samiamslp

Bump! Has anyone on here visited or attended Emerson College for speech? I'm applying to Emerson now, and would love to hear thoughts about their program! What do you really like about the program? And, while we're at it, what don't you like about it?

Definitely. I'm currently working on my SOP for a program which I visited a few months ago, and during my visit the director of the admissions committee explicitly said that while the prompt said a specific amount, there was actually wiggle room allowed on the word count. I don't think I could ever go over if there was an express amount of words, period-- that would make me too anxious that they might throw out the SOP or not see everything I wrote! There would be too much to risk for that, I agree!

Makes sense. Thank you! It's great to hear from someone who has been through the process!

The 10 percent as a buffer is helpful to know, thanks! I'm struggling with the schools that say "about 500 words", since everyone's "about" is different and the word is so relative. Any ideas as to how to handle that?Would you say that maximum is 505 words or more like 525?

Thanks! Mine is about that length. Yes, I'm with you- there's so much to fit in. Wishing you the best of luck with the whole process!

I thought with the orange deadline applications, as long as transcripts and LORs were submitted weeks ago, you could submit your SOP up until right before the deadline? Am I reading it incorrectly? The blue apps seem to be everything can be submitted up until the deadline, and for the green ones, everything must be submitted a month in advance. Can anyone please confirm? From the CSDCAS website: Blue Apps: "Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on the deadline date. Program Materials do not have to be received by the deadline date." Orange Apps: "Application, payments, transcripts, and at least two letters of reference must be received by 11:59 PM ET on the deadline date. To ensure items arrive on time, try to send all documents several weeks before the deadline." Green Apps: "Applications must be Verified by 11:59 PM ET on the deadline date. Applications can only be verified once all payments, transcripts, and letters of reference have been received. To ensure your application is verified on time, try to complete your application at least four weeks before the deadline."

Hi all- how long are your resumes/CVs for grad school? Are they longer than a page? I know that they shouldn't be for employment, but for grad school I really want to make sure I include everything that is important in it!

Thanks so much, @iloveslp8797! This is super helpful.

I took a year off-- graduated from undergrad in May and am applying to grad school now-- and I am so glad I did! While I initially was disappointed that I would have to take a gap year for personal reasons, I realize that I saved myself so much stress, not to mention that I would probably be feeling tons of burnout if I had gone straight to grad school. It is totally up to you what you decide to do, but it looks great to show that you had experience outside of school, whether it's clinical experience or observations, working with kids or in a hospital, etc. I will say that my experience after graduation also helped confirm that speech was what I wanted to do, and I gained so much confidence in myself and my abilities that I will be using as a speech pathologist. However, if you decide to go straight to grad school, that's great too! Maybe try to fit some observations in before submitting apps and solidify that this is what you want to do, so you have an idea of what kind of setting you might want to work in? It definitely helps to have some experience, but not everyone does who gets in-- I think you should think about how experience would help *you* in your decision, instead of how it would look on your application, if that makes sense. Basically, do what feels right to you! Feel free to message me if you have questions.

Hey Aspire_to_Be! I'm applying there as well. The course description of the class is super vague, but if you check out the courses taken in their post-bacc program, it lists that class and then says "clinical methods" in parentheses. It sounds like that's a class where they're getting credit for their clinical experience, especially since the website says they get their 25 hours from the program. So I'm not 100 percent sure, but my thought is it's credit for observations in the clinic. I don't know if there is any diagnostics portion of the class as well, though. Might be worth a phone call to confirm. Link for reference: https://speechhearing.columbian.gwu.edu/ma-nonslp By the way, have you finished your personal statement for them yet? Fitting everything into 250 to 500 words has been so rough, especially since I can't include a CV in their app system! I've been cutting down so much of mine, but I'm worried I'll be leaving something important out!

Does anyone know anything about living without a car in Milwaukee, Urbana-Champaign, or Memphis? Thanks in advance!

I think I would say it depends on what you get as a writing score. Your quant score is not terribly low, and most schools place their main focus on the verbal and writing scores anyway. Do you feel like you could greatly improve your quant score if you retake it? Or that a retake might up your verbal score a few points? I personally decided against a retake because I didn't want to put myself through the stress of the test all over again! Once you have your writing score, I'd check out the schools you're looking at on EdFind for their average GRE scores, and go from there. If you decide not to retake, just make sure to really highlight your experience in your statement of purpose and make sure it really shines through! Hope this helps!

Thanks, @already40! I'll check it out!

Thanks, AlwaysaFalcon. I'll check it out! Does anyone have any personal experience with MGH IHP, Emerson, or Vanderbilt as an applicant or grad student? It would be great to hear how anyone feels about these programs!

All of you who considered the program or accepted admission to UMemphis, would you mind telling me more about what you thought of it? It sounds like a great program.

Thank you, I'll check it out! Do you know anything about that program? Looks like you're applying there- what did you like so much about UNH's program?

They definitely don't start accepting people before the deadline, but some programs have rolling admissions, so they'll give higher preference to those who sent in their applications earlier in the cycle. Check the school websites, but also calling is helpful! I just signed up to visit a school which didn't say it was rolling on the website, but the admissions guy on the phone told me I'll have a much chance if I get my application in by December- definitely planning to do that now!

Hi all, Does anyone know of any speech grad programs with an emphasis or track for working on literacy/reading? I know of MGH, Vanderbilt, U of South Carolina and possibly Emerson. I'm open to programs anywhere around the country. Looking for any programs that might have classes in or research opportunities specifically devoted literacy. Any insight you could give me about other programs that might be up my alley would be a great help!