waiting to finish prereq courses to apply

[alecvdpoel]

Hello all. So I was originally planning to do all my applying to programs this fall, to apply to programs for fall of 2015 admission. However, after enough reading and seeing how truly competitive programs are (especially here in CA), I am pretty much deciding to wait until next year to apply (for Fall of 2016 admission). I am in Utah State's online 2nd bachelors program (undergrad degree in linguistics), and have 8 more classes to go including the 4 I am taking this semester and the 4 I will take next semester (I also still need to take statistics..). As much as it pains me to delay grad school even further, I am assuming this is a smart enough decision, since I would assume any grad school would take an equally qualified candidate who has completed a CSD program already versus "gambling" on someone who still has 4 or 5 classes to go (it should also be noted that I will only have one GRE attempt under my belt if I apply this Fall). 

One of the major reasons for this is money, all of these applications and sending of transcripts can be pretty costly, especially if I have a fairly slim chance of acceptance. But also, if I choose not to apply this fall, I will have much more time to focus on my classes instead of worrying about the GRE, application deadlines, essays, etc. I could also use the extra year to get more observation hours. 

Do you all think my logic is sound in this matter? Any advice? Does anyone know if applying multiple times to a particular program improves chance of acceptance? (if this is the case maybe I'll at least apply to a couple) Sorry for my long-winded post! 

[peachypie]

Plenty of people apply in their last year of undergrad and get accepted, so I don't think that should have any bearing on whether or not you apply this fall.  Also many people take the GRE just once before applying.  Now either you aren't very enthusiastic about applying this fall because deadlines are creeping up and whatnot or is there some reason you don't feel confident about your application?  I think if you have done well and have a good GRE score you should apply now.  If you don't get in you will still be in the same boat as you were if you chose to wait until next year.  There is never a "guarantee" in getting into school so I wouldn't look at it as "if I don't do it this year then I will get in next year."  There will always be qualified applicants, each year that will not change regardless of if you have your degree completed or not.  Good Luck!

[wishingwishing]

There are some (many?) SLP programs that won't allow you to apply before you have the prerequisite classes done (or are in your last semester). There are others that will allow you to take prerequisites, but you are only conditionally admitted. I know when I applied at one school, they mentioned something about having a check mark next to my name for leveling completion - so even though they allow levelers, they were obviously making a note of whether or not it was completed. You could certainly ask at your schools - sometimes they give a real answer, sometimes they don't.

 

I think it makes sense to wait, and it sounds like you would be more comfortable doing so. The only classes I wouldn't worry about getting in before you apply are the statistics & science classes, unless they happen to fit in your schedule. I haven't gottent the impression that they factor into the decision process.

[alecvdpoel]

Plenty of people apply in their last year of undergrad and get accepted, so I don't think that should have any bearing on whether or not you apply this fall.  Also many people take the GRE just once before applying.  Now either you aren't very enthusiastic about applying this fall because deadlines are creeping up and whatnot or is there some reason you don't feel confident about your application?  I think if you have done well and have a good GRE score you should apply now.  If you don't get in you will still be in the same boat as you were if you chose to wait until next year.  There is never a "guarantee" in getting into school so I wouldn't look at it as "if I don't do it this year then I will get in next year."  There will always be qualified applicants, each year that will not change regardless of if you have your degree completed or not.  Good Luck!

Well, I haven't taken the GRE yet, so I guess we shall see in November if I am confident in that regard, haha. And yes by no means do I believe I would for sure get in next year, but I'm just feeling like my application would look stronger with a full CSD GPA (since my first bachelors GPA isn't anything special at all). Money really is a big factor though, I should expect to spend at least $600-700 on the whole process, if not more, of money I don't really have. And I guess if I'm going to apply once or multiple times, I was thinking maybe its best to do it when my application doesn't have clear holes like classes not taken, no extracurriculars related to the field, only one GRE attempt, etc. But anyway, as far as people in CSD undergrad programs, I just assumed even if they were in their final year, they would have more classes under their belt than me. Thank you very much for your input though. I may just apply to a couple programs, maybe the ones I can determine to be least competitive, for now to see where it goes.

 

 

There are some (many?) SLP programs that won't allow you to apply before you have the prerequisite classes done (or are in your last semester). There are others that will allow you to take prerequisites, but you are only conditionally admitted. I know when I applied at one school, they mentioned something about having a check mark next to my name for leveling completion - so even though they allow levelers, they were obviously making a note of whether or not it was completed. You could certainly ask at your schools - sometimes they give a real answer, sometimes they don't.

 

I think it makes sense to wait, and it sounds like you would be more comfortable doing so. The only classes I wouldn't worry about getting in before you apply are the statistics & science classes, unless they happen to fit in your schedule. I haven't gottent the impression that they factor into the decision process.

 

And yes, I have definitely noticed this, particularly that CSU Fullerton will not accept your application unless you have grades in 8 of the prereqs at the time of applying (which I won't). This is what originally caused me to re-think applying this fall, because if this university explicitly stated it, it made me wonder if other universities do it to a lesser extent without making it an official mandate. As for statistics, it really seems all over the place and inconsistent. I've seen websites of some programs stating that it is required to have a grade in it prior to starting the grad program, and some programs don't seem to mention it at all. Sigh..

[spursnpearls]

My two cents -- the post-bacc program I came from was not very forthcoming about this, but a lot of schools will absolutely take someone who is done with their CD coursework over someone who isn't, especially if you don't have a lot of experience or perfect grades. I know that school did not tell us we could not apply there -- we were their OWN students -- but they literally threw out our applications because it was too competitive with people that were done with coursework and it was "too big of a gamble". Because none of the advisors told me some of the schools I wanted to go to want people that are done, I wasted about $800 applying and didn't get in. If you can take the year off, take it off, polish up your resume, do all the work/volunteer you can and make your application as strong as you can. Good luck!