Paslp

Chill out homie and enjoy your summer. The ride hasn't even started yet.

Hi!
I'd say it doesn't matter what school you go to. I would think the best way to work in the medical field is to secure a CF position in whatever setting you would like to continue, which I do not think is impacted by the school you attend. What do you mean by medical; outpatient or inpatient, or SNF? Snf positions are not too difficult to obtain. Outpatient is a little harder. Inpatient is more difficult to break into because its mostly slps with experience treating medically fragile patients. Usually by having worked per diem in the hospital they are able to get a full time position.
Basically, the school doesn't matter. Finding a hospital willing to hire CFYs so you get the necessary experience and mentorship does. Networking I think is also a big factor if you want to work inpatient right out of school.

Hi!
I'd say it doesn't matter what school you go to. I would think the best way to work in the medical field is to secure a CF position in whatever setting you would like to continue, which I do not think is impacted by the school you attend. What do you mean by medical; outpatient or inpatient, or SNF? Snf positions are not too difficult to obtain. Outpatient is a little harder. Inpatient is more difficult to break into because its mostly slps with experience treating medically fragile patients. Usually by having worked per diem in the hospital they are able to get a full time position.
Basically, the school doesn't matter. Finding a hospital willing to hire CFYs so you get the necessary experience and mentorship does. Networking I think is also a big factor if you want to work inpatient right out of school.

Like already mentioned, I'd definitely suggest the Princeton review book. Registering the book online gives you two real tests. They score the entire thing, including the essays with feedback! Their tests, imo, were exactly like the actual gre.

HI Chloslp
I think many schools do it differently. At mine they sent out acceptances, then a week later they sent out GA offers. They don't have applications in my slp dept, because they decide based off of your graduate application. The award includes reduced tuition and a weekly stipend. Hourly, I'll be paid less than a graduate student worker who does not receive a tuition reduction. I don't think it hurts to inquire about possible opportunities. If that department has nothing left they may direct you to where you can find more positions.

I have never thought about that.  I like people so I never wanted a job in a cubicle. As to how I picked speech path:
I had no other options but to attend a university 10 minutes from my house. My parents are both blue collar workers and basically said pick a major from the ones listed on the school website. I picked speech path because it didn't require a science lab. I ended up liking it and sticking with it.

I have never thought about that.  I like people so I never wanted a job in a cubicle. As to how I picked speech path:
I had no other options but to attend a university 10 minutes from my house. My parents are both blue collar workers and basically said pick a major from the ones listed on the school website. I picked speech path because it didn't require a science lab. I ended up liking it and sticking with it.

I would say program accreditation and cost should be most important. While interests are important, every program comes equipped with many of the same courses that would allow for a person to get a very general knowledge of the field. Whatever your interests are, I think most programs have at least 1 class pertaining to it. I don't know if most slp jobs require specialization. I think it's usually just if you passed the praxis and have work experience. 
Other things that I think are important to think about are the type of faculty. Do they have separate clinical and teaching faculty? If so, would that make it harder to apply clinical information from class with clients? Are the teachers just "academics" or do they have clinical experience? 
There are other things I never thought to take into consideration until others mentioned them:
-Some schools don't provide therapy materials for there students. One highly ranked and very expensive school actually forces all students to make or bring their own materials.
-talking to other grad students, i was told another Highly ranked program in a city offers absolutely no help in obtaining externships. 
-another girl I spoke with said her program materials and tests room were very disorganized. That's definitely a problem if you are rushing to plan a therapy session. 
To make the best decision I would suggest visiting and touring facilities. That way you can also find grad students to talk to.

I dont necessarily find it inconsiderate for schools to wait that long because at least they are letting you know how long to wait. I DO find it inconsiderate for a school to send out some acceptances early on and then wait WEEKS to notify other accepted/waitlisted students. It sends me on an anxiety trip! I would rather a school wait until the end of the month and release everything to everyone at once. Now im stuck waiting AND wondering if one school is really still reviewing apps or if they are just taking their time sending out waitlists and rejections.  Sorry I just had to get that out. Thanks for the forum Angela4 and congrats on your acceptance!

