SingingSLP

I agree with neurodegenerate1. I did my undergrad at U of I and I also was one of 4-5 people in a graduate level class back in fall of 2018. I heard similar things, honestly what I heard from other grad students turned me away from wanting to go to U of I for my masters. I haven't talked one-on-one with as many master students in my class or become as close with them, but when I talked to my TA's and masters students they did mention that there is not a lot of funding for people not pursuing research or higher education. Like @jlSLP said, its hard to get assistantships, and the weather does indeed suck, haha! You will have class in -18 weather without windchill. They never cancel. However, all that negative stuff aside I still decided to apply after my gap year because for me it's a good fit. For me U of I is my alma, my boyfriend of 5 years will be there, I concentrated in neuroscience of communication (which the program is really trying to grow because again, they love research) and I will still have in-state tuition, because I'm confident I won't get funding. In my opinion it all depends on your situation and where you are in life, I personally just finished a year of long distance and don't want to wait any longer to be with my guy! If you have any questions for me let me know! P.S. @neurodegenerate1 what year/class were you in?! I'm talking about Neural basis of Speech and Language!

Currently queen of the waitlist over here. I am waitlisted from: University of Illinois- Urbana, Western Illinois, Southern Illinois University- Carbondale and Saint Mary’s College. I am also still waiting to hear back from Murray State. If you got an acceptance, I’m super happy for you, hopefully we can be class mates! If you aren’t planning on attending, please let them know to give a waitlister peace of mind and time to figure out housing/logistics! Proud of everyone for going through this stressful process, we got this!

Don't get me wrong, I am freaking out about not having heard from almost all of my schools, and I am obsessively checking emails/application status websites. But real quick, can we just talk about the insane price to apply to higher education. Its ridiculous that we have to pay so many duplicate fees when the information through CSDCAS is supposed to streamline the process, not just serve as an advertisement for what schools are available. I find the fees exorbitant, especially in a field where we have always been told to cast a wide net and apply to a large number of schools. Quick run-down to make everyones wallets hurt: Each CSDCAS application- $51 through Individual Schools personal graduate portal- ~$30-$75 Send individual GRE scores- $27*** Official Transcripts- $5-$30*** Thats an Avg. of ~$148 per school, not including the one time fee of $100 from CSDCAS *** We have to to send individual GRE to practically every program, even though we already paid CSDCAS who apparently can't give out our transcripts to schools (which means we all basically wasted $27). And then to top it off, we have to pay more for Official Transcripts per a handful of schools. BONUS: We have to fill out multiple applications where some schools ask for additional copies of letters of recommendation, state licenses, online interviews, video essays etc. all outside of CSDCAS. I just don't understand the purpose of CSDCAS if it can't give the schools we apply to the main pillars of their assessments of students or if we are just re0entering everything anyway so the school can make profit. I get that it helps smaller schools get their program out there, but it can't even format my Resume, or embed video submissions. Okay, rant over. Please tell me I'm not alone hating CSDCAS.

A little update, I actually got into the field of ABA during my gap year and I have fallen in LOVE with it! I am definitely still applying to SLP schools, and I think the experience gave me a major leg up on other applicants. Its pretty early and I have only heard from 1/9 schools, and I was waitlisted (its better than nothing!), I will be hearing back from the other 8 schools shortly. I highly suggest looking into ABA if you are taking a gap year, I really feel prepared to work 1:1 with kiddos and other clients.

What schools are you applying to that have this prerequisite? I have a concentration in neuroscience, and I did not find any local schools looking for neuroscience specifically. Would love to hear what schools you have heard about.

I have heard of people getting an ABA certification during their gap year. I also heard of people getting certified while working for a clinic, do you have any insight on that?

This is very similar to me! Thank you for sharing your story. It give me hope!