queenleblanc

Oh, hmm, well from what I understand, after you complete your clinical master's, you aren't fully certified (CCC's from ASHA) until you do something like 9 months in the CFY. Usually you have to have an SLP that supervises you in some capacity, and I think they are required to observe you or work with you for something like 25% of the time, although I'm not sure on the numbers. After you fulfill the ASHA requirements for your CFY, you apply to get your CCC's and you can then work fully alone. Kind of like student-teaching, from the education perspective, although the supervision is not as detailed. Some CFY's have said that they really felt pretty independent but liked having that support system there to talk to about paperwork, therapies, resources, etc. I don't know if it is the same in every state, although I would imagine the process should be pretty similar in most states.

Yep, NC has stricter requirements about how many hours are in each type of placement. They act as if they need to be more selective or something. It's a pain in the rear, especially if I go to USC and need to coordinate fulfilling NC's requirements (that is, if I intend to get my CFY placement outside of SC). Kind of annoying, in my opinion. Thanks for such a quick reply! I'm burning up some time on gradcafe trying to de-stress from a long day at work, which included an hour of skate club after school and me being the DJ ... and coughing my head off! I can NOT shake this cough! IT doesn't help that since I'm the music teacher, I see the whole school between two and four times a week. ALL of those illnesses, and all of the lysol I need to start using!!!

As long as I get accepted, we are planning a trip to visit WCU on Saturday the 16th. Going up for the 15th to visit the area, look at potential housing, and have dinner with a good friend of ours... so hopefully we'll know by the 14th when we leave whether or not the trip is worth taking! :-) It's the only school I actually didn't get a chance to visit in person before applying. JMarti, if you don't mind me asking, what was your friend's favorite thing about the WCU program? Anything they wish was different? Suggestions for success? I want to take the Thesis option, if your friend would have any insight into that.

AH me too! My husband and I were talking about if I got in at USC and how that is really where I'd LOVE to go. I'm a little scared about the window of time to reply and pay the deposit - if I haven't heard from at least some of the other schools on my list, I would hate to make that decision without knowing. Plus, we own a townhouse about 25 mins from ECU's campus, so that would be an easy choice as far as having a place to live and everything. I have a friend who applied to med school at ECU (and it's his top choice), and he is waiting to hear back... we HONESTLY want him to get in to ECU, and rent the townhouse from us, so I am free to go to USC if accepted. If someone on the boards gets into ECU and doesn't mind a 25 min drive for a 2 br, 1.5ba nice 2-story townhome with (or without) a washer dryer, fully loaded kitchen with new appliances, pets okay within HOA rules, pool, ponds on the grounds, very quiet .... message me!!! I also am getting more excited about the program at Western Carolina. It's totally in the BOONDOCKS (OMG!) but my husband would love to live in the mountains and only an an hour and 40 minutes from his family in Clemson SC. My only concern with it is that the program is not very well known or on anyone's radar, so I'm unsure of prospects to get into a PhD program if my master's program is very small. However, the small-knit department might just be a really good thing for me, lots of attention, lots of interaction with professors, etc.

