TulipOHare

The Ivy League name means nothing in the field.

Since you're in-state, your entire Penn State education will cost less than one year at NYU. If NYU gave you massive funding or you're a Powerball winner, then your choice is basically big program vs. small program, and State College vs. NYC.

Around Penn, there is a bike lane on Walnut Street (the northern side of campus) that goes from around 23rd street over the bridge, and around 34th street you have to merge back into traffic. When the South Street bridge is finished (supposedly December of this year, but I wouldn't put money on it) there will be a similar lane going from 25th and South Street over the bridge and a good way down Spruce. There aren't bike lanes in West Philly, but plenty of people do bike it -- you won't be the only one. Keep in mind that Penn has several blocks of "interior" space with no roads (look at the campus on Google Maps and you'll see what I mean), so you may have to walk your bike a few blocks depending on what building you're headed to. For more info, you can check out this map or contact the very nice people at the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia. Drivers treat everything with animosity -- bikes, pedestrians, other drivers. Be prepared to bike very defensively. There is also the usual level of ignorance regarding sidewalks (lots of cyclists bike on the sidewalks, and lots of drivers think that's where they're supposed to be).

Pretty competitive -- it will help you out tremendously if you have relevant experience. By "relevant" I mean the best thing would be any kind of previous research or teaching experience (even if in a different field), and the next best thing would be any kind of data entry or kid-wrangling or medical-patient-wrangling experience. There's not a formal application process -- your best way of getting an RAship is to e-mail profs and ask directly if they have any openings (of course, describe any skills or experience you have that you think they might find interesting). Next best way is to find a prof or lab you like once you're here and volunteer for them until they have an opening. People graduate in fall, spring, and summer, so you may not be waiting long. I'm not actually sure how you'd go about getting a TAship, since there were no openings for that this year. I'd e-mail whichever faculty member you've been hearing from in official communications and ask.

Hi folks, current Temple SLP student here Not having a background in SLP is totally fine at Temple -- plenty of people come in needing to take some or all of the undergrad prereqs. If you need all the prereqs, you'll do them your first fall and spring terms, and start grad classes and clinic the following summer term. If you just need some of them (this was my case), you'll take a mix of grad and undergrad classes until you're done with your prereqs. The classes are thorough enough to prepare you and they're all bent toward filling ASHA's requirements, so there's not a lot of BS in them. A couple of the best profs in the department chiefly teach the undergrad classes. It is really NOT a big deal at all. (Actually, I'm kinda bewildered that it IS a big deal at other schools... don't they want another semester's worth of tuition money?) Profs and clinical supervisors vary... some are outstanding, some are trash, some are in between. It's true that Philly is in dire need of SLPs -- particularly in schools and early intervention -- but to be fair, I don't know what place is NOT in dire need of SLPs, particularly in schools and early intervention. Campus itself feels very safe -- it's well lit, there's security guards at the entrance to every building, emergency call boxes are everywhere, and Temple has its own police department. Because Temple offers a lot of continuing-ed night classes, the campus is also busy from the early morning until around 9 at night, so unless you're here at 3 AM, you will not be the only person walking across campus or waiting for the subway or bus. However, it is true that the surrounding neighborhoods aren't the greatest. You do not need a car to do off-campus clinical practica. If you don't have a car, you'll be sent somewhere that's reachable by public transportation. Most of the schools we work with are very close to campus, and Philly has a number of good hospitals and rehab centers within easy reach of the subway system. You won't be stuck with terrible options if you don't have a car. When you meet with your advisor, you can talk about any preferences or concerns you have, and they'll do their best to accommodate. Disorganization... unfortunately true. Temple is a gigantic school with a ton of bureaucracy. Plan on anything official you do taking about twice as long as you think it should. However, it might reassure you guys that of all the Temple bureaucracies I've had to deal with, Student Financial Services is actually one of the nicer and more helpful ones. They might send terrifying letters, but they're very nice on the phone. Research heavy? I don't think so. Almost all of the professors here are also researchers, but that's going to be true at any program that's worth a damn. Temple does put a lot of emphasis on evidence-based practice, and the profs also try hard to bridge the research-clinic divide. In other words, your profs want you to be able to read and understand research papers and see how a paper's evidence or ideas might be applied to clinical practice (you'll work on this in your classes), and your clinical supervisors are going to expect you to choose treatment strategies that have been backed up by research. Getting credit for the research methods prereq requirement seems to have been a headache for some people, maybe that's how it comes up. But you're not required to do any research at all, and it's not the case that the profs only care about research or don't know/don't care about what it's like working in the field. Hope this helps some people. Feel free to reply or PM if you have more questions about Temple, and good luck making the decision!

