When can I expect to hear about funding?

[SLPgradstudent]

Hi everyone!  As we're all beginning to hear back (hopefully good news) about admissions decisions, I'm wondering what the timeline is for hearing about funding decisions.  It seems to work a little different for SLP programs than some others.  In my acceptance letter (email), it said, "The department will send you a detailed letter with provisions and other details in the upcoming weeks."  That seems rather vague, and I'm not sure if that means in a week or two, or more like a month or two.  Can I expect to hear about funding when I get my "official" letter of acceptance from the school?

Personally, this isn't going to affect my decision of where to attend, since I got into my dream school, which happens to be less expensive than the other school I applied to, even before funding.  (Yes, I only applied to two programs.  Thank goodness I got in!)  But I'm sure for others, knowing about whether or not there's a GA or fellowship included in the admissions offer will make a big difference as to the final decision.  Can anyone shed some light on this aspect of the admissions process?

 

[BamaBelle]

I have no insight to offer, but I would also like to know this. 

[lindsey8]

I also don't really have any insight but my acceptance said the same thing. Since it also said that it was from the Admissions AND Financial Aid Committee, I am assuming this means we can expect an offer for funding when UMD sends us the official acceptance letter in the mail.  We'll just have to wait and see! So exciting!!

[jpiccolo]

One school sent me funding info in my acceptance email, another said they would decide on initial funding offers within a week or two of the acceptance emails, and another I had to start begging for information so I could use that for my decision. Soooo basically it's hard to say. If it's getting close to the April 15 deadline start bugging them so you can find out before having to decide. 

Edited February 11, 2016 by jpiccolo

[SLPgradstudent]

1 hour ago, lindsey8 said:

I also don't really have any insight but my acceptance said the same thing. Since it also said that it was from the Admissions AND Financial Aid Committee, I am assuming this means we can expect an offer for funding when UMD sends us the official acceptance letter in the mail.  We'll just have to wait and see! So exciting!!

That's kind of what I expected @lindsey8, but I'm glad you agree.  I really hope we get the official letter soon!  I wonder how long it'll be until they send those.  There's a little part of me that's still in disbelief, and won't accept that I actually got in until I have the paper letter in my hand!  This is mostly me being impatient and wanting to know everything now.  But I feel very lucky to at least know for sure where I'll be attending come this fall.

[SLPgradstudent]

1 hour ago, lindsey8 said:

I also don't really have any insight but my acceptance said the same thing. Since it also said that it was from the Admissions AND Financial Aid Committee, I am assuming this means we can expect an offer for funding when UMD sends us the official acceptance letter in the mail.  We'll just have to wait and see! So exciting!!

That's kind of what I expected @lindsey8, but I'm glad you agree.  I really hope we get the official letter soon!  I wonder how long it'll be until they send those.  There's a little part of me that's still in disbelief, and won't accept that I actually got in until I have the paper letter in my hand!  This is mostly me being impatient and wanting to know everything now.  But I feel very lucky to at least know for sure where I'll be attending come this fall.

33 minutes ago, jpiccolo said:

One school sent me funding info in my acceptance email, another said they would decide on initial funding offers within a week or two of the acceptance emails, and another I had to start begging for information so I could use that for my decision. Soooo basically it's hard to say. If it's getting close to the April 15 deadline start bugging them so you can find out before having to decide. 

I hope it's more along the lines of a week or two to get the initial funding offer!  Thanks for the info @jpiccolo!

[CBG321]

I'm curious too, I just got my second acceptance.  My first acceptance offered me in state tuition, an assistantship etc.  What's the most polite/appropriate way to ask?  Because that will have a basis on my decision.  Hope everyone gets funding that would be great wouldn't it??

[SLPgradstudent]

22 hours ago, CBG321 said:

I'm curious too, I just got my second acceptance.  My first acceptance offered me in state tuition, an assistantship etc.  What's the most polite/appropriate way to ask?  Because that will have a basis on my decision.  Hope everyone gets funding that would be great wouldn't it??

I think my program will be sending information with the official (paper mail?) acceptance letter.  Personally, I don't feel comfortable asking at this point.  They're so busy processing applications and making decisions, I'm sure they will get the information to us as soon as possible.  I would hold off asking outright until mid-March.  It would be great if everyone could get funding.

I asked my fiancé how long it was after his acceptance that he found out about funding.  (He got his PhD in biophysics from Hopkins.)  He said it was part of the initial offer.  Everyone who was accepted got full funding with a stipend.  I forgot that other fields do that!

At least we know that we'll be employed straight out of grad school!

[CBG321]

35 minutes ago, SLPgradstudent said:

I think my program will be sending information with the official (paper mail?) acceptance letter.  Personally, I don't feel comfortable asking at this point.  They're so busy processing applications and making decisions, I'm sure they will get the information to us as soon as possible.  I would hold off asking outright until mid-March.  It would be great if everyone could get funding.

