What if I have bad grades? Applying to the Master of Social Work program with below – average grades

Applying to MSW with a low GPA

Master of Social Work (MSW) programs have comprehensive application processes; They look at your experiences, your references, your personal statement, and of course, your grades.

It can be worrisome when applying to competitive programs when your grades aren’t what you hoped they would be. However, since the application is so comprehensive this means that if you play your cards right, you can use the personal statement to highlight other areas of strength, or you can even put a positive spin on why your grades are low.

Here is what I recommend when working with MSW applicants:  

1.       Highlight your resilience

Is there a reason why your grades are lower than you hoped? Maybe you went through a difficult time in your life, or maybe you have a learning disability that makes conventional school challenging. If this is the case, you can highlight some of these things and talk about what you learned, and how that will make you a better social worker. Many social workers enter the field because they went through something challenging and can relate to others going through the same thing.

2.       Never use self-deprecating language or compare yourself to others

Even if you are discussing your challenges with grades, NEVER use negative language/terms in your personal statement. When writing a personal statement, we always want to focus on the positive and why we’d be a great fit for graduate school. The best way to demonstrate what I mean is through an example:

“I recognize that I rank behind other graduate school applicants…”

This is not a good way to discuss your grades because it automatically pits you against other applicants (other applicants have better grades than you) and if that is the message you give the reader they’ll take that at face value.

Instead, try something like this:

"Although my grades are not as high as I hoped, I believe that my personal and professional experiences will make me an asset to the social work field. I've proven my ability to overcome…"

In this example, the writer briefly touched on the area of concern in a neutral way “my grades aren’t as high as I hoped” and immediately shifts the focus to the positive spin / lesson learned.

3.       Highlight your strengths

Sometimes, people might not have the best grades, but they really excel in other areas. For example, maybe your grades aren’t high because you were part of different clubs in school, or maybe you had to work in school, and as a result of that you have some field experience you bring to the table. If that’s the case, highlight that in your personal statement.

4.       Keep it brief

Finally, if you do choose to discuss your grades in your personal statement, keep it brief. This should ideally be discussed in a few lines or a short paragraph, and you should re-direct your focus to telling the reader about all of your other strengths and accomplishments!

Sometimes schools give you space in the personal statement that is specific to discussing this type of thing. If it doesn’t, and you feel like this is something you need to address, I would advise adding it to the section where you discuss your personal experiences.

Ready for the next step?

If you found this helpful, don’t forget to enroll in my FREE 10-day mini course for MSW applicants. Through a series of emails, I’ll teach you how to write a strong personal statement for your Master of Social Work program.

We also offer personal statement editing. Click here to learn more about MSW personal statement editing.