[San Francisco State Universiy]

@Maridele I'll be driving home tomorrow night to get the mail, so it won't be that much longer actually LOL. But it seems like every second I spend thinking about it is so long! So is April 10 a receive by date or send by date? That's earlier than the decision deadlines for other schools! Is sending verification of COC basically accepting the conditional admission? I wish they could just say, "You've been accepted!" haha

[2017 Applicants Here!]

6 hours ago, jj134 said:

Has anyone heard any additional information about funding offers for MedSLP students (UW Seattle)? I know that the awards were cut by around 60% this year, but I am wondering if anyone has been offered an award yet or if they are still making decisions? Thanks!

 

4 hours ago, imunster said:

I'm between UW and a state school. The difference in tuition is MAJOR. I'm having a hard time deciding but I feel the same way. It's such a great opportunity and would feel silly not taking it! I also am interested in the purely med track. 

I'm CoreSLP and also waiting for more news on funding. It's such a shame it got cut so much  Did you guys receive work study in your financial aid package? I've yet to email the faculty member in charge of department work study to see how that works. I'm still waiting on SFSU to make my final decision, but will most likely be choosing UW in the end. I'm sure the cost will probably scare some people away though, so hold tight on funding! Good luck! I need to find some CoreSLP people LOL

[San Francisco State Universiy]

Dang, my letter will be arriving at my parents' address, who are on vacation for a week! I'll be driving home to pick up their mail anyway, but I guess I'll be waiting just a little while longer.

2 hours ago, Maridele said:

Congratulations!! @jmk I just got home from work and I also got a conditional acceptance!!! I am so happy right now! My first acceptance and my number one choice. Life changing day.

Congratulations on your first acceptance, and from your first choice! That is so exciting! Be proud of your accomplishments and rest easy now - you're going to grad school!!! 

1 hour ago, jmk said:

I'm so excited! I initially thought I might want to have an out of state adventure, but looking at the costs stopped me in my tracks! I was panicking because I didn't get into the other CA publics I had applied to, haha 

Yes, CA schools are so competitive, and out of state costs are so expensive! But you did it!! I'm glad you have a cheaper option, and at a great program you're familiar with as well. Congratulations on all your accomplishments!

[What Schools Are You Waiting On!?]

Still waiting on SFSU (interviewed), TC Columbia, and Fresno State. Fresno State is my current university and sends out decisions very late so I'm not too anxious about that one, plus I think I'll be attending another university anyway. I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't attend TC Columbia, but would like to know their decision so I can still compare my potential options and move on. SFSU is the only one I'm really anxious for, because it's my top CA program! It sounds like we'll be finding out from SFSU very very soon so fingers crossed for everyone who applied!

[San Francisco State Universiy]

Sigh... looks like it's just back to waiting, I guess lol. Good luck to all of us! It looks like we'll be finding out decisions soon, so I hope we hear good news  

[San Francisco State Universiy]

2 minutes ago, Maridele said:

I would assume that the financial aid information would be sent out after person has accepted? The girl who was in my interview group said that the letter required for her to do a background check and that acceptance is contingent on the results. She also said that they were going to sent out an email, however she has not received one yet. Her student center has not updated either. She lives in San Jose so perhaps she got the letter sooner because of her location?

I am super anxious because I know this week a lot of us will find out.

I'm also assuming it would be after acceptance, but I don't want to get my hopes too high... But it's relieving to hear the girl who got a letter hasn't received an email or had her student center updated. I would also expect an email before a letter, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Lol I was doing so good at patiently waiting for a decision, but all these weird notifications and the order of them has me overthinking!

[San Francisco State Universiy]

13 minutes ago, jmk said:

Word on the street is that the CD department sent their decisions to the graduate college last Thursday, who does the actual notifying for all departments. Notification should be via both snail mail, and email. 

