Graduate School Application Resources

Fall is officially here! The air feels crisp, chunky sweaters are being pulled out of the back of closets, PSLs are abundant at Starbucks, and SLHS seniors are being the stressful process of applying to graduate schools. Lucky for us, Purdue has many resources for us to utilize and make our applications top notch. This post will cover some of the resources you will find on campus.

Center for Career Opportunities (CCO)

What: The CCO is an awesome on-campus resource that offers services to promote student’s future success. Whether it’s apply for a job or applying to grad school, the CCO has countless resources to use. They have 15 min drop-in sessions for students where advisors will review resumes, CVs, Personal Statements, and Grad School Plans. Their website has great advice for creating those different documents and how to ace an interview!

Where: Young Hall Rm 132

When: Monday – Friday, 10am-4pm

Purdue Writing Lab

What: Many trained writing tutors are available for reading and reviewing resumes and personal statements as part of the world-renown Purdue English Department. The great thing about the Purdue Writing Lab is that it also has a series of writing workshops you may find useful throughout the fall semester.

Where: Heavilon Hall Rm 226

When: Monday- Thursday 9am-6pm, Friday 9am-1pm

Purdue Owl

What: As part of the Purdue Writing Lab, they created a website filled with instructional writing material. Whether you’re looking for a guide to APA writing or working on tips for your resume, the Purdue Owl has it covered. They also have a series of instructional YouTube videos with great writing tips.

Where: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

When: Anytime!

Health and Human Sciences Events and Career Fairs

What: Throughout the semester the College of Health and Human Sciences provides a series of events geared towards future success. Some of these events include Graduate and Professional School Fair, Health Career Application Workshops, Resume Workshops, and Pre-Professional Advising. There’s a lot to look at, so mark some dates and your calendar and check them out!

Where: http://www.purdue.edu/hhs/careers/events.php

When: Various dates throughout the semester.

Aside from these great campus resources, your SLHS advisors and professors are always willing to talk to you about your future in either Speech Pathology or Audiology. If you would like to hear more about graduate school and the application process, we will have SLHS Professor, Dr. Francis, at the NSSLHA meeting this week (September 29^th at 6pm) to talk and answer any and all questions you have.

SLHS Summer Experiences

Hello NSSLHA students and welcome back to Purdue! Hope you had a great summer and a successful start to your school year! I’m Audrey the newest Corresponding Secretary for NSSLHA and have the pleasure of updating the blog over this next school year.

We are starting to get busy into the semester, but this first post will look into the different experiences students in the program enjoyed this summer. While not many students going into Speech Pathology or Audiology do summer internships, there are still plenty of opportunities to gain valuable experiences! Here are two students in the major to share what they did this summer.

Paayal Surani- Senior:

 In addition to taking the GRE this summer, I was a volunteer researcher at Northwestern University’s Aphasia Lab located in Evanston, Illinois. I was able to sit in on some of their lab meetings where I gave my thoughts and ideas to help enhance their research designs. These designs were administered to their Aphasia patients to help collect data, which would then be used to provide knowledge in the speech community. In addition, I used Praat and other computer programs to assist me in analyzing eye tracking and speech data. This data was gathered by looking at passive sentences produced by Aphasia patients. It was very interesting to see how much bigger their lab was compared to Purdue’s Aphasia lab. Everyone was very friendly and I absolutely loved doing research there!

Besides working at Northwestern University’s Aphasia lab, I got a unique opportunity to work at Horsefeathers Therapeutic Riding located in Lake Forest, Illinois. I assisted a speech therapist giving speech therapy to a child while riding horses. I know…how cool is that?! This was the first time a speech therapist allowed me to come up with new ideas for treatment goals and actually implement them in therapy. I learned quickly that I had to be creative and flexible, all while paying attention to the child’s form to make sure they had proper breath support. Working with horses and children with speech impediments was challenging yet invaluable. This experience opened my eyes to all of the opportunities outside of a clinical or lab setting. Now, I could really see myself working in an equine environment part time when I become a SLP. It really was so much fun!

Kate Christman- Senior:

This summer I was given the opportunity to have an unforgettable experience. I spent the summer working in Cornerstone Autism Center with a Speech-Language Pathologist. Being immersed within this environment gave me new eyes to the occupation I was pursuing. My feelings toward my chosen career were strengthened as the exposure in this setting was nothing but rewarding.

