mr479

How did you pick your schools?

Hi, thank you for you reply! What I meant was, if you already have a MS/MA in Speech-Language Pathology, does this shorten the time you spend in the AuD degree at UN-L? It seems that you are taking SLP classes that are not required in 99.9% of the audiology programs across the country. Do you take classes in Cognitive Disorders, Aphasia, Articulation, etc. to receive the MS in SLP or just AuD courses?

You can use ASHA EdFind to compare your stats to the various schools you are interested in's admission statistics. For the most part, I found this a very useful tool in determining where my application would be most competitive. For the GRE, word on the street is that programs mostly look at your verbal scores. In my own experience, I was admitted to only 3 of the 8 programs I applied to with excellent verbal scores and below average math scores. Therefore, it seems possible that significantly lower quant than verbal scores can reflect badly on you in some cases. For example, the department head of Western Washington called me personally to tell me that my references and personal statement were excellent but that my GRE held me back; on the other hand, the University of Louisville admitted me solely based on my numbers as they do not accept a statement of purpose as a part of their application. But my quant was 148 to your 153, and the rest of your numbers look great! In addition, I have a whopping 25 W's on my transcript and still managed to get admitted to at least one school. So acceptance is possible with weaknesses in your application as long as your strengths outweigh those weaknesses. Which, in your case, is exactly how it is. Good luck in your next set of classes.

For this very reason I will not do a PhD, and if I ever change my mind, I would not teach in the U.S. I do not want to be a part of a system that gives birth to working professionals crippled by debt and exhausted.

AMEN!

Just another question. Did you list attending that school in your application or not?

Interesting, you got caught! Was the class listed as transfer credit on another transcript?

Are you sure you can even get into a post-bac with that GPA?

I think University of Kansas is a mistake. I was just looking at their website which indicates admission for summer and fall only.

In addition, one advisor told me "I know the school website says differently, but if it's not in your last 60, I wouldn't even put it on your application." That was at Utah State.

I attended 7 different schools, but I applied to a lot of places where I only sent the transcripts that I gauged to be the most necessary. Yes, it says you must send all transcripts, but my little experiment proved otherwise. I don't think it's anybody's business but your own when and where you "screwed up" if that's at all the case. Then again, I made this decision because it was the only way I could afford applying to multiple programs. So, I wouldn't necessarily recommend my approach unless you are desperate.

To me, this sounds like you could potentially set yourself up for failure. I recommend not overdoing it. Max 2 classes. Also, you're not going to be eligible for financial aid as a non-degree student, so you aren't going to acquire more debt. You have to be able to pay for these classes out of pocket. Good luck! [Aquote name=MissV21" post="1058286565" timestamp="1433728324]I'm going through pretty much the same thing now. You keep asking yourself at what point is it enough? It's so hard to give up on your dreams. I didn't get accepted for speech and began a grad program in special Ed. I'm half way through the program and I still always think about speech. I decided to apply again for the upcoming year and if I did get in that would be half a masters in special Ed down the drain, but I guess I'm willing to take the risk. I think either way you'll be losing money, whether you move and try for SLP, or if you put money into another career in nursing. Personally, I would slowly work towards plan B (take a class or two in nursing) and also take an SLP course at a new school. It might seem bizarre, but I think you'll feel good that you're working towards plan B and also following your SLP dream. You can also try to get a job or do some volunteer work that relates to SLP during this time to help your resume. If you work towards nursing and SLP at a doable pace, you won't be putting all your eggs in one basket. Sure you'll lose money one way or another, but at least you know that in the end that you'll get something out of it. If you get in for SLP then great! If not, then you have some nursing classes out the way. I feel your pain, and I hope this helps

This was a pain to read. You might want to go back and edit some.

