CO (soon to be) SLP

Herd back from the department today a little on Funding. They did mention that most questions would be answered at the open house, but for those curious decisions on assistantships would come out closer to the April 15th deadline, and it sounded, baed on the email, as though you would have to accept an offer first. I suppose I'll find out in a week. Good luck to everyone still waiting on a list, my fingers are still crossed for you!

I'm not sure "more competitive" is always the right term, perhaps "different program", or "slightly higher ranked" may be the case. When many many schools have slots for fewer than 15% of applicants I don't think one is necessarily all that much more competitive than the next, it just depends on you being able to be one of the candidates that stands out in a particular area the committee believes will balance the program. I was accepted at a school that has a higher rank than others that waitlisted or rejected me. Keep steady jmarti37, I'm sure you will find a great fit in just the right place.

Congratulations! Getting good news from one of your dream programs is an amazing feeling. Here's to hoping you get to stay on cloud 9 for a while... before the rest of reality comes rising back.

From my knowledge of other programs, one SD above the average is usually considered, good 2 is great, of course that if for programs that weigh the GRE heavily, and all bets are off for the hyper-competitive

ESLtoSLP, That does seem like a pretty big list, but they probably want to have a deep field to pull from to keep things balanced, and with it being so competitive I imagine they expect many of their selections to have many choices. I also wonder if they mayby didn't admit for a larger class? Either way my fingers are crossed that you are one of those the committee wants to roll up and a slot opens for you!

Just to join in, hang in there!! it only takes one! Although I've never met you in real life, you have been so supportive of everyone here, and I think that says a lot about who you are any why any program would be lucky to have you.

Point of note: Being remembered is not *always* a good thing I remember in my articulation disorders class (I was a live remote participant... with the mic gain turned up a little too much) my thundering incorrect response of "velar fronting" to a question ended up being the inside joke of the semester a la: "it's never lupus"

University of Colorado at Boulder. I'll notify University of Wyoming and Northern Colorado early next week to remove me from the waiting list. Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear back!

Yup, I would have to agree with this. Because I did a second B.S. in Comm Disorders, I had to take Into to Comm Science and Disorders. In the text the gender gap was actually brought up and, in a moment of brave stupidity, I did take a sideways approach at asking this. The answer I got was that admissions committees have to demonstrate diversity that is representative of the application pool (those who applied). So if 250 women and 50 men apply, then about 25 women and 5 men admits would look fair. in fact, admitting a statistically significantly higher percentage of any group than is representative of the application pool is a big problem when it comes accreditation time.

Hi, I can't really say too much about the profession as a whole, as I'm just applying. Coming from a social work track to an SLP track I've noticed a large gender gap in the classes I've had, though I think it's a little lower at the undergrad level in speech science as I see more guys moving toward audiology. Interestingly, I have seen a pretty fair balance in gender amongst my professors? In my chem classes, many years ago, there was a significant (but not as extreme) gap in the other direction. We could probably get into a long discussion on social etiology, but suffice to say I agree that there are a lot of populations that do identify better with a same-gender therapist, and a few more guys in the field could not hurt. If you look at autism stats... this gets even more interesting! That being said, I don't think it would get hyper competitive; change happens slowly and I still think that a lot of what we see now is a function of the economy and in time things will settle down.

klgreen88 and Laurenann924, I wish I had some insight for you into the process, but nothing's over till it's over. I think I saw a UC Boulder acceptance on the board posted recently. It may help to know that I live in Boulder now and Friday we had a bunch of crazy power issues that I think affected everyone near downtown and the university. Edited to correct embarrassing grammar mistake

Very cool! You are NOT ALONE, my program has two intensive courses in early August prior to the start of the full program, and I'm a little terrified I'll manage to make an idiot of myself before the first real semester even begins.

