Begin Your M.S.W. Application

Congratulations on taking the first step towards your graduate degree! Once you start your application, we are with you every step of the way. To start, simply click the button below to open your application. You'll be paired with an admission counselor who will be your contact person throughout your application process. Once you begin, you may return to your application and submit materials in any order, at any time.

Below you will find information about the application process and required documents. Please be sure to review the supplemental materials and the additional materials required for special applications. If you have any questions, please reach out to our admission team.

Application Deadlines

All Applicants

A complete application includes:

» Application Form
» $60 Application Fee (you may be eligible for a waiver, details below!)
» Résumé
» Internship Placement Form
» Three Letters of Reference
» Essays
» Official Transcripts
» Supplemental Materials: Employment-Based Internship Form; Financial Aid Application; Test Scores

» Additional materials are required for individuals applying through the Five College Circle of Scholar program or applying as an advanced standing, transfer or international candidate.

By creating an account, you'll be able to save and return to your application at any time.

You may be eligible for a waiver .

You can waive the application fee if:

• You have attended an Open House and use the fee waiver code provided
• You are an active service member with the U.S. Armed Forces
• A School for Social Work alum or community member recommended you to the program and provided a waiver code to you
• You have need-based circumstances and have submitted a request to sswadm@smith.edu and received an approval code from the School
• You have been referred to the School via the One Student at a Time program
• You have attended our exhibit at a fair (please pick up a card with the waiver code from our admissions representative)
• You are applying to be considered for the Five College Circle of Scholars

1. Your expanded résumé should detail your paid and volunteer experiences; include both human service related endeavors and non-human service related work. Your résumé should include the following categories:
   1. Your full name/address/phone/e-mail
   2. Education: College(s) attended; degree(s) received and year in which the degree(s) was received
   3. Academic awards: Date award was received and brief description of award criteria
   4. Paid work experiences: Dates worked (from – to); approximate number of hours/week worked; your title, primary duties/responsibilities; name and title of your supervisor
   5. Volunteer experiences: Dates worked (from – to); approximate number of hours/week worked; your title, primary duties/responsibilities; name and title of your supervisor
   6. Other relevant information
      A resume template has been provided for your use. We strongly encourage you to use this format when submitting your resume. If you opt to use another format, we ask you to include all the information included in the template.

   Please note: If you are accepted and elect to attend Smith, this résumé will be shared with the field agency to which you are assigned. The agency will use the contact information provided on your resume to contact you for the interview. Please make sure that your contact information on your resume is current.

   Internship Placement Form

   The process of matching an applicant to a specific internship assignment is a careful one taking into close consideration the applicant’s learning and living needs as well as the requirements stipulated by SSW’s affiliated agency partners.

   Reference Listing

   We require three letters of reference. It is your responsibility to follow up with reference writers to ensure completion. If you are unable to contact your reference writers using our system above, complete the top portion of this form and distribute to your reference writers.

   Essay questions vary based on application type. The below questions are for all applicants to the full 27-month program. Essay questions for Advanced Standing applicants may be found in the Advanced Standing tab of the Additional Required Materials for Special Applications section.

   Preamble: The NASW Code of Ethics (2008) states that service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, the importance of human relationships, integrity and competence are the core values of the social work profession. Faculty will be evaluating your response for content and the quality and organization of your writing.

   Please answer each of the following questions separately. The essays as a group should not exceed 8-10 pages, double-spaced. Please be sure to put your name on your essay questions.

