Incoming Students

2018 orientation crowd

Announcements

We look forward to welcoming you to Pitt’s SW program on Aug 22 and Aug 23!
A final agenda is now available for incoming MSW, PhD, and BASW students. August 22 is required to attend and August 23 is the day for MSW student exemption exams in the morning then fun events after that.
Campus Map
Information on how to get your Pitt ID. To save time upload your photo ahead of time.
Follow us on social media for announcements, events and more (links at the bottom of the page)
Medical Coverage for Students.
Please also be sure to save the date for the 2019 Graduate and Professional Student Orientation hosted by the Provost Office; Aug 20 from 2pm-6:30pm. They have a tentative agenda online.
Access the updated way to View/Accept/Decline your Financial Aid Awards.
Looking for more information? Visit our Incoming Student Resource Blog

Exemption Exams

As you may know, MSW students who do not have advanced standing take two research courses: a Foundations course and a second level research course in their final semester. Prior to the start of the fall semester, we offer the opportunity to take a 50 item multiple choice exam in research that if you pass, exempts you from taking the research foundations class.

The exam is comprehensive and you can prepare for it by purchasing the text and taking the practice quizzes . The text is The Practice of Research in Social Work, Third edition, Engel & Schutt or the earlier edition.

First-year MSW students who do not have advanced standing must also take the foundations Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) course during fall semester. An HBSE exemption exam is also offered, allowing students who pass an exemption so that they do not have to take first-level/foundations HBSE. The exam is a 77-item comprehensive test covering content from the following text book:

Lesser, J.C., & Pope, D.S. (2011). Human behavior and the social environment: Theory and practice. Boston: (2ed.): Allyn and Bacon.