Funding Criteria

[Holly44]

For those of you who have received a reasonable amount of funding, do you know what the criteria is? Is it a combination of high undergrad GPA, high GRE scores, and extracurriculars?  Or is there something special you mentioned in your SOP (like research, unique experiences, etc.) that might have influenced the decision? Just curious...thanks! 

[anslpaday]

I don't actually have the best of the best stats (3.77 GPA, 159/156/5.0 GRE). I think one of my greatest strengths was my experiences and the insight that I gained from them.

 

I did a 3-month long internship teaching and working with children with disabilities in Ukraine (which conveniently has been on the news a lot in the past year or so), plus a hodge-podge of other interesting, people-centered work and volunteer experiences. This sort of background has made me a well-rounded person who has the cross-cultural and interpersonal capabilities that are necessary to be a skilled SLP. I talked about these experiences in my SOP and interview, but I also chose them because I truly believe they will make me a strong, capable, well-rounded clinician.

 

And with that, I very unexpectedly got a fellowship from Emerson! So I would say to keep your grades up and then just go after things that interest you and challenge you, and take some time to enjoy the process.

Edited March 16, 2015 by anslpaday

[neucool]

Emerson actually awards scholarships purely on the numbers, actually... That I know for sure cause I asked them, the top 25% of accepted students based on GPA + GRE. I think my scholarships were due to my solid GPA and GRE scores for that reason, since I think MGH does the same sort of thing.

[Holly44]

I don't actually have the best of the best stats (3.77 GPA, 159/156/5.0 GRE). I think one of my greatest strengths was my experiences and the insight that I gained from them.

 

Those are still very impressive stats!! Thanks so much for your response! I'm hoping to still get accepted into one of the programs this cycle, but if not I plan on beefing up my resume and improving my stats in hopes of getting some sort of funding next time around. 

[Liz113]

I received a fellowship to IU only, but I think it was a combination of numbers and all of my experience. Some places have so little funding that they start out with the numbers and then they choose based on other factors. That is my best guess anyway. 

[Jolie717]

Excuse my ignorance, but how would one know which schools even offer funding? Is it typically only private schools or big name schools? Or would even state schools have some fellowship/scholarship funding available? (applying this Fall)

Edited March 17, 2015 by Jolie717

[phaedra]

Excuse my ignorance, but how would one know which schools even offer funding? Is it typically only private schools or big name schools? Or would even state schools have some fellowship/scholarship funding available? (applying this Fall)

I think private schools more often have scholarships - I know the 4 I applied to do (MGH, Northeastern, BU and Emerson, though I didn't get it at all of them), but state schools do too - I got substantial scholarships at 2 (as an out-of state student). There have been two state schools that have told me point-blank that they have no departmental merit scholarships due to budget issues (however the general graduate college may still give very small scholarships). I have also been offered graduate research assistantships at several state schools.

[anslpaday]

Emerson actually awards scholarships purely on the numbers, actually... That I know for sure cause I asked them, the top 25% of accepted students based on GPA + GRE. I think my scholarships were due to my solid GPA and GRE scores for that reason, since I think MGH does the same sort of thing.

I didn't know that! Thanks for letting me know.

[limegin]

I received a scholarship from NYU that would essentially cover room and board. No idea how common that is for the program, or what other funding they offer. I was surprised though, since my GPA isn't crazy competitive. My combined GRE is high, I guess, so maybe that did it? I think I wrote great essays, and my letters of rec were strong. 

[SLPosteriorCricoarytenoid]

Excuse my ignorance, but how would one know which schools even offer funding? Is it typically only private schools or big name schools? Or would even state schools have some fellowship/scholarship funding available? (applying this Fall)

 

ASHA edfind will tell you the number of spots offered with funding at each program. However, it doesn't tell you the amount of the funding. Also, many state schools do offer funding. I think all of the schools I applied to, which are mostly state schools, offered funding to a limited number of students.