How can I prepare for the application process?

[thewonderingduck]

1 hour ago, lifeispeachy said:

Worth mentioning that if you are an Oregon resident, you should qualify for the Western Graduate Exchange Program at CU, which would give you in state tuition there. Boulder is a great town to live in for a while, and the graduate students there seemed pretty happy with the program! 

Wow - thanks for letting me know about that! I am an Oregon resident and I've heard a little bit about the Western Graduate Exchange Program, but I didn't realize it included CU Boulder. That is great to know! I'm super interested in Boulder but dissuaded by the cost so I will keep that in mind. 

[sarahma789]

On 2/28/2020 at 2:00 PM, thewonderingduck said:

University of Oregon, University of Montana, CU Boulder, Idaho State University, Washington State University, Western Washington University, University of Northern Colorado, University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, University of Minnesota - Duluth, Minnesota State University - Mankato, Portland State University, Michigan State University, University of Utah

I'm sorry to butt in on your conversation but I actually lived in Mankato for 12 years (plus 4 if you count coming home for breaks during undergrad)! And my dad works in the Veterans center there. If you have any questions about the town please let me know! I live in Denver now and have applied to the MA Linguistics program at Boulder.

[amanda_rensch]

On 2/28/2020 at 4:00 PM, thewonderingduck said:

No need to apologize at all for the long response - I really really appreciate all of the info you gave me! I definitely want to have a wide range of grad school options but I don't have too much room to break the bank in terms of application fees, etc. But that is also a good point from your professor about the "$100 for a spot." What does worry me about what you said is to look at non-popular states, I am from the West coast and not sure how far I want to stray from that, and I am also mainly looking at larger, state schools which I'm not sure if that's a bad idea or not. Below is a list of schools I am looking at apply to, I can obviously remove some or add some to this list before I start applying, but if you (or anyone else reading this) have any insight for these schools and can tell me if this seems like a good range of schools, I would greatly appreciate it!

University of Oregon, University of Montana, CU Boulder, Idaho State University, Washington State University, Western Washington University, University of Northern Colorado, University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, University of Minnesota - Duluth, Minnesota State University - Mankato, Portland State University, Michigan State University, University of Utah

 

Hey! I was born in Texas and actually moved to Mankato, Minnesota when I was 7 years old. My family lived in Mankato (specifically Madison Lake which is right outside Mankato) for 6 years until we decided to move back to San Antonio. I have VERY STRONG opinions about specifically Mankato. And the reason we moved back, was because of our experiences there.

Mankato is a small town. This can be both a blessing and a curse. My father graduated from Notre Dame, went on to medical school, and served his time in the military. When we moved to Mankato, other doctors did not respect him because he was new and didn't like that he had different experiences than they did.  And this is what hurt my family there. People did not open up to outsiders. They are very closed off. People outcasted not only me, but my parents for not living there from the start, having more money, etc. It was hurtful and a super judgmental environment. After about 2 years of working in Mankato, my father hated it so much at the hospital, that he moved to the Twin Cities to work. 

Obviously middle school is not a good time for anyone, but I experienced this closed off-ness and rudeness there. I was severely bullied by the kids at the catholic school in the area. I missed so many days of school because I was scared to go inside. I was actually stabbed with a pen and had a wound on my leg. And the sad part is...no one cared. My family and I went to teachers and the principal, but no one did anything because they were so "loyal" to the people that had been there from the start. This is part of the reason we moved. So even in the schools, people watched out for others, despite they're wrongdoings. My biggest bully happened to know the right people, and I was pushed to the side. Teachers watched erasers being thrown at me and heard the mean words come from people's mouths, and did nothing because of their "loyalty". This was loyalty at the expense of others.

I personally, would never go back because of my experiences. I would never want to work in an environment where new people are not allowed in. That's the opposite of what the health care profession is about. Everyone should be included to provide the best optimal care for the patient. Everyone should be treated equally and no one should feel outcasted like my family and I did.

Don't get me wrong, I met some good people and the university may be TOTALLY different. Universities usually are great environments and I know Mankato has a good speech program. However, I do know how the people in the schools and the hospitals acted towards my family and myself. I don't mean to scare you from going there, but I just wanted to share my experiences of living in the town if you are planning to live and work there! I had a cousin who went to Mankato and liked it.

