Anonymous Person
I earned my MSW here but I cannot recommend this program or school. I only had 3-4 good professors who I really respected (hence the 2 stars and not 1). The program is condescending and the overall culture of the school feels like it’s stuck in a privilege bubble. Very out of touch. The first year is "remedial" at best, like taking sociology/psych aimed at children. An intro class in the first semester feels like a lot of performative box-checking and forced introspection. This feels patronizing when the fact is we are students here and want our degrees because we know society is toxic and unjust and prejudice is everywhere. Professors use the platitude of "social work being uncomfortable" to excuse what I called “in-class public confession time.” Having experienced cult-like atmospheres as a kid growing up in religion, this felt all too familiar. I learned very little from this school’s actual “academics;” what I DID learn however was to continue trusting my gut when something feels insincere, performative, legalistic, and hyper focused on keeping up appearances. This school is so thirsty to please wealthy donors and powers at be INSTEAD of caring about actual human beings, including oppressed/marginalized people groups, and the community at Columbia and in the surrounding neighborhoods in Manhattan. In case you think I am an outlier in this experience, I am not. I would have many private side conversations with class mates who felt similarly to me. The school just did not allow any room for anyone to speak up about this.