(GMU) The Social Work program at George Mason is awful

How this student rated the school

Research Quality	-	Research Availability	F
Research Funding	F	Graduate Politics	C-
Errand Runners	-	Degree Completion	B-
Alternative pay [ta/gsi]	-	Sufficient Pay	-
Competitiveness	F	Education Quality	D-
Faculty Accessibility	D-	Useful Research	C+
Extracurriculars	F	Success-Understanding	D
Surrounding City	B+	Social Life/Environment	D+
"Individual" treatment	C	Friendliness	D
Safety	B	Campus Beauty	B+
Campus Maintenance	B-	University Resource/spending	C

Describes the student body as: Friendly, Arrogant, Broken Spirit Describes the faculty as: Arrogant, Condescending, Unhelpful, Self Absorbed

Male

Lowest Rating Research Availability	F

Highest Rating Surrounding City	B+

He cares more about Extracurriculars than the average student.

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Social Work (This Major's Salary over time)
The Social Work program at George Mason is awful - it is ranked #66 in the US News & World Report survey of Social Work programs for 2012. Maryland, Catholic, Howard, and VCU are all ranked higher. Mason is dead last in Social Work Programs for the Metro DC area. It's not my opinion: You can research it yourself.

With a few exceptions, the faculty won't listen to the students - many of them have an attitude that they can't be bothered. Some of them don't seem very happy to be there. When there's some sort of problem, students get blamed for it somehow and get put on blast in an email sent to the entire student body. The program teaches students about empowering people to advocate for themselves, but when students try to actually do that, they get shut down. The way the department is run seems to vacillate between treating students like they're children, and treating them like they're on their own and need to find their own way. So the students have low morale.

The field education program is seriously jacked up - heard too many horror stories to count, and know someone who quit the program over it. The position of Field Director seems to be a revolving door. The "part-time" program really is only part-time for two years - you'll be going full-time your last year, and if you take issue with that, they'll suggest you quit your job and go into debt with student loans (in this economy, yeah right - some can't afford to quit their jobs) to go full-time. What kind of faculty person actually encourages a student to go into debt? So make sure you know up front, if you really want to go to school "part-time," it's only part-time the first two years.

Adjuncts seem to teach more classes than on-campus faculty, and in one instance, an adjunct (by her own admission) wasn't even qualified to teach the subject matter she was teaching. The amenities are lacking - cramped up offices for classrooms with no real student lounge. It feels like they converted a hallway broom closet for the student lounge. The only up side is since the classes are held off-campus in an office building, the parking is free.

VCU just started an Online MSW program. If you're thinking of an MSW in Northern VA, can't afford the private schools with Howard or Catholic, and don't want to pay the out of state tuition for MD - and can't decide between VCU (which is ranked #11 in US News & World Report) and George Mason, please, PLEASE consider VCU. They have the ranking, the reputation, the faculty and the resources. Mason doesn't. Graduate education is an investment of time and money, and for the effort you put into it, a degree from VCU would carry more weight and respect. Mason is killing their reputation through how they treat their students, and I don't think they care.

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