Missthang

Texas State University in San Marcos does not require a GRE score. It's the only one I know of (I applied to 7 Texas schools last fall). I want to say there was a thread somewhere in this forum where someone posted a list of schools that did not require the GRE. Do some savvy control-F searching and hopefully you can find it.

We do this same thing at my university. The university clinic (observing grad students) was only 1 of our settings, but we still had to observe 3 other types of setting such as hospital, public school, private school, private practice, etc. Mine counted and it didn't matter that the majority of my 25 hrs came from, just as long as I had a could hours in at least 4 different types and min. of 25 total. The only snag in this is making sure the clinical educator, director, whoever is signing off on these hours has a current license in the state and through ASHA (which if they're a staff member at a university I'm sure it would be nearly impossible for this to be an issue).

I purchased a couple of the GRE strategies books off of Amazon, basically 1 from each of the 3 main companies (Princeton, Kaplan, and I can't think of the other one off the top of my head but it was basically GRE for dummies). I really didn't see much of a difference between any of them, but it was nice to see different problems and how they each explained the strategy to use for that particular type of problem. The GRE is all about strategy; how to find the answer the quickest without doing tons of work, how to skim quickly for information without getting bogged down reading a huge passage, and how to argue for/against a scenario and back up your thinking for the writing portion. I joined the page on facebook for the GRE and they posted a question daily and you can also sign up for daily questions to be emailed to you. It was nice to at least work 1 or 2 problems a day on the days that I knew I didn't have time to hardcore study. I also participated in a couple of the free boot camps that were offered online, where there's a live instructor showing how to work different problems and your group use a chat room to stop him/her and ask or answer questions. Definitely try to take at least 1 practice test before so you have an idea of how it will feel on the official day you go.

Less competitive schools for the most part are the ones located in "less desirable places to live" (not meaning that you wouldn't want to go there/live there, but they're typically located in smaller cities like college towns rather than big urban cities with huge populations) and are also the ones who accept larger cohorts rather than having a small group each semester or year. Look at acceptance rates on programs' websites (for instance, I stuck with schools that accepted at least 15% of applicants.) There's so many things that can go into what I would consider a "safe" school, for example you need to know if your GPA is within the range of the previous cohort that was accepted. Same goes for GRE score averages as well. Of course there are other things that go into your application like personal statement, letters of rec (which need to be amazing), resume, etc. that could possibly outshine a low GPA/GRE, but those 2 things are usually what will decide if you get a second glance or if you immediately go in the rejection pile. I know for a fact that the school I'm attending first went through everyone's application and anyone below a certain average were automatically put aside so they could focus more time on the ones who met the minimum requirements and get a chance to review their letters, statement, resume and whatever else was included. Moral of the story: pick your schools wisely on if you stand a fair chance of being accepted so that you're not wasting time and money, because the application process is long and expensive! Hope this clarifies things a little better. It should be very simple to look up each program and find their averages for acceptance and any min. requirements. And if you don't find it, email/call them and ask.

The 2 Texas schools you mentioned are extremely competitive. I only know about Texas schools so I can't speak for any of the others but I would assume the majority of the ones you posted are all VERY competitive so you may want to rethink some things and add some "safer" schools.

The only reason it could possibly matter where you attend graduate school is if you are interested in pursuing a PhD. You would obviously want to attend school that has a good research foundation rather than a school that focuses more strictly on clinic. Or let's say you know without a doubt that you're interested in bilingualism or whatever area, you may want to look into schools that have a good foundation or has programs specifically targeting that area (that is if you are willing to move and again you're 100% sure that you want to specialize in that area). And I think the whole rankings thing is a bunch of BS in my opinion. In Texas for example, an employer basically wants to see that you have your CCC's and degree, they're not going to say that person A is better because they graduated at such and such school over person B that graduated from a lesser known school. Personally I like lesser known/smaller schools because you get more individualized attention from your professors and clinical educators rather than a higher ranked/larger school you'll be 1 of 50 or some insane number. Hope this helps!

I have never heard of anyone switching programs, but I have heard of people deferring a year (due to a pregnancy or other personal issues). Maybe that would be a better option or talk to your advisor/coordinator and discuss what's going on. I'm sure they'd be happy to counsel you on what would be a wise choice to make in this situation. Good luck!

