If you haven’t seen my other posts directed towards future & current SLP graduate students, please start here.
A while ago I asked for advice for SLP graduate students on my Facebook page. Below is the amazing advice I received:
Get to know your professors! (Teach Speech 365)
I just finished grad school in May and my advice would be to make connections with other students and use each other as a resource. (Lucretia Keshia Whitmore- Govers)
Keep an open mind about what setting/population you want to work with and experience as many different types in your practicum placements as possible! I thought for sure I’d never want to work with adults, and I LOVED my outpatient adult placement! Wish I had gotten to do more of the inpatient side, as well. When I did my school placement, I told my supervisor I liked the older elementary kids way more than preschool age kids. Turned out that I loved preschool, too, and ended up in an early childhood position after graduating! (Rock Chalk Speech Talk)
Relax! It seems tough and overwhelming but you’re not alone. You will survive, you will graduate, and you will get a job 🙂 (Lia Courtney)
Make good friends/study buddies. It it’s amazing how resourceful people are. Also great for different strengths and weaknesses. (Carly Fowler)
It’s definitely not the easiest and can be super stressful, but the job is worth it in the end. (Natalie Snyders)
4.0′s are few and far between! If you rocked undergrad, don’t expect to rock graduate school. If you already knew the material, you would already be an SLP! The competition is over and there is no race to finish first anymore! So, don’t stress about getting that A+, perfect average. Just pass! (Morgan Comer)
Be prepared to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. (Stephanie Conrad)
When you feel like you’ve had enough and question your decision about why you chose this field, hang in there it gets better! We have the BEST profession and very much in demand!! (Jonelle Gillette)
Change your thinking from undergrad, it’s super competitive to get into graduate school, but now you all have made it. The person who graduates first and the person who graduates last will all be SLPs. Help each other! My graduate class was very supportive and collaborative and it was an incredible help, the class before and after us were very competitive. It makes a huge difference in your level of stress and shared and co-created study guides can be amazing! (Liz Haider)
Thanks so much to everybody to gave their advice! It is much appreciated! Anything else we missed? Comment below and I’ll add it!
Such great advice! I wanted to know what a typical day (if there is such a thing) looks like for grad students. Does it change from the first semester to the second? Thanks!
Thanks! A “typical” day for me started at around 7:30am, classes started usually around 9am. Then classes and clinic mixed in until 6-7pm. Do homework/paperwork until 11pm or until I couldn’t stay awake! Sleep and repeat! My schedule did change a lot throughout different semesters though. Second semester seemed much busier to me! Good luck with everything!! 🙂
Change your thinking from undergrad, it’s super competitive to get into graduate school, but now you all have made it. The person who graduates first and the person who graduates last will all be SLPs. Help each other! My graduate class was very supportive and collaborative and it was an incredible help, the class before and after us were very competitive. It makes a huge difference in your level of stress and shared and co-created study guides can be amazing!
Love it and adding it!! Thanks!
4.0’s are few and far between! If you rocked undergrad, don’t expect to rock graduate school. If you already knew the material, you would already be an SLP! The competition is over and there is no race to finish first anymore! So, don’t stress about getting that A+, perfect average. Just pass!
Awesome. Added!! Thank you!
I am having such a difficult time at my adult placement. I had the option of going to an outpatient facility with little supervision, no written reports required and a population that I’m interested in or a school for children and young adults with autism that has a lot of supervision, a lot of paperwork, but little time to complete tasks and a population that I’m not interested in. I chose the school, but didn’t want to go. I regret my choice. I have 2 months left and I’m struggling so much. I need more help, but they want me to be more independent. They also want me to do reports, write session notes, file away paperwork, and write new programs for the kids in an hour and a half. They don’t want me to work during my lunchtime and I can’t stay after hours. They also want me to be flexible and connect with kids who don’t even acknowledge me in the first place. It’s so hard. I’m no longer motivated. I don’t know what to do to improve my performance or my desire to be there.
Hi Maria! I’m so sorry to hear that. That sounds incredibly difficult but I know you can do it! Hang in there! Once you’re done, you’ll have more power and autonomy in the future. Feel free to reach out via email if you have any specific questions I can help with!
I’m starting my first day of grad school next Wednesday and my brain has built it up to be this horrifying, daunting challenge before me. But reading this post and your post about how to prepare made me get watery eyes from how encouraging you are. Thank you so much for posting this and for shedding such positive light and encouragement on what you’ve been through and what I’m about to face. I feel slightly less overwhelmed. Thank you! -Nicole