Having the chance to be within a center specific to the needs of children with autism gave me a new outlook since my exposure with children was very little. Not only did I have little exposure to children in general in the speech therapy setting, but autism was a new area that I gladly was able to explore.

I would note that this past summer was definitely reassuring for me. Having doubts about one's career path are common, but fortunately I have not had these doubts. I am grateful that even after being given a summer to spend in such a rewarding environment, I still have the strong desire and zero doubt about becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist!

"2014-15 (So Far!) at Purdue"

Hello all!

 Purdue NSSLHA’s chapter has done a wonderful job thus far, in getting involved and making a difference. Below are a few short summaries of the events we have had this year:

• “Let Indiana Hear” – NSSLHA members recorded a short clip to be in one of the advocacy videos for Indiana Hands and Voices. This organization provides support for families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. They provide education, hope, advocacy, and resources to hundreds of families throughout the state of Indiana. 
• NSSLHA Loves Campaign-NSSLHA members raised funds throughout the year and made a donation of $250 to the NSSLHA Loves Campaign, which supported Hands & Voices. 
• Purdue Crossroads Conference–This conference was open to professionals and students in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Professional speakers covered a wide variety of topics, and NSSLHA members helped run and organize the entire two day conference with approximately 200 attendees. Afterwards, NSSLHA hosted tours of the new building at the conference reception for attendees. Additionally, our chapter wrote for a grant and received $5000 from the Purdue Student Organization Grant Allocation Board to support the annual conference. 
• Arc Dance-NSSLHA organized and attended a Valentine’s Day dance for adults with intellectual disabilities.
• ASHA conference- NSSLHA executive team member Katie Courtaney and NSSLHA faculty advisor Christi Masters presented at the 2014 ASHA Conference on the topic "Developing Intercultural Competence". They collaborated with three Purdue Audiology Students Association (PASO) members and the PASO faculty advisor after a study abroad trip where they provided clinical speech and audiology services in Zambia.
• Career Awareness Day- Two general members planned activities related to speech and hearing, and then presented it to sixth graders involved in College Mentors for Kids. They created a Power Point explaining the roles of SLP’s and AuD’s, and then had stations set up with activities that SLP’s and AuD’s do with clients. Another fun component these members added was providing earplugs. They educated the students about listening to music at a safe volume to help prevent hearing loss. 
• Professional panel- NSSLHA invited a professional panel of seven certified SLP’s and AuD’s to talk about their experiences within their professions. 
• Tour to Ambassadors-NSSLHA members provided information about the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences major as well as a tour of the new building to a group of ambassadors who give tours of Purdue's campus to potential incoming students. 

 I’m proud to say that all of these events were a complete success! However, the school year isn’t over just yet. We still plan on having a few more fun-filled events: 

• Egg Hunt- NSSLHA will organize this event close to Easter holiday. All the children that come to our speech and hearing clinic will be invited to enjoy an adventurous day of looking for candy-filled eggs. 
• Student/Faculty Snack-NSSLHA and PASO are collaborating to organize a lunch where undergraduate and graduate students mingle and get to know professors and other students in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Purdue. 
• Spring Fest-This free annual university event will be held at Purdue on April 18 and 19. It is open to adults and children as an opportunity to learn from many departments on campus through fun hands-on activities. NSSLHA will have a table and provide participants information about speech-language pathology and audiology. 
• Seniors- Graduating NSSLHA seniors will give the undergraduate students an insight on their senior year. They will mostly provide us with information pertaining to filling out graduate school applications. 
• Virtual Advocacy Day- On Tuesday April 21, we will anticipate on having at least 50 NSSLHA members partake in this event. To find out more, check out this link: http://www.asha.org/NSSLHA/events/Virtual-Advocacy-Day/

NSSLHA Valentine's Arc Dance

Hello NSSLHA!

Last night was our annual NSSLHA Valentine's ARC Dance. The ARC is an organization that provides a plethora of opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities. I felt truly lucky to be a part of last night's event, because these guys really deserve a night filled with fun and laughter. Everyone seemed to be having a great time dancing, mingling, and doing art's and crafts. I already can't wait for next years dance!

And a special thanks to Audrey Sheffler (our NSSLHA Historian) for planning such a wonderful event! Kudos to you girly :)

GRAD STUDENT TALK 2014

Hello everyone!

