NorcalSLP

Not at all frowned upon. Happens all the time for reasons just like yours (edited to add: I got this information directly from a member of the admissions committee at a very highly ranked school who seemed shocked when someone was worried they would offend a school by withdrawing a decision) It's why people get pulled from wait lists through the summer. I think an email would suffice. If you were in touch via phone with anyone at the first program you could call too (either way have it in writing). Be polite about it. Explain that you were accepted into a program that is a better fit for personal reasons but that you very much respect all that they do and wish them the best of luck with the new cohort (or words to that effect). And you pulling your place will probably allow someone to get off of their wait list so it all works out in the end.

Not necessarily! My school was the "lowest" ranked of all the schools in my area and of the competitive, prestigious medical placements that take 1 student (and interview students from all area programs)? 100% went to girls in my cohort in my second year (and several went to girls in the cohort above me the year before). It's best to ask the schools what kind of placements students have received in the past rather than rely on the notion that the name of the school will get you further. Because yes, some schools do have a harder time placeing students in medical placements that are more significant and prestigious than a snf (nothing wrong with snfs but if you want to work in acute or sub-acute care you'll need the internship to prove you have what it takes). But that's a school to scho thing and has little to do with the rankings.

I'm assuming you don't have a bachelor's in SLP? If so doing a post bacc or at least a fair number of pre reccs is probably your best shot. Portland State does not seem to have a GPA requirement for their post bacc or second bachelor's degree. The application is non competitive, they just require you to have graduated college. https://www.pdx.edu/sphr/post-baccalaureate-program and somewhere around here is a list of all the schools that have post bacc programs. I'd assume at least a few of then do not have a GPA cut off But I agree with the poster who said you should finish most or all of the post bacc/second bachelors before applying to show you can do the work (note you do not NEED a 4.0 GPA to get into grad school. Do well, aim for above a 3.5 minimum but also aim for a well rounded application). I think if you do that AND do well on the GRE, get some good extra curricular activities (research, volunteer work, shadowing etc) plus have good LORs and LOIs the schools won't care much if at all about your first bachelor's GPA. Sounds overwhelming but it's kinda needed to apply to schools now. And a lot of it falls into place all at once (your GPA is good so you volunteer with a professor you liked who is doing research. That professor writes you a good rec and the experience adds to your letter of intent. You shadow at a hospital that turns into volunteering with the SLP who also writes you a good letter and agrees to help you polish your letter of intent because you're applying to her alma mater etc etc). Don't worry too much about a 2.5 GPA in an unrelated field. Good luck!

What's your last 60 GPA? Your major GPA? And do you have post bacc credits that bring your cumulative GPA above a 3.0? I don't want to discourage you from applying anywhere bc I think (as you demonstrate) there is so much behind the "number" of your GPA but some schools won't even look at an application below 3.0 (which yes is very problematic). I don't know about UVA but I would highly recommend talking to someone in their program (a professor, someone in admin, someone on the admissions committee if possible), explain your situation and ask how they view applicants with your extenuating circumstances but a (I'm assuming) otherwise strong application. (And make sure the rest of your application (GRE, LOI, LOR, CV) is stellar). And I'd do this with all the schools you plan to apply to and even some you don't. I found departments to be pretty honest and understanding when approached about things like this (doesn't mean you will get the answer you want) and they won't look down on you for asking. And if worse comes to worse and you have to reapply, it's not the end of the world. Many many many of us have had to apply more than once and we survived. Potential employers won't care or even know how many attempts it took to get into graduate school.

I'm a bit confused. Do the classes you have taken meet the pre requisite classes to apply for a master's degree? And is your three year degree a bachelors degree in the country where you were educated? You plan to go to school in the states and work in Europe? And where are you practicing? What is it you are ultimately working for? Why are you perusing an accelerated bachelors?

I echo what others have said, how many classes are we talking? Is she offering you admission to their leveling program with garunteed entry to the grad program next year? If so that's a pretty sweet deal and I'd bite the bullet and take it. If you only have 3-5 classes left to take that's doable for a summer. 32 units is not.

I'm going to echo what many have said and say apply to post bacc programs. Some of the post bacc programs are competitive entry (you need a good GPA, letters of rec etc) some are not (fill out a short application, provide proof of graduation from college and you're in provided they still have space). Look for a program with a good number of classes (I suggest figuring out what grad school you may want to go to, what prerecs they require and finding a post bacc from there but that takes a lot of work). But I'd also suggest tossing in some applications to extended masters (no background needed) programs. May as well, you never know what could happen. But don't limit yourself to just schools that don't require a background or you may be applying twice without having done much to improve your application in the meantime.

I did my post bacc at UW so I may be able to answer some questions about Seattle neighborhoods. There were two women in my cohort with kids. One of them lived in Greenlake (a very nice neighborhood about 15 min from UW on public transit) the other lived in Queen Ann (also a lovely neighborhood that I've been told is hard to get to on public transit but is about a 15 min drive to UW). From what I recall they both have good schools. Greenlake is centered around a big park, so pleanty of good outdoor space for a dog (and/or kids). Rivenna, Wallingford and Ballard were also popular. Good luck!

