AlwaysaFalcon

I was accepted into graduate school with an overall gpa of 3.35 so yours is great!

Are you referring to a medical placement in your graduate program or a medical placement during your CFY?
If you are able to shadow I definitely think it would help as far as a medical placement goes and for experience to put on your resume. As far as I'm aware most graduate programs will provide you with a medical placement or have options for you to find one so I wouldn't be worried about gaining medical experience.
As far as a medical CFY it's not impossible to get! I know a couple of my classmates that work in SNFs for their CFYs and in my experience/from what I've heard SNFs are more desperate/willing to take a CF compared to a rehabilitation clinic or a hospital unless you already have prior experience at that facility. However, if you don't get a medical cf that doesn't mean you'll never be able to work in a medical facility. You can work per diem to gain experience or shadow or take CEUs. I hope that helped!

Lewis University in Chicago accepts students with 2.75 GPA, no GRE. There are a lot of new programs that don't require the GRE, will overlook GPA and rely more on your essay, LORs, experiences, and interview. Apply to as many schools as possible, look for developing programs, and turn in your application EARLY (like September-October instead of January-February). That will give the admissions committee a chance to look at your entire application. Here are some of the developing programs I've found besides Lewis:
Moravian College
Carlow University
Pace University
Kean University
Widener University
Gannon University
St. Augustine University
Best of luck!

Try applying to some of the newer, less known school's! I just got accepted into Albizu University with a pretty low gpa. I think it's because on EdFind it shows they're in Puerto Rico, but their other campus is in Miami so barely anyone applies. Pretty neat school too, classes are Friday and Saturday so you can still work and right now they're online.  Definitely check EdFind for school's that are a little more new and check their stats to see if your gpa and gre scores are around the same. Also try adding experience too.  

I used to print the PPT handout in the Notes format (3 slides/page) and write on it.

I don't know what you ended up deciding but before I started my clinical rotations I became depressed. My body and mind finally had to time to deal with the prolonged stress and anxiety to deal with graduate school. During graduate school I had multiple instances of self doubt, anxiety and a professor that bullied me and made me feel inadequate. The best decision I ever made was to utilize the counseling center through my school. Most programs will have free or reduced rates for services. It was my first time receiving counseling and was nervous but it was so worth it. My practicum was also a welcome distraction from my emotions. It was a process and sometimes I'm still learning to deal with my triggers (hello 2020 and a cfy during a global pandemic) but I'm so proud of myself that I invested in myself and my mental health. Obviously you know yourself better than any of us do online but I personally knew I needed to push through with help and let me tell you that it's a better world out their compared to graduate school. In my experience my clinical supervisors were so supportive and encouraging and helped to improve my confidence. Please pm if you need anything else! You've got this and you should be proud of yourself for recognizing you might need to take a step back. 

I don't know what you ended up deciding but before I started my clinical rotations I became depressed. My body and mind finally had to time to deal with the prolonged stress and anxiety to deal with graduate school. During graduate school I had multiple instances of self doubt, anxiety and a professor that bullied me and made me feel inadequate. The best decision I ever made was to utilize the counseling center through my school. Most programs will have free or reduced rates for services. It was my first time receiving counseling and was nervous but it was so worth it. My practicum was also a welcome distraction from my emotions. It was a process and sometimes I'm still learning to deal with my triggers (hello 2020 and a cfy during a global pandemic) but I'm so proud of myself that I invested in myself and my mental health. Obviously you know yourself better than any of us do online but I personally knew I needed to push through with help and let me tell you that it's a better world out their compared to graduate school. In my experience my clinical supervisors were so supportive and encouraging and helped to improve my confidence. Please pm if you need anything else! You've got this and you should be proud of yourself for recognizing you might need to take a step back. 

Great idea! The vast majority of people on Grad Cafe are applying or maaaybe in grad school, so there are very few actual SLPs on here to provide advice (although there is the Reddit SLP sub, where I'm pretty active.)
I'm also a CF and am free for questions, although it looks like we're both school CFs, so we might not have very different insights on things. I recognize your username from when I was applying, and it's awesome to see that we both made it through and are real-life SLPs!

