purplefuzz2

Hi, I will be graduating with my master in Speech-Language Pathology from UT Health in August 2019. I am part of the first cohort that started in January 2018.

Hi, I am pretty sure that UT Health SA will not be offering spring admission next year (spring 2019). I have heard that UT Dallas and TAMU are easier in the Spring! Baylor and UT Dallas also offer summer admissions.

My graduate school does not have graduate assistantships or TA ships. I was able to snag a small scholarship (and hopefully I can grab a few more). I do not have a job, and I do not plan on getting one. This was a really hard decision for me because I worked for most of undergrad, and I have not been completely without income in years. Our program director stressed over and over again that we should not work unless we have to, which really discouraged me taking on a serious job. I looked for smaller jobs like work study or tutoring, but nothing allowed me to make enough money for me to feel like it was worth my time. Realistically I could probably only make a few thousand dollars during the 20 months I am in graduate school. I had to ask myself, is a few thousand dollars worth losing sleep, study time, prep time or time spent on other other educational programming, and for me the answer was no. I do have a roommate (who is great), and I do go to a public school where I get in-state tuition. I got accepted to school in November and then started class at the beginning of January so I did not have much time to think about finances or find a good job. I am not saying that someone should not get a job, or that it isn't necessary. I just thought I should explain my thought process of deciding to use loans for everything. Loans are unfortunate, but they are we are essentially making an investment in ourselves, and they allow me to put all my energy into learning.

Hello! This semester we are taking Clinical methods 1, Language Disorders, Neurological Basis of Communication, Research Methods, Motor Speech Disorders. Our next semester is actually this summer. They have not revealed our full schedule to use yet, but I know we are taking Audiology, Clinical Methods II and we will be sent out on observations. Our summer semester will be a full semester (14 hours I think). I do not know what classes we will take in the fall, but we will be receiving our first practicum placement. I really do enjoy all of my classes. I enjoy getting up every morning and going to class, and I cannot say that I felt that way in undergrad. All of our professors have such passion, and really really really want us to learn. Literally today one of our professors did an 1.5 hour review on things we didn't do well on the last exam, outside of her class time, because she wanted to make sure we knew the subject matter. I would say our biggest pros are our faculty (I know that I have said that a few times but it is just the truth), even though we haven not actually had the opportunity to work in the hospitals yet being surrounded but med students, OT, PT, PA and nursing students feels amazing. We can feel the potential opportunities in the distance. The university is working really hard to improve our education about other profession, and has built programming around it. Unlike at a lot of other schools, SLP is not the ugly duckling of programs, our school is pumped to have us here, even if not all of them fully understand what we do ;). Even though being a new has has its cons, like not being 100% what we have in store, it is also a huge plus. It means that we get to build our own NSSLHA, our professor really think about us when they are writing their curriculum (they are not recycling 10 year old powerpoints) and we have the opportunity to set other standards. Myself and several other cohort members live north/north west of the medical center, like 10 minutes away, I like it. Traffic doesn't really get that bad in and directly around the medical center, so don't feel like you have to live right by the school. Most of the apartments that are really close to the hospitals and schools are more expensive and older. I born and raised in Texas, and I really never saw myself wanting to live in San Antonio, but I have been enjoying it. Hope that helps that helps! I know there isn't a lot of casual information out their about the program so everyone feel free to ask questions.

Always ask your program director. My program director always stresses that open house is just for students

Our faculty is amazing! Dr. Lu is our program director, Dr. Norman is starting up research, and Ms. Kennedy is our clinical coordinator. All three of them currently teach us classes and I know that they intend on hiring additional lecturers to cover more classes for the upcoming semesters. They are all very invested in our success and their ultimate goal is to make us excellent clinicians that are prepared for the world after graduate school. I do believe our cohort is diverse in all areas besides origin, we are all from Texas, and most of us got our undergraduate educations at Texas public schools. I really think that just because it takes time to get the word out about a new program and most of use were already familiar with the University of Texas System. Our ages range from 22 to mid-thirties, some of us leveled somewhere else, some of us have undergrad degrees in SLP. Some of us have experience as SLPAs, some of us don't. It is a medically based program so most of us have medically based leanings, as does the current faculty. We do not have our own clinic so we won't start practicum until Fall 2018, we will start doing observations this summer. This semester we have only been taking classes. I think that this is mostly because Ms. Kennedy was still setting up relationships the neighboring hospitals, clinics and school districts at the beginning of the semester. Since we have not started practicum I think that the work load has been comfortable, but we have been warned not to get too comfortable because we will continue to be faced with more challenges as the program continues:). Please continue to ask questions! I wish I had someone to answer my questions when I got accepted in November lol.

UT Health SLP News Here is an article about us and starting the program

Hello! I am a current SLP masters student at UT Health(they accepted a cohort in January). I am apart of their first cohort from January. UT Health Science Center San Antonio is not the same school as UTSA, they should not be confused! The program was accredited by ASHA last August. Feel free to ask me any questions?

I don’t mind at all! Go ahead!

Hi @Peachyspeachy, These were the questions I was asked at UT Health!

Congrats on your UT Health acceptance! I am a current student and it is a great program!

So many programs want different things! You should figure out what your schools you are truly interested in and build your resume accordingly. Unfortunately it is impossible to please everybody. Really doing my research on what my programs wanted gave me peace of mind and accurate goals to set. If you look at a programs website closely enough they will tell you what is the most important to them. Ask around, ask questions!

Money was my first deciding factor. After I narrowed it down to the two instate public schools I decided to go with the school that I knew was the most invested in my success and was a medically based program over the more rural school.

Last semester I was in a similar situation. My 1st and 3rd choices rejected me pretty early on which was sad, but also nice because I did not have to wait around for a decision. One day late last semester my 5th choice called me on the phone telling me that they needed to give them a decision that day. I freaked out, but then I had a moment of clarity and I told them that I was not interested. After I hung up I was really scared, but also relieved. In that moment I decided that I would rather reapply to my top 4 next semester because they were better programs and they were more economical. 20 minutes after I told my 5th choice no, I got an email acceptance from my 2nd choice and I was so happy. I am not telling you if you should or should not wait, however I believe that if you continue to make educated decisions and follow your instincts you will end up in the program that is best for you. I am 6 weeks into my 2nd choice program and I believe that I fit in better here than I would have fit in at my 1st choice.

In my interview I was asked: How will you handle the obligations of grad school? What are your clinical/research interest areas? How did you decided that you wanted to be a speech language pathologist? Tell us about yourself. Do you have any questions for us? The interview was on Skype and it lasted about 20 minutes. I was interviewed by the program head, the clinical coordinator and a professor.