2016 West Coast Applicants

[hopefulspeechie16]

I've seen a lot of people applying to east coast schools but just wanted to reach out to any west coasters?

[CalChi SLP]

I'm applying to CSU Fresno for the spring intake. I wonder why the west coast is a less chosen option for us SLPs 

[talkingcake]

I feel like there are more options for schools on the East Coast and the South.  I'm still applying to mostly West Coast though!

[hopefulspeechie16]

Apparently West Coast schools are harder to get into? I'm applying to SDSU and UW also. Although both of them are a far reach.

[CalChi SLP]

I honestly feel all schools are equally competitive, I feel like most people prefer the east coast schools. I applied to SDSU for fall 2015 , got rejected ! 

[hopefulspeechie16]

Do you think they're GPA focused? I'm hoping to get in but my GPA is not that great tbh.

[CalChi SLP]

They surely consider the entire application but they filter on the basis of Gre and Gpa , that's what I have come to understand. 

[jmk]

speechie94- As CalChi SLP said, I think many schools use GPA and GRE to filter as a starting point. You can use a school's average or range of accepted students to get a better picture if the school would be worth applying to. I would contact programs directly, or look at their website to see if the info is publicly listed. ASHA edfind is a great starting point, but double checking with the program can provide an even more clear answer. 

For example, San Diego State and Long Beach both list on their websites that their average admit GPA was at least a 3.8*. From such numbers, you can easily conclude that it would be statistically very low for those schools to accept someone with a 3.1 or even a 3.4 GPA when they have X amount of applicants to choose from that meet their their goal criteria for their next class. 

 *I am going from memory, that number is probably not 100% accurate 

Edited September 20, 2015 by jmk

[brantonio]

I'm applying to all California schools: Fullerton, Long Beach, Chapman, and SDSU.  Can't afford out of state tuition so it is what is. 

[talkingcake]

On 10/8/2015 at 5:59 PM, brantonio said:

I'm applying to all California schools: Fullerton, Long Beach, Chapman, and SDSU.  Can't afford out of state tuition so it is what is. 

Actually, as a California resident, you can apply for in-state or close to in-state tuition for certain programs under WICHE's Western Regional Graduate Program agreement.  The states that are part of the agreement are "Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands."  Unfortunately, not all programs in those states will offer in-state tuition, but for SLP they are:

• University of Utah (PhD only)
• EWU (MS)
• University of Colorado Boulder (MA)
• University of Northern Colorado (MA)
• Idaho State University (MS, online option available)
• Utah State University (MA/MS)
• University of Washington (MS)

I pulled the list of programs off of http://www.wiche.edu/info/publications/wrgpHandout.pdf and you can visit the WRGP site at http://wiche.edu/wrgp 

[brantonio]

Actually, as a California resident, you can apply for in-state or close to in-state tuition for certain programs under WICHE's Western Regional Graduate Program agreement.  The states that are part of the agreement are "Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands."  Unfortunately, not all programs in those states will offer in-state tuition, but for SLP they are:

• University of Utah (PhD only)
• Eastern Washington University (MS)
• University of Colorado Boulder (MA)
• University of Northern Colorado (MA)
• Idaho State University (MS, online option available)
• Utah State University (MA/MS)
• University of Washington (MS)

I pulled the list of programs off of http://www.wiche.edu/info/publications/wrgpHandout.pdf and you can visit the WRGP site at http://wiche.edu/wrgp 

Awesome!  Thanks for the info!

[jmk]

Awesome!  Thanks for the info!

BUT be careful! Eastern Washington only awards in-state tuition to two students that qualify for WRGP. I would email all of the schools, and ask if WRGP covers all admitted students, or just a certain number. I was very disappointed to find out not all students get covered. This varies school by school. From memory, Colorado awards the in-state rate to all admitted students. Meanwhile, again, I would check on that. 

I will be in the same boat as you next year when I apply. I am not sure if you are only applying to SoCal schools if you live down there and are planning to stay with family to save rent. I am actually looking at out of state schools with inexpensive tuition (Gallaudet, Radford) as though it runs a bit higher than in-state here, when you add on cost of living, you actually save more $$ than staying in CA and paying higher rent. 

[hopefulspeechie16]

Did anyone submit an abstract for SDSU?

[dude_diligence_]

Did anyone else apply to the University of the Pacific? I really enjoyed the general atmosphere and facilities of the program during the information session. Having grown up in Stockton, it would be great to come back to the city for graduate school too.

[kumapanda]

On 9/18/2015 at 9:23 AM, speechie94 said:

Apparently West Coast schools are harder to get into? I'm applying to SDSU and UW also. Although both of them are a far reach.

I don't know about west coast schools in general, but I do know that Cal States are hard to get into because a lot of them seem to favor their undergrads?  That's what people have told me anyway.  I know for sure CSULB favors their undergrad since over 90% of their grad students are from their undergrad program.

[Jolie717]

45 minutes ago, rainsonata said:

I don't know about west coast schools in general, but I do know that Cal States are hard to get into because a lot of them seem to favor their undergrads?  That's what people have told me anyway.  I know for sure CSULB favors their undergrad since over 90% of their grad students are from their undergrad program.

Ha - so glad I took them off my list.  For other reasons, but hearing this makes me feel validated...

[SoLa]

I based my school choices on the WICHE/WRPG list, adding a couple other options that have low tuition costs and high admission rates. Eastern Washington and Idaho State, plus Portland State (hometown choice) and Minot State. Anybody else applying to these places?

I know lots of folks base their school choices on reputation/prestige (which has to do with many preferences for east coast schools), but I feel like that just leads to crazy debt with no substantial advantage over others with a degree from lesser-known institutions. 

[jenn108]

I am from the west coast (CSU-Fresno) and it is hard to get into west coast grad schools. My advisor says you need at 3.8-3.9 in you major classes to get into the programs. There  are a lot of SLP bachelor degree programs in California and most students want to stay in California and out of state people want to move to California. Especially to SoCal! People tend to want to move to the east coast or the west coast, the less competitive grad schools are usually the midwest or the south.