sayjo

I was also out of field and decided to take pre-reqs before applying. I'm so glad I did! It opened up a lot of additional options in terms of schools and solidified my application. I started taking pre-reqs in the fall of 2013, applied to grad school in the winter, and am starting grad school this fall. So you can definitely start taking pre-reqs now and still be able to start grad school in fall 2015. If you're concerned about working while taking pre-reqs, consider taking them online. Also - just so you know - you DO need pre-reqs before starting Rush. A family member of mine went there for grad school and was out of field. That family member spent a year taking pre-reqs before applying. Speaking from experience, Rush and Northwestern are both insanely expensive tuition-wise (especially Northwestern). Definitely something to keep in mind as you're choosing schools to apply to. Hope this helps!

Yes, I did the USU online program. I applied for the 2nd Bachelors - however, I didn't finish the program because the grad school I was accepted at did not require all the courses from USU. I ended up taking only 10 USU courses instead of 12 (required for the degree). I remember the application process as being very simple and I've never heard of anyone NOT getting accepted. I know I didn't need to submit any letters of recommendation. I can't remember if I needed to submit transcripts or not, although I'm assuming if you're doing your 2nd Bachelors, USU would need proof that you completed your first Bachelors degree already. Hopefully that's somewhat helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions! I think USU is a great program and I've learned a lot. If you do end up attending, there's a Facebook group for COMD students here, which I've found to be very informative.

I was a classroom teacher while taking classes at Utah State. I would definitely advise only taking two classes per semester while teaching. However, if you're not working in the summer, you can take more classes then. I took five classes one semester while I wasn't working and I found it to be manageable. Let me know if you have any other questions about taking classes while teaching!

Thanks so much for your sweet words. I'm hopeful everything will fall into place.

I'm actually not that anxious about grad school...I'm more anxious about my husband finding a job in our new locale. He's been looking since April.

Classes vary so much from one school to another - a class that's easy at one school might be difficult at another. Therefore, it might be difficult for people to tell you what courses will be challenging at your particular school. That said, those courses sound like a good combination of classes to take first. I know in another post you mentioned you were taking courses online. Are you taking them via Utah State, perhaps? If you are, there's a really great Facebook group you can join. The group members are nice and very helpful when it comes to answering questions like this.

Many programs say to aim for at least 300 on your combined score. You should check with your prospective programs just to be sure. HOWEVER, I'd definitely aim to get higher than that if you can. It makes your application stand out and gives you a better chance to earn things like graduate assistantships.

Thanks!! Yes, I have been able to complete all my pre-reqs (grad school starts in the fall). I began taking classes last fall and, like I said, I took two courses. My husband had just graduated grad school and found a job during my first semester. I was fortunate that his job paid enough to provide for both of us, so I quit my job in December to focus solely on school. I then took five courses during the spring semester since I was planning to complete USU's 2nd Bachelor's program which has 12 course requirements. My plan was to take the final five courses during the summer semester. However, once I accepted a place at SIUE's grad school, I found out they didn't need all the courses I was planning to take over the summer. So, I only ended up taking three courses this summer. That's ten courses total. I ended up taking more courses than I actually needed because I was unsure of where I would attend school. I only needed 8 of the 10 courses I took. However, I had to take the others to cover my bases since I applied to a large number of schools that each had different pre-req requirements. Let me know if you have any other questions!!

I don't think your GRE scores will HURT you, but they definitely won't HELP you. High GRE scores might make you stand out more, but I don't think your scores will keep you from getting into a program. As twinguy suggested, you should email prospective schools to make sure your scores meet the minimum cutoff requirements before you make your final decision.

I would definitely go the full semester option. I worked 50-60+ hours a week and took two and I felt it was pretty manageable. I would suggest taking two if it's your first semester. You can always readjust and take more courses in subsequent semesters. Also, just so you're aware, I only had two COMD classes completed at the time I applied to grad school and it was fine. I just made the grad schools aware that all my pre-reqs would be completed by the time I started school in the fall. Hope this helps.

YES!!! I used to be a teacher and a favorite saying was, "Don't reinvent the wheel - beg, borrow and steal!" Often, someone's already created what you're looking for. I'm not sure how many SLPs know about Teachers Pay Teachers, but it is an AWESOME website with TONS of SLP resources. Lots of them are free! All you need is a color printer and a laminator. Check it out!

I'd be wary of Northwestern for two reasons: 1. Most schools need more than 5 pre-reqs. Look at the schools you would like to go to for grad school and see what they require. Chances are that they will need more classes than Northwestern offers and you'll end up having to take the extra courses anyway. 2. Have you SEEN Northwestern's tuition? Yowza! I wouldn't pay that much $$ for pre-req classes. I'm a HUGE cheerleader for Utah State University. I'm a career changer and was able to complete the 10 pre-req courses I needed in only three semesters (fall 2013, spring 2014, summer 2014). It's all online and tuition is affordable. Let me know if you have questions about their program. Good luck!

There's a book called "Cliffnotes Math Review for Standardized tests," which is what I used because I hadn't done math in YEARS. The book begins with the very basics and builds in complexity as you work through it. I found it easy to understand. I didn't even attempt the GRE math until I worked my way through the book and I feel like it helped me a lot.

