estel

Hello All!
Just wanted to post a reminder that today is the first day that mentees can register for ASHA's S.T.E.P program. (You don't have to be a member of NSSLHA to join, but it's recommended)
This program matches mentors to mentees in SLP or Audiology based on 6 preferences: skills that you'd like to focus on, areas of interest, areas of study, languages, work setting, and mentoring areas (career direction, bilingual service provision, careers in academia, clinical age population, conducting research, creating safe spaces and gender inclusivity, etc.).
Mentors are ASHA members with their CCC's and 3 years of professional practice. The website matches you with potential mentors that match your preferences as closely as possible. From there, you are able to message the mentors that you are interested in advising you, which gives you some independence in finding a mentor that is truly going to be a good fit. Then, the mentor can decide if they would like to mentor you.  In the program, you will communicate with each other regularly about your mentoring areas!
The program is open to undergraduates, graduate students, and those applying to a program. They state that you should set aside approximately an hour a week for work on the program, but this opportunity is what you make of it (you get out what you put in). It's conducted via the internet, but they state that you can meet personally in certain situations (ASHA convention, etc.)
 
Benefits (copied from the ASHA website)
Access to a support system during critical stages of college and career development Insider perspective on navigating their chosen career Clear understanding and enhancement of academic and career development plans Ability to develop mentoring relationships in industries where mentoring is not readily available Enhanced understanding of the importance of mentors Exposure to diverse perspectives and experiences Direct access to power resources within the professions of audiology; speech-language pathology; and speech, language, and hearing science Identification of skill gaps before leaving school Greater knowledge of career success factors A lasting career network  
S.T.E.P. program info page
Click here to learn more (FAQs). 
Click here if you're ready to register. (takes 5-10 minutes)
 
Enrollment for this year ends February 28th. The orientation is March 3 from 8-9:30 pm ET (zoom). This post is not sponsored, I just think it's a great opportunity and hadn't seen anything posted on this forum about it.

You don't have to belittle someone's negative experiences. Just because they aren't fond of a program that you like doesn't make their experiences any less. As a future SLP you should be more empathetic to another person's experience even if it doesn't coincide with what you believe. Imagine if the admissions committee saw you making such hurtful comments to another person.

and quit being dramatic.... you probably just dont know how to handle grad school stress.

I had this same issue while applying last year and I did end up reporting what my parents contributed to my tuition/housing/etc that year. Not sure if that's the right answer, but that was my interpretation after agonizing over it.

I think the general advice is to aim for the sum of your quantitative and verbal scores being at least 300. Obviously higher is better, but that's a good baseline target.

Hi! I sent you a PM with more info on Vanderbilt  

Hey! Tbh I didn’t really study too much for the GRE. I did buy the ETS official GRE super power pack which was helpful for reviewing math I hadn’t done in a long time. It also came with some online practice tests that I did and those were honestly the most helpful to me. It was helpful just to get used to the test format and see how I needed to manage my time. That’s probably not a super helpful answer (sorry) but many of my friends used Magoosh and I only heard good things!
 
Feel free to message me to chat about individual programs if you’d like, since you’re applying to many of the same ones I did!

Hi! I would say cost is a good way to initially narrow it down-- calculate the full program cost for each of the schools you're still considering and if there's any that are super astronomical, throw them out. Here are some other things to consider:
Cost (including rent, moving costs, etc) Location Clinical education model (is there a campus clinic? etc) Clinical placements (how many placements do you do, and where?) Externships available (how many externships do you do? what sort of facilities do they offer externships in?) Assistance finding CFY / jobs (what sorts of connections do they have? how well-reputed are the program?) Opportunities for specialization (is there a bilingual certificate or anything that you're interested in? are there any elective options?) Ability to start clinical work immediately (do you start right away in a clinic or do you not start until 2nd semester?) Distribution of courses vs clinical hours (is it like, mostly courses 1st year and mostly clinic 2nd year, or is it more distributed evenly?) Praxis pass rates On-time graduation rate Post-graduation employment rates Perceived organization of the program (do they seem organized/disorganized?) Research opportunities (if you're into that) Cohort size Opportunities for TA/RA positions, hourly jobs, etc You probably don't want to go through that whole list for each program, but cost is a good way to narrow it down initially!

