Looking for general advice and/or info about St. Rose

[speechiekeen43]

Hi all, 

I (like everyone else) am currently freaking out over the application process. Due to some personal circumstances I'm only going to be able to apply to one school this cycle that is closer to home and I am obviously panicking. The school is St. Rose in Albany and I was wondering if anyone could offer any insight into their admissions criteria and whether or not I have a chance. My application is definitely lacking in the experience department. I do have one volunteer experience abroad working as a speech assistant, but it was only a couple of weeks. I'm actually considering not even including it on my application because I left early due to the job being unethical. 

My stats: 

cumulative GPA: 3.4, CSD GPA: 3.89

GRE: 163V, 155Q, 4.5 AWA

Basically just wondering if anyone can offer any insight to St. Rose and offer any advice for the following questions: 

 

-Should I talk about a volunteer experience that I left due to unethical practices or should I leave it out? I've been considering including it and omitting the negative parts of the situation.

-Do you think my GRE is high enough to help balance my low cumulative GPA? 

-I've seen a lot of people on here talking about reaching out to the schools and asking if they are a competitive applicant. Would it be appropriate to reach out to St. Rose, give them my stats and ask if I'm competitive and whether or not the lack of experience will be a deal breaker? 

-Should I make it known to St. Rose that they are my number one school (and literally only school ha) or would that come across as too pushy/desperate? 

 

Thanks in advance for reading/helping out CANNOT wait until this whole process is over 

 

[JcSLP]

I'm not applying to St. Rose but it was on my list at one point! Based on your stats, don't get discouraged! In my opinion you're a competitive applicant, it's not all about the GPA, but then again I'm not an admissions expert. I'm from NY so I know a lot of people that apply to St. Rose with average stats. Usually in your personal statement is your chance to address GPA if you want to, and some schools require it if your GPA is lower than their minimum. I don't think, personally, I would email a school asking if I was a competitive applicant, I would just put as much effort as I could into making my application the strongest it can be. What you could do instead of telling St. Rose they're your number one and coming across as pushy, is explaining in your personal statement why you think St. Rose is the best fit for you and why you'd make a good student there.  

[Paslp]

HI speechikeen43!

As a junior I emailed or called the graduate directors of all of the schools I was interested in. I provided my stats and asked respectfully how I compared to students they usually admit. All were very nice and let me know what was most important in their applications and if I was a competitive applicant or not. One director I called ended up talking to me for 40 minutes about the field of speech path, what they look for in students, and how they were in the same classes as one of my professors in grad school.

If you decide to email I would not suguest using your school email. I personally think contacting them is a good idea. Most people in this field are friendly by nature. If the info you are looking for isnt online then I'm sure the school wouldnt have a problem answering your questions. Application season is anxiety ridden and having your dream school inform you of your chances can lighten the stress level. It did for me.