MA-SLP FTW

I've seen Dublin pop up here a few times, and thought I'd weigh in since I'm living there now. The commute is inconsistent. If I leave at 7-7:15am I can get to West Campus (where I park, it's not bad) in about 20 minutes. If I leave any later than that, it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Same around PM rush hour. Dublin is great for families, however. There are plenty of good places to eat, and you don't have to compete with "game day" traffic, but I'm sure that's true of most places near i-270. My husband and I will be moving closer to campus because we're looking for something a little more hip. Nothing against Dublin, just looking forward to being able to walk to where we want to go.

You can always get a Zipcar! Not sure about the price, but it'd make shopping easier. You can rent a car for just a little bit to go to, say, Sam's Club, Target, Ikea, etc. Many companies like Zipcar have designated parking spots throughout the city which also helps. I haven't used them personally but the Zipcar parking spots were always the only ones open when I'd go places! Just thinking about how easy it was to get around almost makes me miss the Red Line. Almost.

Does anyone out there have the contact information for MGH? I have misplaced my letter ( ) and need to tell them to take me off of the wait list. Thank you!

Thanks! I'm excited to stay in state. It's going to be difficult to tell some of the other programs that I won't be coming. I've developed a pretty good relationship with the head of ECU's program in particular. I applied to so many schools because I really didn't think I'd get in anywhere. I hope that all of the rest of you have the same problem! I'm going to send an official e-mail and a thank you notes to each program. I think it would be totally appropriate to reach out to a professor you met and liked at a school. There's always the possibility for collaborative research! Hope everyone had a wonderful St. Paddy's Day!

The Cracker Barrel and drive-thru Starbucks off of the West Lafayette exit were my favorite part of driving to/from Chicago. Not particularly unique, sure, but delicious nonetheless.

I guess they heard me, because they sent me an e-mail this afternoon! The e-mail stated that this was essentially the first batch of acceptances going out. In years past OSU will send out a first group, wait to start hearing back, send out a second group, etc. Pretty pumped - but this does make deciding more difficult. I hope you get some good news soon!

Obviously! Especially since my student loans don't go away when I die.

"In Review"?! What could you possibly still be reviewing?! Really need to get responses from everyone so I can make a decision. What's the point of having a Jan 1 deadline if you're going to wait until the end of March to post decisions?! Arggggggg OK. Just needed to get that out. Thank you all for listening. Have a great weekend!

Ahh, yes. Taking on more debt than the federal government has been my life's aspiration since I was but a wee lass. In related comments, though perhaps better suited for a "Sh*t people say when you've graduated from grad school" forum: "You're paying how much every month in student loans? Dude, that's more than my mortgage." Thanks for the reminder. I am aware I could single-handedly fund the space program with my student loan debt.

Having lived in Chicago, I would like to say that traffic there is pretty horrendous. I've never driven in Atlanta, to be fair, but it usually took my husband over an hour and a half to make the drive from Rush to our apartment (which, according to Google maps, is a 25 minute drive). It is possible to make it in Chicago without a vehicle, but relying on the CTA/eL makes things like grocery shopping difficult. I'd warn you about picking an apartment near the hospitals, but if you're familiar with Atlanta then I'm sure that you know how to stay safe. There is nothing, IMHO, that beats Chicago in the summers. Farmers' markets downtown, concerts, the lake breeze, it's all pretty amazing. Almost makes you forget about the -20 wind chills and crazy snowfalls in the winter. Reminds me that I need to plan a visit!

Sorry for not finding this sooner! I was out of town for work and didn't stay on my Grad Cafe game! We have some friends who live near New Haven and love it. I am still kind of leaning toward going to school in a warmer clime (if I opt to go out-of-state). Congrats to you and your spouse! My husband wants to go back for his PhD, but I'm making him wait But, I didn't realize the SCSU program was exceptionally long. How long is it, exactly?

