wcslp

Before you commit to this, I would make absolutely sure, ABOVE ALL, that you shadow actual SLPs in a variety of settings (public schools, SNFs, hospitals, private practice, home health, etc) for a multitude of hours. It's better to know for sure before you take the leap and end up regretting it halfway. Many people in college will end up changing their majors several times before they finish. I encourage you to make sure you do your research and know for a fact that this is what you want, because if you change your mind partway in, you will lose both money and time.

I think my original point is being slightly misinterpreted. I believe that if SLP is all you've ever wanted to do in life and you've responsibly looked at other avenues of financial aid (assistantships, choosing the cheaper school (which in no way correlates to lower quality), etc), then there may be no other choice than to take out loans. However, all I'm saying is that prospective students SHOULD consider that six figures of loans is in no way reasonable. Impressionable students may come to believe that this is the norm and no big deal. That amount is basically like having a second mortgage before you've even graduated, and I honestly think that a lot of people underestimate how much of an impact it can have on your quality of life. My only goal here is to encourage others to research, research, research and think of the future. I agree mostly with what is being reiterated here; I think my main pickle is with classifying six figures of loans as reasonable (i.e., normal and not a big deal), which... let's be real, that is in no way reasonable.

I appreciate the generosity, but I don't think it's fair to post the actual questions asked on the interview here... I've attended nearly a dozen interviews when I was applying, and we were always told not to tell other applicants the questions. This is particularly because many schools will have multiple rounds of interviews, not just 1 and done. That just makes it grossly unfair for the students who went in blind. Even if you yourself are okay with making it easier for the competition, the students that interviewed blindly with you on the first round might not (and probably won't be) cool with that. A big part of interviews are assessing personality. Someone who knows the questions beforehand are going to be MUCH more relaxed and confident than someone going in blind. This makes a stark difference for the people interviewing you, and gives the informed applicants a huge leg up on the competition. Not trying to antagonize anyone here, just my 2 cents on keeping it fair.

Agree with this. So many people underestimate the reality of salaries in this field. I just came from a thread advocating taking out 6 figure loans for this degree. I worry for younger students who may not be aware of the impact of such things. I know many classmates making 50-60k their 5th year out of school, but have over 100k in loans. I just wish someone had been there to advise them. This field is not, and will never be, a "get rich quick" field.

Sorry, I'm gonna have to be the downer in this thread. Having gone through grad school already, I just want to say that anything nearing six figures is a ridiculous amount of money for this field... I understand it's your passion and your dream and so on, but so many young people underestimate the impact loans can have on your future. It's a general rule of thumb that you don't want to take out more loans than what you expect to make your first year out... and let me say that I do not know ANY SLPs who started out even remotely close to a six figure salary, and I live in one of the most expensive locations in California! You can try to bank on PSLF, but imo, putting all your eggs into one basket can be dangerous, especially when PSLF might not even be a thing in the future anymore. SLP is a great degree and I love the field as well, but please put some more thought into taking out tremendous amounts of loans. It is a crippling feeling to be shackled by such absurd amounts. Congratulations to you all for getting accepted into school, but realize that at the end of the day, your degree is your degree. Rankings and such don't really matter in this field. "$90,000 is reasonable to have for student loans." I am sorry, but I absolutely CANNOT condone this, AT ALL. In what world is 90 THOUSAND dollars reasonable to have for student loans? That is an INSANE amount of money!!! Few people realize how disastrous this will prove in the future. Think about it; you are nearing physician levels of debt at that amount! Take a look at a few of these threads to see what established SLPs have to say. You can see that a six figure loan is definitely, absolutely, no-way-in-hell a "reasonable" amount.

It is very very very rare to make 70k out of school, unless you are in a high COL area imo. 50k seems to be average to above average (unless you are medical, which pays slightly more but is very difficult to break into full time). In CA, even with its insane COL, I have found most districts to start around 40-50k. I have heard numbers as low as 30k for other states. This is often because SLPs are placed on the same salary schedule as a regular school teacher and are compensated as such. You can look up the salary schedules for any districts you are interested in. They should all be posted online.

The way I've seen a lot of schools do it is that they'll receive all the applications, and then toss out those that don't meet the requirements, are missing critical components, or are just way off base. That only comprises a tiny percentage of all applications received. The vast majority would then be filtered for whatever the committee is searching for in an applicant. In my experience, if a school tells you your scores are acceptable, that just means you're in the running, not that you have a guaranteed (or even likely) chance of admission. For instance, my program had hundreds of applicants AFTER they already tossed out the applications they deemed unfit. Most of the ones remaining all had similar "good" scores, but you still had to compete with the remaining 600 or so. I think it's more helpful to really research a school and ask what THEY are looking for in a student, what they want to see, instead of asking if your scores fit within their range. So to answer your question, getting the scores but not getting in. Honestly, at this point, I assume most applicants to SLP grad programs have at least 50th percentile GREs and mid 3.0 GPAs.

