Papaya91

Aside from loans, I think scholarships and TA positions are your best options. Those are highly competitive, though. Your application (stats, LORs, SOP) needs to be one of the best in the applicant pool.
 
I'd be cautious about going for the cheapest school, though. I think it's really important to make sure you're getting what you want out of your education. Maybe that's a particular location, the opportunity to work with a particular professor, or the chance to get experience with a rare disorder.

As for scholarships, sometimes there are scholarships geared towards people who want to work in schools, or kids with autism, or in a nursing facility, etc. Just search for them. One recommendation I have is the Scottish Rite Foundation - they're big supporters of speech language pathology. I got a scholarship through them as an undergrad.

Worst case scenario, you have to take out loans to cover the entire thing. If you live frugally and budget well (a.k.a. live like a college student for just a few more years), you'll be able to pay them off really quickly. $40,000 student loans paid back in 2 years would cost an extra $3,000 in interest. Over 20 years, you'd be paying $33,000 in interest. I know that loans can be really scary, but they're not a bad deal if you can pay them back quickly.

1) Views on use of common space. Is the living room a quiet space for doing work? A social space where your roommate will want to listen to tv/talk to people/have friends over? Your roommate might describe herself as "quiet", but this actually means that she doesn't have loud parties but always listens to music. Or maybe your roommate spends all her time in her room with the door closed and you'll find this odd.
 
2) Common-ness of objects. Are your pots and pans separate? Are you combining all kitchen supplies? Will you share food? How will you divide cleaning duties? How often do you clean the apartment? Does your roommate let dishes pile up in the sink for a day or two at a time? For example, I refuse to live with anyone who has never owned a broom before.
 
3) Guests. how often do you/does your roommate have overnight guests? Do you care if your roommate's significant other sleeps over six nights a week?
 
4) Rent/credit. If you and your roommate are on the same lease, you need to make sure you trust each other to pay the rent on time. Are you going to split the rent 50/50, or by the size of your respective bedrooms? How will you decide who gets the better bedroom?
 
5) Schedules. I find it helpful to live with other grad students but from a different program. This way we are equally busy and unlikely to want to host loud parties on wednesday nights. We have a mutual understanding that the apartment gets messy during finals week and we clean up after. By being in different programs, we don't get sick of each other. I'm also nocturnal, and morning people generally don't like rooming with me because even as I sneak around like a mouse after they go to bed, it still wakes them up. So I'm very up front about this.
 
6) Drugs/alcohol. It's helpful to have roughly similar views (not necessarily similar habits).
 
6a) smoking.
 
I'm not advocating asking every single one of these questions verbatim, but it should help you think about what you want in a roommate. Sometimes the seemingly little things can become the most annoying when you are living with someone! I'll add more if I think of anything.

Congrats on getting in! I'm going to the University of Arizona, so I'm biased (I think you should go to the UA!). But my thoughts are that you should go wherever is the best fit for you personally, and the other important things in your life. If seeing family is important to you, then I think that's a huge factor. For me, climate and musical opportunities were other factors that I weighed heavily. Wherever you go, you'll get the necessary education to become an SLP. Where do you want to work after graduation? If you want to work in New York, or closer to your family, it might make sense to go to school closer to home, because there will be better networking opportunities there. Best of luck in your decision!

I'm just gonna throw in my two cents, although I haven't been offered anything like that (yet). The grad programs know that your primary job is to be a student, and they want you to do well. They're not going to give you too much to handle. However, if in the end you think your academic performance is suffering because of the job, you can always ask them to give it to someone else the next quarter or semester.

I personally think it would be absolutely crazy to refuse one of those offers, depending on the compensation. They typically knock out part of your tuition, and give you a stipend as well. That'll bring your cost of attendance down sooooo much, and you'll graduate with less debt. Or no debt. It could be free in the end!
 
It might be overwhelming at first, but your first job after grad school will be, too. You may not have to study for tests anymore, but you'll have a full client load and have to prep for and document each session. My opinion is that you should take it, but only you know what you can handle.

I'm just gonna throw in my two cents, although I haven't been offered anything like that (yet). The grad programs know that your primary job is to be a student, and they want you to do well. They're not going to give you too much to handle. However, if in the end you think your academic performance is suffering because of the job, you can always ask them to give it to someone else the next quarter or semester.

I personally think it would be absolutely crazy to refuse one of those offers, depending on the compensation. They typically knock out part of your tuition, and give you a stipend as well. That'll bring your cost of attendance down sooooo much, and you'll graduate with less debt. Or no debt. It could be free in the end!
 
It might be overwhelming at first, but your first job after grad school will be, too. You may not have to study for tests anymore, but you'll have a full client load and have to prep for and document each session. My opinion is that you should take it, but only you know what you can handle.

In Washington state the average salary for SLPs is stated to be 72k. You might not be making that straight out of graduate school, but if you start your program this Fall that brings you one year closer to a nice salary. Your salary might not be your own after you graduate (almost entirely going to bills/student loans), but it is entirely possible to keep living frugally after you graduate in order to pay off your loans.
 