So I currently work at a school for my CF so from personal experience I can't answer that, but I do know the slp that previously had my position worked in the school and then once she was done moved out to California and now works in a hospital. It may be more difficult to get a medical cf but it's not impossible. It all just depends on what you are looking out of from a cfy experience. Traditionally I know it's easier to get medical settings such as snfs compared to hospitals unless you have that connection with a hospital because snfs, especially during COVID are more open to hiring cfs but in this case you may be more willing to jump into the deep end with less support because of productivity standards. You could take continuing education CEUS during your CF but they won't count towards your CEUS hours needed after you obtain your CCCs. I hope that makes sense. I also recommend shadowing medical slps if you can if your goal is a medical cf. 

Title is pretty self explanatory but I"m a current CF and open to any questions you might have! Anything from applying to internships to picking a setting and more!

So I currently work at a school for my CF so from personal experience I can't answer that, but I do know the slp that previously had my position worked in the school and then once she was done moved out to California and now works in a hospital. It may be more difficult to get a medical cf but it's not impossible. It all just depends on what you are looking out of from a cfy experience. Traditionally I know it's easier to get medical settings such as snfs compared to hospitals unless you have that connection with a hospital because snfs, especially during COVID are more open to hiring cfs but in this case you may be more willing to jump into the deep end with less support because of productivity standards. You could take continuing education CEUS during your CF but they won't count towards your CEUS hours needed after you obtain your CCCs. I hope that makes sense. I also recommend shadowing medical slps if you can if your goal is a medical cf. 

? How easy is it to sit behind a keyboard and anonymously tear someone down who is clearly overwhelmed and hurting? You must feel so great about yourself, congratulations on being a bully, just what our field needs! Another miserable SLP I see, I've met quite a few like you. 

i will disagree with you and say that there are many reasons why this program jumped in rankings from 130 to 92 in less than two years. Chapman offered me so many opportunities to get a wide range of experience to the best of their abilities. They took care of me at my lowest of lows and celebrated my success. The biggest impact on your education that isn't just affecting you at the moment is Covid. You have to figure out how to adjust your lifestyle to best fit how you learn and get your education during these difficult times. Maybe you lack ability to advocate for yourself and seek classmates or professors that you connect with for support? You're not a kid and dont need to be babied. Graduate programs are still trying to figure out how to best serve their students and I am sorry you got the short end of the stick during these difficult times, but instead of coming on here and shaming this graduate program. Figure out how to get the most of your education during challenging times that we are currently in. and sprinkle a little bit of empathy and perspective while you're at it.
 
CHAPMAN's CSD program is such a great program and I would highly recommend it to people.
 
Love,
a person who is not white

and quit being dramatic.... you probably just dont know how to handle grad school stress.

As a current graduate student about to graduate at the end of the summer I agree so much with @samiamslp! Especially regarding imposter syndrome but just remember you know more than you give yourself credit for! 

As a current graduate student about to graduate at the end of the summer I agree so much with @samiamslp! Especially regarding imposter syndrome but just remember you know more than you give yourself credit for! 

I would qualify this statement and say that "top schools are overrated when the applicant's sole focus is ensuring the name of the school is on their resume". I fell into this hole when I applied last year and it took me a long time to unlearn that name isn't everything and it guarantees nothing. I got accepted into a top program and ultimately decided to go to a smaller local school. While top programs have great professors/connections/electives, there are things to love about other programs. At the end of the day, we are all graduating with the same degree. There is no reason to go into over $100k debt over an SLP grad program (which, unfortunately, most of the top programs have a pretty high price tag). 

As a current graduate student about to graduate at the end of the summer I agree so much with @samiamslp! Especially regarding imposter syndrome but just remember you know more than you give yourself credit for! 

