ElKel87

@sophianc I was in the same out-of-field boat, only I graduated 8 years ago! Did not keep in touch with any of my professors from undergrad. I agree with what @zurako said above. Some schools don't even require the letter writers to be academic, so you could ask a supervisor or someone at an organization you volunteered with instead. The important thing, in my opinion, is that the letter is a strong one that sings your praises in as specific ways as possible. Also, one of my online professors told me she didn't write letters for online students, so cast your net wide in case anyone says no. My final letters came from a former boss, a professor from an online SLP pre-req, and a mentor who supervised me in a work study position at the campus radio station in undergrad. FWIW - NYU was adamant that at least 2 of my LOR come from academic sources and they accepted me anyway with the three above. Maybe they considered that last one "academic," who knows. All to say, if you're really unsure you could reach out to the schools you're applying to explaining that you're out of field and see what they say.

Personally, I think your stats and experience are great and you'd be a perfect candidate for all of the schools you listed. Because this field is so competitive, I think it's important to find a way in your SOP to set yourself apart from other applicants with similarly high stats and similar experiences. At one of the open houses I attended, someone asked if there was anything specific they were looking for in applications. The department chair said everyone has a relative or a friend or someone they know who has a communication disorder and they're sick of reading essays about that. They want to know what makes you special, what makes you uniquely qualified to be an SLP. Kind of cliche advice I guess but I don't think anything needs improving in your stats so just thought I'd throw it out there. Also, I know I'm biased since it's the school I'll be attending this fall, but since you said you're looking for a medical focus another school you might want to consider is New York Medical College. Edited to add: I just remembered that a girl that I took some pre-reqs with is at MGH now and, last I heard, she loves it.

I also have a BA in Communications, not SLP, and I'll be 30 this fall so it's definitely not too late for you I agree with @plume that it's a personal choice. In my opinion, and I'm sure some will disagree, I don't think a second bachelors is worth the money unless your undergrad GPA is not great and you want to try to boost that. I do think it's worth it to take a couple of prereqs to give you some background in the field, even if it's just one Intro to Communication Disorders class. This will help show the AdComms that you're serious about the change, as @Crimson Wife mentioned above. Volunteering and shadowing is also a great idea, probably even more beneficial than prereqs because it will give you something to talk about in your statement of purpose. While it may feel like your background is completely unrelated, I think there are ways to show in your SOP how you can translate the skills and education you already have into a career in SLP. There are some programs that incorporate the prereqs into the curriculum in one way or another (NYU, Columbia, and NYMC are examples from the ones I applied to). Sometimes this means the program is longer than 2 years. This is the case with NYU and Columbia but not with NYMC, which is one of the reasons I ultimately chose that program. It's helpful to attend open houses to get a feel for what the programs and faculty are like. In my opinion, some schools are more welcoming to out-of-field applicants than others. Some that I visited claimed to allow out-of-fielders after they complete a list of prereqs, but I didn't feel very welcome or encouraged to apply after attending their open houses. FWIW - I took 5 CSD prereqs (all of the ones required by CUNY Hunter) to boost my undergrad GPA and get an introduction to the field. Some of the schools I applied to had more prereqs than that, but they were either ones I could take as part of the program if accepted or ones I could complete the summer before starting. Sorry for the long post! If you have any other questions feel free to message me. I just went through this process a year ago so I know how daunting it can seem at first.

Parents' income doesn't affect the amount of loans you get at the graduate level and there's no requirement to demonstrate financial need. The school calculates the cost of attendance for the year (tuition, room & board, books, etc.) and you can borrow up to that number. You should always borrow the $20,500 unsubsidized stafford loans first because they have a lower interest rate. After that you get Grad PLUS loans. So for example, if the school said cost of attendance for the year was $50k total you would borrow $20,500 unsubsidized stafford loans and then $29,500 in Grad PLUS loans. That's assuming you aren't going to be paying for any part of it out of pocket. This website has a lot of great information about all the types of loans, interest rates, etc. Hope that helps! https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/index.action

I'm also out of field and am in the process of wrapping up my observation hours now. Asking in your advising appointment if UT Austin has any connections for hours is definitely a good place to start. I did a mix of cold calling and emailing for mine. Briefly explain that you are starting a leveling program in the fall and are trying to get some observation hours in because you are out of field and ask if they allow that. I started out by searching for speech language pathologists in my area and when I didn't have much luck that way I started searching by type of disorder + my area. The latter method is how I found the aphasia group I'm using for some of my hours. I would also suggest looking at private practices and nonprofits. I did the bulk of my hours at a nonprofit that runs events and therapy sessions for kids who stutter. I've found smaller organizations are more open to shadowing than some of the hospitals I reached out to who said no due to HIPAA restrictions. Not sure if your undergrad university has a speech program but, if so, you could try reaching out to the alumni network there. Also, this probably varies by school, but the graduate program I'll be starting in the fall requires me to fill out a report listing the session goals, techniques/materials/strategies used, and general observations about the session. I had previously been using a basic template that I found online which only documented the date, length of session, location and the SLP's signature and ASHA number. I think the level of detail my program requires is uncommon, but I'm having to backtrack a bit now (and kicking myself for it!) to fill out the report so I would suggest jotting down some notes on the sessions you observe to be safe.

