How did you decide on where to apply for masters programs?

[LuvSLP25]

I'm in my first semester in a post bac program. I'm all ready staarting to research grad schools but feel overwhelmed and don't know where to apply. I live in California but willing to move just about anywhere to get in to a masters program. How do I decide where to apply?

[twinguy7]

Well to be honest, it depends on your view point as to what a masters program is to you.  It seems to be that there are a few view points as to getting into a grad school.

 

1 - I want to get into a school that has a good reputation, is esteemed, etc.  whether it be from some sort of U.S. rankings or by word of mouth or by cost

 

2 - I just want to get into any school because they all teach almost the same curriculum - - so esteem, cost, rankings do not matter to me

 

3 - I am particularly interested in research or a specific emphasis in speech-language pathology and these certain schools offer that

 

These are the 3 main reasons I see people have for applying to certain schools.  Option 2 is what mattered most to me and because of my low GPA also so I applied to schools anywhere and everywhere after I did research (a lot of emailing hundreds of programs) and found schools that fit what I needed and I had what they were looking for.   If you wanna get into a program I would look into the schools I got accepted to and/or waitlisted at, Eastern New Mexico Univ , Grand Valley State, Fort Hays State , Jackson State and Idaho state.  

 

Good luck, hope that helps some!

[hopefulslp2b]

At first it can be extremely overwhelming! The way I researched schools was based on bilingual programs. I want to be a bilingual SLP so I applied to bilingual programs I felt I had a chance at! I spent countless hours on ASHA's ED find website looking at stats and looking at the range of GPAs and GREs to see if I fell in that range. I also looked at how many people they accepted and how many people applied. If you have any specific interests look for schools that will offer you a greater depth of your interests Hope that helps!

[caterpillar]

We were in California too, and after being rejected from West Coast schools in his first year applying, decided to cast a wider net. Our thought process was "where DON'T people want to live?" and that's how we narrowed down the list of safety schools. Definitely Twinguy's point #2 was conclusion we came to, as well. 

[Holly44]

I started with location, looked at employment rates of the students after graduation, and then chose schools that had a reasonable ratio of accepted/applied. For instance, one of my friends applied to a school that has an acceptance rate of 4%.  Those are not the kind of odds I like so I chose a handful of programs that had acceptance rates closer to 20% or higher. I also applied to University of New Mexico since last year they accepted nearly half of the applicants that applied. Just be realistic with yourself regarding your GPA and GRE scores and you'll be fine. 

[missemilycelli]

At first it can be extremely overwhelming! The way I researched schools was based on bilingual programs. I want to be a bilingual SLP so I applied to bilingual programs I felt I had a chance at! I spent countless hours on ASHA's ED find website looking at stats and looking at the range of GPAs and GREs to see if I fell in that range. I also looked at how many people they accepted and how many people applied. If you have any specific interests look for schools that will offer you a greater depth of your interests Hope that helps!

 

I have good faith for you and NOVA. I live in Florida, and you look highly competitive for it.

[Jolie717]

Twinguy7 and others above have made some excellent points. I myself actually need to be super-conservative as to where I apply as I have a family (ball and chain lol) to consider. That being said, I still plan to apply to at least two schools that are outside of our area but that are very close to family, just in case of any unexpected surprises. (For example a lay-off, injury, child care change, etc etc.)

Had it not been for a VERY unexpected change in our child care situation coupled with an unexpected lay-off a year or so ago, I would be attending PA school this fall (Physician Assistant) rather than finishing my Bachelors in CD and applying for my master's in SLP. That being said I am very happy where I am and am pretty certain my family will be much better off in the long run with this change in my career path.

Bottom line - try not to limit yourself as you never know what might come up!

[phaedra]

I am from the Northeast and am in undergrad in the area now as well, and I wanted to stay here, so I applied to 10 of the closest schools (excluding the New York City schools, because I didn't want to live there). I looked at the required prerequisites for all the schools and whether or not they would accept you without having completed some. I am an out-of-major student and have completed many prereqs online but not a full major. If the school had a lot of random prereqs and wouldn't accept you without them (i.e. UMass Amherst), I didn't bother applying. I also made sure that at least some of the schools I applied to had a relatively high acceptance rate for this field, i.e. around 30%.

[hopefulslp2b]

@nolewife Well thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate it that! I applied to NOVA because I heard they accept almost everyone! So I am hoping this can be my backup school if there is such thing in this field!!

[SLPosteriorCricoarytenoid]

I made my decisions by being realistic with where I have the best shot at getting in. Bottom line for me is to get in. I don't care about the prestige of a name. After all, our profession is in high enough demand that a name is really the last thing most employers care about. I am most interested in where I can get a good education and be prepared for certification after. With that said, I applied to programs which are accredited and have a decent acceptance rate (~25-30%). I also applied to places in my region. Many programs have it in their mission statement that one of their program goals is to retain students from the region who are likely to stay in the area after graduation. I also applied to the institution I'm a post-bacc at since many of the faculty already know me and wrote my letters of recommendation. It really depends on what is important to you though!

[Liz113]

I cross-referenced the US Rankings with a list of schools with a bilingual focus. I applied to the ones that were most interesting to me (3), and then two in-state schools. 

[limegin]

I went through the U.S. News rankings and chose schools based on reputation, geography, and tuition, in that order. I picked 11 schools (in retrospect that was too many, but that's only easy to say in hindsight) and divided them pretty evenly into reach, fit, and safety categories. Luckily I'm in a post-bacc program and was able to talk to professors, advisors, and the grad students in my research lab.

Feel free to message me with any questions about the process! I'm also from California but I applied to schools all over the country.

