SLPgradstudent
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Posts posted by SLPgradstudent
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5 hours ago, gingin6789 said:
Hi Everyone!
I haven't been active here because I've been traveling to the everywhere.
I officially accepted Delaware's offer yesterday!
Woo! It's finally all over!
Congratulations @gingin6789 and everyone else who has made their final decisions! Isn't it a great feeling?
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1 hour ago, Crimson Wife said:
God bless the BI's because the work they do is invaluable. But it is definitely something that takes the right temperament for.
Having worked in this type of setting, I agree 1000%. ABA works, but it's hard work.
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We have 2 cats, although one still acts like a kitten. We're not moving (yay!) for me to go to grad school, so it's a non-issue for us. I would add though, cats can be destructive too. Our "kitten" (2+ years old now) likes to chew on everything and anything he can and generally likes to knock things over. Probably still not as big of a problem as some dogs, but it's not a given that cats will be behavior free. I love our kitties though, and wouldn't give them up for anything! Great stress reliever.
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8 hours ago, s4mm1 said:
I just committed to Gallaudet! I see no reason to wait on other schools when I have already been accepted into my first choice. It seems silly.
That's how I felt about it, but then again, I only applied to 2 schools. I knew going into the application process where I most wanted to go. I put the most time, energy, and consideration into that application, and it seems to have paid off.
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16 hours ago, RFutureSLP said:
Part of the reason I accepted OU was that they won't be giving more funding until after the April 15th deadline once they see who is actually accepting the funding they have already offered. I think for many schools when you accept doesn't affect the amount of funding you may or may not receive.
See, as far as I know, no one has received funding decisions yet for my program. At least that's the impression I was under, given the information provided in the various emails since I was accepted. We'll see, I guess!
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26 minutes ago, racoomelon said:
I really want to commit to my offer from the University of Arizona because I think I'm going to go there regardless of whether or not I receive funding. That said, I don't want to discourage funding... so do y'all think I should wait? Because I could see schools saying "oh, she's super invested! Give her some money" or going the direction you've said and saying "nah, she's already going so there's no reason to give her funding."
I wish I knew the answer to this. I really hope that accepting an offer before funding decisions doesn't affect the chances being offered funding. That seems unethical if you ask me. But whether or not this is in fact what actually happens, I have no idea. I would be curious to hear other's opinions though.
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Me too! University of Maryland! It was my top choice, and I only applied there and one other school (which was more expensive), so I didn't see any reason to wait. I'm still waiting to hear about funding, but hopefully that will come soon. Even if I'd gotten off the waitlist for my 2nd choice school, it would still have been much more expensive than UMD, even unfunded, so there was no reason to hold off. I'm a little surprised that more people haven't committed already, but I guess some people have to wait to see what they can afford.
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49 minutes ago, AspiringSLP2be said:
So this is my second time applying to graduate school. I have been following this forum for awhile now, but day after day I am getting either rejected (3) or waitlisted (7). I am currently 25, and yes, although I am still young, I feel as though I am running out of time/options. My LOR's and GPA in the major (3.8) definitely help with my application, however, I am beginning to think that my GRE scores are what is keeping me from being noticed. V: 152 Q:140 AW. 4.5 (also my cumulative GPA is a 3.3)
This is not me reaching out trying to get emotional support, but at this point in my life, I really do need advice. I am determined that this is what I'm supposed to do. After getting denied last year, I took courses and became a registered behavior technician. I work with children with developmental disabilties. i believe this experience makes me a competitive applicant for graduate schools. I have also volunteered at a theaputic riding program and worked under the supervision of a physical, occupational and speech therapist.
I guess what I am trying to ask is are THERE ANY PEOPLE OUT THERE WITH THE SAME STORY? I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing but is it really my Quant score that is keeping me from getting into a graduate program? I mean 7 waitlists?!!! I don't mind being told harsh truths, so all comments are welcome. congrats to all those who got in this time around
First of all, you are not too old to be entering this field. I am 29, turning 30 this year, and I'll be starting in the fall. So I've got a few years on you.
