Anyone in the same boat?

[missyk27]

Ok, so this is my 2nd year applying to SLP master programs. Last year I only had a few pre-reqs completed and applied to 4 schools. I wasn't aware just how competitive it is. So this year, I was not going to make the same mistake. I applied to 15 schools all along the east coast(bf was not too happy!) Anyways, I have already received 4 rejections and I find myself tearing up everytime I approach the mailbox. I have 11 schools left and although I know there is still a chance, I find myself feeling as if I need a 'back up plan' and ASAP. I have a BA in Elem. Ed and two years of SLP pre-reqs. I don't want to teach-hence why I am going back to school. I'm so afraid I won't get in, and then what? Do I really subject myself to a third time around of applying?I feel embarrassed as it is with this being my second time applying. Anyone have any advice? I am 27 and feel lost. This is not how I thought my life was gonna go. What if I end up with 15 rejections after I have worked my butt off to get to this point. My stats- Pre-SLP GPA(3.84) my undergrad was 3.7(Major 3.9), GREs were average but not terrible.

Any advice would be amazing. I am driving my bf and family crazy with my constant ranting and raving about grad school.

[Silent_Bobina]

Ok, so this is my 2nd year applying to SLP master programs. Last year I only had a few pre-reqs completed and applied to 4 schools. I wasn't aware just how competitive it is. So this year, I was not going to make the same mistake. I applied to 15 schools all along the east coast(bf was not too happy!) Anyways, I have already received 4 rejections and I find myself tearing up everytime I approach the mailbox. I have 11 schools left and although I know there is still a chance, I find myself feeling as if I need a 'back up plan' and ASAP. I have a BA in Elem. Ed and two years of SLP pre-reqs. I don't want to teach-hence why I am going back to school. I'm so afraid I won't get in, and then what? Do I really subject myself to a third time around of applying?I feel embarrassed as it is with this being my second time applying. Anyone have any advice? I am 27 and feel lost. This is not how I thought my life was gonna go. What if I end up with 15 rejections after I have worked my butt off to get to this point. My stats- Pre-SLP GPA(3.84) my undergrad was 3.7(Major 3.9), GREs were average but not terrible.

Any advice would be amazing. I am driving my bf and family crazy with my constant ranting and raving about grad school.

Although this is only my first year applying I find myself in the same situation. I did not know it was so competitive either and I am also panicking... for those who have been down this road is it worth reapplying? Where do you go with your life if you don't get in?

[missyk27]

Although this is only my first year applying I find myself in the same situation. I did not know it was so competitive either and I am also panicking... for those who have been down this road is it worth reapplying? Where do you go with your life if you don't get in?

exactly...where do you go if you can't take that next step to reach your ultimate goal. i never thought this process would beat me up as much as it has. to work so hard and it is still not good enough..completely breaks you down.

[Gunner24]

First- RELAX. You still have eleven to go! Don't psyche yourself out. You will more than likely get accepted to one of those.

Second- I'm not saying this is you at all, I don't know your exact situation, but I see some people on here get devastated that they didn't get accepted to any of the schools they applied to- but they only applied to the absolute top-tier programs in their field. If this is what you (general "you" )really, really want to do, then maybe don't just apply to top-level national schools....consider the next tier or even a regional school. There are loads of successful people who didn't have to go to the top-notch-reputation school to succeed and be happy. Also, and many people in the northeast don't realize this (not you, of course), but the United States continues on west for quite a while! And there are many great schools in your field that you might have success with. If you really really want to stay in NY, or on the east, then......well, you can't always have your cake and eat it too.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket or negative...just trying to be a realist and provide a perspective that's hard to come by on these forums. Often others just tickle your ear. Either way I expect some might give you some different advice which is great. I'm sure you have what it takes to succeed and accomplish what you want. Best of luck to you!

[nogone]

There's no point in thinking about living with 15 rejections until you actually have 15 rejections. I know it's easier said than done, but I'm trying to stay positive till the last minute. There's nothing I can do to make results come any faster, but I can do something about my attitude. I'll be sad if I need to be sad, but there's no point in selling myself short so early.

BUT! If you don't get in to anything this year, I'd wait a few more years before re-applying. I'm sure you know this, but with the economy in the toilet, applications for graduate school are way up. If the economy turns around in the next few years, maybe things won't be as quite as competitive as far as admissions.

[missyk27]

First- RELAX. You still have eleven to go! Don't psyche yourself out. You will more than likely get accepted to one of those.

Second- I'm not saying this is you at all, I don't know your exact situation, but I see some people on here get devastated that they didn't get accepted to any of the schools they applied to- but they only applied to the absolute top-tier programs in their field. If this is what you (general "you" )really, really want to do, then maybe don't just apply to top-level national schools....consider the next tier or even a regional school. There are loads of successful people who didn't have to go to the top-notch-reputation school to succeed and be happy. Also, and many people in the northeast don't realize this (not you, of course), but the United States continues on west for quite a while! And there are many great schools in your field that you might have success with. If you really really want to stay in NY, or on the east, then......well, you can't always have your cake and eat it too.

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket or negative...just trying to be a realist and provide a perspective that's hard to come by on these forums. Often others just tickle your ear. Either way I expect some might give you some different advice which is great. I'm sure you have what it takes to succeed and accomplish what you want. Best of luck to you!

