jpiccolo

I'd say your GREs are great for this field. Spend your time and focus on the prereqs and other parts of your apps instead. A ton of people in my program did the leveling year through Utah state so that might be a good option before you apply. as for military, I definitely think if nothing else it'll set you apart. It might not give you an edge but it's different and will stand out.

I believe when I was researching schools last year I looked on asha Edfind and the Boston schools all had 500+ applicants. I crossed those schools off my list pretty fast.

you will be able to see your scores before sending them. Basically as soon as you finish the last section the next screen asks whether you want to see your scores or cancel them. The test won't ask where you want to send them until after you see the scores. You just won't know your AW score till later.

I think it's generally recommended to buy them so you can have them as an slp. I've bought all mine except the research textbook which I rented since I'm not planning to do research. Renting does save money though. Or you can consider buying an older edition. The pages might be different but you might be able to get away with it.

Here is a physical science class for about $500. The exams aren't online; they have to be mailed to a proctor location. Everything else is online though. http://is.byu.edu/site/courses/description.cfm?title=PHYS-100-M001

Sorry they must have deleted the ability to do signatures. I can't find it on the profile settings anymore. Lame! Anyway, my overall GPA was 3.76. My ComD GPA was 3.66, and my GRE scores (the second time) were 162V, 155Q, and 5AW. The Midwest schools I got into were Northern Illinois, Michigan State, Mizzou. I was waitlisted at Purdue and Indiana State and St. Xavier (in Chicago). Feel free to msg me if you have questions about them!

This thread helps answer a bit. There's not really a big difference. For some schools doing a thesis means you'll have an MS. I don't think you should factor MA vs MS in. There's even an M.Ed too. You'll still be an slp with whichever one you get.

It's nice to consider rankings a little but keep them in perspective. Some higher ranking schools are more academic/research oriented which might be a pro if that's more important to you. The highest ranked school I got into was the university of Utah but some things I learned about the program made me glad I went elsewhere. Not that it is bad, just that others were a better fit. It may be more beneficial for you to find current or graduated students and ask about their experiences. You'll get a better idea of what the profs are like and if students are happy with the program and extern opportunities.

Honestly your scores are super solid. And it looks like you have a lot of other good things going for you. It would probably be beneficial to spend that time writing kick-butt SOPs. And you can save that $200 for other expenses or the apps themselves. But I can't say much about funding or those schools.

All I can say is I never went to any open houses BEFORE applying. I only went to some that I was accepted to after the fact. It just wasn't feasible. I guess I did go to one school in the summer and had a private meeting and tour. But it was a top-ranked school and I wasn't really expecting to get in. So if it helps, just know you can get in without attending - I had 6 offers during my second year of applications.

I think it's really important to explain what you learned from your experiences working with animals. What kind of skills did you develop. How will this make a difference in your future career. Schools are going to be less concerned about your interests or hobbies and more focused on what things set you apart and why they should pick you. And make sure however you phrase it that it really answers the prompt. If it doesn't don't include it

I didn't really do much since I didn't have much time before my program started in June. I'd expect that you'll probably start off with articulation classes and clients so it can't hurt to go over IPA/place, manner, voice type stuff. And maybe just start looking up therapy ideas/blogs/pinning helpful stuff for later.

Don't give up just yet on those professors. I very rarely talked with my profs one on one during college and yet all the ones I asked were willing to write. I think as long as you got good grades in their classes it's worth a shot to ask them. They'll probably ask to see a transcript and a list of things you've done so they can play that up in their letter. That's what mine did. Even if the SLPs 'know' you better, some schools will absolutely require at least 2, maybe 3, letters from PhD faculty. One school I applied to told me that specifically because they were most concerned about my ability as a student, not as an intern or observer of an SLP. Even if they're online, I say go for it and see if they are willing. There's enough online programs these days that I'm sure plenty of applicants are using online profs as LORs.

My undergrad recommended that you always waive your rights to see the letter. I think it looks better to the school you're applying to that you trust your LOR writer and are okay with not reading it. All the schools I applied to had me input profs emails and then my profs clicked a link that was sent to them and just uploaded the letter. The applications also had a spot for me to click and waive my right to see it.

That's more typical of an out of state school tuition. I ended up qualifying for in state where I'm at and shouldn't be paying more than 15-20k for tuition total. I was very tempted by some schools that were 10-15k a semester for no residents but I think I made the right choice for me. I'd rather not be stuck with lots of loans for years and years. I applied to northwestern last year but I'm very glad I didn't get in because tuition is just so high.

