sayjo

Remember that the stats on this forum tend to be skewed (in my opinion). The people going on a forum like this tend to be super Type-A people who have ridiculous stats. You still want to make sure that you have high stats, but not EVERYONE has a 4.0 GPA, excellent GRE scores, etc. Really research the schools that you want to go to, to see what their average stats are. There's a whole thread on this board right now for "less competitive" applicants and those applicants have done a FABULOUS job researching schools that accept people with lower GPAs. Also, you still have a lot of time to get your application ready for the next cycle. Definitely retake the GRE if it is something you feel like it is an area where you can improve. Make sure you study, study, study for it!! (I studied for about 3 months for mine and memorized something crazy like 800 vocab words, lol). Also, the sooner you start working on your personal statement, the better. I spent months typing rough drafts, editing and re-editing, and sending it to friends and family to proofread. Make sure you can get good letters of rec too! Good luck.

Sometimes states have tuition waivers, which you can use if you work in an area of high need after you graduate. You just have to start googling like crazy to see!

While this is true, I think the problem is that there just aren't as many jobs on the medical side of things. My husband is GREAT in medical and rehab settings but pretty much doesn't want anything to do with kids. He came into a lot of problems on his job search where staffing companies tried to put him in schools even though he specifically said he did NOT want to be in a school. If you contrast this with a field like PT (for example), I feel like the majority of therapy settings are medical, which likely draws more men. I'm going to be completely judgmental and sexist here, but if you figure probably most guys don't want to be in schools/work with kids, it would be a problem if the field went to a 50-50 male-female ratio, because I feel like there would be an over-saturation of SLPs wanting to be in the medical setting. It's hard enough getting a job on the medical side of things now!! Maybe if the societal norm changed so that men felt more comfortable working in elementary schools, that would be different (but that's a subject for another day)...

I would assume because so many of the jobs are in the schools.

Absolutely. But, in the future, you might just want to start a new thread since this one hasn't been used since early December.

Well that's good to hear. My top choice is U of I and I'm trying to talk them into giving me funding. No go so far, but maybe soon...?

Well, as they say, it ain't over till it's over! You might still get acceptances or you might get pulled off the wait list for University of Pittsburgh after April 15th. You never know! Often, when I'm in situations that I struggle with (which happens all the time lol), I ask myself "What is the worst possible scenario in this situation?" I try to identify what it is, and then figure out a plan to deal with it. This actually happened to me last year. I was all set to quit teaching after my fourth year at my school (I did NOT want to go back) and take pre-reqs full time. This was dependent on my husband's job. I asked myself what was the worst that could happen if that plan failed. Well, obviously, I would have to teach again. Lo and behold, our financial situation didn't work out and I had to go back and teach again for a 5th year. And do you know what? I had the absolute BEST group of students that I have ever had. They were a joy to be around and when I left teaching in January, I got to leave on a very positive note. (My sweet little kiddos actually made me question my career change, but then I remembered the piles of grading, and the 12+ hour days, haha). Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is that what is the absolute worst thing that can happen here? You won't get into grad school this year. Is that an awful thing? NO!!! You might get to try new opportunities in this next year that you will absolutely love! You will know what to change on your application next year so it will be stronger. You will get a little down time to relax before graduate school. Try to make a plan B for yourself and see if it helps! It might just take the stress off.

Yes, it worked for my husband too when he was applying to graduate schools for philosophy. HOWEVER, I think as an SLP you need to know your schools. Some schools just simply DON'T have any funding for Master's students. I feel like SLP is different than getting a Master's or Ph.D. in history (for example), because SLP is a professional degree and a lot of schools can only fund SLP Ph.D. students. I know this is not always the case; however, it's certainly not as easy to get funding in SLP as it was for my husband when he applied to schools for philosophy. That said, it can never hurt to ask.

Your stats seem solid and you've still got four schools to hear back from! Chin up!!

Thanks argandoc and daisynic! I love that everyone on this board is so open to others' opinions. Believe me, I wish I could make my decision now (for my own sanity and to help others on waiting lists)!! I hope both of you receive acceptances soon. I'm sending you good vibes. Best of luck!

