RMott

@carathestudent As an out-of-fielder who just completed the Fall 2016 season, I would say that you should definitely apply to leveler programs if you have a strong GPA and GRE scores. This blog often makes it seem like the only route is post bacc and that leveler programs are impossible to get into but that's definitely not true. My fiance and I are both out of field students with zero direct SLP experience. We both had good GPAs and great GRE scores and we had experience working with children through internships but neither of our experiences related to SLP. In our personal statements we found ways to talk about how our experiences in our internships with children could help us with the SLP program but all of the schools we applied to knew we didn't have direct experience. Despite all this, we both got into pretty much all of our schools. My fiance has gotten into 5/6 and is still waiting on one and I've gotten into 5/6 and waitlisted to one, and we both got assistantship offers to multiple schools. I know a lot of posts on this site make it seem like you have to do a post bacc because leveler programs are super hard to get into, but don't completely dismiss it. Look into the leveler programs and find those that work for you and compare your stats to the people who get into that school. I think a post bacc program or two might be a good idea as a backup but it's completely possible to get into a leveling program without direct experience so long as you have good GPA, GRE and extracurriculars so stay positive!

1. Why did you choose the program you're going to? What really sold it for you? I decided to go to the University of Virginia. What really sold it for me was the tour and seeing the facilities, which were really well maintained. The students all looked and acted professional as well so I really appreciated that environment. I also know UVA is ranked much better than my second choice school (ODU), so having a school that cost a similar amount but had a better ranking and perception sold it for me. 2. How many schools did you apply to? I applied to six schools: University of Maine, University of Central Florida, Appalachian State University, University of Rhode Island, Old Dominion University, and University of Virginia. I got into five and was waitlisted at one. 3. If you haven't decided, what is going to be the factor that pushes you to decide? I have decided, but the factors that helped me decide were: In-state status, since I wanted to stay close to my family and be able to pay in state tuition. Whether or not my fiance got in. We actually ended up getting into all our schools together but this was important since we wanted to go to school together and live together. The school's standing. I wanted to go to a high ranked school that would hopefully help me get a better job. Length for out of field students. Since I'm out of field I didn't want to add too many semesters, and UVA for out of field is only 2.5 years, which I thought was great.

@hannahp15 Thanks for sending me the email! Yeah I don't think the larger class size will really make that huge of a difference and I honestly feel like if you want to go to UVA you shouldn't let a larger class size get in your way. UVA is such a good program that it'll probably be worth it in my opinion. I also agree with what @asmallfish said where either way you have to drive to the externship and you don't have classes those days. Plus, I'm from Virginia (I don't know if you guys are or not) and there are tons of cities around Charlottesville so when he says considerable distance the farthest you'd probably have to go is and hour and a half away, and that's probably the worst case scenario.

@asmallfish @chg38 I didn't receive an email but I've already accepted my offer if that makes a difference. Do you mind telling me what it said?

@chg38 Just wanted to let you know they sent out emails about funding earlier today

I'm with @OverCaffeinated. I have two guinea pigs who keep me plenty of company and will be joining my fiance and I at grad school this fall. I would personally recommend small caged animals as they're easier to take care of, much cheaper and can be left alone for longer since you don't have to worry about them going to the bathroom in the house or chewing up things. Also, most pet-friendly (and even some not-pet-friendly) apartments allow caged pets without any extra fees or anything. They're honestly some of the cutest pets I've ever owned and I've been taking care of them throughout undergrad with no problem, so they'd be a good choice in my opinion.

@hannahp15 The building we'll be working in and taking classes in is in a really nice area and really well-designed and clean on the inside as well. It definitely seems like a legitimate workplace as opposed to some other tours I've been on where their clinic areas are very obviously just for practicing students. UVA is in a really nice area out in the country more but it's also very preppy, so if you don't like that UVA might not be for you. The people running the tour weren't the best, but I think that's mainly because the guy who was supposed to be running the tour had an emergency so there was some scrambling to find a replacement for him. All the students seemed very nice and well-put-together so the program overall had a very professional vibe.

@chg38 I went to the student's day at UVA a week or maybe two weeks ago, I don't remember the actual date. You got to meet one faculty member who gave you the little introduction (ours was with Filip Loncke) and then you met two current students that gave you a tour. But that was all. As for funding, no I haven't gotten an email yet either. Randall Robey said he was going to email us this past Monday but hasn't yet, though then again I know his aunt just died or something so I think that's why it's taking so long.

Just wanted to let everyone know that University of Rhode Island decisions have been released (I received an email and a phone call). I will most likely be rejecting my offer so good luck to anyone that applied!

Well it's the same amount of money without the assistantship. With the assistantship ODU would be cheaper.

Hey guys, so I've been accepted to both Old Dominion University and University of Virginia for this upcoming fall 2016 semester. However, I'm having trouble making a decision. They're both in completely different places (Norfolk is more city-like whereas Charlottesville is in the mountains), and while UVA is ranked better I've received an $8k assistantship position from ODU. UVA is a semester shorter, but money-wise they work out since ODU is cheaper per semester. Both have a 100% employment rate after graduation as well, so everything seems to balance out equally. Does anyone know more about the programs and could give me some advice? Is having an assistantship on my resume worth going to the lower-ranked school?

Sorry for taking so long to respond to you, but I wanted to wait until I heard back about funding. I definitely don't blame you for not wanting to attend ODU in person considering you're coming from Florida. I live in Virginia so it wasn't a long drive for me. Yeah, Appalachian is kind of throwing me off since it seems like a lot of people have been waitlisted to Appalachian but got accepted to much better schools. I honestly have no idea what they're thinking, especially since you're stats seem awesome! Also, I did receive an email about funding about an hour ago and wanted to let you know, but I'm pretty sure Dr. Raymer sent out an email letting everyone know. Just in case you haven't seen the email yet I wanted to let you know. Thanks for the good wishes and good luck to you too!

Yeah I feel like they offered admission to almost everyone too, and I feel like the two women who interviewed me were really emphasizing what was unique about their program, which I really appreciated. Yes, my fiance and I went in person and got to tour the clinic and surrounding campus. I thought the clinic seemed great, and we got to get a close-up view of everything since it was empty (as ODU was on their spring break). There was a large room where they said all the clinic students hang out and do their clinical work, which was pretty cool. The rooms where you do your clinic work are all fitted with cameras that record you, so you can go back over your recordings and sometimes your clinic advisor can make notes on the video to help you out in the future. The surrounding campus was more city-like than campus-like, which I actually appreciated because you can walk two blocks and be around a bunch of food places that aren't full of undergraduate students. But if you prefer a UVA-like campus environment ODU might not be for you. Hopefully we find out about funding tonight!

Yeah I had my interview on Friday and it went really well. They pretty much offered me admission while I was there and I got my official admission last night. How was yours? Still waiting on assistantship information and such though. Do you know when they plan on sending that information out?

Hey guys, thought I'd start an official thread for everyone who's been accepted to UVA's program for Fall 2016 since unofficial acceptances came out tonight! Congrats to everyone! Does anyone know if there's a facebook page yet?