amc91

Was accepted to the full time distance program early last week, will be turning down my spot. Hopefully someone gets off the wait list soon

I actually read this months ago but seeing it again is SO helpful. Thanks for doing the legwork for me, I should have referred back to this! Also, has anyone made a Facebook group yet? I can set it up with someone if not!

That's so encouraging! Thanks for sharing. Catherine Martin reminded me that I needed to respond soon, and when I told her I needed some questions answered first she apologized and said she's remind Dr. Neil-Strudjas to get back to me today. Does anybody have information about working while in the program or general course load info? I anticipate it being challenging but I want to know if working part time or full time is feasible. Or if it's so crazy intense there is no way to work at all!

Honestly I know he's not the full time student contact, but Dr. Dressler has been super quick to respond. You might want to try him if you haven't yet!

I emailed Catherine Martin, who forward my email to Jean Neils-Strunjas. I'm sure they are absolutely slammed with emails, so maybe set it as a high priority, or make the subject "time sensitive question".

One more thing, I have been emailing Dr. Dressler, who is actually the contact for the part time, not the full time students. When I tried reaching out to the full time contact, my email was forwarded to someone else and I never heard back. So if you have questions your not getting answered, I recommend reaching out to Dr. Dressler, he has responded to every email immediately (even on weekends).

So I head back from five students in the part time program, and talked to two of them on the phone (still waiting to chat with someone in the full time) but OH MY WORD, they absolutely raved about how incredible the program is! I'll share all that I learned. Basically, the classes are live in the evenings, but I guess most professors record the lectures so if you can't make it to class, you can watch it later (or refer back to the lecture). I was told the professors really go above and beyond to get to know each student and they really want to support you and help you succeed. I was told that the depth of knowledge they are getting from the classes is amazing, and they feel incredibly prepared. One girl said she truly could not have wished for a more amazing program. At least for the part time cohort, the students said they are really close (even though they only have digital interactions). Two people said that there are some group projects, and while they sound bad, they are actually amazing and great learning opportunities. One girl lives in Colorado (like me), and she chose WKU over UNCO (she's doing the three year program) because she did not hear great things about UNCO's program. I spoke to a UNCO student who said the program was fine, but some professors do not record any lectures so there are classes that are basically "self taught", and she said many students in her cohort really dislike the program and feel like the professors are not responsive enough (unreplied emails, things like that). The person I spoke to said she did not have any real complaints, but she know others do. Again, I only talked to one person so this may not be a fair assessment, but I figured I would pass along what I heard. I asked about the preparation for medical versus school settings (I know UNCO seems to be more directed at kids), a couple felt like it was maybe more directed at working in schools, but they also followed it up by saying they know multiple WKU grads who work in medical settings. Another two people said that the program is 100% equal in terms of adult/children. Also, we get to choose our electives, so we will have the opportunity to focus more on our area of interest. Another fun fact, one girl is going to Europe with some of the professors as a "study abroad" opportunity and receiving elective credit! Also, since the professors teach the same courses during the day to the on campus cohort, they will bring up any questions the day time students had (another cool learning benefit). And doing the classes live mean that you get to hear everyone's comments/questions, whereas with asynchronous classes, questions are usually answered in private emails. I obviously sound bias, but I cannot express how incredibly enthusiastic and positive these students were about WKU! I hope this helps!

I received a list of emails from Dr. Dressler for current students in the program, I am going to email them all today. If anyone is interested, I am happy to share any and all information I receive from the students!

I may attend, I am waiting to hear from MT's distance program (also a 2 year). I just want to talk to a student in the program first to get a better "feel". What about you??

Just received an acceptance email to the full time online program!

I applied to the full time distance program and I'm still waiting to hear! I also just checked my admission portal and it still reads "graduate pending admission"

I don't think anyone has the answer for the "best" program, online or traditional (trust me, I've been asking this question for a year). I can tell you that University of Northern Colorado has (what seems to be) a good three year (part time) program. It is very competitive but reasonably priced with seemingly good faculty. I have a friend doing Idaho's online program who also really likes it. That one is slightly more expensive, but not bad. Wyoming has one, but it is synchronous, so you have to actually login to the classes which does interfere with flexibility. Western Kentucky also has a three year option I believe, and I have also heard good things about that program. University of South Carolina has a great reputation, but their program is MUCH more expensive (like $50k more than others). They are all really competitive (of course), but all accredited! I know Nova and Eastern New Mexico also have programs, and there are many more that I didn't mention. Hope this helps!

