RDuck

How many people apply, do you know? I'm starting to consider applying next year and know next to nothing about SLP programs. I can not apply to multiple programs because I am limited geographically. My husband works at Intel in Hillsboro. He has a Ph.D, so he is not very mobile, and we also have a two year old who is receiving special services (ST, PT, OT, and EI) so, right now, I'm really limited to something in or around the Portland area. I graduated with a B.S in Psychology 13 years ago. I have presented at professional conferences and LOVE research. My cumulative undergrad GPA was only 3.62, but part of that was because I started off in music and did terribly. My grades during the last three years of undergrad were much better. I do not have a communication disorders background, so I would have to take all the major-specific pre-reqs, but I'm hoping those should help boost my GPA a bit. I earned the top grade in my undergrad pre-health sciences anatomy and physiology class of 276 students, as well as top grades in neuroanatomy and physiology (neuroscience is kind of my passion), sensation and perception, and cognitive psychology, and I have taken both undergrad and graduate level statistics courses. At the end of undergrad, I applied to and was accepted into doctoral programs in cognitive psychology, but my husband simultaneously applied to and was accepted into several top-tier engineering doctoral programs, and we decided we could neither afford to both be in grad school at the same time nor could handle the stress of attending two different programs in two different parts of the country. So, I took a job substitute teaching for seven years and started working on my alternative certification to teach middle school science while he finished his Ph.D at Georgia Tech. After graduation, my husband decided to take a job here to pay off his student loans. Unfortunately, Oregon would not accept an alternative certification from Iowa, and pretty much any route to k-12 teacher certification in Oregon would have required me to go back for a second bachelors degree. So, I have been a housewife and stay-at-home mom for the past six years since we moved to Oregon, and I honestly hate it. I really want a career, and SLP looks like it might be a good fit considering my age, my career goals, and my academic interests. I am concerned about grad school admission, though. How competitive is this program, anyway? Also, I should mention that I have a borderline moderate/severe bilateral hearling loss that is both genetic and progressive and, although I hardly even notice it now, I have been told that once I reach my 50s (I'm in my late 30s now), and normal age-related hearing loss sets in, I will lose my remaining hearing very quickly, and I worry that this may make any career as an SLP impossible. Am I setting myself up for failure by even wanting to consider the possiblity of pursing an SLP masters at Pacific U?