MamaLiz

You're right, it may be more difficult, but it never hurts to ask. My SLP grad has been able to get a scholarship from a state school which was not originally offered. And as you know state schools are notoriously tight fisted

If you are trying to choose between a school you want to go to and a school you're being lured to by more money, then call up the school where you want to be and say something like this: "I want to attend (insert name); however, I have a scholarship offer somewhere else. Is there anything you can do to help make this decision easier financially for me?" We were told at the grad seminar we attended that if you are a desired candidate they often will give money to keep you. This has actually worked for one of my grads.

Excellent points and comports exactly with the information gleaned from the seminar we attended. I tried to hit on those points with my other post topic yesterday, however, I think you have done a much better job of conveying this information. It's all about comparing, evaluating and matching, plus doing what you can to repair your deficits though your LORS and your SOP without making excuses.

I appreciate your point of view. All my "advice" is based on information gleaned from the schools themselves and not from other students or their experiences. Whatever you choose to do, I wish you the very best for your future.

One more piece of advice... Do not take the GRE without first taking a prep course especially if your GPA is on the lower side. Kaplan has one and so do others. Also please read my post today, "Which School...applying, interviewing, accepting, curing deficits"...all my insight mentioned comes directly from attending the seminar of the top 100 grad schools in the county for a very competitive grad program and spending two days listening and asking lots of questions.

I'm glad this was helpful and I wish each of you success!

Yesterday I started a thread titled, "How do these schools choose applicants...answers for success." My hope is that this will be helpful to those who apply next year and also be encouraging to those here who might find themselves reapplying next year. As I stated yesterday, after attending a seminar put on by the top 100 colleges in the country about getting in and choosing a grad school, my eldest grad and I walked away with inside information which helped us make very informed decisions on what to do. I'm passing this along to you in hopes that this will help you too. Everyone comes to this process with positives and negatives...there is no perfect candidate. Your job in the process is to turn your negatives in positives. So if your undergrad school is not the perfect high ranking school which gives you bragging rights and in turn gives you a leg up into the high ranking grad schools who want your stats to help their stats...then you need to think of how you can "cure" that. For instance, you may be able to say that you chose to attend a school close to home because of finances, family support, helping out your family or because of work. Finding a reason, (not an excuse) and explaining that you gained something from that experience beyond just the academics which has better prepared you to attend grad school is an asset. If you chose to go away from home to a school which is not high ranking you may be able to "own that decision" and explain how you grew from that choice. If your choice was determined by your high school grades, then you again have the opportunity to turn a negative into a positive by showing your determination to prod on and break through barriers. If you are a candidate straight out of undergrad, then you need to display your maturity. Remember grad schools view someone who has been in school all their life as a less stable candidate to get through the rigors of grad work. They are concerned about burn-out. Most grad schools want their candidates to succeed, not fail. So your job is to find something in your life which has prepared you for success, aside of the deficit of youth. For instance, one of my grads faced an extreme health issue for several years while still attending college and getting good grades. No professor ever knew that grad's condition until surgery became necessary and even then that grad carried on and completed every assignment. That grad went straight from undergrad into a very competitive grad program by using that experience as a springboard to depict perseverance. If you don't get accepted this year, think of things you can do to make yourself a more desirable candidate for next year. Have you noticed that many of the professors in SLP have out of degree majors in undergrad? Many of those undergrad degrees are in English, other languages or linguistics. Instead of doubling down in the rehab area for a year, think about, if possible, teaching school overseas for a year. You then bring to the program three things we were told grad school admittance committees like...multi-cultural experience, experience outside the mold and foreign travel. Ask your undergrad school for help with placement into one of these foreign teaching programs. Many grad applicants choose schools to apply to or commit to based on the location, either to their home or to their desired place to live. But my suggestion for both is to evaluate how you fit into their program. Are you better served by being a big fish in a little pond or a little fish in a big pond? if you are the little fish...you need to be someone who is driven to keep up. If you are a big fish you need to be someone who is driven to stay ahead. Think about how this will effect you under the demanding pace of grad school. If you are reading this and you are applying for the 2015-2016 schedule, then evaluate the strength of your GRE and grades to match the schools. You do not want to under-apply...meaning being way over their parameters...these schools will think you are using them as your backup plan and they want people who they believe will actually want to come. Conversely you do not want to over-apply. However, having said that I think that people under-evaluate themselves and self-edit themselves out of a program which might be very viable. For instance if you have high grades and have one blip in the GRE which doesn't quite match, you still might be a very likely candidate depending on your other experience and how well you write that personal statement. So choosing schools which fit with your stats and desires...either on the medical side or the school side should be the priority despite the location. (I do recognize that some people have moving constraints, so try to apply this information as best as you can within those constraints.) When choosing a school, most people look at location then at the finances. If you are going into the medical side, where you graduate from matters. It can be the key for good placement and salary after graduation, so the financial costs need to be evaluated against the potential financial gain. If you plan on working in a school setting choosing a less expensive school does matter because usually the salary return isn't as high and paying back loans may be difficult. If you are currently trying to choose between schools...then check the financial viability of your school choices. Are any of your choices in danger of going under or being decertified? Have they been in the last 5 years? Does your school of choice admit a lot of students and fail some? This is a red flag of a forced fail school...a school which creates a curve and fails people out of their program. Whereas you may be able to do well at a school like that, would it be a pleasant or a stressful experience? Schools which take out of major candidates with leveling years, semesters or extra units often design their programs to admit half of each category. Since the applicant base is not equally represented, those applying from within major are at a disadvantage. If you are an in major, do not load up on these in your application pool. Finally, if you are currently headed into the interviewing process and you have some deficits, then think about how you can turn those negatives into a positive to bring to the table. Think of possible questions you may be asked, devise 3 concise, but informative answers, with word picture examples. Remember you want to be rememberable. You may be able to use only one answer but if you need to cure a deficit you may be able to bring it out in a way that is natural to the question or in the "is there anything you would like to add" category. Don't be afraid to own it, otherwise it can become your elephant in the room...but don't allow yourself to create a cheesy answer...you don't want to look like the sleazy politicians that do this insincerely on a daily basis.

