utteranomaly

Ask questions that show that you're interested in your clients and being as evidence-based as possible. Everyone has something that you can learn from them. One of my absolute favorite parts of my clinicals is having people to ask questions to all of the time and discuss my ideas with. I'm a curious person, and it works for my learning style. It seems that's not the case for you, but you've been told that you need to improve in this area. When you're in grad school, you get a lot of feedback, and it's a time to work on addressing it. 

Good questions show you want to collaborate and grow as a clinician like "I felt X was a little frustrated during that activity, is there something else you would have tried" or "I was reading about (tx intervention) last night, and I'm thinking about trying it out with Y. What do you think?" not ones that can be found in textbooks. If I was someone's supervisor, I would expect and want them to ask me questions because it's a lot easier to discuss this stuff on a daily basis and brainstorm as it's happening. 

Hi Lily, 
I would say forget rankings - they're kind of meaningless in the job market; During observations I did before grad school, I saw clinicians from top programs working in the same hospital with clinicians from "all the other" ranked programs. Even if you decide to go on in academia, they don't mean much.
I think cost is a big consideration - probably the biggest. I interviewed probably about half-a-dozen SLP's and they all told me to go to the most affordable school. While others clearly disagree, I think an extra $23,000 is a huge amount of money to be paying off in debt. That's a new car or two... or a down payment on a house!  
I'm also interested in bilingualism and multiculturalism. I was lucky that my most affordable school also had an emphasis in bilingualism/multiculturalism. I'm sorry that didn't align so nicely for you. Don't worry - you can pick up that extra training in other ways. Maybe there are classes in the education or special ed (or even other!) departments at both universities on multiculturalism. You can take them as an elective. You're going to do Continuing Ed. credits for the rest of your career. I think TC Columbia offers their bilingual program as a certificate you can do separate from the graduate program. There are posters and presentations at ASHA every year (I'm applying now to present one!) on multiculturalism. The books and articles on topics of interest are available to you. 
Finally, in my program I haven't even taken one of the special "bilingual/multicultural" assessment or development classes and I've already learned a ton about those topics. During your "regular" classes on assessment, intervention, etc - you should be covering these issues because they're kind of an inherent part of what we do. I ask questions about diverse populations all the time in classes not labeled "multicultural." When you get to chose a topic for an in-class research project, select something about "bilingual assessment" and you'll be reading the same literature / articles / journals as someone in a program with a "bilingual emphasis." 

I think it's different for each school. I'm on an unranked waitlist, and the way it was explained to me is that they start the whole selection process over again for the people who accepted to be on the waitlist. The department fills the cohort to their discretion; thus, there is no waitlist ranking.

I think it's different for each school. I'm on an unranked waitlist, and the way it was explained to me is that they start the whole selection process over again for the people who accepted to be on the waitlist. The department fills the cohort to their discretion; thus, there is no waitlist ranking.

When I read your post, I just had to reply because I was in the same boat as you 3 years ago. I was burnt out working in a corporate office job that I was good at, but I wanted to do something more fulfilling. Like you I stumbled upon SLP in my research and I was hooked. I encourage you to go for it if it is a newfound passion!
Of course it would be great if we can just get by on passion alone, but the reality is that a career change in itself is challenging work that requires meticulous planning. So I'll try you give you some practical advice since I am 3 years into my fateful decision to make the change. First, it would be great if you can connect with SLPs in the field and shadow them and ask a lot of questions. SLP is a wide reaching profession, and it would be beneficial for you to gain insight about what SLPs do in different settings. If you haven't done so already, make a timeline of what it would take for you to be an SLP. You may be tempted to try to rush things on your timeline, but it's best to be careful in this stage of planning because it is a big decision that will take lots of commitment. Be realistic and take into account your current life situation, financials, and family. If you are single, you can certainly afford to focus full steam ahead and perhaps fast-track your timeline. Otherwise, you'll have to include your family in the decision-making process.
For schooling, definitely apply to a postbac program and make the most of it. Connect with teachers, volunteer in research that interests you, build good relationships with your postbac cohort. This is where you build meaningful experiences that will eventually aid you in your grad school applications and set your foundation for grad school. You'll need strong recommendations from teachers, and some research experience would definitely be a plus to add on your resume. Your postbac cohort will be valuable supporters that can aid you through inevitable challenges, so you don't have to face all of them alone. All this being said, it would be very beneficial for you to find a reputable postbac program. This may mean that you be strategic about moving to a city with a good reputation program nearby.
Also there are ASHA general education requirements-- I would look to see if you are able to apply any classes you've taken in your previous stint of college. You may need to take a Biology class if you never took it or your last class was more than 10 years ago. If you have any of these to take, I would do so as soon as possible. This also helps your application to a postbac program.
i did my postbac studies this past year, and I opted to take a year before applying to grad school to build some related experience because it was pretty minimal. My career-shift was too drastic. You may need to take this into account when planning your timeline.
Anyhow, I don't want to bombard you with too much information. Feel free to ask me anything about my process so far. I wish you luck in the decisions you'll be making in the near future!

When I read your post, I just had to reply because I was in the same boat as you 3 years ago. I was burnt out working in a corporate office job that I was good at, but I wanted to do something more fulfilling. Like you I stumbled upon SLP in my research and I was hooked. I encourage you to go for it if it is a newfound passion!
Of course it would be great if we can just get by on passion alone, but the reality is that a career change in itself is challenging work that requires meticulous planning. So I'll try you give you some practical advice since I am 3 years into my fateful decision to make the change. First, it would be great if you can connect with SLPs in the field and shadow them and ask a lot of questions. SLP is a wide reaching profession, and it would be beneficial for you to gain insight about what SLPs do in different settings. If you haven't done so already, make a timeline of what it would take for you to be an SLP. You may be tempted to try to rush things on your timeline, but it's best to be careful in this stage of planning because it is a big decision that will take lots of commitment. Be realistic and take into account your current life situation, financials, and family. If you are single, you can certainly afford to focus full steam ahead and perhaps fast-track your timeline. Otherwise, you'll have to include your family in the decision-making process.
For schooling, definitely apply to a postbac program and make the most of it. Connect with teachers, volunteer in research that interests you, build good relationships with your postbac cohort. This is where you build meaningful experiences that will eventually aid you in your grad school applications and set your foundation for grad school. You'll need strong recommendations from teachers, and some research experience would definitely be a plus to add on your resume. Your postbac cohort will be valuable supporters that can aid you through inevitable challenges, so you don't have to face all of them alone. All this being said, it would be very beneficial for you to find a reputable postbac program. This may mean that you be strategic about moving to a city with a good reputation program nearby.
Also there are ASHA general education requirements-- I would look to see if you are able to apply any classes you've taken in your previous stint of college. You may need to take a Biology class if you never took it or your last class was more than 10 years ago. If you have any of these to take, I would do so as soon as possible. This also helps your application to a postbac program.
i did my postbac studies this past year, and I opted to take a year before applying to grad school to build some related experience because it was pretty minimal. My career-shift was too drastic. You may need to take this into account when planning your timeline.
Anyhow, I don't want to bombard you with too much information. Feel free to ask me anything about my process so far. I wish you luck in the decisions you'll be making in the near future!