bibliophile222

Yay, another lefty here! I adore my Energels. I bought the metal pen bodies and boxes of refills and they're the only pens I've been using since the beginning of the school year.

My school has a 4-week neuro summer course! I didn't take it here, but those who did said it was murder.

Yeah, I know at some state schools a majority of students are from out of state and I'm pretty sure it's for financial reasons. I actually think my current school is like that--out of state tuition is WAY more expensive than in-state!

Admissions can definitely seem like a crap-shoot sometimes. I've heard of people getting rejected from "safety" schools and accepted to higher-ranked programs, so don't despair just yet. Like @laura120 said, different programs may value different things. Stats aren't everything! I was rejected my top choice (it was the cheapest and only one town over) and accepted at another school with the exact same ranking. I think in my case I didn't tailor my essay to school A, explaining why I wanted to go there, but I did for school B because it was part of their prompt. Also, the bitter/cynical part of me thinks that because school A was a state school and I would have had in-state tuition, they might have picked an out-of-state student over me so they could get more money (they've been doing a TON of fancy new building projects lately). The good news is that I am loving my time at school B, so all's well that ends well. You have an interview and several other schools to hear from, so don't lose hope!

You are definitely not alone! Trying to figure out their weird rules and entering my courses was by far the worst part of applying--even worse than having to repeatedly nag my 3rd LOR writer!

My program coordinator assigned me as the student contact to one of the admitted students and the student hasn't emailed me yet. I know it's minor, but I am really enjoying the program and want to sell it! Would it be forward if I just emailed her?

When I was waiting for decisions last year I was also working more than full time and doing my post-bacc online. Even though I was super busy I still somehow found time to check my email and Grad Cafe multiple times a day...

Awesome list! However, you left out something I think is the second most important supply behind a computer, and that is a good planner/planning system. You can go electronic or physical as suits your personality, but make sure you have one! I never used one until I entered grad school, but now I would be utterly and hopelessly lost without it.

Yep, it was separate. I remember I got my financial info earlier than another accepted person because they filled out the FAFSA after I did, so if you haven't done that yet you should do so immediately!

A month of math camp?!? That sounds worse than figuring out two years' worth of shaky finances! Is that for a statistics prereq?

Unfortunately I can't remember when I got my scholarship, since it seems like an eternity has passed since then! Definitely before mid-March, at least. I actually heard from our program coordinator that the scholarships have been offered already, but if someone turns down the offer then the scholarship would go to the next person on the list. I chose the non-thesis route, as did everyone in my cohort with the exception of one. It's 3 extra credits and a lot more time and effort. She's thinking of going for a Ph.D., so a thesis is a good idea. BUT since our field is so desperate for Ph.D.s, if you ever did want to go that route you could probably get in without a thesis. I and a few others are planning on doing a research project--it still gives you research experience, but it's not as hard-core and it's the same amount of credits as the standard systematic review option.

Hi and congratulations! I'm in my second semester at UVM and enjoying it (aside from the absurd amount of work I have to do in the next couple weeks!). That would be a really big move, but there might not be as much culture shock as you'd expect. Vermont is close to Canada and has kind of a bond with it. For instance, poutine is in, like, every Burlington restaurant! It's a small, rural state but Burlington is big enough to have a bunch of good restaurants, an arts/music scene, festivals and other cool things. If you're into skiing there are several ski areas within an hour's drive. Vermont in general and Burlington in particular is very politically liberal, if that's important to you. Let's see, what else... the winters are COLD and long, so invest in a quality coat and boots. Summers are kinda short but really nice, comfortably warm without being scorching. As far as the program goes, I've found it to be really supportive and conducive to learning. You start off with one client your first semester and 2-3 in your second semester, so you get to ease into it gradually. The professors are overall really good--a lot of them do research if you're interested in that, and our clinic director has around 20 years of experience in a variety of settings, so she provides a lot of practical tips to supplement all the theories we learn in the other classes. Our cohort is small, so we take all the same classes at the same time and have bonded really quickly because of that. I've had two clinic supervisors so far and they've both been very helpful, not overly critical like I've heard about from some programs. If I had to list downsides, I would say cost--I got a partial scholarship but it's still pretty expensive, and cost of living is sort of high. Also, I know it's expected in grad school, but yeah, the workload is pretty intense. This weekend I did my projected treatment plan for one client, I have a dx on Friday, two presentations next week, the dx report to write the following week, plus other clinic paperwork, minor assignments, and lots of reading that probably won't get done. My brain hurts! I hope this helps--feel free to ask more questions!