Hi, I've been lurking and reading everybody's story for awhile. I want to give some input to try to help those who come along next year and hope to those who may have not been successful this year. My perspective is as a mom who has guided successfully two children into grad school, one specifically into a SLP program. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do have a few which may be helpful. When my eldest grad wanted to enter a very competitive program, we found an admissions seminar put on by the top 100 schools in the nation for that field. We talked to representatives from almost every school & attended a discussion program specifically devoted to what it takes to get in. The following information is what we learned, which is information we applied to my SLP graduate candidate. First the scores and the grades are not as important as you might think...they are the framework for what they are really looking for...which is getting to know you. So, if one of you is a little higher on the GRE in one area than another but overall fits loosely within the parameters & another person is extremely high across the board, they are not necessarily going to choose the higher performer with some magical mathematical equation they've worked out. You and the higher performer have both been added to the pile of possible choices. They will next look at the resume which may or may not weed out candidates because everyone can puff their accomplishments. But once you are in the potential pile there are 4 factors which will matter the most. 1. Which school did you get your undergraduate degree from? Does it have a strong program for your major and/or a high ranking? Does that ranking help them in their ranking by choosing you? This might seem unfair, but it is all about ranking for competitive schools. 2. Are you just finishing your undergraduate work? If so, and you want to enter grad school immediately, you are at a disadvantage...they favor those who have done something between undergrad and grad school because you are a better risk. Someone who has lived a little and learned from that time spent are considered a more stable applicant. 3. What do your educational references say about you...what picture do they paint? Choosing those references thoughtfully and carefully matter. Choosing someone who can write well, not just report glowing copied and pasted information. 4. The number one factor is your personal statement which is the single most important piece of information which sets you apart and provides them with a picture which they paste to your application. From then on your application has an "identity name" created for it. For instance when we were at the seminar we heard someone on the admissions board of one of the schools talk about a personal statement of a young man who after undergrad went skateboarding throughout Europe. In his statement he described what he had learned from that experience and how that had influenced his decision to go to grad school. From then on he was "the skateboarder" and they kept referring back to him when they were looking at other generic applicants. Remember, your statement is not your resume reiterated your statement should tell them about your character, with examples which are applicable to your choice of an SLP grad program. I hope this helps and I am here to elaborate if needed. I also have a few more thoughts about the process if anyone is interested.