goingtobeslp13

A good friend of mine is in graduate school in Boston, but plans to do her CF in NY in order to get the TSSLD certification here. She also has been keeping track of all her syllabi/hours and talked with her advisor about her plans to ensure that she meets the NY requirements.

I chose the professors who knew me best over the professors who taught me in my (online) post-bacc, so I ended up having no SLP LORs. It worked out in my favor. 1. My childhood education professor/advisor - he co-supervised my student teaching and taught several classes, so he knew me REALLY well and could attest directly to me working with children. 2. Another childhood education professor with specialties in both literacy and special education - took several classes with her, she knew me really well, and supervised my literacy tutoring of a special needs student. 3. A psych professor - this one knew me less well and I wish I had gone with 1 SLP professor instead. However, I got into most of the schools I applied to, including my first, second, and third choice, so I can't really say I have any regrets.

I don't go to Hunter; I do know several people who went to Hunter for graduate school in Speech-Language Pathology. Everyone I know at Hunter has raved about it. I just wanted to share an alternate view of the CUNYs. Funding for SLP masters is quite rare and the CUNYs are a BARGAIN in comparison to every other school. I cannot speak to research opportunities, but since many of us are going into SLP in order to practice clinically, I have heard from several alums of multiple CUNYs who feel that they were very well prepared to practice in the field, and perhaps even better prepared than at some of the bigger name universities.

I had previously accepted/sent in a deposit before I got an acceptance from my first choice school (not off the waitlist, they were just really late in notifying). I emailed my advisor, the administrative assistant, and financial aid office. I also had to withdraw myself from the classes I had registered for. Hope it helps! Everyone was very understanding.

I will be getting an MA versus an MS. It really doesn't matter, they're about evenly distributed. Someone said on another thread here that they think it depends largely where in the university the program is located. Mine is under the arts and humanities umbrella, so therefore MA.

I was also a psychology major undergrad. I would HIGHLY recommend taking all or most of your pre-reqs first. While it can be tricky because every school wants different things, some of the basics are needed everywhere - intro to communication disorders, anat & phys, intro to audiology, child language development, etc come to mind. I took my pre-reqs online through SUNY New Paltz, and I had a good experience. It's a 3 semester program (summer, fall, and spring) with 3 classes each semester. That way, when I was applying, I had a GPA to show for 6 speech classes. I think this really helps schools feel confident in accepting you because they see how well you can actually do when studying the subject you're applying for. I took the 25 hours of observation through this program. I've heard (I'm not sure if this is true everywhere/anywhere) that some places will only accept observation hours if you took them as part of a class, but I honestly don't know if that's true. I also want to second what smrv said about having a very strong personal statement - write it, rewrite it, have everyone you know give you feedback on it, look up advice for what SLP programs want and don't want on the internet, whatever you need to do to make it be the best it could possibly be. I was told that many schools don't interview, and use the personal statement in lieu of an interview to get to know their candidates. Make it personal, make yourself shine. I would also say that having very strong letters of recommendation, from professors that really know you, also makes your application stand out. If your LORs only say "I had so and so in this class and they got an A" - you don't stand out at all. Good luck!

Me too! I know someone who applied to St. John's for law school, and they never told him an answer. He had to call to find out he was waitlisted. I don't care enough to call because I've already made my decision to go elsewhere.

Those who were accepted to Queens were told to respond whether they would be attending by April 15 (so, today). I'm guessing that if you haven't been accepted or rejected, it's sort of a de facto waitlist and they're waiting to see how many people enroll to see how many spots they have available. Good luck to you!

I think it really varies from school to school whether and how many out of field applicants (without any prereqs) they are willing to accept. I know Teachers College told me that if you apply without your prereqs and they accept you, they are assuming/requiring you to take those prereqs there as an additional year in the program. I have a BA in Psychology with a minor in Childhood Education (certified to teach). When I applied I had 6 completed prereqs, and I was in the process of taking 3 more. I think applying with so many prereqs under my belt let me be considered a quasi-in-field applicant, because I wouldn't need to take any prerequisites once admitted. Good luck to you!

In my experience and from what I've been told from grad schools, one of the most important things is to select LOR writers who know you really well. Since I did my post-bac online and didn't feel like my professors knew me well enough to really write a personal LOR, I actually didn't ask any SLP professors to write a recommendation. I got all 3 of my letters from my undergrad, meaning that they were either psychology or education professors. They knew me really well, and could speak to my performance in the classroom as well as out of it (the education professors both supervised me either during student teaching or literacy tutoring) and could really advocate for me. I would recommend going that route if you don't feel like you've made a really personal connection with your post-bac professors.

I could be wrong, but I think the CUNYs don't offer health insurance. I vaguely remember asking that a year ago when I was considering taking time off my prereqs for a job (meaning that I would be over 26 when I finished the program and in need of my own insurance). I'm not 100% sure though!

