Yancey

I felt the same way in undergrad and even now in grad school shaking that perfection mentality is difficult. Sometimes I feel like the grad programs still get lost in grades, competition and "weeding out" students for certain placements. It almost feels like the students are fighting against the system and have to come to terms with accepting a B (oh no it's the end of the work?!) or being completely drained, losing sight of what our field is about, and focus on the grade rather than learning. My best advice is to try and find a school that values the fundamental aspects you find important when applying for grad school. We as a field can get so caught up in perfection and sometimes that does not end in graduate school because the mentality becomes so engrained. Find a grad program that values the student and sees their program as a platform for collaboration and learning and hopefully graduate school won't feel like an extension of post bac/ undergrad. I've had a hard time coming out of the perfection mode in a field with so many type A people and professors who make it seem like grades are the be all end all - it can be so challenging! Good luck! You can do it!

I agree that CA schools require a lot more prerequisites to enter into a Master's program. Other schools, especially private schools, may be more flexible or require less prerequisites. Not sure where you want to apply to, but some schools also have where you take the prerequisites in the summer/semester before and then start the Masters program in the fall. This might be a better option since it's already a prelude to the Masters program for that school if they take out of major candidates.

The higher acceptance rate is normally correlated with private schools that have high tuition. Students who receive no financial aid from a private university may have gotten financial aid offers from other institutions or into state schools with lower tuition and therefore may decline even their first choice due to finances. So in a way I think applying to a few well selected private schools can benefit applicants. Private schools often have more wiggle room when selecting a class size and what admission aspects they focus on to obtain a diverse class because their funding is dependent on the state. A lot of the known private schools in our field do get a lot of applicants so maybe selecting a few that are looking for students with diverse backgrounds would be most effective. The thing I learned is to take risk because you really never know exactly what schools are looking for!

The first 2 semesters of grad school I was on campus every day except Friday, with classes 2-3 days a week and then clinic 4x week. After that our school has all classes on one day from like 8 am to 8 pm (breaks in between). Then electives of your choosing are usually at night. This gives you time to get to and from placements when-if you have one. A lot of people commute, but I know they had to select classes that worked more for their schedule versus just what they wanted to take to avoid coming multiple days. I commute about an hour and 10 minutes and it's been fine.

I can not speak to your personal ability to handle work loads. It definitely varies by person. Some are great at having a packed schedule (staying busy keeps them from letting their mind wander), while others would be too overwhelmed.When deciding, I would also take into account the type of classes (demands of the class and your strength in that subject), as well as any other obligations you have in addition to class (clubs, work, assistantships, etc). Some schools will have set courses and lay out most/all semesters. Some schools will recommend students take this many units per semester as a typical work load. Other schools may have no set guidelines. See what past students or the faculty think in regards to how students in the past have handled the work load. If you are not working, have limited outside school obligations, and can handle the prospect of added stress then 1 or 2 heavy semesters might work. My school has 12-14 units (including internal and external placements) during many of the semesters, and then it depends on the electives the student takes. I am not going to lie though, it can get very overwhelming! Good luck!

I agree with slposteriorcricoarytenoid. If you have a good relationship with a professor, and give him/her ample notice, he/she may be very willing to write a few extra. Some professors have caps (but may make an acception if you have a realtionship " outside" the classroom (projects, talks, etc). I do think it's unreasonable to expect them to do more than 3-5 without asking professors early and seeing if they can. You figure they are writing many letters of Rec so it's best to ask EARLY (and then provide them with a folder of all your items transcripts, projects, resume, etc) so you know if they are willing ahead of time.

I do not want to sway you into not retaking the GRE, but I just wanted you to be aware that I think Vanderbilt looks at the whole applicant and how they fit will fit into that cohort, and do not just focus on one aspect. I was accepted to Vandetbilt's SLP program during the 2015 cycle and my Quant score was the same as your as was my writing. My verbal was just a few points higher. I know you want to do everything in your power to be accepted, but I thought I'd just share my experience. Good luck!

I choose the school where I got the second largest scholarship (so tuition for 6 semesters is around 30,000), but I did move to another state (which adds to the cost). I do think I made a good choice but I still have the what ifs or maybe I should have monts. Sometimes it's do to price other times it's due to living in a new place without my friends and family.

Hi. I from the West Coast and attended graduate school on the East coast. I met my boyfriend of 9 months 21/2 months before moving. It really works for us because we are both committed and really see a future (not lukewarm). We facebook video chat and read, watch tv( Netflix/HBO Go), talk, and play games (ex scrabble/words with friends). We even just have the facebook (or skype) on while I study and he does his thing just to have time together during quick breaks or comment. We also have date nights with wine and movies etc. It does take time, a lot of commitment, and trust but it can work. You do need to make time for each other, try and communicate effectively, scheduled visits to meet together, and make time for each other (priority).

