Please note that your personal statement is also considered a writing sample and is reviewed for content and writing quality. You are not required or expected to disclose personal trauma in your responses to the following prompts. If you choose to do so, please be mindful of professional boundaries by providing information with care and moderation.
Applicants must not seek the assistance of Generative AI Tools like ChatGPT. Use of a Generative AI Tool to complete this admission application constitutes academic dishonesty.
Your statement should be 5 to 6 double spaced pages.
Use headings for each key area that is to be addressed.
Questions? Please contact the Office of MSSW Admissions at [email protected]
- Your Goals
- Your Professional Goals: Describe your career goal(s) and how you plan to utilize your master’s in social work post-graduation. What skills, knowledge, and experience do you hope to obtain through completion of the MSSW program to reach your goals?
- As social workers, we are committed to evaluating our beliefs, actions and knowledge base to ensure we are continuing to grow as professionals. This continual evaluation requires us to engage in self- reflection, humility, learning and accountability. Provide an example of an experience that illustrates your capacity to engage in self-reflection, supervision, and self regulation. Describe how you would use these processes to grow your social work skills and demonstrate professionalism in the classroom and field settings.
- UT MSSW Mission, Vision, and Values
- How do the mission, vision, and values of the MSSW program at the University of Tennessee College of Social Work fit with your career goals? What part(s) of the mission stand out to you? Are there any areas of the UTCSW mission, vision and values, that do not align with your own values and perspectives?
- NASW Code of Ethics and Personal Values
The NASW Code of Ethics, which defines clients as individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, includes the following statement: “Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers promote clients’ socially responsible self-determination. Social workers seek to enhance clients’ capacity and opportunity to change and to address their own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibility to clients and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts between clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests in a socially responsible manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards of the profession”.- What personal qualities do you possess that will allow you to contribute to the social work profession, including values and ethics of the profession?
- Discuss how your personal values and beliefs are or are not compatible with this professional standard. How will you reconcile any conflicts between your personal values and the requirements of the profession?
- Social Concern
Describe what you consider to be a major social problem. In your response incorporate at least two references that support your conclusions. APA, which is the style used in the social profession, is preferred for source citations. Address the following areas:- The scope of the social concern, including relevant statistics and key societal and other factors that contribute to the problem.
- Your recommendations to solve the problem. Consider and describe how the problem could be addressed at different levels such as individual, organizational, and community.
- Challenges and questions which might arise in seeking to solve the problem.
- Professional Wellness
Social work education and field practice often involve bearing witness to trauma and injustice, which can impact your emotional and mental well-being. Engaging with these realities is essential to the work, but it can also lead to secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, or burnout if not managed with intention and care.- How do you plan to care for your wellbeing while working in academic and field environments that involve exposure to trauma, suffering, or systemic harm? What supports, strategies, or practices do you use- or plan to use- to sustain your emotional and psychological wellbeing?
- Additional Information
Answer one of the following questions for the MSSW Admissions Committee to consider in formulating recommendations concerning your admission.- Do you have any extenuating circumstances which may have affected your past academic performance? Describe any challenges or barriers that you have faced in your pursuit of higher education. What motivated you to persist, and how did you overcome them? How will you address any challenges faced in Graduate School?
- Are there educational, personal, cultural, economic, or social experiences that have shaped your academic journey? If so, please describe them. Have any of these experiences provided a unique perspective that would contribute to the graduate social work program and the social work profession?
- Applicants to the Online MSSW Program
The online MSSW program at UTK is designed to meet the needs of non-traditional students. Synchronous class meetings are held throughout the semester during the late afternoon/evening hours. The online program is uniquely different than face to face learning where students meet each week, and because of this a fully online graduate program can create unique challenges and opportunities for students.- Describe prior experiences you have had with online learning. Briefly describe your planned academic success strategies for asynchronous learning including personal time-management.
Note: You can upload this document before or after submission of the application.
Questions? Please contact the Office of MSSW Admissions at [email protected]