S_Colorado

I have an inexpensive IKEA bed and it has lasted me great for 10 years and through 3 moves. I just makes sure I only buy solid wood pieces at IKEA because the particle board tends to wear with age and use. They don't have my exact one there any more but is it very similar to this one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80185066/ I've had a few ikea mattresses as well and they are very reasonably priced. I have been able to transport them all home in my corolla but I've also only gotten the foam mattresses and they come rolled up tight in plastic.

Use trashbags to pack most things. Just be careful. Driving across country with your whole back space filled up leaves you very little visibility.

I definitely would go with more professional look if faculty will be there. They will probably be wearing dress pants, slacks or skirts and nice shirts or blouses and youu'd want to look on par with them. I saved my actual suits for interviews. Save the jeans for a current student lunch or a general campus tour led by a student. Wear shoes you feel comfortable walking in because they might take you on a tour of the facilities and you'll want to feel comfortable. Definitely bring a notepad. You might not have a hard surface to write on so a notepad with a back on it is a good thing.

Finding the right place to live was a huge stressor for me. I ended up having to fork up the money to go out and spend a week there but I found a great place. I get to move in 3 weeks before my program starts so I'm hoping that will give me enough time to get myself (and the dog) settled before classes start. I haven't done any back to school shopping yet aside from a backpack. My loans don't get disbursed until the week before school starts so I think I'm going to be doing a lot of last minute supplies shopping.

I found a place to live and I've got three weeks to get everything ready to move. I'm trying to alternate days of work and days of fun/relaxation and just trying to spread out my errands. With only three weeks left, I feel like I can start packing up some clothes. I too have to switch banks and I'm just trying to get all my financials in order. Three weeks seems like a long time but I think it is going to go very fast!

I found out that Costco had an auto club. I had no idea Costco dealt in cars but it was a nice way to buy without having to do any negotiating. Negotiating is fine with a used car, but I've had very little luck negotiating new ones.

I test drove a used Honda CR-V today and really liked it. They have a good resale value and I was able to find a lot of them for sale under 18k with less than 60k miles on them and AWD. I'm going to look at the Forester and the Equonix too. And maybe the Impreza wagon.

University of Colorado - Boulder isn't UC-Boulder but is instead CU-Boulder. I got so confused when I first applied being from California and the land of the UC schools.

I'm driving my 05 Corolla right now. I got it used from the toyota dealership and had it for driving around Seattle and driving between Seattle and LA when I came to visit during breaks. It is a great car. I drove it across the country and back last summer. It rolled over 100,000 miles some where in Pennsylvania. It's up to around 130k now and still gets an 26mpg in the city, and 35 on the highway. I'm moving to Colorado this summer and I'm thinking I might try to get something with 4 wheel drive since I've never really driven in winter weather and I plan to drive back to LA across the Rockies for winter break. I'm probably looking at a used subuaru impreza and then invest with some good tires on it. I've luckily found a place to live within a mile of campus, so I won't be driving a two hours every day like I was in LA. I'm hoping that will make up for any MPG that I lose by switching to 4x4.

I ended up with this one: http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/women-39-s-surge-ii-transit-backpack.html and I am very excited. I debated lots of different options but all the different pockets and the comfort of it won.

I'm definitely not good at saving money unfortunately. I'm going to be working really hard to get my grocery bill under control. Food tends to be my biggest expense because I get very bored with eating the same stuff multiple times in a row. I'm hoping to get into freezing some of my own meals and trying different ways to stretch my food budget. My car is non-negotiable with my dog and horses but I do rarely wash it, except for glass wipes for the windows/windshield. I will be cutting back on gas and that will help. I drive 300 miles a week now, but hopefully I won't be driving to school or work at all and instead only using my car for large errands or the barn. I'm hoping to get down to 300-400 miles a month, depending on if I take any weekend trips.

I turned down the CSULA program at the end of May but today I got an email saying that I was not accepted into the program. My guess is they probably just finished processing that batch of applications. Hopefully that means that other people will be hearing soon!

This is my last week of work and then I have a little over two months before my program starts. My plan is to visit the new city, find a place to live, and move out there as soon as possible so I can enjoy and get to know the new city and state before having to throw myself into school.

I teach/coach adaptive horse back riding to people with special needs and disabilities. I also ride myself. I love to hike, cook elaborate meals once a month, and train dogs. I have grand ideas of hobbies I'd like such as painting/drawing, embroidery, wood working, etc but really I just have a lot of 1/4 done projects sitting in closets.

