dogfishing

I'm not going to the open house since I live on the west coast and can't afford to take off time from school/work right now. As far as prereqs, I'm also a CSD major and e-mailed Liz Gavett about that stuff and she was very helpful (made it sounds like if you have a BS coming in that your classes should transfer over no problem).

Hi all. I just sent in my enrollment deposit to BU today and I'm wondering what you all think about contacting departments about logistics. How soon is too soon? I'm really excited and eager to contact the department right away about possible assistantships, potentially hooking up with other incoming grad students who could be roommates, housing, etc -- but should I hold off until April 15th when the whole class is confirmed? I want to get started, but I don't want to seem like an annoying jerk. Thoughts?

Yay! Thanks all.

To those going to the BU open house, keep us posted. I'm seriously leaning toward BU, but distance (I'm in Seattle), cost and being on a quarter system (so my classes are starting this week) are preventing me from going but I'm still really curious to hear what it's like. Also potentially looking for a roommate in Boston, haha!

I'm curious to hear the responses because I'm in pretty much an identical position. Undergrad debt, expensive dream school, 20 -- so I'm linked to my parents' income even though they won't be contributing anything... Other people have told me that it matters a lot what kind of work you're going into post-graduation -- aka: someone going into medical speech pathology can probably afford to risk going into more debt than someone who wants to work as a public school SLP (although this isn't necessarily true across the board and there are some options for loan forgiveness in public service jobs).

Like other people have said, the GRE won't make or break you. Shoot to do above 1000 and you'll be okay. You can get accepted to great programs with a low-mid score if you have great grades and experience, etc, etc, but a 1600 won't save you from a low GPA and zero experience.

I'm also a medical speech pathology student, and in this case I think you should go with the place you feel more drawn to regardless of rankings. First of all, for speech at the Masters level I think rankings matter much less than they would at the PhD level. Like other people have said, I would focus more on things like practicum opportunities, possible intern/externships and whether they offer a program that will allow you focus on what you're interested in. As far as hireability out of college, when you look at the stats even tiny podunk prorams tend to have >90% hiring rates out of graduate school so I feel like that wouldn't be an issue if you were motivated and worked to make yourself a good candidate. For a field like speech pathology I feel like a student's overall preparedness, demeanor and experiences would matter more than whether they had a "gold-plated" masters degree. Also, if you're really hung up on rankings... top 25 is pretty damn prestigious. I think you'll be okay.

I second this -- I want deets! I'm trying to decide between BU and NYU right now.

Me too! Yay everyone.

Ooooh, I'm seeing some NYU acceptances on the results board. Now the stress of living on the West coast and getting mail later than everyone else, heh. Honestly, I'm not even stressed at this point, I just want to know so I can make a decision and put this whole application process to bed (aka: start planning and stressing over something new ).

I'm currently a comm. disorders undergrad at University of Washington, Seattle (where I was also accepted, MedSLP, but I'd really like to get a feel for a new school). I'm so jealous, I wish I could visit! The money and taking time off school are making going to the open house pretty much out of the question, but everyone that I've talked to there has been so nice and helpful that I'm hoping I can get a good enough feel to make my decision just from chatting with current students, etc. Currently I'd like to do neuro rehab with adults, specifically in a VA or at least in a hospital but, of course, who knows how my interests will change after getting some clinical experience. That's partly why I'm very interested in BU -- it seems like a really good program for someone with strong interests in rehab, especially given the proximity to so many amazing hospitals. The list of potential practicum sites made me dro-o-o-ol. What about you?

Still waiting hopefully for a reply from NYU, but I'm seriously leaning toward BU right now. Anyone else thinking that may be where they end up?

Yep, pretty much. At this point I've just accepted that I'm going to be in debt forever. At least we're going into a field where getting a job out of graduate school is assured...? If anyone has gems of wisdom, they'd be appreciated.

Yep!

Results literally JUST went up on the website. Or mine did, at least!

Noooooo! I can't wait until April 1st!

Someone on here posted that someone in the admission's office said on or around the 15th, but haha! Good point about the Ides.

Hmmm. I'm wondering if we'll hear from TC today...

Accepted to BU -- no money, but geez. I'm excited. To the person asking about UW -- I can't comment about needing a car (Seattle's public transit is great, but I have heard of people getting placed as far away as Tacoma/Kent and you would definitely need a car for that) but you shouldn't hold your breath on funding for a MS. I know that typically all the money goes to doctoral students.

Oh my gosh, still waiting on BU results. Wish I'd known I could call and get the result! Hoping for tomorrow....

I was talking about Boston U too.

Oh my god, I want my BU result so bad! I'm in Seattle so I have no letter yet. Dying!

Just got accepted to UW's MedSLP program! Yay!

Last year it was an e-mail to check the website.

I'm a UW undergrad and the word on the street is that decisions will be sent out this week!