bibliophile222

Our clinic director hasn't made a decision yet about closing the clinic, but I'm guessing it's just a matter of time. I'm a second year with all my hours completed, but I'm sure the first-years are stressing. However, I don't think it will be too bad because we get way more hours at our three off-campus placements than at the on-campus clinic, so ultimately I don't think missing a month or two of clinic would affect graduation! I am more concerned for my fellow second-years who don't have all their hours yet and are placed at schools that might shut down.

You might want to post this in the SLP subforum, as far more potential CSD grad students will see it there. If you haven't been there yet, Go to the main menu and scroll until you see all the different degree programs.

If you want to reach more current grads or full-fledged SLPs, check out the reddit SLP sub. I bet someone on that sub has been to at least one of those schools and will help you out!

I'm in my last semester of grad school and way past the point of applying, but I had a great week that's worth sharing: I took the Praxis, got my 375th clinical hour, and set up an appointment to fill out hiring paperwork for a long-term SLP sub position that will run from May to mid-June. It's been a looong time coming, but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!

Ranking doesn't matter, but things like a high Praxis pass rate (should be at or near 100%), program completion rate, and the school's reputation for good placement opportunities do. You want a school that can provide you with a wide variety of settings and not struggle to place students (I've heard horror stories). A high program completion rate is a sign that the program supports its students, and a high Praxis pass rate means the program teaches you everything you need to know. If the lower-ranked program has all these things, go for it. If either program is lacking in any of these areas, stay away.

At my program, graduate housing is more expensive than off-campus housing, plus I have a partner and two cats that wouldn't have been welcome on campus. I would do some research on which option is cheaper. Either way, you having roommates is a great way to save money. Personally, I've had more than my share of living with roommates and plan on never doing so again, but that's just me.

I just switched everything over to my new state because it felt easier and I wanted to establish residency. If you don't want to establish residency, then I guess it would be less time and money to just get an NC license so everything matches.

Today has been a really good, productive day. I finalized my cover letter and applied to two jobs, got the final grade for a physics class I've been taking for the last eight months and sent the transcript to my department so I can graduate, did some prep for a client I'm seeing on Friday (not finished prepping, but it's okay), and completed two final transcripts for my research project (which consists of transcribing the mumbly speech of toddlers and then making a consensus transcription with another researcher, which takes hours and fries our brains). Of course, with all that accomplished I still procrastinated on doing my taxes and writing essays for another job application, but whatever, I still get to savor this moment!

As someone who has done the out-of-state, high tuition school, I 100% agree with you. I love my program and have had a great experience, but I was foolish when applying and didn't do the research to apply to enough cheap schools. I was rejected from the one in-state program I applied to and should have applied to more even if I wasn't thrilled with the location.

I agree with this. Also, you have to remember that professors are suuuuuper busy people. They need to teach, grade assignments, maybe do research, mentor students, be clinic supervisors, have staff meetings, etc etc. I feel like it's probably difficult to find times where the whole admission committee is in the same room together, plus the time it takes to actually decide on the applicants.

I'm finishing up my last semester of grad school (not at BU) and just had to smile at this. Not to scare you or anything, but stressed out and tired is the name of the game in grad school! I wouldn't say it reflects negatively on BU.

One thing to keep in mind is that some states have different requirements for licensure, and if you go to school in a different state than where you want to eventually practice, you might need to jump through extra hoops. For instance, New York requires the TSSLD certificate to work in schools, and it requires multiple courses that most out-of-state programs don't make a part of their curriculum. Do your research before deciding to make sure you don't end up with an unpleasant surprise later on!

I've worked a bit every semester through work-study. I typically work between 6 and 10 hours a week. This semester I have a bit more free time and could conceivably do more, but in any other semester it would have been quite difficult. A few people do work around 20 hours a week and can handle it, but they probably have better time management skills than I do! You can do it, but it will be hard. I got into NYU's online program as well as UVM. I ended up choosing UVM for a couple reasons: first, they gave me a partial scholarship for my first year, making it cheaper than NYU. Second, I came in out of field with zero related experience, so I decided I would be more comfortable getting my feet wet with 2 semesters in UVM's on-campus clinic before starting placements. NYU offered a four day clinical immersion on campus, but it didnt sound long enough to me!

