Stories of graduate school life from students actually living it. Go Inside as we cut to the chase on what grad school is really like.

Sarah Glanville is an M.S.W. candidate at the Boston University School of Social Work. She is entering her third and final year in the program. After receiving her bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Spanish, Sarah fell into a job working with adolescents with mental retardation and emotional/behavioral impairment. She was hooked on social work, but more school was inevitable: "There was little room for growth without a master's degree."

Getting in
I worked on my applications, on-and-off, for about a month. The essays were the most difficult parts. Overall, I tried to be upfront and sincere; I talked about things that profoundly affected me rather than superficial experiences. For one, I needed to explain the appeal of Boston University School of Social Work's urban mission. I wasn't completely clear what their urban mission was and had to be creative. In an application to a different program, they asked to share the events that most influenced our decision to become social workers. Rather than talk about a volunteer experience or the struggles of a family member, I talked about some of my own personal struggles, and I think this hurt me. But I also had a decent amount of experience in the field and a strong undergraduate record, which helped.

Living the Life
On top of being a full-time student, I work about twenty-four hours per week. It's extremely difficult to balance school, work, and everyday chores. My refrigerator often remains empty for weeks because I can't get to the grocery store. Having flexible jobs, like babysitting, usually lets me take care of errands and homework, but sometimes I have to consciously put everything else aside so I can clean my apartment or go to the store, even if it means that I don't do the reading for a class. I usually don't get home before 7:30 at night, so I'm forced to study in the evening. I'm a pretty slow reader and paper-writer, so I study every night for at least four or five hours.

Luckily, I haven't found the program extremely academically challenging. I don't stress if I can't get everything done; professors are understanding about that. I actually have much more time to socialize now than I did as an undergraduate.

I've also had to revert back to the student lifestyle that I'd eagerly discarded. Before coming to school, I had furniture, a dog, money coming in. I had to get rid of most of those things. Since I can't work full-time while in school, I had to borrow a huge amount of money to pay for Boston's expensive rent. I'm a little concerned about paying these back on a social-worker's salary. To save money, I took a job on campus as a resident assistant, which offers free housing, but that means that I'm back to living in a dorm. Living with undergrads hasn't been too bad, and I'm a five-minute walk from classes and a ten-minute subway ride from downtown.

The Scoop
The work is a mixture of independent and group projects. Collaboration is encouraged and competition is discouraged. Most classes use a discussion rather than lecture format. Discussions tend to go off on random tangents or become a group-therapy session for one or more students. I sometimes feel I'd learn more from a professor giving a lecture, but they're inflexible about changing this. There are no tests, only papers, which works for some but not others. Professors are good about accommodating requests for extensions and are willing to help with assignments or just chat. Grades aren't as important as honest, original, and creative work that challenges the student.

My colleagues are a supportive, non-competitive group. People are concerned with being the best social worker possible, not the best student in the class. Students tend to agree with the school's urban mission and dedication to disenfranchised communities. Social activism is heavily emphasized and students tend to be politically liberal. However, many are reluctant to get involved in even minor social movements because they're inconvenient. I've also found the lack of diversity in the program a major drawback: The program is approximately 90 percent Caucasian women from middle-class backgrounds.

The program requires twenty-four hours per week of internship experience in addition to classes. Internships are often unpaid and require a great deal of energy and work. It's difficult to take four courses on top of working in an emotionally taxing job. Even so, the internship is the greatest strength of the program. It's provided me with the most rewarding learning experiences.

The Future
I hope to work as a school social worker and eventually open my own nonprofit, working with kids with mental retardation and/or emotional impairments. I'm also interested in doing social-welfare policy work. Within the School of Social Work, I am able to pursue a clinical focus while still gaining the social-activism perspective, so the program has prepared me well.