MangoSmoothie

It just means the certification of clinical competence in audiology. SLPs get CCC-SLP, audiologists get CCC-A. I don't want to sound snarky, but I'm a believer in finding answers yourself first and then asking others if you really can't, and if you really didn't know this, the first result on Google was ASHA's website. http://www.asha.org/Certification/AboutCertificationGenInfo.htm

My friend's cat peed in my new shoes. Well shoe. Just the left one. Thanks, cat.

There are already threads and this, and neither is better than the other.

There's already a recent thread on this topic, and it is nice to have responses limited to one thread: However, I'll add a bit more here, since I know a bit more now than when I applied to that thread, but I'll preface it by saying that this is just what mattered to me, and I don't expect others to agree. I ultimately had four offers and visited all but one of them due to distance. Visiting absolutely helped make my decisions easier, and made me fall in love with a program that I hadn't really considered a top-choice before. For some reason, the program I chose didn't list really important information on their website, and visiting was the only way I found out something that made the school very attractive to me. Cost was my number one factor, but another important consideration for me (that I didn't really take in to account until deciding between programs that accepted me) was having two full-semester externships, one medical and one school. Not all schools offer both, or they shorten the length to give you both in one semester. Because I'm still not 100% if I prefer one setting over the other, having both was important to me. Even if I were say, totally gung-ho about working in the medical setting, I still would appreciate having a school experience, just so I didn't have lingering doubts and to confirm that it wasn't for me. In fact, I have heard of programs that had two externships but went to one because of limited placement opportunities and more coursework the students had to complete. I actually was interested in how many schools offer two full externships in two different settings, because it isn't as common as I thought it was. Or maybe that's just the schools I applied to. Location is also fairly important. I turned down a school that was so rural that many students moved their second year to do their placements. On the positive side, you could move to a whole new city for an externship! Some people might see that as a benefit, especially because it's a great chance to live somewhere new for a short time. However, I didn't want to have to deal with moving in December/Jan, and I didn't think the rural area had enough to satisfy me socially either, even if it was just for two years. A rural area isn't then end of the world (although I greatly prefer urban areas), but rural areas do limit your placement opportunities, and might even limit the variety of disorders you see. Plus, another rural school had me traveling up to 45min one way to clinical practicum placements the first year, because they didn't see enough people in their on-campus clinic the first year for the students to get enough clients each. They also had students sharing clients in the on-campus clinic... In that sense, location was important, but also the quality of the on-campus clinic was important to me. I wanted to spend my first year only doing on-campus clinical practicum, getting supervised by the department clinicians, not traveling around the county to practicum sites. The second year this is fine obviously, because it's a full externship, but that first year, I didn't want to spend so much time driving around, and I did question the quality of feedback from supervisors that were not from your department the first year. Personal interests mattered too. I wanted somewhere where I could develop my knowledge and experience with AAC devices beyond just the classroom. I have a growing interest in aural rehab and wanted a school that could facilitate that. Study abroad opportunities were also very important to me. Two of the schools that accepted me had amazing study abroad opportunities, but this was an area I compromised on, because it wasn't more important than cost, externships, location, or my other interests. I decided I could explore this area once I'm in the profession, and instead, while in grad school, I'll use a little money from savings to go visit some friends abroad who I haven't seen in awhile. Although this didn't matter to me, program length might be important. Some programs are 6 semesters (so you do both summers) and some are 5 semesters (only one summer). I was a bit shocked to find out how many are 6 semesters, since I swore I saw them advertised as 5. I don't think it matters one way or the other whether your program is 5 or 6 semesters, but it could be something to consider when calculating cost. My biggest advice, whether you do it before you apply or after you're accepted, is to visit the program, especially if you're torn between one or two. I wasn't thrilled about going to the school I ultimately enrolled at until I visited. I fell in love with the on-campus clinic, the labs, learned so much more about the program than was on the website, and met some really friendly staff that made me feel comfortable there. If cost had not been a factor, I probably would have ended up at a different program, though. The tuition difference was over 30K between my top-choice and where I enrolled, so I compromised and went to the school that was cheaper and fulfilled all of my requirements but having study abroad. I'm so happy to go to the school I will be going to though, even though I did compromise. I will add that although cost was important to me, I was not willing to just go to the cheapest option. I had an offer from a school in an area with a lower cost of living and a tuition total that was about 8K cheaper. It was a combination of all the factors that led to my final choice because all it had going for it, in my mind, was that it was cheaper. If I had to put the factors that mattered for me in order, I might make it something roughly like this: 1: Cost 2: Externship opportunities 3: Personal Interests 3: On-campus clinic 5: Location Personal interests and on-campus clinic are pretty much tied for me, thus both are 3, but only because I have multiple interests and was willing to compromise on one (but not all). Location ranks lower, but I'd say it influences all of the other factors in some way.