   1. Discuss your educational history (undergraduate and/or post undergraduate) and the ways in which it has prepared you for graduate education in clinical social work. What are your academic strengths? What are areas you can identify for further growth?
   2. The capacity to understand the experience and perspectives of other individuals or groups and use this empathic connection as a basis for productive professional relationships is a necessary component of effective social work practice. Describe a significant interpersonal interaction you have experienced in an academic, volunteer, or work setting. Discuss your interaction and the ways in which your actions reflect your capacity to work empathically and effectively.
   3. The capacity for self-reflection and self-management in situations that challenge one’s values and beliefs is a necessary component of a professional social work practice that supports the dignity and worth of others. Describe an experience you have had in an academic, volunteer or professional setting that required you to demonstrate the capacity for self-reflection and self-management in a role that placed you in service to others.
   4. CSWE, our accrediting body, asserts that social work “understands how racism and oppression shape human experiences and how these two constructs influence [our work]” with marginalized and impoverished people. Discuss your personal or professional experiences/work with racism and/or oppression. What strengths, challenges or lessons have you taken from these experiences?
   5. The Smith M.S.W. program offers a single concentration: clinical social work, which prepares students to address the biopsychosocial needs of individuals, families, couples, and groups affected by life changes and challenges. Why do you believe that the Smith M.S.W. program is a good fit for you? What skills and attributes do you bring to clinical social work?
   Official Transcripts

   Required from all institutions from which you have received, or will receive, academic credit and include courses, credits and grades for each course.

   Transferred credit to the degree-granting institution may be listed but must include the courses, credits and grades from the degree granting courses, and the courses, credit amounts and grades from the transfer college or a separate, official transcript from the college from which transfer credits were obtained is required.

   An unofficial/student copy of the transcript may be used as a placeholder until the official copy arrives. Please upload directly or email unofficial transcripts to sswapp@smith.edu .

   Official transcripts can be sent electronically to Smith College School for Social Work at sswapp@smith.edu or mailed to:

   Smith College School for Social Work,
   Office of Admission, Lilly Hall,
   Northampton, MA 01063

   Supplemental Materials
   1. Employment-Based Internship Form (if applicable)
   2. Financial Aid
      1. Five College Circle of Scholars Deadline: November 30
      2. Non-Binding Early Decision Deadline: January 5
      3. Regular Admission Deadline: March 1

      Type of Test	Required
      GRE*	Not required but scores may be submitted
      MAT*	Not required but scores may be submitted
      IELTS/TOEFL iBT/DUOLINGO	An applicant for whom English is not a first language must take the IELTS, TOEFL iBT or DUOLINGO exam; official scores must be sent to the School by February 1.

      *On occasion, the School may request one or the other of these standardized tests as needed.

      Additional Required Materials for Special Applications

      Five College Circle of Scholars Applicants

      

      The Five College Circle of Scholars (5CCS) is a program available to students who are completing (or have completed) an undergraduate degree at one of the Five Colleges (Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Amherst College, Hampshire College or UMass Amherst) and who are interested in applying to the Smith College School for Social Work for their master of social work.

      Scholarships and Other Benefits for Five College Circle of Scholars

      • Application fee waiver
      • Priority in admission decision making (and an admission decision before the winter break!)
      • Priority in grant-funded financial aid from SSW (ranging from $3,000 - $22,000/year). Applicants must qualify for financial aid according to our financial aid policy.
      • Consideration for the Five College Merit Scholarship Award ($3,000)
      • Preference in the geographical location of your internship

      Qualifying criteria for the Five College Circle of Scholars program

      Applicants must have graduated from (or be about to graduate from) one of the Five Colleges and must apply by November 30.

      Deadlines

      Application Type	Deadline	Notification Date in the Portal
      Five College Circle of Scholars	November 30	December 21

      Application Materials Required:

      1. Application (review All Applicants tab above)
      Advanced Standing Applicants

      Deadlines

      Application Type	Deadline	Notification Date in the Portal
      Five College Circle of Scholars	November 30	December 21
      Non-Binding Early Decision	January 5	February 6
      International Applicants	February 15	On or before March 30
      Regular Decision	February 21	On or before March 30

      In addition to completing the application form, candidates for admission must be graduates of Bachelor of Social Work programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. Normally, candidates must have completed their B.S.W. within six years of the application to Smith College, but exceptions may be considered. Advanced Standing status is only for those who have completed a bachelors in social work (B.S.W.) degree. The School does not grant social work course credit for life experience or previous work experience.

      *We strongly encourage advanced standing candidates to apply by the early admission deadline of January 5 to be able to accommodate your preferred internship location.

