SLPgradstudent

I'll bet she forgot it was March already. If the email said late March, that would be consistent with what she maybe meant to say.

Yeah, I hear ya. I did most of my number crunching before hand. It wasn't hard, given that I only applied to two schools: one public, one private. Even if I got funding for the private school, it would still be more expensive than the public school unfunded. Luckily, I got into my preferred school! In the end, I think it has to be a gut decision. Once you have all the information available, what feels right?

Thanks @Nirvik & @Neist! I've been away recently too. Trying to do, you know, school work and stuff.

Thanks @Demeter! Have fun being MOH in your best friend's wedding! I completely understand the "why didn't we just elope" regrets! At least we're having some fun with it. It's a vaguely Shakespeare themed wedding. Our first date was a performance of "Midsummer Night's Dream" and we both love theater in general. Yes, my flower girls will have fairy wings, thank you very much! Thanks Pink Fuzzy Bunny!!! And congrats to you for getting accepted to every single school you applied to! Amazing! Have a great time at Cornell, I hear Ithaca is gorges! Thanks @Euler! Exactly. It takes all my time and energy, but it's a blast! We kinda planned it that way, so that we could get married between applying for grad school and starting the program. Planning wedding while applying for grad school is hard enough, I wouldn't want to actually be in grad school while trying to plan. *waves!* We're all here because getting into grad school for SLP is crazy competitive, and we're all afraid we won't get in anywhere. The program I'm starting in the fall has about 25 spots for a pool of about 400 applicants. I still can't believe I got in!

I just got another email from my department yesterday. They said that they'll be sending out decisions about financial aid (GAs) by mid to late March! Only another 2-4 weeks. Hopefully it'll be good news. In the meantime, I can always scour the school's job's postings for GAs outside of the department. I completed my FAFSA (and filed my taxes, yay!) so I think all that's left now is to wait. That's the game we play I guess. Hurry up and wait.

Just over two weeks ago I was here on this thread, feeling sure that I would not get into either of the programs I applied to, and that I had failed terribly. Now, I've accepted admission to my 1st choice school, I'm getting married in 4 months, and I got a great pre-wedding haircut/style today. I'm loving life! I say this not to encourage envy, but to remind you that this may soon be you! At least the accepted into grad school part!

And I just got an email at 9:55 a.m. saying that my decision was available!

Thanks @Speechie-Z! I too had a hold-list letter waiting on my portal. It might have been there yesterday when I checked, because the top still says "Your application is under review." But the bottom says "Decision status: Available beginning 2/24/16." I'm on the waitlist too. I was already accepted to my top choice school though, so I'm not too upset!

I'm still waiting to hear from GWU too. I'm a little surprised I haven't heard yet, given that it's almost the end of February. I applied at the end of December. Nothing to do but keep waiting I guess!

Hmm, I submitted my application at the end of December, and I haven't heard back from GWU yet. My portal still says "under review". I wonder when they'll get to my app. I'm not too worried. They've got a lot of apps to process, but I'm sure they'll get to it eventually (right?).

I love it!!! And I never wear make-up, so whatevs. You look awesome just as you are! I love your necklace too!

OMG I want pictures! Your hair sounds awesome!!! I'm too much in love with my natural color to ever dye it, but I am thinking of getting it styled differently before the wedding. It's just long and uneven right now!

Congratulations @Cat_Robutt!!! I'm so happy for you! *Happy Dance!* You'll be my neighbor, I'm in MD. It's the best feeling in the world when you get accepted to your top choice program, isn't it? After all the hard work and waiting, it feels so good. I'm so excited to start this fall!!! Good luck to @Neist, and everyone else who's still waiting to hear back from their top choice schools!

The wait is hard, but it will come to an end sooner or later. I hope it's sooner for you all! The program I will be attending has an MA/PhD program, but it takes 6 years, opposed to 2 for the master's. I want to finish my master's, start my career, and start a family with my soon-to-be-husband. (I'm 29, he's 32. Tick, tick...) While PhD does hold some appeal for me, if I decide to do it, it will only be after I've been in the field for a little while. I want to get some real clinical experience before deciding if a PhD is right for me. For instance, if I decide that I would like to teach someday, I may go back for the PhD. I don't think I would want to leave clinical practice entirely though. That's what really appeals to me most about becoming an SLP. I applied (and was accepted) into the pure MA program, so that's where I'm starting at the very least!