My program has been pretty awesome. The professors have all been helpful and supportive, all my clinical and placement supervisors have been great (none of the horror stories I've heard of elsewhere, with either hyper-critical or completely unhelpful supervisors), and I feel like I have a pretty firm knowledge base for the Praxis, which I'm taking next week. As far as the first semester goes, it might vary if you're not starting clinic right away, but mine really started off with a bang. My first clinic session was three weeks into the semester and I felt so nervous and in over my head. I was also kept VERY busy. I guess the important thing to remember is that your orogram is pulling for you, since they don't want any students to fail the program. Trust in yourself, get enough sleep if possible (skip the readings if you have to) and STAY ORGANIZED with a good planning system. If I would do anything differently, I would have tried harder to break my procrastination habit. I did my work on time, but it would always take me too long to start working and I would get distracted, so I ended up devoting way too much of my evenings and weekends to work and didn't have enough downtime (especially last semester). Treat it like a job, work really hard when tiure at school, then try to find at least one day a week with no schoolwork!

Great idea! I'm in my final semester at UVM and am also available to answer any questions about life in grad school.

I'm just starting my second week of interning in a preschool and I've already caught a cold. Germy kids.

I would ask the grad programs directly. If those are prereqs that need to be completed by the time you begin, maybe take a couple of the more common ones and see if you can take the rest next summer. If they are prereqs that you can take during the grad program OR are just recommended, maybe hold off for now until you get in.

I definitely don't think grad schools will judge you for taking an easier course! Let's face it, most of us in this field aren't math people. Your major courses and writing ability matter much more for admissions. It's actually the grad programs who decide whether the science courses fit the ASHA prereq, so I would ask some CSD professors (maybe ones from your upcoming post-bacc) or contact a few grad programs to see if they would accept it. My guess is that they would, but you should get a consensus opinion before beginning.

For medical SLP, I suppose you could do the student training for MBSImP or LSVT Loud if you haven't already. Not sure about EI trainings--maybe Hanen? I'm also still in grad school. FYI, you'll get MUCH more information and replies if you post this on the reddit SLP subforum. Most people on GradCafe are still applying to grad schools and won't have any advice for these kinds of questions. There is also an SLP page on GradCafe: go into the "menu" section and scroll down until you see Professional Programs.

Looks fine to me!

This forum is mostly for people applying to grad school or in grad school, so I'm not sure how many replies you'll get. You might get a lot more answers if you post in the SLP reddit sub.

The hardest thing for me is coming up with activities. This is course depends on the age of the kids you will be seeing, but look online, ask classmates, fo whatever you can to brainstorm possible activities and how you can relate them to goals. Compile a list so it's easy to just pick and choose when the time comes. Another thing that is tougher for me is behavior management. I tend to be a bit permissive and am working on maintaining a calm but firm approach when a kiddo is distracted or cranky. You might be able to prep for this aspect in advance by coming up with plans for certain scenarios (but then again, each kid is different so you might have to completely scrap the plan) or just look up behavior management tips online or ask your supervisor.

I didn't do any of that. I just wrote it like a personal essay and talked about the school in the body of the email. My resume had my name and address, so I figured none of that was needed for the essay.

Actually, from what I've read both on this site and on ASHA, if you get a degree from a school that is a candidate for accreditation, even if they end up not getting accredited your degree still counts. Programs have to jump through some hoops and have a good plan to even get to candidacy status, so it's not like they're bad programs, just new, and ASHA understands that. It might be different, though, if you go to an accredited school that later loses accreditation, but I don't think that happens too often. Schools definitely get put on probation but are typically able to turn things around before they lose accreditation.