Requesting Improvement Info from Schools

[SpeechLaedy]

For those of you who asked or plan on asking schools you were rejected from how you can improve your application for the next term...What did they say? Did they give any details or just a generic sort of response? Also, who did you email? One person from the department (i.e., chairperson, dean) or the department's email (i.e., graduate admissions)?

[slpgirl898]

I emailed back the schools that I was interested in reapplying to not application cycle. I emailed the head of the departments. Some schools said that they couldn't refer back to your application or why they exactly rejected you. I found it really informative and helpful to email the schools, because they gave me feedback on what I could do to improve my application for the next cycle and for example what target scores they are looking for in the GRE and what ways more to that school in the application process. I also think It shows that you care about their feedback and willing to do whatever to get in the following application cycle. 

[AlwaysaFalcon]

I tried to get back feedback on my rejections but never received responses or they gave the generic response of we look at gre, letters of recommendation and gpa. So I found it not helpful at all. But when I did email I emailed the department head. Hopefully other people will give you better responses than me haha. 

[SpeechLaedy]

Currently, I got responses from CUNY schools that there was no specific reason listed and therefore they had no pointers on how I can improve my chances the next time around. Another referred me to the graduate advisor of the program. We'll see what she says I guess ? this is not very helpful so far though. I'm trying to figure out if I should take the GREs again but none of these schools are responding ?

[SLPsingballs]

On 8/7/2017 at 0:12 PM, SpeechLaedy said:

Currently, I got responses from CUNY schools that there was no specific reason listed and therefore they had no pointers on how I can improve my chances the next time around. Another referred me to the graduate advisor of the program. We'll see what she says I guess ? this is not very helpful so far though. I'm trying to figure out if I should take the GREs again but none of these schools are responding ?

Does this mean you're turning down the school you've been accepted to in hopes of getting in another year?  Debt is such a scary thing, I can relate.  It all boils down to what you can live with.  Good luck with either decision!  I know I get sick every time I think about the amount of debt I'll be in after I'm done with grad school.    

[SpeechLaedy]

6 hours ago, SLPsingballs said:

Does this mean you're turning down the school you've been accepted to in hopes of getting in another year?  Debt is such a scary thing, I can relate.  It all boils down to what you can live with.  Good luck with either decision!  I know I get sick every time I think about the amount of debt I'll be in after I'm done with grad school.    

Unfortunately, no. The CUNY schools I contacted basically said I needed to retake the GREs and one of my prerequisite classes to be a more competitive applicant. I really don't want to delay becoming an SLP any more than life has already, so I will have to suck up the 100K for time sake smh. If it was just the GREs I would've given it another shot. But retaking courses at this point?? Nuh uh. ?

[SLPsingballs]

21 hours ago, SpeechLaedy said:

Unfortunately, no. The CUNY schools I contacted basically said I needed to retake the GREs and one of my prerequisite classes to be a more competitive applicant. I really don't want to delay becoming an SLP any more than life has already, so I will have to suck up the 100K for time sake smh. If it was just the GREs I would've given it another shot. But retaking courses at this point?? Nuh uh. ?

Ugh.  I think you're making a good decision, as painful as it may seem.  You're two years away from your dream job.  Forget the years that you'll spend paying it all back off.  At least you'll be doing something you love (I'm assuming here).   

[SpeechLaedy]

15 hours ago, SLPsingballs said:

Ugh.  I think you're making a good decision, as painful as it may seem.  You're two years away from your dream job.  Forget the years that you'll spend paying it all back off.  At least you'll be doing something you love (I'm assuming here).   

Thanks. And I better love it after all this money I'll have to owe ? I'm trying my hardest to plan the best way to pay this off though to help ease the stress. Because there's no way I can "forget" all the years I'll spend paying off this unbelievable amount of debt. Then factoring us wanting to have children, moving and getting a house, plus other life factors... It'll be a looming cloud of doom for me if I don't figure out how I will tackle this.

 

So I'm looking into loan forgiveness, working in hospitals instead of my dream of working in schools, since SLPs make more money in hospitals, and a whole bunch of other avenues. I wish more people already in their careers who used this site would give their two cents on how they plan on repaying their debt but they have probably long forgotten about this site ?

[Spondee]

22 hours ago, SpeechLaedy said:

Thanks. And I better love it after all this money I'll have to owe ? I'm trying my hardest to plan the best way to pay this off though to help ease the stress. Because there's no way I can "forget" all the years I'll spend paying off this unbelievable amount of debt. Then factoring us wanting to have children, moving and getting a house, plus other life factors... It'll be a looming cloud of doom for me if I don't figure out how I will tackle this.

