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SLPFall2018

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Everything posted by SLPFall2018

  1. I agree -- you should ultimately do what is in your best personal and professional interests. A close friend of mine was not only accepted into a doctoral program with a graduate teaching assistantship, but was 2 weeks from starting the academic year when she withdrew for personal reasons. (She was only in the state because her partner lived there, the relationship had just fallen apart, and she needed to move back home, cross-country, where she would have more support.) She felt horrible about doing it, but has also never regretted that decision for a moment. Life happens, and schools know that. A bit of shuffling around, even last-minute shuffling, is to be expected.
  2. Who would have thought that the "Post-Bac vs. Master's Program?" thread would turn into one of the most romantic threads on the SLP forum? I was in this position, as well, and quickly realized that the 3-year master's program was the best choice for me. SopranoSLP above has already identified the reason why: For post-bac programs, federal student loans are limited, and I would have had to take out private loans to cover the remainder of the cost. The reason this wouldn't have worked for me is because I have decided to repay my loans via the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and only federal loans can be discharged at the end of the service period. Of course, everyone's situation is unique: Another person might use their savings to pay for their post-bac program, or have family to help support them during the program, so loans might be a non-issue for them. But what I find most touching about all of these responses is the question of how much opportunity to sacrifice for love, or the possibility of love. I'm in my 30s, and agree wholeheartedly with schwastressed: I laughed at SopranoSLP's "rules of feminism" comment -- and, granted, the gender dynamics are not quite as loaded in my situation, since I'm gay -- but I have often felt determination, as a woman, to prioritize my education and career, rather than automatically falling into patterns of self-sacrifice. Having said that, if I had a partner right now, or even a new romantic prospect that I had a good feeling about, she would weigh heavily in my decision-making. Obviously, I wouldn't want to turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I'm sure that a truly supportive significant other wouldn't want that for me, either: As schwastressed wisely points out, the right partner ultimately makes it easier, not harder, for us to pursue our goals and become the people we want to be. But if I had two excellent choices in front of me, and one of them gave me room to explore/invest in what might become a lifelong love -- well, I want that for myself someday at least as much as I want a fulfilling professional life. Perhaps more. In conclusion, congratulations on your acceptance to two outstanding programs! (I hope you've given yourself at least a few days to just bask in the glory of having to decide between the UW post-bac and the Iowa master's.) I don't think you should assume you were just getting lucky this year; I think that you are going to be successful no matter which path you take.
  3. Hannah7, thank you for sharing this. I remember reading last year that GW was doubling its cohort size, but the plan at that time was to hire more staff. If that hasn't happened, and the program is so understaffed that students are having difficulty with their requirements, that's worrisome. Does anyone out there have further information about the current quality of GW's program?
  4. I'm so happy for you!! And thank you for making a Facebook page (I don't have an account, but it seems that it might be helpful to sign up at this point!). Is UVA your top school?
  5. SLPin2020, check your email! I just got an acceptance!
  6. A graduate student can borrow up to the full cost of attendance (COA) each year in Direct PLUS Loans, and there is currently no lifetime borrowing limit. (That may change as of July 1st, 2019, if the PROSPER Act is pushed through Congress this year, but those of us starting our programs before that date will be borrowing under the current, more favorable terms.) COA includes tuition/fees, books and supplies, room and board, personal expenses, transportation expenses, and a health insurance allowance. More information is here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/plus Whether someone is comfortable taking on this amount of Direct PLUS Loan debt is another question, and a deeply personal one.
  7. Update: I received a confusing email from UVA about 30 minutes ago, with instructions on how to access the Student Information System (SIS). I logged in, and can see a dashboard that would normally contain info about loans, class registration, etc., but there's no formal response to my application! Has this happened to anyone else?!
  8. Hi, KImberlyNC! You're a great guidance counselor to be digging this deep for help for your student. My own take on this, which I hope will be encouraging, is that there are many paths to this goal. There have been a couple of great responses already from in-field applicants. I'm applying to speech-language pathology master's programs from (wildly) out-of-field, which means I have no CSD pre-reqs completed. However, I've been accepted formally to one school and informally to another. Here's the gist of my own path: I majored in Spanish, not for utilitarian reasons, but because I loved it I went to unusual lengths (fellowships, long-term living abroad) over the following decade to continue studying Spanish and other foreign languages, because I loved them Meanwhile, I worked in a completely unrelated field, because I loved it I had a high GPA and high GRE scores In my case, I think I was successful because I had 1) a deep interest in bilingualism and language learning, sustained over many years, 2) clear enthusiasm for my profession, even though it was not SLP, and 3) strong stats. As others have noted, there is no national standard for bilingual speech-language pathologists. If someone is bilingual (ASHA suggests "native or near-native proficiencyā€¯ as a definition), and is also an SLP, they can be hired for these positions. Ideally, an SLP master's program for someone who hopes to work with bilingual populations would include special classes and training opportunities, but not every school offers these.
  9. I'm also going crazy waiting for UVA. I marked 3/9 as the expected decision date on my calendar (they said "end of first week of March"), but I'm hoping we'll hear back before then!
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