kellyfussman

I graidated from Vanderbilt’s MS-SLP program in May 2018. I am also a Nashville native and would be happy to answer any questions that y’all have. E-mail is the best way to contact me: kellycrouch93@gmail.com

I will private message you!

Hey, wherethelightis! If you have any specific questions about Vanderbilt's program, I might be able to help answer them. I'm a second year student in the MS-SLP program who has a strong interest in medical speech pathology. I just got hired on at the Nashville VA Medical Center for my CF experience. Let me know if I can be of assistance!

Hi! I'm a second year graduate student at Vanderbilt. If you have any specific questions about the program, please don't hesitate to ask!

I was accepted last year with a 162 (verbal), 155 (quant), and 4.5 (writing). I did a Princeton Review GRE course, which I found to be quite helpful. My cumulative GPA was 3.95 (4.0 in both majors). To echo what "Vita" said, letters of recommendation are of the utmost importance to Vandy, so choose your writers carefully!

I am a current MS-SLP student at Vanderbilt. I also applied to (and was accepted to) UT Dallas. Choosing Vanderbilt was a no-brainer for me, as it has been my dream program for years, and Nashville is my hometown. I understand the issue of cost; unfortunately, the amount of funding that Vandy used to have available just isn't there anymore. Kudos to you for getting the 25%, as not many folks get money as of my application cycle. The clinical experiences and research opportunities are worth the extra cost (to me), though, as they will land you any job you want down the road. Also... While the ability to "customize" my class schedule at UTD was very appealing to me (read: avoid peds classes lol), I'm glad that I'm being "forced" to get a more general degree from Vandy, peds classes and all. I will be more prepared for the Praxis test and a more well-rounded clinician overall. Did you apply to the voice specialty track? You get tons of amazing opportunities if you're on that track (and even if you aren't, you can still get many of the same experiences.) Regardless of track/no track, beginning in the summer (3rd semester), you can have placements in The Voice Center, Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute (adult neurogenic communication disorders), acute care (adult neurogenic communication disorders, especially cognitive and swallowing evals), Tennessee Rehab Center (lots of TBI stuff with young adults), and the Nashville/Murfreesboro VA (literally everything under the sun). If you're interested in fluency, we have two clinicians in the pediatric clinic who specialize in stuttering. (Note: They still see a few adults who stutter even though they're based in the pediatric clinic.) I'm working with one of them now. As you can see, tons of opportunities are available to students with your interests! I'm not sure if you've seen my comments on others' posts, but I've mentioned how wonderful the supervision model is at Vandy. I'd be happy to elaborate more on that if you'd like. Feel free to reply here or e-mail me if have any other questions! (kelly.j.fussman@vanderbilt.edu) Best, Kelly

Absolutely! I'm rooting for you!

I was surprised that students didn't get to give input on clinical placements during the first semester. I was under the impression that I'd have some control over all of my placements, including the one(s) in fall of year #1, but that's not the case. You're just assigned a placement for fall. Students who come in with a background in CSD might have a more diagnostic-heavy placement. Everyone during fall and spring of year #1 has a pediatric placement. You can specify your interests for spring (e.g. stuttering, AAC, Autism, ELL, etc.). A handful of folks will get to do Aphasia Group (adults) in the fall or the spring. Basically, you do have say-so during every semester, except for the first one. Haha. For the most part, I have gotten the clinical placements that I've wanted so far. I was one of the lucky few who got to do Aphasia Group in the fall, in addition to a small pediatric placement (mostly 3 to 5-year-olds with a mix of artic/lang needs). For this spring, I requested a diagnostic-heavy placement with school-age (older) children and/or stuttering. I got the stuttering placement with one diagnostic slot per week. FYI--If you want to work with kids/adults who stutter, really push for it! It's a super popular placement 1) because everyone finds it to be interesting and 2) the clinician who specializes in stuttering is so fun to work with. At the end of this semester, I will get to request placements for this summer. Since I will have gotten a bunch of adult-y coursework under my belt, I will get to request Pi Beta Phi Rehab, acute care, TN Rehab Center, the Voice Center, etc. The further along you go in the program, the more options you have. Vandy's 1-on-1 model is my favorite thing about the program! Instead of being given a handful of patients and having to do everything yourself, from the lesson planning to the therapy to the note writing, instead you work alongside a clinician and slowly assume more responsibility. Most students observe their for the first couple of weeks and then begin to implement activities, give assessments, document the session on MediLinks, etc. It makes SO much more sense! I had the other model during undergrad, and I can't say I learned very much from doing clinic that way. My supervisor was always running around like a chicken with her head cut off, trying to observe 3-4 students a time. No bueno. I would say that about half of my class is either working in a lab and/or pursuing a thesis. During orientation week, you will get the chance to hear from nearly all of the labs, find out what they study, and learn if any paid positions are available. Professors research everything from child language to clinical implications of aphasia to fMRI in aphasia to developmental stuttering to speech acoustics and kinematics. The possibilities are endless! Most paid positions are 5-10 hours per week max. Please let me know if you have any other questions! I'd be happy to help!

I am a current first year student in the MS-SLP program at Vanderbilt. I know that the committee has met, and I've heard through the grapevine that they will send out decisions via e-mail on/around Monday, March 13. Do you have any specific questions about the program?

Hi Allison, I am a first year student in Vanderbilt's MS-SLP program. I agree with Crimson Wife and wcslp. One of the very first things Dr. Ricketts (head of graduate studies) told at orientation was the admissions process. Before the admissions committee even begins to dig deeply into your admission packet, they rank you according to cumulative GPA, GRE score, and letters of rec (a score is assigned based on what percentile your recommenders give you for desirable qualities of a graduate student in their program). Once the ranking list is generated, they read essays, resumes, etc. The ranking changes based on that. He never said how far down the list they go, but I assume it's not very far. The program aims for 20 students, so that's about how many are sent acceptance e-mails. The waitlist is relatively small, as he wants people on the waitlist to know they have a fighting chance to get in. Unfortunately with the number of applications Vandy receives, this is the way they have to do it. With all of that being said, I would advise you to take the GRE one more time to pull up your scores a bit (not that they aren't good!... just not quite there with the average Vandy admit). I was going to quit taking the GRE after my second attempt when I got a 155 V, 155 Q, 4.5 W. I may or may not have gotten in with that score. I took it a third time and got a 162 V, 155 Q, and 4.0 W. That boost of 4 points could have pushed me from non-competitive to competitive. They are going to LOVE that you're an ABA therapist and that you've gotten so many shadowing hours! Have you participated in any research? I'd say more than half of the folks in my first year class have some sort of research experience from undergrad or post-bacc, whether it was doing an undergraduate thesis or simply working alongside a professor in a lab. I hope this helps. Keep reaching for the stars, girl! You can do this!

@HopefulSLP123 I go to Western Kentucky University. Many of our grads go to UK, and a few of our professors have degrees from UK. A couple of students who were accepted to UK from my class had the exact same question. They said it's nothing to worry about. All they have to do is tweak a statement, update it on their website, and it'll be fixed. It's a very, VERY minor infraction.

Has anyone heard about funding from Indiana University by chance? Thanks!

Vanderbilt M.S. SLP Class of 2018: https://www.facebook.com/groups/255341361468303/ Feel free to add me on Facebook, too, fellow Commodores!: Kelly Juanita Fussman

I've committed to Vanderbilt!

@hopefulspeechie16 I did get that e-mail about admissions being delayed. I just decided to check on a whim today and saw that I was accepted. I was sent an e-mail from the department itself notifying me of my admission around 5:00 PM today.