FutureAuD8

I’m a third year AuD student and let me say making a decision for where to go can be tough, but seriously don’t make a decision based on ranking. I personally had 7 schools to choose from. I went where the money and opportunities were. I had secured funding for one year, the opportunity to switch from out of state tuition to in state, and the possibility for future funding. This program was honestly the best decision for me, it also happened to be highly ranked and at the time I thought that was important, but now I know lower ranked programs have great curriculums too and where you get your externship can really set the stage for your first job. My biggest advice when considering schools is cost should always be the first factor. Next you should look at clinical opportunities before the externship, then you should find out if they require you to go to certain externship places and if anyone helps you find places to apply to. The externship process seems far but it will be here before you know it and you won’t want to be navigating it all on your own.

Is it a school with rolling admissions? For most schools you do not need to give an answer until the set deadline of April 15th, but a few schools have rolling admissions (I think Salus does this) so they sort of run on a different schedule.

I recommend to have cost as a significant factor in your decision. Paying off 100k+ of debt on an AuD salary won’t be fun. Another helpful thing to do is to ask the program coordinators at all your schools the same list of questions and compare the answers! Finally ask for contact information for a current student there and ask them questions.

Probably not for the first year. First year funding is usually given to students that have previous research experience, TA experience, or students have the highest test scores. Funding is a way to try to get those students to choose your program over another. You could probably get funding for subsequent years IF your school offers it. Funded positions for audiology can be scarce and it more limited with higher education budget cuts as a result of COVID

Rankings really don’t matter all too much. Go to the school that will provide you the best clinical opportunities and the program that really fits your interests! You’re about to spend 3 years at this program interacting with the faculty and other students you want to go to school somewhere that you fit in and feel comfortable.

Graduate school is VERY different than undergrad. Usually the only way to get a scholarship is from an outside source that you apply for. Some program have graduate assistantships (GAs) for students which usually provides a tuition waiver (various % of tuition) and sometimes a stipend. When I applied 2 years ago my funding offers were with my tuition, some schools do not fund first year students and many have very little funding right now due to covid budget cuts. There are no need based grants for grad school (ie. no pell grants). If you are not offered funding loans or savings are really your options, this is why it is SO important to go to the most affordable school. 100k+ in debt as an AuD can be difficult to pay off/can take a long time if you make low payments.

Hi all! Current AuD student. As more acceptances start to roll around I want to say congratulations to all. If you’ve been put on a waitlist and you’re really interested in that program reach out to the admissions coordinator and express your continued interest. If you have multiple admissions offers look at much more than just program rankings, because no matter where you graduate from if you graduate and pass the Praxis you will be a licensed audiologist. Look at clinical rotation information (when they start, if you find your own rotations, do you get help in finding externships), any special classes they may offer (tinnitus, multiple vestib courses, multiple pediatrics classes, interdisciplinary classes), if you’re interested in SAA find out about their SAA chapter, and most importantly if you are financing your own education look into tuition and if they offer graduate assistantships! You really don’t want to go into a ton of debt for your AuD and there are ways to avoid this, I highly recommend considering schools that offer funding for you or have lower tuition even if they are “ranked lower”, I know incredible audiologists who graduated from “lower ranked programs” so don’t let rankings guide your decisions. I remember the decisions process being very hard for me! Feel free to message me if you want to bounce a pros and cons list off a current AuD student!

When I was admitted 2 years ago I found out funding offers WITH my admission or at least some indication. With every admission I was told “we have no funding for students” “you were nominated for funding” “you received funding” “first year students do not receive funding” etc. Definitely reach out to the program coordinators and ask about funding. Most universities have had budget cuts this year and hiring freezes so there may be very limited funding.

No the program in St. Louis is Washington University (WashU). The program that closed is University of Washington (in the state of Washington). Definitely confusing when programs have very similar names. I'm in Ohio and a similar thing happens with Ohio State University (OSU) vs. Ohio University (OU).

This means that University of Washington closed their program, they did so voluntarily CAA did not tell them to close. I think they closed because the university no longer wanted to have an AuD program (A similar thing happened to Sanford University). Washington stopped admitting new students, they did not have a class start in 2018 so 2017 was their last starting class. You cannot apply for this program. They are remaining accredited through June 2021 so the class that entered in 2017 (class of 2021) can graduate from an accredited university to obtain licensure.

You must be a candidate for 5 years before you can be fully accredited. If you’re concerned I would go to the CAA accreditation website and you can read all about the accreditation process and see which schools are fully accredited, which are candidates, and which are on probation.

So Grand Valley is a new program and they were approved as a candidate for accreditation before their first class started. In order to be licensed and obtain certification (CCC’s or ABA) you just need to graduate from a university that is accredited by CAA or a candidate. All newly developed programs are candidates for their first 5 years before they are fully accredited. It is okay to attend a program that is a candidate as they are on track to be fully accredited and you will still be eligible for licensure. Dr. Halling the department chair at GVSU came from IU so I have faith the program is great and he is knowledgeable of the accreditation requirements. I’d definitely interview! I did my undergrad at GV and am an AuD student elsewhere (the AuD program was not a candidate yet when I graduated). Just know 3 year programs are very intensive, I’m currently in a 4 year program and some days were very overwhelming (I do work part time) I couldn’t imagine doing it all in 3 years.