I asked my fiancé how long it was after his acceptance that he found out about funding.  (He got his PhD in biophysics from Hopkins.)  He said it was part of the initial offer.  Everyone who was accepted got full funding with a stipend.  I forgot that other fields do that!

At least we know that we'll be employed straight out of grad school!

OMG that would be heaven full funding??  Other fields are living that grad school dream ahha.  You'd think with our program being so competitive and small we'd have a little more to go around but i've been told our program is also very expensive to run.  

True I'll hold off for now.  And very true they're still in the bustle of going through applications.

I know I was reminded today how amazing our job prospects are and that all current SLPs are constantly bombarded with job offers, feels good knowing after grad school we will be able to afford rent haha.

[esheshesh]

2 hours ago, CBG321 said:

OMG that would be heaven full funding??  Other fields are living that grad school dream ahha.  You'd think with our program being so competitive and small we'd have a little more to go around but i've been told our program is also very expensive to run.  

True I'll hold off for now.  And very true they're still in the bustle of going through applications.

I know I was reminded today how amazing our job prospects are and that all current SLPs are constantly bombarded with job offers, feels good knowing after grad school we will be able to afford rent haha.

4

As I understand it, Ph.D. programs in all fields (including SLP) usually offer full funding and a stipend - usually for a period of up to 5 years. I would be wary of any program that didn't, since it's usually considered a red flag if they can't support their students. Unfortunately, masters students are left to fend for themselves. For example, in the cognitive science department at my school MA students don't receive full funding and need to rely on loans, scholarships, or a graduate assistantship/campus job for support (unless they attended here for undergrad in which case tuition is 50% off). The Ph.D. students, on the other hand, are fully funded.

However, like you said we're pretty much guaranteed a job in the field once we graduate. Many other fields usually use the MA/MS in order to gain more experience and prepare themselves for pursuing a Ph.D. or med school.

[Jolie717]

3 hours ago, CBG321 said:

OMG that would be heaven full funding??  Other fields are living that grad school dream ahha.  You'd think with our program being so competitive and small we'd have a little more to go around but i've been told our program is also very expensive to run.  

True I'll hold off for now.  And very true they're still in the bustle of going through applications.

I know I was reminded today how amazing our job prospects are and that all current SLPs are constantly bombarded with job offers, feels good knowing after grad school we will be able to afford rent haha.

PhDs are an entirely different animal.  I believe most, if not all, are fully funded.  It helps however if you bring your funding with you, so to speak.  Then you get your pick of the best of the best.  My father got his PhD in Physics at Stanford - fully funded with a stipend.  Of course, he helped teach undergrad classes.  My sister, on the other hand, won a Howard Hughes Fellowship.  She was admitted to every PhD program she applied to - she deserved it, but the fact that she came with her own funding was highly attractive to all of the universities.  She ended up at Harvard, for Genetics.

Bottom line: all the more reason to go for a PhD in SLP (or something closely related) if you have it in you.  And if you want the most options, try to get your own funding.  ?

Edited to add - oops was typing at the same time as above poster!

Edited February 13, 2016 by Jolie717

[Jolie717]

4 hours ago, SLPgradstudent said:

I think my program will be sending information with the official (paper mail?) acceptance letter.  Personally, I don't feel comfortable asking at this point.  They're so busy processing applications and making decisions, I'm sure they will get the information to us as soon as possible.  I would hold off asking outright until mid-March.  It would be great if everyone could get funding.

I asked my fiancé how long it was after his acceptance that he found out about funding.  (He got his PhD in biophysics from Hopkins.)  He said it was part of the initial offer.  Everyone who was accepted got full funding with a stipend.  I forgot that other fields do that!

At least we know that we'll be employed straight out of grad school!

I too am anxious about funding!  I'm waiting for info from the schools - already did my FAFSA and all.  But I am also applying for scholarships, and have no idea when decisions are made!  It's maddening!  I wish all admission and financial aid decisions were made around the same time...  Sigh.  ?

[SLPgradstudent]

10 hours ago, Jolie717 said:

I too am anxious about funding!  I'm waiting for info from the schools - already did my FAFSA and all.  But I am also applying for scholarships, and have no idea when decisions are made!  It's maddening!  I wish all admission and financial aid decisions were made around the same time...  Sigh.  ?

Wouldn't that be helpful, if we had all the information we needed to make our decisions, all at the same time!  If only!  I still need to do my FAFSA (and my taxes), but I'm so busy in the next week or two, I think it'll have to wait a little longer.  Hopefully I'll get enough funding from school so that I won't need to take out loans.  I would rather dip into savings than have new loans we have to worry about, if that's an option.