@melars You should be fine! I was able to get in touch with the financial aid office at my school and they told me they will not contact my employer and they don't even look at that information. (His exact words were actually "Don't worry, your secret is safe with us." )

I agree with all that @Speechster has said already. I also wanted to add that the PLUS loans have a slightly higher interest rate than the unsubsidized stafford loans. So unless you are paying off all of the interest while you're in school, your loan balance when you graduate will be higher with the PLUS loans than it would be if you just did unsubsidized stafford loans. Obviously it's not an option for everyone to only take out $20,500 to cover your grad school expenses (myself included), but just wanted to put that info out there. @maurmaur I think the disbursement dates for aid vary by school. My school has two disbursement dates for the first year (August and January I believe) and then 3 disbursement dates for the second year which covers the summer semester.

I agree with @Pjeak. It sounds like cost is the main reason you would go with Grand Valley and, personally, I don't think a $14k difference is enough for that to be the deciding factor. I could see that point of view if one was in the $40k range and the other was over $100k (like NYU and Columbia are, for example) but otherwise I don't know if all the other compromises like location, lack of accreditation, etc make that worth it. UMass also seems like a better fit all around based on the pros and cons list you provided. Good luck!

@amy.will I graduated in 2009 as well and I didn't have any issues. I heard the 10 year rule from a few schools but the impression I got was that it was flexible, especially if you're only a year or two off. I'm a career changer, so my expiring credits were for the foundational courses in statistics, chemistry, psychology etc. and I took most of those my freshman and sophomore years so they were definitely older than 10 years. I'm not sure if there would be the same amount of flexibility for any CSD courses you may have taken in undergrad, those I think would vary by school, as you said. The school I'll be attending doesn't have any CSD pre-reqs because their graduate courses cover everything. FWIW - I just looked up the foundational courses on ASHA's site and they don't mention the 10 year rule anywhere, just that you need to have taken them before you receive your CCC and that they may be incorporated into your graduate level courses. So sounds like that 10 year rule is something set in place by the individual schools, not ASHA.

My undergrad GPA was a 3.38 and I got into a few schools with a GPA range higher than that. The school I'll be attending in the fall said they had a requirement of 3.5 but when I spoke to them at the open house they said they would still consider me if my application showed improvement. I'm a career changer, so I was able to discuss in my statement of purpose that my time in the workplace made me a more motivated, hard working and disciplined student than I was in undergrad. It also helped that I received a 4.0 in my post-bacc, which brought my cumulative GPA up, so definitely make sure to get straight A's in your remaining courses, as you mentioned. As others have already said, I also had very strong letters of recommendation and pretty good GRE scores (151Q, 161V, 5 AW). The analytical writing score in particular seemed to be really important to many of the schools I looked at.

I don't have personal experience with this necessarily, but I had a sort of similar conversation with one of my post-bacc professors before I started applying. We were talking about where I might want to work after grad school and, because I am "older" and not coming right out of undergrad, he told me to consider if and when I want to start a family because some areas (ie: hospitals vs. schools) will be more flexible with maternity leave, hours, etc. than others. I'll be 32 when I graduate and I understand people have children well into their 40s these days but I would prefer not to wait that long. He joked that I could definitely have a baby while in grad school, but to try not to plan my due date for the same day as graduation. Which I took to mean that yes, it's possible. I also have a family friend who had her daughter while she was getting her SLP masters. She told me she would not recommend it if you have a choice but that it was manageable and she obviously doesn't regret it. FWIW - I was born while my Dad was going through law school. I know it's a different field, but I think law school is definitely up there with the more intense programs and my parents survived. I asked them once why they chose to start a family then, and they said they thought long and hard about it but that ultimately everyone told them there is never a "perfect time" to do it. You'll always feel like life is too hectic or you don't have enough money. It will definitely be a lot of work and require good time management, but I think if you and your wife feel ready you should go for it. Just my 2 cents!

Hi! Speech @ NYU is online and I believe has spring, summer and fall starts.

@Hnolan Likewise! No, I'm going to be commuting so I don't know too much about it. I think a few of the people in the Facebook group said they submitted applications for on campus housing this week though so it sounds like you'd definitely have people to room with if you wanted.

@Hnolan Awesome, nice to virtually meet you! It seems like there's quite a few of us "older" students in the cohort which is nice I saw your other post about housing, are you in the Facebook group? I think there are some people there who are looking for roommates.

@Afternoonprogram I can't speak to Clinical Methods specifically, but I have taken two courses online through Sacred Heart (Intro to Comm. Disorders and Biology). While I liked both classes, I felt that I would have learned just as much, if not more, through self-study.