      Application Materials Required:

      1. Application (review All Applicants tab above)
      2. Essays
         1. A necessary component of effective social work practice is empathy, the capacity to understand the experiences and perspectives of other individuals or groups. Social work practice uses empathic connection as a basis for productive professional relationships. Describe a significant interpersonal interaction you have experienced in an academic, volunteer, or work setting and discuss the ways in which your actions reflect your capacity to work empathically and effectively.
         2. The capacity for self-reflection and self-management in situations that challenge one’s values and beliefs is a necessary component of a professional social work practice that supports the dignity and worth of others. Describe an experience you have had in an academic, volunteer or professional setting that required you to demonstrate the capacity for self-reflection and self-management in a role that placed you in service to others.
         3. CSWE, our accrediting body, asserts that social work “understands how racism and oppression shape human experiences and how these two constructs influence [our work]” with marginalized and impoverished people. Discuss your personal or professional experiences/work with racism and/or oppression. What strengths, challenges or lessons have you taken from these experiences?
         1. Please describe the nature of your B.S.W. internship practicum, including a description of the setting in which you worked and your primary role and responsibilities.
         1. Face Sheet
         2. Case Summary and Intervention: In total, essays should not exceed 4-6 pages, double-spaced.
            1. Drawing upon your BSW practicum or work experience (before, during, or after your BSW) please describe a case (individual, family, or group) with which you worked directly. Include appropriately disguised identifying information including relevant identity factors (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, etc.).
            2. In your summary, please address the following:
            3. Identify the client’s presenting concerns and salient factors (developmental, familial, personal or environmental) that might have contributed to the concerns.
            4. What was your role in working with this client?
            5. Describe the intervention(s). How would you assess the impact of the interventions?
            6. We would like to get a sense of how your thinking is connected to the interventions you chose. Please explain what theoretical frameworks (eg, family, systems, theory, trauma, CBT, psychodynamic theory, intersubjectivity, etc.) guided your work. If not known, please state that this has not been part of your education to date.)
            7. Include in your discussion a reflection on your own identities and social location and how these factors may have impacted your interventions and relationship with the client.
            8. What were 2-3 major learning points from your work with this case?
            Transfer Applicants

            Deadlines

            Application Type	Deadline	Notification Date in the Portal
            Five College Circle of Scholars	November 30	December 21
            Non-Binding Early Decision	January 5	February 6
            International Applicants	February 15	On or before March 30
            Regular Decision	February 21	On or before March 30

            Candidates who want to transfer from another accredited school of social work may consider one of two paths.

            Transfer Course Credits: A candidate may apply as an first-year student and request that up to 12 credits be transferred into their Smith degree. This option is ideal for candidates who have recently entered their MSW program. Credits must have been earned at a CSWE accredited institution and grades submitted must be a B or better. Once an admission offer has been made, entering students would submit a transfer request form with supporting documentation, including a syllabus and a statement as to how the course met SSW requirements, to the Registrar’s Office by the posted deadline in order for the transfer request to be considered. The appropriate sequence chair, in consultation with the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, will make the decision with regard to the transfer credit. No credit will be granted for previous work experience or life experience.

            Transferring a Full Year: A candidate who has completed or will complete a full year of coursework and internship at another CSWE accredited M.S.W. program may apply to enter Smith as a second-year student. Transfer students must meet SSW admission requirements and submit a transfer application. We strongly recommend applying for early admission to be able to accommodate your second year internship, which takes place in January. Before submitting an application, applicants considering transfer should schedule an appointment to discuss their intentions to apply with the Associate Dean of Graduate Enrollment by contacting the Office of Admission. The School does not grant social work course credit for life experience or previous work experience.

