straybirds

Hi all, Please let me know if this isn't the best place to ask this. I've been a speech-language pathologist for a few years now. I've worked in early-intervention with infants and toddlers, preschoolers, elementary schoolers, and teenagers as well. Across all of my positions, I've chosen to work with students in poverty or in Title 1 districts and I've seen a lot of equity and curriculum issues that I wish I could address from a more "macro" level. I've been interested in an eventual transition to a educational policy or administrative career and would interested in a Ph.D. or Ed.D. in the future to make this shift. However, I haven't had any research experience during my master's degree which I'd imagine is a pre-requisite for consideration from both types of programs. Could anyone shed some light on how to shape my career experiences to help me achieve my end goals? For example, should I find try to apply for research positions? Should I attend courses/lectures on education policy? Should I seek out leadership positions in the school system? How do I go about finding experiences that give me experiences in ed policy? My struggle is that speech pathology is a very specialized field and while I have a lot of knowledge on language and literacy and perspective on special education and disability justice, I don't have a lot of opportunities available to me in ed policy. Any help would be appreciated!

Sorry for the double post, but are any of your accepted people out-of-field? What are your plans for completing these courses? Going up to Emerson to take classes isn't feasible right now for the summer and I'm looking for advice!

@zrzka Congrats of commiting! I'll see there this Fall! It took a while for them to add me as well, no worries, I think the group moderators probably are busy!

@CalChi SLP There hasn't been made one separately for us yet! Maybe it will after people officially accept?

Hey @CalChi SLP! I'm leaning towards Emerson over UVA (my two choices atm) but I'm also looking for a *little* more convincing. A pull for Emerson for me was the diversity of populations you can have the opportunity to work with and the philosophy of practice that is very family-centered. As someone who wants to work with chidlren with disabilities, I think a family-based approach is very integral for good speech therapy. I'd love to hear more from all of you too!

Just got my acceptance for Emerson College and I'm very excited! I hope the rest of you have heard back

@Puffer Fish Thanks for the help! I'm from a pretty preppy southern school so that helps a lot actually to get a feel for the atmosphere! If you don't mind me saying, stay positive about grad school acceptances, it just takes one!

Hey everyone! I recently got accepted into UVA (!!!) and I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about the program! I liked UVA for its focus on clinical practice, small student-faculty ratio, and the service culture on the campus but I'd love to hear more from anyone who'd like to give an insight! I'm hoping to attend their online info sessions but may not be able to visit the campus in person so any help would be appreciated

Wailisted at ODU without an interview! Congrats to those who got accepted

I got my official acceptance three hours ago! Congrats @RMott! I haven't seen a FB page yet but I'm excited!

Did both my Emerson and Case interviews last week! Really harmless. As advice for any upcoming interviewers--really try to view your interviews as conversations instead of an assessment. It really helps with confidence

Interview at Case Western! Check your emails if you're waiting!

No official acceptances of anything of the sort yet (all of my deadlines were Jan or Feb) but I got an email about an interview at Emerson on the weekend of the 28th! Does anyone know if there's truth to people saying that Emerson only interviews candidates it considers qualified/wants to admit? That would be good for my confidence going in!