Ohio Schools- thoughts?

[UTaggiesSLP]

Hi to all the Ohio applicants!! I've applied to Kent State, Ohio University, Ohio State, University of Akron, University of Toledo, and Bowling Green. I was just accepted to Ohio University and Kent State but I live in Utah so I won't be able to visit all the campuses. What has everyone heard/experienced at these schools? I want to know about the student/faculty relationships, when schools typically start clinicals, and anything about the towns the schools are in! There's only so much info on the websites so I'm hoping to hear your thoughts!! 

[savleigh19]

I am from Ohio so I know a bit about some of the campuses. I visited OSU, OU, and BGSU for my undergrad, and have visited friends there since.

OSU wasn't for me - downtown Columbus and a very large city campus. It was a little overwhelming since I didn't grow up in a big city. Columbus is a really cool city to visit though, with a lot to do - sports, concerts, arts, & the zoo! I have heard from SPHS undergrads there that the graduate students aren't super impressed with the program. My friends in the undergrad program just didn't even apply there...

OU is a really pretty campus & a little more of a smaller city feel (but still plenty to do with outdoor activities, bars, restaurants, sporting events). Athens is south of Columbus so that could still be a fun day trip. Hocking hills and other places to hike, bike, horseback ride, canoe, etc. are all near campus. I have a couple friends there now and they seem to love it. I feel like I remember someone saying they don't help you as much with your grad externship placements, though (not 100% sure).

BGSU is farther north, almost to Toledo. One of my best friends went there for 2 years so I visited quite a bit. Probably the smallest of the towns of the three, but plenty of good food and bars still. We went up to the mall in Toledo for a day as well, since that is about an hour drive. BGSU seems very focused on the more educational side of everything - tons of my high school classmates went there for elementary, special ed, etc. I didn't particularly like the campus; it isn't particularly pretty or anything but my friend that went there still seemed to enjoy it.

Hope this helps you out a bit!

[UTaggiesSLP]

17 minutes ago, savleigh19 said:

I am from Ohio so I know a bit about some of the campuses. I visited OSU, OU, and BGSU for my undergrad, and have visited friends there since.

OSU wasn't for me - downtown Columbus and a very large city campus. It was a little overwhelming since I didn't grow up in a big city. Columbus is a really cool city to visit though, with a lot to do - sports, concerts, arts, & the zoo! I have heard from SPHS undergrads there that the graduate students aren't super impressed with the program. My friends in the undergrad program just didn't even apply there...

OU is a really pretty campus & a little more of a smaller city feel (but still plenty to do with outdoor activities, bars, restaurants, sporting events). Athens is south of Columbus so that could still be a fun day trip. Hocking hills and other places to hike, bike, horseback ride, canoe, etc. are all near campus. I have a couple friends there now and they seem to love it. I feel like I remember someone saying they don't help you as much with your grad externship placements, though (not 100% sure).

BGSU is farther north, almost to Toledo. One of my best friends went there for 2 years so I visited quite a bit. Probably the smallest of the towns of the three, but plenty of good food and bars still. We went up to the mall in Toledo for a day as well, since that is about an hour drive. BGSU seems very focused on the more educational side of everything - tons of my high school classmates went there for elementary, special ed, etc. I didn't particularly like the campus; it isn't particularly pretty or anything but my friend that went there still seemed to enjoy it.

Hope this helps you out a bit!

Thanks, that helps a lot! It honestly surprises me that the grad students at OSU aren't very impressed with the program. Good to know. Thanks again!

[OH_HopfeullySLP2B]

I applied to Ohio State and OU. I was accepted to both this week!! I went to the visit day at Ohio state and I loved it, but I have heard very negative things from students who attended there. I’m an undergraduate at OU and I love it. I don’t think you could have more supportive faculty. They have so many research opportunities and you have plenty of support!! 

 

I hope this helps! 

