shuca

You're welcome, speechb14!!! I've noticed that people in the past tend to choose BU over MGH too, but I've certainly seen some people who do the opposite, too My guess is that people tend to associate MGH with heavy medical focus (which is understandable), and those who are interested in both pediatrics/school-based SLP and medical SLP are more inclined to choose BU because they feel that BU would be better for that. I don't know, just a guess. I agree that the final decision should be yours, but I can totally understand why you feel unsure after seeing other people's decisions. Like you said, BU and MGH are both amazing programs so you really can't go wrong with either one. I'm glad you are feeling better about your option. I'm going to the accepted students event too. Maybe I'll see you there.

You should definitely withdraw your applications rather than waiting. It saves time for the admissions committee, and it also gives another applicant a better chance of getting in. This is especially important because you are a very strong candidate & there's a chance you're being considered for a scholarship offer(s) too. Some schools don't re-distribute scholarship offers to other applicant(s) if it's declined by the applicant that the school originally offered it to. If you already know you are not going to accept other offers, you should let them know ASAP so other applicants can get a spot and possibly even scholarship. Congratulations again I'm really happy for you!

Thanks, AMKersh for adding that in! I totally agree - MGH has great research opportunities, and I also didn't get the same impression from Emerson. I think Emerson focuses more on training clinicians rather than researchers. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, vsa10002! I kind of feel the same way about the money. The cost difference between Emerson and MGH is about 13K. I am more interested in the medical aspect of SLP too, and in that regards MGH has so much more to offer than Emerson seems to (although the current student did say that Emerson offers adequate medical training as well). And for me, the great opportunities MGH can offer is enough to justify the extra $13K. Emerson hasn't made the decisions on fellowship offer yet though, and if I am lucky enough to get fellowship from Emerson I think it'll be MUCH harder to turn down the offer. I'm also kind of worried about how rigorous MGH will be... I'm definitely scared, but I'm trying to tell myself, "if the program believed in me and thought I would be successful in their program, then I will. I should be the last person to give up hope on myself." I do agree with you though, it's a bit scary. Congratulations on the scholarship offer from MGH! I'm really jealous!! If you are more interested in medical SLP and you got scholarship from MGH, I think MGH is your best bet. If I were you, I would happily take it. I can understand where you are coming from, but I wouldn't worry about the location and resources of a large university that you mentioned. Graduate school is really going to eat up your time, so I really doubt you'd be able to "enjoy the city" anyway even if you were to study at BU. Also, even though BU is in the center of the city, the building itself (Sargent College) isn't all that great. It's an old building, and it's not old in the "historic" way. MGH has great campus and their facility is amazing. Even though you won't be "in the city", I bet you'll feel great while you are on campus - and I'm sure you'll be spending a lot of time on campus. Also, students at MGH have full access to Treadwell Library (owned by MGH and shared with Harvard Medical School). I think it's a great resource offered by them. I'm not really sure what kind of "large university resources" you find appealing about BU so what I said above may not really ease your concern, but I think MGH would be a great fit for you. Congrats again!

Hi all So Emerson finally started making calls! Congrats to those who got accepted!!! I got a call today too and I got accepted. I'm also accepted to MGH, and I'm waitlisted at BU. I know there was a similar thread comparing Boston programs last year, but I wanted to hear opinions from the people starting this coming fall too. Also I figured it'd be better to start a new thread so we can meet our future classmates here . So what do you all think about pros and cons of the Boston programs?? I went to Emerson's Open House, MGH's information session, and I interviewed at BU so I got a chance to see the facility and talk to the current students there as well. Here's what I think (pros marked with + and cons marked with -) : Emerson + strong sense of community and supportive people + strong program for pediatrics focus + in the center of Boston (I guess for some people this can be a con too?) + tuition is cheaper compared to the other Boston programs + Robbins Center has a really warm feel to it (this one is very subjective, I know lol). - fewer selections for courses - you may not get the best medical-related experiences (Note: Someone asked this to a current student during the interview week, and the student said it's something a lot of people outside of Emerson say, but she said it's not true. She emphasized that it is definitely possible to get medical placements too) - student body is very homogeneous (I know it's just how most programs in SLP are, but I got the impression that Emerson is more so than others - both ethnically and gender wise). MGH + optional specializations and concentrations + more credits required (I heard that you can negotiate a starting salary with prospective employer because of this) + great program for medical SLP + beautiful campus & newly built facilities away from the busiest part of the city (again, this can be a con for some people) + access to resources through Harvard Medical School + broader choices for elective courses + possibility of interdisciplinary interactions with students in PT, OT & maybe even nursing? - expensive (about 70K for two years) - takes longer (6 semesters, including two summers) BU + great research + I got the impression that the person in charge of clinical placements really focuses on what students want. although it's just what I "felt" after talking to the person, but this is a big plus. OK this is all I can think of. Sorry I'm clearly not that invested in BU at this point but since I was waitlisted there I just wasn't spending that much time thinking about BU. lol If others can add more about BU to the list that would be great! As of now, I am more interested in MGH (as you can probably tell by the number of pros I listed above), but it's expensive!!! Money is such a big factor that it overweighs other factors...

