autismadvocate

I was just wondering, do you guys ever get pushback about becoming audiologists because of your hearing loss? I've noticed people with disabilities can often get a lot of pushback when going into fields (eg, my sister was told she could never become a nurse, several autistic people were told they couldn't be speech paths, etc), and it seemed to me that audiology could go one of two ways, either more welcoming than usual, because you're completely right, DeafAudi, you guys truly to understand it better than anyone else, or more pushback than usual, because people like excuses to discriminate. Thoughts?

Oops. I think I figured it out, sensorineural hearing loss. My mind was still on the Caribbean and I was trying to figure out what island or country there had initials corresponding to SN HL...and, unsurprisingly, I was coming up with nothing. Oops! lol

1. I LOVE your username! 2. I hate to betray my ignorance, but what's a cookie bite SN HL mean?

Now that I think of it, my website may count. But it really depends on how you define research. Did I have to do a whole lot of research to put it together? Heck yes. So some people count that as being research (I got credit for 'research' for one of my school's awards). But I assume doing research means being involved in conducting studies, which I was not, hence the reason I say no. Doing a research project is much different than doing a research study. I also took research courses (psych and econ major, there's really no getting out of that). I took Research Methods, Tests and Measurements, and Econometrics. And for Econometrics and Tests and Measurements we had to do our own 'studies' (body dysmorphic disorder for T&M and a model predicting movie grossing for Econometrics). But again, I don't think any of that counts.

None. Alas. I was a subject in a lot of experiments? (Psych major, that's practically a requirement.)

Thanks! Back atcha! Also, wow, that was pure luck that I found an Elf clip, then! While we're sharing TED talks, here's one of my own personal favorites. Unsurprisingly, coming from me, it's about autism. Ignore what she accidentally implies about autism and love at the end. She tries to dodge the questions but her lack of social skills kind of shows through there in her response, but basically the answer is, you can't tell someone if their child loves them without knowing the situation, no matter whether the child is neurotypical or autistic. But are people with autism capable of love? Heck yes. Just as much as anyone else is:

That's rough. As someone who's taking classes now myself, I can relate. It's hard to focus on the present when you're so worried about the future. But I think I've worked through the anxiety for the most part now (yes, this is my version of having worked through it) by accepting at this point either way I don't have control. Either they accept me or they don't and I can't change that. What I can control, however, is my grades. That's helped me keep focused on my schoolwork instead of fretting so much about the future. Maybe it will help you, too?

I thought the same about this community when I joined only a few months ago, actually. (I have no idea how I've managed to rack up so many posts in such a short time!) A long ago in a galaxy far far away, I was rolling the idea over in my head about checking into a different professional degree. I visited the top forum for said degree and WOW. People were just nasty! It was a very cut-throat environment, and while some people thrive in that sort of environment, I certainly don't. I think I posted a grand total of twice there because people were so mean. I was kind of nervous about coming here for that reason, even though that last forum experience was ages ago, but I've been happy to find that everyone here is really supportive and nice. I think part of it is the profession we want to go into. It's a helping profession, so I think it tends to draw more compassionate people. Either way, I also really love the environment of this forum. Tell you what, since you can't get the reaction you deserve from your parents, I'll give it to you here. *blows party favor horn* CONGRATULATIONS GREEN DINO!!!!! GREAT JOB!!!! :D I know it took a lot to get into Amherst and you put a lot into your application, and it's great that you got in!!!! :) *does a happy dance* :D We're all here cheering for your acceptance and wishing you luck with all of your other schools!

Didn't know about the research requirement, but to me that's a bonus! Would we be allowed to create our own research project? I'll admit I have a lot of areas I'd like to research, but I'll also admit I've never done research before - but you have to start somewhere!

Sorry you're stressing so much. What specifically is the source of your anxiety? (Thinking you won't get into any school, thinking you won't get into the school you want, waiting is just stressful, etc?)

