Jolie717

Check out the last two posts on this thread: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/69242-neurophysiological-prereq/#comment-1058299124

None of us can tell you your chances - your best bet is to check out ASHA EdFind, select schools you are interested in and check out the stats of their applicants. Then check the school websites and look for stats - if they don't post them, email the department or call and ask for the stats of the last application cycle. Know however that even this does not guarantee anything. Try to focus on the aspects of the application process that you CAN control (like writing a stellar SOP, meeting deadlines, etc) rather than focusing on things that are beyond your control at this point (GRE, GPA, etc). (I'm assuming you are applying for next fall - if not, obviously GRE and GPA can be changed).

I know there are several non-traditional students with children in my school's grad program. I asked one tonight, and he said he did include it in his SOP as he felt it was relevant and indicated a level of experience with children he believed was less evident in the 20-somethings. I asked a (20-something) undergrad classmate of mine tonight with kids, and she is conflicted as well. That being said, I am applying to schools that may not necessarily have as large of a non-trad student population as my undergrad school. I did a search and was surprised I didn't find more posts like this on the forum. I think I will talk with some of my professors and ask their opinion. Since this is a female-dominated field, I would hope that having children would not detract from an application.

Hmmm - I've debated about including my kids as well. Obviously my own school knows - I also wonder if my writers would mention it in letters of rec to the other schools. Maybe others will chime in - I will try to ask my classmates and grad students too.

I meant dependants, lol

They ask about defendants on the apps? (I obviously haven't gotten far in mine if you can't tell). I would have thought that they couldn't ask, like in a job interview.

I once gave medication (a breathing treatment) to a patient not realizing that my coworker had already administered one. We figured it out pretty quickly though because of the way our med scanning system works and stopped the treatment right away. It was not a high risk drug or dose, but it was still a mistake that shouldn't have happened. Our supervisor that day had made the mistake of assigning us both the same patient. Which also should never have happened. I told him immediately, and that was that. I'm not sure how it would have gone down if he hadn't been partially responsible, but the mistakes were never reported to anyone higher up as far as I know.

That being said - you yourself mentioned how old the study was - 16 years old right? Some of you (young ones lol) may not truly realize how much things may have changed in 16 years. At my school they remove the personal info (ethnicity, gender, age etc) and have three members of the admissions committee evaluate specific parts of each application with a rating scale. Of course there are probably elements of the SOP in particular and maybe letters of rec that can't be edited to eliminate these identifiers, so I'm not entirely sure how that works. It might be purely the academic (GPA) and test score portion of the app that is completely "blind" so to speak. Just my two cents!

BTW I was wrong - oops. No distance program at Cal Sate Long Beach - my bad. They used to have a special cohort program aimed at non-traditional students and I somehow had the impression it was online.

This is completely hearsay, but I remember reading once that ASHA does check to see if the admitted students in a program are an accurate reflection of the applicant pool. It sort of makes sense, but sounds a bit complicated to me. If true it would mean that certain groups would have no advantage over other groups.

I think it would depend on what else you are including. If everything else really overshadows that experience then leave it off, if that makes sense. Or if you already have an extensive list, leave it off for brevity.

I absolutely dread paperwork and applications of any kind, but am finally getting started on my apps now. I have my three letter of rec writers lined up, so at least I did that early. At any rate I was wondering how far back I should go on my resume? As an older student my resume goes back almost as far as some of my classmates' births lol! Any suggestions?

I absolutely dread paperwork and applications of any kind, but am finally getting started on my apps now. I have my three letter of rec writers lined up, so at least I did that early! At any rate I was wondering how far back I should go on my resume? As an older student (40) my resume goes back almost as far as some of my classmates' births lol! ???? Any suggestions?

I work a 12 1/2 hour shift at my hospital once per week (I'm a Respiratory Therapist) and I try to work a ton during winter and summer break. Because of this schedule, balancing work and school is easy - balancing school and family is not, however. I'm a mom of two boys - and my hubby ends up with a lot of the parenting workload. I still manage to volunteer at their school a few hours per week and I also started shadowing two SLPs this semester for about four hours per week. You just have to be very disciplined with studying - I feel like every minute of my day is scheduled. So my social life has taken a huge hit, but I know it will be worth it in the long run.