Hi! I would say cost is a good way to initially narrow it down-- calculate the full program cost for each of the schools you're still considering and if there's any that are super astronomical, throw them out. Here are some other things to consider:
Cost (including rent, moving costs, etc) Location Clinical education model (is there a campus clinic? etc) Clinical placements (how many placements do you do, and where?) Externships available (how many externships do you do? what sort of facilities do they offer externships in?) Assistance finding CFY / jobs (what sorts of connections do they have? how well-reputed are the program?) Opportunities for specialization (is there a bilingual certificate or anything that you're interested in? are there any elective options?) Ability to start clinical work immediately (do you start right away in a clinic or do you not start until 2nd semester?) Distribution of courses vs clinical hours (is it like, mostly courses 1st year and mostly clinic 2nd year, or is it more distributed evenly?) Praxis pass rates On-time graduation rate Post-graduation employment rates Perceived organization of the program (do they seem organized/disorganized?) Research opportunities (if you're into that) Cohort size Opportunities for TA/RA positions, hourly jobs, etc You probably don't want to go through that whole list for each program, but cost is a good way to narrow it down initially!

Hi! I would say cost is a good way to initially narrow it down-- calculate the full program cost for each of the schools you're still considering and if there's any that are super astronomical, throw them out. Here are some other things to consider:
Cost (including rent, moving costs, etc) Location Clinical education model (is there a campus clinic? etc) Clinical placements (how many placements do you do, and where?) Externships available (how many externships do you do? what sort of facilities do they offer externships in?) Assistance finding CFY / jobs (what sorts of connections do they have? how well-reputed are the program?) Opportunities for specialization (is there a bilingual certificate or anything that you're interested in? are there any elective options?) Ability to start clinical work immediately (do you start right away in a clinic or do you not start until 2nd semester?) Distribution of courses vs clinical hours (is it like, mostly courses 1st year and mostly clinic 2nd year, or is it more distributed evenly?) Praxis pass rates On-time graduation rate Post-graduation employment rates Perceived organization of the program (do they seem organized/disorganized?) Research opportunities (if you're into that) Cohort size Opportunities for TA/RA positions, hourly jobs, etc You probably don't want to go through that whole list for each program, but cost is a good way to narrow it down initially!

I just declined Washington MedSLP, UIUC, St. Xavier, and my waitlist spot at UT Austin. Hope this helps someone!

Hi all! Does anyone know when Vanderbilt will be sending out decisions this year? Their website says they typically send them out the first full week of March, which was last week. I know that Nashville was just hit by a tornado so it's possible that after-effects from that are delaying the admissions process. Just wondering if anyone has any insider info!

Hi all! Does anyone know when Vanderbilt will be sending out decisions this year? Their website says they typically send them out the first full week of March, which was last week. I know that Nashville was just hit by a tornado so it's possible that after-effects from that are delaying the admissions process. Just wondering if anyone has any insider info!

My understanding is that post-bacc programs tend to be less competitive. I think one of the main reasons that grad programs are so competitive is because they have a limited number of clinical placements that they can offer, but that's not an issue for post-bacc. For post-bacc you'll probably just be in like regular undergrad courses with undergrads, so there's less of a limit on the number of people they can accept. A few in-person post-bacc programs I can think of off the top of my head are: Pacific University, University of Washington (this one I think is longer and gets you a second bachelor's), University of Wisconsin, UMass-Amherst, Eastern Washington University, University of Oregon, Arizona State. Online programs will in general be cheaper, but I think an in-person one can be advantageous because it might be from a more well-known school and you might be able to get to know your professors better, leading to better letters of recommendation.

Hi! I think it really just depends on the program, which is really frustrating! I wish every program just had a decision day that everyone went onto the school portal to check the status.. the waiting is killer!

My understanding is that post-bacc programs tend to be less competitive. I think one of the main reasons that grad programs are so competitive is because they have a limited number of clinical placements that they can offer, but that's not an issue for post-bacc. For post-bacc you'll probably just be in like regular undergrad courses with undergrads, so there's less of a limit on the number of people they can accept. A few in-person post-bacc programs I can think of off the top of my head are: Pacific University, University of Washington (this one I think is longer and gets you a second bachelor's), University of Wisconsin, UMass-Amherst, Eastern Washington University, University of Oregon, Arizona State. Online programs will in general be cheaper, but I think an in-person one can be advantageous because it might be from a more well-known school and you might be able to get to know your professors better, leading to better letters of recommendation.