If only I could spare another 6 years right now.  I may eventually go back for the PhD, but that's not the right place for me to start right now.

Thanks @Jolie717 and @flapjackal!

[CBG321]

On 2/13/2016 at 6:32 AM, SLPgradstudent said:

Wouldn't that be helpful, if we had all the information we needed to make our decisions, all at the same time!  If only!  I still need to do my FAFSA (and my taxes), but I'm so busy in the next week or two, I think it'll have to wait a little longer.  Hopefully I'll get enough funding from school so that I won't need to take out loans.  I would rather dip into savings than have new loans we have to worry about, if that's an option.

If only I could spare another 6 years right now.  I may eventually go back for the PhD, but that's not the right place for me to start right now.

Thanks @Jolie717 and @flapjackal!

I tried to be productive and finish my taxes and FASFA only to realize I hadn't been sent my T something form that I needed to finish it :/   So ironic when I actually try to get things done I have to wait hahaaha.  It's like they want me to procrastinate!  

 

Same with the scholarship stuff I'm getting organized to start applying to a bunch but if I don't hear back from them it's all up in the air how much each school will actually cost.  Filling out new job applications right now too, so much for a little travel break before grad school lol.  

[SLPgradstudent]

32 minutes ago, CBG321 said:

I tried to be productive and finish my taxes and FASFA only to realize I hadn't been sent my T something form that I needed to finish it :/   So ironic when I actually try to get things done I have to wait hahaaha.  It's like they want me to procrastinate!  

 

Same with the scholarship stuff I'm getting organized to start applying to a bunch but if I don't hear back from them it's all up in the air how much each school will actually cost.  Filling out new job applications right now too, so much for a little travel break before grad school lol.  

Haha!  Yeah, I tried to do my FAFSA too, and then realized I needed to do my taxes first, which I need to go to my parents' house to do, since they have the snazzy TurboTax software (I know there's a free online version, but it doesn't do quite everything I need.  I don't have time right now to go up there (30 min drive), so it will get pushed off for the time being.  Oh well.

Are you planning to work while in grad school, or is this a short-term/summer position?  The only way I'll work while in grad school is if it's part of a GA.  I want to focus on doing well in school and they seem to discourage working a job in addition to the full-time grad program.

[Jolie717]

You can do your FAFSA before taxes and edit any (hopefully minor) errors afterwards.  

[esopha]

I gave an estimated AGI on my FAFSA. I generally know what it's going to be, anyway. I'm planning on filing an correction once I do my taxes.

[CBG321]

I just hate guessing, I feel like it takes more time than just doing them all at once...It said the form should be mailed by tomorrow so not too much of a wait

[copaceticbroad]

If I'm not mistaken, you can complete a FAFSA based on the income from the previous (in this case, 2014) year.

[MangoSmoothie]

28 minutes ago, copaceticbroad said:

If I'm not mistaken, you can complete a FAFSA based on the income from the previous (in this case, 2014) year.

You can, but you will still need to enter the correct information and correct any wrong estimates once you've done your taxes for 2015. You won't receive any aid until you've done so.

[SLPgradstudent]

I just got another email from my department yesterday.  They said that they'll be sending out decisions about financial aid (GAs) by mid to late March!  Only another 2-4 weeks.  Hopefully it'll be good news.  In the meantime, I can always scour the school's job's postings for GAs outside of the department.

I completed my FAFSA (and filed my taxes, yay!) so I think all that's left now is to wait.  That's the game we play I guess.  Hurry up and wait.  

[racoomelon]

For stuff like GA or TA positions, does the school offer them to you or do you apply for them? I've talked with GAs on my campus (who are admittedly in a different field) who had to apply for their positions.

And, along those lines, would it be feasible for us to accept a GA position that wasn't speech / language related? I know the school I'm at right now has a lot of GA positions in stuff like student affairs and organizations.

[SLPgradstudent]

On 2/27/2016 at 9:39 AM, racoomelon said:

For stuff like GA or TA positions, does the school offer them to you or do you apply for them? I've talked with GAs on my campus (who are admittedly in a different field) who had to apply for their positions.

And, along those lines, would it be feasible for us to accept a GA position that wasn't speech / language related? I know the school I'm at right now has a lot of GA positions in stuff like student affairs and organizations.

@racoomelon, I'm not sure if it's the same for every school.  Where I'm going, I think about 1/3 of the class (of 25 students) are offered a GA.  But then there's the option of applying for a GA outside of the department, and I've heard they like speechies!  We're friendly folk, and generally type A, organized, driven, etc.  I would definitely ask your schools for more details, and see if there's a posting board for GAs at your university.  If you want funding, it seems like there are ways to find it.  I have heard that half-time (10 hours/week) GAs are preferred though, SLP students are too busy for full-time ones (20 hours/week).  Between class and clinic, they'll keep us pretty busy!