Depends on what schools you're looking at applying to and what they offer. If you can go ahead and get pre-reqs where you're at then I say do that. Better to get it over now then wait (and possibly waste time and money applying only to be denied or waitlisted bc you don't meet requirements). Shouldn't take you too long to get them out of the way since you'll already have many other requirements completed for your current degree. But definitely check into schools you're interested, or better yet give them a call/email and ask directly!

My first official day is tomorrow as well (I did have a 3 day orientation last week but didn't count that as actually starting yet). I already feel a little overwhelmed, but hopefully the excitement and "I can't believe I made it to this point" will keep me going as the semester gets tougher. Feels like it was just last week that my letter arrived in the mail. Good luck to you in your program!

The main thing to think about is what kind of course load you can handle that will still allow you to ace your classes (shoot for A's!!), while still getting a ton of volunteer experience, observation hours and of course dealing with everything that comes with the application process itself. I don't see why grad schools would look down on someone completing their degree or program more quickly or slower than the average plan that is setup. I had a weird undergrad experience and it didn't affect my chances at all, in fact I feel like it might've helped me personally as well showed my perseverance and drive to achieve my ultimate goal of going to grad school. Here's my story... I spent 2 1/2 yrs in community college obtaining an associates because I had no idea what I wanted to do. It wasn't until I started working while attending school that I found this field and saw that it would be perfect for me. I waited to finish my associates then transferred to my university that offers a BA/BS and also a post bacc program, plus the graduate program. It took me 3 1/2 yrs to get my bachelors because of the weird schedules we have for our courses. For example, some courses are only offered in spring or fall and there is a specific order to take them in which held me back an entire year bc of when I transferred here. Anyways... My senior year (this past year) I only took 2 classes a semester because I had already finished everything. I of course aced those classes and had lots of free time to study for the gre and get everything in order for applications. This didn't affect me at all because while my peers were busting their tails taking 4 or 5 classes and trying to get A's along with applications, I spent the extra time that I wasn't in class to work on a research project, volunteer, work and so on. It was a great thing to talk about in my PS/LoI and also beefed up my resume because I could say I have A's in almost all of my classes and hundreds of volunteer hours among other things related to the field. It's all about what you know you can handle and what's the best way to use your time. Some people like to rush and get things over with and others like to take their time to make sure everything runs a little more smoothly. I really don't think there's a right or wrong way, it's just all up to you and what is most comfortable. Good luck!

For weaknesses, I would be honest and saying something that you do struggle with or are working on fixing and spin it in to a positive. Maybe your weakness is time management (which is HUGE in grad school), so you can say something about "but I'm working on fixing this by keeping an organized planner and writing down all assignments and giving myself an hourly schedule of things to get done" or whatever it is that would work to fix it. As for requirements, if you've already graduated then technically you are "grandfathered" in so you should be fine. If you haven't, definitely meet with your academic advisor ASAP. Throughout the application process and acceptance I've had my transcript reviewed about 5 times by at least 3 different people. Somebody should catch anything that needs to be addressed. Don't hesitate to ask your advisors, or even if you're already out of school go ahead and email your programs and verify information with them.

The more hours the better in my opinion for volunteering and observations. What I've heard looks really good on resumes (again, just my opinion) is to find one specific site or population of clients and observe as much as you can in that 1 setting. It will look more impressive that you've observed SLPs at suchandsuch clinic for 50+ hrs than it would as 5 hrs here, 10 hrs there. To use myself as an example, I spent a 1 1/2 years at one specific school/clinic where I worked on a research study with an SLP, volunteered in the school with the children, volunteered at all of their fundraisers/parent programs/etc. and also worked at their summer camps where SLP grad students worked, and of course observed SLPs and audiologists. All of these things were opportunities housed at this 1 site. It shows admission committees your long-term dedication to a site and being involved in several different ways that are all directly related to this field. I still volunteered at other places through our NSSLHA chapter but I believe the more immersed you can be, the better it looks to the ad.comm., on your resume and even on your personal statement/LoI if you incorporate this experience in to your writing. Hope this helps!