I hope I don't sound mean, but the fact that you're asking which type of parrot you should be getting suggests to me you haven't done enough research on this and aren't prepared enough to get one. Maybe someone who has had one while in grad school can offer better insight, but to me it doesn't sound like a good idea. I've also wanted a parrot for as long as I can remember, but I won't be doing it until I've finished grad school (doing a professional masters), have a stable source of income, have someone else in the home with me, have enough savings in case something goes wrong, and have secured someone who can look after the bird in case I can't (even just for vacation). Avian vet bills are somewhat expensive, plus there's everything you have to do to modify your house (special cleaning products, no teflon, etc). If you want a flighted bird, that could be even more expensive. Will there be someone else in the home who's going to be home a lot? While the birds you mentioned aren't as emotionally demanding as, say, cockatoos are, if you're only going to be home for a few hours and then sleep, the bird could easily get lonely and depressed, which not only affects it emotionally, but can affect it physically as well (can become ill, plucking, etc). A friend's bird started plucking when her mom went back to work, because the bird was now alone for most of the day and needed the socialization. They had gotten it when the mom was on leave and worked from home, but their finances meant she had to find a job outside the home. Will you have a separate space for the bird, so it can sleep in peace if you're up late at night working? A blanket over the cage isn't enough, especially if noises spook it easily. Are you willing to constantly buy or make new toys? Parrots are intelligent, even the small parakeets, and they're not gonna be content with the same toy for months like a dog is. I have a friend who had to get a new toy every two weeks to engage her parrot, and is still exploring new ways to stimulate her bird after 4 years. Are you willing to keep this bird with you for potentially decades? Through your own life problems, and the bird's? Through a move across the country if you have to? A parrot is a high-commitment animal that requires more than just feeding it, cleaning up, or a quick cuddle at night. I don't know how much of a time commitment your PhD program will be, but are you certain you can really dedicate enough time to training it, engaging it, and socializing it, not to mention basic care like feeding? Can you be home enough if you have to? It will take hours a day. I can't imagine having that much time, especially if you live alone. If you have a partner or multiple people in the home who are willing to dedicate time to training and socializing it, this might be different. I'm not trying to talk down to you, and you likely know a lot of this already. I've never even owned a bird, but I have friends who have, and I have really wanted to, but I've put it off because I'm not ready to have one. I really, really want to. It's not even just a financial and time commitment, it's a life commitment, and will change everything about your life, even whether or not you can go out and meet friends on a Friday night. This short article is not specifically aimed at PhD students getting a parrot, but it might be helpful. http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/understanding-what-it-means-to-have-a-lifetime-commitment-pet/ I would actually peruse the birdtricks.com website and blog if you haven't already. They have great articles on specific birds, including the ones you mentioned, and a lot of articles on other topics. I don't agree with birdtricks 100% (I'm not against clipping like they are), but they have great insight on getting, owning, and training a bird. If you do decide to have a bird (and it's probably doable), I think you'll find it to be a great resource. Of course, I may be way off base, since I don't even have experience owning a parrot, but that's because I've read up so much on the topic that I decided against it. I actually hope to own a cockatiel some day, but that's going to be years down the line and might not even happen. (Again, I'm sorry if you knew all of this, and it seems like I'm talking down to you. I just feel pretty passionately about people not owning a parrot before they're ready and can commit to it 100%. I wish you the best, whether you get a parrot soon or in 6 years!)

I think this is not the answer you're looking for, but we really know as much as you, despite our best guesses. Forget about it until Monday, and don't get your hopes up. I know that's hard to do, but if you can't contact them, there's really no point in getting excited or anxious over it. After all, you've waited this long so far; what's a few more days? Edit: That said, I just realized you're focusing on the word admissions, and that doesn't mean acceptance. It likely just means admissions decision, which can be rejection, waitlist or acceptance. After all they call it "Office of Admissions" but that doesn't mean everyone is admitted.

