.W. degree (from a CSWE accredited program) completed within five years of the date of admission to the Graduate School of Social Work.
2. Have an undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or above (A=4.0) for the last 60 semester hours of academic course work.
3. Have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in all undergraduate social work courses.

To apply for advanced graduate standing

Advanced graduate standing has a two-phase application procedure: first, applicants must apply and be accepted unconditionally to the Graduate School of Social Work; second, if the student meets the requirements noted above for advanced graduate standing, she/he must submit a written request for advanced standing review. This written request must be accompanied by a copy of the student's previous college catalog, a copy of that college's social work degree requirements, and course materials such as syllabi which show course content or assignments. All materials must be received by the admissions analyst at least two months prior to the semester in which the student plans to enroll. The director of the M.S.W. program, in consultation with faculty, will assess competencies already achieved for students requesting advanced standing. Deadlines must be met to allow adequate time for review of materials and to arrange for special advising.

Social Work Transfer Students - M.S.W.

Students who transfer to the Graduate School of Social Work from another CSWE-accredited graduate program must meet all admissions requirements and have at least a 3.0 (B) average in all graduate social work courses in order to receive transfer credit. A maximum of 30 semester hours credit, earned within five years of the student's enrollment at the GSSW, with grades of B or above, may be transferred for credit toward the M.S.W. degree. In addition to the usual application materials, transfer students must also submit an evaluation of first year field performance, a Statement of Good Standing from the dean or director of your program, and a catalog from the institution in which you are enrolled. Transfer student applications and materials are reviewed by the associate dean in consultation with faculty.

Non-Social Work Transfer Credit

In the M.S.W. program, two categories of transfer credit for courses taken in disciplines or fields other than social work are recognized:

1. A maximum of nine semester hours of credit, earned within five years of the student's enrollment at the GSSW, with grades of B or above, may be transferred as credit toward the M.S.W. degree with the adviser's approval. That is, if a student has taken a series of graduate courses, but did not earn a master's degree, a maximum of nine graduate hours may be applied toward the M.S.W.
2. A maximum of six semester hours of credit, earned within five years of the student's enrollment at the GSSW, with grades of B or above, may be transferred from an earned master's degree toward the M.S.W. now in progress. That is, a student may have earned a master's degree in a different discipline, and may now wish to apply credit toward the M.S.W.

In both cases, the student must request consideration of transfer credit with his/her adviser after admission to the program. Students will need to present course outlines and related information in order for the adviser to evaluate the request. Requests for non-social work transfer credit are evaluated largely on relevance to the student's present course of study toward the M.S.W. and academic soundness. The student's request, accompanied by supporting information and the adviser's written recommendation, will be submitted to the associate dean for final approval. In all cases, graduate credit from other disciplines must be consistent with the goals and objectives of the M.S.W. program.

Graduate credit is not granted for correspondence courses, extension courses, continuing education courses, advanced standing examinations (except as pertaining to advanced graduate standing in the GSSW), life or employment experience, or if an equivalent course offered by the University of Houston does not warrant graduate credit.

Postbaccalaureate Students

Postbaccalaureate (PB) students are students who have earned one or more undergraduate or graduate degrees from accredited institutions and are not seeking admission to the GSSW.

Postbaccalaureate students who later decide to apply for admission to the GSSW will be allowed no more than six credit hours earned as a PB to be applied toward the M.S.W. degree. These six credit hours must be selected from the foundation courses, must be grades of B or above, and must have been completed within two years from the date of application to the GSSW.

Persons who hold the Master of Social Work degree or related master's degree and who wish to take courses in the Graduate School of Social Work for their own professional development are not limited in the number of credit hours that can be earned as a PB student.

All PB students are required to have written approval from the course instructor or the associate dean in order to register for GSSW courses. The student must submit the written approval to the GSSW College Academic Advisor prior to registering. It is the PB student's responsibility to secure the required approval. Postbaccalaureate students who register for graduate social work courses without the required approval will be dropped from the course(s). No regularly admitted M.S.W. student will be denied a place in any class in deference to a PB student.