At the last NSSLHA & PASO meeting, we had seven lovely grad students and one PhD student talk to us about what it’s like to be in their shoes. They had copious amounts of information, so I thought I would share a few. It’s a little lengthy, but feel free to skip to the topics that interest you the most.

Speech vs. audiology: How do you pick between the two? A lot of their answers had to do with previous experience. Some had shadowed SLP’s before while others had seen their own family members suffer from a hearing loss-swaying them into audiology. However, the PhD student reminded us that there is also a research aspect to both majors, so students shouldn’t feel pressured to only pick in becoming speech or audiology clinicians.

How they ended up at Purdue: Purdue is a well-known college to many countries. The professors are the best and they are very passionate about their work. Many of the students came here not only for the professors, but also for the location, cost, new building, hands on experience, and more!

How many grad schools did they apply to: Each of the girls had a different number of schools they had applied to. The lowest number was three, but her reasoning was because her undergrad school had an auto-admit program-so she already had a school she could go to. The highest number was fifteen, because she had changed her major quite a few times. Overall, the average number the ladies applied to were about five to nine schools.

Externships: When you leave for an externship, you are required to find your own transportation there. For speech, the schools had to be within an hour radius. To do an externship, you can basically go anywhere in the country as long as the person you are working with has their CCC. Some girls mentioned how they will actually be going back to their hometowns and living with their parents, because that will save them a lot of money.

Application Fee’s: Between audiology and speech pathology, the fees are pretty similar. It depends on the school, but it usually costs anywhere between fifty dollars to one hundred dollars per application. For sending your GRE scores, some schools cost around twenty-seven dollars, and sending your transcript is free at Purdue.

When you get accepted, do you find out about assistant ships?: Again, it depends on the school. Some will offer you the assistant ship along with your acceptance letter. However, one of the girls mentioned how she got offered an assistant ship a month after she got accepted. But the girls advised us to take matters into our own hands and call the schools ourselves to ask about any financial aid we could get. Dr. Krishinan also reminded us that there are lots of opportunities to find funding outside of the department. For example, you could tutor in English, be a swim coach at the pool, work in the libraries, etc.

More advice!!!

-Be patient when hearing back from your schools. You will hear back around March and April, but then don’t forget to pick your school by April 15^th!

-If you are doing an interview, don’t forget to take into account the time difference.

-When you take the GRE, you can send your scores to four schools for free!

-Never lose your passion for what you’re doing, because it’ll keep you going.

-Finally, just be organized and don’t forget to take a little time for yourself.

Again, a big thanks to the eight ladies that took their time to help answer all of our questions! :)

Graduate School Talk

Last week at our NSSLHA meeting, Dr.Huber talked to us about graduate schools. As this mostly applied to juniors and seniors, it was very critical for freshman and sophomores to pay attention, because they will be going through the same process in less than three years.

Since I am currently a junior and have been a part of NSSLHA for three years, I have now heard Dr.Huber’s talk for the third time. Every single time I listened to her speech, I rigorously took notes and tried to absorb as much information as possible. I thought it would be helpful if I did a recap of some of the things she had talked about in case students needed a refresher or if someone had not attended that meeting.

GRE

-Try and get over the 50^th percentile. How can you do this? By studying a lot!

-Your overall goal of taking this test is to be able to answer the question without knowing the answers.

TRANSCRIPT & GPA

-When graduate schools look at your transcript, they want to see that you took harder classes such as math and sciences. They don’t want to see you take multiple easy classes and get a high GPA. For example, they would rather you take a hard social science class and get a little lower GPA rather a few art classes and a higher GPA.

LETTERS OR RECOMMENDATION

-Ask people that know you well! The points of these letters are to get to know you better.

-Try to get at least 1 letter from our SLHS department. You want 3 letters, sometimes 4, depending on the schools you apply to.

-It’s also more polite to ask the professor in person rather than an email to see if they can write you one.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

-This is one of the most important parts at Purdue!

-Let your true and authentic self come onto the paper. Make sure this part is reflective and not just you listing things like you would on a resume.

-Make sure this part is read and reread multiple times! There should be no spelling and grammar mistakes.

I truly believe that if you work hard on all of these parts and get everything turned in on time, you will have a better chance of getting accepted into your dream schools!