Where did you find a published overall acceptance rate for SLP? I've seen 41% thrown around for medical school, but never anything "overall" for SLP. That doesn't mean the schools are accepting 41% of applicants, either; it means 41% of applicants who apply get in somewhere. Regardless, you can't really compare the two fields, so this doesn't really "put things into perspective." Med schools tend to have an acceptance rate of 1-10%. A "generous" acceptance rate would be around 7%, and I've read before the average is around 9%. The school with the highest acceptance rate was Oklahoma State University, with 19.8%. SLP Grad school's acceptances rates tend to be higher than 19.8%, somewhere in the 20-30%, and their average acceptance rate is nowhere near the average medical school acceptance rate. Some schools even have acceptance rates bordering on 45-50%. If the overall acceptance rate (again, "overall acceptance" meaning the percentage of applicants who applied that get in somewhere) even is higher for med schools than SLP, which I don't think it is, there isn't much you can directly infer; it could mean a lot of things. It could mean people applying to med schools apply more selectively and apply to schools they're more likely to get in to, maybe because med schools are more expensive to apply to and require more application work (most have secondary apps that cost money, as well as the interview process). It could mean there's not much overlap between where applicants apply (for example, at least 75% of the people in my program applied to at least 4 of the same schools). It could mean they're better prepared for the schools they do apply to, because unlike SLP, med school generally requires more undergrad prep work (not that I want to devalue the work it takes for SLP). It could mean they apply to more schools overall. Med school is still far more competitive than SLP will ever be, but the people applying to med school are also going to be much more prepared for the schools they're applying to because of the nature of the application process and prep work. I'd also disagree you have to be "pretty darn close" to a 4.0 to get in to many programs, unless our definition of "pretty darn close" is wildly different (I imagine pretty darn close as 3.9+). Look at the ranges on EdFind, and you'll find this to not be true at all, unless you're only looking at top 10 programs, and then yes, I think this is more true. If it was true across the board too, I'd probably be suspicious of grade inflation. Programs also sometimes publish acceptance statistics on their website, and you can again, find this to not be the case. You're right though, a higher CSD GPA is good,and the higher the better; it certainly will never hurt you. Although I don't like the obsession with GPA and GRE, I think the ranges jmk gave are good, and I would second them especially if you're limited in your experiences both in and out of the SLP field. I've seen people with absolutely zero experience get in with a 3.8+, which makes sense. Then I've seen people, like myself, get admitted in the 3.2-3.4 range, with lots of relevant experience and great GRE scores, and not even just at "less well known" schools, which are still incredibly competitive, just in a different way. For what it's worth, to get your application "seriously considered" you generally just have to make it past whatever arbitrary cut-off a school has. I know of one very well-ranked program that assigns points to GRE and GPA, and if you make it past their cut-off, they read the rest of your application. If you don't, they toss you out. If you say you're almost able to pull off a 3.8, you seem to be in a good spot, and I bet you'll meet all cutoffs schools have to be fully considered. I would really put as much time as possible in the GRE, because it will not hurt your application to do well on it. Of course, it depends on what schools you apply to too, but you seem like you're in a good spot. Like Jolie said, you're at least aware, and I think that's what hurts applicants who have trouble getting accepted the most. (About med school acceptance rates: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2015/03/31/10-medical-schools-that-are-most-competitive-for-applicants )

In addition to ABA, respite and care providing is also relevant, and decently-paid. Well, better paid than retail work at least. I had tons of work experience, and full-time work experience, but I didn't have much direct experience with the populations I now work with (individuals with special needs), but I was hired anyway. I'll be really sad to leave the people I work with when I go to grad school this fall. It does sometimes require things some people might not be comfortable with (toileting, showers/baths, preparing food, etc), but it's a pretty fun job, and you get lots of experience. Plus, you meet amazing people. I plan to work in graduate school, hopefully doing something I currently do. But every graduate program I've talked to and even the current students recommended not working more than around 10 hours per week, and that's right around where I want to be. I worked 20 hours per week during my post-bacc and that was very doable, but it ate up a lot of my free time. I worked around 20 during undergrad, but I wasn't putting as much effort in to school, and I could study during my job. You might have to do volunteer work before getting a job you'd like, but if money isn't an issue for you, this isn't a bad route.