I agree with the above poster; I had the exact same thought. You should look into doing a postbac program that awards a Bachelor's degree and not just a certificate or nothing at all. There are a few that require no extra coursework, just CSD classes. Two that come to mind are Utah State University and University of South Florida-Sarasota-Manatee campus. On the other hand, you may not even have that option because of their GPA requirements. In that case, maybe you would be interested in respiratory therapy. A friend of mine did her AS in that field and has an excellent paying job in Hawaii.

They don't do Spring Admissions, and this is a new program, so they have nothing to update.

Does anyone know the specifics of this program? It says that people who apply to the AuD program are automatically applying for the Master's degree in SLP as well, and that the SLP degree is a degree that you "earn on the way." Does this mean that AuD and SLP students take the same classes for the first two years of the AuD program? If you already have a degree in Speech Path, will this shorten your studies in Audiology at UN-L? It seems like this is a very aberrant program.

Does anyone know specifics about this program? The application states that by applying to the MS in SLP you are also applying to the AuD program and that for the AuD program, the MS SLP is a degree you earn on the way. Are AuD and SLP students in classes together at UN-L to anyone's knowledge?

Agreed. Very unreasonable if there is no compensation other than "experience."

This doesn't raise a red flag for me at all. Honestly, I don't understand why this should concern you. I think it's completely acceptable that someone is able to change their mind about an applicant later on. In fact, this makes me happy.

Another recommendation I have is to take the GRE as close to your last math class as possible. I say this, because if you're anything like me, when you don't use something you lose it. The math on the GRE isn't frightening, but I know I was at a disadvantage because I'm an older applicant and it had been eons since my last math class.

The reason I said to take a year off is because you said it would be difficult to transfer from the college you are currently planning to attend. You may not have enough time to plan to attend another school right away. A small liberal arts college sounds expensive. Maybe start out at a community college. Instructors at CC are often better than professors with tenure at a four-year institution. I wish that someone had told me when I was just starting out that Community College is a viable, worthy option and can even be the wisest choice. You will have a great time taking interesting classes, meeting and interacting with a diverse range of people (not just freshman college students) and also save yourself or someone else a lot of $. It's just a suggestion, but one you shouldn't be afraid to make no matter what anyone says. Follow your own heart. The sad thing is I think this is an unnecessarily competitive field, and unless things change, it will only be more competitive by the time you are ready to apply to grad school. These days, you need close to a 3.8 to even stand a chance. That's why I say it's best to start doing your best in the field you want to pursue as early as possible. But also give yourself time to have fun, make mistakes, and learn. And remember, there's no rush! Best of luck.

Yikes. I really don't have any ideas for how you could stay at your current school and still pursue SLP. Your current school doesn't seem like a good match. I personally think you should maybe take a year off and then reconsider where you go for undergrad. I'm sure you will love another institution just as much, especially when they have the major you need. One thing you could do is take all the necessary Gen Ed classes for a Bachelors of Health Science. Once you've done that, you might look into CSD programs online. The University of Florida has one. For this you must already have an AS degree with a solid background in your sciences. At the moment, as long as you've taken all the required Gen Ed courses and meet the minimum GPA requirements, admission is automatic into the program. In addition, there is a flat fee for this program, so no in-state/out-of-state tuition. Everyone in the program has the same rate. I think it's an advantage that you know you would like to pursue SLP at your age. That way you can begin to do well in your classes from the beginning, and hopefully you won't have the problems many have who didn't know they wanted to go into such a competitive field until it was too late to raise their GPA. If you do a major that postpones your goal just so you can stay at this one school, you may not do as well as you need to to get accepted into grad school.

Your SLPA program will not count as prerequisite coursework to get into grad school or to start Masters level coursework. You will have to do a postbac program no matter what. So this will not save you any $ at all. Courses at a community college generally will not count as equivalent coursework when applying to a Masters program.

Yes. If you don't go to a top 10 school, you'll probably be living off food stamps for the rest of your life.

Use Khan Academy, especially for math. It is a free resource, and ETS (the people who make the GRE) recommends it.