littlet4lks

Linguistics or psychology. I wouldn't do education unless you wanted to get a master's in education first before pursuing speech. 

I would qualify this statement and say that "top schools are overrated when the applicant's sole focus is ensuring the name of the school is on their resume". I fell into this hole when I applied last year and it took me a long time to unlearn that name isn't everything and it guarantees nothing. I got accepted into a top program and ultimately decided to go to a smaller local school. While top programs have great professors/connections/electives, there are things to love about other programs. At the end of the day, we are all graduating with the same degree. There is no reason to go into over $100k debt over an SLP grad program (which, unfortunately, most of the top programs have a pretty high price tag). 

Linguistics or psychology. I wouldn't do education unless you wanted to get a master's in education first before pursuing speech. 

My program said they won't have a definitive answer until mid-June but I am going to attend regardless. I would only defer if you are set on moving away from your home and going to school out of state, because I think that would be extremely difficult to do during a pandemic (but YMMV). I'm going locally, so whether it is online or not does not make much of a difference to me since I am living at home still and would just be commuting. 

I wouldn’t risk deferring. I’m a distance SLP student. Y’all. It’s not bad at all. I miss the interaction within the cohort, but my program had that pre-covid 1x a week and 1x a week at our homes online. There are some things you do need to do in-person and I know the COVID-19 restrictions will postpone that until we are allowed to go back to our regional educational service centers here in Texas. As of right now, we are strictly online with Simucase and possible teletherapy options right now, hopefully allowing externships to resume in the fall. 
 
It’s not that bad y’all. I’m a year into it and it’s been great. If anything, you may be able to get some teletherapy experience and if you ever want to do teletherapy as a CCC- SLP, you will be more marketable. 

My program said they won't have a definitive answer until mid-June but I am going to attend regardless. I would only defer if you are set on moving away from your home and going to school out of state, because I think that would be extremely difficult to do during a pandemic (but YMMV). I'm going locally, so whether it is online or not does not make much of a difference to me since I am living at home still and would just be commuting. 

Hi! There is actually an accepted students facebook page. If you are willing to join, it would be super helpful for us so we can all see your insights! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1430543977106730/

I'm trying not to go in with a negative attitude because I don't want to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, so that's one thing. I'm trying to keep an open mind and going in knowing that I will be meeting new people and learning new things that will excite me for the future of the field. I would also try to connect with a professor who is teaching a class that focuses on the population/disorder you're interested in potentially researching because they can always offer you guidance down the road. I would also try to go in with an open mind about research because I did research undergrad on something I thought I was going to love but I ended up becoming interested in other topics when I took more classes on other disorders. 
You can also try reaching out to research labs during the summer and see if they need any help (either being a volunteer or a participant). That way, you can get your foot in the door that way. Also, going to a local school where research might not be an interest to the overwhelming majority can be good for you because even if you help a professor out with a project, you might be able to go to the ASHA conference (which is where ALL the networking happens)! Some of the "elite" brand name schools will have almost every student interested in research and not enough spots or opportunities for them, so consider this an asset.

This doesn't happen to everyone in grad school, but you might be pleasantly surprised at how interests might change once you begin. I entered thinking I might want to work with adults, and aphasia/TBI interested me rhe most, but now I'm applying to CF positions in schools and have spent most of grad school doing research on childhood apraxia! I just sort of fell into research because I did well in a professor's class and it ended up being really interesting. The non-thesis research project I completed for a graduation requirement is still ongoing, and if I want to keep working on it after graduation we can hopefully get some articles published. I hadn't planned on doing a Ph.D, but if I ever do I'll have some solid research under my belt.
Even if you do know exactly what you want to research, and what your professors are doing isn't closely aligned, you could probably still choose to work with the one with the closest interests and branch off of their work. I'm sure they'd be happy to support you in that.

