Jolie717

Great points - especially if you are looking to go into the medical side of SLP. That being said, I was wondering where you heard about the healthcare ranking system / totem pole? I would imagine that the Audiologists work more closely with the MDs you mentioned but not necessarily PT or OT (except for orthopedic surgeons). But maybe it depends on the type of hospital and area of the country? One of the SLPs I work with is actually the director of rehab services for a big hospital, so she is "above" PT and OT so to speak. The importance behind some of the anatomy / physiology we are responsible for (like in Speech Science) and in general the area(s) we specialize in became evident to me when she described her involvement in video fluoroscopy studies (where she sometimes catches previously missed tracheoesophageal fistulas, etc) whereas PT is not qualified to do so. This is something I find truly exciting!

Congratulations! I remember reading your story a while back when I first joined and wondered if you had gotten in. You seemed more determined than pretty much anyone else whose story I had read so you stood out to me. You must be so excited!

Like the other poster mentioned, try to think of these classes as something you are paying for (even if you have a full scholarship lol) and that you need to get your money's worth. I understand the burned-out feeling, but I'm guessing that because these are required classes you will need to have had them in order to do well on our future board/licensing exams. Plus you may find info from the "boring" classes useful in clinical practice. You might think audiology is irrelevant until you have a five-year-old client with a hearing aid sitting in front of you. Understanding the specifics of his/her hearing loss might better enable you to treat them effectively. One of my instructors talked about how bored she was during a cleft-palate lecture and she thought it wasn't a real concern as we are in the US, not a third world country. Lo and behold, one of her first clients in the school system here in the US was an unrepaired cleft palate client from the Phillipines.

Not sure if you have looked here, but if you click on the red diamonds you can see applicants' stats. http://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php?q=University+of+Washington+SLP

Just wondering if anyone out there has been able to gather more info than I have. I have not yet started calling or emailing programs yet, but have been compiling a list of the combination degree programs that are well known. I have heard that there are also programs that do not advertise as such but will consider creating an educational track that leads to a combined Master's / PhD degree in SLP. Any extra info would be most appreciated, such as total length of program, cost of program and funding available, cost of living in geographical area, specialities of known faculty that stand out, ranking and the list goes on. I have said previously that I would not consider relocating my family for my degree however an admittance to this type of program would be the exception to the rule. Here are the ones I have found that seem "known": Boston University University of Maryland Purdue University Bowling Green State University Ohio University University of Missouri Am I missing any?

Yes I have taken pre-med classes, but my main point wasn't supposed to be about med school - I just got sidetracked. My friends who are doctors all have said that getting into med school was the easy part when compared to the rest of it (residency, fellowship etc) so I suppose my thinking has been colored by their experiences. At any rate I just hope people realize that GPA is really important and take it seriously. Can you still find a program without the best GPA? Of course - but it will likely be much more difficult, stressful, and might take longer. I hear classmates say things like "I'm just aiming to get a B" (bcz of what they've heard / read) before a class has even begun and it makes me cringe. At my school they emphasize GPA the most and are very clear about it. Sorry - I suppose I am getting all "mama bear" about it in my old age but education is SO expensive these days that it kills me when I see classmates that don't seem to be taking it seriously. I will get off of my high horse now, lol. For those interested here is the link with the info on percent admission into SLP programs - she links the stats back to the ASHA site. https://slpecho.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/what-are-my-chances-of-getting-into-slp-grad-school-part-2/

Hiya - I think you are looking into the acceptance rates much more deeply than I was intending. I believe I found both rates on the U.S. News site on a day when I was stressing and procrastinating before studying for a midterm, lol. At any rate - I interpreted those numbers as being representative of the number of seats available and the number of qualified applicants applying. I don't think anyone here will debate that one of the main obstacles that we as future SLP grad students are facing deals with a lack of PhDs in our field and therefore a lack of programs and/or seats in a program. Overall acceptance is the key idea here, and not individual programs' acceptance rates. For example CSUN is likely around 16-18% based on the numbers I was given just a month ago. Vanderbilt is more like 10-12% or so. So if there are twice as many med school programs with twice as many seats, the 41% acceptance rate is plausible. I am not arguing which major is "harder" - we all know med school requires more of the "hard science" classes. That being said, I myself am confident I could achieve the same high GPA in all of the pre-med classes and beyond and am guessing many other SLP majors who are high achievers could as well. The accepted SLP students' average GPA on the site that I found (again, probably US News) was significantly higher than the pre-med students, around 3.8-3.9 vs 3.55 if I remember right. So I am guessing that we would likely even out or come close to the pre-med students, GPA wise, even given the greater degree of difficulty in the "hard science" classes (and math too, for that matter.) A side note here, but this is a really a huge pet peeve of mine - people in America view an MD or a JD as the ultimate in academic achievement. I strongly disagree. In China for example, teachers/professors are as highly valued as doctors, as well they should be. I view PhDs in many fields as far superior to both MD and JD. But that's just me, and neither here nor there at this point, I suppose. As far as "pretty darn close" to a 4.0 - I myself would say that 3.7 is within that range. And again, I am referring to CD GPA, not overall GPA here. "To put things in perspective" again, LMAO, in my very unscientific and anecdotal way: My older sister was awarded a very prestigious fully funded Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship and attended Harvard for her PhD in Genetics (this means a few years at Harvard Medical School plus a few more to finish the PhD). Another sister attended a top ten law school, University of Michigan, to receive her degree (JD). Both of them think I am crazy when I say that receiving a "B" in a CD class is not acceptable to me. Then again, they were young and unattached with no kids or hubby when they were in grad school - so I suppose my way of seeing things is likely VERY different and much more rigid than the younger set. I can not and will not uproot my family for grad school, so of course the stakes are higher for me and my opinions likely reflect that. I still maintain that many have no idea how competitive it can be to get into an SLP grad program. I'm hoping that maybe a few might read this and realize they have to work a little harder than they might think is necessary at this point.

