SLP-low GPA but trilingual... would that help at all?

[TrilinguaSara]

Hi,

I am Sara, and I graduated from college in 2013. I am taking SLP online prerequisites at LaSalle University, and I will be done with my classes by the Spring of 2015. I hope to get accepted to grad programs so I can start grad school in the Fall of 2015.

 

Problems though-I had stomach ulcers when I was in college (Freshmen and Sophomore year) and it was a mess. I had to miss school weeks at a time, from being in the hospital and had surgery twice. Needless to say, my GPA is low (3.1). Junior and Senior year, my condition got better after my surgery, and the major GPA was 3.85, which is not relevant since I majored in Global Health Studies, not SLP related major. I am taking prerequisites to bring up my GPA and I was talking to an admission's counselor at UGA (which is the school I would really really love to go) and she said that applying without the prerequisites would be more competitive. 

 

So, my GPA is like a huge concern for me, since I have heard all kind of stories of people with a 4.0 not getting accepted. 

I did hear that being bilingual helps-I am trilingual, speaking Spanish, Korean and English. My dad is Korean and my mother is Spanish American. Would this help at all? 

 

My GRE score is high enough, I work at an SLP clinic right now and have been for more than a year now. 

 

I really don't know what the programs are looking for, since I hear that people with the perfect test scores don't even get accepted.

I don't know where to start, really.

 

Should I even apply with a low GPA? I am already thinking of Plan B, like going to Spain and living there for a year or something and actually learn about their culture and language in deeper context, since I only learned Spanish from my mom in the U.S.

 

anybody who has already been accepted? any ideas what they are looking for? diversity? test scores? experience?