My chances for these NY SLP grad programs? + other newbie questions!

[teeny]

Hi everyone! I'm new here (pls be gentle?). I know alot of people on here ask "what are my chances," but I'd really appreciate the feedback! I've become really passionate about pursuing speech-language pathology and want to start applying for grad programs fall this year. However, I don't know anyone who wants to be a SLP (except for one girl who has very different circumstances) and don't really know what to expect. I plan on applying mostly to graduate schools in NYC, but am open to other schools relatively close. So far I plan on applying to NYU, CUNY (Hunter, Queens, Lehman), St Johns, Teachers College, Baylors and Touro.

So here's what I'm working with when it comes to my stats!

- I'm a psych major with a current GPA of 3.8 (I still have 2 semesters left to complete my undergraduate degree but I don't expect my GPA to change since I've gotten my difficult classes out of the way lol)

- My relevant experience involves over a year of working at a nonprofit for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, a few months of volunteering at an aphasia community group, and alot of teaching.

- I have some research experience! Although, it's for other topics in psychology, I feel like being comfortable with research is at least good to mention? 

- My recommendation letters are pretty good, and one will be very strong (I've become close to my supervisor at the nonprofit).

- I consider writing to be one of my strong suits so I'm not too worried about my narrative statement. Will be taking the GRE soon, so I don' t have those scores!

CONS: I'm a New York resident applying to New York schools, but I've heard that apparently grad programs like taking out-of-state students because of the $$? Yikes? I also don't have shadowing experience and I'm not sure if it's a priority for me to get that done.

ALSO, because my university doesn't have a communicative sciences and disorders major or related classes, I took all my prerequisites at 2 different online schools. My grades in those classes are good, but will getting prereqs done online be looked down upon?

Any advice and general comments would be super appreciated!! Good luck to everyone else and their studies?

[cef26]

Hi! 

I was SO nervous applying to graduate school because I was out of field major, and I still had a few more prerequisites to take in the spring (most were done by December when most apps were due, but i still had 3 left to take in the spring) I worked really hard on my applications to make up for my lack of experience that some of the CSD majors I knew had (research, teacher assistant, studying abroad to shadow an SLP etc..)  

So I was a psych major- graduated with a 3.86 GPA and then got 4.0 in all my prerequisites through an online bridge program (FSU) where I got my undergrad.

They have no clue if they were online or not, nothing on your transcript mentions that. I had a few shadowing experiences i was able to write about but no research or anything spectacular. I got in the mid 150s for my GRE and a 5 (92%) on the essay. I did have a really good personal statement and worked hard on my other essays some schools required.

I got into every single school I applied to- Teachers College Columbia, BU, MGH, NYU, NYMC, Hofstra etc.... 

I didn't have a problem getting in anywhere but I think it was because of my undergrad gpa being decent, getting all As in my prerequisites but especially my personal statement & essays. 

Ultimately I decided to go to Columbia, but after realizing how much it would cost (120K in just tuition) without the cost of eating breathing living in NYC it just wasn't worth being in that debt to get paid the exact same if I went anywhere else. 

but i'm from Florida and out of state so I had a different situation. Although it kills me, I decided to attend a school in south FL close to home where its less than a quarter of the price. SLPs dont get paid a whole lot as it is so I really had to be smart about this decision... even if it meant giving up my dream school that I worked so hard to get into. 

let me know if theres any other questions you have!!! 

I hope I helped a little. 

 

[teeny]

On 7/24/2019 at 10:42 AM, cef26 said:

Hi! 

I was SO nervous applying to graduate school because I was out of field major, and I still had a few more prerequisites to take in the spring (most were done by December when most apps were due, but i still had 3 left to take in the spring) I worked really hard on my applications to make up for my lack of experience that some of the CSD majors I knew had (research, teacher assistant, studying abroad to shadow an SLP etc..)  

