GSS Bachelor of Arts in Social Work Application Process

In order to apply for the Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) major, you must:

• Be currently enrolled or accepted for matriculation at Fordham College at Lincoln Center, Fordham College at Rose Hill, or Fordham School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
• Complete approximately 50 credit hours.
• Fulfill most of the BSW program prerequisites.
• Ideally have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale).

Students are expected to complete the 33 credits of the BSW program within two years. We also expect students to demonstrate such essential qualities as maturity of judgment, openness to new ideas, a capacity for developing self-awareness and readiness to change, an acceptance of differences in people, a commitment to social and institutional change, and values consistent with the mission of social work. Paid or volunteer work in social or civic organizations demonstrates the kind of motivation we look for in applicants.

Social Work Prerequisites

In order to further strengthen the liberal arts base and bio-psycho-social knowledge of students entering the social work program, the following prerequisite courses are expected to be completed before program admission:

• One sociology course
• One psychology course
• One biology course (with emphasis on human biology)
• One American pluralism course
• One course related to contemporary government or social policy in the United States
• SOWK 2600: Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare (4 credits): This course provides an introduction to the values, knowledge, and skills of the social work profession. Focus is on the historical and contemporary roles and relationships of the social work profession to community problems, fields of practice, vulnerable populations, and social welfare history and policy.

Students may apply for admission to the Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) program after they have completed approximately 50 undergraduate credit hours and all of the prerequisite courses.

Core Curriculum: Some of these prerequisite courses may also satisfy the requirements of Fordham’s core curriculum and/or the requirements of other majors and programs in the University.

Transfer Students: You must be accepted to Fordham University before your application to the BASW program can be reviewed. Substitution of courses taken at institutions other than Fordham University will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Every application package must include the following six elements.
You must submit your application online. To get started click the "Request More Info & Apply" button on the left panel.

• Completed online application form.
• Autobiographical statement. This allows us to assess whether you have the necessary writing ability for the BASW program. Please submit a typed statement (three to five pages) in which you respond to all of these questions:
  • How did you become interested in social work? If this interest represents a change of career plans, what are the reasons for the change?
  • What educational, professional, voluntary, and/or community experiences and relationships have contributed to your interest in social work?
  • Which personal qualities and abilities do you feel will be helpful to you in the social work profession? In what way will they be helpful?

  Your autobiographical statement helps us assess whether you have the necessary writing ability for the BASW program. Please be certain that your statement is a fair sample of your writing skills and meets the level of proficiency that the faculty might expect for writing assignments given in class.

• Letter from the instructor of Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare. Please ask the instructor of your Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare course to complete this form in the application packet, evaluating your performance in class and readiness to enter the BASW program.
• Two additional letters of reference. Please use the forms provided in the application portal. Three recommendations, including the letter from the instructor of Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare, are required. Use academic or social work employment references whenever possible. If these are not applicable to you, your references should come from people who have knowledge of your professional capacity. All references should be submitted through our online application.
• Admissions interview. In some circumstances, we may require an interview.