Thanks so much for your reply. I definitely agree that there will be significantly more medical-based practicum opportunities given the structure of UW's program. What are your biggest concerns in choosing a program?
I have actually compared the duration and curriculum of all three programs, and I think there are several notable observations, as you suggest.
1) UW and Temple both require a second summer term, while the UO does not. I am wondering whether finishing in the summer becomes an issue with starting certain CFY positions - do you know anything about that?
2) The UO and UW programs begin in at the end of September, whereas Temple begins at the end of August. This is important to me because I currently have a well-paying job. Being able to work an additional month, or even just a couple of more weeks, would really help me save some extra money.
3) The UW program requires the greatest number of credits (I converted quarter hours to semester hours for comparison with Temple). It's about 12 additional semester hours of academic coursework and 12 additional semester hours of practicum relative to Temple's program. The practicum hours are about the same for the UO and UW, but UW has nearly 15 additional semester hours of academic coursework. This is actually appealing to me because a lot of the additional courses at the UW are advanced medical speech-language pathology courses, including a TBI seminar.
4) Two of the courses at Temple are audiology courses that I have already taken, and they don't allow you to waive them. I am also missing two of the pre-requisites that they require, which are graduate level courses for most programs (research methods is one). Although Temple allows you to take three graduate level classes as you complete any missing prerequisites, I don't know if the two that I need will be offered in the fall. I can't take them in the summer because I'm getting married and have already booked a honeymoon. It could end up delaying my entire program.
More on practicum and CFY: Because you can complete your full-time spring practicum at the UO anywhere in the country (they allow this because there really aren't many opportunities in Eugene, OR), it would be possible for me to try to arrange to have them in a city back in the northeast (which is where my fiance and I are from and want to settle long-term), but there is no guarantee I would be successful in securing them in the location of my choosing. I think that is really my biggest concern with the UO. It costs a lot less, and there are many more opportunities for scholarships / graduate assistantships, but you're getting significantly fewer credits and the uncertainty about where you will be able to complete your practicum experiences is a little unnerving. On top of that, people that I've spoken to that are working in the field on the east coast are definitely much more familiar with the UW's program - it has a national reputation. My intuition would tell me that going to a medical-based program may enhance my chances of getting a medical-based CFY, but I wish I had the data to support that. I will probably reach out to the program to ask how many of their graduates secure medical CFY placements.