Jenbugg86grad

Hi! I am so glad it has been able to provide some positive insight, and I am excited that UNM is your first choice. I would absolutely be willing to answer any questions you may have. I will email you shortly.... (I already have a ton of HW!!)

There are a lot of grads like you in my graduate cohort. The program at the University of New Mexico has an excellent bilingual program and I love it here.

@smslp, @Mpc11g I am happy it was helpful (: @macklin_b, I am so glad! So in my case I kept applying consistently to three schools that had put me on a waiting list and my home school (who rejected me), I also applied to different schools each time depending on their process, criteria etc. Apply to UNM!!

First off, let me just say I know how hard this process is. The time, money, decisions, waiting, and the hours of agonizing over the unknown possibility of either being accepted or rejected. Admittedly, I went through this process three times! Yes, it was awful.... BUT it was also amazing. You read that right. When I first applied to graduate school I confidently thought I "had it in the bag" (yes, a pompous brat) I had good grades, experience (SLP-A two years, volunteer, NSSLHA leader) had a decent GRE. Well, I got my "SLP" in the face when I was rejected; twice. I had a very real honest (honestly brutal) conversation with my graduate department's adviser and she basically said what the committee looks for in their applicants, are yes; good grades, decent GRE's (aiming for 150 verbal, 142 math), experience, but what they value even more, is a person with emotional maturity (yes, she was politely telling me what I lacked), someone with "grit", someone who other people would want to work with; someone who perseveres through hardships and challenges; opposed to crying, comparing, victimizing, freaking out ( yes this WAS me). I know this seems obvious, but have you made it obvious in your letters; what about LOR's? My advice was to work on my personal letter; to make it outstanding. I think committees look at the 100's of applicants and see a majority of wonderful students. My advice to you is to stay humble, be genuine (don't just say what you think they would want to hear; be YOU), ask yourself what type of person YOU would want to mentor; who would stand out to you if you were making these decisions and all there was, was a letter addressed to you? Also, from personal experience, don't let a rejection stop you from doing what you love, yes it hurts your pride, but pride will not help you achieve your goal; hard work will. So if you don't get in...have your personal moment ( always remain professional when within that environment; with teachers AND peers) and then move forward like the bad ass that you are, and focus on your unique reason for wanting that acceptance letter. I tried three times, and during the two years off, I went through my dramatic debilitating moments, but that advisors "tough love" gave me the "grit" to move FORWARD. I continued to work as an SLP-A, volunteered, took graduate classes, attended SLP workshops, formed positive professional relationships ( made sure to get and ask for, key word to always use: STRONG LOR's) and the third year I got my golden ticket into graduate school at The University of New Mexico. It was the best day, and hindsight I wasn't ready the first time, I needed that journey. We all have our own path and it definitely appears questionable sometimes, but trust in it, and your ability to overcome ALL obstacles; it will only make you better, it will only make you stronger. This may be corny to some of you (I'm corny) but I wanted to share because , well, to maybe help / guide/support someone who this might resonate with. Also, in case you wanted to know, grad school is awesome, hard, but everything so far is do-able. The University of New Mexico is a great school and I am so happy here as a first year graduate student. If any of you are thinking of attending feel free to chat me. XO and much love grad cafe SLPeeps P.S additional advice; stop comparing yourself to others, there are people here in my program with B's, low GRE's, have taken two SLP classes, have an undergraduate degree in art; point there is a wide-spectrum of differing applicants. One more thing, take breaks or remove yourself from grad cafe when and if it makes you feel discouraged and or/ is having a negative impact on your life and this experience; remember this is about YOU and not the person who has traveled the world and speaks all languages with a 4.3 and five research grants and 170's on their GRE; YOU DONT KNOW THAT SCHOOL'S PROCESS (if you do, well then share). Oh and leave my grammar alone...( just make sure your's is perfect in your statement)