Your list of schools is very extensive like mine! It's perfect, you put out a wide net, which is exactly what I did too!

[oldsolnewworld]

It sounds like you are on the right track to be a competitive applicant. I would recommend getting involved in a research project, giving yourself enough prep time to study for the GRE, and writing/rewriting a really strong personal statement. Take your statement to your university's writing center and have it critiqued by professionals. Since many schools don't do interviews, this is really there only chance to get to know you so you want your statement to be strong and representative of you! Best of luck!! Also I am currently applying to many of the schools you listed so please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

[thewonderingduck]

On 3/2/2020 at 8:01 PM, amanda_rensch said:

Hey! I was born in Texas and actually moved to Mankato, Minnesota when I was 7 years old. My family lived in Mankato (specifically Madison Lake which is right outside Mankato) for 6 years until we decided to move back to San Antonio. I have VERY STRONG opinions about specifically Mankato. And the reason we moved back, was because of our experiences there.

Mankato is a small town. This can be both a blessing and a curse. My father graduated from Notre Dame, went on to medical school, and served his time in the military. When we moved to Mankato, other doctors did not respect him because he was new and didn't like that he had different experiences than they did.  And this is what hurt my family there. People did not open up to outsiders. They are very closed off. People outcasted not only me, but my parents for not living there from the start, having more money, etc. It was hurtful and a super judgmental environment. After about 2 years of working in Mankato, my father hated it so much at the hospital, that he moved to the Twin Cities to work. 

Obviously middle school is not a good time for anyone, but I experienced this closed off-ness and rudeness there. I was severely bullied by the kids at the catholic school in the area. I missed so many days of school because I was scared to go inside. I was actually stabbed with a pen and had a wound on my leg. And the sad part is...no one cared. My family and I went to teachers and the principal, but no one did anything because they were so "loyal" to the people that had been there from the start. This is part of the reason we moved. So even in the schools, people watched out for others, despite they're wrongdoings. My biggest bully happened to know the right people, and I was pushed to the side. Teachers watched erasers being thrown at me and heard the mean words come from people's mouths, and did nothing because of their "loyalty". This was loyalty at the expense of others.

I personally, would never go back because of my experiences. I would never want to work in an environment where new people are not allowed in. That's the opposite of what the health care profession is about. Everyone should be included to provide the best optimal care for the patient. Everyone should be treated equally and no one should feel outcasted like my family and I did.

Don't get me wrong, I met some good people and the university may be TOTALLY different. Universities usually are great environments and I know Mankato has a good speech program. However, I do know how the people in the schools and the hospitals acted towards my family and myself. I don't mean to scare you from going there, but I just wanted to share my experiences of living in the town if you are planning to live and work there! I had a cousin who went to Mankato and liked it.

Your list of schools is very extensive like mine! It's perfect, you put out a wide net, which is exactly what I did too!

I am so sorry you had those bad experiences in Mankato, and thank you for letting me know about them! I will definitely keep that in mind as I continue into the application process. While the university could be different, if that is the general culture in the town it doesn't sound like a place I would want to be. Small towns can either be great or very close-minded, and it sounds like Mankato is the latter. Thank you again for sharing your experiences. 

[thewonderingduck]

12 hours ago, oldsolnewworld said:

It sounds like you are on the right track to be a competitive applicant. I would recommend getting involved in a research project, giving yourself enough prep time to study for the GRE, and writing/rewriting a really strong personal statement. Take your statement to your university's writing center and have it critiqued by professionals. Since many schools don't do interviews, this is really there only chance to get to know you so you want your statement to be strong and representative of you! Best of luck!! Also I am currently applying to many of the schools you listed so please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Sounds great, thank you! I'm looking for research opportunities right now, and I plan on studying all summer for then GRE then taking it in the fall. I will definitely spend lots of time on my personal statement as well. Are there general guidelines for that, or is it sort of a "free for all" where you just explain more about yourself and your goals as an SLP?

Also, which schools on my list did you apply to?

[oldsolnewworld]

Each schools website has a description of what they are looking for in a personal statement. I started by writing one general statement that I then changed to meet each schools description.  I go to WSU. I applied to WWU, CU Boulder, and UU