Crimson Wife

The "red flag" I see is your low GPA compared to your decent GRE scores. If you're smart enough to score in the 90th percentile for verbal GRE, you should really have a much better GPA than 3.07 UG and 3.34 for post-bacc. I don't know you but if you don't have any extenuating circumstances to explain the mediocre grades, my immediate thought is lack of maturity. My recommendation would be to work in a related field for a few years while continuing to take leveling classes (in-person if that is a better fit for your personality) and then trying again.

If you observe someone on their CFY or a grad student extern, the hours will count if you have their supervisor sign off on the sheet. I did some of my observations at a local oral school for the deaf (I want to be an auditory-verbal therapist) that is affiliated with one of the universities. I observed a mix of fully certified SLP's and trainees. For the trainees, I had to make a notation on the observation report that I observed "[Trainee] under the supervision of [Supervisor]". If you look at the ASHA requirements, all it says is that the observation has to be done under the supervision of someone with ASHA certification, not that the clinician being observed has to be fully certified (bolding mine): "The observation and direct client/patient contact hours must be within the ASHA Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology and must be under the supervision of a qualified professional who holds current ASHA certification in the appropriate practice area. Such supervision may occur simultaneously with the student's observation or afterwards through review and approval of written reports or summaries submitted by the student."

There are schools that accept the Miller Analogies Test in lieu of the GRE (no math on the MAT!) There are also schools that do not require the GRE at all.

Bumping.

What about trying the Miller Analogies Test and applying to schools that accept it? No math on the MAT :-)

NYU's online program is new, even though their in-person one is established. They will also have 3 cohorts per year, probably making it not quite as competitive. Very pricey, however!

Utah State looks at cumulative GPA, not just the last 60 credits. Now USU as a whole requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 for the last 60 credits for any grad program, but as ASHA EdFind lists a range of 3.5 to 4.0, you'd need in that range to be competitive for SLP.

I am interested in auditory-verbal therapy for the deaf, which can be done as a SLP or an AudD. I've been leaning towards SLP but life has thrown a potential curveball and I'm considering tossing an application to a specific PhD. in Speech & Hearing Sciences program under a researcher whom I have a total nerd crush on (figuratively speaking, LOL!) To make sure that I would have a job post-graduation, I think I'd want to do the university's joint AuD. with the PhD. What is a competitive GRE score, particularly in the quant section? I only prepped the verbal so I know I could do better on the quant with specific studying.

Play up the bilingualism, especially if you are fluent in Spanish since there is a huge need for Spanish-speaking SLP's. Bilingualism could get you in over monolingual applicants with higher GPA's (since a 3.7 shows that you are capable of handling the courses).

I believe you can store up to 5 letters in CSDCAS and then specify which go to the various schools, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Can you take some CSD electives online? Look through the course offerings at Utah State, Idaho State, Eastern New Mexico, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, etc. and see what things you haven't already taken as part of your undergrad degree. That would be a way of getting current LoR's and hopefully raising your GPA a bit.

Some programs explicitly say they look at the last 60 credits. I would bump those to the top of your target list. I would also recommend enrolling in the easier CSD pre-reqs so that you can have those fall semester grades added to your GPA calculation. Every A you can get now will help off set some lower grade on your transcript.

I would definitely recommend every applicant check what enrollment records the National Student Clearinghouse has on him/her because that is extremely easy for the grad school to check. It is specifically exempt from FERPA because all it verifies is that the student attended a particular college for a particular term, not what those grades were. But if the college is listed and the applicant has NOT sent the transcript to the grad school, that is a definite "red flag" and the AdComm is likely to ask. A transcript with good grades probably would be seen as an oversight but one with poor grades looks like a deliberate hiding. You may not agree with the policy of requiring transcripts for unrelated coursework but telling someone to hide them is bad advice.

I'm finishing up my 4th semester now and have 3 more since I'm going PT and also doing the Deafblindness Intervention certificate (that is 2 courses beyond the 2nd bachelor's). USU offers a number of elective courses related to working with the deaf and if you're looking to boost your GPA, you may want to consider taking some of them. COMD 4780 "Socio-Cultural Aspects of Deafness" would probably be an easy A for you and one that would help you if you decide to apply to Gallaudet.

If you're proficient in ASL and interested in working with deaf kids, contact Gallaudet and see what they advise. They prioritize demonstrated interest in Deaf culture over having tippy-top grades and GRE scores.

I have never used financial aid but the National Student Clearinghouse has a record of my attendance just the same. If the college participates in the Federal Student Loan program, they report on ALL students, not just the ones who receive Federal financial aid. There are over 3,600 participating institutions so it would be pretty unlikely if the OP's college is not one of them.

Most people find Phonetics to be an easy class and it's one that all grad schools are going to require you to complete (either as pre-req or as part of an extended master's). I would imagine that you'd find it easy with an English degree and having already taken linguistics (the linguistics course I took had a module on IPA, though I still had to take a full semester course in Phonetics).

I would focus on getting your GRE scores up and maybe doing some shadowing. I don't get the impression that research matters unless you are aiming for a PhD.

Did Cal Baptist receive ASHA provisional accreditation for their new program? If so, that might be an option that's less competitive than other CA schools.

All schools are going to require Speech & Language Development and Phonetics, so those 2 are good pre-reqs to have under your belt. Most people find those classes fairly easy. A&P of Speech & Hearing is another course that all schools are going to require but it is more challenging if you're already taking chemistry.

Professional writing as a SLP is *NOTHING* like the stupid standardized test writing tasks. I've always scored very well on my lab assignments and observation reports in my CSD courses (which *ARE* very similar to the reports I've received from my daughter's SLP's over the years). But I am only ok at B.S.ing on some inane topic that ETS has devised and expects me to write on in 30-45 minutes. If you look at the writing topic pool, they are things that people might debate at a bar, not things actually relevant to being a good SLP. "The well-being of a society is enhanced when many of its people question authority." What does my opinion or yours or any other applicant's matter with regards to our capability of writing good speech & language reports?

I bit off rather more than I could chew last fall when studying for the GRE (did it the same semester as I took A&P which was not a wise choice). I made the strategic decision to only prep the verbal because I knew that schools weight it far more heavily. I used the Magoosh free app plus the Manhattan Prep 5 lb. book of practice problems. I ended up not being able to get my apps together in time for last cycle. So I'm planning on retaking the GRE, this time prepping for the math & AW to increase my chances of scholarships and the most selective of my target schools.

You might want to take at least a few pre-req classes this fall & next spring just to have more options. There are schools that require having 4-5 pre-reqs completed at the time you enter the program (not when you apply) so that would give you a full year to complete those.

I think you'd need to come up with a more compelling reason to want to transfer than "I don't like the location". It's not "my S.O. got a job transfer" or "my relative got sick and I need to help out my family" or something like that.

Look into SLPA requirements in the states where you are applying to grad school. Some states have way more stringent requirements than others. Out here in CA, you would need your bachelor's in CSD + completion of a formal SLPA training program (1 semester if you start after you finish the bachelor's, longer if you do it concurrently like me). Other states like TX and MA only require the bachelor's + observation hours. Some grad programs are designed for working SLPA's. They typically take longer but the flip side is that you would earn money to pay living expenses and tuition. I'm not sure yet which route I'll go. I should know my fieldwork placement before I have to finalize where I'm applying.