Age 40+ applicants

[draySLP1]

Hi, I want to reach out to other older students and see how your experience of the school-finding and application process has been. I'm 47 and leaving a career in marketing to pursue SLP. Just wondering if there are others out there in similar situations, and if so, how are you doing with all of this?

[AlwaysaFalcon]

Personally I can not attest to that but I have multiple students in my class that are career changers and around the same age! I admire so much you and these classmates for taking a chance to go back to school!  

[draySLP1]

4 hours ago, AlwaysaFalcon said:

Personally I can not attest to that but I have multiple students in my class that are career changers and around the same age! I admire so much you and these classmates for taking a chance to go back to school!  

Thank you, that's good to hear! The whole thing is a little intimidating, but overall I'm very excited and hopeful!

Edited January 22, 2019 by draySLP1

[Arcanelady27]

15 hours ago, draySLP1 said:

Thank you, that's good to hear! The whole thing is a little intimidating, but overall I'm very excited and hopeful!

I am soon to be 40. I agree; the whole process is intimidating. I have been trying to get into a school for sometime. I was accepted to NYU's online program, but it just was not a fit, so here I am again.  I'm praying to get into Mercy College part-time.

I wish you the best! 

 

 

[draySLP1]

7 hours ago, Arcanelady27 said:

I am soon to be 40. I agree; the whole process is intimidating. I have been trying to get into a school for sometime. I was accepted to NYU's online program, but it just was not a fit, so here I am again.  I'm praying to get into Mercy College part-time.

I wish you the best! 

 

 

Thanks for responding. Good luck with Mercy!

[SoCali]

On 1/21/2019 at 4:53 PM, AlwaysaFalcon said:

Personally I can not attest to that but I have multiple students in my class that are career changers and around the same age! I admire so much you and these classmates for taking a chance to go back to school!  

Where do you attend school?

[SoCali]

On 1/21/2019 at 1:52 PM, draySLP1 said:

Hi, I want to reach out to other older students and see how your experience of the school-finding and application process has been. I'm 47 and leaving a career in marketing to pursue SLP. Just wondering if there are others out there in similar situations, and if so, how are you doing with all of this?

Are you applying to online schools or on campus programs? I have to admit the idea of moving out-of-state really makes me nervous. It's one thing to just pack up and move in your 20s and it's a whole other thing now. Lol 

[SoCali]

On 1/22/2019 at 12:32 PM, Arcanelady27 said:

I am soon to be 40. I agree; the whole process is intimidating. I have been trying to get into a school for sometime. I was accepted to NYU's online program, but it just was not a fit, so here I am again.  I'm praying to get into Mercy College part-time.

I wish you the best! 

 

 

I also agree the entire process is intimidating. That's great you were accepted at NYU. What was their program like? I hope you get into Mercy!

[SoCali]

On 1/21/2019 at 1:52 PM, draySLP1 said:

Hi, I want to reach out to other older students and see how your experience of the school-finding and application process has been. I'm 47 and leaving a career in marketing to pursue SLP. Just wondering if there are others out there in similar situations, and if so, how are you doing with all of this?

Oh and I sent you a PM.

[Arcanelady27]

19 hours ago, SoCali said:

I also agree the entire process is intimidating. That's great you were accepted at NYU. What was their program like? I hope you get into Mercy!

I found the NYU program quite difficult. The format takes some getting use to

The online learning I found quite challenging because the professor did not lecture per-say. Instead, the professor took questions students had on the course materials. The online gathering was only for one hour per course. 

Edited January 24, 2019 by Arcanelady27

[AlwaysaFalcon]

On 1/23/2019 at 5:08 PM, SoCali said:

Where do you attend school?

It's in my signature but Governors State University!