Also, a lot of the people I did my 2nd bachelor's with are switching careers, have families, are in their 30s, 40s, or even 50s. If this is what you love, what you really want to do, then don't give up. Also, my stats are in my signature, I don't have a stellar cumulative GPA either. I agree with @Rorororosy & @SLPCeli, you're a competitive candidate with a good shot of getting in. If you don't get in this year for some reason, I would give it at least one more round of applications. Take a GRE prep class, spend the year boosting the aspects of your application that you aren't satisfied with yet.
Also, I worked at a therapeutic riding camp too!
- DeWi and Rorororosy
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19 minutes ago, MangoSmoothie said:
If you browse around on these forums or talk to any professor or PhD candidate or hopeful, you will often see the advice, don't pay for a PhD. This is true in any field. If you're not getting funding from somewhere to pay for that PhD, don't do it. You will be doing research for that degree, and if the university isn't willing to fund you through it, it's not worth it.
Seriously, don't do an unfunded PhD, and it's not a regular occurrence, even in this field. I know you all weren't talking about doing one! But I don't want the idea to float out there that it's advisable to do an unfunded PhD.
This is the advice I have heard over and over again. I was pretty surprised when I saw on ASHA's website that some PhD offers are NOT funded.
@esopha, agreed. If I were to do a PhD someday, it would be after getting my MA and then some clinical experience. At this point in my life, I don't think a 6-7 year combined MA/PhD makes sense for me. But the thesis option is certainly something to consider as we pursue our MA, if PhD might be in our futures.
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9 hours ago, esopha said:
Nursing programs are actually facing very similar issues. You can have better pay and hours being a nurse rather than a professor, so people are tending to stay on the professional side.
Ironically, I think more people would be eager to be professors if they didn't have to worry about paying back their student loans.
7 hours ago, racoomelon said:It does seem like you'd be able to get a lot more benefits as a clinician, in regards to loan forgiveness, than as a professor. I'd really like a PhD, but depending on how much I rack up in loans I might not be able to. I'm assuming this is a common sentiment haha.
On a similar, but slightly different, note-- don't most programs 'pay' for their PhD students? I have a friend who got a full ride to the OSU clinical psych program, and she said it's pretty typical for doctoral programs to pay your way in the form of assistantships and what not. Thoughts or comments?
Great idea @esopha! There should absolutely be a program forgiving student loans of people who become professors. @racoomelon, I think that some people doing PhD's in SLP get funding, but not all. If you look at ASHA for any given school, it will say how many of their PhD spots are funded. Although I don't know how many years would be funded, out of the potential 4-7+ it generally takes to complete a PhD. It's expensive to run SLP graduate programs, so it doesn't really surprise me that some PhD students can't be funded. Sad though, when it seems like almost every other field funds their PhD students as a matter of practice.
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19 hours ago, MangoSmoothie said:
@copaceticbroad Yes, professors in this field generally do need PhDs, according to the Standards for Accreditation.
http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/Accreditation-Standards-Graduate-Programs.pdf
This is for graduate programs, not undergraduate programs, but graduate programs need to have sufficient faculty with doctoral degrees in order to be accredited by ASHA.
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2.1 All faculty members, including all individuals providing clinical education, are qualified and competent by virtue of their education, experience, and professional credentials to provide academic and clinical education assigned by the program.
...Academic content is to be taught by doctoral-level faculty except where there is a compelling rationale for instruction by an individual with other professional qualifications that satisfy institutional policy.
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2.2 The number of full-time doctoral-level faculty in speech-language pathology, audiology,and speech, language, and hearing sciences and other full-and part-time faculty is sufficient to meet the teaching, research, and service needs of the program and the expectations of the institution. The institution provides stable support and resources for the program's faculty.
...This number must include research-qualified faculty (e.g., PhDs). The program must document that the number of doctoral-level and other faculty is sufficient to offer the breadth and depth of the curriculum, including its scientific and research components, so that students can complete the requirements within a reasonable time period and achieve the expected knowledge and skills.