[DeWi]

Because I live in tiny little Delaware, I wanted to use grad school as an opportunity to live in a new city, so I started with location. Then I used ASHA's website to narrow down schools based on the GPAs the accepted and their acceptance rates (though I admit I did apply to a few schools I knew I would have a tough time of getting into simply for my mom wanting me closer to home). Then I made sure that the schools I was applying to had clinics/labs or professors that were focused on aphasias, because that's the field of SLP I'd like to work in. Definitely spend a lot of time on ASHA's EdFind...it was very helpful!

Edited February 25, 2015 by cosmicmorgan

[LuvSLP25]

Thank you everyone!! This helps me so much.

[CBG321]

I second what all the above posters have said.  Another thing that has helped me narrow down my list (I'm still in the headache inducing process!) is to look at the coursework offered at the Graduate level.  

 

Looking at those lists has helped me figure out which programs seem more interesting to me.  I personally don't feel I will go the hospital route so programs with a ton of Aphasia, Neuro-anatomy, medical type classes don't interest me as much.  Programs that have classes that correspond more with my in-field interests are the ones that are staying on my list. 

 

Hope that helps, once I kind of narrowed down which states I wanted to cast my net this has been one of the best ways i've found to really decide between each place.  Oh, and tuition...they want to rob us!  I guess we will get a return on that very important investment though haha

[LuvSLP25]

I have my teaching credential and have over two years of substitute teaching experience along with 4 semesters of student teaching in grades K- 5th and currently volunteer with pediatrics in a speech clinic. I think I would like to stick with kids and work as a SLP in a school. If anyone knows any masters programs that are more educational based as opposed to medical, please let me know! That would greatly help me to narrow down some schools.

[LuvSLP25]

Thanks CBG321!

[Eudonte.Gnomie]

The advice I have been given by SLPs in the field is that all programs are accredited thus you will receive a good education no matter where you are. The rest you will learn in the field.

In making my decision, I had to face the reality that I am financial limited but not geographically limited. So I took a statistical approach.

First, since my GPA and references are pretty good, I limited myself to the top 108 SLP programs according to US News and World report. I think you have to be honest about where you stand academically. This is a ridiculously competitive field so shoot for schools where your personal GPA fits the schools average GPA. (This information can be found on ASHA's EdFinder.) If your GPA is middling, chose schools that are not so highly ranked in the full knowlege that this will not prevent you from becoming a kickass SLP.

Second, I limited these schools to regions where the living wage for a single person was no greater than $9.50/hour. MIT has an easy to use living wage calculator that accounts for various household sizes. My motto is when the living wage is lower, the funding goes further! Having been a student who worked as many hours as possible to afford to be in school, I know that this divided focus really limits your educational opportunities and your academic success.

Third, I limited the remaining schools by the acceptance rate. (I went to ASHA's ed finder and divided the number of acceptances by the number of applications). For example, California schools tend to have an acceptance rate of 5-15%. That's really low. Also, for those of you on the west coast, you should note that there are a larger number of SLP programs on the east coast so these schools tend to be less competitive. I personally kept a few schools with low acceptance rates but I had personal connections to these programs, but made sure the rest of my options had high acceptance rates (~30%). Dream big, but have a backup plan.

Fourth, I narrowed the choice by personal preference and interest. Doest the school match my interests? (For me, this would be Aural Rehab and communication issues caused by TBI.) Would I feel comfortable living there? (As a gay woman, I don't want to live in Arkansas though I'm sure it is not a terrible place overall.) Could I afford to move to the location? (I allowed for one exception for a school where I already have a social network.)

This left me with a list of about 10 schools. I put a limit on how many programs I could afford to apply to (4-5) and chose from this list. This was a lot of work, but I felt very secure in my choices. So far, I have only be accepted into one program but it is a really good program so I feel like I am in a very good place. If anyone is interested, I can let you know how this whole experiment ends once I hear back from all my schools.

[Yancey]

I just wanted to add a bit of thought regarding admission rates and top schools. Just because a school is ranked at the top by US News does not mean it is "harder" to get into. Public schools can be more challenging in certain aspects even if they are ranked as #200. Public schools usually have less spots (maybe due to money, resources, state regulations, etc). The public schools may also be less holistic and actually focus more on GPA and/or GRE scores where as Private schools may have the ability to be more flexible and look at aspects they want for their school (they in essence "make their own rules"). So often, the competition can be just as difficult (16 for 250 applicants- 6.4% accepted vs. 40 for 600 applicants - 6.6%). It really just varies based on what that school is looking for.

 

Also private schools usually have much more expensive tuition. Therefore they usually have a higher acceptance rate because students who do not receive scholarships and cannot or are unwilling to pay full price turn down those schools in favor of other schools leading to a higher acceptance rate. So acceptance rate does not necessarily indicate how initially competitive or good/bad a school is.

[Shayy_Dee]

Everyone brings up great points! I've also been told that the school doesn't really matter as long as it is accredited. I started with places I want to live (nj/NY because I can live at home, California because I have friends and family I can live with there, and Florida because it's cheap and warm). Then I had to make sure I was covered in the prerequisite department. Then I looked at cost. I don't have much saved and I'm terrified of debt so I looked at the price of each program and eliminated anything over $55,000 even though that number still sounds ridiculous. Then I cut my number to my top 8 choices. I didn't look at acceptance rates, which, in hindsight I probably should have. Thankfully I've received 1 acceptance so far so the worrying has slightly subsided. Best of luck!

[tasha1987]

Did anyone here apply to ball state's slp program or know when they send out letters??? Due to the fact that I am not able to relocate I could only apply to IU and Ball State. I am on the waitlist at IU but I am sure my chances are slim. This waiting is killing me! The waitlist seems worse than a rejection because of the anticipation.