Speech & Language Therapy 2015

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Anyone know when it's likely we will get offers/rejections? I've been hopelessly refreshing ucas track for the last 2 weeks :')
Applied for Reading, UEA, Sheffield, City and DMU :smile:

Reply 161

Clivia

Hi everyone, I've only just joined this thread - I will be applying for the BMedSci and MMedSci in Sheffield.

Only in Sheffield, as I'm very settled here with my little family even though we only moved here last year, and I love it. I have an undergraduate degree (1st) in linguistics focusing on speech pathology, wrote a dissertation on language difficulties in Asperger syndrome, completed some additional modules in psychology and education and have quite a bit of relevant work experience shadowing SLTs in hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, schools, care homes, and working as a TA for children with communication difficulties etc. Most of this has been abroad, but I did some volunteering with adults with learning difficulties, teenagers with ASD and typically developing children in the UK more recently. This year has been mainly about raising my child though. Any fellow mums here who have advice on how to put this in your CV/statement? :smile:

I already applied for the postgraduate course in Sheffield once but only made it till interview stage. This time, I've decided to give the undergraduate a go
as well as it might actually be more realistic with a child. Anyone else here who is considering both options?

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 162

Sarah Lee

Hi All,

I'm also new to this thread. I am a mature student and have applied to Undergraduate for City, Reading, Leeds, UEA and MMU. I have been interested in Speech therapy for just over a year now. I spent the past 6 years working as a professional singer on cruise ships and got Nodules from my last contract as they expected me to sing 4 hours a day (CRAZY) I had to go to speech therapy myself and have been volunteering with various charities since and have experience in both the pediatric setting and a small amount in an adult stroke unit . Just got back from volunteering in Peru South America with an amazing charity working with children with a range of communication difficulties and also had to learn spanish while I was out there as no one spoke english, but it was a great challenge.
My first choice would be City as all my friends and family live in London and being a little older going into this I really just want to stay where I am settled and happy. Reading is my next preference as it's not too far away. I went to their open day on saturday so if anyone is looking at Reading here is what I thought: The university itself was very nice and they are doing loads of renovations, especially to the library which was incredible. The course looked very good as well, and they have an onsite clinic which is amazing. the only downside for me was that some of the placements could be really far away, one girl said she had to travel 2 hours to her placement which seems very far just for one day.
I did A-levels at school but it was 8 years ago now (English: C, Dance: A, Drama: A) so as I needed recent study I decided to do another A-level but in Psychology. I secured an A in my AS level this year and will be sitting the full A-level next year. I am also doing some credits in Human biology just so I can get my brain ready for the academic demands of the course. Guess my worry is that my previous A-levels weren't science based at all and I'm bummed I got a C in english: but at the time it didn't really matter to me as I just wanted to do Performing Arts! So I guess it's just sit and wait tight until I hear anything like everyone else on here. It's al very nerve racking!!!!

Reply 163

AmyPilot

Original post by eskimok1

Anyone know when it's likely we will get offers/rejections? I've been hopelessly refreshing ucas track for the last 2 weeks :')
Applied for Reading, UEA, Sheffield, City and DMU :smile:

If they follow the same pattern as last year you are looking at end Nov time for invites to interview.

Good luck

Reply 164

Emmaarrgghh

Hey everyone,

I've been interested in Speech and Language Therapy since I started my degree 3 years ago but I haven't really started reading up about it and getting into it until very recently. Personally, I don't feel ready to go back to studying or go into doing a PostGrad in SALT.

At the moment I am an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher in the south of England (I'm currently teaching in Tenerife but I'm coming back in two weeks). I wanted to apply for a Speech and Language Therapist Assistant job and, I swear, they changed the date of the application deadline so I ended up not applying, which I'm really gutted about. I emailed my local hospital and the woman who runs the Speech and Language Therapy department within the hospital is f***ing useless. I asked about shadowing or any advice... and I've had no response after sending two emails... so contacting my local hospital is out of the question. How else have people gone about getting experience and how much experience do you all have?

I have a few years experience in accent training and reduction with my students and that's it.
I've also taught both adults and children.

Someone help me out because the woman from this hospital is destroying my enthusiasm and slowly killing off my motivation to try and get into SALT! :frown:

Reply 165

shropshirelass51

Hi there,
It has been said before, but volunteering with the Stroke Association is useful experience. Whilst I have been doing this, I have met other students applying for SALT courses, as well as students already doing their SALT degree, so I guess their Uni's have suggested they volunteer in their spare time.
Also, working in primary schools or nurseries might be an option. There are many young children that would benefit from one to one or small group language activities and my local primary school were keen for me to do as many hours as I could.
Hope this helps.

