I spoke to a couple upper-years at McMaster on Welcome Day and they said that the social work program is very intensive and difficult. Now I'm starting to worry that I won't be able to handle it, but other than social work there is nothing I'm particularly interested in majoring in. Another thing is that I have a social anxiety problem and I'm already worried about having to work through that what with the interviewing and stuff, will the difficulty of the program be too hard in conjunction with that?

What are your opinions (especially from those in the program)?

Hey Samantha, as a social work grad and now practicing social worker I hope I can answer your questions.

Yes, the social work program is intensive and difficult, Social Work 1A06 is not representative of the program itself. However, the workload is manageable if you balance your time and prioritize. The class sizes are small and we call our profs by first name! The faculty is extremely approachable and helpful if you run into any issues or concerns. Every incoming student is paired up with a "faculty advisor." So if you're having any issues talk with them or the instructors of your courses. Are you taking the post-degree program or the BA/BSW? Because in the BA/BSW program you will have to take six courses per term. However, a lot of people take summer school to reduce their courseload during the fall/winter term. I would strongly suggest this. Especially for 3rd and 4th year when you have your field placement

I've written several course reviews on MI so you may want to have a look at them, here are links for the foundation level courses:
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php/social-work-labour-studies-2b03-41149.html?ltr=S&t=41 149
http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php/social-work-labour-studies-2bb3-35956.html?ltr=S&t=35 956

In terms of social anxiety I absolutely understand where you're coming from. I can be quite shy/nervous sometimes. The interviewing in Social Work 2A06 scared me quite a bit at first, but remember everyone else is in the same boat as you and will be interviewing in front of others. Think of your tutorial as a group of cheerleaders who want you to do well! I actually find interviewing real clients much easier than interviewing actors in front of a group of people, it's much more natural!

Yes, it is a hard program, but it is a small and very supportive program. I am extremely happy that I chose this as my career. I hope it works out for you, if you have any more questions feel free to PM me!

Thank you so much for the detailed response! I appreciate it! Sounds like a very nice, friendly program to be in.

Generally social work is not a tough course to most of the students but it was for me. I suffered a lot during my graduation. It was my elder brothers decision to take this course. I was not at all interested in it in fact I am not at all interested in studying. During my graduation the most difficult part was the dissertation in social work, I had to spent a lot of time to complete. Somehow I could score decent marks.

Originally Posted by davidchatman

Generally social work is not a tough course to most of the students but it was for me. I suffered a lot during my graduation. It was my elder brothers decision to take this course. I was not at all interested in it in fact I am not at all interested in studying. During my graduation the most difficult part was the dissertation in social work, I had to spent a lot of time to complete. Somehow I could score decent marks.

Do you have a msw, or were you speaking of being in the ba/bsw program? Also, can you offer any tips for writing the admissions test? I am writing it this March and I am really nervous. I have heard there are quite a few people that apply, and only 40-45 spots.

Social work is an insane program. I was orginally in social work but then i had to switch into art since i failed alot of courses. :(

> Anything but Engineering
> Difficult

top lel

Originally Posted by topkek

> Anything but Engineering
> Difficult

top lel

not sure if trolling or not, but I'd like to see an engineer spend an hour with someone who's suicidal to contract a safety plan.

Originally Posted by jamescw1234

not sure if trolling or not, but I'd like to see an engineer spend an hour with someone who's suicidal to contract a safety plan.

Different strokes for different folks

Originally Posted by jamescw1234

not sure if trolling or not, but I'd like to see an engineer spend an hour with someone who's suicidal to contract a safety plan.

Well, that's not entirely fair. Being capable of engineering / being capable of social work aren't mutually exclusive things.

But, yeah. The "omg engineering is the toughest program all u guise r so soft trololol" breed of engineers tend to just be stuck-up bullies who are more likely to cause someone to be suicidal. I can just imagine it: "You have an arts degree, so just do us a favour and hurry up and kill yourself already. You're just going to end up working at McDonalds anyway because engineering is the only degree that can get you a job and engineer is the only job worth a damn."

Naw, don't worry, you won't have to deal with suicidal people everyday. Just sit in Ontario Works office and hand out free money to immigrants.

Originally Posted by Quiver

Well, that's not entirely fair. Being capable of engineering / being capable of social work aren't mutually exclusive things.

But, yeah. The "omg engineering is the toughest program all u guise r so soft trololol" breed of engineers tend to just be stuck-up bullies who are more likely to cause someone to be suicidal. I can just imagine it: "You have an arts degree, so just do us a favour and hurry up and kill yourself already. You're just going to end up working at McDonalds anyway because engineering is the only degree that can get you a job and engineer is the only job worth a damn."

Yeah, they're both very different and both very challenging professions. I'm not trained to do engineering assessments and plans just like how they aren't trained to do social work assessments and plans.

Originally Posted by topkek

Naw, don't worry, you won't have to deal with suicidal people everyday. Just sit in Ontario Works office and hand out free money to immigrants.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Originally Posted by topkek

Naw, don't worry, you won't have to deal with suicidal people everyday. Just sit in Ontario Works office and hand out free money to immigrants.

I know you're a troll, but it's worth pointing out that this is an ignorant point of view. People in the social service sector do deal with social services such as ODSP and welfare, but also deal with intervention, community service, addictions, outreach, and life skills instructors. Social workers work more in domestic, psychiatric counselling and intervention, and otherwise focus on helping people cope with trauma and major life troubles. (from my understanding)

Originally Posted by RyanC

I know you're a troll, but it's worth pointing out that this is an ignorant point of view. People in the social service sector do deal with social services such as ODSP and welfare, but also deal with intervention, community service, addictions, outreach, and life skills instructors. Social workers work more in domestic, psychiatric counselling and intervention, and otherwise focus on helping people cope with trauma and major life troubles. (from my understanding)

Social work is an extremely broad profession. We do everything above (intervention, community service, outreach) as well as the domestic/psych counselling. Social workers also work in child protection, as well on a more macro level doing policy analysis. In a nutshell social work basically is a profession that involves helping individuals, families, groups, community and society.