Seven hours later and I'm still at it. I'm writing laughably terrible rationales but I have no brain power left and it's due in the morning. I just have to wait until it comes back encrusted with edits and worry about it then.

I know this will mean nothing to anyone who isn't a future/current SLP, but coming up with measurable long term goals for cluttering is SO FREAKING HARD!!!!

One of the reasons I ended up going with an in-person program over online is because I had no prior experience in the field and really needed the support of the on-campus clinic before going to placements. A couple long weekends wasn't going to cut it! If you've been an SLP-A, teacher, etc then that kind of support might not be necessary and online would be fine. From what I've heard, many online programs make you find your own placements, which can be tough, but others take more of an active role so it might not be too difficult. If the biggest factor is cost, then ABSOLUTELY go with the cheaper program unless, like me, you really feel you need the extra support. Rankings mean absolutely nothing as long as the program is accredited.

Oh, whoops. Awkward. On the plus side, at least you didn't mention alcohol!

Just curious: what happened when you talked about coffee?

I'm sure it varies by program-- mine gave me a partial scholarship a few weeks (?) after my acceptance. I was also accepted into another school which didn't give me financial info in time to accept the scholarship from the first school (NYU online, so rolling admissions with a late deadline) so I went with the first one.

If you're self-funded or your school covers all your tuition and you have no need of loans then you might not need to fill one out at all. If you want financial aid (aka loans, because that's all they give grad students) then you should do it ASAP. Even if you don't know which school you're going to, there's a spot where you can input multiple schools, so you might as well send it to all of them. Even if you don't take out loans for tuition, you'll have to fill it out if you want a grad PLUS loan. The nice thing about filling it out as a grad student is that you don't need your parents' information, so you might be eligible for a lot more aid, depending on income.

ASHA EdFind let's you search by program and has that information, average GPA and GRE ranges, and more. Take it with a grain of salt, though, because they might not be updated as regularly as they could be.

If you're torn, I would go with whatever program costs less! Either that or go by outcome data, like @SLPhopeful129 mentioned. Seriously, follow the money.

Yep! I responded on your other post.

I took it online through Pacific University's post-bacc program. I'm not sure if you can take it as a single course or if it's only through the post-bacc. I found it mentally exhausting and tedious memorizing all those freaking muscles, but I imagine that's pretty much everyone's experience with A&P! I can't remember the professor's name off the top of my head. She was animated and interesting to watch/listen to (unlike a couple professors who droned on and made me repeatedly pass out on the couch). I found the tests challenging because I kept running out of time, which NEVER happens to me when I take tests, so it might suck if you're a slow test-taker.

Hi! I'm in my second semester at UVM and am happy to answer any questions you may have. It's not the cheapest program out there but there are some scholarships available. I think it's a pretty high quality program and I'm enjoying it (as much as I can be, considering it's grad school).

Hi! I got my bachelors and post-bacc online, and I would definitely not be worried about taking an online post-bacc if I were you. For one thing, colleges typically can't tell that it was from an online program if you take it from a school that has a physical campus. Some colleges may still be hoity-toity about accepting people with online B. A.s, but online CSD post-baccs are pretty common now. I got my post-bacc through Pacific University. I enjoyed it and found it to be as challenging and informative as an in-person program.