I'm trying not to go in with a negative attitude because I don't want to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, so that's one thing. I'm trying to keep an open mind and going in knowing that I will be meeting new people and learning new things that will excite me for the future of the field. I would also try to connect with a professor who is teaching a class that focuses on the population/disorder you're interested in potentially researching because they can always offer you guidance down the road. I would also try to go in with an open mind about research because I did research undergrad on something I thought I was going to love but I ended up becoming interested in other topics when I took more classes on other disorders. 
You can also try reaching out to research labs during the summer and see if they need any help (either being a volunteer or a participant). That way, you can get your foot in the door that way. Also, going to a local school where research might not be an interest to the overwhelming majority can be good for you because even if you help a professor out with a project, you might be able to go to the ASHA conference (which is where ALL the networking happens)! Some of the "elite" brand name schools will have almost every student interested in research and not enough spots or opportunities for them, so consider this an asset.

I am in a similar situation because I ended up choosing a local school over a school I had dreamed of going to for basically my entire life. What makes me feel better is that I am going to try my hardest to make the best of it. I applied for a research fellowship and I am going to try to network as much as possible.
Also, it helped me a lot to think about practicality. None of us knew back in the Fall/Winter when we were applying that we would be knee deep in a global pandemic. The people who are still thinking COVID isn't going to affect grad school are being naive. Why pay so much money when in the blink of an eye, everyone's grad schools will turn into Zoom University and our clinical experiences will be on Simucase. This virus is here for the long run. It just isn't practical to be moving hours away when you cannot even effectively apartment hunt and adjust to life while the world around us is falling apart and trying to recuperate from this chaos. Grad school is stressful enough already. I've seen the grad students are my undergrad institution now, and they are always super stressed.  I think staying local is honestly the best option but I understand my views might be unpopular. 
 

As someone who was upset because I chose my local school over IHP, thank you for this. Feeling like I dodged a bullet haha.

As someone who was upset because I chose my local school over IHP, thank you for this. Feeling like I dodged a bullet haha.

As someone who was upset because I chose my local school over IHP, thank you for this. Feeling like I dodged a bullet haha.

As a second year student of the 2020 cohort at the Institute of Health Professions, I would like to also recommend that those of you who can defer, do defer.
Today we heard from Paula, the IHP President, as she discouraged students from deferring with the argument that you would be losing out on another year of future employment. I would like to take a moment to discredit this argument and give you examples that I know our cohort has experienced thus far as well as additional information that may help inform your decision.
Graduation: First an foremost, we are not guaranteed graduating on time. We are still being made financially responsive for our 4th clinical rotation regardless if we have access to one or not.  As it stands, not having enough hours not graduating until sometime in the fall. Not having enough hours means you could be ineligible for a CF that becomes available regardless if you accepted it unless they are flexible with the start date.  This WILL have a ripple effect on the current first years and potentially the incoming class. We have an extremely unorganized clinical placement team (the word team is used VERY loosely as it is two women who do the absolute MINIMUM to accommodate any requests) that will NOT give you the placements you have requested regardless of whether we are in a worldwide emergency or not.  Placements: Medical placements: Contrary to what you were told during your campus visit, the IHP NEVER guarantees MEDICAL placements and are not legally affiliated with Mass General Hospital. This tidbit of info is only expressed when you begin creating your resumes (to discourage you from listing their name as anything other than "MGH" ) to apply for placements in your first summer. Diversity: People of color, STAY AWAY. You will be made to commute (average 2 hours each way) because most of the local organizations within Partners Healthcare are known to be discriminatory towards students of color and it will be additionally difficult for you to pursue more competitive medical placements if you are EVEN given the opportunity to interview for them. Also, bilingual supervisors are nonexistent and if you are a student of color you will be exploited to fill every website, newsletter, and advertisement to falsely convey a "commitment to diversity."  Job opportunities:  Medical CFs: As we are currently applying to CFs, it has been very clear that some medical clinical fellowships (outside of dedicated medical CFs) are NOT hiring within the already competitive nature of those limited opportunities due to COVID. Additionally, if you do not have the experience in a medical placement you will not get a medical CF unless you are pursuing a SNF opportunity. Additionally, MA is a state that does not recognize a provisional licensure so if your intention is to work with adults or in EI after graduation, look in another state.  School CFs: Keep this in mind, if you are looking for a school based SLP career, there is less pressure to have specific experiences and they are ALWAYS hiring.  Transparency: There is absolutely no transparency unless the student body goes into an uproar.  You will never fully know where your money is going.  They WILL tell you that you are receiving the same excellent education regardless of the modality. This is NOT true.  The faculty members (outside of maybe 2) are burned out alumni that have little to no well-rounded experience. There is one faculty member of color who is used to meet a requirement but most are pretty much out of touch of what it means to be in the field. Additionally, when you are completing simucase to replace the valuable information you get during your clinical placements and having debriefs these faculty members are uninformed of how to respond to questions. OR they will say "I am just here to facilitate the conversation." Your peers, while lovely, are NOT licensed SLPs and are not supervisors educated to work through some of the complex aspects of the case presented. Therefore, you should not be required to submissively accept this subpar experience or be charged full price for it.  Advocacy:  Students who advocate for themselves and others WILL BE PENALIZED both academically and clinically. This institution is cyclically delinquent in social equity to any student in the following categories: students of color, students with disabilities, students of low socioeconomic backgrounds, LGBTQ students, and students who are parents. Each of you will be expected to serve as the human spokesperson of what ever label they assign you and will be appropriately pigeonholed into a subspecialty to help avoid a "conflict of interest." Outside of the current COVID-19 situation, the learning experience overall at the IHP provided me with certain unique opportunities that my other friends in programs in other parts of the nation did not have access to. Granted my friends in other programs also did not have the emotionally taxing experiences of having to prove their worth or fight against invisible hurdles that the IHP places in front of you when you are anything but a traditional monolingual Caucasian student. Additionally as someone who is glass half full, I will add that experiencing the garbage and discrimination brought a level of growth that my previously 'privileged' life had not provided me with.
That being said, unless this is the ONLY program that accepted you, think very carefully about deferring or accepting another program promising a well rounded experience. You are worth it. This is your money, $100,000 dollars should at least buy you the truth. 

