queenleblanc

In my opinion, who gives a crap about looking like an "undergraduate/schmuck" because of your bag... I really doubt that anyone actually cares what you use to carry your stuff in, so you shouldn't either. If a backpack is the most efficient for you, then use a dang backpack! ... That's what I'm planning on doing

Thank you for your valuable and unsolicited opinion on what I should and shouldn't care about.

I am submitting my decision to USF tomorrow. This has been the most difficult decision of my life to make, but I feel like I'm making the right one.

Rejected from UCF today, but kicked butt during my interview for San Francisco State!!! The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone at this point is to apply to as many programs as financially possible! Give yourself some options, and remember that each school has a unique admissions process, and each program is looking for different things in each applicant. I have gotten rejected from schools I thought I would get accepted to, and have gotten in to or waitlisted at schools I never dreamed I would have a chance of being accepted to. This process makes absolutely no sense so never give up!

I just received my first acceptance to The College of Saint Rose!!

The more I think about it, the more I think USF is the right choice for me. I'll sleep on it, but my heart is pretty much set on it

I responded to my offer via email and got a "GREAT, Thanks" response as well as an attached document with info for new students.

I am hoping that it is just the stress. I know this process is difficult, but we need to remain positive and supportive of each other. These are your future colleagues! Moreover, none of us can really comment on the inner-workings of any department. What makes a certain school more "political" or not doesn't really matter. Bashing a program because you were waitlisted or rejected just seems like sour grapes. 

I'm going to mark all of the debate posts on the results board as spam.
 
If people want to discuss the ins and outs of admissions decisions, there are literally dozens of appropriate places for them to do it, and the results board is not one of them.

I seems there is no prescribed order for hearing back from schools, unfortunately. There are many still waiting to hear in the SLP discussion forum.
As far as an opinion on US News, I don't put stock in it whatsoever. According to some professors I have heard from on the issue, both in SLP and in other fields, the method of obtaining results /survey methods are flawed and don't really represent success rates of graduates, research activity, or graduate preparedness for SLP like one would desire. There are many ranking "arms" out there, and if you see a name of a university consistenty in the top 25 on all ranking systems, then you probably are looking at a top program. As an example of one discrepancy, one university where I applied is in the top 10 for research with the chronicle of higher ed, but is in the top 130's in US News. They also have 100% employment rates and praxis pass rates. Look for those kinds of stats to give you an idea of the programs you are considering. In addition, whatever interests you might have for a thesis or project would be better matched at a school with professors who are researching those areas. Since SLP programs don't have a huge number of professors in general, you really need to scour the university's websites and professor profiles, as well as recent publications. All this goes to find out your best fit.

We have a HUGE thread for 2013 applicants, join us over there! :-)

I decided to create a website that provides condensed notes for undergrad courses in CSD. I've taken some CSD classes twice (unfortunately I had to in order to get the 2nd bachelors :/ ), and think it would be a great resource. Am I the only person worried that I'll start grad school and not remember what I learned in undergrad?! Well hopefully this site will help me and anyone else who needs a quick CSD refresher. If anyone wants to help with the creation of the site, let me know! Here's what I have so far... https://sites.google.com/site/slpstudyguide/

I WAS JUST ACCEPTED TO USF!!!! This is actually the happiest moment of my life. I cried tears of joy. Thank you all for supporting me through this time. It means so much. 

theyre probs intimidated to answer cause theyre like omg its jmarti, shes famous on tgc and we love her and she is accepted!
good luck!!! im crossing my fingers for you!

I am hoping if we are not rejected yet that it is a good sign!

I'm in the same boat as being "waitlisted." Soo nervewracking b/c this is my top choice school. I need to know soon if I'm getting into school this year or if I should start job searching again. Thank you to those people who have notified the school about turning down an acceptance. Although I really hope a spot goes to me (lol), either way I hope they go to well-deserved students.

That drives me crazy and I am IN grad school (especially when people talk about my grad program and/or schools I applied to). I always want to mark them as spam, and if they are particularly rude I do   There is honesty no need for that kind of negativity.

I think that this process has taught me that my opinion of myself and my talents and abilities is far too dependent on outside approval. I need to do some hard, introspective work to figure out why that is.
 
You have a lot of great food for thought here. Good luck to you!

As an educator, I want to add a few things for you to consider. 
 
1. Any "supervisor" (advisor, administrator, professor, etc.) wants to see you try things that they find to be successful.  When you show them that you are trying their way but with your own style, they see you as a success.  
 
2. If you are feeling friction and feel like it's because of age or family differences, it could be a self-imposed "rationale" you are creating.  We always see things through the lens of our personal experiences and the life around us.  Perhaps it is really you making these comparisons about marital status or family status because you feel defensive after hearing criticism.  
 
