twinguy7

If you email the program director Suzanne Swift she will reply to you fairly quickly about the waitlist, etc. At least she always did for me last year when I was on the waitlist. Hope that helps!

Hi, both of my acceptances were normal.

That is the first time I have heard it being counted that way. So I guess other schools could count it differently as well, but I think a majority count the last 60 units no matter what. As for FSU, maybe you could put your last 60 GPA in your statement letter to highlight how well you did the last actually 60 units. Just a thought!

I think some schools like to wait until their full cohort is complete before sending out info, etc. I emailed GVSU last april when I got accepted about further information and they let me know it wouldn't be until like June that we'd get all the info because of waitlists, etc. Also, I just did an externship with a student who just is graduating from Western in a couple weeks. I will try and get his email address for you to ask him some questions. I messaged you his email address. Hope it helps!

it looks like your in Michigan. GVSU has spring admissions and it has been A LOT easier to get into spring from what I have heard.

I also went to CSUN for my undergraduate degree in Communication Disorders from 2011-2013. To be fair, I think all of the comments are pretty accurate so far from this thread. I think the professors were nice but busy and were not very approachable. There were stories of people getting "black-listed" if they were deemed to be too much of a nuisance as far as emailing professors for help, etc. Some people would not get any classes or not enough classes because of things like this. It was sad to see friends in the program not get classes they needed just because the program director or other professors deemed someone else more worthy to get a certain class. A lot of politics in the program is what it comes down to. This is just the honest truth, not trying to dissuade anyone from going there. I would have still gone there because of the price and not having to move had I got in to the program. After graduating I worked as a SLPA in the area and started hearing not so great things about CSUN's program and the students they produced which you can take with a grain of salt because I am sure that can be said for any program. The campus is VERY beautiful. There are many things to do in the area as well. Santa Monica, L.A, Malibu, Hollywood, 6 Flags, and many more beaches, cities are within 20 miles of the school. The program is a 2 1/2 yr program but a select few can choose to try and complete it in 2 years by going summer semester and taking more credits. The in house clinics offer an array of specialties like mentioned above. The cost of living can be pretty high if you want a studio or 1 bedroom apt on your own, but if you have roommates that can easily be offset. Hope some of this helps see the good and the bad! Like I said, I would have gone here had I got in, but to be honest I am glad I did not get in. For me personally, I found a program that fit my personality.

I was told by an ASHA board member who does accreditation visits that the U.S. Rankings are also ranked by how many Peer Reviewed Journal Publications each school has. The same member told me the U.S. ranking mean nothing more than that. He goes around accrediting schools and every school has to meet the same standards. Hope that helps.

One of my favorite questions to ask is, "What are some weaknesses about your program, or Why would someone not choose your program." It is basically the same question some employers or grad schools ask their applicants but turning the table on them and asking the same question can really show how professional they are or not and if they are honest people. If they give an honest response you can be confident that they have been and will be honest and upfront about everything to do with their program.

All schools are different but If I had to guess I'd say they waitlist about the same amount that they accept. So if they are looking to get a cohort of 30, they would most likely have at least 30 on the waitlist. Some schools keep almost everyone on the waitlist because they just don't know how many offers of acceptance are going to be refused.

I agree with everything everyone has said so far, being a native Californian who is now in Grand Rapids for grad school. I will add that getting done quicker really is a big stress reliever. Grad school will be time consuming no matter if it is an accelerated program or traditional so getting it done quicker is a few semesters of less stress of classes, projects, etc. The real learning is done in the field on externships/internships, etc. I would highly recommend an accelerated program. As far as stockton being a bad place or not. Like others have said, yes it may have a reputation as not the safest, but like others mentioned, there are ALWAYS good areas of any city and areas to avoid. So don't let that freak you out. Also about the loan forgiveness. In California at least you just have to work in a low socio economic school for 5 years (which is actually almost every school in California when I checked the list!). And if you do medical, there is a 10 year commitment forgiveness program which can be harder to get because you could be into your 7th year and your medical placement could all of a sudden not qualify anymore so you would have to switch jobs to qualify. All in all, I would recommend giving it a serious look. Like others have said, so many nice tourist areas are close by like: Lake Tahoe/Reno Yosemite National PArk Big Redwood Forests San Francisco Mammoth ski resort

Congrats @ Speechie Ash!

I moved to Michigan as well for grad school from Northridge, CA (not too far from where your moving from). I am on the west end of Michigan about 2 hours from Detroit. Been through Detroit twice since moving here and yes it can have rough areas, but all my classmates who went to Wayne state and who are from the Detroit area never have anything too bad to say about the area.

Most SLP jobs are days. I actually have never run into or heard of an SLP job going later than 7 or 8pm at night.

About 4 students in my cohort went to WAYNE for undergrad. They say its a well established program. Their big knock on it is that the teachers are not very personable at all. I will try and get more info for you. What specific questions you want me to ask them?

Yes, I remember seeing that your application can be really liked over for free. How this is done, I do not know so I would contact the program directors, either Macauley or Halling about that. But something I heard through the grapevine today is that the spring cohort this last year only had 34 applicants TOTAL! They accepted 24 people of the 34 so those are tremendously good odds! They had 250 applicants for fall just to see how crazy the difference is.

