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LillyZebras

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    2016 Fall

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  1. Have you considered volunteering abroad? I think that would strengthen your application much more than volunteering locally. An obvious one would be to improve your GRE score. If you're out of school you can devote more time to studying for it. Perhaps contact old professors who you would like LORs from and ask if you could potentially help with any research (this could be tricky because you've finished classes but worth a shot). That lets them get to know you better. Esopha has good recommendations for working with geriatrics. If you're more interested in kids, then consider ABA or being an SLP assistant. Personally, I would take a break of from dealing with applications this semester and focus on what you can do to improve your application if this is what you really want.
  2. It depends on how you sell your experience. What are you getting out of it? What are the people you're teaching getting out of it? What motivated you to do it? I don't think just teaching ESL will be seen as amazing experience, but if you are able to explain what you got out of it - that will set you apart. I'd recommend keeping a journal of some sorts (if you aren't already!). That really helped me when turning my volunteer experiences here and abroad into my personal statement.
  3. Honestly, my first thought when reading this is how do you know you want to do SLP? Taking some time off to do pre-reqs and gain experience wouldn't be a bad idea. It could also boost your apps as it can be extremely difficult to get accepted to a program, not only here but abroad also. If you're bilingual Puerto Rico could give you a better shot!
  4. I would think that most people who stand out in a pool of 500+ applicants have unique experiences and backgrounds that set them apart. I don't think things like calling the department really help especially when the receptionist isn't on the decision committee. Once it's application season I'm not sure there's much you can do besides looking great with your stats and LORs/SOP.
  5. How low exactly were your scores? The GRE shouldn't require really knowing that many words unless your aiming for a really high score, it's more comprehension and reasoning. These can be tough when you're nervous and more likely to make mistakes, but I imagine practice questions would help. After that just learn the most common words - or write down words you struggle with on practice questions - and go from there. Keep studying until you score higher on practice tests than your target score, leaving room for the silly mistakes you'll make when nervous. Also time how long it should take you to do certain types of questions, if you're taking too long on one on the test skip it and come back. Better to rush on one or two questions at the end then rush on the whole test. And I don't think 3.4 is abysmal for an overall, but do you have time to retake any CSD classes? A 3.5 should still get you into one of some less popular programs if everything else is great but it wouldn't hurt to raise it.
  6. I would apply to schools that have a csd major asap! I'm not sure what your stats are, but you should still have time. I applied to a school in NY(city) the end of April my senior year and still got in. Didn't end up going but I could have. You can also start undergrad programs in the spring. If you look at other schools and feel like they don't compare to your current choice, then postbac or leveling are options but they will take an extra two years. Transferring is another option but will break up your opportunities for extracurriculars (ex. it's hard to be president of a club you haven't been a member of because you just transferred). Each side has its pros and cons, but don't pick your current school just because it feels "safe" you still have options (I almost switched colleges two weeks before my semester started and one week before their's, they allowed it but I changed my mind again. I was clearly undecided with my college choice but point is you can switch colleges).
  7. I hate to say it, but I think it will be very hard to find a job that can fit around your schedule especially when you have limited job experience. If you want to work with kids, I'd suggest babysitting. Especially at night where you could work on schoolwork when the kids sleep. Otherwise it's going to be hard to find a job that will be flexible with your hours. Most typical retail jobs I've worked will change your schedule whenever they want. Having to schedule around 5 classes isn't bad, but at my school at least grad students are in class and the clinic or an externship all day M-F, with half days on Saturday. So again, I'd try babysitting doing things like date nights. Or tutoring kids, that could be done on the weekends. Another option might be on campus jobs if you have time free in your schedule during the typical 8-5 day.
  8. I can't give you anything concrete, but I remember the undergraduate program was top ranked by something like US news a couple years ago. Like #2 for speech. I didn't end up going there however, so I can't comment on how the program really is.
  9. Asha's edfind is the best place to start for figuring out how competitive a school is. The stats aren't always right - OSU is clearly off - but from friends at other schools who all talk about what their professors say I think most of it is right. Now to me more or less competitive doesn't have to just do with grades or scores as different schools look for different things and some schools favor their own students. But based purely on applications vs spots this is how I think they would rank (don't know people at all schools so all stats aren't verified and OSU is left off): Miami (7% not sure), CSU (8.5%), OU (9%), BG (12% not sure), Kent (13%), Akron (13.5%), Case (16%), UCinci (20%), and Toledo (21%). BW is a new program so who knows how competitive they will be from year to year. Obviously these schools all have different applicant pools but if you have low scores you would probably pick Toledo over CSU. They might have similar stats but CSU has way more applicants and might favor their own students - i.e. their students can have lower scores but for outside applicants they are looking for stellar scores. Some scores matter more than others at some places - i.e. someone on Akrons admin committee told me they don't even look at applications with less than a 4 AW on the GRE (I feel like that was an exaggeration but still). So there really is no way of knowing. Although OSU is a really good school and I'd imagine the hardest to get into but I don't know anyone there who knows admin rates.
  10. I don't have experience with either yet but I would think that both online and on campus programs will take up the same amount of time. Therefore I'm not sure that working much would be an option with either. On campus you can get GA positions which could be helpful financially. I think if you go the online route you really need to be self disciplined - being able to make yourself spend all the extra time studying and listening to all the lectures. There's no one there to see that you're distracted during the lecture in most cases. Also, depending on the program you will have to arrange your own clinical experiences. And you'll be lacking having the support of other students. I personally think that on campus is the better route but can see the benefit of online in certain cases - if you can't move away for grad school, if you have a family to schedule around, if you want more options, etc. However I really don't think it's less of a time commitment and that you could work and go to grad school without burning yourself out.
  11. Bindlestiff- I don't remember her name however she was on the University of Akron's admission committee. I'm not interested in that particular school but I don't know if other schools view it similarly. Articklish - I think it was basically along the line of they don't believe anyone could be that involved possibly? It was a few months ago and they didn't delve into it too much. Maybe they're talking really crazy amounts of stuff, but I still think there aren't limits to how much someone can do if they're determined. I chose to really be involved in just a few orgs and with one slp, but if I wanted to sacrifice some sleep or social life I could do even more.
  12. Sorry if this has been talked about before, I couldn't find anything but didn't know exactly what key words would be used. Anyways, when I attended my regional nsslha convention last fall one of the professors giving a presentation discussed how they do their application process. I had forgotten this part until know, but she said something along the lines of "if you have a ton of extra curricular activities and slp related experiences we will know you are lying or embellishing and throw your application out!" Now this is scaring me!! I have a ton of ecs and a good amount of slp related things. I've held multiple leadership positions in a few student orgs concurrently every year excluding my first semester. I've planned campus events. I have hundreds of hours of volunteer work and around 100 hours related to slp. I've observed and been mentored by an slp at a clinic for the past year. I've done research with various professors. I'm doing an internship with an slp abroad this summer and the past summers I have work experience with children. To me this doesn't seem like anything crazy, it seems normal if you're trying to get into a program. But now I'm really worried my application will just be thrown out! Does anyone have any experience with this or thoughts on it? (btw all my ecs and experience can be verified). Maybe I'm just finding things to worry about but any thoughts would be appreciated!
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