Oh, you guys are so sweet! I'm glad I can help, really and what you guys said makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :) Green Dino, sorry about your dad - as you read, I can relate. It's very hard not to internalize messages like that and that's the reason I struggle with application anxiety so much. I made the mistake at one point in the application process of telling my dad how nervous I was because one of my transcripts wasn't showing up for a school. He told me that I had to drop everything, skip my work (which means I'd be leaving an autistic five year old stranded at school), and drive to the school to talk to them in person about the problem as opposed to over the phone. He was convinced that if I didn't do that, I had no hope of getting admitted to the school. (The transcript situation turned out just fine, btw.) Now I just don't talk to him about application stuff unless I have news that I think will put him at ease. I think that's the best solution. I'm ridiculously easily identifable from what I post. Not only do I give my stats, but I also give my own website, so it's pretty impossible to confuse me with someone else. My solution is just not to post anything I'd be concerned about schools reading. (which in my case basically entails any preference as to which of the schools I want to go to). That way I can be quite open about my stats, if any schools happened to be looking for whatever reason they can get to know what type of person I am, and I haven't hurt the chances of my application's success. Dunno if you guys would be comfortable with it, but just a thought.

*Hugs* They don't know what they're missing - sure you'll get into your other schools.

Wow, that's a pretty cool dream in terms of what you want to do as an SLP! Also, what was your GRE again? Because from your GPA it sounds like you should get in.

Either way, Shuca, even with what Green Dino's saying it sounds like while your app wasn't a complete waste, it would definitely have been significantly harder to get in there because the bar is set so much higher for students without prereqs. It's not you, it's the lack of prereqs that really made this hard on you and you need to remember that.

Yay! Glad to hear it!!!! Well, I mean not glad to hear it, but glad to hear there was such a clear cut answer that has nothing to do with how good of a candidate you are. Hope your interviews go/went well and let us know how you do with your other schools.

Awww, you're so sweet! Thanks for the outside evaluation, I appreciate it. Your GRE scores aren't that bad (they're right around the 150 mark, which is pretty much the standard) and you've got a great GPA which should more than make up for it, so I don't think you should be worrying too much, either.

DREAM My dream is to get into my top school. I'm scared to post it here - afraid I might jinx it? - but I really Really REALLY want to go there. HOPE I hope I get into at least two schools, so I have choices. GUESS I don't know. Seriously, I don't. My anxious brain is telling me I'm not going to get in anywhere. I realize there's no way that's going to be the case (okay, it's possible, but really unlikely), so I'm trying to logically figure out what will actually happen, but I'm worried I might be overcompensating for my anxiety because when I shove my fears away then I think I'm going to get accepted everywhere and I don't think that's reasonable either. Probably some kind of middle ground is the reality - maybe accepted to two or three of the five schools I applied to - but I have no idea. What would you guys guess for me? I've noticed it's a lot easier to make impartial evaluations when it's not your own situation... Also, great thread idea! I hope everyone's dreams come true!!!!!! :)

FSU and USF also have online post-bacc programs. USF's starts in the summer, and I think FSU's starts in the Fall. The ranking of the schools would probably go UF/FSU (near tie) followed by UCF and USF (don't know the order there, probably depends on the specialization you're working on) followed by FIU, then FAU. I think with all of these, though, it depends on your specialization. For instance, FSU has a strong autism program whereas UF does not. So FSU would probably come out on top if you're applying to autism related jobs. USF has a great swallowing program, so if you were interested in dysphagia that'd be the place to go. What I've learned throughout this is that unlike most grad programs, SLP programs aren't very prestige based and the name of the program you went to doesn't matter as much for jobs as does the relevant experience you got during that program. So if I were you, I'd go wherever it was 1) least expensive and 2) had opportunities for experiences relevant to what you want to do (if you know the population you want to work with or the environment you want to work in, choosing based on that is easier). Only when those two factors were controlled for would I even factor in rankings.