In order for a program to be accredited by ASHA, they need to have doctoral faculty, and clinical doctorates do not meet the qualifications either. A PhD in another field is sometimes sufficient it seems, however. Some classes can be taught by professors without doctoral degrees, and ASHA doesn't regulate undergraduate/prereq instruction. The small number of programs is affected by the need to have sufficient PhD faculty on staff to get an accredited program, and there's a decent shortage of PhDs in our field. So yes, according to ASHA, you do need a PhD to teach this material. PhD faculty are experts in their fields. They're (regrettably) not always the best actual teachers, but they have a depth of knowledge about their fields/areas of study that others don't, even practicing SLPs.
One program I was accepted to last year was cited for non-compliance by ASHA for not having enough PhD faculty, and they were at risk of being put on probation for it because of the high number of graduate classes being taught by non-doctoral faculty. In my graduate program, all of my classes are taught by those with PhDs, except the ones that are directly about practicing, such as our on-campus practicums, and classes about providing services in the various environments.
Short version: Yes, the number of SLP graduate programs is directly affected by the number of PhDs in the field, and ASHA takes their standards for accreditation very seriously.
Great post @MangoSmoothie! This is exactly the information I was looking for, but couldn't find. It does seem like a big part of the problem is the shortage of PhDs in the field. The reasons for that are many, but it needs to be addressed regardless.
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2.1 All faculty members, including all individuals providing clinical education, are qualified and competent by virtue of their education, experience, and professional credentials to provide academic and clinical education assigned by the program.
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34 minutes ago, HopefulSLP123 said:
When you say funding, are you referring to FAFSA Aid? or personal school fuding. I keep seeing funding referenced as so many things: TA, Assistantship, research, grants, scholarship, that I am not sure what people are referring to.
I'm referring to GAs specifically (TAs fall under that). I know people are waiting for information about multiple sources of financial aid though, including FAFSA, scholarships, etc. I'm not expecting to get a scholarship, since they seem few and far between, but a GA would be great. I'd like to avoid taking out loans if possible.
16 minutes ago, racoomelon said:I think funding typically refers to the aid the school gives you that you won't have to pay back. So all of the things you've listed would count, to me, as funding because you're not going to be asked to repay the program. It's money 'given' to you, so to speak. Loans/FASFA are different.
Yeah, so basically what @racoomelon said!
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30 minutes ago, BamaBelle said:
Wow that's awesome! It must be so nice to be accepted and able to go to your top choice!
It feels amazing! I wish everyone could have this experience, I really do. I was scared I wouldn't get in anywhere, because I could only apply to 2 schools this cycle. It was a huge relief to get in. Even better that I got into my top choice!
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Has anyone gotten funding information yet? When do you expect to hear something back? All I've gotten so far is the MCPS scholarship application. I hope we hear back this week!
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13 minutes ago, BamaBelle said:
Haha me too!! Thank you!!
Are you definitely going to UMD, or will you wait to see about GWU?
I'm going to UMD! GWU is a wonderful program, but more expensive than UMD since I have in-state tuition. I accepted my offer to UMD right away. It's my dream school, and I am so excited to start this fall!
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Just now, BamaBelle said:
Thanks!! I don't, and I'm really stressed about it. I'm leaning toward Dallas, but it's the most expensive by quite a bit. I'm also still waiting on Bama and some funding decisions to come through so I can make a fully informed decision.
I'm really hoping that we'll hear back about funding this week! It doesn't affect my decision, but I know a lot of people won't be able to make a decision until they know what the funding offer is. I hope you get a great funding package from Dallas so you can have an easy decision!
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1 hour ago, BamaBelle said:
Just got my acceptance to Central Arkansas. Looks like 64 other people got the email as well
Congratulations @BamaBelle!!! Do you know where you are going to go yet?
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4 hours ago, esopha said:
This is the meatiest, most interesting discussion I've ever seen on Grad Cafe. I'm so proud of us.