Thank you so much for the update! The waiting is so agonizing, it's nice to at least know what's going on to calm my nerves a bit 

[San Francisco State Universiy]

* The above thread is not necessarily speech-language pathology, but does give insight to how graduate admissions work at SFSU. I'm going to call the speech department directly and see if I can get clarification from them

[San Francisco State Universiy]

So I'm at work killing time and stumbled upon this thread: 

@Maridele @KennyCyrilo It looks like the financial aid office and departments/admissions offices work separately, so we may receive financial aid packages and then a rejection or waitlist. Also, it would appear that calling would do very little for clarification :/ If I have time after work I'll probably still call just to hear it myself though lol. Seems a little disorganized to me, tbh... My decision is basically between SFSU and UW at this point, I just want to know their decision so I can move on lol

[San Francisco State Universiy]

@Maridele I so hope you're right!! I was thinking that they wouldn't send financial packages to everyone, so maybe it just got to me before my admission letter.... I really hope so lol! Will they notify us via email too? And in a less ambiguous message hahaha. 

[Professor advised me to attend another program]

Ah, I can see why that response from your professor even after probing would be pretty odd. In any case, as you've already said in above posts, the decision comes down to you and you seem to already know a lot about your programs of interest! I hope you'll get more thorough advice from other professors and people soon as well lol. By the way, congratulations on your acceptance! You have a bright future wherever you attend graduate school!

[Professor advised me to attend another program]

I don't think it is inappropriate or odd, but it may depend on how they go about it. I would say it may be inappropriate if they give you such a suggestion in a way that makes you feel unwelcome at your own university. My mentor, although she believes in the quality of my university's program and really wants me to attend, is pushing harder for me to attend other universities. She has made it clear that she believes it is ultimately in my best interest to attend another university and be exposed to other perspectives and people, especially given my career goals. I don't think she is really telling me where to go, or saying I should limit my options. Rather, I think it is her suggesting I expand my options and look farther outside of my university. She's given similar advice to my friends, some of whom have totally gone against her suggestion and applied only to our university because they're sure it's where they want to go lol. 

That being said, she did at least give us reasons for her suggestions. I don't know how your professor went about suggesting you attend another university, but I would say if you are bothered about it you should politely ask that professor why they gave that advice. The feeling that it is inappropriate may just be a misunderstanding due to unclear communication. I am sorry you are feeling uncomfortable with the situation, and I hope it clears up soon! 

[San Francisco State Universiy]

I received the same email, and also no update about application status when I checked. It sounded like my application had moved from general graduate admissions to the speech-language pathology department, which confused me because I had already interviewed with the program so I assumed that transfer had already happened anyway lol. I also received a financial aid package shortly after, which was more confusing because in my experience I haven't received a financial aid package until being admitted first. Very confusing, I'll be calling tomorrow to follow up

[When to ask for Letters of Rec (and how to go about it)]

I see you've gotten a lot of great responses already, so I'll just tack on my experience! I requested letters mid-September. I gave my professors/supervisors copies of my unofficial transcript, resume, and personal statement (draft). I also provided a list of schools that included brief explanations of why I was interested in the program, the application deadline, and the method for submitting the LOR (online or through mail, signature on the seal, etc.). If the program required professors to fill out a recommendation form, I printed that out and filled as much as I could. I also included pre-addressed envelopes for programs that required physical mail-in applications. They have a lot of recommendations to write so they'll appreciate you making it as easy as possible for them to write a great LOR  

[2017 Applicants Here!]

23 minutes ago, jj134 said:

Thanks for the update! It is very unfortunate that the awards were cut by 60% this year. I was told that they aren't able to offer me any funding at the moment, unless more money surfaces within the next few weeks. I really hope I get some funding!

EDIT: I got accepted to the MedSLP program. 

A huge congratulations on your acceptance, what an accomplishment!! I seem to keep running into MedSLP admits around here lol. I really hope you get some funding  The budget cut is so untimely! I got a sense that they're really frustrated about it as well - 60% is a LOT less money. Maybe they'll be able to shift some stuff around and allocate some more money toward awards. 

23 minutes ago, imunster said:

Bummer. I haven't received any word from them. Who should I email? 