Another thing to consider is that you could try to work during graduate school to bring down that overall price tag. Perhaps your program might even offer part-time enrollment so you can work while in graduate school.
 
Good luck!

I'll be attending CU Boulder in the fall! It took awhile to make this decision but after going to the open house on Friday, I realized that Boulder was the perfect fit for me because of the following reasons:
1. I really like the EI program they have at their Child Learning Center, in particular the work they do with children with autism (autism is one area of interest for me)
2. There's a lot of research collaborations with the psychology department, in particular a lot of neurology research.
3. I got my BA in psychology and I was impressed by how supportive and welcoming they are to people of all kinds of fascinating backgrounds.
4. They offer a dual PhD program in neuroscience and speech-language pathology, which I hope to pursue one day!
5. I'm from New Mexico, so I'm eligible for WRGP out-of-state tuition waiver

I'm so excited to be moving up there in the fall! Go buffs!!

I will be attending the University of South Florida this Fall!
They had an Open House last week and I fell in love with the clinic. Probably the best that I visited.
The faculty seemed very involved and made me feel like they cared about my decision.
Plus two of the professors I spoke with are conducting research that I am interested in.Emergent literacy and RTI are my passions so when they spoke about their projects and what they needed help with, I knew I wanted to join. I asked for more info and they told me they would love if I could help. I felt like I would be more involved at USF than any other school I applied. One of the professors was developing a test that would measure reading in nonverbal children!
I just had this overwhelming feeling that USF was the right choice for me!
Plus we get clients the first semester and the grad students told me that it was scary, but that it really helped them develop their skills and boosted their confidence. I am SO excited to start!!!
CONGRATS to everyone accepted!!! I'm sure no matter what school you go to, you will succeed!

I will be attending Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey!
 
1) I completed my first two years of undergrad there and absolutely loved the school
2) I am already familiar with the local area, where I would like to live and practice one day
3) It is one of the most reputable programs in the state
4) In-state tuition won't break my bank
5) Their clinic is absolutely beautiful and conducive to experiential learning
6) The current graduate students and faculty have been more than welcoming and supportive
7) I really enjoy the small cohort style of the program
8) I've been offered an interview for a Graduate Assistantship
9) Their course offerings focus on all settings and populations, and will give me a well-rounded education
10) I have the opportunity to complete my externships at local facilities where I have already begun to develop relationships with clinicians
 
It feels great to be a Red Hawk again!

lol Ooooh Max, I am so with you on this. I'm grateful to have received funding, but the funding is not enough to cover all of my expenses until the 2nd year, and the amount of money it is costing me to move to another country makes me want to cry...every day.

I'll be going to the University of Georgia.  I initially planned on getting as far away from Georgia as possible, but UGA ended up being the best choice for me.
 
1. In-state tuition
2. Local program so my boyfriend and I won't have to move
3. Great opportunities for clinical placement in Athens & Atlanta
4. Small program size
5. I got a great feeling from the faculty and students when I went to visit

Def agree with you - Stanford is not even spelled correctly in the signature. Just sayin'

Hey guys! So as April 15th approaches, I think a lot of us are having really difficult time deciding which school we should attend. We should all consider ourselves very, very fortunate that we are given options, but it's really hard to make a decision. It was so hard for me that there were times that I even wished I had been accepted to just one school. lol
 
I already made a decision for myself and am VERY happy about it, but after I made my own decision, I found a good way to learn more about the programs and what we might be getting out of each school. I know there are a lot of people here who are in the same situation so I figured I'd share it with you guys
Go to Indeed resume page for SLPs: http://www.indeed.com/resumes/speech-language-pathologist Right below the "Find Resumes" button, you'll see "advanced search" in small letters. Click on that. In "School name," type in the school that you're considering to attend. Make sure you select Master's degree right under it. Click "Find resume"!! This will (hopefully) pull out a bunch of online resumes of the people who graduated from the school you are considering. Most people list in their resumes where exactly they worked as a graduate clinician, as well as where they have been working after graduation. In the search section you might want to select 3-5 years or 6-10 years for years of experience, in order to narrow your search (each program changes over time so it's more helpful to find resumes of those who graduated more recently). Also, if there is a particular city in which you'd like to work after graduation, you can type in the city name in the original search field to find the alumni who work there, too.
 
Of course, this method won't help you learn much about the "feel" of the school/program, and personally I found it very helpful to visit each school and talk to the current students & faculty, so I think you should visit each school in order to learn more about them. But in most cases campus visits won't tell you exactly where their graduates end up, and the method above will tell you just that. I think this method might help those who are especially career-driven. You need to keep in mind that the resumes you'll find are a small sample of their graduates, but I think it's still better than what you can find out by just talking to 2-3 people at open houses. It's worth a try if you guys are having a really hard time gathering concrete information about each program.
 
Hope this helps you guys. Good luck!!
 

Haha it is a pretty great idea (and I'm sure I would have at least jokingly given it a thought, too, if I didn't have a cat).
 