Current AuD student. In the end as long as you pass the PRAXIS you will be eligible to have the same license as someone that went to Vanderbilt or Iowa or any other program. Those programs with more “reputation” may help a bit for your externship and first job due to name recognition, but after your first job and sometimes even after your externship people just care about your knowledge, work ethic, and personality (ability to exist as a member of a team). Where you go for your externship is going to open doors for your first job and is going to be one of the most important aspects on your resume, as it’s where you just spent a year working as an audiologist your externship is where about 75% of your hands on clinical experience before graduation will com from. One important thing to look at when comparing schools is when do clinical placements start, are you responsible for finding those clinical placements, and do you get any assistance in your externship search/are you required to go to certain places for your externship. You want to go to a program that is going to shape you into a well-rounded audiologist and give you the knowledge needed to be a critical thinker and there’s tons of “lower ranked” programs that do that, but some “higher ranked” programs do too. All in all rankings really don’t matter too much, it’s the opportunities you get at the school and what you do with the knowledge they provide you.

If the schools you’re thinking about offer you funded positions would you consider them? Are the other schools you’re looking at affordable? If the schools you’re considering withdrawing from were safeties there is a high chance you could get a graduate assistantship, which avoiding student loans is something I highly recommend.

Hello all! I’m a current AuD student and I know this time can be stressful waiting for admissions. For some reference I heard back from 1 school in January, 2 schools late February, and then 4 schools early March (I applied to too many schools). This is a nerve wracking time, but your applications are submitted so aside from interviews you’ve done all you can. If you get multiple admissions offers I recommend thoroughly researching the tuition at those programs, asking for contact information for a current student, and asking questions about when clinic starts, where your clinicals are, and if you’re responsible for finding all clinical placements! Best of luck to you all! I’m excited for you to join the profession.

Do they have rolling admissions? I believe schools with rolling admissions can have different acceptance date windows. Chances are you won’t hear from other schools until mid-February and March (I was in the 2018 application cycle). It’s definitely a hard decision to make before knowing from other schools! I’d recommend talking to current AuD students a NSU if possible to see what they think of the program.

I hate to break it to you, but I'm a current AuD student and school doesn't get put on pause for COVID. I've been back in clinic with patients since June. I have still had to take important exams, just at home. I still have to complete a full capstone. I will still be required to take the PRAXIS. I had to complete all my externship interviews virtually, but it still happened. This is a new and unexpected year and everyone should be flexible in this time (most programs and people are), but life cannot be put on hold during this time. If you feel this strongly about the GRE not being required due to cost, lack of time to study, lack of a quality study space, getting covid etc. I highly recommend considering if you can handle starting graduate school during a pandemic. Chances are programs will still have some classes online next year so online learning is not gone and is something you will have to adapt to in graduate school. I'd also like to note I don't think these are bad things, I'm so grateful I get to continue on in clinic and continue on in school because I am so excited to graduate and become an audiologist, I just wanted to point out that things are not going to just be put on pause because there's a pandemic. We're in a healthcare field.

Hi so I’m actually a current AuD student so I thought I could shed a bit of light onto paying loans off and figuring out maybe how expensive could be too expensive/crippling debt. The first thing to consider I think is your undergrad debt. When thinking of paying off loans you NEED to consider how much you have taken out in undergrad loans. I personally, risked it for cost for my AuD program and I have lucked out with not taking out too much. But I also have undergrad debt. I have heard a rule of thumb is don’t take out more than your starting salary. My significant other currently makes a tad less then the average starting salary for an AuD or SLP and he pays $1000/month in loans (by choice) and we are still able to go out to dinner/do things for fun. So I think the real question with loans is what is your lifestyle like? Can you live like a grad student years after you’ve graduated to pay off those loans. I too hope for PSLF or total student loans repayment BUT I also took out loans in an amount that will be manageable to pay back in 5-10 years just in case those programs disappear or don’t pass.

I appreciate everyone right to an opinion but I think negativity is not beneficial and this is the weakness our field faces. Those that do not support audiologists are a cause for the reasons some audiologists do not like their jobs. I’m a current AuD student and I have LOVED my experiences so far so prospective students keep your chins high. In my outside sites I have felt respected by other medical professionals and they value the work that we do. Interdisciplinary education is important and audiology is growing in importance and this is reflecting in our recognition and referrals from other professionals. I have experienced a vast scope of practice and SO much more than “just diagnostics” in my clinical placements. I’ve been involved in tinnitus evals and treatment, Auditory processing, educational audiology, pediatrics, assistive listening devices, fitting custom hearing protection, the moment of fitting a patient with hearing aids for the first time or new hearing aids it honestly amazing. I agree the pay may not be exactly what you would imagine for a doctorate degree but you are in this field for something beyond the pay. You enter this for a patients and honestly THAT is how you stay happy in any career because you truly enjoy what you do everyday. Also for that median salary that seems a bit skewed to me. I know individuals that start out and receive 80k a year starting and that’s in the Midwest where the cost of living in low. A also saw a recent job posting for the Midwest in a densely audiologist populated area and starting was 72k which is not bad at all. Also I do not agree with that statistic of individuals dropping out is also wrong. I would say if anything 1 student for less per class drops and often it is due to personal reasons not due to loss of faith in the field. If you are a prospective student don’t let negativity get in your way. This can be an incredibly supportive profession especially if you know the people to surround yourselves with. We are in this to help people and improve their quality of life. I have loved my experiences with patients and the respect they and other professionals give me and THAT is why I am proud to be a future audiologist.

