queenleblanc

Probably going to go get a nice hoodie when I visit campus in a few weeks!!

I rewarded myself with a new messenger / laptop bag- I got a timbuk2 commuter messenger bag (medium). Bought it in amazon, but matched my laptop to the right sized bag on timbuk2's website!

I sent a box of whitman's chocolates and a hand-written thank you card once I decided on my school for the fall. After all, I wouldn't have come this far without them! And I think there are a few threads on this subject in the LOR forum... More ideas!

Univ. of South Carolina accepts out of field students for the on camous M-SP and they take 4 courses on campus at USC the summer before, while in-field students begin in the fall. They also offer their program completely online as a M-CD.

Okay cute story related to this thread: I got my list of things to prep for this Fall from ECU, and I have to acquire a penlight, stethoscope, and stopwatch. I called my mom to chat and mentioned it in our conversation, and she was like, "Oh, a stethoscope AND a stopwatch? I have one that I've been saving for you when you finally realized you needed to go into a health profession!" (aw, thanks mom!!) So funny looking back on this from the other side... being that my music ed career will be put on the back burner once school gets out in June. Of course I'm going to keep performing, so that part of my "old" career will still be there! I have no clue how old or in what condition her stethoscope is, so I may end up buying a new one anyway if it just isn't up to par, but seriously, I love my mom for this. :-) edited because I type a lot faster than my computer, and sometimes typos appear when they weren't intended. :-)

Since you already have an undergrad thesis on language acquisition, maybe your master's thesis could diverge a bit. It's not too late to change your mind until you have already gotten your thesis topic approved. Pursuing pediatric dysphagia sounds like a nice divergence in your interests and might lead you to pursue further research if you want to eventually pursue a PhD in either language acquisition, dysphagia, or something else, maybe language acquisition methods for children with dysphagia? Just a couple of ideas. Edit: apparently I have trouble typing. ;-)

For Schools that you DO RE-APPLY once you finish pre-reqs: East Carolina University offers their full post-bacc leveling courses online. If interested, students must FIRST email Dr. Cox on March 1st at 9am or later, and she will let you know if you have a spot. Then, you apply as a non-degree seeking student (app fee currently $70) and she will register you for the courses. There is usually a long waiting list for these courses, and in-state tuition is very good, so lots of competition within NC. University of Alaska Anchorage offers the same ECU pre-req program online, in an E-live format (you actually have to show up for class at a certain time, once a week). No app fee to apply as a non-degree student. Alaskans have a limited number of spots reserved in the ECU master's program (distance ed, I think), but participating in the UAA classes does not guarantee a spot. UNC Greensboro offers the leveling classes but only a few of them are online, according to their website. Appalachian State claims to offer the leveling courses online but I was unsuccessful in figuring out if anyone could register for them if they were not already an App State student. They also offer a 3-year program, and spring admissions for in-field students. Longwood University (VA) offers all of their leveling pre-reqs online. The format is totally online, very self-directed learning. Some course (phonetics) have a Wimba Classroom for a few live review sessions. No proctored exams.

Most if the programs I researched only accept in-field applicants in the winter/spring semester, maybe someone else has other ideas for you? You can keep doing pre-reqs and apply as out of field with pre-reqs which lines you up with the in-field students for nother fall, or spring semester in the future! In any case, best of luck to you!!

Is anyone else n here planning to go, or thinking about accepting the ECU offer of admission? Would love to meet some of you!

I wrote in my SOPs about being interested in neurogenic disorders, aphasia, post-stroke recovery, and voice disorders. All of the profs that will be teaching the masters level courses at ECU all specialize in one of those areas (another reason it is a great fit for me!), in addition to some other areas, of course. I am still learning so much about this field, and I am taking an extra course this summer (neural processes) to learn more about that side of things, because thesis topic discussion and selection begins in the first semester! I hope my thesis ends up being in one of those areas of research, but I am open to change if I find other interests in the MS program! :-)

If you have any questions about the program, like you mentioned, email or call to ask those questions. Yes, your mind may be already made up, as mine was, but I still had a couple of questions to make sure I got answered before I accepted. I got my offer on a Friday, and accepted on the following Tuesday. If you have already done your homework on the program, any follow up questions you have will show that, and you won't look desperate. Knowing what you want in this life, and for grad school, is a rare trait. G for it, once you have asked everything you need to know!

Yah, I got that message to. I am assuming that I am wait-listed at this point since I have heard nothing. The message you're talking about is triggered by filing the FAFSa with the school. My login stuff also says the pending requirement is acceptance. Kind of plays with us, ya know!!!