Good-luck to all of our fellow seniors applying to grad schools! We believe in you J

Welcome! Fall 2014

Hi Everyone!

I’m continuing the blogging for our Purdue NSSLHA chapter to keep everyone updated on what is happening with the SLHS program here at Purdue! This will also be a great way for underclassmen and upperclassmen to ask any questions they may have about classes, scheduling, and the SLHS major in general.

IMPORTANT NEWS:  Our first NSSLHA callout for the fall semester is on Tuesday, September 2^nd at 6pm in the NEW building Lyle’s Porter room 1160.  Oh and did I mention there will be FREE pizza?! 

I hope everyone had a great summer & I can't wait to see some new and old faces at the callout!

TEDx at Purdue!

Hey all!

Tomorrow, SLHS Professor Dr. Huber will be one of the featured presenters in the TEDx talks at Purdue.  There are still plenty of tickets left so you should check it out, it is only $10 and a great way to support the department.  In honor of the TEDx event at Purdue tomorrow, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite TEDx videos!  TEDx is one of my favorite web sites because their are speakers from every walk of life.  The informative talks aren't lengthy and are easy to understand, so browsing on this site is time well spent :)

Here are some of my favorites related to the field:

A neuroscientist experiences a CVA in the left hemisphere, this may be one of my all-time favorites https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight
A phiscician who thinks critically about cochlear implants: https://www.ted.com/talks/charles_limb_building_the_musical_muscle
Early diagnosis of autism: https://www.ted.com/talks/ami_klin_a_new_way_to_diagnose_autism
How to lower the impact of noise in our environment:
https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_shh_sound_health_in_8_steps

On a side note, I know it's been a extremely joyous and stressful time for the seniors these past few weeks.  When you're facing disappointments, remember that your self worth is not based on your awards or accomplishments but on the kindness of your heart.  I struggle with this constantly, but it's important to remember to only compete with yourself, and to work to make yourself better for you so you can be the best clinician you can be.

February Reflections

Hey everyone!  WOW has this month flown by, I didn't think the end of February would sneak up on me as quickly as it did.  It was an eventful month so I thought I'd share with you some of my reflections from this past month.

First of all, thank you to everyone who participated in the ARC Valentines Day Dance!  It was a huge success and it was so great to see you all fully involved, putting yourself out there and having a ton of fun doing crafts, and of course having fun on the dance floor!

Right before the dance, I watched a great TEDx talk given by a woman with Cerebral Palsy about disability in the media ( http://www.ted.com/talks/maysoon_zayid_i_got_99_problems_palsy_is_just_one.html), and it made me observe just how much the media influences the attendees of the dance.  So many individuals with disabilities have celebrity idols they can look up to, yet they themselves are underrepresented as actors, musicians, producers, etc. 

 Fortunately, we live in an age where disability is being represented more often in television such as  Switched at Birth.  Michael J. Fox is a wonderful advocate for those with Parkinson's Disease and continues to act.  Companies such as American Girl Doll sell toys who have crutches, hearing aids, and wheel chairs to comfort children and help them feel understood. Yet, if they aspired to be a professional actor or musician, they may face the same struggle Maysoon Zayid did when she was constantly rejected as an actress, even  when she auditioned to play a character with CP.

So how can we as future Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologist change this stigma in the media?

Do you have a favorite celebrity with a disability?  Please share so we can support them as a community!

Also, many seniors have been receiving interviews for and acceptances into Graduate programs, congratulations to you all!  It is so wonderful to see how your hard work has paid off.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Welcome Back: Spring 2014

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a great winter break and the first week back at school has been treating you well.  Personally, this week has been a rough adjustment back into the daily grind, and all of this snow isn't helping!  Luckily, the spring semester is filled with my favorite NSSLHA events and there is much to look forward to, including:

The Arc Valentine's Day Dance
Student Faculty Lunches
Easter Egg Hunt
Relay for Life

So be sure to come out to meetings to sign up for these fun events!  Speaking of this, our call-out of the semester will be this Tuesday, January 21st at 6:30 pm in Stanley Coulter room 239.  The rest of our meetings for the semester will be in GRIS 280.  I can't wait to see familiar and new faces :)

And check out NSSLHA all over campus this week!