[insearchofcs]

Yes I have many thoughts! Current grad student, and I will be posting in the Ohio forum as well. I attended 2 OH universities for undergrad and grad, and while applying visited many of these schools so I feel like I have well-rounded knowledge. In general for Northeast OH there are 6 grad programs if you count the online one, so getting good externship sites can be competitive. OU is a 6 semester program so I believe you spend 1 semester observing. Their clinic is very serious in the sense that you go all through Winter break like a regular job, which as a graduate student in need of a break (especially out of state) is not really ideal.  Additionally getting a lease for that term can be difficult, and many off-campus placements will be an hour away. However Athens is just such a cute town, but students at other programs like OSU don't seem to have time to enjoy Columbus as much. Kent and OSU's program are also 6 semesters, which can make a difference when other programs are 5. But you take more classes and have more time to learn which can be beneficial. Something else to consider is  Ohio University, Ohio State, and Bowling Green all have PhD programs so the relationship-wise the professors may not pay as much attention to you, for lack of better wording. However all great programs, just something to consider about relationships.

Akron and Toledo are understaffed, and Toledo's program is double the size of others which can make clinicals unnecessarily competitive. Both are more precarious cities to live in but it can be done. The other schools listed would be better city/town wise. I also believe Akron accepts too many students that it can handle (for the $$) and has outdated supervisors in the campus clinic. Some of the off-campus placements have poor supervisors as well, and overall not everyone gets the same clinical experience even if you want it. For example, some get adult and/or dysphagia placements before the medical externship, whereas others do not so going into externship is intimidating. Also with Akron it is rare that you will get hospital experience even if that is what you desire, which is surprising when you consider the urban location. The on campus clinic in general does not have many clients so the experiences you'd get are not as well-rounded as other universities, except in regards to AAC which is a strong point for them. However being so, you get more off-campus/realistic experience early on. If you are a competitive student looking for a competitive experience do not go to Akron. Overall I would also look at your potential courseload during externship because the more you have on your plate, the harder your externship will be.

[waffles19]

I went to the Kent State open house this weekend. 

Pros: stress clinical experiences/pride themselves on having excellent clinical instruction (seems like they will hold your hand through clinic as much as you need it), faculty seemed very nice, program aims to prepare students to work in any type of setting (they have a new professor who is focused on medical SLP and dysphasia), you can apply for GA positions outside of the department (if you didn't get one in the department), out of state cost is low (21,524 per year), the students there said that most people in their cohort work a part time job (so there's time for that), have this cool program that three of the current students are in that is an extra year of grad school that is paid for where you specialize in working with birth to year

Cons: the first semester you get placed to do clinic either in the regular in-house clinic OR the accent modification center (clients are international students) and you basically have no choice, it's the winter so I'm sure that played into it but I thought the campus was pretty ugly and the town isn't anything special, the open house was disorganized, externships are by request (one student said people in her cohort didn't get placements where they wanted), student said the clinic is pretty pediatric dominated 

Other random info:

- cost of living seemed to really vary (one student live in a house with 5 roommates for 300 dollars a month and another live by herself for 1,000 a month) 

- the student health/wellness center is amazing and they have a hot tub and rock climbing wall 

[ctfannin]

I have attended BGSU for undergrad and I have had a good experience here! The majority of the faculty are incredibly nice and will help you in any way they can. I don't know a lot about their graduate program, but I think it is pediatric-focused. As far as the town goes, I think that living in Bowling Green is fun. There is a wide variety of bars and restaurants and Toledo is not too far away. However, I come from a small town and Bowling Green seems like a big city to me. Lol. If you come from a larger city, then BG might seem boring to you. I like it because it is a pretty laid back town. 

[cindy38]

On 2/27/2019 at 11:34 AM, UTaggiesSLP said:

Hi to all the Ohio applicants!! I've applied to Kent State, Ohio University, Ohio State, University of Akron, University of Toledo, and Bowling Green. I was just accepted to Ohio University and Kent State but I live in Utah so I won't be able to visit all the campuses. What has everyone heard/experienced at these schools? I want to know about the student/faculty relationships, when schools typically start clinicals, and anything about the towns the schools are in! There's only so much info on the websites so I'm hoping to hear your thoughts!! 

hey, did you end up deciding?