I did my undergrad elsewhere. I was an out of field applicant and did my post-bac through SUNY New Paltz.

I don't know all that much about Hunter, since Queens has been my first choice all along, but I've heard really great things about both! One difference that I know of is that at Queens, everything is all under one roof (classes, down time, clinic), whereas I've heard classes and clinic are in 2 different places, requiring subway travel between them, at Hunter. Good luck in your decision, and maybe I'll see you around next year!

I asked them both a lot of questions when I was trying to decide. Both have absolutely raved about their professors (I know the one at Adelphi said that her professors sometimes call her on the phone to talk about how everything is going, etc). Adelphi will not let you start clinic first semester unless you majored in CSD in undegrad (even if you've done all your prereqs) but TC does. Adelphi has 2 in house practicum and 2 externships, TC has 2+ in house practicum and 3 externships. Adelphi is a 5 semester program, TC is 6+. My friend at TC says there is a big emphasis on multiculturalism and bilingualism (even though she herself is not bilingual). Hope this helps! If you email the admissions offices or SLP department at either school, I'm sure they would be happy to put you in touch with a current grad student to answer questions.

Thanks! They called me and then followed up with an email. My interview was last week. I've heard fantastic things about both Adelphi and Teachers College - they were actually the 2 schools I was deciding between in case I hadn't gotten into Queens. I haven't heard anything very good or very bad about NYU. Honestly, I don't know much about their program. I have friends at each Adelphi and TC and both are really happy with their choices to go to their respective schools.

Today I found out that I got into Queens College, my absolute TOP choice! I could not be more elated! I will be declining my spot at Adelphi, Teachers College, NYU, and Hofstra so hopefully that frees up some spots for everyone else. Good luck!

Does anyone know any information about getting your CCCs in NY and then moving to California? It's something I'm thinking about. I know NY is very strict, but I heard California was also pretty strict. Do they have reciprocity?

I've personally heard better things about Adelphi, but I've heard great things about both programs. Good luck!

I think a lot of grad schools have an iPad or 2 that you can use, already loaded with all the apps you'll need. I asked my friend in grad school in Boston once whether she would want to buy an iPad herself and she basically said that the cost is very prohibitive - not only do you have the cost of the iPad itself, but each app costs a lot of money, and she uses different apps all the time. I think a lot of places you go will be willing to provide you with an iPad to use or share.

Does anyone have any idea when our financial aid info will be available? I tried to check for it today but it said it wasn't available yet. I've heard financial aid decisions from several other schools already.

I'm in a similar situation, except I'm still waiting to hear from the very affordable school. My thoughts are that if I get into the affordable school, I'm going there. I really don't want to get myself into a lot of debt and it actually has a fantastic reputation despite how cheap it is. If I don't get in there though, I'll probably take the debt for Columbia because if I'm going to pay a crazy amount for any private school, why not get the connections and name recognition Columbia offers? However, I've heard numerous times that it REALLY doesn't matter very much where you go to school, as long as you get your masters and get your CCCs, you'll be fine getting a job. I think there are really 2 exceptions to this - 1 if you know you want to specialize in medical placements (which I don't), or know you want to eventually get a PhD (which I might), then it might be worth it to go to a bigger name school that offers exactly what you want.

I thought it might be helpful to share any experiences with interviews at CUNY schools (I know they're all different, but any experience might help!) - I'm specifically wondering if anyone has any info on what to expect during an interview at CUNY Queens?

I'm wondering the same! They told me on the phone it would be a small group interview lasting around 30 minutes. I'm wondering what kinds of questions they'll ask and how they'll be able to make admissions decisions based only on a group interview!

Garden City is a pretty upscale and safe area, so I'd say you're pretty safe. Most classes are in the late afternoon/early evening, so you will probably be going home when it's dark, but I think you'd be fine no matter what. I'm not sure about connecting with classmates, I assume there will be a facebook group made at some point!

While it is closer to live in Queens, if you are going to take public transportation, the LIRR is your best bet and that leaves from Penn, so Queens won't actually be more helpful to you. Adelphi is definitely a commuter school but there is, for example, a student lounge for SLP students where some people do work in between classes or just hang out in between classes. My friend really loves her professors (she went there for undergrad too so she REALLY knows them) and I don't think I've ever heard her say a bad thing about the program. As for the workload, no grad school is going to be easy and if you're going to be the best prepared clinician, you're going to have to put in the work. That said, the workload seems manageable from watching my friend. However, when I went on a tour of the clinic, I saw some grad students who told me to "expect to buckle down once you start grad school!" The reading seems to be split between journal articles and textbooks, so you get a pretty well rounded approach. Overall, I think it's a great program. It was definitely among my top choices! While I haven't officially decided that I'm going there (still waiting to hear from my other top choices before I make a decision), I would definitely recommend it!