lexical_gap

I've been on both sides of this situation as a prospective SLP graduate student and as a current SLP graduate student. These are some questions I either asked or have been asked: - Why did you choose to attend School X? - What is something you like about School X and what is something you wish you could change? - What is your class / clinic schedule? - Did you have to make up any classes once you got here? (Since each school has different requirements for entry, students who completed their undergrad elsewhere may be asked to complete additional coursework. Every year at my school, there are one or two students who are surprised that they have to take an additional class to cover something that wasn't part of their undergraduate experience.) - Why did you choose or not choose to write a thesis? - What scholarships, fellowships, or other funding opportunities are available for grad students in the department? - How do you get involved in a research lab? - What class do you find the most challenging and why? - How much time do you spend preparing for clinic? - What is the most challenging part of grad school and why?

Short answer: Probably not. Long answer: Read the fine print on the scholarship eligibility requirements and documents you must submit with the application. Some scholarships for graduate school require a letter of good standing from your program, graduate transcripts, LORs from your professors, and/or an acceptance letter from a graduate program as part of the application. If you do not have those items yet, you may not be ineligible. That said, many schools offer current undergraduate students scholarships that are transferrable to graduate tuition if they stay at the same university. I have a classmate who was offered a scholarship her senior year of undergrad that was applied to her grad school tuition. However, if she had gone to a different university for grad school, she would have lost that money. Look at when scholarships are awarded and when they must be applied. Scholarships that issue checks directly to the student instead of the school have an expiration date. Others get sent to the school and are applied directly to the next term. Just make sure you read the fine print and ask questions of the people awarding the scholarships.

I kept my books from undergrad. I have used them as references in many papers for grad school. I would keep them.

From what I have seen, the attendance rates between those who completed their undergrad / post-bac coursework at UWM vs. elsewhere is usually pretty evenly split.

I'm reminded of a joke. Q: "What do you call the person who graduate last in his/her class from the worst medical school in the country?" A: "Doctor." The same can be said for SLPs. No matter what school you ultimately attend, as long as you satisfactorily complete all the requirements, you will be an SLP. It really is all about finding the best fit for you. Do you like big cities or smaller towns? Do you want an emphasis in medical or educational settings? Or, do you want a balance of both? Do you want to focus on a specific disorder / population or do you want to dabble in everything? Do you want the opportunity to do research or would you like a more clinical practice focus? Of course, you also have to consider the financial cost. School A may have a great program that fits you but is twice the cost of School B. Will it be worth that financial investment to go to School A or is the training at School B comparable enough that you would rather save the initial cost of paying for school? This field is constantly changing and offers plenty of flexibility. You may start your professional practice in one setting with one population and end up on the opposite side of the spectrum for the bulk of your career. I also want to echo the idea that there is no "safety school". I applied to a school to which I thought I was guaranteed admission as a "backup plan". I ended up being waitlisted. Unless you sit on that committee, you never truly know what factors go into deciding whether or not someone is offered admission.

I'm about to start my second year MS SLP and I agree with all the above. I would also add: DO Check available resources before creating your own therapy cards, games, and activities. Borrow ideas / materials from classmates and friends. Get to know your classmates. They will laugh with (and at) you, cry with you, help you through those days when you feel like quitting, and celebrate your accomplishments. Start building your own library of resources. Mentor the undergrads through the grad application process. Get to know your professors. Advocate for yourself. Grad school + deadlines + life + family can be intimidating and overwhelming. Talk to your professors if you are having trouble balancing everything. They have lives outside of school too and understand what you're going through. Ultimately, they want you to succeed. DON'T Beat yourself up if you fall behind or feel overwhelmed.

