Katydidnt93

The professors mentioned that financial information tends to come out in early-mid April, once they have a better idea of their budget. They said that money and graduate assistantships tends to get shuffled and passed around especially in the week before the deadline (April 15th), so I'm guessing we'll have an idea in the next 2 weeks.

Hi k1772, Part of the reason I'm still looking at other schools is because I do feel that UMD is fairly research focused as students in their program are expected to be doing research, clinicals, and class each semester. My main concern was that UMD would focus more on their research than their students, however during the information session they continually stressed that they assist their students as much as possible and are focused to tailoring their second year clinical locations to their students personalities and learning styles. In general I am happy to say that the graduate students we talked to didn't have any complaints about the faculty and they said they felt supported by their professors. I'm also still looking into other schools because of the scholarship and graduate assistantship opportunities I've been offered and because I would have to take two classes over the summer as prereqs for UMD (I don't have to take these for other programs...). UMD's Speech Program is in the basement floor (or first floor, hard to tell) of Lefrak Hall. It's directly across from South Campus Dining Hall and it's about a 5-6 minute walk to McKeldin Library and Stamp Student Union (I just like knowing where things are on campus, and it makes me happy to know Lefrak is near the heart of campus). Although almost all of our classes would be in Lefrak, it's possible that some graduate assistantships would be in other locations in other collaborating departments. Graduate students live anywhere from a short drive from campus to about a 20-25 minute ride. Some people live in or near DC and take the metro to the stop on campus (convenient!). I grew up in an area about 25 minutes away from campus and half of my family went there themselves so I've been visiting UMD all of my life. I asked the graduate students about how safe they felt off campus and they stated they would not to walk alone at night on route 1 but that on campus they felt very safe. UMD's program seems intense and they do recommend that a 1/2 (10 hour) graduate assistantship is best. One professor at the open house stated that students might not want to maintain another day job while attending grad school unless its on campus. Hope this all helps.

Hi jwurth, I visited UMD on Friday, March 27th for their open house and I loved it. The first 45 minutes of the session was spent with two professors, one from the Audiology department and one from the SLP department. The second half of the session was led by two graduate students (one Audiology, one SLP) and they gave us a tour of the facilities and answered more questions based on student life. The program is very research focused and there is an expectation that you would complete research, classes, and clinicals every semester you're there (even the first one). They have an in house clinic and the graduate students are expected to work in there for their first 3 semesters (Fall, Spring, Summer) then you get two semesters of off campus clinical placements (Fall, Spring). I agree with a lot of clmogel said; the buildings are old but they have everything you need and they do feel very research focused, but the idea is that you can apply everything you learned to a clinical setting immediatly. It's indimidating, but it's one of the most hands on programs I've ever seen. The faculty is approachable, knowledgable, and the graduate students didn't have anything negative to say about them. They have a 100% Praxis passing rate and a 95% employment rate after graduation (They said the other 5% were because of personal choices and that most students who want a job after attending UMD get one). It's still my number one choice, as it's in state for me and a really good program. I'm hesitant to say for sure that I'm going there given the opportunities I was offered at other Universities, but I took a lot of notes while I was there and I'd be happy to tell you everything I wrote down!

Hi guys! Does anybody know when we should expect to hear about financial aid information?