redheadedasian Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I graduated from the University of Georgia in May with a degree in Linguistics/Theatre. Last year, I tried to apply for speech pathology without any prerequisites (except linguistics courses) and got rejected from all seven schools I applied to >.< Now, I'm taking prereqs through the online program at Longwood, and my post-bac GPA is 3.8-3.9ish. By the end of the spring, I'll have courses in phonology, syntax, semantics, and morphology (through my Bachelor's degree) as well as Intro to CSD, Anatomy and Physiology of Speech and Hearing, Language Development, Intro to Audiology, Language Disorders, Speech Science, and Neurology of Communication. I'm trying again this time around, and my list can be seen in my signature (I'm only applying to one that I applied to last year). My stats can also be found there. (My AW score on the GRE was 4.5, but I got a 5.5 when I took it last year. Do they combine scores?) Besides academics, I had a summer internship at a surgical implantable company where I dealt with insurance claims and HIPAA, and now I work as a support companion with two women with autism who live in their own homes (mostly behavioral stuff, and I've dealt with a lot of state paperwork and ISPs). In my essays, I mention that during my full-time internship I was also taking 9 hours of classes. I'm getting recommendations from an online SLP professor I had twice (who also practices), a theatre professor I know really well and basically took a grad level class with (and who is the head of the department), a linguistics TA I've had for two classes as well as been in a class with him as a student, and my coordinator for my companion job (one of the teachers couldn't meet the CSDCAS deadline in time...) Do you think eleven schools is enough? (I'm a little gun-shy after last time.) Did I pick enough "safe" ones? Does anyone have experience applying to and being accepted/rejected from my schools? Anything to ease this wait would be wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leelan10 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I think you are doing a great job bringing yourself to the next level this application period so congrats! This is my first time applying and I am terrified that I will be rejected also :/ Can I ask what your gpa was for when u applied the first time around and where did you apply? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redheadedasian Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 The first time around, my GPA wasn't much different. It might have actually been a bit better (3.81ish). The big problem was that I had next to no prerequisites, and I hadn't done anything related to the field. No matter what your GPA is, you could be a perfect grad applicant for just about any program, but still not get into this one just because it's insanely competitive. Last year I applied to LSU Baton Rogue, Georgia State (I actually got an interview there, but so did about 100 other people - for about 20 slots), University of Florida (got waitlisted, never heard anything else), Boston University, Florida State (who basically sent me an email saying they just threw my application in the trash since I didn't have the prerequisites; I sent them a mean email back about wasting my time and application fee and didn't apply again ), UNC Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt (the last two are IMPOSSIBLE to get into for anyone, by the way). I think another problem was that I didn't really do much research, and ended up applying to programs that take 10% of their applicants or less. Word to the wise: apply to a TON, or at least have half of your schools accept somewhere around 50%. Apply to obscure programs (like Longwood, for me). Schedule visits to the schools and write about the visits in detail in your essays. Seriously, apply to schools that insult your intelligence with how easy it looks to get in. Assume they are all hard. Final note: again, this is a very competitive field, and the fact is, you may have to apply two or more times. If this isn't something you're willing to live with (repeatedly applying, making yourself a better candidate in between every application process, etc.), you may want to pick something else. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I also applied to St. Xavier and UCF, redheadedasian. We have similar stats also...what are your thoughts about the competitiveness of those schools? I feel like they are problably the least competitive schools that I am applying to, but I still don't feel all that safe about them. It's stressful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theasaurus Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 @redheadedasian... do you think the main reason you didn't get into the programs initially is because of the lack of prereqs or because of the programs you applied to? I only ask because I'm in the same situation you were last year and I can't help but fret out over the fact that I have 0 prereqs completed. I even have the exact GPA as you did! All the schools I've applied to offer 3 year tracks and specifically welcome out-of-majors (I made sure of that), but it's always a question of how many non majors they accept and how many applications they get total. I've never been able to find a definite answer from all of my forum reading and internet searching whether having 0 prereqs negatively affects you application, even for 3 year programs. I guess I'll have to wait and see... Anywho, good luck with your application season. I personally think your stats look pretty good this go around (looked good before too), and now that you have some work and internship experience, i think you'll be a more viable candidate. I'm just hoping that my work experience will help boost my application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trina Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) I also applied to St. Xavier and UCF, redheadedasian. We have similar stats also...what are your thoughts about the competitiveness of those schools? I feel like they are problably the least competitive schools that I am applying to, but I still don't feel all that safe about them. It's stressful! tell me about it. i applied to St. Xavier as well, and i think it is the least competitive school i applied to. but i'm still not sure i'd get in there. one more month of waiting. argh. my combined GPA is about 3.5, although i have a 4.0 on post-bacc speech classes. and my GRE scores aren't too shabby. so i'm keeping my fingers crossed. oh, and theasaurus, i applied to Purdue last year without any prerequisites. (it was the only school i applied to, coz i don't have the