ballerina18, the thesis vs. no thesis question is a highly individual one. Do you like doing research? Do you have career aspirations in research / becoming a professor or would you prefer being a clinician? As far as job opportunities, I'd say it's a wash. My program has had 100% job placement within 6 months after graduation for the past 3 graduating classes. Of the 75+ students, only about a dozen wrote theses. Again, it depends on the environment in which you want to work. If you want to work in a specific swallowing-intensive rehab program and you have an interest in researching swallowing therapies, writing a thesis on that topic may make you a more attractive candidate as you'll have more expertise than a general SLP. However, if your dream job is to work as an SLP in an elementary school with a variety of disorders and population types, writing a thesis may not make as much of a difference. With regard to a timeline, assuming you are in 2-year program, you should definitely decide by the end of your first year. It takes time to do a lit review, go through the proposal and IRB approval process, carry out the actual study and collect data, and writing the actual thesis. Your advisor will set a timeline for you to follow. The timeline my advisor gave me is roughly 14 calendar months from start to finish. Be sure to read the fine print on any scholarships, fellowships, grants, assistantships or other awards you may receive or accept. Some have stipulations that require you to write a thesis upon acceptance of the award.

It depends on your campus and program. My program gives grad students a locker in which they can keep belongings. However, the locker fits about 2.5 books before it is full. During midterm / paper-writing season, I used my books frequently. Some professors require you to bring the book to each class, others do not. For clinic, it depends on the type of client you have. For my adult clients, a folder was more than enough to hold what I needed. For child clients, I've seen classmates carry multiple crates of toys and materials for just one session. Ultimately, you will develop a system based on what works for you. A classmate of mine has a rolling tote and it's made her life significantly easier.

I'm also willing to help.

Yes and no. In my current grad cohort, about 15 of the 25 students completed their undergraduate or post-bacc work at the same university. That said, of those 15, more than half were originally waitlisted. Many had been accepted elsewhere but indicated a preference to stay if they were to be accepted off the waitlist. There were quite a few students who had applied and ended up not even on the waitlist. Being an alumna/alumnus of the university may give you a tiny edge in that the faculty may knows you. However, you still need to have the stats, the LORs, and personal statement advocating for yourself.

Congrats twinguy7 on your second acceptance!

Oh, it happens all the time. I'm in my 2nd semester and still occasionally find myself thinking, "Did I make the right choice? Did I choose the best school for me? Should I have applied to more?" Ultimately, no matter where you go, you will learn the skills you need to know. It sounds cliche, but you really do get out of grad school what you put into it. Some of my classmates have their 2- year plan and are following it to a T. Others are talking to professors and advisors to get experiences (clinical and/or research) in areas of interest that weren't on their original course plan. Both ways will get you a degree, but one has a more personalized grad school experience than the other. It's up to you to advocate for yourself.

Congrats, twinguy7! Welcome to the midwest!

If you aren't a huge reader, I've got some documentaries I'd recommend: League of Denial: Sports-related brain injury, specifically CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in NFL football players. Aphasia the Movie: A fictionalized portrayal of actor Carl McIntyre's real-life struggle recovering from a stroke.

autismadvocate, it looks deceptively simple on paper. To give context, I'm only taking 13 credits. I have classmates taking a class or two extra that I'm not taking to get the DPI licensure required to work in a school.

In my current program (1st year grad student - 2nd semester) I have 3-4 hours of clinic per week and class about 6 hours a week. That said, I spend most of my time on campus studying, prepping for clinic, reviewing clinic sessions, analyzing data, working in the research lab, or meeting with advisors and supervisors. It's not unusual for me to spend 8-10 hours on campus more than twice per week. Our TA has spent more than 12 hours on campus on multiple occasions. For me, Mondays are my busy days. I usually get to campus between 10 -10:30 am and don't leave until about 7:15 - 7:30 pm

Here's what I have used thus far in my first year of grad school: 1) Planner: It will be your life. 2) Digital Recorder: One of my clinic supervisors required us to have one, others made it optional. Check with your supervisors. Some schools also have them for student use. 3) Child-Friendly craft materials: Popsicle sticks, construction paper, pom poms, craft foam, etc. They are excellent for child clients. 4) Ipad / Computer: I have a personal one, but my department has some full of apps for use. 5) Lots of folders, binders, notebooks, etc.