As a current graduate student about to graduate at the end of the summer I agree so much with @samiamslp! Especially regarding imposter syndrome but just remember you know more than you give yourself credit for! 

the most important thing for me: it's okay that you don't know everything. in fact, it's okay if it feels like forever since you've looked at your phonetics work or your memory of anatomy and physiology is a bit spotty. first of all, you will get plenty of review in all that stuff in grad school. second of all, if you're feeling like you must be the only one who doesn't know things, always remember that you're not! everyone is in the same boat at the beginning. and, as the semester continues, if you're in clinic or in classes and feeling a little bit (or a lot bit) lost and overwhelmed, it's still okay that you don't know everything. in fact, it's normal to not know most things. plus, if you see friends who look like they know what they're doing a more than you feel you do, remember that everyone learns differently and it's okay if it's taking you a little longer to grasp how to write clinical objectives or SOAP notes or whatever else you're struggling with- you will get there. also, what may come relatively easily for you may be harder for those you're seeing. two words of advice via my clinical supervisors, because they are words that i know live by. 1) from my first clinical supervisor: "it's often more important for you to know what information you don't know than knowing what you do know-- that's how you learn." 2) from my second, when I admitted to her that I didn't know how help my client with one language element which he was struggling with about a six weeks into the semester: "Well, how could you know how to treat all the specifics of that?! You've only been focusing on it for the past six weeks! You think anyone has a full grasp on anything after six weeks? Look at what you have learned during that time; that's pretty incredible." 
I will probably have imposter syndrome for the rest of my life (it's pretty much the SLP curse, let's be real) but i will always have those words to come back to. because you will struggle. there will be things that are hard for you. but it's okay if you don't know all the information or you feel like you're muddling through your intervention sessions for a bit. that's normal. it's okay. and you will get there.  

Hi! I would say cost is a good way to initially narrow it down-- calculate the full program cost for each of the schools you're still considering and if there's any that are super astronomical, throw them out. Here are some other things to consider:
Cost (including rent, moving costs, etc) Location Clinical education model (is there a campus clinic? etc) Clinical placements (how many placements do you do, and where?) Externships available (how many externships do you do? what sort of facilities do they offer externships in?) Assistance finding CFY / jobs (what sorts of connections do they have? how well-reputed are the program?) Opportunities for specialization (is there a bilingual certificate or anything that you're interested in? are there any elective options?) Ability to start clinical work immediately (do you start right away in a clinic or do you not start until 2nd semester?) Distribution of courses vs clinical hours (is it like, mostly courses 1st year and mostly clinic 2nd year, or is it more distributed evenly?) Praxis pass rates On-time graduation rate Post-graduation employment rates Perceived organization of the program (do they seem organized/disorganized?) Research opportunities (if you're into that) Cohort size Opportunities for TA/RA positions, hourly jobs, etc You probably don't want to go through that whole list for each program, but cost is a good way to narrow it down initially!

Omg wow congratulations that sounds amazing and those are such great programs!!
Personally I would choose U of I, even though I really do hate the weather here, what they are offering you is really great and you wouldn't be in any debt or have to worry much about living expenses. Downside: The town is sort of in the middle of nowhere
Vanderbilt is amazing and they've also offered you a very generous financial aid package it sounds like! I think the Autism track is very cool, and will definitely give you a leg up when it comes time to apply for jobs since you'll already have taken specialty classes and have had relevant clinical experiences. Downside: Student loans
Maybe make a list of the pros and cons and see which of the cons are more favorable to you?? I was always told not to worry too much about student loans since you'll definitely get a job that'll help pay them off, but then again if you can avoid student loans...

I’m very in favor of taking out no loans, even if it means pushing through two more winters in Illinois. With no student debt holding you down, you can take any job that interests you out of grad school. You can do your CFY specializing in autism in a state where you can soak in the sun everyday — and get paid to be there instead of racking up debt to be there. Vanderbilt is obviously an amazing school, but highly ranked schools don’t really make a difference in where you are employed afterwards when it comes to speech. And you can definitely specialize in autism without going to Vanderbilt. 
 
Just my my two cents, but if I had a free grad school option I’d be jumping all over it! Good luck making your decision?

I personally took a volunteering position in a preschool that worked with the preschool teacher and that way I was still able to observe with the slp. I did this while working full time at a unrelated position. 

Do not give up! It took me three application cycles to become accepted into graduate school! Maybe you can take time to volunteer or work in areas related to the field. Take time to improve your application. Feel free to PM me!