3. It is possible that the friction is actually REAL.  The advisor/prof may realize that they are younger than you (the student), and that automatically creates a sense of "I have to show them that even though he/she is older, I am the expert in the room."  I've been in that position -- teaching people who are actually older than me and more experienced in other aspects of life, and it's a challenge to be the expert without coming across the wrong way.  Try telling them that you feel as though you are singled out for criticism at times and would appreciate all the ideas they have to offer but perhaps a more private setting for criticism (rather than in front of your peers) would be easier for you to hear.  We ALL have sensitivities in this area - around our peers, we want to feel confident, we want them to see how smart / good / put-together we are.  
 
4. Don't look at the praise of your peers versus the criticism of your work as a competition, or as a peer-against-peer thing.  It is work, part of your graduate training ... and ultimately your advisor WANTS to make you better.  If I had a professor willing to give me constructive criticism that would make me better, while only offering positive reinforcement to my peers, I would be grateful for the opportunity to improve.  In my K-12 teaching career, there were times that I was DYING to hear things that would make me a better educator.  I also had times where my peers got "empty" critiques and I felt like my critiques had a lot of meat in them (things I could really learn and change).  
 
5. You WILL develop your own style -- but part of the graduate experience is that you learn THAT school's philosophy, etc.  You don't have to buy the whole kit and kaboodle as far as assimilation, but they want to see you as a ____ (school name) university scholar that they can brag about.  
 
 
I don't know if this offers any insight that you can take to heart.  Do try to put the shoe on the other foot and see it from your advisor's perspective, and remember that it isn't really supposed to be "personal."  We ALL have a tendency to take things too personally.  Appreciate the opportunity to make yourself better, and if you feel unjustly criticized, back it up in a private discussion (rather than in front of your peers).  The maturity will be appreciated by your advisor and will speak volumes of your character.  
 
Good luck!  

On most schools websites where I looked last Fall, general Ed pre-reqs were recommended to be a C or better, and CSD pre-reqs needed to be a B- or better.

It sounds like a lot of the feedback you will need / get will be virtual (over email, etc) -- I'm not sure why a pregnancy would impact your advisor's ability to respond to you, except for perhaps the weeks right when she has the baby.  She isn't falling off the face of the planet... but maybe that's just my perspective.  My sister-in-law had a baby in August, and a friend just had her baby in mid-February -- they are quicker back to their computer than anything else, so I could see this actually as a benefit to you.  It would be prudent to at least have the conversation to find out if she plans to return to her position after whatever amount of appropriate time and continue to advise you with a possible December finishing date.  Other than that, if you end up keeping your advisor and finishing on schedule, just try to email her whatever you need to get you through a few weeks during that time in mid-summer.  

Yeah, app doesn't do that.

They have a quota of in-field and out-of-field students (I think 22 and 12, respectively). Since they admit in the spring as well, they have limited class sizes for the Fall admits. When I read the statement you quoted from a previous poster about the school realizing that a student would probably turn them down, I personally was offended that someone would think so poorly of a school that they don't think they can "get" a candidate of high stats (etc). Especially since people reading the forums probably did apply there, whether they comment regularly or not. The school ad-comm has no way of knowing that anyone has been accepted elsewhere.

"Hi professor ____, I would really like your advice on making improvements to my work. As I revise this document, what suggestions can you offer on where to start? I looked over the document and I do see some obvious changes, but I would really appreciate your feedback. Perhaps this would be better done in a meeting, where you can mark up the paper for me to work on." Blah blah blah. Get through this... Because as my mom always tells me when I get frustrated with people in charge of my work, "This too shall pass." You are going through the typical grad school dejection and frustration. People experience this to different degrees, and yours sounds exceptionally hard, but it is not impossible. Do what the prof wants, be happy with your quality of work, and try to move on! :-)

"Hi professor ____, I would really like your advice on making improvements to my work. As I revise this document, what suggestions can you offer on where to start? I looked over the document and I do see some obvious changes, but I would really appreciate your feedback. Perhaps this would be better done in a meeting, where you can mark up the paper for me to work on." Blah blah blah. Get through this... Because as my mom always tells me when I get frustrated with people in charge of my work, "This too shall pass." You are going through the typical grad school dejection and frustration. People experience this to different degrees, and yours sounds exceptionally hard, but it is not impossible. Do what the prof wants, be happy with your quality of work, and try to move on! :-)

Could possibly be someone who was waitlisted, and now is trashing the program in the hopes that someone else will see it and decline, thereby opening up a space.
 
Just a theory!

Similar story here -- I was on a sick day from work and got the email around 4:30/5pm as I was laying on the couch, with bronchitis.  I could barely talk and had to gesture as I told my husband that I got into one of my two top choices!!  Yep, I accepted the following Tuesday... it's not every day that dreams and reality actually match up like that!!  
 
And now for the obligatory ... "Ain't Nobody Got Time Fo' Dat!" (look up "Sweet Brown" on youtube, it's absolutely hilarious!)