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Thanks for your advice! I definitely have a lot to think about and appreciate all the insight.

Hey everyone. I have been accepted into an expensive and prestigious SLP program in Boston. After being waitlisted by three schools and then, finally, being accepted, I paid my deposit. School is a month away and I feel like backing out. It’s primarily motivated by finances. With 50k in undergraduate debt (I put myself through and was young and naive) I really fear adding 100k on top of this. Especially for a program in a career I don’t feel totally attached to. Like if I had no reservations I would go, but I’ve made the mistake of reading reddit and seeing professionals disillusioned by the field. The problem is I can see myself doing all manner of careers and being happy. I love kids and I love helping people, but can’t I find that fulfillment in a career that won’t bury me in debt? i guess I have to decide whether the pros of SLP outweigh the cons. Flexible schedule, decent pay, and benefits all sound great. But two years of school and mountains of debt is giving me a lot of anxiety and second thoughts. Am I crazy to back out of a program I accepted? I feel kind of crazy. And I feel bad for accepting, when someone else could have taken my spot gladly. Any thoughts on this? Words of advice?

Hey all! I was accepted off the waitlist to northeastern and am trying to decide if that’s where I want to go (not like I have too many options, since I’m waitlisted at my other choices too but still). I’d love to connect with anyone currently in the program or starting in the fall to see how you like it and why you chose it. A few questions to get you started: how are the professors? Are they clinically trained as well as academics? Do students generally feel supported? what is the atmosphere of the program? and also- is it possible to do like an informal visit? I attended a graduate open house and got to see the clinic, but I’d love to check everything out again. Thanks!

Hi! I just was accepted off the waitlist at my top choice, so there is still hope! I took two years off between my undergrad and grad school. I spent the first year working as a nanny full-time. From this I learned so much about infant development, and I briefly touched upon this in my essay. Then, in an attempt to make myself more appealing to graduate programs, I sought out care jobs that could relate to the field. The first job I found was working with an infant with moderate unilateral sensorineural hearing loss. I loved working with him one-on-one and I was able to attend all of his EI treatments and various audiology appointments. I talked a lot about this experience in my statement because I was able to have this really unique position within the family: I acted as a caregiver, close with the family, but with my speech background I was able to act as a sort of liaison between the family and the professionals they worked with. Next I found a care job that was with a child on the Autism spectrum. I started this job after applying to school, but it lent this unique experience where, again, I was able to work with EI and speech-language pathologists as well as the family. I think both these experiences have helped me because I’ve been able to closely see how therapy involves the entire family. all of this is to say that I would recommend looking into care jobs, particularly with a population of interest. At least where I am, you can make decent money off of a caregiver salary, and my experience working closely with the family and the speech therapists helped me stand out in my applications. I used care.com for the most part, but if you’re in a city or other populated area you could try searching mommy Facebook groups (seriously) and posting a little bit about you, your experience, and who you want to work with.

Hi everyone. Wondering when we are supposed to fill out the FAFSA. Is it by March 1? Should I have already done it? Thanks!

I emailed NEU before submitting my application with a general question. Today I received a response to that email apologizing for not getting back to me sooner and informing me that my application has been received and reviewed. Definitely reassuring since I also had no indication that they had received my app.