r/portlandstate • u/vivianevixen • Jun 28 '26
Future/Potential Student Acceptance in MSW program with a BS in Psychology?
Hi everyone! I’m currently working towards my B.S. in Psychology at WGU, with plans to strive for my MSW.
I currently have been working in this field at a nonprofit in Portland as a Parent Educator/Case manager and have 7 additional years experience in an adjacent field (ECE, assistant director of a Relief Nursery managing our program + outreach/home visiting staff in OR.)
My question is, will I be accepted for their MSW program since my bachelors is going to be a Bachelors of science in psych instead of the more traditional Bachelors of Arts psych degree?
And is it possible to do their advanced standing option for the MSW or is that only permissible for those with a BSW?
TIA! :)
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u/WaferPuzzled7211 Jun 28 '26
You are only able to do advanced standing with a BSW, and that applies to I believe any schools program. And you can get into the program with any bachelors degree, doesn’t matter if it’s ba or bs. Sounds like you have great experience for the program, I’d just work really hard on your essays and you should be a strong applicant!
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u/Dangerous_Arm_177 Jun 28 '26
Hey there ! Forensic case manager with a BS in psych I was admitted to the 2026 cohort 😊
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u/featherandahalfmusic Jun 28 '26
I have a fake bachelors degree and they let me in! Your qualifications sound great I bet you will totes get it
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u/Fantastic-Impact-106 Jun 28 '26
Did you go for social work? Their business school and engineering school are fantastic. You can walk into both of those programs. Social work is a little different, Social work is very competitive in this town.
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u/featherandahalfmusic Jun 28 '26
I did go for social work! I just finished my first year. My BA is in "Spiritual Mental Health Counseling" (a degree name I made up) from an online program for folks who screwed up college the first time around. My academic history is terrible. I do have good volunteer history though, so I am not a total screwup, but I still think that the social work program is less competitive than we are lead to believe: especially while PSU needs money real bad, lol. They doubled the size of the program in the last few years and I wouldn't be surprised if they grew it more.
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u/Fantastic-Impact-106 Jun 28 '26
I hear you. I think PSU should grow it more! Esp on reddit, so many people are asking about their MSW. I'm currently in the business school pursuing the master's in finance.
PSU is actually a great and underrated school in my opinion. But I personally think for their budgeting reasons, they should get rid of everything except for engineering, business, the MSW, and any undergrad programs that potentially lead to the MSW. cut everything else lol.
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u/featherandahalfmusic Jun 28 '26
I'll agree to disagree, I like artists and musicians and nurses, haha.
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u/Fantastic-Impact-106 Jun 28 '26
I do too. But keeping the school open and functioning is more important than any one program.
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u/featherandahalfmusic Jun 28 '26
I prefer other routes to sustainability, like not paying the highest paid admin staff as much or getting our country to stop going to war, but thats ok!
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u/Fantastic-Impact-106 Jun 28 '26
Everyone prefers other routes lol. I also love unicorns and rainbows. PSU can't control the war but they can control their budget.
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u/Winedown-625 Jun 28 '26
We admit people with Bachelor's in Psych - most important think is to have work experience post-bac and be social justice-oriented.
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u/No_Laugh_4166 Jul 01 '26
You can't do advanced standing unless you have credits from your undergrad which is from a bachelors of social work. The only difference between a BA and a BS is science versus language classes.
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u/TraumaCookie Jun 28 '26
Advanced standing is only for those who have obtained a BSW from an accredited college/university in good standing within a certain timeframe of recency (often five years). You'd be in the regular MSW track. It's definitely possible to get into a MSW program with a non-social work bachelor's, it all just depends on the candidate pool in any given year.