Public Spark

Steep tuition

Anytime you go to college, one grimm reality is the tuition cost. In particular, private schools have a higher tuition rate. However, the good news is that each school offers financial aid which includes loans, scholarships and work-study.

Observation

It is always important to visit the schools that you wish to go. In this way, you can get an instinctual idea of what the school is like, meet the students, and meet some of the faculty.

Concentrations/ Emphasis

In some social work schools, especially in the graduate levels there are various concentrations, which allow you to focus on certain aspects of social work. I chose to do my graduate studies at University of Southern California primarily because they had a health concentration.

Internship opportunities

This is a real important aspect in picking a school because this is what you will be putting down as job experience. Would you want more experience working in the government sector? hospitals?

Academic courses

Each school has their set of required courses, but some offer special courses. Social entrepreneurship? music therapy? art therapy?

Location

This is another key aspect. Do you want to be close to home or far from it? Urban or rural? These make a difference when you are committing at least 2 years of your life to school.

Work-friendly

If you are considering working on the side do they have programs that allow you to do so? If you have 16 units and a 20 hour internship, I won’t say it’s impossible, but it is hard to also have a part-time job on top of that. In grad school, there are programs that have 3 or 4 year tracks, for those who want to continue working.

Opportunities for networking

What kind of opportunities or functions does the school have? Clubs/ organizations that are interesting?

Reputation

Just because it a top ranked school does not mean it is the right school for you. Some succeed without going to college, some succeed by going to a community college. Just because the school has a good reputation does not guarantee your success.

Kind staff and faculty?

Are the faculty easy to approach and communicate with? Upon first impression, do they strike you as people you would want to learn from? Are there professors doing research in a subject you are interested in?