I went to Grand Valley for undergrad so I was there when they first started developing the AuD program. I loved being a student at GVSU, Grand Rapids is beautiful and the facilities at GV are great. They speech-language pathology program has a great reputation so I’m sure with time the AuD program will too! Congrats, Anchor up and get ready to be a Laker for a Lifetime ?⚓️

Hello all! I’ve commented on this forum a few times but I’ve been seeing lots of questions about things that I feel like only a current student (or faculty members) might know the answers to so I wanted to reach out and provide some opinion and information I’ve learned from others/experience. 1. Funding and scholarships- there are a few scholarships available distinctly for AuD students one that I know is the ASHA Graduate Student Scholarship it has a May deadline. Funding varies greatly by department. Based on my experience information about most departmental funding was provided with admissions. I had 2 funding offers with my acceptance, 1 acceptance mentioned they had limited funding available, 1 school told me unfortunately I wasn’t offered for the first semester (likely as I was in-state) but they try to give everyone 1 semester of funding, and various others that mentioned university scholarships for in-state tuition. It’s also not wrong to reach out to a school about funding. I would compile a list of questions I wanted to know (did students work while in school, clinical placements examples, what are funding opportunities for the future, ask about research if interested). 2. I was never placed on a waitlist for a school, but from what I’ve heard YES people do get off waitlists. But I think it depends on the school. I know my university hasn’t had to move to the waitlist for years. Think about it so many people are accepted to all the same programs and you can’t only attend one so the option is possible. If you’re on a waitlist reach out, see if they’d be willing to tell you what your place on it is. Show that you’re still interested. 3. Admitted students days- I am SO sorry for your class as you can’t experience these amazing departments in person because of COVID-19. However, I know at least at my university we are doing all we can to still make our virtual admitted students day as personable as possible. If your school isn’t having an admitted students day this is even more of a reason to reach out and ask questions. Ask for a contact of a current student and ask them questions! 4. Loans- loans will likely happen because unfortunately AuD programs don’t have a ton of funding. But in this profession you’re in it for the work you’re doing not the payday. In my honest opinion loans are okay in moderation. I have taken out loans but I’ve also had funding opportunities, but I took out loans when I didn’t have funding. I work part time to offset the loans I need to take out. I hope this is helpful for some of you guys. If you got into a program (or multiple) congratulations, if you’re waiting on a waitlist spot don’t give up, if you didn’t get in anywhere reach out to those programs and ask what could make your application stronger in the future then work on that. Feel free to message me and I would love to help as I can (social distancing really gives me more free time then I know what to do) Best of luck to all!

ASHA has a graduate student scholarship you could probably apply for. Check the speech-language hearing association for the state you are going to school for. AAA also has scholarships but for many you must be nominated by your department for them and only 1 student/school can be nominated. Check the academy of audiology for your state as well. CaptionCall has a scholarship each year but the application cycle has already passed. Aside from those places that’s all that I know of that are audiology related. Unfortunately, there aren’t many scholarship opportunities specific to our field but it’s always worth a shot!

Current AuD student here. I think this question depends greatly on how much undergrad student loan debt you already have balanced with the debt you think you can handle. A rule of thumb I have heard is to not take out more in loans then a starting salary. So I would say not take out more than $70k or so total. However, some people take out that much for their undergrad alone. I personally will take out roughly 18,000 for my graduate school but I am expecting to drain most of my savings to pay for this summers tuition and hopefully have a paid externship and not take out loans for this time. But I was fortunate enough to come into school knowing my first year was covered and I found out my 3rd year will be covered via an traineeship. I NEVER take out more loans then I need and will only take out loans for tuition I work a part time job and use my savings account for paying for living expenses during the year I also have a roommate and live in a cheaper apartment (no fancy amenities) so that I take out less loans in the long run.

I’m sure departments will work on the best ways to provide you the opportunity to learn more about their program. However, these AuD programs that have had the university suspend in person course work are working diligently to ensure that their current students are still getting access to clinical opportunities and education. This is definitely a stressful time for students, but it is also stressful for faculty and staff so please just keep this in mind.

Many universities are cancelling face to face classes but not clinical experiences for students. Courses/events are cancelled due to the large number of people present in close proximity, admitted student days may not fall into this category. I would recommend contacting the university or waiting for an email before assuming something is cancelled.