On the whole, MA programs really do not offer funding. At a big enough school you might be eligible for a schoolwide type thing. RAs and TAs, on the other hand... If there's a designated faculty member for answering prospective grad students' questions, or if you've already been assigned an advisor, you could ask them how it's done in the department -- but you could also just e-mail profs directly. Check the department website to see who teaches undergrad classes and who has research labs. In your e-mail, introduce yourself, say you're likely coming to [school] in the fall, say you're interested in RAing for them (if they have a lab) or TAing for them (if they teach undergrad classes), and tell them about any relevant experience or interests you have. Enough people will just e-mail "yah so i need money u got a job? thx" that if you say "I'm interested in [prof's field] because [reason]," it'll be worth something. What you get out of TA/RAing varies from school to school -- could be a tuition cut, could be free fees, could be health insurance, could be a stipend, could be any combination of the above. It's possible that if UW has any openings, your costs there could come down quite a bit, so it's worth asking. For anyone looking at schools in cities or areas with major SLP shortages, check your department website or ask somebody to see if there are any programs that will pay your tuition in exchange for a commitment to work (usually in the schools or early intervention) for a certain amount of time after you graduate. I know the county where Maryland is located has one of these, as does the NYC department of education.

Hi seyeau -- I applied last year and am in my first year of my MA this year. Re: improving your application: There's all the common sense stuff, like making sure you write great essays and turn everything in on time and etc. Your major is just fine. I too was an undergrad Linguistics major at a school with no CSD program. About half of my incoming class was CSD majors -- other majors included psychology, linguistics, English, Spanish, music, business, biology, and art. Get a GRE score above 1200 if at all possible (this will smoke most of your competition, although how much the GRE matters varies greatly from school to school). Make sure you can get three excellent letters of recommendation from your undergrad profs. And, as you said, relevant work experience will help. Re: relevant work experience: Anything having to do with linguistics, psychology, medicine, or teaching will be considered relevant. Since you've only got this summer and the next school year, there are two places I'd look for sure: (1) schools, preschools, after-school programs, programs for the disabled, or nursing/assisted living homes (many of my classmates had previous volunteer or work experience at these types of places); (2) research experience -- if your alma mater or a school close to your home does any research that's even tangentially relevant to speech or language, try to get in on it. For either of these, if you can't find a paying gig but can afford to go unpaid, by all means contact places and offer yourself up as a volunteer. You can certainly try calling private practices and hospitals. Tell them you're considering SLP as a career and ask if there is any work or volunteer work available for someone in your position, and that if there isn't, would anyone be willing to let you shadow or to meet up and talk to you about the field. SLPs are actually pretty nice about this and are generally happy to help if they have the time (they may not). Re: requirements: These are standardized by ASHA, the organization that governs SLPs' professional certification. You can find out what you're required to study on the ASHA website or on any school's program's website. You probably have at least a couple of linguistics courses that would count toward these. Most programs also have a planned track for people who don't have any or all of the CSD undergrad classes they need. Hope this helps. Good luck to you!

Hi folks! Oldbie here. (Applied last year, currently attending the MA program at Temple, love this website just as much as y'all do.) From your description, it sounds like prestige is the only thing U-Dub has over SDSU in your book. So I'd go for SDSU. Really, MA program prestige only matters if you plan on being a muckety-muck inside the ASHA bureaucracy. If you're aspiring toward a PhD someday, prestige helps, but kicking butt academically and getting good recommendations from your Masters program faculty will help just as much or more. If you just want to get your MA and go to work, prestige really will not make much difference. GOOD LUCK to everyone waiting and agonizing!

This is waaaay late, but to anyone reading this and freaking out: Last year I got into 2 of the 4 SLP grad schools I applied to, with two Cs and an F on my transcript. It can be done. (Rest of app: Linguistics undergrad major; 3.5 overall GPA; spent a lot of time on my essays; good rec letters but none from my undergraduate major department, which probably looked a little suspicious; GRE on the high end of the average range; 3.5 overall GPA; relevant full-time work experience.)

Ballpark estimates: $70k at 7% interest over a 10-year term leads to payments of about $800 a month. Extending the term to 20 years would put the payments at about $530. Will your first job out of school pay you enough to allow you to keep up with those?

I'm scared in a different way... I'm scared that this was the one time that doing the sensible, rational, not-taking-any-chances thing won't pay off. I got into two schools, both about the same rank, both with great placement stats. School A might get me funding later this summer (it's not me, it's general school/budget issues); School B gave me no funding (with low odds of ever getting any) and is in a much more expensive place to live. I really, really, really wanted to go to School B; it felt like a perfect match and the program was exactly what I wanted. But School B's loan bill would stack up to $80,000 from tuition alone, probably six figures once I factored in fees and living expenses. School A, all put together, costs $40,000, even if I don't end up getting any funding. So I picked School A. I am completely aware that from an outside perspective, I did the only sane thing to do. I'm still sad, what-ifing, and disappointed about it.

It's only bad if you do nothing with that time. (I graduated from undergrad in 05).

Craigslist!

Same with mine. Some state schools are waiting on state budgets; others just have a ton of red tape/are jerks.

Southeast in general (everything from Louisiana/Arkansas eastward and Kentucky/West Virginia southward): Must have car. It is taken for granted in the Southeast that everyone has a car. Some places have something they call "public transportation" but I can personally guarantee you that it will not be useful or even adequate. Philadelphia: Can definitely get around without a car if you live in Center City or West Philadelphia; it takes more planning from other parts of town but is doable. PhillyCarShare is cheap ($15/mo plus mileage) and Zipcar is also starting to move into the area. Public transportation access varies quite a bit in the suburbs, but is usually pretty good around the college campuses.