On another note. Received a rejection from CSULA (which I expected) and a call from CSUF notifying me of my acceptance!

I've been emailing Dr. Kristie Spencer who oversees recruitment scholarships for incoming graduate students, so I would start by emailing her. She's very nice and pretty quick about replying! There are other faculty members who oversee other types of funding, like work-study and paid TA positions. I haven't contacted them yet, but I'll probably be contacting them soon to see what other forms of funding I'll be able to receive, especially since recruitment awards are slim this year :/ 

Btw, sorry to hear about CSULA. But hey, congratulations on CSUF!!!!  This process is such a rollercoaster haha

[2017 Applicants Here!]

@flaslp2be @imunster and anyone else waiting to hear about departmental recruitment scholarships from UW: I just got an email about funding! I was told the budget for recruitment scholarships was slashed by 60% so they're working on moving around less resources than they've had to in the past  I got a small offer that they will try to increase in the next week or two. Apparently applicants for CoreSLP who are eligible for the WICHE program will, for now, be receiving smaller offers due to in-state tuition being already financial assistance in itself. If you're still waiting to hear back from UW about recruitment scholarships, definitely shoot an email their way! They're great at responding quickly and thoroughly. Good luck!

[2017 Applicants Here!]

6 hours ago, flaslp2be said:

I feel like this is a very stupid question, but I got an email from UW Office of Student Financial Aid that linked to my financial aid report, is this where we should see departmental funding or is this just stuff from FAFSA? There is something on there about a work study, would that be the departmental aid or is that something federally awarded? 

Not a silly question at all! I mentioned in my post above that the vibe I got was that they would contact us directly with departmental funding. When I emailed them last Saturday, they told me that they would receive the final budget for scholarship distribution last Wednesday. I'm assuming they're still determining scholarship awards and will contact us directly when it's finalized. For work study, I believe that if we qualify on our FAFSA, we can contact one of the faculty members to talk about working in the department (often in the research labs). Otherwise, I think we can apply to other jobs that are for work study students. Not sure if you're in CoreSLP, but I got that last bit of information here: https://sphsc.washington.edu/financial-assistance-0 Hope that helps!

[Official Interview Thread 2017]

On 3/11/2017 at 4:26 PM, Maridele said:

Yea.. that day is sorta of a blur now..but they did say we we're a really great group?  Like they emphasized the statement.. MEHh maybe I'm looking into it too much but I really think we all did great. I also heard that they prioritize sfsu students. How accurate is this? 

A girl in my group who graduated from SFSU last year said that out of 30 students accepted, 15 tend to have completed their undergrad in SFSU. I know in other schools they take waaaay more of their bwn students so that number actually relieved me lol! But I'm not sure how accurate that is. She also said that in her graduating class, apparently almost no SFSU students applied right away to the program, so they ended up accepting a lot more students from other schools. I suppose it depends on how many students from SFSU apply, but it seems they really want to hit at least 50%!

[Reapply or Plan B?]

Just gonna tack on another recommendation for Magoosh. It was all I used, and it was so helpful to me. It helped me pinpoint which questions were more difficult for me so I could focus on those questions. It also had helpful videos. What do you find most difficult about the GRE? Are there certain types of questions that you find trickier? Are you having difficulty with pacing? I would try to see if there are any specific things about the GRE that are preventing those additional ~10 points and focus on those. You can also try looking into attending some classes, if you haven't already.

Other than that, I don't think a 2nd bachelors is necessary. I think your prereqs are enough, and like someone said, doing another bachelors may just mean you "double-take" the same prereqs while not adding on any additional prereq courses. You have fantastic experiences as a special ed teacher that make you a great candidate! If you are interested in finding out more about out-of-state programs that may fit your needs, there are many threads on this forum with discussions about programs that accept "lower" scores, as well as cost-friendlier programs than those typically found along the coast. Good luck!

[2017 Applicants Here!]

