Does anyone have any experience in Online Post Bacc Programs?

[MrsRobbxDrogo]

Hello,   

I just graduated with a Bachelors in Public Health and for my next step I want to pursue my masters in SLP. I've been researching my options and since I have an unrelated major, I know that I have to obtain a post-baccalaureate certificate. 

I live in Southern California so I've been looking into programs close to home, specifically the CSULA pre-SLP program and the CSUN Tseng College Online pre-SLP program.

Has anyone gotten their pre-SLP certificate from these schools? How was the experience during the course and in getting into a grad program?

I've also been looking into online post-bacc programs (ex: La Salle,  Utah State,  Wyoming) Call me old fashioned, but I've never taken college courses online, and it seems a little bit iffy/less credible/harder for grad schools to take seriously (these are just my fears, not looking down on anyone who took the online route!), so I am just wondering if that was really the case?

I hope someone can answer any of my questions, any insight will be appreciated! thank you so much

sincerely, 

a confused and (very recent) college grad ? 

Edited January 18, 2019 by MrsRobbxDrogo

[bibliophile222]

Hi! I got my bachelors and post-bacc online, and I would definitely not be worried about taking an online post-bacc if I were you. For one thing, colleges typically can't tell that it was from an online program if you take it from a school that has a physical campus. Some colleges may still be hoity-toity about accepting people with online B. A.s, but online CSD post-baccs are pretty common now. I got my post-bacc through Pacific University. I enjoyed it and found it to be as challenging and informative as an in-person program.

[Southwestspeechie]

Have you thought about 3-year masters programs too? That's what I am doing and I absolutely love it. You enter as a graduate student but take some undergraduate level prerequisites your first year, then go into the normal two year program. 

I  understand if that's not something you'd be interested in, but just thought I'd mention it as some people aren't aware they exist  

If you have any more questions, let me know!  

[slporbust2016]

I did a second BS in Communication Disorders through Utah State. No one knows they're online classes unless you tell them that. It's not like it's stamped on your degree. I'm also just about to finish my MS through University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's distance program, so I'm probably coming from a different place than you are about online programs. 

 

[SoCali]

On 1/18/2019 at 11:26 AM, Southwestspeechie said:

Have you thought about 3-year masters programs too? That's what I am doing and I absolutely love it. You enter as a graduate student but take some undergraduate level prerequisites your first year, then go into the normal two year program. 

I  understand if that's not something you'd be interested in, but just thought I'd mention it as some people aren't as aware they exist  

If you have any more questions, let me know!  

I am considering this route. What year are you?     Which school are you attending? 

[SoCali]

On 1/18/2019 at 7:07 AM, bibliophile222 said:

Hi! I got my bachelors and post-bacc online, and I would definitely not be worried about taking an online post-bacc if I were you. For one thing, colleges typically can't tell that it was from an online program if you take it from a school that has a physical campus. Some colleges may still be hoity-toity about accepting people with online B. A.s, but online CSD post-baccs are pretty common now. I got my post-bacc through Pacific University. I enjoyed it and found it to be as challenging and informative as an in-person program.

Did you take speech and hearing A&P at Pacific?

[Southwestspeechie]

1 hour ago, SoCali said:

I am considering this route. What year are you?     Which school are you attending? 

PM'd you! 

[bibliophile222]

2 hours ago, SoCali said:

Did you take speech and hearing A&P at Pacific?

Yep! I responded on your other post.

[rosejoy]

I'm currently taking post-bacc classes with SDSU's SLP Prep Program. It's online and it's like 8-9 classes total. You don't have to apply or anything, you just pay for the class. It doesn't give you a certificate, but it seems in the application process, schools haven't asked for a certificate or anything like that, they just want to see transcript evidence that the classes were taken.

I've been pretty satisfied with it so far, since it's just one year while other programs take 2 years. However, if you want to apply to some schools like CSULA or Northridge, they require way more units and SDSU's program won't be enough. I think SDSU's program offers 29 units.

[CaidanFire]

HI,

To the OP. I completed my undergrad online at Utah State. The courses and teachers were top notch and every bit as rigorous as on campus classes. I applied to 5 grad programs and got excepted into all 5. I even told them all in my SOP that my BS was online. They are well aware of that online program and didnt have any problem with it. Most grad programs are aware of the various online post bach and bach programs for slp. I honestly dont know of anyone who has been rejected solely because their degree was earned online.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

[@speechie]

I did a post-bacc online through the University of Vermont and absolutely loved it! I was also nervous about an online program, but I was working full-time and it was the best option for me. The professors were incredibly knowledgeable and engaging, and the courses offered a lot of flexibility. The only downside (for me) was that they didn't offer a course in audiology; as I've been applying to masters programs, I've found a lot of programs on the West Coast require it. 

