University of Pennsylvania

Overall I had a positive experience. The professors are great and interested in getting to know you and working with you. As with all social work programs, there are many problems, but you get out what you put in. If you are interested in medical social work then this is a great program because many of their field placements are in hospitals. My biggest complaint is the lack of community even though it is a small program, however they are open to student's criticism and are working to improve it.... Read More

I wasted a ton of money for the prestige of attending an ivy league university. I was 24 when I got my MSW. I worked full time, so I had to do the 3 year part time program, and was limited in what internships I could get. When I graduated I was underqualified in experience and overqualified in education. I never got a job "using" my MSW. When I was going through school I used credit cards to live cause I didn't make enough to pay my bills, thinking the ivy leave MSW would land me a job to pay it... Read More off. I fell into a cycle of debt, and had to go bankrupt to get my life back together. I still have the student loan debt though, it's about $120000. I work full time at a non profit (not using my masters) and I do stand up comedy on the side. I still do weird side gigs to make money as a safety net since I went bankrupt. So unless you have rich parents, don't go to upenn, unless you like being trapped in a pit of your own financial prison with only jokes and cheap wine to pull you out of it from time to time. 

THE PROS: Strong emphasis on social justice and putting education into practice, encouraging students to become involved in the community, wide variety of classes and generally excellent instructors. For instance, I was able to take a course on Post-modern social work practice. There are also mandatory courses exploring topics such as racism in social policy and the history of social welfare in the United States. Opportunities to attend interesting presentations and lectures, great use of guest speakers... Read More in the classes. Excellent online student portal that makes registering for classes and financial aid applications pretty easy. Most graduates of SP2 find jobs fairly easily and there is a definitive job market advantage to having a degree from Penn. Also, while many complain about the field placement office, I've only had very good experiences with them. Just realize that their job is hard and be kind. They do their best to match students to field placements that align with their interests but they can be very difficult to work with if there is a problem at that placement and the student needs to be moved. This is because field placements are hard to come by, since there are so many universities in the area with social work programs and only a very limited number of available placements. THE CONS: Each graduate school at Penn is responsible for its own fundraising and SP2 is behind the curve with this. Minimal grants or scholarships available to students and you'll end up with a heavy student loan debut. However, most of us have decided that in the end it's worth the gamble because of the superior professional network and increased likelihood of being hired if your resume says Social Policy & Practice on it. Also problematic is the strict division between macro and clinical tracks even though most graduates will work in an environment where the macro and clinical overlap. I've also experienced difficulty in my practice class (you take practice classes to compliment your field placement) because the skills I was learning in my assigned field placement did not correspond to the skills we were learning in my practice class. It made completely assignments difficult and the syllabus is designed so that there is little wiggle room to account for these types of situations.