SLP/Communication Disorders Masters Applicants

[GradCafeGirl2011]

Also, if any of you guys are interested in autism, I just saw this today. Amazing! http://youtu.be/34xoYwLNpvw

20/20 interviewed a teenage girl with autism and her family. She can't speak and doesn't write, but learned how to type at the age of 11. She's now writing a novel. Incredible!

She also has her own blog: http://carlysvoicecom.powweb.com/

This is so cool! Thanks for posting! Does anyone else know of other good SLP-related blogs? (Should we start another thread?)

[dogfishing]

Thumbs up to everyone who successfully avoided feeding the troll and a huge congrats to everyone on making it through this app season! Best of luck to everyone as you begin on whatever postgrad paths you choose!

Seriously! Congrats to everyone -- we made it to the other side!

[slpundergrad]

Anywho. The semester's winding down, and the fifteenth is in two days! Has everybody decided yet?

East Carolina! I live in NJ and just went down to find a place to live. I can't get over how fast this semester is going, I only have 7 classes left before graduation. Congrats to those that have decided and good luck to those still waiting.

[heatherm]

I sent in my deposit to Loyola two days ago. Did you apply to the foundation programs? I turned down Towson and GW in favor of Loyola. I have had very positive interactions with them. I also have communicated at length with a student currently in the Foundation program and her experience has been fantastic. She says they make it as easy as possible to understand what you are supposed to do and how to be successful. Also, the foundation year is only on Tues/Thurs evenings, so I can still have a life on the other days! The administration told me that they treat students with respect and expect all of the professor to do so. Grad school is tough, but they make an effort to make it pleasant.

Hi everyone! Congratulations to all of you who have decided, and good luck to those who are still waiting and/or still deciding!

Does anyone have opinions regarding Loyola v. University of Maryland College Park?

[GradCafeGirl2011]

Thanks HeatherM! Yes, I applied to the foundation program. I have also had very positive interactions with Loyola, but I was offered funding at UMD, so I'm having trouble figuring out "how much" I love Loyola! It's a tough call -- do you know if they have any funding during the master's program?

I sent in my deposit to Loyola two days ago. Did you apply to the foundation programs? I turned down Towson and GW in favor of Loyola. I have had very positive interactions with them. I also have communicated at length with a student currently in the Foundation program and her experience has been fantastic. She says they make it as easy as possible to understand what you are supposed to do and how to be successful. Also, the foundation year is only on Tues/Thurs evenings, so I can still have a life on the other days! The administration told me that they treat students with respect and expect all of the professor to do so. Grad school is tough, but they make an effort to make it pleasant.

[heatherm]

I remember two people posting that they got ga positions...maybe 7500/year? Not sure if I am remembering correctly about the specifics, but definitely remember two people mentioning that they received funding. My guess is that funding is available for years 2 and 3. I was willing to pay extra for Loyola b/c it is so much more convenient for me in terms of location and the timing of classes. Also, I had heard some negative feedback about GW, UMD, and mainly neutral talk about Towson. Towson is cheaper, but I didn't think the difference in cost overall was so great that it made up for Towson's real inconveniences to me. It is an hour away and classes are every day. That would be a hardship to my family...and gas prices are crazy! What are your pros and cons for each school? Where do you live?

Thanks HeatherM! Yes, I applied to the foundation program. I have also had very positive interactions with Loyola, but I was offered funding at UMD, so I'm having trouble figuring out "how much" I love Loyola! It's a tough call -- do you know if they have any funding during the master's program?

[dogfishing]

Is anyone concerned about Pre-Reqs even though they have a bachelors degree in communication disorders??

I have a B. A. degree in comm disorders from UConn and applied to and was accepted at BU, Southern CT state University, URI, Nova. And ALL of these programs said if my pre-reqs do not transfer/are the same as their pre-reqs I have to go back and take the undergrad classes. CRAZY! I never thought I would have to worry about going back and taking undergrad classes when I have a BA degree in it! This is now a huge determining factor for me picking schools.

BU- said I have to take 2 pre-reqs

Southern CT state -said I have to take 8 pre-reqs ( thats a whole year of just doing undergrad almost)

URI- 3 pre reqs needed

Nova -1 pre req

Does anyone else have this problem??????

