babykoala

Congratulations on your acceptances! I didn't know Emerson offered scholarships for their online program -- I wonder if they would award enough to defray the hefty price tag (or at least make them comparable to CSUN)!

I was a post-bacc -Honestly I think it makes you a more well-rounded clinician because you have different perspectives!  Elmhurst College in IL has an agreement to accept half it's graduate students from it's undergraduate CSD majors.  The Elmhurst undergrads apply early and get accepted early (before the deadline for everyone else).  It's a sort of a combined undergraduate/graduate program.  

I’m 31 and just started by my grad program this fall. It’s never too late to follow your dreams! Plus, at this age school is more important to me, which ultimately makes me a better student. 

Louly posted above that s/he got into the following programs: University of Oregon, U of Memphis, U of Utah, and Florida State.
 

No, I took mine a second time at the beginning of December to apply for schools with deadlines in January and February. I would say leave at least 4 weeks between your test and your app's due date. 

@AnnaB70 I did four classes online through Utah State University (I wrote about my experience on my blog too), and I liked it a lot. They were the MOST organized online classes I'd ever taken - seriously. And I got several admissions offers. I applied to schools that would let me finish the rest of my leveling courses as part of my masters. I'd be happy to tell you more about my experience at USU or at UNM where I'm in grad school. Feel free to PM me or email me through my blog

Different field here, but I would not mention it anywhere in your application materials. It may come across in a way you do not intend.

Grow a thick skin. --Your supervisors will critique you in every way possible, suck it up. It's a learning experience...even if they hurt your feelings, their opinions do not define who you are. Your laptop is your lifeline. Connect your school email to every technology you own especially your phone. Phonetics and speech-language development is worth knowing. Get used to not being "perfect" in graduate school. You won't get kicked out for getting a B ? Graduate school is not hard, it's just time consuming.  Prepping for an articulation session takes longer than two hours (until you know your kiddo quite well and/or perfected a few habits). Your classmates/professors/staff members are your colleagues. You do not have to like them but be respectful. Do not burn bridges. Treat this experience like a job because it is. Do not gossip. Research is so important in graduate school. Learn how to read articles. Be flexible. Everything you planned for in your session will most likely by altered by that little 5-year-old in front of you. Another clinician is currently using an item you needed? Find a different toy/activity that can still elicit what you want. Your client is having a bad day? you might end up tossing your lessons away and doing whatever to get them back on track. You will find yourself doing the most silliest things ever just for that speech production.  Even after a month of therapy, you'll still be nervous to see your clients and have NO clue what you are doing. LOL. That two minutes you have until your session starts is still a lot of time. You'll adjust to working under pressure. You're a natural, trust me. You know more than you think you do.  GOOD LUCK! 

I have noticed a lot of people struggle with writing their personal statement / letter of intent. It is a weird piece of writing that most people have never done before. One thing I've heard multiple people say is, "I've never even read one before..." To help I'm putting together some example personal statements to share as a download on my blog. Is anyone willing to share theirs so I can include it in the download? It would really help because writing lots of examples myself is a slow process, haha. 
I am a little worried about people taking them and using them as their own (although I hope no one is stupid enough to do that). I think part of the answer to that worry is that just because a personal statement was part of one person's successful application doesn't mean it will work elsewhere. Each set of circumstances is unique. 
Anyway, I hope I can count on a few people to help out! Send me a private message and I'll share my email 

Do not take up space in a decent country with your brainwashed canadian background. Stay put in canada.

Congrats to all those accepted!
To those who haven't been, don't give up hope! I applied to four programs when I was in my senior year, was wait listed at two programs and didn't end up getting in anywhere during the first round. I had a less than perfect GPA due to a "fresh start" from 10 years ago, but I didn't give up. As an undergrad I took two graduate level courses to prove my ability and got an A in each. I scored just a hair above average on the GRE. I made every possible effort to gain field related experience while I was in school, such as working as an ABA therapist, substitute paraprofessional and doing an independent study with aphasic patients at a skilled nursing facility. After graduation I started working as a SLPA in a public school. I have 2 and a half years of experience now and I feel that made a difference in my applications. I also spent a lot of time considering each individual school's prompt for the personal essay and personalized each one after researching each school's professors, areas of research, special programs etc.
I am 33 years old, married, with a 21 month old daughter. I have had to overcome many obstacles to get here, but I finally made it and I am SO proud. If this is your dream, do whatever you can to make it happen and rest knowing that you gave it your all!
Accepted to: University of South Carolina's MCD (distance) program, Northern Arizona University's summers track for Clinical Speech Pathology Master's
Waiting to hear from: University of Northern Colorado's online program for SLPAs (my top pick) Has anyone heard back yet?

I'm not sure which you qualify for, but DeVos is proposing an end to loan forgiveness programs as part of her education cuts.  I strongly urge everyone here to write their representatives in protest of these potentially disastrous cuts.  It's a disgrace, honestly. 

Peeps. I'm well into my 50's and hoping to get into a program someday that I won't finish until I'm north of 60. You are not "older", and there isn't a University anywhere that will care if you are in your late 20s. 