I agree about not excluding the guys. Or at the very least, plan plenty of outings to which everyone (including significant others) are invited. I'm the only guy in my class and I've gone out with my cohort a few times. It's fine if we're all going out (and they bring significant others). However I've also been left out of a lot of things because I'm a guy. Most of my cohort was invited to a bachelorette party for a classmate. A makeup-beauty product demo / sale night was planned. Obviously, I was not invited to those events. I understand and I get it. On one of our outings, one of the girls invited her husband to join us after work. After he arrived, I must've looked like a creeper as I chatted with him the remainder of the evening.

This is a dream I had last semester during my first month of grad school: I dreamt that I showed up late for my Evaluation & Diagnosis class lecture. The professor who teaches that class and wrote me a LOR to get into grad school, just stopped the lecture to glare at me. He muttered in the "disappointed dad" voice, "Just turn in your homework." I sheepishly mumbled that I forgot we had an assignment due, and thus had nothing to turn in. The professor turned beat red and started hollering at me in front of everyone: "WHAT?!? You come to my class late and unprepared? How dare you disrespect me like that! Especially after I wrote you a letter! Get out of my class! Don't ever come back! In fact, I will recommend your expulsion from the program! Now, get out!" I run out of the building in tears and get to my car. As I'm driving home, sobbing hysterically, it starts to rain. I look in my rearview mirror and see my professor decked out in leather biker gear, chasing after me on his motorcycle. Before I know it, he's trying to run me off the road. After a few attempts, he successfully runs me into the ditch and drives off. *** I woke up in a panic and started frantically searching for the assignment I needed to complete for Eval & Diagnosis. After about 30 seconds, I realized that I wasn't even enrolled in that course! He wasn't teaching any of my courses first semester. I told that professor about the dream and he just laughed. He assured me that he does not actually own or ride a motorcycle. In fact, he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met.

It is possible, but realistically, putting in more than 15-20 hours a week is difficult. I'm currently working as a research assistant. There is no way I could pay for cost of living based on the pay. It's basically extra spending money.

As someone who survived the journey of applications last year, twinguy is right. It will be worth it. Hang in there. Don't forget to pay it forward and guide the next class through the nationwide hazing ritual of grad school applications.

To give some context, I too, am a former teacher, headed to SLP-land. I substitute taught for 5 years (couldn't land a full-time contract job) and switched fields. I love teaching, but 30 on 1 is now how I taught best. I am now able to do what attracted me to teaching in the first place: really get to know my students / clients, understand their learning needs, and design individualized intervention to help them. It's a lot of work, but I couldn't be happier. Hold on to the skills you learned as an educator. They will serve you well.

It completely depends on your instructor / clinical supervisor, his/her management style, and your learning style. Some instructors use the "throw you into the metaphorical pool and you'll learn to swim on your own or sink" method of teaching. Others give you feedback about every detail you use in clinic, down to the size and color of the font you choose for stimulus words. If you're worried, ask your supervisor how they like to teach their students. Most of the supervisors I've had ask for feedback as to how they are doing as your supervisor. They give out paper surveys and schedule in-person meetings to discuss not only your case management, but how they are doing as your mentor. It's up to you to speak up if you want more guidance or supervision. They want you to succeed. If you fail out, it reflects poorly on them as your supervisor. That said, the responsibility still lays on you as the clinician to learn the techniques, read the research, read test manuals, ask questions, and come to each session prepared. If you do the homework and make a mistake with a client, the supervisors are usually a little bit more forgiving. If you don't do the work required to prepare, they'll come down on you harder. It also depends on the severity of the mistake. If you give the wrong hand signal for an articulatory tactile cue, you'll get a gentle correction (the first time). If you violate HIPAA, hoo boy, hold on to your hat. In general, do your best and show up prepared. Ask plenty of questions if you don't understand something. Advocate for yourself. It's your education and future career on the line.

Things like that happen all the time. If you're willing to take the hit, go for it. It's better to reserve a spot at School A and decline it later for School B if you're accepted.

I'm a male and a first-year SLP grad student. When I applied, I was told, "It's something [they] consider, but don't bank on it." Basically, you need to have the grades and clinical/research potential to be a successful grad student. If you have the grades, the LORs, and a great personal statement; it's possible you may have an advantage because you are more memorable. The admissions process is subjective. That said, if your application is just average and you blend in with the other 500 applicants, being a male won't help.