Reply 166

opalescent

Original post by Emmaarrgghh

You don't need to get experience in a hospital to be accepted onto a SLT course. SLT is a popular course, hospitals are likely to be inundated with shadowing requests, and accommodating hundreds of SLT applicants obviously isn't viable for them in terms of practicality or patient confidentiality - this is why it's often difficult to get shadowing experience unless you sign up to an advertised taster day.

Any experience with people who have communication difficulties is valuable. You can get this by volunteering or working in hundreds of different places: National Autistic Society, Mencap, Stroke Association, care homes for older people, the list goes on. On your application you need to show that you have some grasp of the wide range of areas that SLTs can work in and that you have had experience in supporting people to communicate. It's also not the quantity of experience that counts, but the quality - can you reflect on it thoughtfully and show how it's prepared you for SLT?

A word of warning - speech and language therapy isn't connected to accent training or reduction. If you mention that on your application then it might count against you, as the RCSLT has gone out of its way to emphasise that SLTs aren't there as elocution coaches or to teach people to speak in a standardised way. If you write that down then it might suggest that you don't have an understanding of the role.

Reply 167

coconut_flamingo

anyone that applied to manchester university, queen margaret, cardiff met for slt know if personal statments need to be specific to slt or can i add other courses in my statement? also anyone know what the written interview questions are like for manchester uni?

Reply 168

anomea

Original post by _shar_shar_

Hi, if your thinking of applying to other courses than don't mention either course explicitly, as they'll know your considering other courses, instead if the courses are similar enough than try talking about the general themes and skills both courses require. Hope that somewhat helped

Reply 169

coconut_flamingo

Original post by anomea

im thinking of applying to biology and slt, any idea on how to link it ?

Reply 170

anomea

Original post by _shar_shar_

im thinking of applying to biology and slt, any idea on how to link it ?

I would say focus on general skills that both courses need, so examples of how you've shown team work, good organisational skills, worked well under pressure that can relate vaguely to both courses. For example I think In mine I used prefecting and my job to show I can cope well with stress. Maybe also focus more on the academic side of the two as they'll be easier to link. If you want to show subject knowledge maybe show a particular interest in neurology as that relatable to both biology and SLT. Or just any of the science based parts of SLT e.g.anatomy and physiology. As when you apply to biology course they'll see someone that's passionate about a specific area of biology which comes across as better than just a general passion. And when you apply to SLT they'll see that you'll be able to cope with the biology aspects which is often seen as the hardest part. I'd also recommend getting some work experience in a hospital as that would apply well to both. Hope that mostly make sense

Reply 171

coconut_flamingo

Original post by anomea

thank you so much !! its helped me gain more ideas on what i can say !!

Reply 172

Woro

Hi all! I'm currently studying Biology, English and Chemistry on a foundation program. I'm expecting an A in English and hoping for (at least) Bs in my other subjects.

I'm really worried because I heard that the courses are really competitive, and almost none of them give offers lower than ABB, so I don't know what my safe choice should be. I was wondering if anyone knows how strict they are about grades? I'm trying my best to put together a strong personal statement that can make me a better applicant, but I'm still afraid of just getting rejected from everywhere. I'm an international student, so if I don't get any offers I might not be able to reapply next year.

If anyone has any recommendations, please let me know! I'm still undecided about my choices, especially about the safe option. I was thinking of applying to a linguistics course as back up, but I don't know if they would accept a personal statement about speech therapy or even if they would accept my subjects.

I have experience shadowing speech therapy sessions and have done some relevant reading, but I would love to get some advice about how I can use my experience in my personal statement? Also, how detailed should I be, for example when mentioning course aspects to show my knowledge? I know that I'm not supposed to say something like 'I enjoy anatomy.' without explaining, but I don't know how detailed the explanation should be, if that makes any sense :P

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 173

PhoenixFortune

Hi everyone!

Sorry about this shameless self-promotion, but my SLT student vlog is now live if anyone would like to subscribe:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVRvf5tb8LH7ESIOI5huEg

If you have any suggestions about what topics you would like to know about, that would be great too, as I finished my SLT course in March. :smile:

Reply 174

Resiewdub

Hey all, I posted last week to tell you all I got unsuccessful in my Manchester met application. I emailed them for feedback, I just received a reply stating that it was a mistake and I am still being considered. They are now scoring my personal statement and if I get enough points, I'll be offered an interview. :smile:

Reply 175

AmyPilot