21 hours ago, imunster said:

Were you able to create a UW ID? Wanted to check my financial aid offers since they're out but couldn't sign up for one because I'm missing the PAC code which shows up on my friends grad app but not mine  Looks like I have to call them on Monday. 

I found my PAC number, I'm sorry you have to call. Btw, I did not receive any scholarship notices as part of my financial aid package yet, but was under the impression that for departmental scholarships they will email us directly - at least, that was the vibe I got from the acceptance email and when I emailed them myself! I may be wrong though. I would try emailing them and just asking if they have distributed their scholarships yet, wouldn't hurt  

[GRAD SCHOOL JOURNEY!]

Began my undergrad in communicative disorders, though I stumbled upon it by chance and chose the major mostly because it seemed interesting and like something I would enjoy. After my first year, I started to become disenchanted with the field. I took psych classes to transition to a psych major, and took a job as a behavior technician at an early intervention center for kids with autism since that population has always held a special place in my heart (my younger brother has high functioning ASD). Ironically, dabbling into another field and getting some real world clinical experience made me fall back in love with speech path! Speech-language pathology had more context and meaning to me. I found that my clients, even though they received ABA services, were not progressing as quickly in their communication skills as they would have if an SLP were on their team. It made me want to become a certified SLP so I could REALLY help out. 

This is my first year applying to grad programs. I have a high GRE that I thankfully only had to take once, and a solid GPA. However, comparatively little experience in the field compared to many other applicants. Most of my experience is in ABA, despite being a communicative disorders major. But it seems to be ok! Accepted so far to SDSU, UNC Chapel Hill, and UW, waitlisted at CSULB, and just interviewed at SFSU. Still waiting on two more programs. I'll be graduating from my undergrad this spring with a major in communicative disorders: speech-language pathology and a minor in psychology, behavioral psych emphasis. My passion is in, of course, working with families and individuals affected by ASD, and I also love interdisciplinary collaboration. I hope to continue my education to obtain a PhD and continue pursuing research, and/or potentially become a dual certified BCBA-SLP. It used to be much easier to get dual certification, but it's harder now so we'll see. 

Anyway, I would say my journey taught me that immersing myself in a subject is the best way to find a passion for it. I know this is kind of obvious and isn't always the case, but looking back, it seemed like I was just going through the motions that first year of undergrad. No wonder I wasn't feeling it! I'm glad that fire was reignited because I can't picture myself in anything else, and I can't wait for the future  

[Official Interview Thread 2017]

6 hours ago, jmk said:

@pbandj  I wonder if they were re-using situations. My situation was very black and white as well, and agreement was reached within the first five minutes. 

Same here. One of the girls afterward told us the situation one of her friends received during her interview, and the solution also seemed obvious. It just makes me wonder how they can determine collaboration skills or communication style when everyone agrees so quickly? 

[2017 Applicants Here!]

57 minutes ago, Elska said:

Fingers crossed for you! Not sure if I'll accept, so if I don't, I hope it helps you out!

Thank you so much, that means a lot! I'm grateful I have other options lined up already. I'm not sure I would accept if I get off the waitlist anyway lol so hopefully that might help someone else out! Congratulations on your acceptances, and good luck on making a decision  

[Official Interview Thread 2017]

Hi everyone,

Just got done with a group interview at SFSU! It went just like @jmk said, except we didn't even have a chance for questions! However, I did briefly talk with one of the faculty members during our handshake and followed up our conversation with an email. Hopefully I get to demonstrate my interest in the program that way, because I feel like without the opportunity to ask questions the faculty members would find it difficult to gauge your interest. I felt like my group collaborated well together. However, the situation given to us seemed pretty black and white. I expected that there would be more disagreement within the group, but we came to a consensus pretty quickly. I'm curious if most group interviews that present a situation are similar? Does anyone have a story about a group that had disagreements for resolving a situation?

[2017 Applicants Here!]

Just checked my email and I got a message from CSULB that I'm on the wait list Not surprised, everyone during the interview was so competitive! Congratulations to everyone who got in!! March is going by so quickly to me!