Letter of Intent. Tips? Anyone willing to share theirs?

[Slp2018j]

Hey everyone!

This is my second time applying to a SLP program. I'm in the process of completely rewriting my letter of intent with the hopes that it will make me stand out compared to my letter of intent from last year. Does anyone have any suggestions for structure, what to include, how to personalize it to each school, etc.? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone is willing to send me their letter of intent privately, I would be forever grateful!

Good luck to everyone applying this year

[AlwaysaFalcon]

Personally for mine I did a paragraph of background information: where I completed my undergraduate, why I wanted to be an SLP, etc. Then I discussed my strengths, career goals & personally experience to the field!

Make sure to personalize it to each school you are applying to. Tell them why you would be a good fit for their program and what you like about their program!

If you have other questions feel free to PM me

 

[Jordyn_M463]

So I was given this structure from the department head of the SLP masters program of my undergrad school: 

1. Intro: I said "Why grad school" What will grad school do for you?
2. What population do you want to work with? What setting? "What is your dream job" Why? (This is where I put some of my background experience that helped influence my decisions)
3. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?
4. Why this particular program? What about this school fits you? 
   1. For this I would suggest "name dropping". Do some research about their professors and alumni that have been doing big things in the fields. Talk about research done at their school that interests you. Talk about the programs "goals and morals" and why they are important to you as well. Just make it seem like you are genuinely interested in their program. 

Good luck! Message me if you have questions!

[NatRose]

I did something similar to @Jordyn_M463 above!  I organized mine by

1. Personal Background (insert distinguishing sob story here)
2. Desired Professional background
3. Work experience
4. Why (school)?  Name drop faculty. 
5.  Why you'll kick ass / change the world or whatever / why (university) or the field would benefit from YOU. 

 Culture shock lent its weight to the frustrations I experienced upon my return to
the United States after a romanticized childhood in the Caribbean. I felt disoriented at
the stark cultural differences between the collectivist island exalting community above
all, and the nation renowned for emphasizing individual advancement. Always
embracing a methodological approach, my twelve-year- old self determined to learn the
culture and its customs by analyzing the language and colloquialisms employed by my
peers vocally, and written during the advent of social media. As a simultaneous bilingual,
assimilating still took years—this consideration reveals only a glimpse into the extent of
the difficulties endured by those with communicative difficulties, whether they are non-
native speakers, or have special needs.
     The rise of interest in neurodiversity has led to productive new perspectives,
which allowed newfound autonomy and voices to some of the most stigmatized people:
namely, those on the autism spectrum. When this often-misconstrued neurodivergence
combines with the additional stigma of originating from a family of non-native speakers
(and, potentially, immigration status), the hurdles may seem insurmountable.
Unfortunately, finding a bilingual speech-language pathologist who specializes in ASD
and bilingual language development proves a difficult task. I hope my clinical pursuit
can ease the gap between demand and practicing specialists: I grew up not just as a
native Spanish speaker who often helped my parents navigate between linguistic worlds,
but also as the daughter of an autistic father and sister of not one, but three autistic
brothers.
     Overcoming communication difficulties has defined a significant portion of my
own development, fueling my fervor toward helping the disadvantaged accomplish the
same. I am keenly aware that passion alone cannot sustain a career: this is why I want
to continue what I began at UCF, and join the master’s program for speech-language
pathology. As a Fall 2015 graduate, I am already familiar with the UCF community, but
at this point in my life, earning the master’s from my alma mater is the best fit for my
goals and interests. I am passionate about bilingualism and interested in eventually
earning a PhD in this field not simply because of the professional experiences I gained
at UCF, but because of my current career as a speech language pathologist assistant at
a private outpatient clinic.
     Since earning my undergraduate degree, I have had the privilege of working with
children and watching them learn to express themselves. There is simply no comparable
feeling to witnessing a non-verbal child utter their first word after years of treatment. I
have had the experience of working with families to see that some of the communicative
hurdles my family faced were not unique, and I have applied my experiences to their
specific needs. It has been humbling, rewarding, and daunting to see appointment requests
from parents and children who continue to have a positive response to therapy;
in turn, their progress has inspired me to increase my skill set to become a more
responsive clinician who exceeds their expectations. Determined to expand clinical skills
and contribute to the profession, I am eager to dive into research with renowned experts
in the field.
     I am particularly eager to work under Dr. Anthony Pah-Hin Kong, as his research
intersects with my interests: he is one of the few experts specializing in both bilingualism
and adult neurogenic disorders. His research on the interactions of bilingual Cantonese-
speaking brains with a variety of neurogenic disorders inspires me to someday emulate
his work on my own native tongue, and help expand the field’s knowledge on bilingual
brains. Working with someone who can help me hone my ability to research these topics
would be an honor, and although I am comparatively a neophyte in the field, my work
and personal experience could help provide additional data and perspectives.
     The trajectory of my professional life so far has been working with children,
particularly with those who are doubly stigmatized due to neurodiversity or due to
immigration and linguistic status. I feel called to work with this population and not just
advocate for them, but to empower them to advocate for themselves. The dominant
paradigm for the neurodiverse is to train them to be more “normal,” but I want to find a
way to help this population use language and build bridges so that people accept and
engage with them as they are. In this regard, there are many parallels with bilingualism,
since the dominant paradigm for bilingualism is to train people to achieve fluency in the
English language and cultural norms, leaving their culture by the wayside. In this
dynamic, I recall my early childhood, when my newly-single mother brought our family
back to her homeland in the Dominican Republic—both growing up there, and upon our
return to the United States, the onus was on us to leave behind who we were, and to
become new people who fully assimilated, leaving behind our linguistic and—in the
cases of my brothers—neurological identities. In this dynamic, I wondered if there might
not be a better way: a way to help people learn to use language without letting go of their
identities.
     This goal aligns with the ASHA Code of Ethics, and is a challenge I relish on my
professional life. I will uphold the aforementioned code diligently: my responsibility to the
welfare and autonomy of my clients comprises an integral facet of my role a speech-
language pathologist. I will ensure that my clients are well-informed about the risks and
nature of the provided services, and will obtain their full consent to administer evidence-
based treatment. I will collaborate with professionals within and outside the field to
provide the most effective treatment within our capabilities and competencies. I vow to
never discriminate against clients or professionals, nor to ever misrepresent my clients,
their eligibility, my competence, and my services. Among other roles delineated in the
Code of Ethics, these objectives constitute my professional goals, and I would be
honored to have the opportunity to rejoin UCF’s communication sciences & disorders
program in 2018 so that I can pursue it.