Having a hard time deciding? You might want to try this...

[shuca]

Hey guys! So as April 15th approaches, I think a lot of us are having really difficult time deciding which school we should attend. We should all consider ourselves very, very fortunate that we are given options, but it's really hard to make a decision. It was so hard for me that there were times that I even wished I had been accepted to just one school. lol

 

I already made a decision for myself and am VERY happy about it, but after I made my own decision, I found a good way to learn more about the programs and what we might be getting out of each school. I know there are a lot of people here who are in the same situation so I figured I'd share it with you guys

1. Go to Indeed resume page for SLPs: http://www.indeed.com/resumes/speech-language-pathologist
2. Right below the "Find Resumes" button, you'll see "advanced search" in small letters. Click on that.
3. In "School name," type in the school that you're considering to attend. Make sure you select Master's degree right under it.
4. Click "Find resume"!!

This will (hopefully) pull out a bunch of online resumes of the people who graduated from the school you are considering. Most people list in their resumes where exactly they worked as a graduate clinician, as well as where they have been working after graduation. In the search section you might want to select 3-5 years or 6-10 years for years of experience, in order to narrow your search (each program changes over time so it's more helpful to find resumes of those who graduated more recently). Also, if there is a particular city in which you'd like to work after graduation, you can type in the city name in the original search field to find the alumni who work there, too.

 

Of course, this method won't help you learn much about the "feel" of the school/program, and personally I found it very helpful to visit each school and talk to the current students & faculty, so I think you should visit each school in order to learn more about them. But in most cases campus visits won't tell you exactly where their graduates end up, and the method above will tell you just that. I think this method might help those who are especially career-driven. You need to keep in mind that the resumes you'll find are a small sample of their graduates, but I think it's still better than what you can find out by just talking to 2-3 people at open houses. It's worth a try if you guys are having a really hard time gathering concrete information about each program.

 

Hope this helps you guys. Good luck!!
 

Edited April 11, 2014 by shuca

[caterpillar]

Wow, this is a really creative way of feeling out the programs! Great suggestion.

[ahimsa000]

This is awesome, it works for all other fields as well! Thank you

[shuca]

Yay! It makes me happy to know that I'm being resourceful/helpful to someone

[Nala]

Definitely spent all morning looking up various schools instead of studying...

 

Thanks so much! You are very resourceful 

[deci:belle]

Great idea!

[AphasiaFriend]

Wow, great idea shuca!  I wish I had thought of this earlier.    You smartie!

 

Just a thought- perhaps a lack of resumes may be just as telling as the presence of resumes?   (ie, the job candidates are quickly snatched up)

Edited April 14, 2014 by AphasiaFriend

[SLP person]

This is really helpful. thank you so much