I may have missed it (loooooong day with clients who had the gall to act like children (note: they are in fact, children) so my reading comprehension is pretty low right now). But is your bachelors in Speech and hearing? If not get those prerecs done. Otherwise you have 7 wait lists so don't worry yet, they may move. If need be, contact those schools and ask how to better your application. Then go from there.

I'd send him to amuse himself. It's your grad school experience not his. And bringing someone along (a parent, friend etc) may make you LOOK codependent (I mean you're already in so it's not like they'll knock you for it but it may influence their perception of you). JMHO

The extremely high need for qualified PhD level professionals in our field makes the ranking of your masters program not matter much (I assume I'm not perusing a PhD) . As glueear it's more about what you do/the connections and relationships you develop. The same is true for getting a CF. I went to a school in a large metro area that was (while still top 40 at the time, a little higher now) the lowest ranked of the other schools in the area. But people in my cohort still got highly competitive medical placements over students in the other programs because they were the most qualified candidates. One of my friends who got a highly competitive clinical placements went on to get her CF in a hospital (in acute care no less). Make sure your program can get you solid externship experience. I don't think ASHA requires a medical internship (I think the 'adult' hours can be satisfied by working at a private clinic with adults who are many years post stroke, have cochlear implants etc). If you are interested in medical speech pathology, ask your program about the medical clinical placements available. Don't spend $$$ on rank alone. It likely won't pay off in the end. Your decision should be based on a lot of different things (cost, program philosophy/fit, research opportunities if you were interested in them, externship availability) but not ranking.

How comfortable are you losing a deposit? You don't want to let the deadlines pass only to get wait listed or rejected from the rest of your schools. (I 'm not saying pay the deposit now but by the deadline if you don't hear.) It's not uncommon or even rude to pull out of a grad school "commitment" after you pay a deposit. Schools actually expect it (this from someone on the admissions committee at my post bacc school). They know some schools notify later and that funding decisions change people's plans. You just need to know if you are comfortable losing that money.

To add to arcanelady, do you have related work experience? Research experience? How is your SOP? Your LORs? Could you retake some prerequisite classes to boost your GPA? And I agree with your mom (sorry) that widening your field of schools will help should you need to apply next year. You still have a wait list & another school to hear from, don't give up hope yet. Many of us had to apply more than once, so don't worry too much about that yet. Focus on ways to improve your application if necessary.

Yeah CA is crazy slow. Contact the licensing board and see if a letter of competition from your school would suffice. I'll be honest it probably won't, but you may as well ask. Explain the situation and ask what the possible solutions are. You also need a CF supervisor to complete your RPE paperwork and start working so if you haven't started looking start now. And make sure you follow the instructions on the paperwork to a T. While I didn't have issues (luckily) I know people who used the wrong color ink and had their license delayed ?.

I'm going to reiterate what many others have said: applying to only three year masters programs is risky, even if you have a strong application. I tell everyone who is applying as an out of fielder to apply to three year programs AND post baccs. That way IF you have to apply again, you will have done the pre request classes and will be a stronger candidate. In the mean time you can start to take some classes online. And if you can move there, apply to the Portland State post bacc. It's rolling admissions and non competitive so they accept whomever applies until the class is full (and they are pretty well regarded from what I understand). Meaning you could still apply now to start in fall. And I'm speaking from personal experience. I was an out of field applicant. I applied to three year and post baccs. I got wait listed at a couple three years but didn't get off. BUT I got into all the post baccs, went to one (not psu) and got into multiple grad schools the next time I applied. Just my two cents

Oh. Well it probably depends on the school but I doubt it. So long as you have proof you did them. My school had it where if you met the requirements (which among other things included the observation hours) you started clinic first semester. If not you started second semester (after taking a class to meet the requirements). It added a class but no extra time (as you had clinic 4 of the 5 semesters including summer). Once you figure out what schools you are deciding between, email them and ask what their policy is. Also: Did you need the hours to graduate from your undergrad? Because you could get a letter on school letter head from the head of the department saying you met the ASHA requirements and have him/her sign it with his/her ASHA number (that's actually what I ended up doing as it was the best way to demonstrate I'd met the requirements) Also part 2: is there a way you could get the hours through a school before you start? Just to cove your basis? 25 hours is a lot but you'd have a few months to do it.

I'm a little confused by this question. Did you not do your 25 hours AT ALL or did you not do them through your undergrad?

I'm sure when you are talking to people affiliated with the school you are being respectful. However, be wary of coming off as argumentative when it comes to inquiring about why you got the result you did. The result is the result and unless there is an official appeals process, it's not going to change. Inquiring how you can "make your application better should you reapply" is fine, but pointing out that they are wrong (and I'm not saying that's how the conversation went) is a sure fire way to never get accepted to that school. And speech is a very small field. The last thing you want is the (likely undeserved) reputation of being argumentative. It's perhaps best to come away with that type of conversation saying "okay, thank you" and then airing your frustrations here if with family and friends than to point out that you DO have a high GPA. Because while it sounds like the woman you spoke to did not take offense to your pointing out a flawed argument, others may. Just a little unsolicited advice.

