Hello again! I was asked to talk a little bit about second year classes, so I'll do my best with that. The only required second year class is Research Practicum I in the fall and Research Practicum II in the spring. Other than that you take electives (I believe you need 5 electives to graduate). The research practicum provides an opportunity to work with your cohort on developing a study and takes the entire year. This semester so far we have chosen a topic, conducted a thorough review of the literature on our topic, developed a survey and selected a sample population, and now we're getting ready to pilot test our survey. Next semester we will distribute our survey to a large sample of people and each student will write an individual paper on our specific research questions related to our topic. Perhaps none of what I just said makes sense, but don't worry, this terminology becomes second nature by the end of the first year. I believe most practicum classes also end up publishing their work, so that's exciting.

My situation regarding electives is a bit different than other students since I am a transfer student. So, I took my electives at a different school, with the exception of a qualitative research class I'm taking this semester. I'm really enjoying this class, and I'm glad to fit it into my schedule. The research methods classes, statistics classes, and practicums all primarily focus on quantitative research methods, so this class provides a refreshingly different point of view. Most students here also take some teaching electives that are available in the School of Social Work, and some students take measurement classes, advanced statistics classes, or just other classes at different schools within the University of Maryland system, such as the School of Nursing or School of Pharmacy. There's many opportunities here to cater your coursework to your interests, so it's not a problem to get your courses completed here.

Please leave me a comment with further questions! Ann :)