Jolie717

I accepted to all three of three programs I was accepted into, and after I received the financial aid info, I rescinded two (including my undergrad). Just be professional, rescind politely and acknowledge your appreciation for the opportunity as early as you can. Congrats!

I'm not sure which you qualify for, but DeVos is proposing an end to loan forgiveness programs as part of her education cuts. I strongly urge everyone here to write their representatives in protest of these potentially disastrous cuts. It's a disgrace, honestly.

You haven't yet mentioned what kind of support you will or won't have in place - that's huge IMO. I wouldn't have planned my family the way I did had my mother and father in-law not been in town, and retired, lol. They were a HUGE help. My parents had three kids and were pregnant with their fourth by the time my dad finished his PhD in Physics. That said, he obviously didn't carry the babies. I already had my three-year-old son, and then gave birth to my second son during winter break of my second-to-last year of school for my first degree. It. Was. Not. Easy. I had "evening sickness" rather than morning which conveniently coincided with several evening classes. There was only one other pregnant student in my program and she dropped out. I had some complications with my delivery that left me incredibly weak, and some subsequent visits to the ER took place. I was back in classes seven weeks after his delivery (the little bugger was a week late)! I don't want to scare you away from it, but I would plan for a delivery during a summer or long winter break, if you feel it's now or never. During my 12 1/2 hour clinical shifts at the hospital, I had to (literally) run out to my car, put up all the window shades, and pump breast milk 2-3 times per shift. Same during full days of classes. Sleep deprivation happened. We did co-sleep, so that made things easier. I agree with finding a program that has a part-time option if you can. My current grad program is year-round (8 quarters straight) and I would NEVER consider planning a pregnancy during this particular program. Anyway, best of luck whatever you decide!

Despite my posts on the merits of ranking in this thread, the speech and hearing science major is a horse of a different color when it comes to PhD programs. We have a pretty big shortage of PhDs in our field, so anyone who truly wants to pursue one (and is qualified) will get into a program. Several of my professors came from schools that were ranked much lower than the PhD programs they attended. That said, you are absolutely right, as in *most* fields this is completely untrue.

If you still have other options open, then you *might* want to consider them. But if you don't, I wouldn't stress too much. Losing a year of salary in addition to attending a more expensive program next year wouldn't make much sense. I understand exactly what Twin Guy was saying, because we were in the same undergrad program in different years. I also agree with the posters above as there is some level of disorganization in EVERY program, no matter the cost or ranking. Clinical degree programs of all kinds have a certain amount of "semi-controlled chaos" due to the difficulty in sorting out clinical placements and sites, etc. As far as rankings, they aren't *everything* but they certainly aren't *nothing* either, hence my recent posts about ranking. Congrats, and good luck!

Ha - I accidentally attached the video, but left it because I like it. Although I suppose it's kind of a sad reflection of our education system and work ethics here in the US. (I'm from California BTW, and I really wrestled with deciding to leave). Best of luck to you too!

Keep in mind - the program that ranked (#1) above my current program (#2) in the "global ranking" I posted was Cal State San Diego. Very inexpensive for Cal State grads such as myself. That said, UW was still less expensive than another lower-ranked program I almost attended. Please do not assume that ranking dictates price. It is also not about saying "I worked amongst the best." Aside from my previous points, and perhaps more importantly (in a general sense) - it is about how relevant the program is in terms of your own interests. It is about whether you are comfortable with the demographics of the new city you are moving to. It is about the diversity of the client/patient population that you will be serving in grad school and how you feel about it. It is about the the cohort you will be a part of for two years (or more) and how well you mesh with them. Just some food for thought - signing out for a while as my grad student load is pretty heavy at this point! Best of luck to you all - take a deep breath...don't forget to exhale!

Yes, the rankings (US News) are based largely on research and self-report. Research should be important to every practicing SLP whether wishing to pursue it or not. Every program hammers EBP (evidence based practice) into us - as practicing SLPs we need to be comfortable evaluating the research (even if not at the PhD level) in order to ensure the efficacy of the treatment we are providing to our clients. That said, several other benefits were mentioned not directly related to research. I also maintain that the calibre of the faculty that teach the curriculum makes a huge difference in the quality of the instruction. Let me also put it this way - ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL (or close), which would you choose, a higher or lower-ranked school? And FYI, we simply can't make the assumption that most grads of a given top program want to practice in that same city. I've heard (anecdotally) that it might be the opposite for my particular cohort, but I haven't exactly taken a survey. Here is a ranking system that might make some feel more comfortable, as it's a bit more comprehensive: http://cwur.org/methodology/world-university-rankings.php And here are the university ratings that go along with the methodology (scroll to audiology): http://cwur.org/2017/subjects.php#Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology

Yes - I definitely see that if all the programs were in the top thirty or so, the differences might be less noticeable!

I'm in the MedSLP track at the University of Washington.

Hi, voice of dissent speaking, lol. I tend to see the same opinion on this topic, over and over, and I thoroughly disagree. Not all programs are created equally, just because they are all accredited. There was a student in a nightmare of a grad program posting on this forum not too long ago. And there are currently people who have posted elsewhere about difficulty finding work as an SLP in the city they live in. I'm not saying that all "brand name" educations will guarantee a carefree post-graduation existence, but I've spoken to hiring professionals from many different fields (including ours), and they ALL said the name of the program attended most definitely influenced their hiring decisions. I don't want to have to settle for just any SLP job, I want to ensure I have the very best odds at getting hired into a position that I love. I was accepted into the three programs I applied to, and ended up choosing the highest ranked among them and am very glad I did. It also happened to be the program that had the second highest price tag. Aside from choosing a higher-ranked program due to a specialty track you are interested in, there are other factors to consider. I get to attend talks given by the "rock stars" in our field frequently that are absolutely fascinating. My professors are very active in research, and several of them are also pretty famous in our field. We are supervised in the clinic much more closely than I have seen in other schools (my experience being drawn from the first year only so far). I love my undergrad program, but there are grad students who were actually unable to get clinic placements in a previous semester and will have a delayed graduation because of it. As I continue through my program (and continue to compare notes with my graduate friends in my undergrad program) I am certain I will find other things that validate my decision.

I'm currently at UW as a MedSLP student and I actually listed three very different areas that I had an interest in (based on my background) in my SOP. I remember worrying that I might appear as though I had no focus, however many people assured me that if anything, most do not have a clear picture of an area they want to specialize in at this stage of the game. They also mentioned that it is not unusual in our grad program for a student to pick one area of research for the (optional) master's thesis, but go on to pursue research in a different area later on. That said, I'm sure it goes both ways - if you already have a specific passion, don't be afraid to let it show! Our class is pretty diverse in terms of educational background - many have undergrad degrees in other areas ranging from neurobiology to finance, etc.

In my experience, 10 hours is definitely reasonable unless you want to work another job on top of that.

At least two of my classmates at UW were waitlisted. Best of luck to you!

For UW, I knew on March 16th - hope this helps!