Exactly, ditto what DeafAudi said. Some schools focus more on GREs, some on GPA, some on personal statements - work experience, LoRs, population you want to work with, seriously, any factor that they can find in your application different schools give different weight. It doesn't say anything about your ability to get into other schools that you didn't get into this one, because they could simply have different weighting systems. The fact that you have interviews with these schools suggests that you DO have the factors they weight more highly and you've already got a foot in the door. Good luck! :)

Why did I decide to do a post bacc? Well, like you I kind of belatedly came to the realization that I wanted to be an SLP. I figured it out over the summer, which meant I already was going to have to wait out the year until starting my Masters the following Fall (I guess I could have applied for Spring semester start programs with no prereqs, but that didn't occur to me), and I figured I'd make that year productive. I'm doing an online post-bacc program through University of Florida right now. It's fairly easy, to be honest, doesn't take much of my time (classes meet Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-9) so I can work at the same time, and I'm actually bonding with my teachers and classmates because we have group projects and live class chats. How long will it take? I'll be done with all my post-bacc classes in the summer, which means it will only have taken me a year (three semesters) to complete them. What was the damage? It's quite affordable. (I think I paid something around $3000 for tuition this semester, so that'd come out to under $9000 for all three semesters, if I'm right?) Am I glad I chose this route? Most definitely. It was a productive way to spend my year and on the off-chance that I don't get into grad school I'll be able to go and become an SLPA next year since I have the post-bacc. Plus, it seriously expanded the number of graduate schools I could apply to - many don't just require prerequisite classes, they actually require applicants to have a Communication Sciences and Disorders major, which you can get with a post-bacc.

You have to admit, the "moooooooo" bit does give that impression! lol

Ah...that explains it! I was wondering if it was some kind of reference to cows or something, but I couldn't figure out the "Ase" at the beginning, lol.

I can attest to what sayjo is saying. This is definitely not a random representative sample on this forum, as sayjo says you do tend to get more perfectionistic types here, of which I very much am one. Sorry if I freak anyone out with my freaking out about my stats, that's just my personality, I'm a perfectionist and a rather anxious person and it doesn't reflect what actual admissions are like. I've mentioned it before, but I have a very perfectionistic family (I had a 4.1 high school GPA and a 34 ACT and my dad told me that wasn't good enough to be able to get into any colleges) and it just gets into your head. That said, I don't want to accidentally get into anyone else's heads, so since even though I'm not good about being rationale about my own chances for acceptance, I'm quite rational when it comes to others, here's my assessment of your stats, Morgrach1: You'll get in. You applied to a lot of schools, at least some of the schools on your list aren't super competitive, you already have an interview, and while your overall GPA isn't high, it's not that bad and the rest of your stats are pretty good. Rationally, I can't imagine you not getting in anywhere this cycle. I'm so confident that I'd be willing to bet money on your chances of acceptance. And coming from a broke girl like me, that's really confident. For further sanity inducing information, here's the range of stats that some of your schools accepted. Case Western: GRE: Verbal reasoning: 147-167 Quantitative reasoning: 137-158 Analytical writing: 3-5 GPA: 3.38-3.97 Eastern Michigan: GRE: Verbal reasoning: 148-166 Quantitative reasoning: 142-159 Analytical writing: 3.5-5.5 GPA: 3.34-3.93 I didn't want to look all of them up, but those are just some examples. You'll note your stats fall well within the ranges of these schools. You really should be fine. *hugs*

I just wanted to say, because I've been thinking it for a while and I don't think I've ever actually expressed it, I am so impressed with what you've done twinguy7. Seriously. Emailing all those schools to find where you have a better chance of admission and working on forming bonds with professors? That shows some serious dedication and is very impressive. Heck, when it comes to that, all of you guys who are battling these low GPAs or test scores and have to work so hard to compensate for it, and to those of you who have been rejected one, two, or even three cycles already and still come back because you just care THAT much about this field. My hats off to all of you. To be honest, personally that fact in of itself should get you in. (And, fyi if you're a good writer who can pull it off, that would totally make a great thing to slip in to a personal statement.) I'm rooting for all of you and you guys should be proud of your efforts. I know I'm lucky to have a good GPA (and when I'm here freaking out about getting in even though I have a good GPA, please don't take that to heart, guys, I just have some crazy bad anxiety), but I also firmly believe that GPA isn't everything and if sheer passion for the field was measured, you guys would all be shoo ins. With this kind of persistence and hard work, you are bound to get accepted, if not this cycle then the next, and I know you'll go out there and be awesome SLPs. Also, random question, but Asemooooooo where did you get your username from? I can never get the number of o's right when I type it, lol....

Wait, does Texas State require an interview?