flexibility of moving from the chicagoland area.) and was told that they only accepted 4 students without background. as opposed to about 60 students with background, out of which about 25 usually accept the offer. the program director recommended that i take post-bacc classes to increase my chances of getting in. but then again, my GPA was rather low. i think your chances are pretty good.. your stats look great! Edited February 2, 2012 by trina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theasaurus Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 oh, and theasaurus, i applied to Purdue last year without any prerequisites. (it was the only school i applied to, coz i don't have the flexibility of moving from the chicagoland area.) and was told that they only accepted 4 students without background. as opposed to about 60 students with background, out of which about 25 usually accept the offer. the program director recommended that i take post-bacc classes to increase my chances of getting in. but then again, my GPA was rather low. i think your chances are pretty good.. your stats look great! Thanks Trina! And thanks for the info on Purdue. It's one of my reach schools along with UMN and UC-Boulder, but I guess I'll never know unless I try. I have a pretty good Plan B that involves taking the prereq courses as a nondegree student as UCF, but I'm really hoping I can bypass the application process a second time by getting into a program now. We'll see... I think your stats look pretty good too as far I can tell. It helps that you took the post-bacc classes and aced them. Also, I've read that 3.0 is usually the required, but 3.5 is really the gpa to aim for. I wish you the best of luck! The wait really is the most horrendous part. I really hate the month of February right now. I wish someone would just lock me in a room and take away my internet access for the next month. It seems as if checking my email and this site has become a full-time hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 tell me about it. i applied to St. Xavier as well, and i think it is the least competitive school i applied to. but i'm still not sure i'd get in there. one more month of waiting. argh. my combined GPA is about 3.5, although i have a 4.0 on post-bacc speech classes. and my GRE scores aren't too shabby. so i'm keeping my fingers crossed. Did you hear about when St. Xavier will be sending their decisons, or are you just guessing? Also, have you visited? If so, what are your thoughts?? I was in the Chicago area over the summer and I visited...but I only saw the general campus, I didn't see inside the speech clinic or talk with anyone in the department (they said that they don't do visits over the summer). So I feel like I still don't know much about the program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trina Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 audioenvy, i'm just guessing in general. i think most schools decide sometime in the first week of march. i don't know about st. xavier, though. they might take longer. come to think of it, according to an email i got from the office of graduate admission, decisions will be out only in april. i haven't visited st. xavier (or any of the other schools) yet. i figured i'd do that if and when i get accepted. i've spoken to a couple of SXU students, though. and they all had good things to say about the program and the professors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 You got an email? In response to an email that you sent, or just something that you got after you applied? The only thing that I have gotten from them is an email with information to log into my online account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trina Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) this is weird. i didn't get any email with account login information. but i got a generic email from Kelly Fox in the Office of Graduate Admission saying this: Thank you for considering Saint Xavier University for your graduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology. At this time we have received all of your documents and your application is complete. Students will receive a letter from the Communication Sciences and Disorders department in April regarding the admission decision reached on their application. It has been a pleasure working with you and I wish you all the best as you pursue your educational goals. i got the email a couple of days after i submitted my CSDCAS application. and that was it, really. i haven't heard from them since. when did you get the online account information? Edited February 4, 2012 by trina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 (edited) That is reeeeeeally strange! I didn't get that email. I got a different one shortly after I sent my application. It says- "Welcome to Saint Xavier University! As a result of your interest in Saint Xavier University, you have been granted access to CLAWS (Cougars Local Academic Website) where you will find important information such as your financial aid award, admission status, course section offerings, and much more!" And then it had my login information. When I logged in, it basically just lists my admission status as "application complete". It also lists my GRE score. Edited February 5, 2012 by AudioEnvy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redheadedasian Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 @thesaurus, last year, FSU's program claimed they would take nonmajors, but they rejected me on those very grounds. It seems like the economy has hit everyone right down to grad schools; they can have the official stance that they will take people without prerequisites, but if they get more applicants than they know what to do with, they can start throwing people out of the pile for whatever reasons they want. Also last year, the LSU main campus wrote me a personal letter saying they wanted to accept me based on everything else, but they didn't really have the money to staff prerequisite classes for grad students. I don't mean to discourage you! I'm just saying be prepared for anything. I know a lot of programs are a lot more welcoming of nonmajors and have a track specially designed for them. Good luck to everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopeful SLP Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 this is weird. i didn't get any email with account login information. but i got a generic email from Kelly Fox in the Office of Graduate Admission saying this: i got the email a couple of days after i submitted my CSDCAS application. and that was it, really. i haven't heard from them since. when did you get the online account information? this is so bizarre. I got the same e-mail, but an entire month after I submitted my application (just got it Feb 7th). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trina Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 (edited) i just checked the dates again, and "a couple of days" was an underestimate. lol. i got the email on jan 3rd, but i submitted my csdcas application on dec 11th. i'm assuming they send out that email once they get the whole application from csdcas. probably csdcas just took longer to send out your application? Edited February 13, 2012 by trina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I'm really weirded out that I didn't get that email! It says that I have everything in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redheadedasian Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 AudioEnvy, I'd call them if I were you. I got the email from them as well, but if you didn't, you should just make sure nothing's wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I did call them awhile after I sent my application, just to confirm that everything had been recieved...the person that I talked to in the department told me that they didn't have any of the applications yet, but they transferred me to graduate admissions and that person said that my application was complete. Maybe I'll try calling again, but I just don't really know what to say since they have already told me that they have everything...I'll probably try, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopeful SLP Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 i just checked the dates again, and "a couple of days" was an underestimate. lol. i got the email on jan 3rd, but i submitted my csdcas application on dec 11th. i'm assuming they send out that email once they get the whole application from csdcas. probably csdcas just took longer to send out your application? this makes much more sense--CSDCAS was probably overwhelmed with the huge number of early Jan applicants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kad0110 Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 February is the shortest month of the year, even in a leap year, but it is going by so painfully slow! The suspense is killing me >.< I just hope that if I end up wait listed somewhere that they don't wait until the end of May to let me know like they did to a couple of my friends last year. I graduated last year from the University of Florida and I remember most of my fellow speechies hearing back the week after Spring break. Does anyone know when sb is this year? I am applying to: University of Georgia University of Alabama University of Mississippi Central Florida University University of South Florida University of South Alabama Best of luck to everyone...and hang in there while this waiting game drags on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MA-SLP FTW Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I'm also a "non-traditional" student - I have a BA outside of the major. I applied to only one program last year, ignorantly believing that I could be admitted without having started any of the pre-reqs. However, that gave me a chance to talk to some of the department staff at the school where I'm taking classes to try to get some grasp of what these schools want. Even then, there are pre-reqs for some programs that I haven't been able to finish in time for this application cycle. I have secured a position as a research assistant but I just feel like I'm in a holding pattern. I had no clue that the odds of me getting into a Masters program are pretty much on par with finding one of Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets. I mean, sheeze, even the acceptance rate to Harvard Law is 11%! I guess the hardest part is how personal the decisions feel. Since there are no clear parameters for GRE scores/GPAs, it really seems like any rejections are of ME rather than of my credentials. I can't believe how many schools don't do interviews! Surely we'd all get in if they knew just how fantastic we all are! Anyone else wish they'd at least shoot you a text to say "Sorry, game over!"? trina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley13 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Hi, I also applied to SXU and the same thing happened to me, AudioEnvy. I received the email with the log-in info for CLAWS but didn't receive the email from CSD Admissions. Did you happen to contact them? If so, what did they say? I can log in on CLAWS and my application status says "complete". I called SXU about a week ago to confirm that they had my complete application; however, it was a Friday and apparently no professors are in-office on Friday. The woman who answered the phone just said that the applications had been divided among the professors and she wasn't able to tell me whether or not they had mine.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudioEnvy Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Hi, I also applied to SXU and the same thing happened to me, AudioEnvy. I received the email with the log-in info for CLAWS but didn't receive the email from CSD Admissions. Did you happen to contact them? If so, what did they say? I can log in on CLAWS and my application status says "complete". I called SXU about a week ago to confirm that they had my complete application; however, it was a Friday and apparently no professors are in-office on Friday. The woman who answered the phone just said that the applications had been divided among the professors and she wasn't able to tell me whether or not they had mine.... I sent an email to Kelly Fox in graduate admissions, asking if I could verify that everything was complete with my application, because I had heard that other applicants had recieved an email which said that their application was complete and gave an idea of when they could expect to hear back. She responded saying- "I'm sorry you did not receive confirmation that your file is complete. I've looked into our system and it appears that your file was marked complete on January 18th and has been sent to the Speech department for review. I usually advise applicants that they may expect a letter from the department in early April in regards to an admission decision." I'm guessing that something similar happened with you (why else would we have CLAWS accounts that said that our app was complete?), but you might want to double check, if it would make you feel better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley13 Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Thanks! That definitely helps ease my mind! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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