Thank you. I appreciate that you didn't sugar coat it. I have applied to schools spanning from CT to FL. I thought about California schools but thought it was too far. I am definitely not set on staying in NY-at this point I'd move to alaska! But I get what you are saying and you make great points. Thanks for the boost!

[Silent_Bobina]

Second- I'm not saying this is you at all, I don't know your exact situation, but I see some people on here get devastated that they didn't get accepted to any of the schools they applied to- but they only applied to the absolute top-tier programs in their field.

I am totally in this place but I thought I had chosen a very good range of programs... turns out not so much. If I do give it a second go (I'm not sure yet if I'll HAVE to) I plan to have much more balance in my choice of programs and spend even MORE hours (I spent all summer) researching. I feel very naive for limiting myself especially because I did not even realize that I was. If I could tell myself last summer what I know now I would've applied to a very different pool of schools.

[Desi5]

I'm not in the same field, but wanted to share some advice my advisor gave me when I got all rejections the first time around in case its useful for anyone. He actually advised me not to immediately reapply the next year, as he felt I needed to do something big to make it clear that I deserved to be reconsidered. That way, when they see your application again they know why they should give you another chance (even if you weren't rejected for any deficiencies in your application the first time!) I took two years to do some research in my field (I received a prestigious scholarship), and then reapplied. This time around I received a couple of really fantastic offers. I'm not saying that everyone should take a couple of years between applications like I did (I know it can be difficult to do that), but do something and stay involved in the field so that its clear that you've taken steps to improve yourself as a candidate before reapplying. Its not that there was necessarily anything really wrong my first application (from what I know), just that things are very competitive in my field.

If it matters to you, I say don't give up. Especially to people for whom this is their first round of applications. Plenty of people reapply multiple times (that's why Harvard has a "three applications in one lifetime" rule!). Good luck, I hope you get some favorable responses from schools this year!

[PrettyVacant]

I'm also in the same boat. This is my second time applying, and I only applied to one school this season. I'm definitely panicking. If I don't get in this year, I'm done for. I can't move anywhere else, so my options are very limited. I'm sure I'll end up applying again if I get rejected, but I'm definitely gonna take a break -- maybe work for a few years, travel, write, learn a new language, adopt a puppy. I really don't know how I can make my application stronger than it is. It's unbelievably frustrating when your application wasn't good enough even though you gave it your best. You'd think getting into an M.A program would be easy, but apparently not. Most people don't understand how competitive it is... sigh.

Sorry for my rant.

Edited March 9, 2011 by PrettyVacant

[littlewhite]

I'm also in the same boat. This is my second time applying, and I only applied to one school this season. I'm definitely panicking. If I don't get in this year, I'm done for. I can't move anywhere else, so my options are very limited. I'm sure I'll end up applying again if I get rejected, but I'm definitely gonna take a break -- maybe work for a few years, travel, write, learn a new language, adopt a puppy. I really don't know how I can make my application stronger than it is. It's unbelievably frustrating when your application wasn't good enough even though you gave it your best. You'd think getting into an M.A program would be easy, but apparently not. Most people don't understand how competitive it is... sigh.

Sorry for my rant.

we are wearing the same boots. This is also the second year for me to apply. Last year, I got an offer from Imperial College, but in the end, I didn't go cause of the huge fee. I stayed for a year and wanted to earn enought money to apply for the 2nd year. Now, I am planning to apply for some universities in US, since the job may be more easier available than that in UK. At the moment, I get three rejections and feel a little be frustrate, the left 9 universites are too quiet that I have got a habbit that checking email and logging on the web has been my part of life. Some one told me, don't worry about it, my major may come out lately than other majors. So the same words to you, the final good news will come soon~~ Good luck

[NadaJ]

I work in a dept of communication disorders, and let me just say, admissions is competitive. Ultra-competitive. There were only a handful of students w/o a 3.5, and they were likely rejected. Candidates on the wait list have only a slightly lower GPA than those accepted (as in to the tenth decimal place less). Something interesting to note is that the programs ranked very high in the field, received fewer applicants, so many people who were rejected from our program were accepted to higher ranked programs. SOPs are important, and if someone writes about a grandparent with tinnitus, a sibling with autism, those are a dime a dozen. Make your SOP interesting. Unfortunately, GPA and GRE scores are the qualifying factor, and the SOP separates you from the crowd.

I hope this helps. Basically, it's a very competitive field. I didn't know so many students had such high GPAs (3.8+) in undergrad until I came to this department.

Edited March 9, 2011 by NadaJ

[missyk27]

I work in a dept of communication disorders, and let me just say, admissions is competitive. Ultra-competitive. There were only a handful of students w/o a 3.5, and they were likely rejected. Candidates on the wait list have only a slightly lower GPA than those accepted (as in to the tenth decimal place less). Something interesting to note is that the programs ranked very high in the field, received fewer applicants, so many people who were rejected from our program were accepted to higher ranked programs. SOPs are important, and if someone writes about a grandparent with tinnitus, a sibling with autism, those are a dime a dozen. Make your SOP interesting. Unfortunately, GPA and GRE scores are the qualifying factor, and the SOP separates you from the crowd.

I hope this helps. Basically, it's a very competitive field. I didn't know so many students had such high GPAs (3.8+) in undergrad until I came to this department.

[missyk27]

Thanks so much for your feedback. It helps to hear from someone other than a fellow applicant.