Anecdotal, of course, but I know many many many people who have failed to get into a program and have switched careers as a result. Note that I am located in California, and things are much more competitive here, so that may play a factor as well. In undergrad, our graduating cohort had maybe 70 people, and we were all quite close. Maybe 15 of them (myself included) were accepted into our school's grad program. Surprisingly, only a handful were accepted into other programs in state, but I have heard numerous times that California's programs heavily favor their own undergrads, so that may be why. The rest of my cohort did not get into any schools here, and after the second year, maybe a dozen or so chose to go out of state. Of the remaining students, they have tried year after year to get accepted, applying to the same schools over and over again without luck. Many of them have now switched careers (it's been about 5 years since). I know most of them went into teaching, a good chunk went to nursing school, some are still holding out luck applying, and the rest are doing unrelated things (two girls actually opened up unrelated Etsy shops). This has actually been the norm among my peer groups here. I'm friends with many girls who were rejected several times, but still constantly told "Don't give up on your dreams. If you want it bad enough you can do it.", etc. Which, don't get me wrong, I agree that if it's your passion, then you should pursue it. But many times, in my experience, these ladies are playing a losing game. I can't imagine the amount of money they've put into this, and now even more money to switch careers, and years of time wasted. These ladies are absolutely brilliant, but it's a numbers game at this point. I truly empathize with people in this situation, but I absolutely think it's important to understand when to move on and to be realistic about yourself. Sorry about rambling!

I'm not sure if other current applicants would be willing to let you read their letters because they are supposed to be demonstrating why you stand out as an individual. It would probably be better to write a draft and have your supervisor or someone read over it and offer you some suggestions. Alternatively, you can ask someone on these forums or other SLP help forums to read over your paper and give you some advice. What exactly are you stuck on? Some programs have specific criterion/prompts they want you to write about; most typically just want you to explain why SLP and why you. It will be tough if you did not make a connection with professors because a lot of schools want at least 2 letters from academic sources (at least on the west coast). You don't want to risk asking a professor who does not know you to write a letter and have it say negative things. Your supervisor is a good, relevant source. Check with the programs you are applying to and see whether they require academic letters or general letters. There are also some programs out there that don't require any LOR at all, but you will have to search for these and they aren't the norm. Not to scare you, but I assume you are applying this cycle. Most program deadlines are December/January. If you want feedback on your letter of intent, I suggest you get started on it ASAP so whoever reads over it has enough time to do so. Same with asking for letters of rec. If you are going to reach out to any professors, you should do so immediately. I emailed all of my potential writers in early September as most of them are swamped with letter requests in the later months and will likely turn you down if you email them last minute.

From the west coast, and most interviews are typically in mid-late March. Some schools may do late February, but this is very rare imo. Several do them as late as April, but I would say the majority are in March. They usually notify you a week to two weeks prior and are held on weekdays (usually a Friday when campus is less crowded. I've never had an interview on a weekend before). You're usually there for two hours or so. The worst part is waiting for a reply. I've had schools that interview mid-March but don't get back to you until June. Most will try to shoot for late April-May.

Thank you for this post. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of prospective students (not solely on here) ask if they have a chance of getting accepted with what are objectively quite low scores, and then a slew of people telling them to follow their dreams, and that they know someone who knows someone who got in with xx score. I can't stress enough that it is SO IMPORTANT to be realistic during the application process. I do not want to crush anyone's dreams, but I think it's important that younger students are realistic about the path they're taking. I've seen so many fresh out of college graduates applying to 10-15 programs and willing to take out over six figures in loans for an SLP degree while they barely have a 3.0 GPA. Alternatively, I've known colleagues who are in their fourth, fifth years of applying, and now that they're moving on, they've realized they've wasted so many years and an obscene amount of money on applications when they had a very unrealistic chance of getting in. My intent is not to be harsh with you, OP, but I absolutely, definitely would not apply this year. The MINIMUM cut off for average GRE scores is often 150. The minimum commonly cited GPA is a 3.5 (and this is considered on the low end). CSUF is a very, very competitive program. Even if you managed to bring your GRE scores up by 25 points, I'd still say you have an extremely unrealistic chance of getting into their program. They commonly turn away students with 3.8+ GPAs. You asked for complete honesty in your post, and my honest opinion is that it is highly unlikely you will get into any of those programs. I know you can't change your GPA. Consider a post bacc, if possible. Or you will need to score well on the GREs (not just 150s, in the mid-high 160s) to offset your GPA. You don't have very relevant experiences at this time either; you are still in the process of securing shadowing opportunities. In addition, you likely won't have your grades from your prereqs finalized in time to submit. Applications typically run 100-200$, and it is a very stressful process. You have a slim chance in the field, but it will be an uphill battle for you. You will need to ace the GREs, consider relocating to more remote states, and possibly complete a post bacc. I wish you the best, truly, but please understand that if you can't get into SLP, there are dozens of other helping professions out there that may suit your needs better and that you can get started on right away.