Regarding BU, who did you talk to about pre-reqs? I spoke with E. Gavett about mine (I also have a BS in CDS) and she seemed very relaxed about it and made it seem like all of my classes would transfer over no problem...

[nnllrr]

I spoke to her too! She was very nice but said I would have to take two courses but that they can be taken anywhere or even online. And some of the courses are offered in the summer before we start the program.

[elizalou]

I spoke to her too! She was very nice but said I would have to take two courses but that they can be taken anywhere or even online. And some of the courses are offered in the summer before we start the program.

I'm not a CSD undergrad so I am patching together prereqs as I go and am going to take some summer courses online. There are three schools that I have heard about who do it and it seems like a really easy, not to mention cheap way, to get the credits. If you want more info about the schools that do online SLP let me know!

[nnllrr]

I'm not a CSD undergrad so I am patching together prereqs as I go and am going to take some summer courses online. There are three schools that I have heard about who do it and it seems like a really easy, not to mention cheap way, to get the credits. If you want more info about the schools that do online SLP let me know!

I definitely would like more info about it. What 3 schools offer them? I would love to get some done during the summer and online if possible.

[mscongeniality1]

Is anyone concerned about Pre-Reqs even though they have a bachelors degree in communication disorders??

I have a B. A. degree in comm disorders from UConn and applied to and was accepted at BU, Southern CT state University, URI, Nova. And ALL of these programs said if my pre-reqs do not transfer/are the same as their pre-reqs I have to go back and take the undergrad classes. CRAZY! I never thought I would have to worry about going back and taking undergrad classes when I have a BA degree in it! This is now a huge determining factor for me picking schools.

BU- said I have to take 2 pre-reqs

Southern CT state -said I have to take 8 pre-reqs ( thats a whole year of just doing undergrad almost)

URI- 3 pre reqs needed

Nova -1 pre req

Does anyone else have this problem??????

I had that problem with a few schools. Penn State and Mizzou both wanted an extra class apiece. I can't believe that S. CT St. wants 8 prereqs--that is insane if you have a BA in CSD already!

[speaktoyou]

Is anyone concerned about Pre-Reqs even though they have a bachelors degree in communication disorders??

I have a B. A. degree in comm disorders from UConn and applied to and was accepted at BU, Southern CT state University, URI, Nova. And ALL of these programs said if my pre-reqs do not transfer/are the same as their pre-reqs I have to go back and take the undergrad classes. CRAZY! I never thought I would have to worry about going back and taking undergrad classes when I have a BA degree in it! This is now a huge determining factor for me picking schools.

BU- said I have to take 2 pre-reqs

Southern CT state -said I have to take 8 pre-reqs ( thats a whole year of just doing undergrad almost)

URI- 3 pre reqs needed

Nova -1 pre req

Does anyone else have this problem??????

I am in my first year right now, but had a similar situation last year. I have a BS in SLP, from Northwestern, even, and I was told I had to take 2 pre-reqs to meet deficiencies. I was really annoyed, but it ended up working out. One of them was a joke--it was an intro class, and I really didn't need it. I just couldn't find a syllabus to prove that I had taken the language development class, even though my transcript said "Lang Dev Use", as in, Language Development and Usage. But, I still learned from that class, and it was an easy A for sure.

The second class I had to take I could see that I hadn't had a specific class on in my undergrad. So even though I had a degree, I hadn't covered that material in-depth. I really enjoyed that class, too, it was Language Disorders and included assessment and intervention. Honestly, my pre-req prepared me well for my Master's level class, as we even use the same text book. It is a lot of information, so it helped to have covered some of it already once recently.

I took my pre-reqs at Utah State University. It was relatively inexpensive, and nice to do over the summer and still be able to travel. At USU, you do have to have a proctor for most exams. I was able to do that with a principal at a local elementary school, and with the public library in the location where we traveled.

Good luck! I was also very surprised when I was told I would need classes. It seriously hadn't occurred to me beforehand, that my bachelor's degree wouldn't be enough. It was all I could do not to say, "but don't you see my undergrad is from Northwestern?!"

[elizalou]

I definitely would like more info about it. What 3 schools offer them? I would love to get some done during the summer and online if possible.