Backstory: applied to 1 graduate program last year (d'oh!), didn't get in. Mother-in-law (to my husband): Have you heard back from any graduate programs yet? Husband: Not yet but... Mother-in-law: So what if she doesn't get in this year? Do you have a Plan B? Husband: Well, we're still waiting to.... Mother-in-law: DOES THAT MEAN YOU'LL HAVE BABIES?!?!?!?! Husband: *Crickets* Uhm, yes. This is a binary circumstance; having children and getting an advanced education are mutually exclusive. Clearly, one either has a master's degree or is a mother. (I've only managed to read about 5 of the 23 pages for this forum, so I hope this isn't a duplicate.)

For me, I made sure to ask professors whether or not they felt they could write strong letters of recommendation on my behalf. Many times I asked what I needed to do in order to earn a strong letter. Although I had cultivated relationships with my recommenders and had a pretty good idea of how they'd respond, I was absolutely ready to go elsewhere if a professor began wavering in his/her reply. It's for this reason that I was unconcerned about looking at my letters of recommendation. I was already keenly aware that my cheerleaders and mentors were composing something brilliant (must have been something good, since some schools let me in!). To have them "on file" would infer that he would not be able to ask for assistance from these recommenders again. I feel that your son already knows that his recommenders would be willing to speak to his character/achievements again if necessary. My parents have, at times, been frustrated by how little they can do to help me in my application process (and I've been out of the house for over a decade!). Sometimes just knowing I have a strong supporter at home is enough. Good luck to your son!

So amazing to see all the good news on here - congratulations everyone! FYI, I sent an e-mail over the weekend, but still haven't heard anything from the University of Cincinnati. I guess they're avoiding me But, I got good news from Southern Connecticut State! Anyone else thinking about heading to New Haven in the fall? I haven't yet heard back from all of my schools, but right now I'm kind of in between SCSU and East Carolina U. Thoughts?

Thanks folks! Oh! forgot to mention that I intentionally applied to programs where I thought I'd have the best shot at getting in. Of course, there are some "reach" schools on the list, but I didn't want to go through the heartbreak again. It just takes one!

Hey there; do not be discouraged! You still have time to hear great news. This is my second time applying, and although my situation is likely a little different than yours, here's what I did. Fail #1 for me last year was applying to only one program coming from outside the major and having taken zero pre-reqs. But I'm glad I applied anyway, because getting my rejection letter gave me an opportunity to speak with the head of the SLP master's program at that school. I asked her to review the strength of my application and give me some pointers. Here's what she told me: - Schools want to know that I'll succeed academically in their program. If my grades are so-so (3.14 for my BA) then I'll need to make sure that I do well in the classes I'm taking, and find recommenders who can speak to that area. - Speaking of recommenders, she told me to make sure that I needed to "distinguish myself" from other students. This program gets anywhere from 300-400+ applicants a year. If I couldn't make myself stand out when I'm on campus with the people who would be reviewing my application, where would I stand out, right? She suggested that it would be very helpful to have "cheerleaders" in the department, who would be able to say from personal interaction w/me that they wanted me in the program. So... I looked up the entire department's staff online (it's all on every department's webpage) and took a look at every professor. Where did she/he go to school? Where did they all work before coming to this school? What were they all interested in? I used this info in meetings/e-mails with professors at my school and the others I thought about applying to. Their perspectives were invaluable, and it made it less awkward to ask for LoRs when I had already built a relationship with some of them. - Schools want to see good test scores. Even with a 1300 (V: 650, Q 650, AW 4.5) she suggested I re-take the GRE. In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't do this. My verbal number was high enough that I didn't want to risk taking the newfangled exam and getting a lower score. And let's face it; this test sucks. - Schools want to see involvement. I joined the NSSLHA chapter at the school. I also got a position as a research assistant. I think this was probably the most effective thing I did, because it gave me experience in research in the field, and also showed how committed I am to the major/field. She also said something to me about looking into other fields, and I ended up leaving her office and having a good cry on the way home. If this is what you know you want to do with your life, don't let a few rejections stand in your way. Find ways to get involved in the field and try to meet with some professors who can write recommendations that will get you noticed. Reach out to your target schools and let them know how much you like their program, try to meet someone in their department who likes the same research fields you do. I hope it all works out for you! (Sorry for the novel, everyone! I'm a talker!)

