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2013 SLP Admissions Thread!


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I just did a little research, and it looks like UVA, USF, and USC are all on spring break starting Monday. I guess it's safe to say it will be another ~2 weeks before hearing anything from those few. 

jmarti, don't lose hope on that just yet! My best friend goes to FSU and her spring break starts this Monday, which is also the day we will be hearing from FSU. It's getting pretty late in the semester, so maybe these departments are just going to push through and get those letters out despite it being their spring break. I could just be overly optimistic but it's definitely something to consider! I am wishing you all of the luck in the world for Monday, you certainly deserve some good news!

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Ooh do you go to FSU now?! Can you offer up any insights/opinions on your experience?

Hi again! Nope, I'm currently at UF, but I have applied to FSU as well. I know that UF is a FAR reach for me, and FSU is pretty competitive as well, but I'm hoping for the best. Aside from that, I've heard some great things about the FSU program. 

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Hi again! Nope, I'm currently at UF, but I have applied to FSU as well. I know that UF is a FAR reach for me, and FSU is pretty competitive as well, but I'm hoping for the best. Aside from that, I've heard some great things about the FSU program.

Well I'm hoping you also receive some wonderful news on Monday! Waiting until 5 is going to be torturous.

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Wow: kcald716...you are awesome! I'm going to print out your tips tomorrow lol. I appreciate you doing that. I really love Western. I have tried to say in touch when them throughout the year and I visited again in Feb. Everyone seems so nice there and the town is so chill. I really regret with a passion that I did not apply to more programs this year. It's my first year teaching and my mind has been crazy since August. Congrats on getting accepted to ECU, I have talked to several people in the department there on the phone ha ha. They were super nice! Good luck making your decisions. I'm going to be glued to my computer starting Monday. Oh, I'm so scared. I have a feeling a severe depression is coming. Not knowing what's to come for the next year of my life is making my so anxious.

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Well I'm hoping you also receive some wonderful news on Monday! Waiting until 5 is going to be torturous.

AGREED! I'm having terrible flashbacks to the day I was accepted to UF. They had us wait until 5, and then because of the huge number of people logging onto the portal to check their status, the server crashed! I didn't receive any information until 11 pm that night. Talk about torture! Hopefully since CSD isn't nearly as large as an incoming freshman undergrad class, the server will be stable enough to handle all of us. I recommend logging on around 4:30 or so and checking the application status portal rather than just waiting for an email. You never know :)

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I really hope my schools, if they haven't figured it out before their spring break, just push on through and do not take a week off. I know it's a bad situation for them to work on their vacation but I feel like many of their applicant's lives are being put on hold waiting for their decision. I've been driving myself crazy all this week because two of my schools were (supposedly) according to undergrads in the last stages of making their decisions and would start sending notifications in a few days. But I have seen nobody post results from them this week and both of their spring breaks have begun. Hopefully they don't just sit on the applications for another week, because if I were them I would just want to push through and get them done to get that off my mind.

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If that's the case, I don't think you should feel too terribly. It was her oversight, and if she isn't upset, I wouldn't worry.  :)

 

Thanks! I'm definitely going to send her the nicest card I can find (or maybe make one since I'm taking a chinese calligraphy course this semester).

 

But I must say, European professors are really laidback. My former french professor is originally from NC (she has quite the unique southern/french accent) and she kept asking for stamps and envelopes. My second recommender, also my lab director, IS french and he was all, "Stamps? Envelopes? Who cares! I can send this after the deadline and it'll be fine!" even though I kept telling him that it was an in-office deadline. He just said, "No, no, no, it's a 'soft' deadline so don't worry about it." and I'm still not sure if I believe him  :rolleyes:

 

Some informal feedback re:my accomplishments/recommendations.  Not much of a comment, but if it was mentioned, it must have been worth mentioning! :-) 

 

That's awesome, it sounds like that really read over your entire application! I'm curious to find out what my letters were like now...

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AGREED! I'm having terrible flashbacks to the day I was accepted to UF. They had us wait until 5, and then because of the huge number of people logging onto the portal to check their status, the server crashed! I didn't receive any information until 11 pm that night. Talk about torture! Hopefully since CSD isn't nearly as large as an incoming freshman undergrad class, the server will be stable enough to handle all of us. I recommend logging on around 4:30 or so and checking the application status portal rather than just waiting for an email. You never know :)

Wait, which application status portal?

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Bcjami, I am an out of field candidate too as I am graduating with a degree in Psychology this May. If you don't get into a school this year I would suggest to take a few pre-req courses at an online post-bac program. I think Utah State is very reasonable with their price and I have heard great things on this board and elsewhere about their program. You can either get a 2nd degree and get most pre-reqs done or you can be a non-degree student and only take a few classes. I took a few CDS courses in undergrad and it seems like I am more competitive than somebody who has no academic experience in the field, but then again it may just depend on the schools you apply to. I wouldn't worry much about your GRE because I think most programs do not put as much emphasis on it. Your GPA is good and your LOR, personal statement and experience with the field seem to be more important. If you don't get in maybe you can shadow a slp and get them to write a LOR for you, since most programs seem to look highly if an out-of field student has experience of some type with slp. Also, if you are a teacher many programs probably would look highly at that since you have first hand experience with children/teenagers. Other people on here have given you wonderful advice already, but I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in.

