Okay, honestly while Chicago is an amazing city (its gorgeous and I'll always have a special place in my heart for Chitown and the Cubs) I didn't end up meshing well with my cohort. Which is not to say it was their fault at all. But I was coming from NYC and most of my classmates were from the Midwest. Some were commuters and many already had friends or family in the city. Outside of class I spent most of my time alone and i had a hard time making friends in the place that was supposed to be my home for the next 2 years. I did have a good group of classmates & a couple of friends but most of the time it didn't make up for how unhappy and uninspired I was by my program. You can't pick your cohort but I would encourage you to visit open houses, go with your gut feelings, and look at the diversity of admitted students. Second, the program was focused on medical SLP and while I chose the program because of the unique opportunity it offered to be in a hospital setting, I realized I liked medical aspects of SLP but I loved the theoretical aspects, research, it's connection to psycholinguistics and that wasn't what my program prepared its students for. I went with what the school sold me as true about their program and not what I saw when I was at the open house. I encourage you to obviously consider what the school/program says about itself but ultimately get a sense of that yourself by talking to students and professors or even emailing if you can't go in person.
As for choosing a new school, I was basically in a do or die position. I didn't want to waste time and I wanted to be closer to home. I chose two schools based solely on the fact that I was nervous about how my transition would look to the admissions of schools and needed some safety choices (or what I would consider safety's even though all SLP programs are difficult to get into). What I really wanted after moving back home was to be able to live at home but commute to the city so I started there. I applied to Columbia TC last year and got in but it wasn't my first choice. But I decided to reapply as I am bilingual and I would be okay with this path. However, I decided to look up NYU's program and I fell in love with all the opportunities (around 10 different research labs, clinical placements, elective courses, and study abroad in Sweden), along with the location of the school in Manhattan. I would like to pursue my PhD in the future and that is clear to me now and I think NYU gives me an opportunity to pursue that and my interests.
I was lucky in that I found a school that I absolutely loved and felt was a much better fit the second time around and was able to get in. This all happened within the course of 2 weeks. But really put some thought into your programs before choosing one. I know a lot of people feel that it doesn't matter what school you go to as long as you get the degree but I've always felt that the program you choose does matter. It will shape the way you see SLP and your clients in the future. Plus no one wants to spend 2 years having a sucky experience especially when people are willing to move and change their life for grad school. You might as well pay good money for an education you'll actually enjoy!
Best of luck and feel free to message me anytime!
I was notified about my GA position a few weeks ago! They said I had till April 15 to decide by, which is also the regular decision date. It probably just depends on the school. You could email their financial aid offices to find out!
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