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BSW Professional Level Application

Students at WVU may begin pursuing the social work major (BSW) their freshman year by taking the two pre-requisite courses- SOWK 147: Human Diversity and SOWK 151: Introduction to Social Work. In order to proceed to the upper level (300/400) social work courses, students must petition and be granted admission to the professional level of the major by the BSW Admission Committee. The petition process occurs in January of the student's sophomore year or once a student has reached 58 credits.

The requirements for applying to the professional level of the major are:
  • Completion of SOWK 147 with a minimum grade of C-
  • Completion of SOWK 151 with a minimum grade of C-
  • A minimum of 58 credits
  • Completion of at least 75% of the GEF requirements
  • Minimum 2.0 GPA 
  • 50 hours of human service documented on the School of Social Work forms (prior verification required by the BSW Recruitment & Advising Coordinator)
  • Submission of a positive letter of recommendation from a volunteer service or college-level academic instructor/professor.
The application process begins by students emailing a formal petition for admission with the School of Social Work which includes the following forms:
  1. Cover Page
  2. Personal Statement
  3. Self Assessment
  4. Service Hours Verification
Petition applications should be emailed to BSW@mail.wvu.edu and are due no later than the last business day in January. The BSW Admission Committee reviews each petition and students are notified of the outcome of their petition no later than the first week of March.

For BSW petition inquiries, please contact Bekah Dunaway for on-campus students and Challice LaRose for online students.