rachieann

Your GRE scores are great and your GPA is definitely not bad. I think that one of the most important things you can do when applying is, in your personal statement and interview, stressing the experiences you have and how they relate to the SLP field. I applied with a 3.69 GPA and similar GRE scores and was accepted to almost every school I applied to (I applied in the NYC and Long Island areas). I also spent 2+ years working as a TA in a school for children with autism, and kind of made my application really reflect on my experiences there. I think that schools are definitely looking for people that not only have straight A's, but have experiences that demonstrate that they will be a valuable asset to their program and the field. Make yourself stand out and you'll do fine!

Hi! I didn't apply in NJ or PA, but I did apply in NY which I feel has about the same competitiveness. I also had a 3.7 cum GPA and I was accepted to every school on Long Island (Hofstra, Adelphi, LIU) and I was also accepted to a number of upstate schools, Northeastern in Boston, and Loyola in Maryland. I did not get accepted to Queens or Brooklyn College - those school's are extremely competitive though. Throughout my undergrad, I worked as a teacher's assistant at a special needs school where I was able to work one-on-one with young children who have autism and I feel that this experience is really what made me stand out from others. I made a large part of my SOP about this and talked about it a lot in my interviews with school's - I think that admission's committee's like to see that you're really committed to working in the field. My advice would be to definitely get a job where you're getting hands-on experience with relevant populations. Trying working in EI or other special needs populations where you'll be able to do speech activities hands-on with students. Then, explain how those experiences prepared you for SLP work in your SOP and in interviews. Also, study for the GRE! I focused a lot on the verbal portion of the test because I knew that was my strength and what school's look most heavily on. There are so many apps on your phone that you can get to drill yourself on vocab words - it's so convenient. And finally, apply early! So many people I went to school with waited till the last minute to send their materials out to school's or CSDCAS and they ended up getting lost and their application was incomplete. Transcripts take SO long to get to CSDCAS, it's ridiculous - make sure you're checking your application profiles frequently and staying on top of what school's need what by when.

Hi there! Is anyone else going to the accepted student open house for LIU?

Hello! I've heard that St. Johns is heavily medically/research based, so it'd be a good fit for you if you wanna work in a hospital setting. I know one girl I'm in school with said she knew someone that attended Hofstra for a semester and then transferred to LIU Post because she really disliked it, but I attended their open house and it seemed like a good program! I know they require multiple semesters of research, but the tour guide said that it's pretty low key. Also, their clinic looked nice and they talked about how student's work with early intervention and children's groups - but I think that's similar to most programs. I know multiple SLP's that graduated from Adelphi pretty recently (like, 2010-2011) and they said they loved the program. They have the Sunday program option available so you're able to work while you're in school, which I think is a cool option. The only thing is that they do now charge a flat rate tuition of 85,000 dollars which I think is pretty ridiculous since every other school in the area is only about 60-65,000. I honestly don't feel like ranking really matters in terms of job prospects - I know one SLP that graduated from LIU and she got a job immediately in the city and then after 2 or 3 years transferred to a position in a special needs school on Long Island, another SLP that graduated from Adelphi and then worked in a special needs school on Long Island and then just got a job in the school districts, and when I was observing at a private clinic one of the SLP's had graduated from St. John's. Also, according to EdFind Adelphi has a class of about 100 students while Hofstra and St. John's have a class of only about 40-50 students, which I feel is important to consider. Personally, I don't think Adelphi is worth the cost especially since they have such a large cohort. I hope this information helps somewhat!

I was accepted but will be declining - hopefully this opens a spot for you!

LIU Post and CUNY Brooklyn were my top two choices - was accepted into Post but am still waiting to hear back from Brooklyn. I had an interview back in February but haven't been notified of a decision yet.

One of the school's I was thinking of applying to says on their website that they want three LOR's from "faculty members or university administrators who are familiar with the candidate’s academic work", but I only have two letters from professors, one from a woman who I interned with at her speech practice, and one from my employer (I work at a special needs school). No other school I'm looking at requires all the letters to be from faculty so I really don't want to find another professor to write me a letter just for this one school, do you guys think I should just not bother applying here? Or will they overlook the fact that I only have two letters from professors? Thanks!