I actually think it was there before... though I could be wrong. Regardless, I have a feeling it doesn't really have much to do with the admission decisions. I hope we'll hear back from them tomorrow! Hope you guys will be able to sleep well tonight

Try searching for "self-paced" online courses! As the term "self-paced" suggests, these courses don't follow the semester schedule that the schools have, so you can start it as soon as you register for it, and you can make it as short (or long) as you want to make it. Sometimes the school might have the "minimum required length" set for the course but it's usually around 6 weeks.

I'm accepted to MGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got off the phone with them like an hour ago and I'm finally starting to calm down. Before hearing back from MGH, I had heard from three schools; two of them were rejections and one was waiting list. I was devastated, starting to lose hope, and I was seriously starting to consider my plan B (and Plan C, D, E...) MGH was one of my top choices, and I can't believe it!!! I totally second what NCAR823 said. My GRE Verbal is mediocre (though I'd like to add that English is not my native language and I learned it as an adult, so it's completely unfair to judge my academic skills based on GRE verbal). My undergrad GPA isn't all that amazing either. I'm so happy that my top choice school looked at me as a whole package, not just the numbers. For those still waiting to hear back from the schools, GOOD LUCK!!! For those accepted to MGH - I'll be attending the accepted students' event on the 29th. See you there!

I love this thread!!! I had a dream that I had asked my landlord to write a letter of recommendation for me (of course I didn't in reality - he barely knows me), and I somehow got a hold of a copy of that letter. I open the letter, and it was filled with emoticons... like, "shuca is a pretty awesome girl and you should definitely let her in!! YEAH! never late with her rent payment!! *high five*!!!!" I woke up and was still confused about it, and was hitting myself for asking him to write a letter. (again, I didn't)

Hey guys I'm interested in learning more about bilingual track of some programs in the US, or practicing as a bilingual SLP in general. This thread has been interesting to follow, but if you guys could write in English, that'd be even more helpful! (I'm bilingual but not in Spanish - I've been using Google translate so far lol Good thing Spanish translates into English fairly easily. haha). Sorry if I came off as rude... it's really not my intention. Thanks

autismadvocate Thank you! Yeah, I’m trying not to let that bother me anymore. My background is actually pretty unique (which I am not able to share here because it would make it too easy to identify who I am) and I have a feeling schools will either love it or hate it when they see that in my application. I decided I’m going to think UMass Amherst fell in the latter group, and if that were the case, it wouldn’t have been a good fit for me anyway. By the way, it’s people like you who make me think, “if this person doesn’t get accepted to SLP programs, then WHO would?” I mean, we don’t even know each other in person but the fact that you are willing to go out of your way to bring other applicants’ spirits up and offer advice shows that you are a compassionate person. And you do it so well, too! I don’t know how you do it - especially on forums like this - because people can sometimes sound cold or superficial in written language, you know? Anyhow, I know you don’t need me to tell you that, but I really hope you’ll get to study at your dream school and become an awesome SLP. I know your future clients will be happy to have you. Green Dino Thank you for the clarification!! Glad you mentioned that because I wouldn’t want to mislead others here (especially those who are applying for Fall 2015). Thanks also for sharing the video - I just watched it and it was phenomenal!!! I’m not gonna lie - I got a little teary eyed towards the end because I can surely identify with the feeling of “being powerless”. I’ll remember the advice and try to show who I am at the interviews!