I think that if you do really well in your postbac courses you could be a strong applicant! From what I've heard, the CSD GPA is the one that matters most, so if you are able to get like a 3.75-4.0 in your postbac that will put you on track to be a strong applicant! I think also in your personal statements you would want to focus on your experiences (particularly baby sign language internship, volunteering as an English instructor, and research) , since those seem very relevant and very strong, and write about how the skills you've gained through those experiences will help you to succeed in graduate school and become an effective clinician. Also, definitely write about your neuroscience major and how that connects to your interest in speech pathology. For example, my undergrad was in linguistics, and in my personal statements I wrote about making connections between linguistic theory, empirical data, and the actual clients that I will see as an SLP. Also, in your postbac, build relationships with your professors from the beginning so that they know you decently well by the time it's recommendation season. Don't count yourself out just because of your GPA!

I think that if you do really well in your postbac courses you could be a strong applicant! From what I've heard, the CSD GPA is the one that matters most, so if you are able to get like a 3.75-4.0 in your postbac that will put you on track to be a strong applicant! I think also in your personal statements you would want to focus on your experiences (particularly baby sign language internship, volunteering as an English instructor, and research) , since those seem very relevant and very strong, and write about how the skills you've gained through those experiences will help you to succeed in graduate school and become an effective clinician. Also, definitely write about your neuroscience major and how that connects to your interest in speech pathology. For example, my undergrad was in linguistics, and in my personal statements I wrote about making connections between linguistic theory, empirical data, and the actual clients that I will see as an SLP. Also, in your postbac, build relationships with your professors from the beginning so that they know you decently well by the time it's recommendation season. Don't count yourself out just because of your GPA!

I think that if you do really well in your postbac courses you could be a strong applicant! From what I've heard, the CSD GPA is the one that matters most, so if you are able to get like a 3.75-4.0 in your postbac that will put you on track to be a strong applicant! I think also in your personal statements you would want to focus on your experiences (particularly baby sign language internship, volunteering as an English instructor, and research) , since those seem very relevant and very strong, and write about how the skills you've gained through those experiences will help you to succeed in graduate school and become an effective clinician. Also, definitely write about your neuroscience major and how that connects to your interest in speech pathology. For example, my undergrad was in linguistics, and in my personal statements I wrote about making connections between linguistic theory, empirical data, and the actual clients that I will see as an SLP. Also, in your postbac, build relationships with your professors from the beginning so that they know you decently well by the time it's recommendation season. Don't count yourself out just because of your GPA!

Good luck to all of you! I'm not seeing much overlap in schools with anyone else (I'm not applying to any schools in CA), but I applied to:
University of Texas-Austin, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, St. Xavier University, University of Washington (MedSLP), Vanderbilt University, University of Illinois
Overall GPA 3.9 || CSD GPA 4.0 (originally out-of-field, currently in a leveling program)
GRE 166V, 164Q, 5.5AW 
I submitted my last applications on December 31 and now I'm sitting here anxiously refreshing all of the pages in the hopes that something will change even though I know programs aren't sending out decisions for at least another month...

Good luck to all of you! I'm not seeing much overlap in schools with anyone else (I'm not applying to any schools in CA), but I applied to:
University of Texas-Austin, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, St. Xavier University, University of Washington (MedSLP), Vanderbilt University, University of Illinois
Overall GPA 3.9 || CSD GPA 4.0 (originally out-of-field, currently in a leveling program)
GRE 166V, 164Q, 5.5AW 
I submitted my last applications on December 31 and now I'm sitting here anxiously refreshing all of the pages in the hopes that something will change even though I know programs aren't sending out decisions for at least another month...

Good luck to all of you! I'm not seeing much overlap in schools with anyone else (I'm not applying to any schools in CA), but I applied to:
University of Texas-Austin, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, St. Xavier University, University of Washington (MedSLP), Vanderbilt University, University of Illinois
Overall GPA 3.9 || CSD GPA 4.0 (originally out-of-field, currently in a leveling program)
GRE 166V, 164Q, 5.5AW 
I submitted my last applications on December 31 and now I'm sitting here anxiously refreshing all of the pages in the hopes that something will change even though I know programs aren't sending out decisions for at least another month...

I don't think you need to go super in-depth on it, but if you wanted to mention your health problems, you could also even tie it into SLP! Like, something about how it's important for SLPs to collaborate with other providers like OTs and audiologists, for example, because if a kid has a hearing loss, they're going to struggle in speech therapy, just like how you struggled in your academics because of your undiagnosed health problems. Or you could point out that there's strong relationships between speech/language disorders and academic problems, so seeing how much better school was for you after diagnosis/treatment inspired you to help kids, where once a kid gets diagnosed and gets speech therapy, they'll have the opportunity to do better in school.