Undergraduate Information – Information for SLPs–Stuff I wish I knew in undergrad, looking for jobs, and everything in between

May 4, 2020

Important Factors to Consider When Committing to a Program

WOOHOO! Now that I’ve been accepted into a couple of programs, how do I decide which program is best suited for me?
This was one of the toughest decisions for me.

First off, congratulations on getting accepted into not just one but multiple programs! One of the first helpful things I did was contact program directors and seek ways to connect with faculty members and possible classmates to get a sense of how the program is run.
- Does the prospective program offer tours to meet some of the faculty and answer questions that I might have? If not, will I have access to any of the faculty members and/or program directors? I took the initiative to reach out to program directors for any questions I had regarding the program. My program director was also very helpful and created a google group where all the accepted candidates could communicate and talk amongst ourselves for any questions we had in regards to starting the program (e.g. which neighborhoods people were thinking about moving to, bringing a car, how best to find potential roommates).
- The two programs I was deciding between both offered a tour and/or luncheon to meet staff and faculty as well as become acquainted with how the program was run. While this option might seem expensive and time-consuming with the travel and accommodation fees, I do believe that it’s important to go to get a sense of how the program is run and how the campus feels. It also gives you a chance to explore the city you would potentially be living in if you haven’t been before.
  - Remember, this is a future investment for the next two years of your life and will probably impact more than just the two years that you’re there.
While I just mentioned above that this is a future investment, it’s also important to consider tuition cost when you’re deciding between programs. If you don’t have financial support from your loved ones, the government loans available have a HIGH interest rate, and our salaries as speech-language pathologists (especially when completing our clinical fellowship), are not high.
- For reference, my job as a clinical fellow was offering me $36/hour at a skilled nursing facility in Brooklyn. Calculating plans to pay back loans over an X-year plan can help determine whether the program is worth it to attend. I know that U.S. News and World Report has a list of top-rated graduate programs for speech-language pathology, but unless your program isn’t accredited, I wouldn’t take the rankings too seriously.
The graph above is one created by The Wall Street Journal which calculates if tuition costs are worth paying based on graduates’ salaries one year post graduation. This information is useful to determine how/if a certain program’s degree impacts one’s future earnings after graduation and can provide insight when deciding if the program is a worthwhile investment. In other words, does having a degree from Northwestern University matter to employers enough to give you a higher salary than someone who graduated from University of Central Florida?
- Here is the link so you can input your prospective programs and determine if they’re worth attending: https://www.wsj.com/articles/which-college-graduates-make-the-most-11574267424?shareToken=st698265def9a24787845c1f24f4561d8f
Is my program in a large city and typically how large is a graduating class? While being a big city may be enticing to some people, it also has its downsides. Big cities often are saturated with other graduate programs and other students looking to complete their clinical hours required to graduate. One of the questions I would ask program directors is how difficult is it to place students in their externships and if preference (i.e. if you’re interested in a hospital versus school placement) is heavily factored when placing students in their clinical placements.

What if I’ve only been accepted to one program and it seems to be too expensive or not worth it to attend? Should I take a year off and re-apply next year?
I asked my research professor in undergrad this question since he’s on the admissions board for a master’s program in speech-language pathology. What I’ve been hearing from not only him but other faculty members is that unless you do something incredibly meaningful with that one year (e.g. getting involved with Teach For America or create some sort of amazing project), your application after taking a year off will not look as competitive as the others who have just graduated from undergrad.

That being said, I know deferring your acceptance to graduate schools for a year is also an option if finances are a concern for you. If you feel that going straight from undergrad to graduate school isn’t financially responsible in your situation, I would look into it. Just to be clear, you would still have to go through the entire process of applying to graduate schools and then after being accepted to programs, reach out to them to see if deferring is an option.

Deciding which program to attend is a serious and big decision! Take your time and try to get all the information you can before making a decision. Asking for my loved ones’ advice also helped me. Congrats again on making it this far!

May 3, 2020May 5, 2020

Which Graduate Programs Should I be Applying to?