But I'm not sure if that poster is a real person or just a troll trying to brag and make people feel bad about themselves, lol... "Oh look at me, full ride, accepted into Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and Yale for Law, no rejections, I'm so amazing, yar har har. Here, let me chime in about ways to save more money (oh wait - I don't have to worry since I got a full ride), while most of you actually are worried about it."

(If you genuinely are a real person, and if I misunderstood the intent behind that post, JD2017, then I fully apologize for being in the wrong.)

Haha it is a pretty great idea (and I'm sure I would have at least jokingly given it a thought, too, if I didn't have a cat).
 
But I'm not sure if that poster is a real person or just a troll trying to brag and make people feel bad about themselves, lol... "Oh look at me, full ride, accepted into Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and Yale for Law, no rejections, I'm so amazing, yar har har. Here, let me chime in about ways to save more money (oh wait - I don't have to worry since I got a full ride), while most of you actually are worried about it."

(If you genuinely are a real person, and if I misunderstood the intent behind that post, JD2017, then I fully apologize for being in the wrong.)

Thank you! Congrats on your acceptances! Hopefully I'll be in the same boat in a year  

got a full ride to my school, but I think I'm gonna save more money by sleeping in my car and showering at the gym

Well, I'll be living with my husband... .  But, I spent 8 years living with roommates in my past.  Luckily, I only had one "bad" one during my freshman year of college.  I will say that I disagree with the amount of people voting to get a "nice" apartment.  I certainly wouldn't want to live anywhere unsafe; however, I lived in crappy apartments almost all of my 8 years living with roommates and I'm no worse off for it.  In my opinion, if you're not using your own money to pay for the apartment, you should keep it as cheap as possible. Rent adds up over two years!!  That's more money you'll have to be paying back later.  You can have a nice apartment once you have a job.

Definitely start NOW! Make it extremly easy on your LOR writers. They shouldn't have to do any work of asking you for things. I asked around this time last year in an email if I could setup an appointment to meet and discuss grad programs I was looking at applying to and also if they were willing to write me a letter. I did 3 COMD professors all with different areas of focus. They all knew I attended class and participated regularly, I had an A or A-, and they each had very different personalities (one is VERY blunt so I was a little unsure about hers but I believe she actually wrote me the best one because the readers see that she's honest about my abilities and wasn't just trying to say nice things to "fluff" my letter).
 
When I went, I had a packet with the schools I was looking at, their requirements (if it was a form I already had it printed, if it was written then I had the directions of who to address it to, had envelope and stamp ready and any other specific instructions about seals/signatures, etc...). I also included an unofficial transcript and hilighted COMD courses and of course their class so they could remember the grade I got and when I took it if it wasn't that semester or the previous one. I also threw in my resume, a document of all of my volunteer work since high school and a summary of what I was planning on writing for my personal statement so they could learn about me outside of school, my interests, and why I was interested in continuing on to grad school.

I had a few friends who actually laughed at me for starting sooo early, yet they were the ones who either asked right before Christmas and were turned away because the professors were already overloaded with everyone else's requests or there were also a couple whose LOR writers ran out of time and didn't get them sent off by the deadline. Don't be a procrastinator!! lol

Well that's good.  I posted it there on Sunday but I think it may have been drowned out by other notifications. I may wait until closer to April 15 when more people have decided where they're going.  Aside from that, it looks like I might be in a cohort of 1 

Ahhh that makes sense! Thanks for sharing your tips on this, sayjo and Papaya91!

I've finally made my decision. After visiting the University of Arizona yesterday, I'm 99.99% sure that's where I'm going. I can't really foresee any circumstances that would change my mind at this point, so I'm sending in my acceptance letter sometime this week! I was waitlisted at my former top choice, the UW MedSLP program, but I've realized that the UofA has a program that is just as good, and I'll be able to get the medical training and placements that I want. They're both top 5 schools (which may or may not really matter), and the UofA is more affordable, even if I don't get any funding. And there's so much sunshine in Tucson! The research opportunities they have are amaaaaaaazing (and a great fit for some of my interests), the faculty seems very friendly and supportive, and the first year grad students (who will be second years next year, so we'll be seeing a lot of each other) were very nice. Also, none of the students seemed as stressed out as I've seen in other programs - the UofA has a very manageable feel to it, although I'm sure it'll still be very intense. The campus is beautiful, they have an olympic size pool for swimming (my favorite way to work out), I'll be able to continue studying the harp (for free, I might add), and it's warm year-round. I also plan to end up back in SoCal again eventually, and it'll be a much easier move from Tucson than it will be from Seattle. Everything just seems to be falling into place.
 
Did I mention sunshine?! I need some (read: a lot) of that in my life. I'm so glad to finally have my decision made. Now I just have to take physics or chemistry, lol. Best of luck to everyone still waiting on schools or making decisions - it's almost over!

It's time to keep the Sabbath in order to receive God's blessings.

I play the Ocarina and Skinflute.

I did one real quick for you it might help, click the link read the first page then click graduate http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cost+of+attendance+buffalo+state&l=1