 

[draySLP1]

Are you applying to online schools or on campus programs? I have to admit the idea of moving out-of-state really makes me nervous. It's one thing to just pack up and move in your 20s and it's a whole other thing now. Lol 

 

I'm applying for on campus programs only. I've been doing post-bacc online, and while it's great in many ways, I feel in person is best for me going forward. I'm in the process of selling my house and looking for a temporary place until I know where I'll be going. I'm single and no kids so in some ways it's easy for me to pick up and go, but there is still so much planning and arranging to do. I'll be leaving my job of five years and haven't mentioned anything about it there yet!

Edited January 27, 2019 by draySLP1

[Suelli5]

Hi draySLP1, 

I'm 49! And I'm also single with no kids.  I have lived in the same city for over 25 years, and most of my friends and family are here, but chances are I will have to relocate which is both stressful and exciting.  Actually,  my biggest worry  is how I will manage to move my old dog and ancient cat with me.   I intend to rent out my home while I'm in grad school and come back to it after I've graduated. I'm fairly confident I will be able to find work as an SLP here. In fact, I know schools in my area have a shortage of SLPs.                                                                         

  I have found the application process really stressful. I finished  my last two applications just before Feb. 1. I applied to eight schools -- all public - some ranked ranked highly & some that I think are good but don't appear in the top 25 --  four in-state, one in another state that has a tuition exchange with my state, and three in three other states even though initially I hadn't planned to do that because of the extra tuition cost and the cost of relocating.

I figured it'd be best to cast a wide net because I feel like I am a real wild card. My previous career, teaching (including nine years working with kids with autism),  has some strong connections to speech language pathology. I did well in my M.Ed. program (GPA 4.0) and in my post-bacc courses (GPA 3.9),  but my GPA from college (a zillion years ago) was low: 2.9.  My Verbal GRE score was 167 but my Math & Writing scores were solidly average & I have no research experience within the field of speech language pathology. I have volunteered a few hours a week in a community speech therapy clinic since last July. And, I did  most of my Speech & Hearing post-bacc courses online, so two of my references are professors who never met me IRL - however both were wonderful, we were in frequent contact online, I wrote a lot for both of them, and they both gave amazing amounts of individualized, constructive feedback on my work. 

To my delight,  yesterday I received a  letter of admittance to the first program I applied to back in December. I will wait and see if I get in anywhere else before formally accepting, but I'm really relieved. If it ends up being the only program I get into, I'll still be very happy. 

I hope the application process is going/went smoothly for you! 

Best wishes.

 

[draySLP1]

Suelli5 -- Thank you so much for responding. It’s really helpful to hear what others are going through and how they are managing. It sounds like you have a great plan. I’m in the process of selling the house I’ve lived in for 7 years now and moving to a short-term rental until I know where I’ll be going. It’s adding a whole new level of stress and uncertainty, but I know it’s just what I’ve got to do to get where I want to go.

I’ve applied to schools all around the country, only one in-state but that’s because I’m really looking for a change of scene. I had looked into tuition at the first few schools I decided on and it was reasonable, so then I added a bunch more to the list. I didn’t realize until my apps were in how much costs vary between schools, so I’m hoping it works out with one of the lower cost schools.

Congrats on your acceptance! That is really exciting! I have had one interview and another is scheduled, so I’m starting to get optimistic about an acceptance. I too have an old dog who will be making the move with me!

Edited February 7, 2019 by draySLP1

[SoCali]

On 2/7/2019 at 2:47 AM, Suelli5 said:

Hi draySLP1, 

I'm 49! And I'm also single with no kids.  I have lived in the same city for over 25 years, and most of my friends and family are here, but chances are I will have to relocate which is both stressful and exciting.  Actually,  my biggest worry  is how I will manage to move my old dog and ancient cat with me.   I intend to rent out my home while I'm in grad school and come back to it after I've graduated. I'm fairly confident I will be able to find work as an SLP here. In fact, I know schools in my area have a shortage of SLPs.                                                                         

  I have found the application process really stressful. I finished  my last two applications just before Feb. 1. I applied to eight schools -- all public - some ranked ranked highly & some that I think are good but don't appear in the top 25 --  four in-state, one in another state that has a tuition exchange with my state, and three in three other states even though initially I hadn't planned to do that because of the extra tuition cost and the cost of relocating.

