Zera86

A professor at my current location told my class that rankings don't actually mean all that much. They're essentially a popularity contest, because score cards are sent out to current faculty members at each school, and they basically just rank according to "what they've heard." There's no scientific manner behind it, like difficulty of classes, quality of professors, etc. In terms of successful placements and graduation rates, pretty much anyone in this field will have multiple offers at graduation according to everyone I've talked to. I can also testify that, as someone who is doing prerequisites at one of the top ten schools, it's miserable here and I wouldn't choose this school even if they'd offered me a ton of scholarships. My advice: You'll be spending the next two years of your life wherever you decide to go, and it'll be a stressful two years with all the classes and clinic hours, so make sure it's somewhere you'll be happy and have a support network. Regardless of where you go, you'll get your degree and you'll find a job afterward. That said, I was also accepted to NIU and it was my second choice over several higher ranked schools because they seem to be re-vamping their program, which tells me they'll likely be open to helping pursue individual interests and opportunities if you come up with them. Places that care about improving their program/image will probably be more willing to work with you to find exciting experiences that reflect positively on themselves, as opposed to a school content with a really high rating that is doing you a favor by accepting you, rather than the other way around. The school that I chose over NIU is a place that I love, and while it's a lot more expensive, I know I'll get a great education, graduate as a competent clinician, and really enjoy the next two years.

I know that ASHA has technically changed the requirement to physics or chemistry, but I believe your graduate school can somewhat bend the rule if they're convinced a difference course fulfilled the requirement. For example, astronomy can possibly be argued to contain enough physics. I'm not sure how true this actually is, but when I was visiting my top choice grad school in the fall, I asked the graduate advisor about it (so I could take a physics/chem class in the spring semester if I needed to), and he said that he would count my astronomy class toward the requirement, and that his physical science requirement was astronomy and it had served him just fine. Perhaps check with individual advisors? The problem is that ASHA doesn't grandfather us in with what requirements were in place when we started our programs, so it's feasible the requirements could change again before we graduate with the masters and get certified, or even change back to the previous, broader criteria for physical science.