[Suelli5]

I did a lot of pre-requisite courses with University of Vermont's online program too and, overall, my experience was very good. I had some really amazing professors. I WAS able to take an audiology course over summer quarter through UVM even though it technically wasn't part of their Pre-Master's Track program. And, as a bonus, I got grad credit for it (we were given an option once enrolled)

So a word of caution: Different master's programs require different amounts of prerequisite courses. If you have some grad schools in mind make sure you know what prerequisites they require. The online pre-master's program I participated in didn't offer all of the courses that the grad programs I was interested in required. Luckily, I live near a big public university and was able to take some day time classes to fill in the gaps.

Second, grad programs generally want at least two of your three recommendations to be from professors who've had you recently. When I asked one of my online professors for a recommendation she was happy to give it but cautioned that grad programs often give less weight to letters of references written by online professors because online professors haven't met you in person. I think that's pretty unfair & in my experience I communicated a lot more with two of my online professors than I did with my "IRL" professors. The prerequisites I took as "regular" day-time classes were both lecture classes with over 50 students each, while one of my online classes had about 20 students and two of them had about 12 students each. For those three classes I was in frequent email correspondence with the professors & the professors gave really good individualized feedback on every major assignment. I also did a lot more writing for more of my online classes than I did for my in-seat classes.  

At any rate, despite the fact that two of my three references for grad school were online professors, I was just admitted to a grad program.  It's the first school I've heard back from. I have seven more to hear from. Fingers crossed. It's a relief to know I will be starting a program this fall. Good luck to you!

[berd]

Hi! I did my prereqs online through Longwood University. I won't necessarily say it was the best quality education... mostly multiple choice exams  and pointless discussion board posts BUT... It got me to the programs I wanted to get into at an affordable rate!! So if you are looking to check boxes I would reccomend it

[NewBeginnings86]

Hi, I am in the same situation as MrsRobbxDrogo. I have a BA in a different subject area but looking at different colleges within southern california and riverside county, where i am moving too. Does anyone have any recommendations of the best online colleges that are decently priced? I would greatly appreciate the help. 

[user123]

On 1/22/2019 at 5:20 PM, slporbust2016 said:

I did a second BS in Communication Disorders through Utah State. No one knows they're online classes unless you tell them that. It's not like it's stamped on your degree. I'm also just about to finish my MS through University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's distance program, so I'm probably coming from a different place than you are about online programs. 

 

Hey! I noticed that USU doesn't offer anatomy of speech and hearing and I did see it's a requirement for Wisconsin Eau Clair. Did you take it at a different University?

[Emily L]

Hi, not sure if you're still looking for a program, but I recently completed the online one offered through California State University, San Marcos. Except for the statistics course (the professor of that particular course was very disorganized), I was very satisfied with the quality of the classes, as well as the support from professors. It's a bit odd in that you either have to live in California (or other states where the program is recognized) to attend, and you cannot have completed more than two of their pre-requisites to be placed in the cohort (taking classes individually). So far, out of the master's programs I've applied to, I've been waitlisted at 5 and accepted to 2. The biggest issue I've found so far is that two of the programs I applied to would require me to take a few extra pre-requisites before attending (for example, CSUSM does not offer a course on aural rehabilitation). However, this seems like it could be a common issue, as each grad program can have its own unique requirements. Overall, I was very pleased with the program and would do it again. It's very flexible if you need to work, although I would not suggest working full time if you can afford it. Although the program is online, it is very intense, and is completed in 1 year (including summer classes). You normally take 2-3 courses every 8 weeks (except in the summer, when physics is 5 weeks and two other courses are 10 weeks, and in the fall, when statistics is 16 weeks), so they move much faster than a regular semester-long course.

[Cece93]

I did my post BA at longwood university and I got into a master’s program. No one looked at my courses as though they were less than because it was online. I say look into Eastern New Mexico university because I know they are cheap and offer a lot of courses. When I applied for them they kept saying they didn’t get my transcripts in the mail so I gave up and just did longwood. I like longwood (I’m still doing one class) because they explain everything well and the professors are always willing to help and even do phone calls. They aren’t the most challenging but set the foundation and I actually like the discussion questions because I’m big on real world application plus I like reading scientific papers so. I say pick a nice cheap program and get your courses done and apply to grad school.