nwslp

Hi!!! I had a super similar offer when I started my program last August. It was with a different department and was about 15 hours a week of remote GA work which sounded totally doable. I ended up quitting after the first week of orientation though. It's hard to explain how much time the work for grad school takes, especially first semester. I just found that I was working on this unrelated GA position when I could be treatment planning for my clients (which took SO long the first few weeks when I had to be reading about treatment methods and best practices in my spare time). If you've seen clients and taken classes together before then it might be something you can handle! But if seeing clients is going to be a new experience for you and you can afford to turn down the position i'd consider it. Edited to add: I just re-read your post and it sounds like it covers tuition. That's a game changer! My position was going to be about 1500 taken off of tuition and a couple hundred a month stipend. It wasn't worth the time to me, so if you're getting a major tuition cut that might change everything. We also don't have any flexibility in extending our program.

I'm a second year so I haven't already started but I do have some advice! I was so so set on being a medical SLP and grinding my way through hospitals to get a competitive medical CF - then COVID happened. My advice is just to open and know that this a field you can jump around within for your entire career. So my advice is more about doing this during COVID. Think of everything you do and every supervisor you interact with as a chance to figure out what you like and don't like and what type of SLP you want to be. I was annoyed the semester I had a full peds caseload but found that I was just as excited working on social skills with neurodivergent kiddos as I was when seeing post-stroke adults but I had to adjust my thinking to accept that. I felt like if I ended up with a CF in a school I was a failure but after mourning the reality of COVID, the fact that our externships are limited and our resumes will look different than expected, I've been able to just keep running lists of what I like about every population I encounter. You might still have a shot at medical externships depending on how the virus goes! Unfortunately, we've been told that hospitals are off the table for Fall and Spring (our only remaining options). We've ALSO been told that hospitals are actively thinking about how to combat this loss of experience and planning to add structured training to CF positions. The whole field is figuring it out! Oh unrelated: keep a positive feedback file on your computer! Anytime my supervisors give me something really positive or new I keep it in there so I can refer back when I start letting constructive feedback feel too personal. You got this!!! TLDR; Be open! Don't limit yourself! Get as much variety as you can and don't get stuck in your thinking.

Agreed that you wanna average 300 to bother eating the cost of applying. Below 300 is a marker for schools to stop looking at your application if you're equal to another candidate with a higher GRE. It's possible with lower!! But if you wanna be safe - aim above that

I ended up taking out loans for cost of living. It's a bummer but need to stay alive somehow

I go to a private school so tuition is the same. The thing that was a surprise to me was that our grad program is a flat rate. So if for some reason you don't need to take a class you still pay the same amount, or if you decide to write a thesis and take the thesis class, you pay the same amount. Idk, I thought it was surprising after paying per credit in undergrad.

I think what's hard about speech@NYU is that all of your clinical hours come from placements in your area and even in person programs are struggling to get second years placements so I just don't see how first years are going to get them outside of a campus clinic next year. I say apply but ask a LOT of questions and maybe try to find a current speech@NYU student to see how they're handling the pandemic.

My neuro professor in post bacc recommended this one and I honestly still find it helpful! https://www.amazon.com/Human-Brain-Coloring-Book-Concepts/dp/0064603067

I think it's still up the air. We've been told to just accept that medical placements might not be available until Spring (which is our last semester, so a bummer). I know some outpatient clinics moved to telepractice with their clients so they're just having the students who would've been in person join them for telepractice. It's a different experience though. I think it's pretty unknown how/if that'll happen!! Usually my program has us in externships our summer after first year but they've just continued the campus clinic via telepractice this summer thankful for hours!! but not the same! My back up is just take any externships I can and hope I can get a job in a SNF while taking CEU's and possibly working PRN during my CF to gain experience and maybe be hired as a med slp in the future? who knows.

What an awesome choice! I'm a more traditional student (still a few years out of school and married but wasn't established in my career or anything) and ended up in an in-person program. We have to sign a contract saying we won't work during grad school since the clinical load is so heavy however I do know that some people work on weekends! You may have more flexibility in an online program (NYU online, for example, doesn't put you in clinicals until your second term. They offer a 3 year program so you can get your pre-req). It sounds like you'll have to do a post-bacc to get those pre-req classes. A LOT of people in my program did theirs online and that is something you could 100% continue working through. The classes are hard but similar to the undergraduate experience you had (i'm sure way fewer papers than in history though!). My only advice is to reach out to faculty at your local universities! I've found speech faculty to be so supportive and open to helping people who know this is what they want to do. I'm sure someone in the department could walk you through requirements and if it's a good fit for you and you may be able to find a mentor. Best of luck!!!

Totally agree! I'm feeling more and more like we'll be living in a world dealing with COVID for YEARS. Here's my thoughts in support of ya'll starting up! I'm a first year too and feel like we'll have the hardest time securing externships this year BUT by the time incoming students start searching the world will have to have precautions in place that students have somewhere to be. The big problem rn is placements not knowing how to keep their staff safe let alone students. I would 100% recommend starting a grad program now *As long as you connect with current students and get an idea for how the program is dealing with COVID*!!!! Go on linked in or facebook and find them, make sure your school/state allows telepractice and find out how classes feel online. SLP students are great and i'm sure they're happy to help

Hi there i'm in a grad program in Maryland i'd be happy to pass along your message to the girls in my cohort! Private message me a job description and contact info and i'm happy to help

Yay congrats!! I'm a first year grad student and what your feeling is totally normal but you got in for a reason! Grad school is super different than undergrad but like the people above said, fake it til you make it Nobody knows what they're doing!

Hi! I did a post-bacc, not sure if that's the same as leveling courses. I did not get a 2nd bachelors degree but I took all the pre-reqs needed for SLP programs. My undergrad GPA was lower (I think 3.3 or 3.2) but most applications ask for a GPA of your "last 60 credit hours" which included the post-bacc. I also got financial aid for that, as long as you're a full time student you should qualify for federal aid. I saw you mention NYU, I got accepted to their in person program and their online program after having done well in my post bacc. Remember essay's mean a lot! So you can totally write about how you struggled in undergrad but showed how hard you can work during that postbacc where you get all A's I wasn't a great student before but when I started taking speech classes I put everything I had in and it's worked out. Sometimes you find the thing you love and it works!!! Best of luck ❤️

Since she offered I don't think it hurts, she might know something you don't about the way the admissions process works at your school. If the question was posed "should I ask someone to put in a good word for me" i'd say no since at this point things are pretty set in stone. You're waiting for someone to drop out (which with COVID seems possible) and then for anyone ahead of you to turn down the spot. Good luck!!! Glad to see you're at least accepted somewhere

HI!! I actually recommend not deferring DEPENDING ON THE PROGRAM. See if you can find grad students from your program and ask how it's been going for them. If the program is being transparent, has telepractice in place, and was prepared for online learning it can still be an awesome experience and by the time you're in your externships in a year things should either have calmed down or we'll have a new normal that we'll have to adapt to anyway. I'm a first year and my program is handling things really well. I'm bummed, miserable, and have cried a lot. But telepractice is going well and it is what it is. I say jump in if it works for you.