I recently had to withdraw an acceptance for similar reasons (money). I sent a very nice, professional email, saying thank you for the opportunity but I must withdraw, a brief explanation why, and I apologized for withdrawing so late, among a few other things. She had me call her and we had a nice chat, and when I apologized again for withdrawing so late (for fall start), she said, "Oh this isn't late at all. We have people withdraw in August sometimes." Be as polite and professional as possible. An email should suffice, but you should do it as soon as possible if you're certain you'll go to the second school. It's really not that late to withdraw, since there's still three months or more until programs start!

I was admitted to a great program in my field, and I loved it. I loved the area, the facilities, the faculty, the experiences it offered, and even the current students. I had to turn it down because it was $20,000 more than a good in-state school I was admitted to. I'm in a professional master's program (speech-language pathology) so funding doesn't really happen except for one or two students per program, and which school you graduate from doesn't affect your job prospects or even your salary. The school I decided to go to is a good compromise between cost and what I want. It'll still offer me a great education, and it even has some opportunities the expensive school doesn't. But I still can't stop wishing I was going to that first school. The program director at that first school called me and asked me if there was anything she could do to get me back at the school, and offered to keep an eye out for any financial support. She agreed with my decision, but still said there was something she wished she could offer me. I feel fortunate I do have an alternate option which will be great, and I know I'll wind up happy there, but I really wish I could have gone to that first school, and I hate that cost was the deciding factor. I keep thinking about it, hence the complaining. Even my professors agree that that school would be great to attend and they wish I could, but also agree that I should follow the money. :\ Long story short: Money sucks, and higher education is so expensive.

Agreed with above. I don't think it's going to help you, especially if you just graduated this year. You'd basically be repeating all your courses, and unless you got below a B in most of them, this would probably be a waste of your time and money. I doubt most post-bacc programs would admit you, and I don't know how graduate programs would view basically repeating all your courses. Plus, if you don't do amazing in them, that would hurt you more than help, I imagine. I do think you could take a few CSD courses your undergrad didn't offer. For example, an undergrad-level AAC class if your undergrad uni didn't offer it, or even an ASL class. You might even want to even consider retaking any course that you did get a C or below in. My undergrad wasn't in com dis, but I had taken the anatomy class and got a C, so I retook it this time around in my post-bacc and did much better. I don't think you'll find many people who did this. I would suggest contacting program directors of post-bacc programs, and asking if they would even recommend a post-bacc for you, though I don't think they would, unless you did really poorly in undergrad for a good reason. If you didn't get accepted, you have other things you can focus on. Distance from your undergrad will help you if you have a less-than-stellar GPA. But you can take time and get a job related to the field or just relevant experience. Lots of folks around here suggest doing ABA with kiddos with autism, but there's also care or respite providing, working as an assistant to an SLP, etc. Teaching in any capacity is good, too. I'll echo the above and say look at the other parts of your application that you can control the next time around. You can't overestimate how important the SOP is, and like said above, good GRE schools can really help offset, to a degree, your undergrad GPA. Good luck!

^I had a professor who took this to the next level. He would mark you down points for using a semi-colon to connect two independent clauses. There's nothing wrong with doing that; he just hated it. He would mark you down points for using expletive "it," demonstrative pronouns, and not using the oxford comma. This was all because "I am the professor, and I have to read your writing, so you will subscribe to my grammar in this class." I'm fine with correcting students' grammar. They need it, and we need to be taught to pay more attention to our writing, but it was a bit ridiculous to mark us down for grammatically correct writing just because he disagreed with it for whatever arbitrary reasons.

It probably doesn't compare, but I tried to let a spider I saw remain in my apartment. It was a combination of laziness and thinking maybe it would eat other bugs. But then it was crawling on the wall by my bed as I was about to go to sleep. I cannot abide that, my creepy crawly friend. And then there was the one that surprised me in the shower. I can't see without my glasses on so I thought it was just a clump of hair. But oh no...

At my uni, the undergrad research positions in SLP are paid with the exceptions of a few volunteer positions. :/ The undergrad positions at my uni were pretty poorly paid though, which is why I didn't pursue a position. But it seems really unusual to ask you to be there full time for no pay... maybe we can glean a trend from people's experiences.