In all seriousness, though, I think there does need to be a balance between increasing the number of schools providing the MA-SLP and oversaturating the field. SLP already has a reputation for being a stable, relatively well-paying career that people can transition into, which is one of the reasons I'm here in the first place. If you think about other fields where that have had this reputation - law is the first that comes to mind - a sudden and sharp increase in the number of schools didn't only devalue the degree. Suddenly there were lots of lawyers with limited experience, student debt, and poor preparation for the field, which is not a good combination. I think the fact that schools are focusing on providing quality education to future clinicians is a good thing. I do hope that programs are able to grow in the next couple of years, but only if that doesn't compromise the level of education that people are receiving, because, like @SLPgradstudent said, we need to consider the needs of the patients.
I'm really excited that we've actually engaged in a conversation about this! I'm proud of us too.
1 hour ago, Jolie717 said:Very true as well - I remember reading something not too long ago about how the Fresno school district here in California got in trouble. There weren't enough SLPs, and students who qualified for services were not receiving them.
Esopha makes an excellent point as well. My sister was one of "the lucky ones" as she went to a top ten law school and was able to secure a great position. Fast forward eight years, when she was trying to move into a different area of practice? No jobs. My brother-in-law had just graduated from law school (not a top ten) and he couldn't get a job to save his life. He did some contract work here and there, hated it, and decided law wasn't for him. While being left with about $150K in student loan debt. My sister eventually found a new firm that she loves, but it took about three years of job hunting and dead end interviews. It was very demoralizing for her...
Nursing is a field that seems comparable to SLP in terms of the shortage. Not surprising, given that the demand for both fields is increasing in part due to the aging baby boomer population. We definitely do not want to lower the standard of the education or the care we provide. But I think that it is possible to increase the number of people entering the field who are well qualified. There are people who apply to grad programs every year that the schools know are well qualified, but they just don't have enough spots. These are the people that we need to get into the field somehow. I think there's a long way to go between the current shortage and over-saturation. I mean we can at least find a way to get more people into the teaching side of things. 28% of full-time faculty positions unfilled? That's over a quarter. We gotta do something.
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6 hours ago, Jolie717 said:
Now that I've had some time to think about it, be very careful what you wish for! Supply and demand, know what I mean? ?
I say this as someone in a profession where big hiring bonuses were the norm, "travel pay" (yay, thanks extra 10 miles) added hundreds of dollars in a week's check, offers of $200-300 extra incentive pay were common (on top of salary) if you would work an extra shift. Work an extra overtime hour or so? We will give you another $100 on top of double-time pay!
Those were the days! I get it - it sucks trying to get into grad school for SLP. And I do think programs need to expand based on current demand and our extremely large pool of talented and qualified applicants.
But at the end of the day, we don't want our field to become over-saturated, as my current one has. It is truly a crazy balancing act - we do need enough SLPs to fill all the open positions. Too few, and SLPAs are doing work they shouldn't. Too many, and we become undervalued and underpaid.
Just some food for thought!
You make a good point @Jolie717. But I think we're far from becoming oversaturated. It's nice for us now, since we've gotten into grad school and are on the way to those widely available jobs. But I've heard many stories about way too heavy caseloads, and I think it's important to consider the needs of the populations we serve. If they don't have access to services because there weren't enough SLPs to hire one for that area, they miss out. Don't you think that's unfair to that child, or that stroke patient, etc.? I think we can find a balance, and there's a way to let more SLPs enter the field without becoming completely oversaturated. Because of the circumstances that have created this problem, I think we're a long ways off from creating the opposite problem. There are too many factors involved. What do you think?
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11 hours ago, copaceticbroad said:
Don't you think the problem is the small number of programs? The demand isn't quite as high as it is for teachers, but it's increasing and universities aren't keeping pace. Some have even closed (SUNY Geneseo).
Also, professors don't need PhDs. Some of my pre-reqs have been taught by people with doctorates, but quite a few haven't. I get that it would be irresponsible to run a program without any PhDs, but it doesn't seem like doctoral education would make you more qualified to teach this material.
Yes, part of the problem is certainly the small number of SLP programs.