If it is a non-degree program, you aren't eligible for the federal loans, some people go for a second bacc just for that reason, so they can get stafford loans. I had to get loans for my pre-req courses since I chose to go the non-degree route. I got student loans with sallie Mae. The interest rate isn't the best, closer to 9%, but at least I have deferred repayment until the date I set when I applied for the loans. A personal loan on a credit card might have better rates. Most traditions banks don't lend for student loans unless it is a degree-seeking program.

Hey!!! We have a bunch of threads on this on the SLP discussion board. Check it out here: Speech-Language Pathology

I emailed Dr. Cox about something this afternoon and there is an auto-reply set on her email -- letters went out to everyone who applied to campus or DE programs, and if you don't get your letter by Friday, to contact her. My letters were dated March 14th. Just FYI for anyone else reading these forums!

Sounds like there are still a bunch of people waiting to hear... :-( Praying for you all to get some good news soon! I had a slap-crazy busy day today and hopped on TGC for just a minute to check to see if you guys heard something... now I have to run out and get something to eat and get on an ear-plug assignment for my intro to audiology class. Fun times. :-)

I *finally* got my official letters of admission from ECU graduate school in the mail today (although I received previous offer of admission directly from Dr. Cox). Unsure if this means that everyone applying to ECU for CSD/SLP will receive their letters today or within the next few days, but hopefully everyone will know what the ECU decisions are, soon!! :-)

The first wave of applicants notified have to respond by April 15th, after which they are notifying other applicants for spots. I think unless you received an outright rejection (doesn't seem to be very many by the posts on the results board) everyone else is on a wait list until then... Dr. Cox may have additional answers, though, so you might email her to find out more specifics. I think ECU was on spring break last week (?) so she may have a backlog of emails to catch up. Best of luck to you! I still haven't found anyone else on the forums who is going on campus for sure, although I have seen acceptances posted for the DE program.

Congrats! That's how I felt when I got into ECU... When you Actually are faced with the chance to go to your top choice school, it is an amazing feeling!

I think a comparison to sports rankings is interesting- I noticed in the US news report on the link for methodology, that they basically send out surveys to heads of SLP programs, etc, and they respond to the survey to create the rankings. This is a lot like a coaches poll in college sports. The fact that someone thought well enough of another program to support it in the USnews rankings is enough to bring all of the other factors I described earlier into play (fit, research, faculty, location, etc.). Sure, it might look good on paper to have a high name out there for a PhD, but for the MS, not such a big deal. I noticed a lot of people on the SLP discussion forums applied to schools with rankings all over the place, and location seemed to be important for more than a few of us! Tangentially related... I wonder what an AP poll would look like, for SLP program rankings. If people outside of the academic faculty of SLP actually ranked based on their own interactions and experiences with SLP graduates from the programs... Edit: here is the link to read about the methodology behind the rankings. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2013/03/11/methodology-best-health-schools-rankings

It wasn't really a decision against App or Western, it was a decision FOR East Carolina. I looked at course sequences, clinical / internship schedule, professors with my research interests (for an eventual thesis), etc. Plus, I own a townhouse 25 mins from ECU, and us moving back to that house actually saves us quite a bit of money, even with the scholarship / package offered at Western, whose program sequence is admittedly very similar to ECU. App State when I visited only had an adjunct instructor who covered the area of neurogenic disorders and aphasia, and was looking for a full professor, but since they would then only have basically 1.5 profs that are even interested in that area, I was unsure if I would be able to pursue one of my research interests/thesis interests there. There were a lot of factors at play in the decision, but ultimately personal factors took a big role over academic factors.

What does the course description say for this course at the university you plan to attend? Match up the description of that class with an equivalent description at another university that offers the online course. Might be an articulatory phonology course, or straight-up phonetics.

Distance Ed can be great for those people who have a family, can't move to just any campus they get accepted to, and want to work during the coursework. It also takes around a year to a year and a half longer than the traditional campus programs. I know for the ECU distance ed program, you are strongly advised NOT to work full-time during the 2nd and 3rd years of the program due to the time you will spend in the field / internship / externship. I also teach school (music ed), and had to choose between three on campus options, and 1 online option. It came down to a matter of being done in 2 years, less tuition overall, and since I'm out-of-field, getting face-to-face interaction with my professors on a regular basis, which I prefer. The distance ed program would have been great if I could have taken my % of employment down to maybe 60% or even 40%, work 2-3 days of the week at the school, but that's just not how most schools handle part-time personnel - it's usually some part of every day rather than just a few days of the week, so I think that with that scenario in mind, there wasn't really a way I could continue to work part-time and put everything into the DE program that I probably would need to.

That does sound strange, about them getting an email address you didn't give them. Are you still going to call to schedule the interview at this point, or do you want to? I would call and state that you didn't realize the interview request went to an address that you did not intended to put in your application or something Iike that. I agree that it is a bit bizarre, but maybe all of that happened just so you would check the old email address!!