I dont necessarily find it inconsiderate for schools to wait that long because at least they are letting you know how long to wait. I DO find it inconsiderate for a school to send out some acceptances early on and then wait WEEKS to notify other accepted/waitlisted students. It sends me on an anxiety trip! I would rather a school wait until the end of the month and release everything to everyone at once. Now im stuck waiting AND wondering if one school is really still reviewing apps or if they are just taking their time sending out waitlists and rejections.  Sorry I just had to get that out. Thanks for the forum Angela4 and congrats on your acceptance!

I dont necessarily find it inconsiderate for schools to wait that long because at least they are letting you know how long to wait. I DO find it inconsiderate for a school to send out some acceptances early on and then wait WEEKS to notify other accepted/waitlisted students. It sends me on an anxiety trip! I would rather a school wait until the end of the month and release everything to everyone at once. Now im stuck waiting AND wondering if one school is really still reviewing apps or if they are just taking their time sending out waitlists and rejections.  Sorry I just had to get that out. Thanks for the forum Angela4 and congrats on your acceptance!

I dont necessarily find it inconsiderate for schools to wait that long because at least they are letting you know how long to wait. I DO find it inconsiderate for a school to send out some acceptances early on and then wait WEEKS to notify other accepted/waitlisted students. It sends me on an anxiety trip! I would rather a school wait until the end of the month and release everything to everyone at once. Now im stuck waiting AND wondering if one school is really still reviewing apps or if they are just taking their time sending out waitlists and rejections.  Sorry I just had to get that out. Thanks for the forum Angela4 and congrats on your acceptance!

Unpatiently waiting on MONTCLAIR and BLOOMSBURG!
I feel like such a child but the wait is too much 

Called again today and was told not to worry just yet. She said they release decisions in waves. They look at some and then periodically send out acceptances up until the end of march.

Called this morning and was told there are still a lot of applications they're reviewing. She said everyone will know before the end of the month whether they've been accepted or rejected. Through email and portal first. Then a letter in the mail. @lindsayg1993 where did you see people getting accepted? Or gradcafe?

If you look at the course sequence for each grad program that should give you the info you're looking for. I applied to a school that is 6 semesters but that is because they offer only 4, 5 classes a semester and have 3 in school clinical practicums before the externships. 

Happy you are doing better after therapy!
While i dont know anything about Mcgil my personal opinion is that you have a great chance. Your personal experiences sound like they will far outweigh any type of volunteering experience or lack of. 
For all grad programs I'm aware of, 3.8 GPA is a solid GPA that will get you into most schools easily. The main point is you've demonstrated academic excellence in your studies. That proves you can handle a heavy workload in slp grad school. Extra language skills are also good.
As long as you don't get 10th percentile on the GRE I'm pretty sure you'll get in wherever you apply. 
But then again, you're in canada. I have no idea how things work up there. Hopefully everything works in our favor when acceptances start rolling out!

I asked my advisor the same question. They said It really depends on how competitive your area is and how competitive you are as an applicant. If you feel your stats are in a comfortable range I don't know if you have to apply to a ton of schools.

I'm applying to speech programs and for the applications that didn't specify a limit I wrote a 2 paged single spaced essay for each. I would not write anything too long because I have heard some schools may just skim through essays if they seem drawn out. Especially if they receive hundreds of applications. You could contact the schools and ask how many pages the essays usually are for there program.
If the program doesn't have many details online you could look at their graduate curriculum. That way you could mention something like "I look forward to required courses in pediatric dysphagia after volunteering at a children's hospital" and then describe a relevant experience. Looking at the differences in their curriculum versus other schools you are interested in will show that you've done research on their program and have specific interests in the field.
Just my 2 cents

I'm applying to speech programs and for the applications that didn't specify a limit I wrote a 2 paged single spaced essay for each. I would not write anything too long because I have heard some schools may just skim through essays if they seem drawn out. Especially if they receive hundreds of applications. You could contact the schools and ask how many pages the essays usually are for there program.
If the program doesn't have many details online you could look at their graduate curriculum. That way you could mention something like "I look forward to required courses in pediatric dysphagia after volunteering at a children's hospital" and then describe a relevant experience. Looking at the differences in their curriculum versus other schools you are interested in will show that you've done research on their program and have specific interests in the field.
Just my 2 cents