Out of State vs. In state Grad School

[CMD2494]

Hi everyone,

I am torn between 2 great graduate schools for speech-language pathology. One is New York Medical College and the other is MGH IHP in Boston. I know that I want to ultimately live and work in NY in the future but MGH IHP has offered me a large academic scholarship and it has a great reputation. Do you think if I know where I would want to work that it would be beneficial to stay in NY to make connections here during graduate school? Or go to the school that is out of state and then return to NY after? Any advice would be appreciated. I am not sure how difficult it would be to move states after gaining a Master's degree and how different licensing and certification works. Thanks!

Nicole

[eggfish]

I'd pick MGH if I were you.  My professor told me ASHA makes it pretty easy to move around. I think they're both about equal in quality of education.

Edited March 15, 2016 by eggfish

[jpiccolo]

You can always try to extern in New York and that'll make connections. I think less debt is best if programs are comparable. 

[CMD2494]

Thanks @jpiccolo and @eggfish for responding. I have heard that getting a TSSLD (Teacher of Students for Speech Language Disabilities) is really hard to get if you don't go to graduate school in NY because it has specific requirements. All the programs in NY make their graduate students get the certification through their program. Even though I don't want to work with children, the director at NY Medical College said that sometimes it is still required if working with children in medical settings. 

[copaceticbroad]

I posted the requirements for the TSSLD on another thread. To be honest, it doesn't seem like fulfilling the requirements is that tough; I think it's just the fuss of dealing with an unfamiliar bureaucracy. Admittedly, it's a pain, but in my experience, the state is pretty good about answering your questions if you call them.

 

 

[copaceticbroad]

Oh- ha, I see you commented there. Completing those workshops and taking the tests is not hard. It's just annoying because it's expensive and requires a bit of planning. 

[CMD2494]

@copaceticbroad Hi yes I commented both places because I want to find out as much information as I can. About how expensive is the TSSLD? I heard that I could bring those requirements to the out of state graduate school and see if I can fulfill them during my time there. 

[intotheairwaves]

Congratulations on getting into two awesome schools! If you are really set on living and working in New York, I would advise going to NYMC. Although you can attend MGH and do an externship in New York like someone said above and then can transfer licensure to NY, it would still be the one placement there vs the several you would get by attending a NY school, and the more contacts you make in the place you want to wind up, the better! Especially when the job market is as competitive as it is in New York, as I'm sure you know if that's your home state. Also, I'm guessing you're looking into a medical focus based off those programs? This may be irrelevant to the area you want, but I was told by MGH that the Massachusetts certification for public schools will not honor reciprocity to other states.

[CMD2494]

@intotheairwaves thank you! Yes I am very interested in medical SLP. NY is my home state, so I was not sure if it would be better to stay there and make connections or go to MGH which also has a medical focus and has a highly regarded program. When I was looking up licensure I saw reciprocity. I am not sure what that really means? Are you saying that the Mass. teaching certification will not transfer over to other states? or that the SLP license will not transfer over? Thanks!

[intotheairwaves]

11 minutes ago, scafuran said:

@intotheairwaves thank you! Yes I am very interested in medical SLP. NY is my home state, so I was not sure if it would be better to stay there and make connections or go to MGH which also has a medical focus and has a highly regarded program. When I was looking up licensure I saw reciprocity. I am not sure what that really means? Are you saying that the Mass. teaching certification will not transfer over to other states? or that the SLP license will not transfer over? Thanks!

What I was told was specifically about the teaching licensure since they have a special certification, so you can toss that anecdote since it's unhelpful for you haha.

[CMD2494]

@intotheairwaves thanks for letting me know. Are you interested in MGH too? I wonder if they have had students before who have brought the TSSLD requirements from NY to graduate school in order to complete them. Might be a question to ask during accepted students day.

[copaceticbroad]

22 hours ago, scafuran said:

@copaceticbroad Hi yes I commented both places because I want to find out as much information as I can. About how expensive is the TSSLD? I heard that I could bring those requirements to the out of state graduate school and see if I can fulfill them during my time there. 

Well, if I am reading this correctly, the extra cost is all the tests/workshops- ALST, EAS, DASA, etc. I believe the tests all cost the same, but the workshops can be cheaper based on who is holding them. For instance, I paid about $65 for DASA through a Catholic Archdiocese program, but it can run as high as $140 at Bank Street School. Regardless, it's worth remembering that you would have to pay for these if you went to school in New York– the difference is that a NY school would tell you what to take and when/where. Here are the lists of approved providers:

Child Abuse- http://www.op.nysed.gov/training/caproviders.htm

DASA- http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/dasa-applicant.html

School Violence- http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/ssae/schoolsafety/save/#schoolviolence

 

ALST- http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/NY_testinfo.asp?t=202

EAS- http://www.nystce.nesinc.com/NY_testinfo.asp?t=201

[intotheairwaves]

5 hours ago, scafuran said:

@intotheairwaves thanks for letting me know. Are you interested in MGH too? I wonder if they have had students before who have brought the TSSLD requirements from NY to graduate school in order to complete them. Might be a question to ask during accepted students day.

Yes, I'm trying to decide now, but I'm leaning very heavily towards their program. Definitely ask that question!

[CMD2494]

1 minute ago, intotheairwaves said:

Yes, I'm trying to decide now, but I'm leaning very heavily towards their program. Definitely ask that question!

What other school are you deciding between ? Will you be at the open house?