Just my two cents, some of my 'safety' schools weren't really safety ones after all. If you apply to some that are way below your scores, they may be less inclined to accept you just because you'd probably get in somewhere else if you have good scores/grades. (Although it was entertaining for Indiana State to email me a rejection after being waitlisted and saying I should try again when my numbers are higher.) So if you see a school with avg GPA 3.4-3.5, they might not seriously consider your application. Not saying that happens everywhere, but it does happen. My signature has my stats and schools I got into in the midwest. There are some great ones there - ones that I was very sad to turn down! I think you have great odds, especially if you can up your GREs a bit more. You'll probably have a number of offers with 15 apps. Good luck!

I took the GRE the first time in late November. As long as you don't have December deadlines you're probably okay. All my scores were received on time. Just keep in mind that if you aren't happy with your scores, you won't have time to retake it (unless you have really late February deadlines you might get away with it.)

Explain it in your statement of purpose. I think it'll make you a stronger applicant if you can demonstrate your desire to be an SLP and what you've learned since starting school.

When I went to an open house many students said they commuted anywhere from 30 min to an hour I think. It's not impossible. I would think for most programs you'll be spending most of the day on campus in class or in the clinic.

A lot of it might just depend on the school. Unless you have amazing experience and high gres don't apply to the top ranked schools. Start looking at different schools and what they accept. If they don't have average scores on their website call or email and ask for them or what your odds are with your gpa. It's not impossible. Just takes some research to apply to the right schools that you have the best shot at.

There's even a master of education at some schools. My clinical supervisors have all three types. I really don't think it matters.

I don't know much about them, but here's what I can tell you. I applied to Northwestern last year and thought it was a really good program. Midwestern is fairly new I think but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Rush would be great for medical if that's your ultimate goal because of the access to hospital setting. I'm not sure if NW or MW are as medically oriented. However if you are worried about money, Northwestern (and also Rush I've heard) is known for being extremely expensive. I think you can find out more in other threads about people who got in but couldn't decide if it was worth the money. That will be the hardest - if you get in but feel like you can't afford it. So keep that in mind ahead of time - it's easy to ignore the tuition side while you're applying but when you get in, it all becomes very real, especially the concept of possibly years and years of debt. Many people who have 2+ offers often have to choose between the 'Dream School' which costs $$$/lots of debt and 'Really good school' for less $/hardly any debt. Definitely check out tuition rates on the schools' websites. Even with financial aid and GAs, they can still be a lot of money. You have a really good GPA so I'm sure you can get into lots of great schools. If you want to look elsewhere from your top 3 but still go medical, check out what externship possibilities places have and then work hard towards getting your ideal hospital placement. I know my program said you have to interview for most medical externships (which you'll have to have at least one), but just prepare well for the one you want. Good luck!

Find out about externship opportunities, do people try to work part time, do people commute/where do people live, how many clients do you start with

It's also worth looking into externships and what options you'll have there. One of the reasons I like and chose Utah State over University of Utah was that at USU I will have two full semesters out doing externships and those can be anywhere in the country whereas at Utah I'd have to take classes EVERY semester including the externship ones and that basically requires you to do externships in Utah. I'm far away from home right now (and have been for 6 years) but I really only have 1 year, 4 months, doing classes/clinic in Utah, and then there's about 8 months (next summer and spring '17) where I can go almost anywhere. Moral of the story, see if either of them have better locations for externships that will be closer to home. That way if you choose Minot, you might be able to spend at least 1-2 semesters closer if they have good externship possibilities. And a year, year and a half won't be that long really away from home. I realllllly wanted to be closer to home too for grad school, but I went with the cheaper option that allows me some awesome opportunities for externships (among other things). In two years, I think we'll all have the pick of places we want to live.

If you have an iPad or iPhone I'll give a little shameless plug for a free app my company just released. It's called Speech Racer Lite and it's a speech-recognition app that grades 'R' pronunciation! The pro version will come out in August with lots of flashcards, etc, but even the free version is super fun to play with. Here's a link if you want to read more: http://www.completespeech.com/speechracer/ We also have an app called VowelViz that provides speech recognition/biofeedback and helps kids with vocalic R and vowel sounds. There's not a free version but you can check out lots of videos on youtube before buying.