CBG321

Hi Ashley, First of all sorry you had such a rough semester! I wanted to share my experience so far and offer advice based on it. I already have a bachelors degree in an unrelated field and just finished my first semester as a post Bach student. I want to let you know that I have never dedicated more time, energy and studying in my entire education! I was out of school after graduating for a few years and know 100% this is the career for me. I think if you are considering other majors you should definately seek out a career counselor for some help. This major and career require 100% commitment and will be your entire life for the next 5 years. Not to sound harsh but if you are struggling a lot now classes only increase in difficulty and that can be very stressful to constantly be working your butt off with a fair possibility of not getting accepted to grad school. I live where they throw your application out some schools if it isn't a 3.8 or higher. Just really sit down and ask yourself do you have the passion for it? I only ask because as a sophomore I had no clue what I wanted to do, my advice is explore other options before committing to something that might not be your perfect fit. Keep in mind as well you need a high GRE score, and to pass a chemistry or physics class as well as statistics. It is a lot of work and a huge commitment just do a little more research to make sure! Good luck to you, and remember if you really want it over any other career get some tutoring and give it a go! Hope that helps a little!

Thank you!

Hello everybody, I'm currently in a post-bacc program and have some lab experience and child-care/after school program experience and volunteering with special needs populations. And am able to observe with a local school SLP whenever I have time but am not considered a regular volunteer there. So i'm lumping that all under volunteer/related experience. However, I was wondering on average how much relevant experience (time-wise) do most people have when they are applying to Graduate school? So for example, directly related experience working with an SLP as a volunteer or in a hospital with an SLP as a volunteer. How long had you and/or your classmates been doing this directly relevant experience by the time you applied? I'm reaching out right now to get a weekly volunteer position going with an SLP, but was just curious how long most people have under their belts by the time they apply? I want to know how my time will stack up against other applicants .

Hello, I totally understand if you'd rather not say, but is there any chance you'd be willing to list the school you had such a bad experience at so others can avoid applying there? Sounds like it really needs to be looked at by ASHA if it is running some kind of lackluster scam program that isn't training it's students properly!

Thank you! How do you like LLU's program so far? I'm interested in applying next Fall!

Also curious about Northern Arizona University, Portland State Univeristy, and Eastern New Mexico. Any and all reviews are helpful

Hello I'm not sure if this has been addressed somewhere else. But i'm seeing you graduated in a different field from Speech Pathology. Perhaps your area is different but most schools i've looked into need students to complete a post-bacc program. I didn't see that indicated in your summary so i'm sorry if i'm pointing out something you've already done/plan to do. If you plan on doing the post-bacc in person you can ask those professors and if online as the above users state they can also write letter's of rec. That being said even with a Master's in teaching (I could be totally wrong about this) but I think you still have to complete the undergraduate coursework either through a 3 year program that includes the undegrad part (super competitive) or through a post-bacc program before considering Grad school applications. Once again sorry if you arleady have this in the plan or I am wrong and you don't have to for whatever reason but thought i'd mention it just in case nobody had told you. Plus it would make the LOR problem disappear.

Oh one more thing if you have time i've heard of people just taking a random class at a JC for a more personal letter of rec. Perhaps a writing class or liguistics or counseling, communications something where they can get to know you through your academic work and personality. Only a suggestion if the LOR is an area of concern still!

Is SJU St. Johns? Or CSU San Jose? Sorry not familiar with all the abbreviations.

Hi i'm not sure where you are from but I don't recommend applying to California unless you are looking to get in state tuition/have family connections here that you need to stay local for. If you are not from California know that the statistics of getting into school in California are very low. About the 10% range on average. Some schools get 500 appications for 30 spots. If you live out of state apply to other schools with better odds of getting in. It seems like in California you need to have some kind of connection to their program or have a Professor that writes your letter of rec or know someone at that school. I don't want to discourage you but California is crazy competitive. Other states may be a bit more relaxed! Good luck!

I'd say ask your distance learning Professors if it seemed like they were on top of things and your grades were high in their classes and you feel you did good work. I think since you've mentioned you were possibly perceived as 'unprofessional' I would personally avoid anyone who may have a negative impression of you. It's great that you have things turned around but if you don't have a close personal relationship with them I would avoid asking. The showing up late/assignments probably would impact your letter of recommendation negatively because they would feel obligated as a professional to report that to schools you are applying to. I have been told that distance learning professors can and do write letter's of recommendation so i'd try and connect with one of them. Perhaps be conscious of sending them really professional emails and if the opportunity arises figure out ways to help them get to know you even through email. I think it seems like you've dabbled in a lot of great areas to show that you are interested. I would advise that you find some kind of volunteer experience that is regularly scheduled. Just showing you do something every week is going to show rather then tell them that you have turned around your life and are reliable and commited to pursuing this field. Try and volunteer somewhere related to the population you are interested in working with. I'm not up to date on GRE stats as i've not taken it myself yet but i'd go onto ASHA and look up the schools you want to apply to in order to find answers on if your gpa and gre stats are competitive. Hope this advice helps, i'm not in Grad school myself but think some of this might be of use! Goodluck with everything!

Does anyone that has been or is currently going to Loma Linda have information on how potentially going out of state for the last 2 quarters works? I've emailed and been told you may go out of state not to another University but to a hospital or school to do your fulltime clinical stuff for 2 quarters. I'm mostly curious on what determines the state you go to. What determines if you go because I was told not everyone is sent out of state. And lastly is it difficult to find housing for such a short term lease in potentially non-university cities? If anyone can help me figure these details out i'd love to hear from them!

I was wondering the exact same thing! I know California is much more strict accross the board in terms of what they require to practice in schools for instance. I'm curious what classes or certifications that other states might not have that California requires . It's good to know we can file and do the CFY anywhere, I was also wondering how difficult it is to gather those connections having been gone a couple years in another program. All things to think about!

Oh yup he's right! Sorry for the misinformation!

I think Chapman actually takes 2 years...I could be wrong but I know they only offer their classes on weekends so that greatly extends the length of the program. So by accelerated I believe they are referring to the rate of classes I think your class periods are shorter for each class to accommodate taking perhaps 2 a cycle? I'm not there so not positive but I do think they are 2 years. Hope that helps you make your decision!

Hey Chandru1 I sent you a message with the details! It was long! If anyone else has specific questions about it i'll send a message as well! And I'd love to hear about SJSU as well if anyone has information! Looks like a cool school!

Wow everybody thank you for all the great advice! Keep it coming

P.S-I am brand new here I clicked a red tab to see what it did and apparently have given myself a thumbs down is there anyway to take that back ? Thanks!

Hey everybody, I was interested in hearing about any stand out graduate programs people have been to or inside information either from firsthand experiences or through close friends reports. Any good, bad, ugly or fantastic California experiences at any schools, I would love to hear about so I can filter my list out. I'm also interested in University of Nevada Reno. The majority of my applications will be in competitive California, due to being scared of out of state tuition fees and a few other reasons. But, if anyone has had a fantastic experience going out of state and not having outrageous out-of-state tuition fees or great financial support programs I'd love to hear those experiences as well! I'm asking for firsthand experiences because my post-back program was really talked up, but now that I am here find it to feel a little impersonal and unorganized in terms of giving students information or offering support. Classmates are very nice however. I am brand new at this program so things could change but never hurts to get those firsthand reviews! I'd like to go to a Graduate program that cares about their students and cares about a little more than a students money or statistics.