Hey guys!! Thank you so, so much for your encouraging words and advice. It seriously means a lot to hear that from people who have gone through the same application process (and anxiety). You guys are right - I really shouldn't let one rejection make me feel like I'm going to be rejected by other schools too. So, about UMass Amherst - when I was looking at the results page (thanks twinguy7 for letting me know that acceptances are showing up there too!), I saw someone writing that they didn't get accepted because they hadn't completed pre-requisites. I haven't finished my pre-reqs either (I'm planning to complete them the summer prior to matriculation), so I went to their website to check... and yes, they do clearly state that they expect "students applying to the MA program in Communication Disorders with a concentration in Speech-Language Pathology will have had an undergraduate background in communication disorders and sciences or will have completed, or be concurrently enrolled, in the prerequisite course work required for admission to the master's program". DUH!! I can't believe I missed such an important piece of information. Looks like I completely wasted my application fee for a school that I wasn't even qualified to apply to. I guess that's what I get for deciding to apply to an extra program at the very last minute lol. Of course, that may not be the only reason I was rejected, but like you guys said, I should focus on the positive. I'll stop thinking about that one rejection and try to build up my confidence for the interviews. Thank you soooo much again guys!! Best of luck to you too

So this is going to be a whiny topic. I woke up this morning and saw that I got an email from University of Massachusetts Amherst telling me to check the application status online. I log in, and saw that I was not accepted there . Honestly, I wasn't all that interested in going there so I'm not that sad about the rejection itself, but now it's making me nervous that I won't get accepted to other schools because I think UMass Amherst isn't as competitive as other schools I applied to. Also, it was my understanding that most schools usually don't send out rejection until all the acceptances have been sent out. Looking at the results page, they haven't even sent acceptances yet, so if they didn't even wait to send me a rejection it makes me suspect that there was something significantly wrong with my application. I have two interviews lined up this weekend but I've lost all my confidence for it .

I applied on CSDCAS. My other schools used CSDCAS too so it didn't make sense for me to do a separate application (though Emerson did state that their application processes faster than CSDCAS application). I know it's much easier said than done, but try not to stress too much about it. We still have two weeks until the interview weekend! Good luck to you!!

Just got an email invitation to an interview at Emerson! Really, really excited!! The email is rather plain, just a brief 'congratulations' and an instruction to check the date and time of the interview on their application portal (http://www.emerson.edu/admission/portal). I don't even know how long the interview will be, and the email said they'd be sending out more information closer to the date of the interview. So I guess there's going to be another waiting game until I receive more information, haha. But it definitely feels good!!

Just got an email invitation to an interview at Emerson College!! Really, really excited!!

Yup, this is the first year they are doing interviews. Nerve-racking, because you really don't know what to expect!

lisa19 - Aw it's a bummer that they didn't verify the information over the phone. I guess we'll just have to be patient and wait for the email (I haven't gotten the email either). *sigh* this waiting period is awful!

I just checked my portal, and I see a date & time listed on my page too, but I didn't receive an official invitation either. I'd be super excited if this actually means that I have an interview scheduled with them, but I'm trying not to get too carried away because I don't want to be disappointed later lol. lisa19 - I think I'm just going to wait and see if I will get an official email invitation. Let us know what they say when you call on Monday!

I think your best bet is to contact CSDCAS directly and ask what might be causing that. Their customer service is great, and they will actually answer questions about your own application (rather than answering general questions). Have your ID number ready and call them

Hi everyone!! I'm applying for fall 2014 admissions, and I need to complete the rest of the courses required by ASHA (biological sciences, physical sciences, statistics, and the social/behavioral sciences). I have physics and statistics completed already, so I just need to take biological sciences and social/behavioral sciences. I live in Boston area and could take on-site courses in the vicinity, but I'm currently working so I prefer online courses. I would really like to hear any recommendations of schools that offer online courses, or "avoid this school" type of tips if you guys have any. Thanks!!

Hi everyone!! I've been following this thread for a few weeks now. It's really nice to read about what other applicants are doing to prepare their applications and get tips from them, but at the same time I'm starting to feel really intimidated!! Looking at everyone's impressive credentials makes me feel like my chances of getting in are pretty slim I'm a non-native speaker and I got my undergrad degree in Japan. After that, I moved to the US and I got my MA in East Asian Languages and Literatures (with a focus on Japanese Linguistics). Then I started teaching Japanese at various universities. I have seven years of teaching experience and some volunteer experience, but nothing as extensive as other people here. My biggest concern is the GRE... I'm taking it in a few weeks but being a non-native speaker of English, I really doubt I can score high enough on the Verbal section. I think I'll do fine on math, but probably not well enough to compensate for low verbal score. I took TOEFL (even though I'm not required to, since I got my masters in the US) and got 118 out of 120 so I'm hoping addcom will consider my TOEFL score as a better demonstration of my English ability. I also don't have a very good undergrad GPA (3.1), but I have 3.8 for my masters GPA. Gosh I feel like my application is full of flaws :/. I had better write a glowing SOP!!!