 

So I'm looking into loan forgiveness, working in hospitals instead of my dream of working in schools, since SLPs make more money in hospitals, and a whole bunch of other avenues. I wish more people already in their careers who used this site would give their two cents on how they plan on repaying their debt but they have probably long forgotten about this site ?

If you want to work in schools, work in schools. Public Service Loan Forgiveness is significantly easier to achieve in the schools than in hospitals. Also, SNFs make more money than hospitals, if you do decide to just take the higher paying job. 

[CBG321]

Most of the time for my school it is people who have completely disregarded our schools GRE and GPA requirements.  The school will get calls from people with 300 GRE scores when our program asks for a 311+ or 3.4 GPA when most applications are 3.6+

Sometimes the school will say they can't give you exact info...but I'll bet if your GRE or GPA does not meet their minimum requirements that is the most likely factor.  If you already are aware those stats don't line up asking about your essay or letters won't help.  Also the letters stay anonymous so no school is allowed to reveal if someone wrote you a bad req!

Good luck re-applying!

[SpeechLaedy]

5 hours ago, CBG321 said:

Most of the time for my school it is people who have completely disregarded our schools GRE and GPA requirements.  The school will get calls from people with 300 GRE scores when our program asks for a 311+ or 3.4 GPA when most applications are 3.6+

Sometimes the school will say they can't give you exact info...but I'll bet if your GRE or GPA does not meet their minimum requirements that is the most likely factor.  If you already are aware those stats don't line up asking about your essay or letters won't help.  Also the letters stay anonymous so no school is allowed to reveal if someone wrote you a bad req!

Good luck re-applying!

My GRE scores were lower than what's listed on ASHA's edfind for some of the CUNY schools I applied to but my GPA was within their bracket. Some of the schools refered me to the right people who gave me the appropriate responses to my question. They pointed out that "some" of my grades were not competitive as they require B or better in all prerequisite coursework.... ALL OF MY GRADES WERE B or better (mostly A's & B+'s) except for ONE bad grade in Physics of Music and Sound (C+). Mind you - in my Speech and Hearing Science classes I got A's in. GRE score improvement was mentioned which I'm not surprised about. But I was shocked when one of them said "Most of the letters of recommendation did not express your capabilities and potential as a clinician and successful professional; they were very generic." The professors I got LOR from were professors I've taken NUMEROUS classes from and who I am still in contact with. I discussed what I would like included.. and yet....they were GENERIC???! I don't know who to be upset with when I read that. One of them also said I did not complete a section of the application (Work Experience). UGH I am definitely upset at myself at that one because now I'll never know if I would have gotten accepted if they had seen the years of experience I have in the field. SMH. At this point in time I don't think I will be reapplying, but I have one more college to hear from (my alma mater) so I'll see what happens ?

 

6 hours ago, Spondee said:

If you want to work in schools, work in schools. Public Service Loan Forgiveness is significantly easier to achieve in the schools than in hospitals. Also, SNFs make more money than hospitals, if you do decide to just take the higher paying job. 

Haha.. I wish it was that easy and originally I thought it was. But there are a number of factors that go into where I ultimately decide to work other than my desire to work in a particular setting. So unfortunately, some sacrifices may have to be made for a while in terms of where I would like to work. Could you let me know what is SNF? And how is the PSLF significantly easier to achieve in the schools than hospitals?

[CBG321]

Wow that is so lame about your letters that is something that could  have balanced out the GRE scores.  I'm surprised they revealed that, I'd be pretty put out as well!  Fingers crossed for you alma mater!!!  And I've heard if you work in a title 1 public school for 5 years they pay off your entire loan...but maybe that is only up to a certain amount!  I know women who have done that in tx and ca...

[Spondee]

22 hours ago, SpeechLaedy said:

Haha.. I wish it was that easy and originally I thought it was. But there are a number of factors that go into where I ultimately decide to work other than my desire to work in a particular setting. So unfortunately, some sacrifices may have to be made for a while in terms of where I would like to work. Could you let me know what is SNF? And how is the PSLF significantly easier to achieve in the schools than hospitals?

A Skilled Nursing Facility. Rehab center, basically. PSLF is easier in schools because they all qualify as public service, if they're public schools. Few hospitals are public/not for profit.