            Application Materials Required:

            1. Application (review All Applicants tab above)
            2. Case Materials: ​If you are applying as an M.S.W. transfer student, you need to provide a psychosocial history on a case and a summary recording of one session on the same case.
               1. Face Sheet
               2. Transfer Applicant Case Summary: Required for M.S.W. Transfer Applicants. Not more than 15 pages, typed and double-spaced.
                  1. Content
                     1. A case should illustrate a particular area of study recorded with detail including verbatim material to illustrate the clinical issue under examination. A single case may, for example, encompass the problems of a child in treatment, a mother's resistance, parents' marital problems and two or three generational conflicts. From this array, the applicant may choose to develop material essential to a diagnostic study, to examine criteria for determining the major client or to explore treatment considerations particular to a given stage and casework, i.e. intake, termination, or transfer. Most important is that the material presented reveals significant dynamic relationships and aspects of objective reality relevant to the major focus. Interviews may be selected from one or several points in a case record so long as the relatedness of several interviews is made clear. Whatever the chosen focus, emphasis should be upon the selection of raw material upon which analysis of diagnosis and treatment can suitably be based.
                     1. Sociocultural and family factors
                     2. Social class (describe factors for designation of)
                     3. Religious background and current religious practices
                     4. Relevant attitudes and experiences in regard to racial background
                     5. Physical health in general (describe chronic diseases or other medical conditions)
                     6. Ongoing and/or previous contact with mental health/social service systems
                     7. Briefly describe the client's(s') nuclear an extended family system. Describe separations, divorces, significant relationships, etc.
                     8. Support network (identify and describe). Consider relatives, friends, neighbors, coworkers, church and other
                     9. Briefly describe your agency and the type of service that is available to this client(s)
                     1. Referral source
                     2. Presenting problem as perceived by client(s)
                     3. Presenting problem as perceived by worker
                     4. Description of client's or clients’ physical appearance, behavior, and style of relating
                     1. Choose a particular treatment issue that you wish to study. Present interview material, in summary process, that illustrates the issue you have chosen. Be sure to include your interventions in the record material. Please briefly discuss the impact your interventions had on your client(s) and on your relationship, and discuss the factors which influenced you in your choice of interventions. If, in retrospect, you would do it any differently, please comment on how and why. Interviews may be selected from several points in a case record so long as the relatedness of the different interviews is made clear in the major themes in the intervening interviews are summarized briefly.
                     1. Please begin this section on a separate piece of paper
                     2. Summary of relevant developmental and family history
                     3. Diagnosis. If you're familiar with DSM-IV, use DSM-IV diagnosis: Be sure to include an assessment of environmental stresses on Axis V and consider the impact of ethnic and social class factors on the client’s or clients’ functioning
                     4. Assuming you are to present your case to a consultant, identify two major issues which you think warrant consideration
                     5. If you are able to do so, please include a genogram of the client's or clients' family or families
                     International Applicants

                     Deadlines

                     Item	Deadline to submit	Notes
                     Non-Binding Early Decision Application	January 5	Notification of decision available in portal: February 6
                     IELTS/TOEFL iBT/DUOLINGO Official Score Report	February 1	An applicant for whom English is not a first language must take the IELTS, TOEFL iBT or DUOLINGO exam.
                     International Applicants Application	February 15	Notification of decision available in portal: On or before March 30

                     International applicants are not eligible for Smith College SSW institutional financial aid or scholarships, or US federal financial aid.

                     Applicants are encouraged to have some experience in a social work program before attending the School. Applicants with an undergraduate degree in social work or equivalent course work may qualify for advanced standing.

                     Application Materials Required:

                     1. Application (review All Applicants tab above)
                     2. A substantial working knowledge of English is essential for admission. Applicants for whom English is not a first language must take the IELTS or TOEFL iBT and have an official score report sent to the Office of Admission by February 1.
                        1. IELTS minimum score: 7.0
                        2. DUOLINGO minimum score: 125
                        3. TOEFL iBT minimum score: 94 and must meet a minimum high score in each test area:
                           1. Reading (22 minimum)
                           2. Listening (22 minimum)
                           3. Speaking (26 minimum)
                           4. Writing (24 minimum)

                           *The IELTS/TOEFL/DUOLINGO requirement may be waived by the admission committee if English has been the primary language spoken in the home and at school. The School reserves the right to require the IELTS/TOEFL of any applicant whose first language is not English.