Haha! Yeah, I tried to do my FAFSA too, and then realized I needed to do my taxes first, which I need to go to my parents' house to do, since they have the snazzy TurboTax software (I know there's a free online version, but it doesn't do quite everything I need. I don't have time right now to go up there (30 min drive), so it will get pushed off for the time being. Oh well. Are you planning to work while in grad school, or is this a short-term/summer position? The only way I'll work while in grad school is if it's part of a GA. I want to focus on doing well in school and they seem to discourage working a job in addition to the full-time grad program.

@CBG321, thanks for starting this thread, it's great! I know most of the conversation here has been about west coast schools (and ASU) but I just wanted to mention, the University of Maryland a perk will give out-of-state students in-state tuition. If you are offered a graduate assistantship, not only will you get the benefits of that assistantship (5 credits tuition remission, stipend, and etc.), you are also given in-state tuition status. Also, it seems like a fantastic program from what I have seen from the open house visits. Supportive environment with lots of research and clinical opportunities, and a really fantastic range of options for externship placements. Since it's between DC and Baltimore, there are a ton of great choices. I'm not sure if there are other state schools that do this for their SLP programs, but if you're really interested in a program that's out of state, I would ask!

Thanks! Best of luck to you, getting into schools and making your decision!!!

Congratulations on your acceptance to GW!!! You applied to about a dozen more programs than I did!

So I thought I'd start a thread for those of us who are considering (or have decided to attend) UMD this fall. Who's out there? What other schools are you considering? What do you like about UMD's program? What do you think will be the deciding factor for you between UMD and any other options? I'd love to chat with some of my potential future cohort members!

Wouldn't that be helpful, if we had all the information we needed to make our decisions, all at the same time! If only! I still need to do my FAFSA (and my taxes), but I'm so busy in the next week or two, I think it'll have to wait a little longer. Hopefully I'll get enough funding from school so that I won't need to take out loans. I would rather dip into savings than have new loans we have to worry about, if that's an option. If only I could spare another 6 years right now. I may eventually go back for the PhD, but that's not the right place for me to start right now. Thanks @Jolie717 and @flapjackal!

I think my program will be sending information with the official (paper mail?) acceptance letter. Personally, I don't feel comfortable asking at this point. They're so busy processing applications and making decisions, I'm sure they will get the information to us as soon as possible. I would hold off asking outright until mid-March. It would be great if everyone could get funding. I asked my fiancé how long it was after his acceptance that he found out about funding. (He got his PhD in biophysics from Hopkins.) He said it was part of the initial offer. Everyone who was accepted got full funding with a stipend. I forgot that other fields do that! At least we know that we'll be employed straight out of grad school!

I can see that. When I was at the open house, I definitely felt like the minority, since it seemed like most people on campus are either Deaf or fluent signers. With my one semester of ASL, I was nowhere near proficient enough to have a conversation. But I have a strong interest in languages and language development, as well as having grown up in an area with a prominent Deaf community. I ended up running out of time for apps and had to choose between GW and Gallaudet. But I would have applied had I had the chance. It really is a great program, and unique too! You got this @honeydewthis!

Congratulations @gingin6789!!! That's great news!

Apply for FAFSA as soon as you can! You can get probably Federal loans that will have much better interest rates and payment plans than private loans would. I'm still figuring this stuff out too, but FAFSA definitely a good place to start.

That's kind of what I expected @lindsey8, but I'm glad you agree. I really hope we get the official letter soon! I wonder how long it'll be until they send those. There's a little part of me that's still in disbelief, and won't accept that I actually got in until I have the paper letter in my hand! This is mostly me being impatient and wanting to know everything now. But I feel very lucky to at least know for sure where I'll be attending come this fall. I hope it's more along the lines of a week or two to get the initial funding offer! Thanks for the info @jpiccolo!