As a matter of fact, it was! I had a letter that both the graduate school and department of ComD had everything. Then, a month later, I got a letter stating that the school didn't have my transcripts. I contacted the department just to see if I needed to send my paperwork to both again. The department told me that they had a copy, not originals, from the school! So I contacted the school and told them what the department had told me, and they said that they had gotten a copy from the department. So, there's at least one set of original transcripts floating around New Haven, but SCSU just can't find them. I sent in a third set of transcripts just to be safe, but I thought I was losing my mind there for awhile.

OK, I bit the bullet and sent out an e-mail. I had written the program coordinator an e-mail on Feb 21 because my application materials didn't seem to show up in UC's system (gradtools) but never got a response. Really hoping that they weren't the 3rd program to receive, and then misplace, my application stuff. **If anyone is prowling around here who will be applying next year, I have discovered that there IS such a thing as "too early" when it comes to submission of application materials. I had everything but my letters of recommendation in by the end of October/beginning of November and at least 2 schools lost stuff after they told me they received everything. It is a wonder I have any hair left.

I haven't heard anything either. I'm thinking about waiting another week and then e-mailing them.

Sorry you didn't get any word this week! Sometimes I imagine that the graduate admissions committees must enjoy torturing us. I try to remember that processing applications isn't the only thing they have to do, but that doesn't help much when the mail comes. My postman probably thinks I'm a maniac the way I wait for him every day. Hope everyone gets some R&R this weekend. Certainly well-deserved!

I found a link to a website that may be at least a starting point in deciding where money could come from: http://projectonstudentdebt.org/look_leap.vp.html But be careful. My husband took out private loans to finance grad school (in another field) and we're repaying well over $1000/month. And that's just his debt. It has been nearly impossible to save up any kind of money for anything. He's lucky that his salary covers his loans. We have a friend who got a master's (not in ComD/SLP) from Northwestern who cannot make her loan payments without help from her husband ( ). She was really upset that she got a master's from a great school but the loans she had to take out aren't covered by the normal starting salary in her field. It is basically a scenario from my nightmares. All I can offer is to try to think of how much money you'd need to take out and think about whether or not you'll be able to make those payments once you get out of school and take your first job. I know my friend who can't make her loan payments has mentioned that she just wished she had known what she was getting into when she went back to school. For her, it might have been worth it to go to a less expensive program if it meant she wouldn't have to rely on anyone else to pay back the loans. (She hopes that as she gains experience she'll start making enough to cover the costs.) However, I don't know if my husband would have given up his #1 choice for school even if it had meant that we'd have some financial breathing room now. It has made a difference, though, in where I applied for school. I can't really speak for your situation. I can't imagine how anxious you must be! I hope you get good news back regarding Federal Aid soon. And congratulations on Columbia! Good luck!

Thanks! I would definitely still do clinical work. No way I would give that up! I'm going to try to find out a little bit more about what research is already taking place. I'm hoping to sort of piggyback on another research project so I could use existing data for my own thesis. One of my fellow research assistants did that and she said it made it much easier, but that's also undergrad. Just don't want to overcommit before I've even gotten started! Hrmm....

Has anyone thought about doing a thesis option? I'm already a research assistant so I have some concept of the preliminary work that would need to take place, but I'm concerned about taking on too much. Has anyone had any experience with this? Thanks

You are not alone, lizmeyers2. We all probably need an intervention.

Welcome aboard! This forum has been great for helping me keep my sanity. Speaking of sanity - I have a box of Thin Mints that stands to disappear if I don't hear back from some more schools soon. Looking at you, MGH and UC. Just put me out of my misery, please.