I would look into the teching philosophy of the professors (at any University). Some professors don't teach best evidence-based practices. Your professors will educate you and serve as mentors; so I would just take that into consideration. https://languagefix.wordpress.com/tag/oral-motor-exercises-controversy/ http://soe.syr.edu/centers_institutes/institute_communication_inclusion/what_is_supported_typing/default.aspx http://www.asha.org/policy/PS1995-00089/

I was in a similar situation. I got accepted to my "Dream" location/school and only received a small amount of work study. I got into another school in my state, which I received free tuition for at least the year, and two more schools that offered me a 75% scholarship and 50% scholarship. Even with those scholarship 5-6 semesters would cost $25,000-30,000 total. To me that seemed live getting into a state school with no aid. The amount of debt (living expenses it what really gets me), depends on your comfort level. Not all programs are equal, but that has less to do with rankings and more to do with classes/electives offered (not all the same and some require more units/different electives), professors (are the teaching EBP like no NSOME for speech/language etc), networks (future jobs etc), support, size, clinic, etc. In the end the a little debt my be worth it but it may not be. Look at things that are more important other then just a name. Some name brand schools may truely be a better fit while some, despite the name, wouldn't be the right fit regardless.

Normally schools will state under financial aid section if they give merit scholarships, assistantships, in-state tuition for out of state applicants, etc. Also look at past forums/result pages. Sometimes people have listed their offers. Many times the aid is offered with/around the same time of admission, and if you're an alternate the school will usually have someone you can consult to see the likelihood to make the best decision. Also emailing/talking with past/current students to see what they were offered. Good luck!

Generally schools give the merit type scholarships the first year with admission. However, there can be opportunities for student assistantships (lab, research, clerical,etc) that you can apply for even in the second year. There also might be scholarships within or outside the school that you can apply for in your second year.

I just wanted to add a bit of thought regarding admission rates and top schools. Just because a school is ranked at the top by US News does not mean it is "harder" to get into. Public schools can be more challenging in certain aspects even if they are ranked as #200. Public schools usually have less spots (maybe due to money, resources, state regulations, etc). The public schools may also be less holistic and actually focus more on GPA and/or GRE scores where as Private schools may have the ability to be more flexible and look at aspects they want for their school (they in essence "make their own rules"). So often, the competition can be just as difficult (16 for 250 applicants- 6.4% accepted vs. 40 for 600 applicants - 6.6%). It really just varies based on what that school is looking for. Also private schools usually have much more expensive tuition. Therefore they usually have a higher acceptance rate because students who do not receive scholarships and cannot or are unwilling to pay full price turn down those schools in favor of other schools leading to a higher acceptance rate. So acceptance rate does not necessarily indicate how initially competitive or good/bad a school is.

They focus on overall picture of the candidate. They are looking for a diverse class and unique individuals. Good scores obviously would not hurt, but they are not the focus like other schools. They are looking for people that want to go there and are interested in what they offer as a school.

I applied last year to programs on the East Coast that required interviews and I lived on the West Coast. I was not able to go to any of them and did Skype for three. It went well and they do give you equal consideration. Just practice getting comfortable with Skype (like looking professional and trying to have eye contact which is difficult if you're looking at the screen versus camera). If you practice Skyping and get comfortable your personality will come through which is the benefit if meeting someone anyways.

Rankings do not matter. I just went through the application process and I am attending graduate school. Now that I am in a graduate program I realize some of the things I should have looked at that I did not put as much emphasis on. My program has both positive and aspects I wish were different based on things I now know would have facilitated my learning better. I wish I had looked at if the school makes you start clinic your first semester or if clinic begins later, class size, and electives, number and type of placements offered. I also think it is important to look at the emphasis the school has (what focus is important to the professors/college itself), the quality and type of research (are the teaching practices that are outdated or not using EBP -like using NSOME with language disorders), is their an emphasis on integrating the research with practical approaches so you know how to make the research "real," are test essay, multiple choice or some other format, is their an on-campus clinic or is it all external placements? These are some questions that I think can be more effective to contemplate when selecting a school versus some arbitrary ranking system whose criterion is not based on all aspects important to students. There are high ranking and lower ranking programs that are solid and there are higher and lower ranking schools that are lackluster. The backbone of a school is really the clinical philosophy of the professors. They will be teaching you and some may become mentors, make sure they know current research and practices in the field. The best advice is to find one you know will make you a strong clinician and that you won't regret choosing because you picked it based on rankings alone and not fit. Good luck!