I don't envy you... well I sort of do, having a lot of great offers to choose from is an enviable position, but I'm very happy to know where I'm going and as only choices go CU is a pretty darn good one. For me it's now down to figuring out funding and exactly how I will transition out of my job, which is just the next thing to be nervous about. Do you have anywhere you are leaning towards? Also, out of curiosity what factors are in your decision?

We could do it James Bond style and all wear a flower corresponding to our nicknames...

It does look pretty action packed!

Tuck, did you get the email today on the itinerary for said open house?

Has anyone accepted heard on funding so far? I'm not expecting anything, and it's really not going to change my decision, but it would be nice to know. The admissions info notes that letters of funding go out with acceptance letters. I'm not sure, though, if they mean the departmental letters or the graduate school letters. To those still waiting to hear back or on the waitlist, fingers remain crossed!

I totally get the rejection emotions, I went through that applying for some jobs when the company I was with went under... everything I wanted, and even thought I had a real shot at (e.g. high-level interviews) just dissolved; it's ugly! Hang in there. Hope is far from over for this app season, but if I can give you any advice should you find yourself reapplying, it would be to choose somethings to do in that time that you are truly passionate about. If you can make a full-time-pay-the-bills job out of it, great if not, don't pick something just because it might look good. In the almost three years I've been getting things done so that I could get in to a grad program, what has made it so much easier and fulfilling is having that ability to have an impact on things that I really care about. Frustrating at times to have to work and take so many undergrad courses, but because I was doing volunteer work in areas where I REALLY wanted to be it never felt like I was standing still or just biding my time. I hope this helps some? My fingers are crossed for you (I tried the toes... not that dexterous in the lower extremities)

Same thing here.

It looks like the letters are all put together by hand, so it may take a while? I have no clue what the process is, so I can't even begin to tell you what to expect. My fingers are crossed for you though!!

CONGRATS! I loved Pittsburgh. Looks like you have lots of acceptances, any clue where you will wind up?

I feel like something of a fraud answering as this is my first year applying, I only got into one program, and I have no real feedback on why I got into that one (luck?). Perhaps the only bit of "advice" I could give is that if you have a specific area or population you want to work in/with then volunteer or work there even if it's not SLP specific. The reasoning is that if you can demonstrate familiarity and competency in working with certain populations or in certain settings then you might be able to show to adcomms that the addition of SLP skills will make you a higher-contributing member of the profession? Also if it's something you are passionate about, then you are likely to do better and have better recommenders. Outside of that, the standard work on SOPs, GRE scores etc might help? I wish I had something more concrete to give you. Good luck!

CONRATS CONRATS CONRATS!!!! I hope you get to stay on cloud nine for a while, it's a great feeling.

out of curiosity, where did you get the number 800 from?

Hi AED, I am very sorry, I in NO WAY meant to either discourage you or imply that your stats were bad (which I could see how anyone could read that to mean some uglier things)!! In re-reading my quick post, it seems that you would have had to some some awesome mind reading powers to understand what I was trying to say, which was: I don't think it's necessarily true that SLP programs place all the emphasis on GREs and GPAs. Your GPA is good; it's higher than mine, and talking to other people accepted into programs even without experience, higher than theirs. If you look on the results board you can find loads of acceptances with reported GPA/GRE well in that range. Yet I don't think they tell the whole story, recommenders, SOPs, and CV do matter so don't sell that component short. On the topic of path, you sounded excited about getting interviews in the competitive counseling programs and were already talking about alternatives, so I simply wanted to give some encouragement there. However, I would hate to see you pick another path that isn't what you really want just because it's a little easier or you become convinced that your (already good stats and great experience) were not enough. Were it the case that you had a 2.4 GPA and GREs in the 130's it might be time for a realistic appraisal, but you are fine! The best advice I can give is to always keep trying to change the world on your terms. If it's through an SLP route (and it sounds like that it is), then keep moving toward that through whatever silly obstacles come up. If SLP happens to just be one route to host and there are better ones, then don't be afraid to look at those. But only you are able to answer the questions of why you are here in this process. Take care!