My school (CSUN) has an online program - I believe it was the first online SLP program in the US. I think their tuition is the same whether in or out of state, so it's probably not too expensive as far as SLP programs go. It's a Cal State not a private university. I'm not sure they really advertise this much, but in the past if you are admitted into their online Certificate of Pre-CDS and you manage a 4.0 you gain automatic entrance into the online Master's program. That might be more of a time commitment though - the pre-CDS takes two years and the online masters takes three. Utah State University also has a distance program as well - a few of my classmates who were out of field took leveling courses there. U of Wisconsin Eau Claire is another one. If you dig around these forums you should be able to find more.

Oh - and to answer the other part of your question you should definitely be able to make more money as an SLP than you are making currently. Check the post graduation employment rates of the programs you are interested in and also check out the job listings in your area. I know my MIL was making $70K per year working for LAUSD (I'm sure she started off lower, but still). And I believe she charged $125 per hour for private clients and something like $200-300 for testing and assessment. That's Los Angeles however, so it will vary by area of course.

Newsflash - lol - how did you bold that? Joking aside, you sound like your background makes you an amazing candidate (two friends in my program have a very similar background - one a grad student and the other an undergrad). You mention being worried about an uphill battle. What part is uphill for you? Managing to work while studying? Or increasing your student debt? Or the crazy competitiveness in the SLP field? Or your age? All of those are concerns for me but I'm making it work - so far, knock on wood! If you haven't already you should check out ASHA's EdFind and compare your stats to the schools offering programs in your area. Unfortunately it can be a lot tougher to find a good number of schools that are a good fit when you limit yourself geographically. You might also try to research programs that seem to favor out of field applicants - I've heard this isn't unusual at all.

Over saturation? And career longevity? I haven't heard of either of those things being potential problems - is this a problem in Canada?

Oops - just saw your response. Right after I signed up for GRE #2. Oh well - I decided to retake as I think I can do better on written and quant - I'm doing this for better funding rather than improving admission opportunities, as my current scores should be well within the limits of the programs I am looking at. Wish me luck!

Out of curiosity - approximately how many hours did this take?

Exactly - I should have been more clear. You definitely want to customize your writing to each specific school. I have the same prompt for a few schools which makes this task infinitely easier. However (unfortunately) I will also be submitting some dramatically different SOPs for my other schools of choice, based on their very specific criteria.

I believe that all CFYs are paid, unless you have some really unusual circumstances. For example, I read that if I were to take a paid CFY during completion of a specific PhD program, they would drop their funding during the CFY year. So in some instances you might opt for an unpaid CFY.

I feel your pain! I had an SOP all planned out that was super unique and yet still relevant - aaaaaaannnnnd then I read Purdue's "suggestions" for the SOP and my bubble was burst. I'm thinking that I will have to write extremely different statements for each place I apply. Which means a lot more work for me, sigh... Try to really dig around the website for each of the universities you are considering - they may have the answer to your question but you will likely have to search a bit. Sorry if my advice sounds boringly obvious! Edited to add - I wouldn't spend too much time dwelling on shortcomings and excuses... I can't remember now - are you planning to retake the GRE? Also, have you discussed your worries with your letter of rec writers? They might be able to provide some valuable insight and also may tailor their letters to your specific situation hopefully.

Deterring or determining? I'm confused. If it's determining, I would imagine these programs must be pretty flexible...

That's interesting - I hadn't heard that this was in the works for SLPs also. I believe it's a requirement for PT and OT now (and audiology obviously). I would imagine it will take quite a while to be put into place. They've been trying to require a Bachelors for an RN for years now and while it hasn't happened yet, hiring practices are certainly influencing this shift. Same for Respiratory Therapy, but it will take years for it to happen. My MIL was an SLP back when it was a Bachelors degree only, and didn't get her Masters until she had already been practicing for around 15 years or so. That being said, I am guessing this proposed doctorate requirement would be relatively short in comparison to an actual PhD. I would imagine an extra year or two, tops. One of my professors thinks that all SLPs in medical settings should be required to have a PhD - or CScD, which is what he has.