I'm in Utah and the school SLP starting pay is pitiful (like around 40k to start), but I think it's probably up there as worst in the nation. They are constantly hiring school SLPs here (gee I wonder why?). Caseload here is also bad but it depends on the district you work in. Also no state support for a caseload max, so you have to be super vocal/sticky wheel if they stick you with a high caseload. 

It really depends on the school district. I live in California, and you can view the salaries of speech pathologists in their district if you go to the school district's website. For my local school district, you can reach 100k in about five years. Starting is around 80k I believe. But again, I would check the school district websites. 
In terms of ease, I would shadow a school SLP. For some people, school SLP work is manageable, but it may not be so for others.

I don't think I would get my master's degree at a for-profit school.

For programs that are in the accreditation process, there is no penalty for graduates later if the program does not receive accreditation. Otherwise, no one would ever enroll in these programs. I believe there is just some extra paperwork required by ASHA when applying for your license to prove that you took all of the necessary classes and whatnot. 
"In 1991, the Council on Professional Standards in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology established the status of Candidate for Accreditation for emerging education programs in audiology and in speech-language pathology through the former Educational Standards Board (ESB). This status became necessary because, effective January 1, 1994, an individual’s eligibility for ASHA’s Certificates of Clinical Competence (CCC) was linked to graduation from an accredited program. The status of Candidacy for Accreditation allowed students enrolled in newly established education programs to be eligible to apply for the CCC upon graduation without penalizing the first class of students graduating from those programs. "
http://caa.asha.org/wp-content/uploads/Accreditation-Handbook.pdf
We have not received our aid yet for the second year, but there is a rumor that our director has something for all of us. I'm assuming they're trying to get the next class enrolled before worrying about our aid since tuition for spring and fall isn't even close to being due yet. 
UD is such a great school. The College of Health Sciences has such great programs - as evidenced by the physical therapy program being ranked #1 in the nation. Our director's goal is to make our speech program in the top 3 in the next 5 years.  Plus, there's so much research going on in many departments that you could get involved in. Our professors have a ton of knowledge and many of them are board certified in their specific areas that they teach.  What's also great is that everyone in our program is super close 

From my understanding M.A. vs. M.S. is just based on what college the department is housed in, or at least that is how someone explained it to me at an open house!

Hey, friends.
I apologize if this post isn't very substantial in content, but I'm looking for some reassurance/empathy/"I'm in the same boat" sorts of responses. I got into all schools I applied to, and made my choice for the school that is offering me a full GA position for the first year- 20 hours of work per week in exchange for full tuition remission (24 credits between fall and spring), and a tiny stipend. I'm excited and feel incredibly honored and humbled, but I'm also so, so scared. Has anyone else been offered a 20 hr/week GA position, and how do you feel? Has anyone on this board DONE a full year with a position like that? Any suggestions?
Thanks, all <3

Hi Lily, 
I would say forget rankings - they're kind of meaningless in the job market; During observations I did before grad school, I saw clinicians from top programs working in the same hospital with clinicians from "all the other" ranked programs. Even if you decide to go on in academia, they don't mean much.
I think cost is a big consideration - probably the biggest. I interviewed probably about half-a-dozen SLP's and they all told me to go to the most affordable school. While others clearly disagree, I think an extra $23,000 is a huge amount of money to be paying off in debt. That's a new car or two... or a down payment on a house!  
I'm also interested in bilingualism and multiculturalism. I was lucky that my most affordable school also had an emphasis in bilingualism/multiculturalism. I'm sorry that didn't align so nicely for you. Don't worry - you can pick up that extra training in other ways. Maybe there are classes in the education or special ed (or even other!) departments at both universities on multiculturalism. You can take them as an elective. You're going to do Continuing Ed. credits for the rest of your career. I think TC Columbia offers their bilingual program as a certificate you can do separate from the graduate program. There are posters and presentations at ASHA every year (I'm applying now to present one!) on multiculturalism. The books and articles on topics of interest are available to you. 
Finally, in my program I haven't even taken one of the special "bilingual/multicultural" assessment or development classes and I've already learned a ton about those topics. During your "regular" classes on assessment, intervention, etc - you should be covering these issues because they're kind of an inherent part of what we do. I ask questions about diverse populations all the time in classes not labeled "multicultural." When you get to chose a topic for an in-class research project, select something about "bilingual assessment" and you'll be reading the same literature / articles / journals as someone in a program with a "bilingual emphasis." 

I don't think we can really make any sort of judgment given that we don't know why your professor suggested that.
For what it's worth, according to my professors, there are definite benefits to doing your master's at another university, as departments can be a bit insular and going elsewhere exposes you to different people and perspectives. Not sure if that's what your professor was getting at though.

I don't think we can really make any sort of judgment given that we don't know why your professor suggested that.
For what it's worth, according to my professors, there are definite benefits to doing your master's at another university, as departments can be a bit insular and going elsewhere exposes you to different people and perspectives. Not sure if that's what your professor was getting at though.

I don't think we can really make any sort of judgment given that we don't know why your professor suggested that.
For what it's worth, according to my professors, there are definite benefits to doing your master's at another university, as departments can be a bit insular and going elsewhere exposes you to different people and perspectives. Not sure if that's what your professor was getting at though.

So relieved!! Just got my first acceptance from Milwaukee!

Waitlisted at UNC-Greensboro. I was expecting a rejection, so I'll take it!