Jolie717

I love your blog - your "how to write an SOP" post really made me change my approach - I feel my essays were much stronger because of it.

I had one very long SOP, with multiple sections and prompts, and I used it to craft the others. Fortunately the prompts for the others were fairly similar. I had one very short essay, limited to a page, where I didn't really include anything customizing it to the school. I felt that emphasizing my background and life experience was a better use of very limited space. Plus, this was the only essay that specifically asked nothing about "what specifically are you looking for in a program" or "why are you an excellent candidate for..." Edited to add: I did make sure each question was answered, by the way, either directly or indirectly. I've heard one of the best ways to upset an evaluator is by not answering the question...

Ha - so glad I took them off my list. For other reasons, but hearing this makes me feel validated...

Yeah I'm still uncertain how this will go. They told me that they do allow us to make certain corrections, so maybe this will be one of them. I'm hoping they won't even notice it, frankly. If it's a problem, I may try to appeal to the school - it's silly because the grad school in question doesn't count this type of credit at all. And the credit transferred on my current transcript isn't needed at all - without these units I am still well above the number needed to graduate.

I will be calling CSDCAS tomorrow, but think I may have accidentally eliminated one of my schools. I had forgotten that I had credit from way back when I was in the military on my current school's transcript. I don't know why I even bothered to include that transcript as I didn't need the credit and most schools don't ask for it before admission - it's something you just do on your own time (if at all) - at least that was the impression I got. The courses are listed on my current transcript as units of credit, but no grade, just "CR." I was enlisted reserves - not a military academy graduate or anything. But now I am worried that because I didn't submit an official military transcript or include the "classes" (that aren't even listed under the CSDCAS site) that CSDCAS will not verify my application. Does anyone know what happens in this case? Do they allow any kind of corrections to the app other than the transcript updating? Do they refuse to verify if you have one glitch on your app - like putting art instead of art history, etc etc? I'm guessing our field doesn't have many ex-military because I already did a search and nothing came up at all... And it is too close to the school's app deadline to get the transcript to them now (Jan 15th).

I just pulled up the ETS site - if you follow the prompts it will allow you to enter your country and then state and a list with all the schools and codes pops up. It looks like it is still 1258 - the only other code listed for GVSU is for the PTCAS program.

Oops I didn't notice anything about PA. For my school the code is the same for all the masters programs but is different for the PT doctorate...

Should be 1258 https://www.gvsu.edu/pas/admissions-criteria-91.htm

Did you already send a repeat request through CSDCAS? I guess all you can do is call your schools on Monday (if that is when they re-open, like mine) and ask them how lenient they are. I hope it works out for you - I'm still waiting on one of mine too, my deadlines are all on the 15th...

You would have to be more specific as far as "larger name universities" for me to properly weigh in. That being said, your stats look good to me - if you have great letters of rec and managed to spin your experience into your LOI properly you should be fine. It can't hurt to apply to a few "safety schools" if you have the time and letter writers available, however. I hope your mom is telling you not to bother to apply because she is confident you will get in *without* extra school apps. But in all honesty, a couple hundred dollars and some hours of app time is worth peace of mind, in my opinion, even if unnecessary in the long run!

I had a 1 credit course - Observation in CD. it should have been a 2-3 credit course though based on the amount of hours that were required!

CSUN has an online post-bac type program. If you maintain a 4.0 GPA they automatically admit you into the online masters program (at least, as of last year). I'm also an RT - welcome aboard!

I would probably say "speech and language pathology graduate student," as wordy as it is...

Here's the link to the SOP advice from Purdue - maybe it's just me but I was really turned off by it: https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/slhs/graduate/admissions/statement_of_purpose.php

I think it really depends on the school, so make sure you read the questions and their suggestions carefully. My schools (fortunately) seem to want some personality in the letters. I remember reading Purdue's info for the SOP and it sounded much more structured/stiff. I read an essay by a student that got admitted to one of the programs I'm applying to and it completely blew me away. The student put a LOT of personal info in it, but had a very nice balance with experience and academic and professional interests as well.

It's not a CSDCAS unfortunately - Boulder does require you submit everything first, including SOP. I know this as I have started the app process already.

For Boulder you have to submit the whole app before they notify the LOR writers. Most other schools are not like this...

Yes that is still correct as of this year.

Ha - well even if you're pushing 40 you should pursue what you want and can pursue. If your family can handle it, that is. I'm now 40 and was considering a combined masters/PhD but decided against it as I didn't know enough to decide on an area of specialty in SLP. After a lot of consideration, I've decided to finish my masters and then look into a doctorate, likely in education. Or who knows - I may switch to PhD, we will see!

I get distancing yourself from a problem - but keep in mind you would be distancing yourself from your experience in the SLP major as well. Did your cheating infraction end up being a "warning" with nothing in your public school record? Was it considered confidential or sealed as long as there were no further infractions or violations? If so I wouldn't think grad programs would have the right to inquire, and they certainly wouldn't be privy to this information. Just some food for thought...

PS: I forgot to mention that some of the higher ranked schools may actually have higher admission rates than lower ranked schools, especially if the lower ranked schools are in popular areas, like California and New York for example. So I wouldn't discount any schools nor would I choose a school strictly based on their ranking.

You might want to check out the research that Dr. Brennan is doing at University of Colorado, Boulder. It sounds in line with your experience - and BTW, I wouldn't call a 3.71 your Achilles heel! http://www.colorado.edu/slhs/christine-brennan

Actually we have a number of options if we want to teach at the university level. All of the "four core" SLP classes at my school are taught by PhD faculty as far as I know, however we have professors with other types of master's, doctorates and also PhDs in other areas, such as linguistics. I've had a professor with a Master's degree that taught AAC and another with a Master's that taught Fluency. I had another professor with the CsCD title - Doctor of Clinical Science. (He taught a core class, actually.) I myself am interested in pursuing a DEd (doctorate of education) - I was originally interested in PhD but when I stepped back and looked at my goals (and realized I didn't want a career in research) I came to the conclusion that PhD wasn't the choice for me and my family. At any rate - lots of options out there - yet another reason to love our field!

Yup, SLP programs are definitely intense. I talked to some more of the undergrads I know with kids and they said they will be mentioning their kids but will make sure it fits in with the question - pretty much like what Crimson Wife said.

I'm planning to call some of the CD departments tomorrow for clarification of a few things, so that will likely be one of them. However a lot of people have already turned in their apps for next fall so I assume they are using their current grades. Plus transcripts can take a while to order, so it isn't really feasible to wait until January. I think many programs ask for an official transcript after you've been accepted. I'm trying to figure out what constitutes "the last 60 units." One of the apps I'm working on doesn't make a distinction between the last 60 units *completed* versus the last 60 units that are actually on your current transcript and are counting towards the Bachelors in CD. My GPA stays the same either way, but I have to type in all the courses so I need to know which ones to use. So annoying.