I feel like there are a lot of students out there that are somewhat naive when it comes to what it takes to get into an SLP grad program. I would imagine (or hope) that at least those on this forum are fairly in touch. One of our professors does strongly advise that we aim for (and get) a 4.0 in all of our CD classes. I feel like a lot of my classmates have not even looked at the numbers on ASHA's Edfind and have no idea what they are in for. Mind you, I'm not saying everyone has to have a 4.0 to get in, but you have to be pretty darn close for many programs. To put things into perspective: med school overall acceptance rate is about 41% whereas SLP is about 26%. PS: Edited to add - to the original OP, I thought the plus/minus thing could typically only hurt a GPA, not help it? For example, I had one +/- class this semester and was worried bcz if I had gotten an A- it would have pulled my GPA down, whereas in a non +/- class an A- is no different than an A, GPA-wise so I would not have taken a hit.

The head of our admissions committee at CSUN made a point of mentioning that 100 of the 300 applicants this year had a GPA of 3.8 or above, and I am fairly certain that she was referring to the CD GPA. The fact that she threw that out there made me think that this might serve as somewhat of a "cut-off" point, but of course I'm sure there were exceptions made for a handful of students based on experience, GREs, stellar LOI/LORs, etc.

According to ASHA's EdFind, Vanderbilt lists accepting those with written GRE scores between 4.0-5.5. If Vanderbilt is your top pick, I would say it's worth taking again only if you feel confident you could improve your score and the prepping/studying wouldn't take away from your current studies.

I would send a very professional and nicely worded email thanking them for the opportunity but then explain your reasons for declining. You never know who you might meet or rub shoulders with later on from your original first choice school. Tell them how difficult this decision is. As far as feeling bad, I wouldn't. I don't think the schools feel bad when they admit students on the wait list a week before matriculation because of last-minute changes!

Also look into ABA jobs - the pay is decent (at least compared to some retail/service type jobs or minimum wage jobs) and you gain very relevant and valid experience. They seem to lean towards after school hours and weekends as well so that may be easier to balance with your own class schedule.

I need a planner - is there any customization that others recommend for the Emily Ley planner or will a "standard" model do? I'm dealing with finals and haven't had a chance to look into them.

Someone I know just got off of the waitlist for CSUN!

One of our professors at CSUN is a jazz vocalist - I've heard that some pretty big name singers come into our clinic at times. And I remember my mother in law (retired SLP) saying that she has met many people in SLP that were theatre arts majors, one of her best friends being one of them. Coincidentally, her actress SLP friend went to University of Michigan too! There are a handful of schools that don't require the GRE, but the odds of them having the type of program you are looking for might be slim. Best of luck to you!

For note cards (and other things) you could also just buy a roll of contact paper. I used a roll I had for laminating some cards I used in a therapy session for my clinic observation class the other day. (I have kids lol so a huge craft inventory).

Congrats! So are you going to pursue the second bachelor's exclusively or are you still planning to complete the SLPA program also? At any rate, best of luck to you - keep us posted!

Maybe the other poster is referring to this: (?) https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/prepare/ There might be some free practice items or something. You can google "free practice GRE" and you should come up with a handful of free items from Magoosh, Princeton Review etc that might be helpful. I took a random GRE mini-practice test that popped up on Facebook recently for Verbal and Quantitative. Even though I scored high, I'm still going to study like crazy and buy some of the prep courses. I only want to have to take the exam once, lol! Plus the sheer length (4 hours!!!) is enough to make me study really hard so I don't have to sweat the time limits. The essays are pre-determined and you only have 30 minutes, so you have to be able to organize and write well with a very limited amount of time. A friend of mine had an essay that was something like: Which is a better quality to have - loyalty or honor - and why? Another poster here on grad cafe mentioned that her essay had to do with whether or not a potato chip company should change the material they use to make the bag, or something along those lines, lol! I guess they are judging how well you think on your feet!

Congrats - you must be so excited!!!

Here are some hopefully useful threads:

The SLP I work with was a full-time residential student, and the mom I know is a part-time residential student. I haven't gone to the information sessions yet as they have always conflicted with my schedule, unfortunately. I usually just ask questions of my professors as they come up. The mom I know went to a session but I think she said they didn't answer any questions that she hadn't already researched and found out on her own. Since you have to commit pretty soon, I would make a list of your questions and contact the department today to see if you can get some more concrete answers. The office staff is there but the professors are likely on Spring break as we are, so you may not here back till next week. PM me if you have a few specific questions - I might be able to ask one of my professors on Monday after class.

I know that CSUN will accept MAT scores in lieu of GREs. I think that the idea is that the math might be a bit easier on that exam.

The SLP that works at my hospital liked the program, and a mom from our preschool who is attending now also seems to like it. She is planning to take three years to graduate, as she is a mom of two boys as am I. The SLP I work with said it took her 2 1/2 years but I'm not sure if she took any winter or summer classes. I have heard that getting classes can be difficult, so even though I am planning to try to finish in two years I suppose I won't be surprised if it takes longer. I really like the professors, but they are pretty tough so far and will not baby anyone. The CD classes are all held in the main clinic building, Monterey Hall, which is convenient as it is a pretty big campus. As far as placements I'm not sure - are they the same as internships? If so I've heard they can be difficult to obtain as they are given out in a lottery fashion (or at least they used to be - not sure if it is the same now). For reference I am finishing up my junior year now and will be applying for the grad program this fall.

I just heard that CSUN decisions came out today (at least for some of the applicants that my classmate is friends with). Good luck everyone!