You can disagree with it all you want, but just because you personally didn't experience it doesn't mean it's not true. I also didn't experience it, but there's a number of places friends in my post-bacc program couldn't apply to because the schools they wanted to apply to required more com dis credits (only com dis; physics, stats, etc didn't count) than our post-bacc awarded, and this was a requirement on which the schools wouldn't budge. Other post-baccs award more, some less, so it depends on your post-bacc as well. It's a simple fact; not having the undergrad major or the prereqs before applying will limit you in where you can apply. This might not actually affect you and you might still be able to schools you're interested in, but you might not. As evidenced above, for some people, things still work out great. This is a viable path. But elsewhere on this forum, even, you can see how this didn't work out. I was out of field, and I wouldn't have changed my experience. I loved my undergrad major and the experiences after graduation it afforded me, though I knew I didn't want to go to grad school right after undergard. But I have two other friends who knew as sophomores (5 years ago for them) they wanted to do this field, could have done the major and switched but didn't, and that's something they're still regretting. Regardless of what you choose, OP, the most important thing is to maintain a very good GPA from the start. I have no hard proof, but I think people would generally agree that a 3.8 cumulative and with an out-of-field major is going to put you in a much more competitive position than a 3.0 with a com dis major, for example. If you end up not transferring, that's fine. You have many options and paths to choose. But make sure you don't let your GPA slide. An amazing GPA will put you in a great position and make you a competitive applicant, regardless of the major. But good luck and enjoy the first years of undergrad! You have time before you need to really commit, so just enjoy the new experience you'll be having.

It seems utterly financially irresponsible to not transfer after a year or two to a school that has a com dis major if you know this early it's what you want. This is not an uncommon situation, in and out of this field. These are courses you will have to complete regardless of what path you choose. You will be extending your time in school to 7 years instead of 6 by not transferring. Not only is that one more year of loans (and at the graduate level) that you'll have to take out, it's a year of lost income. Aside from this, if you know it's what you want to do, going to a school with the major will afford you more opportunities for involvement before grad school so you can better prepare yourself, such as NSSLHA or research/student employment opportunities. You'll be better connected, with better letters of reference, with more relevant experiences, and you can't underestimate how important these are in applying. I don't think it's as hard to transfer out as you think it is. As long as a school will accept your courses (and if you're going to an accredited university, they likely will), you'll be fine. You don't even have to wait 2 years. I know people who transferred their freshmen year of college to come in as sophomores for the same reason. And transferring because a school doesn't offer your intended major is a good reason to transfer, and I imagine it's looked favorably upon. If you are rejected for a transfer, then yes, consider three year programs, or a post-bacc and a master's, but why take the path of greater resistance when you can avoid it? It is more difficult to get in to a 3 years master's program because there are fewer of them. There are options. There are indeed more than you think. There are still not as many as traditional graduate programs and you will be limited where you can apply. Your personal options also are far more limited than someone with a major because while some schools will take students with absolutely no background, many more won't, so you might not even be able to apply to schools that would suit you and that you like. Even students with post-baccs are limited in places they can apply. Schools are also just getting more and more competitive, and you won't be applying until 4 years from now. Even for those who applied 4 years ago, it was less competitive than it was today, and 8 years ago was an entirely different story. And really... why would you want to pay for a whole extra year of schooling? I can't emphasize this enough. Especially if you end up going out of state. Sometimes this extra year is unavoidable, as with people who discover the field their senior year of college or after, but you're a senior in high school. Unless you have a full ride scholarship to your current school and you don't want to lose that (which is a good reason to stay), it just seems really financial irresponsible to choose the path that will cost you more money and time when you know now what you want. Also, if you know now that you want to do this, and you relay your long-time interest to grad programs when you do apply, you might find them wondering why you didn't go somewhere with the major, since you found out in time to do so. You can still study abroad if you transfer (especially if you transfer for your sophomore year), and you can still double major and find ways to diversify your application. I'm saying this as someone who did come from out of field, and I had awesome experiences after graduating that made me a great applicant. Luckily, I was able to finish my undergrad in three years, so doing a postbacc year a few years after graduating didn't feel like this horrific additional expense I could have avoided. But I really believe those who have the major and did well in the major as an undergrad have an advantage. If you're worried about this not really being the field for you, do a year at your school. Then reevaluate your feelings after a year, and see if transferring is right for you, or if you value finishing your education at that school more, regardless of the increase in cost to you.

You're a special kind of cruel to chew and snap gum during an exam. :| Shadowclaw, is there anything you can do about that? Or is it not worth it to confront him at this point?