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Sending positive vibes to you for Monday at 5! Maybe we'll become classmates :)

 

Thanks, you too!!! That would be awesome! Keeping all of my FSU hopefuls in my thoughts and prayers over the next few days :)

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Has anyone thought about getting their recommenders a gift or something to say thank you for taking the time to write these letters?

 

I have no idea what to do for one of my recommenders who had to send a letter by mail from Europe to SDSU overnight (the postage was nearly $100) because the deadline had slipped her mind but I feel terrible about it  :(

 I got most of my recommenders a $5 Starbucks gift card (there was a Starbucks across the street from the Speech and Hearing  building and I went to school where it rains 200+ days a year...seriously) just enough for a coffee. One of my recommenders went above and beyond (when another one FORGOT to write a few of my letters) by sending letters (via the online portal thankfully) the day they were due (thankfully he was my research supervisor who was also applying to grad schools and had a similar situation). I got him a $20 gift card to a store I knew he liked. And I obviously wrote thank you notes.

 

The professor who sent stuff from Europe is a bit harder to deal with. If you provided what would have been adequate postage then you should not have to pay for her forgetting to send it (especially if you gave her the appropriate amount of time to write/sent it). But obviously she tried to make up for it and I would mention that in your thank you note. 

 

Basically I think that a small gift (nothing more than a cup of coffee) and a letter is good for most recommenders unless you had one go above and beyond, then a little more (nothing more than $20) would be okay. 

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Good luck! You're so close!

Thank you! I just want this to be over and to know where I'm going. The worst part is that I will be at a music festival on Friday and will have very spotty cell reception... aka I will be FREAKING OUT trying to check my email. Most importantly though, I hope this week is amazing for you!!

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 I got most of my recommenders a $5 Starbucks gift card (there was a Starbucks across the street from the Speech and Hearing  building and I went to school where it rains 200+ days a year...seriously) just enough for a coffee. One of my recommenders went above and beyond (when another one FORGOT to write a few of my letters) by sending letters (via the online portal thankfully) the day they were due (thankfully he was my research supervisor who was also applying to grad schools and had a similar situation). I got him a $20 gift card to a store I knew he liked. And I obviously wrote thank you notes.

 

The professor who sent stuff from Europe is a bit harder to deal with. If you provided what would have been adequate postage then you should not have to pay for her forgetting to send it (especially if you gave her the appropriate amount of time to write/sent it). But obviously she tried to make up for it and I would mention that in your thank you note. 

 

Basically I think that a small gift (nothing more than a cup of coffee) and a letter is good for most recommenders unless you had one go above and beyond, then a little more (nothing more than $20) would be okay. 

 

 

The professor in Europe did not receive any postage from me to begin with because she's friends with my lab director, who also wrote a letter for me, and they both told me to not worry about it.

 

Neither asked for any reimbursement afterwards and the one in Europe even sent me the tracking number for her letter so I could check up on it after apologizing profusely in an email.

 

I was so relieved to realize that only one school needed letters through postal service after that incident!

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Thank you! I just want this to be over and to know where I'm going. The worst part is that I will be at a music festival on Friday and will have very spotty cell reception... aka I will be FREAKING OUT trying to check my email. Most importantly though, I hope this week is amazing for you!!

 

You will NOT be freaking out because you will be enjoying that music festival as you should! You've had a tough week and deserve a break from all this stress so no checking! I hope you see good news AFTER the music festival so you can end this week right.  :)

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The professor in Europe did not receive any postage from me to begin with because she's friends with my lab director, who also wrote a letter for me, and they both told me to not worry about it.

 

Neither asked for any reimbursement afterwards and the one in Europe even sent me the tracking number for her letter so I could check up on it after apologizing profusely in an email.

 

I was so relieved to realize that only one school needed letters through postal service after that incident!

Well if they told you not to worry about the postage then I wouldn't worry about it. And certainly don't reimburse them after they told you not to send them postage (save that money for textbooks....or library printer money which I have learned you go through very quickly haha). 

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Apparently there are people in my class who don't know the difference between a language impairment (aphasia) and fluency! Yikes!!! 

Some of my classmates thought aphasia was a motor speech disorder (multiple-choice question on our midterm) :/

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I love my boyfriend, but he SO doesn't understand how nerve wracking this process is.

Same here. My boyfriend just graduated with his masters in history and he tries to tell me that grad school is not as competitive as I think it is. I try to explain to him that there is a difference between applying for a masters in slp and a masters in history but he just thinks I am crazy. Well I am crazy most of the time, but I think I know what I am talking about this time ;)  

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Same here. My boyfriend just graduated with his masters in history and he tries to tell me that grad school is not as competitive as I think it is. I try to explain to him that there is a difference between applying for a masters in slp and a masters in history but he just thinks I am crazy. Well I am crazy most of the time, but I think I know what I am talking about this time ;)

I don't know about you, but my boyfriend's go-to phrase during this is "well, just wait and see!". It makes me want to pinch him, but I'm sure dealing with an emotionally unstable me hasn't been the best.

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