I understand your frustration, but it's difficult to make a decision for a number of reasons. For me, I am married, and my husband just finished grad school so we already have a lot of student loans. I'm personally waiting to see if any of my schools will offer funding because that would be EXTREMELY important to my family's financial situation. Additionally, I applied for a grant and am trying to see which schools will accept it (it's been a lot of back and forth with financial aid offices and program directors). Also, my husband and I are using this extra time to figure out where it will be easiest for him to find a job in his field. I know a lot of students are in a similar situation where there may be several factors keeping them from making a decision. If something comes up that makes it easy to choose, I will definitely decline the other schools as soon as possible. However, I don't really feel guilty about holding onto my offers until my situation becomes more clear. I hope you hear some good information soon, but realize that everyone will have to give decisions by April 15th regardless. That should help those on the waiting lists receive offers.

I guess I was just asking about placements in general for our first year. I would assume that it might be a struggle in fall to have enough spots at the clinic for everyone! Thanks!

Holy moly! Thanks for sharing. I guess it will be out of the running for me too (and anyone else who isn't independently wealthy)!!

CaitlinAudrey, Do you think that the amount of students in the 2015 class will affect placements for the class of 2016? It's worrying to me that if I choose to go to UIUC, they might also have trouble placing me since there will be so many 2nd years. Thanks!

Thanks for the info!!

If you go here, there is a link to a sample quarterly plan. Northwestern is weird in that it doesn't have normal credit hours for courses. So most courses are just counted as one unit. Some classes are .5 of a unit. It looks like the first year, you're taking about 4 units worth of work each quarter. If what you're saying about tuition is correct, ye gods it's expensive!! I know I've crunched the numbers before, but their tuition never ceases to amaze me. I can't believe they are able to fill a whole class each year with the cost.

You know, thinking back on it, I've heard that before about Northwestern. They won't tell you if you get a scholarship until AFTER you accept. That seems crazy to me, since they are so expensive, but they must have enough accepted applicants to be able to do things that way.

Yeah I saw that too! They probably just don't want people bugging them about scholarships, haha. I would happily attend Northwestern again, but I think the price will probably end up being way too steep for me. Are you thinking of attending?

Thank you!! I really like Northwestern, but probably won't attend unless I get funding. It's so expensive!! They said in the email that I was on the wait list for a scholarship.

Check your email inboxes! I just got an email from Northwestern - I'm admitted.

Just admitted to Northwestern! Woot, woot!

No, but it's early in the day still. I'm pretty sure I've received all of my acceptances around or after 12:00 P.M. CST.

Oops - double post.

I'm sure the supportiveness of the program depends on the school; however, I think it's important to clarify to yourself what "general poor performance" in teaching means. Teaching is obviously very different from SLP, but it does have some similarities. I think you need to figure out exactly what you struggled with in the past and determine if that is going to hold you back as an SLP. For example, if you struggled with classroom management, that probably won't be a huge issue in SLP, since you're not dealing with 30 kids at a time. However, if you struggled planning lessons, that might be an issue. In general, I don't think most people realize how demanding teaching is. It's an EXTREMELY difficult profession. I personally got out of it because after five years, I couldn't handle the huge demands on my time and was sick of working 12+ hours a day and weekends. Obviously, I'm not an SLP yet, but I do think that "failing" out of a teaching program does not necessarily mean that you'll have a difficult time with SLP. You need to know yourself and know what your limitations are in order to determine if you'll be successful as a clinician or not.

Honestly, this is a tough one. I know I've said this a million times before, but I have several SLP family members, one of which did medical SLP. Most of them have told me it doesn't matter where you get your degree, so just go somewhere cheap. HOWEVER, the medical SLP (who I am close to) chose to go to Rush, which focuses on med SLP, even though it is $$$. Now, I'm not really familiar with the East Coast and different opportunities available there, but my Rush family member said that they had a much easier time trying to get a job (CFY) in the medical SLP field due to where they went to school. There are four or five other SLP schools in the Chicago area, so there are normally a lot of SLPs around applying for jobs. My Rush family member had a much easier time networking with people in medSLP positions because many of them had gone to Rush themselves. This family member also felt like they had much more medical knowledge than SLPs from other schools in the area, which made them more marketable and comfortable in their position once they obtained it. I'm sorry this isn't specific to the East Coast and MGH, but I think in my family member's experience, it was worth it to go to the more medically centered school. You'll have to look into both programs to figure out what's best for you.