SLPsara

It would be lame but you gotta do what you gotta do hahaha

Actually, as a California resident, you can apply for in-state or close to in-state tuition for certain programs under WICHE's Western Regional Graduate Program agreement.  The states that are part of the agreement are "Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands."  Unfortunately, not all programs in those states will offer in-state tuition, but for SLP they are:
University of Utah (PhD only) EWU (MS) University of Colorado Boulder (MA) University of Northern Colorado (MA) Idaho State University (MS, online option available) Utah State University (MA/MS) University of Washington (MS) I pulled the list of programs off of http://www.wiche.edu/info/publications/wrgpHandout.pdf and you can visit the WRGP site at http://wiche.edu/wrgp 

It would be lame but you gotta do what you gotta do hahaha

Hey there's actually another section on this forum all about the GRE with awesome lists on free resources and people talking about how they planned out studying. Check it it if you haven't yet!

Hi, karish11!  I'll likely be completing a handful prerequisites this upcoming year, so I've been looking into post-bacc/leveling options myself.  If you're open to taking classes on-line, I've found Utah State's post-bacc to be the top recommended program on these forums.  People also seem to dig Longwood, Vermont, and Idaho as on-line options.  Portland State and University of Washington have been the most talked-about on-campus options.
 
I've seen you around the forums, so I'm sure you already know this, but for the sake of lurkers and other future applicants: each of these programs has a different set of courses, and each Masters Program has a different set of prerequisite requirements.  It's important to check that you're taking the right courses for the programs you're applying to!  I'm only applying to one school with prerequisites (which has five required classes), so instead of uprooting to a new city, getting a secondary bachelor's in SLP, and depleting my entire life savings, I (think I) am going to take the handful of classes I need on-line, probably at Utah State.  Some of these programs (particularly the on-line options) will allow you to take just the classes you want/need as a non-degree student; in others (particularly the on-campus options), you'll join a cohort, sign up for the long haul, and wind up with some kind of certificate or degree.  Here's a compilation of post-bacc/leveling programs I've found so far, complete with links.  Putting this list together helped me to finally organize this mass of information--hope it helps you, too!
 
On-line Post-Bacc Programs: 
Utah State (12 courses/35 credits, recommended 3 full-time semesters)
University of Alaska Anchorage (7 course offerings, though not every class is offered every semester)
East Carolina (but we missed that boat: must e-mail on March 1st for a spot)
Eastern New Mexico (has synchronous/asynchronous class scheduling)
Florida State (6 courses/24 credits, can do Post-Bacc anywhere but must reside in FL for Masters Program)
Idaho State (12 courses/37 credits, has on-campus and mixed option)
La Salle (10 courses/37 credits, has on-campus and mixed options)
Longwood (9 courses/27 credits)
SUNY at New Paltz (9 courses/28 credits, has on-campus option but limited seating)
Tennessee State (6 courses/20 credits)
Texas Woman's University (application was due March 1st AND finals must be taken on campus--yuck)
The University of Montana (10 courses, fall/spring semesters, has synchronous/asynchronous class scheduling)
University of Nebraska, Kearney (10 courses/32 credits)
University of Vermont (8 courses)
University of Wyoming (10 courses/31 credits)
Kean Univesity Pre-Professional Program (8 courses/25 credits, has on-campus option)
 
On-Campus Post-Bacc Programs (all completed in one year as full-time student):
CSU Fullerton (12 courses/36 units, 3 semesters, credential in Speech/Language/Hearing)
CSU Long Beach (51 units, 3 semesters)
CSU Los Angeles (14 courses/57 units, 4 quarters, preparatory certificate)
Chapman (10 courses/30 credits, 5 terms, preparatory certificate)
Portland State (12-16 courses/45-60 credits, 3 semesters, earn B.S. in SLP)
Minot State (13 courses/40 credits, 3 semesters) 
Kean Univesity Pre-Professional Program (8 courses/25 credits, on-line or in-person, 3 semesters)
Metropolis State University (8 courses, 2 semesters, leveling certificate)
University of Washington (12 courses/65 credits, 5 quarters, earn B.S. in SLP)
East Washington University (12 courses/34 credits, 2 semesters)
Idaho State (15-16 courses/38-41 credits, three semesters [final semester is on-line])
La Salle (10 courses/37 credits, typically takes 18-24 months to complete)
UT Austin (9-10 undergrad courses as non-degree student)

We should make our own updated list on here. Anyone who makes calls, feel free to post the info! I have a hard time because I work all day and i am a nanny, so there are no breaks hahaha.

Assuming you're a California resident, there are a number of schools that you'd be eligible for in-state tuition at through the WRGP program. Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Utah State, CU Boulder, University of Northern Colorado, and maybe a few others I'm forgetting offer it to students coming for SLP master's programs. Definitely something worth looking into; the ability to get in-state tuition had a huge influence on where I applied (as my signature shows, lol).

Assume $110 a month payment per 10k borrowed.  My personal comfort level is 50K total loan amount.  From what I gathered, starting salary should be around 60k a year (medical side, West coast).  Uncle Sam is going to take 25% of that, and depending on whether or not you have state taxes, another 5% or so.  So 60K X .7=42K take home pay.  Even with a budget of 2k a month, you still have a lot of room to make extra payments on the loan.  When the checks start coming in, resist the urge to buy the new car, the nice condo, restaurants, babies, etc.    Continue to live that spartan college existence and you can be debt-free within a few years of graduating.     

I don't know about the application for that program but the post bacc application for mine was very easy. And they let anyone in who fit the requirements, first come first serve. If I were you, I'd do it. You can always say no if they let you in.

I would absolutely try! There is no penalty in applying a second time, and you have great credentials. You even already have some experience!

Good luck! You'll be so happy you did it done rather than later. :-)

I went and looked back at mine, I'm not sure exactly what the prompt was, but I wrote why I chose that program, what I want to do as an SLP, what I was doing at the time (finishing up bachelor's degree) and what I had done in the past that would make me a good candidate (research, volunteering). I made it very straightforward, I didn't try to make it interesting or well written like a statement of purpose.