Quality over quantity, for your applications. 5 amazing applicantions that you poured your soul in to is better than 15 that you just used CSDCAS for and changed one line of each SOP to put in the school's name.That isn't to say apply to the Top 5 programs in the country and be done with it, no. Apply to schools that fit you, you are interested in, accept people in your range, and be able to articulate clearly why you want to go to these places. And write it in your SOP That speaks volumes and is a much better use of time than applying to all the schools you can. I applied to 12 schools, which was too many, but I'm coming from a less competitive academic background, so it seemed worth it to me. Realistically, I wish I had applied to 8. By doing 12, I was very near the quality of my applications, particularly my SOPs, decreasing because it was just too much work to put 100% in to all of them. Besides that, the financial cost of applying to 12 was ridiculous; I can't imagine more. The more research you do and the more programs you visit (if possible), it's easy to see which schools will fit you and your interests.

Yeah... No matter what, you will still have to do the basic leveling coursework, even if you get admitted to a master's program right away. They would just extend your stay to 3 years to allow you to complete the leveling coursework in the first year. This could end up being more expensive depending on the tuition of the graduate program for three years versus one year's tuition at a post-bacc program plus two at a different grad program. I won't try to discredit the experience or the job and money you can make as an SLPA, because that's fine if that's what you want or need now in your life. But realistically, you will not be taking any fewer classes in the long run. I suggest you talk to professors in programs you would consider for grad school, or if you can, talk to an advisor at a post-bacc or second bachelor's program. List the coursework you will be taking and compare it to their required prerequisites, and then email the program directors to ask if these are acceptable prerequisites for their classes. I don't think you will have much luck, but if this is the route you want to go to save money, I would be 100% sure these courses will be accepted. I don't believe those of us would consider the years (or intensive year) we have put in to preparation for graduate school "minimal knowledge." Undergrad is for learning the necessary background knowledge. Graduate programs focus on clinical work, for which you need that extensive knowledge from undergrad, which you then further and build upon and solidify. You will "fail" when you first do therapy as a graduate student clinician; but that is how you learn. If we walked in to graduate programs succeeding at therapy, we wouldn't need them at all, would we? As a side note to another comment, while what you do when doing ABA is not directly related to SLP, the sheer fact that you're getting experience with kids, learning how to interact with them and how to modify their behavior is priceless. I have friends who did ABA and are finishing up grad school for SLP now, and they talk about how beneficial it was having that experience with kids. That put them ahead of their peers who had had little to no interaction with kids prior to grad school, and I think it's great experience to have under your belt. (I have it as well, and I'm glad I do!)

I've heard quite a bit from WMU, although the bulk of information should come out at the end of May. If you still haven't I'd give the office assistant Paula an email and ask her what's up. They may have just made a mistake with your email so make sure they have your correct email address.

The thing is, even "less competitive" schools are still insanely competitive. They still get way more applicants than they have space for and find ways to thin the pool. Maybe my experience can help though. I also applied mostly to schools in the midwest. As a disclaimer, I don't value the US News rankings, but I use them as a gauge sometimes because I know other people do. I was in a somewhat similar situation as a less-competitive applicant based on GPA. However, I graduated 3 years before applying. My undergrad GPA was between 3.2 and 3.3, but I was out of major, came back to do post-bacc classes, and had great GRE scores. I've done really well in post-bacc classes as well so I have a high CSD GPA. A high CSD GPA is really important (I think) for people who have overall low GPAs. In my experience as a student with a low GPA, experience and fit were really important, not necessarily a school being less competitive. You can apply to schools all ranked in the 200s that accept 30% of applicants, but if you're a bad fit, they're going to see that and are going to see what you're trying to do. I had a lot of experiences both in and out of the field (worked abroad for three years, experience working with special needs children and adults, ESL, etc). I applied to a variety of programs: reaches, good-fits, bad-fits. Nothing did I treat as a safety. As it turned out, all of the programs I was a really good fit for and truly wanted to go to, I got in to, or waitlisted for, and they were all in the Top 50. I had really good reasons for wanting to go to those programs, found from my research before, and I made that known in my SOPs. My visits (after applying) to these schools only confirmed this. I applied to some schools that were, in my mind, "less competitive." "Less competitive" because they were low-ranked (low 100s to 200s), in pretty rural areas (because who wants to live in the middle-of-nowhere Midwest, 2 hours by car from the nearest city?), and had slightly higher acceptance rates than other schools. I got rejected from all but one of those schools, and in my mind it made sense. A school in the middle-of-nowhere Midwest has merits that do appeal to students and there are students who want to go to those programs. I truly believe those programs know these applicants when they read their SOPs. I applied to those programs because I thought I was a great applicant other than my GPA, and thought that that maybe would get me in, but I knew I would only attend those schools as a last resort if I didn't get in to the schools that matched my interests and goals. Maybe that showed in my SOPs for those schools in some way (perhaps because I didn't spend as much time refining my SOP for those programs as I did my top-choices). The schools I applied to offered things I really wanted. Research or labs doing work I wanted to get involved in, volunteer efforts organized by grad students I wanted to do, clinical experiences that appealed to me, other experiences I wanted, etc. I mentioned these things in my SOP, and not briefly, and my experiences connected nicely to my interests. I can't suggest less competitive schools because (in my mind) there really is no such thing. You can use EdFind to find schools in the midwest, and comb through them to find programs you love. Know why you love them. You have a lot of time to find programs, and what might help is visiting them. I didn't have time to visit programs before I applied, but if you can find the time, I suggest you do. Those visits can make you realize why you want to go to a certain program, or that a certain program is not right for you at all. Other people might not agree with me, but I think fit is a really important thing to look for when looking for programs, especially as an applicant with less-than stellar stats.