As I've said to many people in this forum, if you're still in school take advantage of services on campus because they saved my butt last year! Career services center and finally the writing center helped me write, edit and perfect everything from my personal statement to my resume and so on... The general format that I followed was 1st paragraph: short introduction about me and how I found this field, 2nd: tie in from how I found this field to why it interested me and made me want to pursue a degree. 3rd: more elaboration on "finding my career" and the steps I've taken to obtain this goal (move from community college to bachelors program, getting A's/Dean's List, NSSLHA, volunteering, etc etc all connected to my coursework and the field). 4th: more of why I want into THIS school, what areas I'm interested in and why they should choose me, 5th: reiterate my overall goals, why I want to attend this particular program and ultimate conclusion. Don't over think it. Just make a basic guideline and fill in all of the middle. Get rid of anything that runs on for too long since you don't have more than 2 pages typically (for example: I briefly explained that my low GPA came from classes I took in community college when I didn't give a flip about my grades bc I wasn't driven to ace classes since I had no end goal in mind. Flash forward to when I transferred and found the field that I loved, I've been on the Dean's List and nearly all A's. Keep it short and sweet, not a sob story!). And lastly, admission committees will roll their eyes if they see any generic sayings like "I love this field because I love to help people" or "I want to help people communicate"... Well duh, don't we all?? Lol Keep your statement memorable, unique and interesting so they'll remember you. Good luck to you and definitely check out all of the other posts here on the gradcafe (not just the SLP forum but this is discussed in other areas too) and on various blogs/websites for more tips.

While I didn't apply to any of the schools you mentioned, I think the worst part of applications is getting everything organized, requested, sent off and then the God awful wait for what seems like an eternity... My main gripe about applying last year was keeping everything organized for what each specific school wanted. I applied to 7 and not 1 was alike. Some wanted 3 LORs, others 4. Some wanted actually written/typed letters that had to be initialed across the seal while others just sent an email for me that professors could quickly fill out and email back. Others wanted everything mailed in 1 giant packet, others had me send things to 2 or 3 different addresses. It's just a headache and stress keeping everything organized and on time before deadlines start to quickly approach. I actually started my entire application process in April/May 2013 and my deadlines were all Feb 1, 2014. And I still felt rushed (I'm a little OCD about things being completed way before the deadline though...) getting professors to get their things done and back to me in time to have everything mailed off and checked to see if it was received. Applications is all about organization and time management basically lol good luck!

Rule of thumb for anyone less than a masters/PhD is to keep your resume as 1 full page, nothing more. That's what I was told when I did mine last Fall semester. Mine is centered at the top with name, address, cell, email then major sections included related course work, related projects (research/lab), work experience and the last section was awards and accomplishments related to the field. Can't remember exactly how I worded each section but that's the basis of how mine was set up. Each of the 3 major sections had 4-6 bullets underneath explaining what I did, how it relates to the field, and my exact job/role for each. Accomplishments was a bit longer and I did them in chronological order. Make sure to include the name of the place and city/state plus dates you worked/volunteered or approx # of hrs. As I've said to many others in this group, if you still have access to a career services center and/or writing center on campus, use them! They helped me tremendously!!

I don't think there is anything that will critically hurt your application, as long as you apply to schools that have similar stats to yours. ASHA has an EdFind feature that I used last year during my applications process where you can search for schools in each state and then you can go their individual websites and see the average GRE scores, GPA, % of applicants accepted, etc. for that program. Almost all of the schools I applied to stated their requirements and ranges for the previously admitted group, so I knew I stood a fair chance in that area of my application. I would keep it safe and apply to schools that you know you fall in the same range for GPA/GRE as their previously admitted cohort, then make sure you have a kick butt personal statement (it's ok to quickly address a mishap in grades, I did!), outstanding LORs, and everything else that goes with it. Also don't be afraid of emailing or calling up program coordinators and asking questions that are not stated on their websites.

While I've never been to an ASHA convention, I've been to the last 2 TSHA conventions (this is Texas' annual state convention; Dallas last year and this year was Houston). This year I actually served on a committee and I think it did A LOT to boost my resume! I briefly mentioned my role in the convention and attending the convention the past 2 years in my personal statement as well as on my resume under recent awards/accomplishments. Professors and clinical educators knew that several undergrads were very involved with volunteering and running events during the convention, as well as attending several sessions of interest. It definitely was an added bonus to my application because it shows your continued involvement in the field outside of the classroom and university walls.

I've said this to a few others in this SLP forum: If you are still in school or just recently graduated, your university should have a career services center or something like it that offers help with applying to grad schools (finding programs, help w/ interviews and applications, personal statement and resume building and the list goes on...). I used many of their grad resources last Fall and it helped me out tremendously! Also once you have what you believe to be your final draft, definitely take your paper to a writing center and have it read over for one last look by a professional. Many professors are more than happy to review and offer advice/critiques, especially if they are one of your potential LOR writers. It helps them get a sense of who you are outside of their class and also because they know what admission committees are looking for.

No problem, glad I could help!

