TulipOHare

My study skills have totally disintegrated, that's for sure. I need to re-learn how to focus on textbooks. And I look back at my heaps of well-organized notes from undergrad and wonder... who did these?

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Rurumets, as I understand it Hunter College SLP is decent, and it's a lot of bang for the buck if you're an NYC resident.

Well, I guess I could put in a deposit at the one school by 4/15, wait for the letter from the other school with the 5/15 deadline, and then if the letter is good I could withdraw from the June school and deposit at the other school. That's not really putting down two deposits at once... but it doesn't feel much less shady. I hate this.

I would've liked this process a lot better if it didn't cost so much money. (In addition to GRE scores and app fees, I took undergrad and postbac classes at 3 different places, so that was a LOT of money spent on transcripts...)

Oh, it's totally clear that you're going to grad school, no worries about that. With the "You've already told us what you want to do," I was referring to:

I feel for you guys, although I am lucky that none of my family are being jerks about it -- most of them are sort of in awe. And confusion. They don't get why I'm not rich yet, since I went to a good college. And my cousin found out I got into grad school and asked "You're going to college again? What are you going to major in this time? So you're going to have two degrees?"

I'm in this boat now. One school said that funding letters go in the mail April 15th (enrollment deadline there is May 15th), and one said I'll hear in JUNE (standard 4/15 deadline). I have asked both if there is any way I can get an inkling of my chances any sooner. June school said no. Still waiting to see what the other school has to say. Question for y'all: Would it be a dick move to put in my enrollment deposits at both schools and then just pull out of one later after I know about funding? Okay, I know it would be a dick move, but considering the circumstances... ?

Not trying to be a jerk here, but... 1.) You just told us what you want to do. How mad at yourself will you be in 2 years for not doing it? 2.) Your SO doesn't seem to want to choose you over anything. I am NOT AT ALL trying to say "you're an idiot for not dumping him" or "always pick career over SO." Just noticed a couple things and decided to point them out. Do correct me if I'm wrong on either of them.

From what I understand talking to former students, the main strengths of the program are the small size and the relatively young faculty -- students get tons of personal attention and the faculty are very engaged with all aspects of the program (none of them are coasting to retirement). More details than that, though, I'm not sure about. Congrats on getting in!

No way. Strayer University. You don't find them on any rankings because they're just that damn good.

Trains usually run every half hour during rush hours and hourly other times. So if you're worried about needing to get home quickly, I would definitely drive. Most of Temple's parking is outdoor and there are security guard booths but not much in the way of cameras. I'm not sure about student vs. staff parking, or how competitive the parking is (I usually take the subway to campus) -- sorry!

There is free parking, but there is no pattern to where it's located, and it's very crowded. I have friends who rely on free street parking, and it's like you might expect... some days there's a spot right in front of your building, some days the closest spot is 10 blocks away. If you're willing to change your residency to PA (that is, get a PA drivers' license with your Philly address on it), you can get a yearly street parking permit that allows you unlimited free parking (that is, without having to pay meters or mind time limits) in the numbered zone closest to your apartment. The signs with the parking rules for each block have numbers at the bottom showing which number permits can park there. This is still no guarantee that you'll get a parking spot in that area, since there's no cap on the number of permits they hand out, but if you're willing to get a PA license then there's no reason not to get one. Most apartments have no parking at all, but some come with a spot and some have an optional lot or garage that you can pay for -- parking is considered a major perk so the apartment listing will definitely state if parking is available. Alternately, if you want a guaranteed spot you can rent one in a lot or a garage, but this is going to run you $100-$200 a month or more depending on where it is in the city. I would not say that any area of town is particularly better or worse -- you run a risk of a break-in anywhere, and the areas with more free parking tend to be more crowded. Definitely call your car insurance company and ask how much your rate will go up for moving to Philly -- it's one of the most expensive car insurance markets. This probably sounds pretty scary if you're used to all the free, safe parking you want, but it's really not impossible -- I had my car in Philly for a few years, and it can be stressful sometimes, but it's totally doable.

To be fair, the people I see are people motivated enough to commit to a six-month-long research study, so it isn't necessarily a representative group. But I was a linguistics major in undergrad, so it's been totally fascinating for me figuring out which aspects of their speech are still intact, which ones are damaged and how, what strategies they use to prop up their deficits, etc. In addition to research my workplace also runs social events for aphasics, and working those has been both awesome (all the patients are so incredibly patient, helpful, and supportive with each other) and sad (this is the ONLY social interaction a lot of these people get, for various reasons, and then most aphasic people have no access to this kind of thing at all). My boss is also very active in aphasia awareness, and it's nice to see that once they actually have aphasia explained to them, people do get that loss of language ability is not the same thing as loss of intelligence. I'm pretty shocked too. Now I'm wondering if I should also be shocked that neither of my schools are having open houses or visiting weekends. :|

Definitely call or e-mail and ask when you should expect to hear about it.

Hot shit, GirlattheHelm! Congrats!!

Quick note -- R5 goes through the Main Line, but Media's a bit south of that on the R3. (Not trying to be snarky, teaganc!)

Meow! Geez. Yes, you're right that the top SLP programs aren't big-name private schools, but no need to be an asshole about that either.

Tons of students commute to Temple, the school's built for it. Parking creeps up a little each year, but right now it's $90 a month for commuting students (which for Philly is CHEAP). Just use common sense and don't keep anything that looks like food, money, or valuables visible in your car (this includes fast food bags, pocket change, any small electronic devices, or any bag that looks like it might have a wallet inside). Most of the suburbs are extremely safe and have good schools, public and private. I was actually gonna suggest Yousername's hometown of Abington or any of the towns near it -- Willow Grove, Jenkintown, Elkins Park, several others.

Yup -- one of my schools is snail mailing offers on April 15th; the other won't be able to say anything at all until June.

While we're waiting, let's dork out a bit. What aspects of SLP are y'all most interested in? I am really excited to learn everything, but I'm most interested in "bilingual" stuff, working with non-English speaking and ESL/ELL people. In addition to the actual clinical work, I also like the advocacy side of it -- driving home the idea that nonnative English speakers are different, not broken. I have some experience working with aphasics, which is really fascinating; I'd like to keep a toe in that too.

What, like "I've been working with this global aphasic for a week and now she can recite Shakespeare" ? Sorry, I just find the idea of bragging about clinical skills kind of funny I am going for the bilingual specialty at both TC and Temple So I've got the lock on that. But no, I am definitely not able to pay for TC out of pocket, and quintupling my student debt? Do not want.

Thanks everyone for your responses. No. Both programs have had 100% placement rates for years and years -- SLP's a field with steady growth (woohoo health care!) and they're both known to be good programs. So I would be certain to get a job no matter what. Check for your program here: http://www.teachnycprograms.net/ -- under each link they have a list of participating schools. Actually, the name doesn't matter that much to me... probably because my BA's from an Ivy. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and still paying it off! Okay, it would be kind of cool to be able to swing two Ivy degrees in people's faces, but the mystique is not that big a draw to me

I wasn't sure I'd get in anywhere!

EXACTLY! In fact, I had someone tell me that not even 30 minutes ago!