I figured it'd be best to cast a wide net because I feel like I am a real wild card. My previous career, teaching (including nine years working with kids with autism),  has some strong connections to speech language pathology. I did well in my M.Ed. program (GPA 4.0) and in my post-bacc courses (GPA 3.9),  but my GPA from college (a zillion years ago) was low: 2.9.  My Verbal GRE score was 167 but my Math & Writing scores were solidly average & I have no research experience within the field of speech language pathology. I have volunteered a few hours a week in a community speech therapy clinic since last July. And, I did  most of my Speech & Hearing post-bacc courses online, so two of my references are professors who never met me IRL - however both were wonderful, we were in frequent contact online, I wrote a lot for both of them, and they both gave amazing amounts of individualized, constructive feedback on my work. 

To my delight,  yesterday I received a  letter of admittance to the first program I applied to back in December. I will wait and see if I get in anywhere else before formally accepting, but I'm really relieved. If it ends up being the only program I get into, I'll still be very happy. 

I hope the application process is going/went smoothly for you! 

Best wishes.

 

Congratulations on your acceptance!

[SoCali]

On 2/7/2019 at 9:20 AM, draySLP1 said:

Suelli5 -- Thank you so much for responding. It’s really helpful to hear what others are going through and how they are managing. It sounds like you have a great plan. I’m in the process of selling the house I’ve lived in for 7 years now and moving to a short-term rental until I know where I’ll be going. It’s adding a whole new level of stress and uncertainty, but I know it’s just what I’ve got to do to get where I want to go.

I’ve applied to schools all around the country, only one in-state but that’s because I’m really looking for a change of scene. I had looked into tuition at the first few schools I decided on and it was reasonable, so then I added a bunch more to the list. I didn’t realize until my apps were in how much costs vary between schools, so I’m hoping it works out with one of the lower cost schools.

Congrats on your acceptance! That is really exciting! I have had one interview and another is scheduled, so I’m starting to get optimistic about an acceptance. I too have an old dog who will be making the move with me!

Good luck on your interviews, that is very exciting news. :) I also have an old dog, he is diabetic!

[Ecstatic!]

Interesting thread as I feel I am in good company age-wise and as a career changer!  I am in my mid-40's and was quite intimidated by all the threads out there about how difficult it was to get into grad school so I was amazed when I got into the university of my choice. I did not have to apply to multiple universities or apply over multiple cycles. My personal opinion is that if you have the basic stats, then a good personal statement and essays are critical. Had I spread myself thin applying to multiple universities, I probably would not have been able to do full justice to the one I applied to. One thing I would advise though from experience is that if you have a lot of other commitments in your life as an older student (work, family etc), it may be wise to give priority to part time programs as the pace can be intense. It's one thing getting into grad school but you also want to make sure that you stay in there and don't get dismissed from the program by not meeting the GPA requirements.

[SoCali]

Are you in your first or second year, how are you liking your program? 

[Suelli5]

DraySLP1, Congratulations on landing those interviews. Keep us updated! I'm sure you'll get into a program. Moving will be an exciting adventure. I've already been scoping out Meetup groups (on meetup.com) in the cities of schools I've applied to. I am worried about having a hard time making friends my age if I end up relocating. I'm sure my classmates whereever I go will be friendly, but it can be nice to socialize with people of the same age too and with people outside of school.  The average age of the pre-req classes I took on campus was 20 or 21. A big generation gap.

& Ecstatic! Glad to hear you were admitted. I hope it all goes well.

&SoCali - Thanks!

Edited February 13, 2019 by Suelli5

[SoCali]

Where is everyone heading in the fall?