My graduate school clinical schedule opporated like so: Your first semester of clinical work was in the on campus clinic. You had between 2-4 clients generally a mix of children and adults (no dysphasia). You also took part in a language/literacy clinic at a local school with other members of your cohort ( you lead a language/literacy group of about 5 kinder-2nd graders who had been identified as language delayed/at significant risk with two-three other members of your cohort). Your participation in clinic your first semester depended on your background. If you had a bachelors in speech and had taken a clinical methods/procedures class, you did clinic starting your first semester. If you did not fulfill those requirements you took a clinical methods class first semester then started clinical placements second semester. After that you had three external placements. One was a public school and the other two were determined based on interest/availability. All placements lasted about 12-14 weeks (or about a semester minus a couple weeks) You had the opportunity to do longer, 6 month specialized placements (like pediatric dysphagia, AAC etc) but those required applications/interviews etc. and only counted as one placement. Placements were during the day (usually 3-4 days a week) and classes were at night (2-3 nights a week). This worked out to clinical placements in 4 of the 5 semesters (including summer), unless you had a 6 month placement in which case you would have placements all five semesters. I liked only being on campus one semester. It was by far the most stressful placement and I felt it did not reflect the reality of working as an SLP. I was so much happier after I got off campus (I also did my first clinical placement in the first semester so I really had to hit the ground running).

The tired/ cynical part of me wants to say your professor is bonkers. I applied to my graduate school alma mater (not BU) twice. Once before my post bacc once after (when I got in). There was even a question on the at like BUs where they asked if you had applied before and what you had done to better your application. Obviously as I graduated from there, they didn't care that I'd applied again. If anything it worked in my benefit especially because I did a TON to improve myself and showed continued interest in their program. I also work with someone who got in to her grad school the second time she applied (different field but still). The logical part of me thinks that your professor is either uniformed or taking about only her program. Or is referring to people who don't do anything to improve their application the second go round. But to make a blanket statement like that is irresponsible and incorrect.

I honestly don't recall the number of units I took a semester but 12ish on average sounds about right. Schools generally have the course sequence with number of units listed somewhere. As for being able to go home, that all depends on clinical placements. If you are on campus and the campus is closed (like for spring break or a long weekend) then the clinics are usually closed. If you are off campus you will be on two different schedules, your clinical and your academic. I was never able to go home for spring break because I still had a responsibility to my clients even though I had a week off of classes mid semester. But I was able to go home for breaks between semesters/ for holidays like Thanksgiving because my clinical placements had ended by then. If I were you I wouldn't worry too much about not getting to go home on all school breaks. Because once you enter the real world, you won't get much time off (unless you work in a school). Plus you will still have a good handful of semester breaks.

You caught me between clients so I can shoot off a quick response. I applied to extended masters programs AND post bacc programs the first go around (which for any out of field applicants I highly highly recommend). Was wait listed at a couple EM programs, never got off the wait list, but got into some good post bacc programs. I did a post bacc, which got me a second bachelors degree, and re applied to masters programs (I also took a year off between my post bacc and my masters to apply, better my GRE and work as I went right from my undergrad to my my post bacc). So by time I applied they were all done. But many people applied while still in the post bacc program and the schools knew that they would finish before starting and gave conditional acceptance based on that

Welcome to the forums. I'm mostly a lurker now as I am already working as an SLP, but comment occasionally to throw in advice and recommendations as I have been through it (as a non-traditional student who applied twice). One question, did you check all the prerequisite requirements for all your schools? As an out of fielder that's always essential. I was a bit further out of field than you, so I assume you will have had a lot of overlap coming from Linguistics. One important thing to keep in mind, it doesn't matter much where you go to school. You can move west after you graduate for your CF and it will be just like you went to school out west. While making connections in ANY field is important speech is in such high demand that making connections is not quite as necessary. I went to school on the east coast and now work on the west coast. I had no issues applying for jobs 3000 miles away from where I went to school. So if you don't get into a west coast school, don't think twice about going somewhere else and moving to Portland after you have your degree.

Pennsutucky, I understand where you are coming from, and as a sometimes brutality honest person I can relate to wanting to give "tough love" but there is a point where it becomes too much. Criticism should be constructive, not judging. In YOUR opinion applying to multiple schools with a less than stellar application is not a good choice. In YOUR opinion that money would have been better spent on GRE prep. But insulting her choices is counterproductive. There's a way to give tough love without being insulting. Tone is hard to convey over text so it'd perhaps best to air on the side of caution when it comes to "tough love". JMHO

That was wildly unnecessary! Hopeful has already applied to schools and is aware her GRE is on the lower side, and that should she need to reapply that is the first thing that needs to be addressed. To tell her she is wasting her money is simply rude. I am going to give you the bennifit of the doubt and assume that you are tired and stressed by school and/or applications but please keep in mind what profession you are going into. If you talk to clients like that ( again, I am going to assume you don't) you will find yourself having a very hard time being successful. Have a little compassion.