So I was a psych major- graduated with a 3.86 GPA and then got 4.0 in all my prerequisites through an online bridge program (FSU) where I got my undergrad.

They have no clue if they were online or not, nothing on your transcript mentions that. I had a few shadowing experiences i was able to write about but no research or anything spectacular. I got in the mid 150s for my GRE and a 5 (92%) on the essay. I did have a really good personal statement and worked hard on my other essays some schools required.

I got into every single school I applied to- Teachers College Columbia, BU, MGH, NYU, NYMC, Hofstra etc.... 

I didn't have a problem getting in anywhere but I think it was because of my undergrad gpa being decent, getting all As in my prerequisites but especially my personal statement & essays. 

Ultimately I decided to go to Columbia, but after realizing how much it would cost (120K in just tuition) without the cost of eating breathing living in NYC it just wasn't worth being in that debt to get paid the exact same if I went anywhere else. 

but i'm from Florida and out of state so I had a different situation. Although it kills me, I decided to attend a school in south FL close to home where its less than a quarter of the price. SLPs dont get paid a whole lot as it is so I really had to be smart about this decision... even if it meant giving up my dream school that I worked so hard to get into. 

let me know if theres any other questions you have!!! 

I hope I helped a little. 

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!!! Can't believe I just saw this haha

Congrats on getting accepted to so many places! I totally think it was a good idea to go for the more financially sound choice. 

I'm also working on my personal statement. If I can ask you this if it's not too personal, what did you focus on in your statement/essays? I wanted to write about my experience getting close to children with autism, but I'm kinda scared of being too cliche or cheesy haha. Also, graduate schools don't really offer financial aid like undergraduate schools do, correct?

[bibliophile222]

14 hours ago, teeny said:

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!!! Can't believe I just saw this haha

Congrats on getting accepted to so many places! I totally think it was a good idea to go for the more financially sound choice. 

I'm also working on my personal statement. If I can ask you this if it's not too personal, what did you focus on in your statement/essays? I wanted to write about my experience getting close to children with autism, but I'm kinda scared of being too cliche or cheesy haha. Also, graduate schools don't really offer financial aid like undergraduate schools do, correct?

Some schools offer little to no funding (but you can still get federal student loans) and others are pretty generous with funding. I've heard of some schools (sorry I can't remember which ones) that offer every admitted student a GA that takes care of most tuition. Other schools offer merit scholarships for a few students in each cohort. I got a partial scholarship from my program. It was only for the first year, but anything helps!

[teeny]

On 8/15/2019 at 10:25 AM, bibliophile222 said:

Some schools offer little to no funding (but you can still get federal student loans) and others are pretty generous with funding. I've heard of some schools (sorry I can't remember which ones) that offer every admitted student a GA that takes care of most tuition. Other schools offer merit scholarships for a few students in each cohort. I got a partial scholarship from my program. It was only for the first year, but anything helps!

That's helpful to know, thanks! Also, just out of curiosity, when did you start the application process and then submit applications? I know the deadlines of certain programs, but I just want to make sure I have a good pace.

[bibliophile222]

6 hours ago, teeny said:

That's helpful to know, thanks! Also, just out of curiosity, when did you start the application process and then submit applications? I know the deadlines of certain programs, but I just want to make sure I have a good pace.

My first deadline was December 15th. I had taken the GRE the year before I applied so I didn't have to worry about it. I started entering grades, doing the resume, etc for CSDCAS in I think early October. I wrote my essays sometime in November, the last thing i did before i submitted. I tend to do well with personal essays, so I wasn't too worried about the essays and didn't do multiple drafts. Dont take that as an example though, since I think most people probably need a but more time than that.

However, I definitely dilly-dallied with asking professors for LORS until early November, which was NOT enough time as one professor didn't end up submitting until 3 weeks past the deadline despite multiple email reminders. Fortunately the school with the early deadline didn't look at applications until after winter break, so it didn't affect anything. DEFINITELY ask your letter writers as soon as possible in the process (like, now).