George Mason University Reviews of Master's in Social Work

"The leadership within this program consistently and utterly fails students. It can be deemed a money-making scheme. Not only will leadership and several professors be insufficient in teaching content within courses- when you fail, it is your fault and none of their own. The consistency in grading, present content and information, and helpful feedback from professors vary greatly from semester to semester. You never know what you are going to get here but it will never be accountability. Please for the love of spending money on an actual degree program- do not attend this institution for this degree program. Save yourself thousands of dollars and attend somewhere where the faculty and leadership actually cares about your success."

"Overall I enjoyed attending George Mason. Some classes were significantly harder than others, depending on the teacher you received. Overall I thought I received a good education that helped me to perform well in my career."

"I am pretty satisfied with the program. The Social Work classes were not on the actual GMU campus. It was in a building on Democracy Lane, which was convenient for me because I could easily walk there. The staff is willing to help you which is always great. It may take a while to hear from field placements. Typically, the middle of July for some, but a few may wait longer. The staff has changed a little bit this year with a few people leaving, but the others who are there do their best to help.The public transportation is okay. GMU students are able to take the CUE buses for free; however, sometimes, you will wait longer than you anticipated. Living here is pretty affordable. There is an H-Mart and other pretty cheap grocery stores you can shop at."

"While the Northern Virginia area has decent job security, the program itself lacks career guidance and job search support. Similarly, the area has great social service organizations for the program's field placements, but the department itself can be so disorganized that students are still unsatisfied with what they end up with."

"The Master of Social Work program at George Mason is among the newest in the state, developed in 2001. In my opinion, that attributes to some of its flaws, such as program organization and school recognition in the area. Just like any school, there are some brilliant, experienced professors in the MSW program, as well as ones who perhaps should have stuck to their original career. The hours are rough; as a full-time student, I have to take 15 credits in addition to 20 hours of field practicum every week in order to graduate in 2 years. But one great thing about the program is its distance from D.C. You can easily have a field practicum in D.C. or stay in Virginia. However, living in the vicinity of D.C. also means that the cost of living in the area (Fairfax) is very high. That is one thing you can definitely expect as a student at GMU-- high rental costs."

"The program has gone through some administrative changes recently, which has created some lack of consistency and reliability in the field placement aspect of the program. Nevertheless, the field placement is one of the best parts of the program, providing real experience and a class to discuss those experiences with your peers, a professor, and a field supervisor. It is probably the most challenging part of the program. The professors or nice and usually helpful, some are better than others. Overall, it's a decent program and pretty good value for in-state students."