I'm moving to Boulder, CO and everyone bikes there! I come from a land of beach cruisers and I'm fairly intimidated by bikes that have multiple gears and riding in the street. Luckily Boulder has a ton of bike paths and seems to be fairly flat except for one large hill. I found this article http://flatironbike.com/2010/11/08/winterbike-workshop/ on riding in the winter in Boulder which seemed to answer lots of questions I had about how on earth I'm going to manage winter if I live within 2 miles of campus since walking or taking a car seems ridiculous. My questions are the more basic ones that aren't answered in that article. What do I need to look for when buying a new or used bike? How much can I reasonably expect to pay for a bike I want to use to commute to a from school (a total of 5 miles a day maybe)? Is a bike shop the best place to start? Thank you for any information you have.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/164604598/large-roll-top-backpack-laptop-backpack?ref=shop_home_active_4 I just found this one that is also customizable. It looks really amazing and like it would hold up to a walking winter commute in Colorado.

I was out of field and 7 years out of college so professors were a long shot. I worked at a school for children with special needs and got my supervisor (a principal) and an SLP with whom I worked at the school to write references. I also teach adaptive horse back riding and one of the parents of one of my students who is hard of hearing wrote another letter. The other reference was written by a life-long mentor who is a psychologist. The graduate programs that I spoke with were extremely impressed with my references. I'm not sure such random references would work for everyone but I think that because I picked people who were so familiar to the field and could speak directly to my passion, especially since I had known them all at least 4 years. I also was careful to pick references that I thought could speak to my passion and experience with the populations served. My GRE and GPA were high enough that I was confident that there wouldn't be concerns about my academic abilities, and so I didn't need references to speak to that. Those would have been more difficult to find being so far removed from school. My advice would be to look at your application and see where you might need extra evidence. A truly heartfelt reference letter I think bears more weight than a canned letter from a professor you had once or twice.

Yeah, I looked at the tiny lockers when I was there. I'm trying to find a place that is within a mile of the building because I really wanted to walk to campus but that may just not be possible in the winter, especially if I am having to carry a ton of stuff back and forth.

How much do current students really have to tote back and forth to campus/clinic every day? Are most students expect to bring their books to class or do you tend to just bring your computer/note books? It's been a few years since I've been in college now and I'm not sure how much I'm gonna have to lug around! Also, has anyone found it helpful to buy digital copies of their textbooks/publications?

First, congratulations on your acceptance! Second, I don't think you should worry so much. Why are you concerned about them finding out early? I was in a different situation because my supervisor wrote some of my recommendation letters for me so she knew I was going to be leaving. I did have to tell HR because they sent out some information on benefits (our summer benefits are deducted from our spring paychecks) and I didn't want them to deduct them because I didn't want to deal with refunds. Everyone has been nothing but supportive and wished me lots of luck. It definitely helps that I don't feel like I having to tip toe around or lie to people. I think being direct with your lead is the best way. But also, depending on where you work, it could be serious issues if people were spreading things around to upper management but you can't put people in a spot where they have to lie. If you wanted, you could have your coworker who said something, go back to the supervisor and tell them they think they weren't actually supposed to say something, and that you want to tell the rest of their coworkers directly.

Oh I misread something, my mistake. But I know SLPAs that are currently working with just the previous post bacc so it seems strange that they are marketing it that way. I think the classes on behaviors and ASD are really important and maybe geared towards the fact that LAUSD moved towards such a group focused model and they are trying to make SLPAs more prepared for small groups. It seems like an interesting program, but I would have like to know before I applied. Luckily I was admitted into the leveling year program at CU this year so I am moving out there.

Seems like it would be good if you were looking for a job as a SLPA but I would be upset about delaying an MA program another year. I'd like to know why they are doing it right now, instead of for the following year.

That's sure what it seems like! Unless they already have a list of people they like and are just going to be seeing who responds. Unless they have been spending all their time on this instead of reviewing applications.

I just heard from CSULB right now! They are apparently changing their program to a 4 semester program (Fall, Spring, Summer, and Fall) starting this fall! First I have heard of it. They sent out an letter asking if I wanted to move forward in the application process. They want a decision by next Friday. It seems so strange that they are making such drastic changes to the program this late in the application process!

I have been researching health insurance and was wondering if any current or past students could share any thoughts on the CU insurance or any other insurance plan in Boulder.