They do have a waitlist, but the waitlist is made up of people from the interviews that were done today. There were about 90 students there today for interviews. They normally want a cohort of 30 and they usually waitlist about 30 knowing that many people apply to a lot of programs.

A school in candidacy for accreditation actually has accreditation for those 5 years that they are in candidacy like any other program. "Holding candidacy, which is an accredited status, signifies that the program in speech-language pathology complies with rigorous standards for accreditation. An accredited status (candidacy or full) must be awarded prior to enrolling students." There is also a misconception that if you go to a school with candidacy accreditation you can't get your CCC's, etc. Here is the direct quote from the ASHA webpage on the matter of applying for certification: "You may submit an application any time after you have completed the necessary coursework, practicum, and received the required graduate degree from a CAA-accredited academic program or a program admitted to CAA candidacy." http://www.asha.org/...rtification.htm So new programs with candidacy accreditation(keyword is accreditation) are indeed accredited and do not affect getting your CCC's either. Hope that clears things up!

Just to give you a different perspective, last year when I was applying I became good friend with a program director who said all schools know they will have people back out of their commitment because of getting off a waitlist at a different school. This program director has a prestigious role with ASHA as well. Also, at my own school, GVSU, they told us the same that it is expected that people will change their minds even as late as June or July if they get off a waitlist at another school. So like the other poster said, depends on the school. And I highly doubt a program will remember your name when it comes to getting jobs int the future with as many names they go through every year.

Yea, the interviews are tomorrow. I am helping out for them. I could be wrong, but by the way they have done their interviews in the past, if you didn't hear from them for an interview, then your most likely going to get a rejection email. The program is always evolving so they have been tweaking things as they go so I can't be 100% sure about this. If I can I will find out for you guys tomorrow at interviews.

This is a BIG misconception amongst grad school applicants. A school in candidacy for accreditation actually has accreditation for those 5 years that they are in candidacy like any other program. "Holding candidacy, which is an accredited status, signifies that the program in speech-language pathology complies with rigorous standards for accreditation. An accredited status (candidacy or full) must be awarded prior to enrolling students." There is also a misconception that if you go to a school with candidacy accreditation you can't get your CCC's, etc. Here is the direct quote from the ASHA webpage on the matter: "You may submit an application any time after you have completed the necessary coursework, practicum, and received the required graduate degree from a CAA-accredited academic program or a program admitted to CAA candidacy." http://www.asha.org/certification/SLPCertification.htm So new programs with candidacy accreditation(keyword is accreditation) are indeed accredited and do not affect getting your CCC's either. Hope that clears things up!

I think a factor you have to take into account is the percentage of undergraduates in general who do not go on to a graduate degree in our field in general. Whether because they tried and didn't get in or they had other things come up, I would say the percentage of undergraduate students who go onto grad school is something around 50-70%. So when you think about it in that aspect, applicants of color will definitely seem to be significantly less in the graduate programs because of this factor alone.

Being at GVSU which is in their 2nd year of the candidacy for accreditation I can tell you there can be upsides to being at a school that is new. Since they are new they may be even more precise about teaching everything needed and more on their "game" since they need to have a good review at their 5 year follow-up. As far as the money factor.... I think most of us look at the cost as being a set figure, like the $20,000 difference between Rush and Elmhurst. But you have to factor in interest of that extra $20,000 in loans. When you factor that into the equation, it is definitely more than a $20,000 difference. I'd say more like a $40,000 difference when you take that into account. Just some food for thought!

I know it must not have been easy going through the process 3 times, but just remember the feeling you had when you got this acceptance! Proud of you!

I was totally set on SLP in schools before I started my program mainly because i was an SLPA for a year and had that experience and loved working with kids, but like you said... when you learn more about the medical side it may change your mind. I personally love the Skilled Nursing Medical aspect but till wouldn't mind working in the schools just to give you an example. As far as the 85% graduation rate... yes that definitely would be a red flag, but like you said... ask them why that was the case. It could be because of illness, family problems, financial situations, etc. It is almost never because people just didn't pass the classes. Things happen in life that are unforeseen. Could even be someone starting a family unexpectedly but the program has to be honest and report the graduation rate so good strategy with asking them at the open houses!

First of all congrats on getting into the 2 programs @rickthesheriff and @phaedra! I just want to put my 2 cents in about grad programs/ schools in general. There is this big misconception that one program is better than the other or one program will get you better hospital jobs after school, etc. These are all just myths... every program is required to teach certain classes by ASHA and every program requires the ASHA 400 clock hours and every program has both a school and medical internship or externship for the most part. Unless it is a specific medical SLP like the school in Washington offers or some schools that are specifically only medical SLP geared, then they are pretty much all the same. Any SLP grad degree will get you a job in whatever setting you would like after grad school. That being said, the choice is yours and for the most part I believe you have your minds made up but just wanted some feedback and to feel good about the way you are leaning. If your minds are not made up and you truly have no biases towards a program or school or city..... then... Go to the cheaper school! It's a no brainer.