I feel you. I have a few family members in SLP and one of them had issues with academics too (to the point where they were unsure they would graduate). It has definitely made me nervous to start graduate school! If you still love SLP (and feel you could be successful in a different program), have you tried reaching out to other less competitive graduate schools and explaining your situation? I expect many schools may not look favorably on your background, but there is always a chance that one or two might consider you as a candidate for the upcoming admission season. Also, are you in a state that uses SLPAs? That might be another avenue to consider...

Yes, I had one of my online professors write a LOR for me. She asked me for my grades and a resume and then asked if there was anything particular that she should highlight in my letter. I never saw the letter, but assume it was fine because I was accepted at a number of schools. If possible, I think you should try to have at least one letter from someone who knows you in real life. They can probably comment on your acheivements a little more accurately. Edited to add: Not sure where you're doing your post bacc at, but if you are doing it online through USU I know that the professors are more than happy to write LORs for online students.

I think what the previous posters meant was that IF a school gives funding, they often start by offering funding to admitted students with the highest stats. In that case, a high GRE would be helpful BUT it would probably not be the only factor. I've never heard of a scholarship for a high GRE alone.

California's so popular it gets its own thread. Here it is: Also, my husband is an SLP and he is male...he didn't feel like it made a difference during the application process. Programs are so competitive that you still need good stats. I also took pre-reqs at USU, so let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks! I've been to visit Edwardsville and the campus several times and I just love it. I've been living in Chicago for several years and am excited to get out of the city and back to small town living. Not sure if I have any questions as of right now, but I will let you know if I come up with anything!

DeafAudi, I'm going to say that I'm not sure about hair color. I wouldn't feel comfortable having an unnatural hair color as an SLP - though audiology might be different since you're not really going to be in schools and such. I was a teacher for the past five years and unnatural hair color was definitely a no-no (as were sandals, capri-style dress pants, leggings, etc). When do you start your placements? If you don't start right away, you could color your hair for the first semester or so and see how you feel after that. There's probably a decent amount of people that won't have a problem with it, but you never know.

Tuition was a HUGE factor for me as my husband had just finished grad school at a very expensive school when I applied. I didn't want to put more financial burden on our family by taking out a ton of loans. I applied to a variety of schools and here's what I found: 1. In general, big public universities aren't going to give you aid, because that is going to go to their Ph.D. applicants first. I LOVED UIUC (it was my first choice), but they pretty much flat out said that it's really unlikely for you to get any $$$ as a Master's student. 2. I didn't have much luck getting any funding at the private schools either. I declined both Purdue and Northwestern before they made funding offers; however, I heard that at Northwestern, funding doesn't really make a huge difference because their tuition for both years is something crazy like $100,000.00!! 3. When I was looking around (in Illinois, mind you) at schools, I found that the ones most likely to offer tuition waivers, G.A.s, T.A.s, and other sources of funding were the smaller public universities. In Illinois, I know for sure that Northern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, and Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville all offer graduate assistantships. In the end, as you can see by my signature, I turned down many "big name" universities in order to go somewhere less expensive. I ultimately received a G.A. with a full tuition waiver and monthly stipend. I, personally, didn't need to go to a big name school and I didn't need to work with a certain professor, so that certainly made my choice a lot easier. I'm very happy with my decision.

I'm no expert on these matters, but I believe in order to receive a discount in tuition, you need to prove you are a resident of the state where the school is located. For most states, I think that means you need to prove you lived there for a certain amount of time (like one year) or that you were forced to move due to a spouse's job, etc. You don't just automatically get in-state tuition for having an in-state address. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong though, as all this information is coming from a life-long Illinois resident that only ever attended schools in Illinois.

I'd be wary of living in Chicago and commuting out to the suburbs, just because traffic is awful. My husband and I live in the South Loop area and he works in the suburbs (12 miles away from where we live). Some days, it takes him over an hour to get to work. A few times last winter when it snowed, it took him two hours to get to work! That said, if you can easily take the train (UP-West line goes to Elmhurst, I believe) it might be worth a go. As far as renting, the West Side neighborhoods can be kind of shady (like Austin), so you wouldn't want to live there. If you really plan on commuting out to Elmhurst, your best bet is to live in a neighborhood close to 290, since you'd most likely be taking that highway to commute. South Loop and Little Italy are both nice and close by. That said, I think you might want to give more consideration to living in Elmhurst and spending your time off school exploring the city. Commuting sucks. Just my $0.02.

I have no idea, sorry. I only took the COMD courses there.

That's crazy! I was just going to say that they do not charge out of state tuition for online courses. But I went to their website and it looks like they changed it! It's $290 per credit for out-of-state online. I'm not sure how this compares to other online programs, but it's not that much more than what I paid per credit when I did USU's online program (I think it was $275 per credit then). I really liked their classes, though!!

I actually think you've got a good shot for an out-of-fielder. The only thing you could do differently is to continue to take SLP pre-req classes. I don't think you need to do the whole post-bacc. Just look online at schools you are interested in and see what pre-reqs they require and try to take some of those while applying.