Applying to Graduate School Programs
With the GRE now under your belt (here’s the link for tips on how to prepare for the GRE from a previous post: https://slptobe.com/ways-to-help-prepare-for-the-dreaded-gre/), you now have to decide which programs to apply to.
Here are some questions I would have asked myself when starting the application process:
1. How much does tuition cost and is there financial assistance to help with tuition cost? In undergrad, there are many different types of scholarships and grants available to students. Unfortunately, there are significantly less financial assistance options for graduate students. I didn’t have much direction with this application process, and regretfully didn’t consider tuition cost when applying to graduate programs. As a result, I was forced to choose between two very expensive schools.
2. Are there opportunities to get involved in research if you’re interested? Some graduate programs may advise against getting involved in research labs since it can be hard to balance demands between the two. If research is something that you’re interested in, I would look into research opportunities when applying to see if it’s possible to get involved. An honors thesis is an option if you have time and are interested in doing your own research study while you’re in the program. Even though our graduate program deterred those in the master’s program from volunteering in research labs (since they didn’t think it was feasible to uphold our clinical and academic responsibilities while also committing to hours in the research lab), we were still given the opportunity to volunteer if we really wanted to.
3. Which schools accept the common application and if they do, why not apply to them? The more applications you put out, the more options you have when having to decide which school to attend. While it can be costly to apply to schools ($85 here and there adds up quickly), I do think it’s important to look at it as a future investment. To become a speech-language pathologist, you must attend and graduate with a master’s degree. Since graduate school is mandatory, it doesn’t hurt to have several options to choose from when you’re deciding which program is best-suited for you. If you’re strapped for money, I would suggest maybe even saving up the summer before senior year in preparation for graduate school applications. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to apply to as many graduate programs as possible, since the alternative could be reapplying next year and competing with the class below you.
4. Realistically, which schools would I be accepted to? It’s important to look at the programs’ average GRE scores and GPA for previous accepted candidates. Extracurricular activities such as volunteering experiences and research participation are also taken into consideration. Make sure you also spend time writing your personal statement and essay responses! They can build up your application where numbers may be lacking.
5. Should I be applying for graduate school and expected to attend right after undergrad or is it a good idea to take a gap year? This question is answered in the following post “Important Factors to Consider When Committing to a Program.” Here’s the link for reference: https://slptobe.com/important-factors-to-consider-when-committing-to-a-program/

Hope these pointers were helpful for your application process! This can be a stressful time and hopefully with more knowledge under your belt, you’ll be more prepared to tackle your applications.

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020

Ways to Help Prepare for the Dreaded GRE

Taking the GRE may seem like an incredibly daunting task (especially if you’re not the greatest at taking standardized exams like I am), so here are three tips I would give myself if I had to retake it.

Three key things that I found useful in preparing for the GRE were:

1. Setting a realistic date for when you would be taking the exam. I remember at first wanting to schedule the test only a month away, thinking that I should take it sooner so that I would have sufficient time to reschedule and retake the exam if necessary. That mindset was wrong since it allowed me to go in with less determination thinking I could retake the exam if my scores weren’t high enough and to spend less time studying seriously the first time around. For me, a month to study in the midst of undergraduate studies and finals wasn’t a realistic timeline.

2. Scheduling consistent and realistic study times. If you’re taking the GRE while you’re still taking undergraduate classes like many others, it can be easy to push off studying for the GRE and prioritize more immediate deadlines (e.g. undergrad finals, quizzes, assignments, projects, etc) instead. What helped me make sure I was on track with studying was to dedicate scheduled times for GRE preparation. And it was imperative that I was realistic when planning out my schedule. As someone who is highly distracted, blocking out an entire Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm wasn’t reasonable, so I would set aside 2-hour chunks during the weekdays and then 4-hour chunks during the weekends (I used the weekends to do entire practice exams). This schedule worked for me, but if you’re someone who can sit down for hours and crank out an entire exam, plan for that!

3. Taking entire practice exams from start to finish, and time yourself as you would during a live GRE. I spent a lot of time reading how each section was structured and also completed a lot of individual practice sections. Instead, more time should have been spent on completing an entire 4-hour examination in order to practice endurance. When I went to take the real exam in January, I ended up being worn out only halfway through the test.

To all those preparing for the GRE: Good luck! You’ll do great!

April 28, 2020April 28, 2020

Building Relationships

Looking back during my undergraduate years, there were a couple of things I wished that I did a little differently…one of which was getting more acquainted with my classmates. To give you a little context, I graduated from the University of Florida’s Communication Sciences and Disorders program in 2014. UF’s program is slightly unique because you apply to be accepted into the major the beginning of spring semester of sophomore year. Junior and senior year classes are specialized with almost all of them pertaining to audiology and/or speech-language pathology. Because the classes were specialized and limited to a certain number of students who were accepted into the major, I had more opportunities to become friends with my classmates. Alas, I failed to seek out friendships and didn’t really talk to many of the classmates I had, which resulted in missing out on group-studying opportunities. I realized later on in graduate school that (actual) group-studying could be incredibly effective and useful for actually learning the material. Needless to say, forming those relationships and connections are important!

Connections with classmates aren’t the only ones that are important. Building relationships with your teachers and professors is equally crucial. I was fortunate enough to have some of the same professors for multiple classes, which then helped me establish a better relationship with teachers. Recommendation letters are important for applying to graduate programs and job applications and to have a convincing letter of recommendation, it definitely helps to good connections with teachers, professors, and/or mentors.