Agree 200%. I know everyone wants encouragement, but you're only hurting applicants if you sugar coat everything and not help them see the reality. I have known many, many colleagues that spent years getting into grad school only to end up in debt, broke, and with nothing to show on their resume. I empathize with your personal circumstances; I went through a lot during school. But four Cs is quite a lot. If you absolutely want to become an SLP and understand that it will probably take you more than one application cycle and a lot of $$$, then my best advice is to scour these boards to find schools that accept those with much lower GPAs. Retake the GRE as many times as you can. A 150 on each is not going to cut it for your situation. You're going to want at least a 160 range to show that your GPA is just a fluke. I'm sure someone will come in and tell you that hey, don't worry, I got into X school with X GPA, you'll be fine. BE REALISTIC. Have a back up plan or two ready to go in case this doesn't work out. I truly, truly wish you the best of luck. I just do not want to see another young person end up at a dead end because people kept telling them everything will be fine

Hello, I am also located in Southern California. Applied several years ago and got into most schools; if you have any questions about the process, feel free to ask. One thing to consider is that programs in this state, ESPECIALLY since you are in SoCal are extremely, extremely competitive. One of my programs had over 600 applicants for 23 spots. California CSU schools are also known to heavily favor their own undergrads, and private schools here are very expensive, especially if you don't have a place to stay. I also have my SLPA license, and I don't regret it at all. California actually employs a good number of SLPAs, so this is a worthwhile option. Since you say that there are only 2 schools near you, I would definitely do a post bacc and get perfect grades or look outside of state. Most of my classmates with 4.0s, etc usually end up applying to 6+ schools, including out of states, just because it is so competitive here. Another thing, to echo what Crimson Wife said, I think you should really take some time and consider the field before putting all of your eggs into one basket. Do you have any experience with SLP at all? You said you heard about it from your psychology professor (who, not to be harsh, probably doesn't have a very thorough grasp of SLP) and that you can see yourself working with young kids/teenagers in a school setting. I would highly, highly suggest that you shadow an SLP before jumping headfirst into the field. In addition, not trying to sway you from this path, but there are many other professionals that work with those populations in the school setting that you may enjoy doing more. I only stress that you take a lot of time to consider this field because I have known many individuals who jumped head first into a post bacc, not knowing what SLP was really like, dropping out, or not getting into any graduate programs in California. I find it kind of worrisome that everyone is telling you what to do here when you haven't even really gotten enough experience to decide if this is what you truly want. Post bacc will cost money, grad school will cost money -- graduate students rarely get financial aid; most of us end up taking loans. This is something else to consider if you're not really sure about the field yet; consider that most SLPs will average 50-60k salaries in the school setting, so you don't want to come out with 100k worth of loans. Just trying to be realistic here. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do.

Agree with Crimson Wife. Of course people are going to tell you that you will be perfectly fine and that they got in with this score and that score, but at the end of the day, you are trying to put out the best application you can, and if you know that one school lists their GRE range as higher than yours, then I think you should try and retake it or add another less selective school to your list. It's important to understand that there will always be people who got in with lower scores, but they might have extraordinary circumstances, and they are NOT the norm. Not trying to disparage anyone here, but I think the best advice for future and current applicants is to put out the best of what you can offer. If you know that your stats are not within the accepted range and that you can do better, then do it! Don't gamble your acceptance on the fact that someone somewhere got in with lower scores when you already know what the stats range is. Admissions can seem really arbitrary and random; students with great scores don't always get in, and students with lower scores don't always get rejected. Definitely true, but it's only logical that you will have a better chance IF you have higher scores.

Great advice in this thread. If you absolutely must get into your undergrad program, I would suggest that you present a very friendly/cooperative front when interacting with classmates. Not many people seem to address this, but, for instance, schools on the west coast primarily accept their own undergrads (typically) as opposed to those from different programs or out of state students. Many, many admissions committees have told me that after looking at all of your scores and grades, the main thing they want to see is how friendly your personality is and how well you would mesh with a cohort. Students who were more cooperative, friendly, and helpful to their classmates were (in my experience) often accepted over students who were standoffish, quiet, and isolating, even if their scores were equal. I'm a big introvert too, trust me, and when I was applying, my advisers/professors all told me that I had great stats, experiences, etc, but that they worried about admitting me because I was far too reserved and not as social as my classmates. This is a concern because child language clinics in grad school require you to be very cheerful and upbeat, constantly bubbly. I got a LOT of negative feedback at first because of how quiet I appeared, but I've since learned to fake it and haven't received negative criticism since. So, even if it's difficult (for me, at least), I would urge you to "fake it till you make it", if only for admissions/grad school.