NSSLHA at the College of Health & Human Sciences Involvement Fair

Our Display Case in the Stewart Center

GLASS & Observation Tips

It's freezing outside...how many more days until summer?  As the weather is getting colder it is never to early to think about summertime opportunities.  Any break is a great chance to shadow Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists in your area.  It'll help you get a better idea of what kind of setting you'd prefer post graduation, and those in the field are a great source for guidance.  Finding someone to shadow and going through with it can sometimes be intimidating, so I put a list together of helpful tips I've learned through shadowing.

1. Ask anyone about shadowing opportunities, the answer may surprise you.  It can be hard to figure out where to get started in your shadowing search.  You can try searching the internet for sources but that can be frustrating at times.  Instead, try to let those around you know you're interested in shadowing an SLP or AuD, you may be surprised at who knows who.  In high school one of my dance coaches was also a special needs teacher, and while we were catching up my freshman year she gave me the names of all of her SLP friends who would allow me to shadow them, and the list grew from there.
2. Dress to impress.  This may go without saying, but be sure to always dress professionally while shadowing.  You never know who you will meet or impress.
3. Always ask to come back.  Once you find someone to shadow, chances are they they know another people in the profession who would love for you to shadow them.  Always ask the professional you shadow if you can come back again or if their's anyone else you could shadow in your area of interest, you never know what opportunity you'll find.
4. Keep documentation of your shadowing.  One of my biggest regrets is not keeping track of all the SLPs I have shadowed.  Learn from my mistake and keep track of all of them from the start, you WILL need them eventually!

And if you can, NSSLHA has a great opportunity for shadowing through GLASS!  It's a big time commitment, but a great way to shadow during the school year.  Some of our current participants took the time to write about their experiences and this is what they shared:

"I love working with her and I don’t ever feel useless. I get a good mix of observation and work time, so it’s good!"

-Stephanie Andres

"She is extremely nice and is always giving me advice and knowledge that is helpful in regards to graduate school as well as speech pathology in general. I never thought I would like the school setting of speech pathology but I surprisingly am enjoying it and could see myself working in the school setting as an SLP. She sets a great example for the type of SLP I want to become."

-Kendra Roberts

"Experiences like this are what make me excited to become an SLP, and after working with my teacher I am more motivated to do what I need to do at Purdue to become a successful SLP"

-Lauren Caputo

 "Some days I help her with paperwork and compiling speech samples and other days I just observe. Since I'm there the same time every week I get to see the same kids every week which I love! The kids now know me and she involves me in the sessions which I'm very grateful for. One of her students is apraxic which is my main interest. Because of this I am getting more practice with AAC and a better look into apraxia. I always come with questions and I'm learning a lot for her!"

 -Erin Logan

Have you had success with shadowing?  What did you learn from it?

Thanks for reading everyone, have a great Thanksgiving!

*Special thanks to Vice President Becca Henaghan for collecting GLASS quotes and her hard work put into the program*

Crossroads Thank Yous & Reflection

Hello everyone!  I hope you all are having a lovely week.  Thanksgiving break is creeping up on us and I can hardly believe it.  I know I am feeling overwhelmed by all the work that has to be completed before then, but don't stress, it'll all get done!

        Crossroads seems as though it was a long time ago, but it was less than two weeks ago!  I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for all your hard work, you made Crossroads a huge success! I really enjoyed getting to know so many of you better. Even if you only volunteered for a short time or felt that you didn't do much, you made a lasting impression on the presenters and professors who attended.  It was amazing to see so many of you eager to help and to learn more about the field.

        For me, Crossroads is always the reminder I need about the big picture.  It's easy to get caught up in the comparison game; making sure your grades are the best they can be and that your experiences and involvement in clubs will make you stand out when you apply to grad school.  I know I am guilty of this, but it'll only make you want to rip your hair out.  Crossroads shows how what we learn in the classroom actually applies to the real world.  Crazy, right? But our curriculum is designed to help us become the best possible clinician we can be.  So while grades and volunteering is important, it is even more essential that we do not lose sight of the end result and that one day we will be able to better someone's quality of life.  So learn as much as you can without stretching yourself too far, but do it out of passion for the field rather than for your resume.

What was your takeaway from Crossroads?  I'd love to hear about it!

Some of our lovely volunteers!

 NSSLHA Exec

Exec at the NSSHLA table