Technically your last semester classes won't factor in to GPA for your applications bc by the time you complete them (I'm going to assume you graduate May 2015, so spring 2015 is your last semester grades), you will already have found out their decisions. Most schools admitting for Fall will send out decisions in April, so they kind of just assume that if you're degree is still in progress, hopefully you're going to pass the courses and graduate with no problems. Once accepted, your dept will request another official transcript that shows your degree is complete and confirmed, so all of your class grades will show up and they know for sure that all of the requirements are completed before you begin the program that Fall. For me, all of my schools had an app. deadline of Feb. 1, 2014. Most decisions were mailed in mid-April so I knew where I was accepted/waitlisted/rejected and then I finally graduated in May. Once I accepted the offer soon after I received my letter in the mail, my program director sent me paperwork to complete and I paid my seat deposit. Then I was instructed on sending the transcript after graduation and other requirements for our specific department and program.

Your last 60 and major GPAs are 2 different things. Your last 60 would be roughly your last 2 years (from current classes counting back). For example, I applied last Fall and my last 60 hrs included the classes I just took in Spring 2014 (for grade I just wrote n/a), the classes I was currently taking (Fall 2014; again put n/a) and counted backwards until I hit about 62 or 63. For me I landed in Fall 2012 but it all depends on how many credits you take per semester. This GPA includes ALL classes/credits. Major GPA is strictly your comd/speech (or however they're labeled at your school) classes. When I did my paperwork for applications they only wanted comd classes included, so don't worry about science, math, electives, etc. that go towards your bachelors. Some schools had a form that had me write down each course, # of credits, semester, and grade so they could see the courses I took and my grade for each of them, while others just simply want you to give them the number already calculated. "Most" schools tend to look at your last 60 hrs and major GPAs, plus GRE scores among the other requirements. I don't think much emphasis is put on cumulative GPAs (every course credit you've ever taken in your life). Of course the higher each of these are, the better it makes you stand out as an applicant and can potentially help you score an assistantship or funding depending on the program.

Hey everyone! Not sure if there's already a similar topic or not but I'm interested in collecting a list and sharing with all of you about any SLP blogs, websites and/or apps that you find helpful and informative. Here's mine so far and I'd love to hear what others are finding useful! Blogs/sites: Gradcafe of course (just discovered the audiology board if anyone is leaning in that direction) SLPecho SLP livejournal Discovering SLP Speechy Musings Sublime Speech Speech Room News Home Sweet Speech Room Smart Speech THerapy Crazy Speech World Cheerful Speech Chatter The Speech Bubble Teacher's Lounge TPT website Apps: Phonetix/sounds Tx Tools ASHA JoyCE (for tracking any certifications) Soundable (except I have nobody to play against so let me know your usernames if you wanna play!) Quick Artic And I also have a TON of freebie apps I've downloaded over the past yr on my ipad for potential kid clients. If anyone is interested let me know and I can try and compile a list. Many of these were $ apps that were free for a limited time though.

I think your option 2 is the best bet. While grad schools really like to see a well rounded application (including lots of volunteering esp. in populations of people that SLPs serve), you definitely want to have the highest GPA you can get and great GRE scores as well. If those don't meet their minimum requirements, then chances are they may not even bother to look at your working experience as an SLPA or whatever else you have going for you. I think getting some great volunteering experience or shadowing an SLP will look just as good on your resume along with a high GPA, GRE scores, awesome LORs, personal statement etc. I do know of several people who did not get in to grad school when they applied as seniors and even after working 1, 2, even 3 yrs as SLPAs it still didn't happen for them. Of course that's not saying it's not helpful to do that, but if you're wanting to fast track then I say stick with taking classes and boosting your GPA, hardcore studying for the GRE and any extra time volunteering/shadowing/observing. Hope this helps!

It may be hard to find several schools that focus on a particular area, so maybe try to find schools that have a specialty track. My school allows you to choose a research, medical or pediatric track for extra focus on whatever area you're most interested in.

Are you still in undergrad or a post bacc program? I had the career services center at my school help me out TREMENDOUSLY last fall with not only my personal statement, but also my resume and applications in general. I think it's great that you're wanting others to look and provide feedback, but make sure to have professionals critique it as well. Some professors are even happy to look over it if they know you are wanting to ask them for letters of rec (it'll give them a better sense of why you want to attend grad school and more info about who you are outside of a student in their class). Also have a writing center or someone in that area of expertise look over your final draft to polish and perfect any small things.