Check the Raleigh/Durham craigslist for rental housing -- that is really popular down here, too. Also, the local coffee shops have bulletin boards with postings sometimes (although those usually get rented pretty quickly). The train doesn't come through Durham too often, and as long as you don't live in American Tobacco campus / West Village (the converted warehouse-loft style condos), you won't really notice it too much. Most people get used to it, but you might consider noise-canceling ear plugs or something like that if you are super-sensitive to the sound of a train at night. Ticon properties is good - I viewed several of their properties. Also check out Apple Realty. A church acquaintance of mine owns it, and they have a lot of rental homes near/ around Duke and the rest of Durham. Really solid company with good maintenance / values. Avoid GCS if you find any rentals in Durham. I have heard only negatives about them. If you are looking between Duke and UNC, there is a set of apartments on Garrett Rd at 15-501 that you should absolutely STAY AWAY from. Lots of crime in those apartments. I can't remember the name at this moment but it is right at that intersection, a bunch of brick buildings. Also, if you see a posting for "Fayetteville Street" -- there is a good end, and a bad end. Try to get closer to south pointe mall if you are looking to be near I-40 and Fayetteville St, although you will pay more there. Fayetteville st. basically runs through NC Central University's campus, and there is a high crime rate in the neighborhoods around there (as well as increased gang activity). By all means, do NOT drive down canal street or driver street, if you can avoid that area at all. Bloods and Crypts (sp?) fight there all the time, and well-meaning passers-by get caught in the middle. Lenox and Deerfield are pretty good places. Google the name of any apartment community you are looking at, plus the word "complaints" and you'll find any negative stuff out there on them. Hope Valley can be a bit pricey, but there are some apartments at Woodcroft that I have heard are more affordable. If you are looking near Duke, check "American Village" - there are a couple of apartments there, I think one is called The Forest. Very good, quiet area, right down the road from Duke (down Hwy 751 / Moreene Rd). There is also a very nice residential community there, lots of families, but spread out (good property size). You might be able to find a really nice rental home there if you are willing to commute to Duke. The BEST rentals (and usually better value for the space) are the ones that aren't advertised. Driving around the area you want to live, look for rental signs up in the yards or on doors. Our local papers are The Herald Sun (Durham), and The News and Observer (Raleigh and Durham). I think you can view classified ads online without a subscription. I grew up in Durham and went to UNC for undergrad and my first master's, and worked in Chapel Hill for a year, so I'm pretty familiar with that whole side of town. If I think of anything else, I'll def. come back.

jmarti, sorry about UNC. I think you have some really great schools on your list, though, and probably some that may fit better for you. It's Tuesday the 5th ... only 10 more days (hopefully) until some notifications go out for many of us! I'm hoping to hear from 2 of my schools on Friday, but not holding my breath. I'm excited to see all the acceptances on here, so congrats to all of you!! :-)

The only way to work as a speech language pathologist is to get a clinical masters degree, so that is the big reason for my pursuit to get into grad school. Perhaps more pertinent to my situation is a career change from music education to SLP. I also plan to eventually pursue a PhD to research and teach at the collegiate level.

A quick search shows that someone least year also needed the neuroanatomy class. Here is the discussion page with a few schools mentioned. I hope it works out for you!

Longwood offers neurology in human communication- check out the syllabus online to see if it fits the description of the class you need at USF. Sometimes the title is different while the content is comparable. I am doing my pre-req classes there right now and love it. http://www.longwood.edu/socialworkcsds/9359.htm

It's time for a cosmo. Celebrations abound for many on here! And for those of us who haven't heard yet... the cosmo to drown away the blues! I was trying to post a picture but I keep getting errors. I'm enjoying mine whilst watching Pride and Prejudice this evening.

I'm going to be desperate for an assistantship if I get accepted... and if it's a GA, no issue with it being in another department or area. GA's are usually doing administrative / secretarial work from what I've read lately, but you definitely should look at what the GA's do before you apply for or accept a GA position. Ideally I'd love an RA in a lab in my department, but we can't always get everything we want!

Besides what others have already stated, going on the visit could be a good networking opportunity, and you might find out something about the university you don't already know. Obviously they think you fit their program, so I think if you can, it might be nice to oblige them with a visit to find out all you need to know.

What's the best "HIPAA for dummies" website out there? Being new, like I said ... wanting to read up on it. It's been a while since I took my society and medicine class in UG ... apparently 2005, according to my transcript, WOW!

I'm with you, Tay! We'll make it. I am counting down T-11 days. :-)

Okay, there are new HIPAA rules out... Final-HIPAA-Rules-Issued.htm Just FYI! I'm not very familiar with HIPAA (I use FERPA primarily as a teacher), so I definitely will be reading up on this.

I don't know if this is a rational paranoia or not ... our next-door neighbor has her mail on hold while she is out of state at her other house. The mailbox was empty today. Gosh I hope the postman didn't confuse which mail to hold and which mail to deliver...!!!!

I keep telling myself it only takes 1 ... but I'm waiting to hear from 5 more universities and 6 actual applications... I am thinking about plans to continue at my job for a while. Definitely not burning bridges. I am also planning to keep taking classes that I can eventually get some recommendations from the profs... at least that is my hope!!! I'm going to hate having to re-apply next year and the length of time between now and then... but what must be done, will be done!