I'll start this by saying I am planning on enrolling in a professional master's program in speech-language pathology, so the situation might be handled differently from PhD or academic masters (that maybe have funding). I have waitlist confusion and really don't know what to do. In the first round of acceptances before April 15th, I made my decision on school A and was happy to accept. However, it's a very expensive program, and I told myself if I got off the waitlist at a cheaper program I'd take it. They're all 6 semesters long, including two summer semesters. Recently I got off the waitlist at school B. School B was tied as my number 1 when I applied, although it's still out-of-state. It has international opportunities and they do research in a particular area of my interest. This may not be totally relevant to me, but it's possible to get an hourly position in the lab, and they still have faculty well-versed in this area. However, although international experiences were important to me, it's something I'm willing to compromise on, especially because of cost. I am not off the waitlist on school C. I am ranked 17 on their waitlist. They have 4 spots available at this time. Historically they've admitted around 30 people from the waitlist, but they've also had years when they only admitted 5. The average for the last 3 years is 30 off the waitlist. So basically: Program A: Accepted Around 55K (not including living expenses) Great clinical opportunities International Experience, but it lengthens program length a semester 3.5 hours from family Small city, cost of living is higher than B but less than C Program B: Accepted Around 41K (not including living expenses) Lab I'd like to work in International Experiences, although these will raise the cost so much I might not be able to do it 10 hours from family Smaller town, lowest cost of living Program C: On waitlist, ranked 17 Around 33K (not including living expenses) Lab I'd like to work in Clinical Experiences B doesn't offer 40 minutes from my family Big city, higher cost of living Being near to family is only important to me because I have a young niece and nephew whose lives I want to be in. I've been more or less disowned, so the rest of my family being nearby doesn't matter. But being able to see those two is appealing since I was abroad for three years. So basically, I'd prefer School B over A because of cost. School C is a good compromise of what I want and cost, and I think I have decided I would like to go there. But I'm not off the waitlist at C yet. I might not get off the waitlist, but if history is correct, I stand a good chance. So... Should I cancel my intent to enroll at A and accept at B? And be willing to cancel at B to accept at C if that time comes? Or should I stay with school A and just hope I get off at school C? This seems risky, but also it seems horribly unprofessional to cancel an acceptance more than once, and I don't want to just keep going down the line of schools I get in to. School B was very clear that you should be 100% when you intend to enroll and really looks down on students who intend to enroll, then change their mind. Or is this not as big of a deal as I'm making it out to be?

