Current Grad Student at Rush University.......any questions, general or specific?

[slpchi]

I know how stressful this process is, and just want to help out in anyway I can! 

[jmk]

Did you base your decision off of funding at all, or fit/opportunity?

Are you initially from Illinois? If so- any reason why you did not apply to additional schools such as Southern or Western Illinois, or Illinois State? 

What is something that you think your current program could improve upon (if any)? 

Not pertaining to Rush- but would you say Northern Illinois is moreso in the middle of nowhere, or still pretty urban? When searching Illinois schools (pretty nice out of state tuition rates) I am a bit deterred from schools that are a 2+ hour drive from Chicago or St. Louis. 

[slpchi]

Did you base your decision off of funding at all, or fit/opportunity?

Are you initially from Illinois? If so- any reason why you did not apply to additional schools such as Southern or Western Illinois, or Illinois State? 

What is something that you think your current program could improve upon (if any)? 

Not pertaining to Rush- but would you say Northern Illinois is moreso in the middle of nowhere, or still pretty urban? When searching Illinois schools (pretty nice out of state tuition rates) I am a bit deterred from schools that are a 2+ hour drive from Chicago or St. Louis. 

I ultimately made my decision off fit/opportunity.  I thought of it as an investment in myself, and being that I really want the opportunity to work in a hospital setting, Rush was a great choice for me.  I am taking out loans to pay for it, put I truly believe it will worth it in the end. I am also able to live at home and commute, which is a big help financially. 

I am from Illinois, in the Chicagoland area.  I personally wanted to live closer to home, which is why those other state schools were not some of my choices.  Also, I really wanted a program with plenty of opportunities in medical setting, and those were just not for me.

Currently, my program is doing pretty awesome at everything.  We are on the quarter system here, so if anything, there is a lot of information to learn and understand every single day, since we only have 10 weeks to learn.  (The pros of this are more placements, and more in depth classes, which outweigh the stress for me). 

I would say Northern is moreso in the middle of the nowhere, but definitely the closest of ALL the state schools to Chicago, only being about a 45-60 min drive to city. You are more western Illinois, so it is definitely in the far suburbs that are pretty far spaced out. 

[slpdreaming]

Hi! I'm currently in the process of applying for grad schools for Speech Pathology. Rush University is actually my top school along with Elmhurst. Could you tell me how the application process went? My GPA is 3.4, but I read that the min average is 3.5...would that hinder my chances? Do you have any tips on the application process? Thanks so much!

[Ajmee]

I have a question I can't seem to find an answer to online and feel silly for asking the University. Why does Rush require so many credits to graduate (108)? Most other programs only require between 50-60 credits to graduate, including the practicum. I don't mean so sound like I can't handle it, but 18 credit a quarter kind of freaks me out a bit. Coming from the University of WA undergrad, we had around 15 credit a quarter, which was already a handful. Thanks for your help!

Edited March 28, 2016 by Ajmee