Hi! There is actually an accepted students facebook page. If you are willing to join, it would be super helpful for us so we can all see your insights! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1430543977106730/

I spoke on the phone with someone for the program yesterday and was super disappointed to hear this. She said I could still visit but I feel nervous to even make plans since I'm in NYC and I think it's about to get bad here (and in Boston too)

I HATE that all the schools are so secretive about the true cost per semester LOL
For MGH, I estimated that it is a little over $26,000 per semester. 

Yup! There will be an accepted student open house I believe at the end of this month. Keep a look out in your emails! If anyone here attends, perhaps I’ll see you there.

Me too!!!! I'm so thrilled! Do you know if they usually have an open house? I've never even visited the school but I am likely going to attend depending on how scholarships/financial info shakes out 

I heard from MGH via call on March 6th last year and then received an acceptance letter via email the next day. For TC, I received an acceptance letter via email on March 11th. Good luck!

Okay glad to hear it isn't just me!! I'm hoping we hear back this week, I see you're also waiting on northeastern and TC so fingers crossed stuff keeps getting released soon.

I got accepted to BU, and will most likely not accept and attend, so hopefully my spot can be reserved for you! Wishing you the best of luck!

I also got to be an undergrad clinician and have a client last semester, so I have experience with clinic and clinical writing. I think they explained it like that because there are going to be students coming into this field/program who have backgrounds outside of SLP. If anything, I think having the experience you have will be an asset because it will be less of a learning curve for you. 

I grew up in the suburbs of Boston and I currently live in Boston. As far as cost of living, it is pretty expensive. I live with 3 roommates in Brighton and we each pay around 830 per person, not with utilities. I think those prices are pretty average for popular cities. There is affordable housing, you just have to have roommates, and be willing to take the train for 30 mins to get downtown. As far as getting around, there is the subway( The T) and BU is right on the green line. There are also a lot of bus lines. It seems like they try and accommodate if you want a clinical placement accessible by public transport, but I guess its not a guarantee. With any big city, with a big traffic problem, its just important to give yourself time to get places.