Utah State University, Ohio State University and Longwood University are the three I know of. They all have slightly different course offerings so I am sure you could find the ones you need. Like speaktoyou said Utah State requires proctored exams which was a problem for me since I knew I would be traveling for two weeks this summer. I ended up finding 2 classes that I needed at Longwood University and they have open book exams so it works out perfectly. They are all a little different in their format and logistics as well as when the classes start and end in the summer.

[kroge23]

Is anyone concerned about Pre-Reqs even though they have a bachelors degree in communication disorders??

I have a B. A. degree in comm disorders from UConn and applied to and was accepted at BU, Southern CT state University, URI, Nova. And ALL of these programs said if my pre-reqs do not transfer/are the same as their pre-reqs I have to go back and take the undergrad classes. CRAZY! I never thought I would have to worry about going back and taking undergrad classes when I have a BA degree in it! This is now a huge determining factor for me picking schools.

BU- said I have to take 2 pre-reqs

Southern CT state -said I have to take 8 pre-reqs ( thats a whole year of just doing undergrad almost)

URI- 3 pre reqs needed

Nova -1 pre req

Does anyone else have this problem??????

I have will have a bachelors degree in communication disorders too and the University of Nebraska said there were a few classes that I needed to take. I have decided I am going to MGH though and I do not need any other classes for them. I guess it varies from school to school. Good luck!

[Danie813]

Got my acceptance letter from Texas State this past Monday. WOOHOO!!!!!! They gave me until today to submit my acceptance, so of course I accepted their offer. It looks like they're giving us 5 days to respond and for every person who declines they move on to the next person on the waiting list until the class of 28 is complete.

[ayala88]

I accepted SIU-Carbondale's offer of admission! They have a big autism center where you can choose to do your first clinicals, so I'm really excited about that

One thing that's ticked me off though-- has anyone NOT heard back from any of the schools they applied to? I haven't heard anything from WIU (Western Illinois). I paid the application fee and spent time and effort on their application, and they haven't told me ANYTHING. Other people on the results board seem to be saying the same thing-- I don't think they've made decisions for anyone yet. Seriously, it's past April 15th and they don't tell anyone if they got in (or let us know if there would be a delay), that's just discourteous. Not to mention pretty dumb-- if they admit people in late April-May, most of their students will be people rejected from or waitlisted at every school they applied to.

Not likely at all to work, but I'd really like to demand a refund for my $30 application fee, and the 4 hours of my life I wasted on their application back..

Edited April 18, 2011 by ayala88

[tayfray]

I accepted SIU-Carbondale's offer of admission! They have a big autism center where you can choose to do your first clinicals, so I'm really excited about that

One thing that's ticked me off though-- has anyone NOT heard back from any of the schools they applied to? I haven't heard anything from WIU (Western Illinois). I paid the application fee and spent time and effort on their application, and they haven't told me ANYTHING. Other people on the results board seem to be saying the same thing-- I don't think they've made decisions for anyone yet. Seriously, it's past April 15th and they don't tell anyone if they got in (or let us know if there would be a delay), that's just discourteous. Not to mention pretty dumb-- if they admit people in late April-May, most of their students will be people rejected from or waitlisted at every school they applied to.

Not likely at all to work, but I'd really like to demand a refund for my $30 application fee, and the 4 hours of my life I wasted on their application back..

Yeah, I never heard from Northwestern. It's kind of insulting.

[mscongeniality1]

Yeah, I never heard from Northwestern. It's kind of insulting.

My friend is in the same boat with them too. She was bummed for a bit since it was her dream school but the school she accepted ended up working out better for her in the end.

[gretel]

Yeah, I never heard from Northwestern. It's kind of insulting.

I still haven't heard from Long Island University-Brooklyn. I assume I've been rejected, but it would be nice to have been notified! I e-mailed them weeks ago asking for an update, but they simply sent a reply confirming acceptance of my application. I've accepted elsewhere and am happy with my choice, but it's just extremely odd.

[tayfray]

I still haven't heard from Long Island University-Brooklyn. I assume I've been rejected, but it would be nice to have been notified! I e-mailed them weeks ago asking for an update, but they simply sent a reply confirming acceptance of my application. I've accepted elsewhere and am happy with my choice, but it's just extremely odd.