I'll be doing a distance program, so I know it is different but still busy. We're getting a puppy in June, I know many would not consider this a "wise" choice, but I anticipate being very busy and stressed the next two years with little time for leisure, so I decided that by having a dog it will force me to take a mental and physical break at least twice a day for walks as well as provide a positive interaction every day. Again, I know with a distance program I have more flexibility, but I also feel like it will be well worth it!

For those of you who haven't heard, I'm so sorry! That is super frustrating. Like a previous poster mentioned, I would definitely suggest reaching out to Nicole, (if you haven't already). She has been quite responsive. I'm happy to provide her contact info in a private message if anyone needs it.

So this may be a really silly question, but how does funding work? Does a FAFSA need to be filled out in order to receive offers of funding? Or do programs simply offer funding without a FAFSA? I assumed (maybe naively) that if a school wanted to offer it, they would, but then I saw for one program that a FAFSA had to be filled out by a priority deadline in order to be considered for any financial assistance. An offer of admission is wonderful enough, so I never thought getting any funding offers would be possible. But now I just have to ask!

These are all so helpful, thank you! Im leaning toward a program with a synchronous learning style where you virtually attend classes (like enmu) but hearing about the benefits of more typical online learning encouraging!

Just filling you all in...I told Nicole I only had availability the first year to do clinicals Monday-Thursday for 2.5 hours/day, and she told me that would work out well! She also said that we do not have any clinical obligations (only coursework) the first Fall semester. I know WKU's full time program requires 3.5hours/day minimum for any time to count towards a practicum, so this contrast was a positive!

One more thing (in case anyone else was curious) I also asked if the program prepares students more for work with a school age population (I am interested in neuro and aphasia), I was told that it may feel this way in the beginning of the program, but there are numerous courses geared towards work with older populations later in the program. She also mentioned the internship in an adult medical setting during the final semester and said that faculty are extremely accommodating to students who have a special area of interest.

I am currently emailing Nicole (the person who sent out the acceptance emails). She said we just need to have the details of clinical supervision worked out by Summer in anticipation of clinical classes in the Fall. I told her I was a nanny (so not employed in the field), but would be meeting with an SLP this week to discuss clinical supervision. My employment was not a problem. She also put me in contact with the clinic coordinator so I can obtain more information regarding clinical supervision (since I will be setting this up on my own). I asked to get in contact with a current student and she was happy to do it, she just said it would be after Spring break (this week). I hope this helps, and feel free to message me if you want to share any more info!

Hey for anyone interested, I just spoke to someone at U of M. She said decisions should go out the week of March 28th (but she wasn't certain), and that no deposit is required to hold a spot for those who are admitted (I was curious since U of South Carolina require $1,000 to hold a spot). I also spoke to someone at Western Kentucky, and they said decisions will be out prior to April 15th and they too do NOT require a deposit.

Thanks for your response! Have you heard/experienced anything specifically about the lack of nuance, as you put it? I am trying to get in contact with students from these programs, but have not had much luck so any opinions/information is greatly appreciated!

I'm wondering if anyone has any firsthand experience regarding distance programs. I've found a few blogs, but firsthand information has been tricky to find. I'm wondering if the experience and education is comparable to "traditional" programs. Specifically the programs at northern colorado, montana and western kentucky. Thanks!

I am in the same boat! I did not realize that was required/recommend. I currently work as a nanny and I'm meeting with an slp that works with one of the children I care for to see if she'll serve as my clinical supervisor. The acceptance email had a typo, it stated that we needed the supervisor for summer 2016, but I think they meant 2017. Also, if we're doing this in the summer, won't school slps be off work? I'm going to email UNCO and ask about this. Feel free to message me and we can talk more! I'd love to talk to someone else who is considering the program.

If for some reason you do not get in this cycle, I would suggest retaking the GRE using a program/studying a lot for the test (I used Magoosh but only did the verbal and writing portions and my verbal score went from 154 to 162, and my writing from 3.5 to 4.5). Just my two cents, but since the application process is so competitive, expensive and emotionally/mentally draining, I decided that any advantage I could give myself would be worth it. While I believe the GRE is a poor indicator of our ability to succeed as students/clinicians, there are so many amazing applicants out there with such incredible experiences/resumes, that knowing I could give myself a quantitative boost helped me rest easier after I applied. Again, just my personal opinion Good luck!

Jazspeaks- Thanks so much for the info, that is incredible helpful! I was just accepted to U of South Carolina, but was hoping to attend the U of M because of the ICAAP and the ENORMOUS cost difference. I was beginning to get quite nervous about the quality of the program due to the correspondence issues, so thank you so much for sharing your experience!