Lots of choices for you, Awesome!!!! Congratulations!!!! What a great day to be the "toothbrush."

She won't share your status via email /phone -- that has to come straight from the grad school. However, about 2-3 hours after I emailed her and she replied, I got an email from UNC grad school that my application status was available online (in the apply yourself website). If you haven't checked the AY site with your crazy number/letter combo login, check there first, then contact Ms. Diana. I have a feeling that she made a call to get the decision uploaded more quickly, despite the fact that mine was a rejection. :-(

Hi Nancy, I'm also coming to SLP from a master's in teaching as well as 6 years of experience. I also found this new dream and didn't know much last April when I stumbled into it. You don't necessarily need to volunteer, but it is a great way to start on your 25 observation hours for pre-program requirements. There are several SLP programs that offer 2.5 or 3 year degrees, for those who are coming from other undergraduate/graduate backgrounds, who need to take the introductory level courses. They call those students "levelers" during the first year or so, and then you join in with the cohort in the Spring or Fall, depending on how many classes are needed. One such program is at Univ. of South Carolina - there are only 4 pre-requisite classes (plus observation hours) ,and they require all out-of-fielders (without the pre-reqs) to start during the Summer I and II sessions (usually around May 20th). UNCGreensboro also has a 3-year program. Other schools are more specific and want ALL incoming applicants to have already completed the pre-requisites (UNC Chapel Hill, for example). There are a lot of options in the Northeastern US, so I'm sure you'll be able to look at the various programs to find out who offers pre-reqs as part of the program, who makes you have them to apply,etc. Use ASHA's "EdFind" feature to locate programs in the desired geographical area you want. If you are looking to go to school on a "part-time" basis - there are hybrid online programs that offer that. On EdFind, tell it to bring up online programs and I think there around 15 or so programs around the country. These programs are usually 3 years long, and the third year is the clinical year where you are pretty much working on your internship most of the time. They usually advise that full-time jobs will be fine for the first year to 1.5 yrs of the program, then they suggest you drop your job down to part-time. I also looked at OT school - it's a little more medical than I want to go, even though I do want to go into the medical aspects of SLP. As far as schools being suspicious of a career trajectory change... you are definitely not the only one out there. I think as long as you are solid in your statement/letter of intent about how you fell in love with this area of work, or what draws you to work there, etc, I think they'll understand without any problems. Yes, there are a lot of "straight-from-undergrad" candidates out there - but you and I can bring something more special to the table, work experience in whatever field, a level of working maturity that regular undergrads may not already have, and if you have already had a job working with people, this bodes well for your success as an SLP once you gain the therapy and field knowledge. Lots to think about! There are quite a few options for taking pre-requisite courses ahead of time, which is what I started doing last Summer. If you just want the 4-6 pre-reqs that places require, you can apply as a non-degree student to anywhere that offers the classes locally or online. If you want to come out with a heavier background, there are second-baccalaureate options like Utah State and others, usually around 30 credits or so.

Holy acceptances, batman! Congratulations to you!!

Yep, When I emailed Ina Diana at UNC about status of applications, she said ALL decisions had been made. So, at this point, I would start emailing her. The people in the graduate school admin office who update the computer system are probably VERY busy with uploading status updates from all of the MANY programs in graduate studies that UNC has. Best of luck to you, Eavo!

OMG I just heard that yesterday... I had to reassure the person that this was normal to wait so long. I still don't know if I have reassured myself of that same fact.

I hear ya... I did my first masters in 2006-2007, and worked six years... Now going back to school to change careers and I am turning 29 in April. Another two year masters program, and that's if I even get in anywhere. Another year to reapply puts me finishing this next degree at 32... Forget that I also want to pursue a PhD. I can keep working in my current job, but its a far cry from what my new career dream is.

I am on my quick lunch break at the moment, and I just was thinking... Wow, in 11 days, I might actually know if I am going to grad school in the Fall! Kind of excited to get home to check my mailbox! And really hoping that these schools stick to the timeline that they told me... When pigs fly, right!?!!