Same here, it just would be courteous of them to say something. I didn't pay the application fee for nothing.

[squaresquared]

I didn't hear from 3 of my schools. Even though I was lucky enough to get in elsewhere and have accepted, I still want those responses, even if they are rejections!

[maddie4luv]

I didn't hear from 3 of my schools. Even though I was lucky enough to get in elsewhere and have accepted, I still want those responses, even if they are rejections!

need some advice (I posted this on the results page too)

I received a financial aid package today with personalized information regarding aid, but haven't received an official letter/email yet.. what should I take from this??

I will make phone calls tomorrow in hopes to get some answers.

thanks!

[gradstudent84]

This is sort of off topic, but I really needed to vent about this..I welcome any advice also. I was planning on posting this on fbook but I know that I won't be taken seriously as there are many dumb people on that site who won't take things seriously these days, so gradcafe was the next option.

I'm finishing up some prerequisite courses before graduate school in the fall and I'm really struggling with motivation. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to stay focused on my classes and I keep procrastinating. It's completely different from how I was eight months ago, by the way. I can't help it. I'm telling myself that I need to work hard for the next seven weeks to maintain a B average at least but it's one thing to tell yourself that, and another to stay consistent with that mentality.

Is anyone else going through this?

The classes are ridiculous. These include a neuro class, a research class, and a statistics class (for ASHA requirement). Save for one teacher, all of my other instructors are not very approachable so that doesn't really help visiting them during office hours. Oh, and there are tons of homework assignments, quizzes, and midterms to study for.

Edited April 19, 2011 by gradstudent84

[tayfray]

This is sort of off topic, but I really needed to vent about this..I welcome any advice also. I was planning on posting this on fbook but I know that I won't be taken seriously as there are many dumb people on that site who won't take things seriously these days, so gradcafe was the next option.

I'm finishing up some prerequisite courses before graduate school in the fall and I'm really struggling with motivation. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to stay focused on my classes and I keep procrastinating. It's completely different from how I was eight months ago, by the way. I can't help it. I'm telling myself that I need to work hard for the next seven weeks to maintain a B average at least but it's one thing to tell yourself that, and another to stay consistent with that mentality.

Is anyone else going through this?

The classes are ridiculous. These include a neuro class, a research class, and a statistics class (for ASHA requirement). Save for one teacher, all of my other instructors are not very approachable so that doesn't really help visiting them during office hours. Oh, and there are tons of homework assignments, quizzes, and midterms to study for.

I'm with you. I'm finishing up my very last one and I just can't get into it.

I'm also kind of annoyed with myself-- I was following the post-bacc curriculum that the school I'm taking classes at recommended, and I stupidly didn't check on what classes I really needed. I just trusted that these would be the right ones for most of the schools. Yeah... no. For example, the post-bacc sequence includes 3 audiology classes. Who wants 3 audiology classes?? No one needs 3 audiology classes, it turns out.

So, last term I was taking the second audiology class instead of the stupid 200-level intro class that should have been my last class. Of course, it had a weird name so I didn't know it was actually the intro to communication disorders class, and it wasn't part of the post-bacc sequence. So to substitute for not taking the intro class, this term I'm having to take a really ridiculous course from a professor that I can't stand. Oh well!

[gradstudent84]

I'm with you. I'm finishing up my very last one and I just can't get into it.

I'm also kind of annoyed with myself-- I was following the post-bacc curriculum that the school I'm taking classes at recommended, and I stupidly didn't check on what classes I really needed. I just trusted that these would be the right ones for most of the schools. Yeah... no. For example, the post-bacc sequence includes 3 audiology classes. Who wants 3 audiology classes?? No one needs 3 audiology classes, it turns out.

So, last term I was taking the second audiology class instead of the stupid 200-level intro class that should have been my last class. Of course, it had a weird name so I didn't know it was actually the intro to communication disorders class, and it wasn't part of the post-bacc sequence. So to substitute for not taking the intro class, this term I'm having to take a really ridiculous course from a professor that I can't stand. Oh well!

That sucks. I'm sorry that happened. I'm having a meeting with an advisor soon and I'm really hoping that ALL of my prereqs transfer over...if not I will be very, VERY disappointed for what I am going through right now