Hey. This is just my take. I would recommend sending only a page for the CV/resume. The schools gets a lot of applications so efficiency is key. I think being able to condense your CV/Resume shows how you can pick the most relevant things and relate them back to why you would be a good candidate. It's really quality of experiences over quantity. Also, most 2 page CV/Resumes that are actually accepted tend to be later in one's career when one could have a long list of relevant publishings/experiences. Some schools will actually have a separate section in the application where you can list addition publications you have and any other pertinent info. As for the volunteering before high school, if your resume is already packed I would not recommend squeezing it in. Instead I might try and tie it in some way in my SOP/LOI as maybe a reason why I chose to pursue SLP or as an experience that deepened my passion for the field. Good Luck with whatever you decide!

MGH's program has a strong literacy focus. Many of the professor do work with literacy in schools and Dyslexia in particular. They also have an on campus clinic that focuses on speech, language, and literacy. Additionally they have many elective courses on the topic of literacy, the ability to do a concentration in reading disorders, and become licensed as a reading specialist.

I think Long Beach's Prompt is available on their website under graduate admission. Last cycle it was to write a paragraph (no more than a page) outlining your experience. Not sure if a school changes them (they can though).

MGH tends to look at students more holistically, which is why there is a large GPA range. They take out of field, post-baccs, and CSD undergraduates leading to a diverse cohort. The number of applicants on ASHA EDFind is not perfectly accurate as they do not consistently update it. The school's website may have more updated information. But when applying to school, private schools can/do sometimes have a higher acceptance rate because of different factors such as cost (are the first round applicants offered funding? Will those that are not want to pay full price?) and many who are accepted to one school may also be accepted to many others (and cannot go to more than one). Does not mean that a higher acceptance rate will mean they do not look and select their applicants carefully. With that being said you never know what kind of background/experience a school is looking for. The only way to know for sure is to apply!

I did my CD undergraduate in CA so I am not a postbac, but our classes (both postbac & undergrads) are not that large. We may have 30-35 at most in each course. None of the classes (unless they change it this year) are forum style classes. They are just in a regular classroom. Additionally, if you want to go to graduate school in CA it might be a good idea to do postbac at the school you may be interested in. A lot (not all or always) of CA schools consider their own undergrads &/or postbacs initially in the graduate admissions process. They also emphasize gpa and if they know your personality & work ethic that may help if the gpa is strong but not "perfect." It may just depend on the schools you want to apply to for grad that give you the most widely desired courses need for admission as a postbac student.

If you look at the results page people sometimes posted if they received merit scholarships, TA, or RA positions at/around the time of admission. Some private schools may be able to give more financial aid to select students at the time of admission. But I have also heard of state schools having small scholarships or out of state fee waivers. Many schools have opportunities for work study, applying for scholarships through the school, or applying for a graduate assistant position once you've decided to go to that school (you apply and some students are selected based on credentials like gpa, experience, etc.) I would look at the results page typing in schools that interest you or check the schools website directly. Many will say what financial aid they provide. And also like the above poster mention living frugally with loan money and paying it off quicker can help keep the cost down.

I think one of the keys to a strong LOR is it coming from someone who knows you on a deeper level than just seeing a name on an exam or roll sheet. However, that being said, for graduate school and the competitiveness it is important imo to have some from individuals who are SLP professors, clinical instructors, or related volunteering supervisors, etc. I really do think it is important for students to get to know some of their professors in an authentic way. Maybe there are one or two you whose personality or teaching style you click with. It may be a good idea to ask thoughtful questions before or during office hours (depending on the teacher's preference of class participation), ask if you can volunteer with projects or clinics they are in. A lot of grad schools do ask for SLP professor specific references and even those that do not I am sure having professors in the field you are applying too really helps in their eyes to paint a picture of success. I was lucky enough to have all three LOR from my undergraduate SLP professors, but I am an in major applicant so I am sure it may be more challenging out of field. I do think the linguistic professor would be good, but it would be great if you were able to get to know a professor or supervisor related to the major to write one after allowing them to get to know you as a student better. Make sure if you can to ask early becasue some may have a limit of LOR they are willing to write per student and may also have a limited number of students they can write for. Good Luck.

Hi. Sorry to hear about grad school, but this will definitely give you an opportunity to strengthen areas of your application. I graduated with my BA from a California school (Fall) and we had an SLPA course that I took that enabled me to gain the 70-100 hours required for my SLPA license. Is there a SLPA course offered at your school? You can also get your SLPA license through a community college program if they offer it or if you are hired or working as an SLPA for nine months you can get a waiver for a license (do not remember the exact requirements but it's available on ASHA). I got into graduate school with a SLPA internship and I also volunteered with students. I also volunteered in my schools clinic with adults. I do not think it is necessary to work as an SLPA, but you would receive great experience that would be geared toward providing therapy (those experiences could strengthen your SOP). When you volunteer/shadow depending on the place/person you may or may not get as in depth or hands on opportunities. It would also allow you to earn extra money and possible get a more personal LOR from your SLP supervisor. Ultimately I think it is important to take the experiences you have (SLPA or just volunteering/shadowing) and really showcase how they strengthen your ability to succeed in that schools master’s program.