And I'm not talking about teaching undergrad/pre-reqs, I'm talking about teaching at the graduate level. To my knowledge, many graduate programs require their professors to be PhD level researchers, in addition to teaching (see above article). You can also read more on ASHA's website:
http://www.asha.org/Students/faq-pursuing-phd/#1
http://www.asha.org/Students/Planning-Your-Education-in-CSD/
I can't actually find anything that says that professors must have a PhD, but that's the sense that I get. If you want to teach at the graduate level, you have to have a PhD. And you often can't just teach, you also have to be a researcher. That's not by any means unique to the field of speech pathology, but it is a problem for the field, due to the shortage of SLPs currently.
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3 hours ago, Gingiestrong said:
I feel like if you're not offered funding from the program, the best option is to stick to federal loans? On another thread about this, someone mentioned that you can take out a maximum of $20,500 per year, which depending on the program and if you're in-state or not, should cover tuition at least. I'm super hesitant to consider private loans, considering how heinous interest rates can be. I guess it also depends on where you'll be living. I'm highly considering Portland State, but after browsing apartments and realizing most decent places in Portland are $1000+ a month for a 1 bedroom, I can't imagine surviving without like selling my soul to the devil lol.
Haha! $1000? Try $1500 for a 1BR in the DC area (not including utilities). Cost of living (and housing) definitely varies dramatically depending on what part of the country you're in. Coasts are going to be much more expensive, generally than anywhere in between. And cities are generally more than rural areas. But at least the pay is a little higher to compensate generally.
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7 hours ago, racoomelon said:
Oh, so this is consistently a problem? Yeah, they need to do something about that... They can probably move the deadline a bit earlier or practice rolling admissions to avoid drowning in the number of applications.
I know University of Delaware just opened (or is in the process of opening) a program. But a lot of universities don't have one at all-- I've gone through the ASHA EdFind to look at different schools (and to pass the down time working dreaded reception shifts at my job), and when I look by state I'm always shocked to see the lack of programs in some states. And most of the programs that do exist only offer 25 spots, so you can't get all that many people in. While I would prefer to be in a smaller cohort, those numbers can't make it easy to produce a lot of new SLPs.
I think @orange23 makes a good point. I know that most people don't pursue PhDs because you only need an MS to practice, and most people probably aren't interested in working as professors. But if you have the large faculty you can have a larger cohort. So maybe more of us need to go the PhD route.
7 hours ago, EESpeechie said:I'm not sure what the pay in other states is like but the Cal State professors get paid less than what they could potentially make as a professional which takes any money incentives there might be to becoming professors. I don't believe people should do it for the money but many qualified SLPs won't pursue academia because it's four more years of school to only get less pay (especially if they've got families to support)
@racoomelon, this is not a new problem. There a too few grad school spots to fill the current need for speech pathologists. Part of the problem has to do with the shortage of professors, but another aspect is the clinical placements available. Mostly, SLP's are supervised in a one-to-one model, which means the supervising SLP is only teaching one grad student at a time. Also, the professors who are already teaching often are "mostly a researcher, but teach some too." Not to mention that it takes at least 4-7 years to complete the doctorate generally required of professors, without any pay compensation for the extra time spent in school. And yes, @EESpeechie, they often don't pay as well as other SLP opportunities. About 28% of full-time faculty openings go unfilled. This is a systemic problem, not just something a few schools are struggling with.
So that horrendous and obscenely competitive application process we all just went through? Yeah, that's basically why.
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8 hours ago, racoomelon said:
I'm betting the end of March will be when I hear back! I think the programs were a bit overwhelmed with the amount of applicants they had this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if funding information were also be a bit late.
It's crazy how every year, grad school entrance is so insanely competitive and schools know that, and yet, the next year, they're overwhelmed/unprepared by how many applications they receive. This year doesn't seem to be the exception, it seems to be the trend. I think we should all commit, once we're all SLPs, to working to solve this problem we have of such a tiny bottleneck, for such an important field. The need exists, the jobs exist, the grad school spots do not. If we don't change things, who will, right? (Or is this just my lack of sleep talking?)
UMD
in Speech-Language Pathology Forum
Posted
What's going on Maryland? Seriously, don't you know it's April?