I also agree a lot with this. My mom had me when she was 40, and my dad was 38. All but one of my grandparents had died before I was born, and the remaining passed from breast cancer when I was five (she was 75), but we lived out of state and far away until I was three, so I only spent two years with her, and I barely remember them. The last few months were visits to the nursing home when she was in very poor health. I guess even if they hadn't died, the other three grandparents I would have had were apparently horrible anyway. Paternal grandfather was violently abusive, maternal grandfather was violently abusive and an alcoholic, and paternal grandmother was a violent alcoholic who abandoned my dad as a kid and he never saw her again until her funeral. So they weren't people that would have been in my life anyway. Still, if they weren't horrible people, they wouldn't have been in my life for long, because they wouldn't have been relatively young when I was born. It makes me sad I lost my grandmother when I did, and while I'm grateful for the time we had, I'm quite envious of people with grandparents who were with them for a long time. I really don't know what it's like to have a grandparent or that relationship. I'm just starting grad school in the fall and my mom has been retired for three years now, and my dad will probably retire before I finish. I really want my parents to meet any kids I may have and have a presence in their lives, but we're all getting older, and I won't be having any for at least the next five years, likely more, so how much time will they even have together. I have a niece and nephew now, and I can see how important my parent's presence is in their lives, although my niece and nephew have parents who are a little less stable than I plan to be, so having my parents as grandparents is particularly important for them. My mom's health isn't the greatest either and has already been pretty steadily declining (albeit slowly) for a long time, so I'm constantly worried about how much time she has left. It's a morbid thought, yes, but it bothers me a lot. I'll also have loads of debt from school, and I want to travel quite a bit, so I don't know when I'd even be ready to have kids. I know I really do want kids, but I don't think any time will be the just right time. Of course, before having kids, I need to get over my chronic singlehood. That's another vent right there. Admittedly, I haven't really been in any situations to meet new people for awhile, although I tried online dating for a few months since I was back in the US from abroad and didn't know many people in the area, but I didn't have the best experience. I'm getting really tired of being single though, especially when more and more of my friends are entering long term relationships, getting engaged, or getting married. It's not that I think I should be getting engaged soon or anything because they are. I was really shy before around 21 and had never dated before then, so I know I'm "behind" in that respect. It's more that the more they enter serious relationships, the less we have time to do things together, which I guess is a natural process of getting older. This is fine, and I'm happy for them and like their partners, but I don't have that kind of relationship to turn to, especially since most of my very best friends are scattered around the world. I have one other good friend in the area who is single, and we definitely hang out and do things together the most. I need to get out there more and try to meet new people, but it's not always easy, and it takes a lot of time. I'm moving to a new city in August though, so for now I'm just accepting of my singlehood, as much as I think it would be great to be in a relationship.

I would put almost no emphasis on US News rankings unless you plan on pursuing a PhD right after your master's. High or low it doesn't really matter outside of academia. You are not going to get significantly better or worse job prospects based on the ranking of your school. Check out the methodology. All the health rankings are based solely on the results of peer assessment surveys sent to deans, other administrators and/or faculty at accredited degree programs or schools in each discipline. Respondents rated the academic quality of programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). They were instructed to select "don't know" if they did not have enough knowledge to rate a program. Only fully accredited programs in good standing during the survey period are ranked. Those schools with the highest average scores appear in the rankings. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/health-schools-methodology It's just other professors opinions of other programs. And truly, what do they know? What makes a program outstanding? Having research opportunities? Having stars in the field on staff? What makes a school marginal? No research opps? Poor placement opportunities? And how can other professors speak to that truly? It's all based on reputation and certain types of schools just aren't capable of building a reputation like others. I'd go out on a limb to saying schools with lower rankings in general just don't have research going on because research is what gets a program's name out there. They say professors can select don't know if they can't speak to academic quality but how can they really speak to it anyway? Mind also that rankings have nothing to do with competitiveness. Every school is competitive just in different ways. All schools receive far more applicants than they have spots for and have the luxury of picking students. I got waitlisted at top 20 and accpeted to top 50 programs but rejected from programs on the high end the 100s. Programs can be competitive with GPA/GRE, SOPs, observable commitment to a school, or whatever. As long as a program is accredited and will provide you the opportunities you want, ranking is negligible if you are not pursuing a PhD after.

I had to pay to rent my undergrad robes (which were black). :\ Apparently we were meant to keep the hat though, but I returned mine. $50 for renting them, and I didn't even take the damn hat. My school also doesn't give hoods for bachelor's degree recipients, unless it's your second bachelor's. A classroom complaint: Why do you insist on talking through the entire lecture? Yes, you're whispering, but it's still loud and distracting to those around you. I've asked the two girls really politely to please stop, because the whispering is so close that it actually masks what the professor is saying at times. Even if it doesn't, it's still incredibly distracting. But that just makes me a "bitch" (as they "whispered" after class) for asking them to quiet down. And they're not even talking about the material. It's Facebook stuff, and what happened last weekend at whatever party, or whatever. Ugh. And the gum snapping. Why? When I chew gum, snapping it is a pretty satisfying feeling, so I get why you do it. But I don't do it in a freaking lecture, or during a quiz. If you can't refrain from snapping your gum at inappropriate times, don't chew it during those times. :\