Physics or Chemistry?

[NYorker]

Hi Everyone

I am trying to make a decision whether to take Physics or Chemistry as my ASHA pre-requite. Any idea which is more relevant to speech pathology? I would rather choose the option that is going to help more in a graduate degree/future career.  Thanks.

I have heard that Chemistry is probably easier than Physics so am inclined to take that but also want to make sure it's the more useful of the two options. Thanks.

[bibliophile222]

I don't know how much either of them is really going to help you in your career. Speech science has physics components (sound waves and how they react in different sizes of resonant chambers) but the formulas weren't too hard and there wasn't that much math. I took it without having had physics first and I didn't feel disadvantaged. Neuro also has chemistry components (neurotransmitters, sodium, etc) but again, not too challenging in my opinion. None of my grad courses have contained any chem or physics, just some basic statistics concepts.

I would personally just go with whichever one seems easier to you. I plan on taking chemistry this semester because the physics math sounds tougher (in my prospective courses at least, it may be different depending on the course description).

[slpsalaz]

49 minutes ago, NYorker said:

Hi Everyone

I am trying to make a decision whether to take Physics or Chemistry as my ASHA pre-requite. Any idea which is more relevant to speech pathology? I would rather choose the option that is going to help more in a graduate degree/future career.  Thanks.

I have heard that Chemistry is probably easier than Physics so am inclined to take that but also want to make sure it's the more useful of the two options. Thanks.

I am taking a physics course online through a community college, and it is more conceptual. As someone who struggles with mathematics, I find the formulae used in the course thus far to be relatively straight-forward. I also feel that physics is helpful in solidifying the information I learned in my speech science class, such as properties of sound and behavior of sound waves. 

[Aspire_to_Be]

I probably lean toward physics more. Well, I’m actually taking physics (of musical sound) right now and it isn’t too bad. It isn’t meant to be a full-on physics course so there aren’t any calculations to make. It’s straight up concepts and logic. For exams, it’s based on homework (practice) questions and explaining the concept/idea.

As it was said before also, physics (of sound particularly) is super related to our field. If you’ve taken a speech/hearing science course or will be taking one soon, it’ll be quite simplified when you’re dealing with sound waves and related material.

[LaceySpeechie]

Seconding what @bibliophile222 said, I don't think either are going to be extremely relevant. I took a intro, non-major physics course through my uni that was something like "Exploring Physics" or whatever. I'd take something that's low-level, specifically for non-majors, that you think you can do well in.

[Rezzy S.]

2 hours ago, NYorker said:

Hi Everyone

I am trying to make a decision whether to take Physics or Chemistry as my ASHA pre-requite. Any idea which is more relevant to speech pathology? I would rather choose the option that is going to help more in a graduate degree/future career.  Thanks.

I have heard that Chemistry is probably easier than Physics so am inclined to take that but also want to make sure it's the more useful of the two options. Thanks.

Just from my undergrad courses, I would guess physics. A lot of what we learn about respiration and the Bernoulli Effect is all physics. I would take a look at the pre-reqs of both to make sure you qualify to take each one and to gauge how difficult they are. For example, at my CC/JC chemistry required college algebra and physics required calculus. My chemistry class, condensed over the summer, was probably the hardest class I've ever taken, but a lot of that was because the version for non-majors filled up before I could get a spot, so pay attention to that as well.

[NYorker]

1 hour ago, Aspire_to_Be said:

I probably lean toward physics more. Well, I’m actually taking physics (of musical sound) right now and it isn’t too bad. It isn’t meant to be a full-on physics course so there aren’t any calculations to make. It’s straight up concepts and logic. For exams, it’s based on homework (practice) questions and explaining the concept/idea.

As it was said before also, physics (of sound particularly) is super related to our field. If you’ve taken a speech/hearing science course or will be taking one soon, it’ll be quite simplified when you’re dealing with sound waves and related material.

That sounds great. I checked out what Physics of sound entails and it looks more relevant than anything else. I wonder if there are any ONLINE universities/community colleges offering it as I can't find anything around my city.

[MIslp]

I would definitely recommend taking chemistry!!! Physics is incredibly hard if it doesn't come to you right away, and you don't want to be worrying about a pre-requisite more than your actual SLP classes. Like another person said, there are some physics components in the more hearing-related classes as well as the speech science class, but I don't think you need an entire physics class in order to succeed in the class. 

[Ali_Irene13]

15 hours ago, Aspire_to_Be said:

I probably lean toward physics more. Well, I’m actually taking physics (of musical sound) right now and it isn’t too bad. It isn’t meant to be a full-on physics course so there aren’t any calculations to make. It’s straight up concepts and logic. For exams, it’s based on homework (practice) questions and explaining the concept/idea.

As it was said before also, physics (of sound particularly) is super related to our field. If you’ve taken a speech/hearing science course or will be taking one soon, it’ll be quite simplified when you’re dealing with sound waves and related material.

At CSU Northridge they had a class like this that I took called "Physics of Music". Plus the one I took was online through my undergrad as a requirement. I loved this course! @NYorker If you can find a physics of sound or music course it would be very beneficial in our field. 

[NYorker]

8 hours ago, Ali_Irene13 said:

At CSU Northridge they had a class like this that I took called "Physics of Music". Plus the one I took was online through my undergrad as a requirement. I loved this course! @NYorker If you can find a physics of sound or music course it would be very beneficial in our field. 

That looks great - it looks like their current courses are full but I'll call them up and ask more about when the next session starts. Thank you....and to everyone else who replied.

[SLaurP]

Such a helpful/relevant thread for me right now -- thanks! 

[Kelsey207]

Are there any other options that quality as a physical science or are there only two?

[curiouslp]

8 minutes ago, Kelsey207 said:

Are there any other options that quality as a physical science or are there only two?

According to ASHA: "Beginning January 1, 2020: applicants' coursework in physical science must include content in either physics or chemistry."

[Kelsey207]

Okay it looks like that is all that you can take before 2020 that would fulfill that requirement also

Edited March 21, 2019 by Kelsey207

[bibliophile222]

1 minute ago, Kelsey207 said:

Thanks. Since it is 2019, what does that mean now?

It's for everyone who is applying for their CCCs after 2019. I started grad school in the fall and this unfortunately still applies to me--my program was going to let me use an astronomy course but now I have to do a summer course. Bleh.

[Blossom19]

My situation was that I took two physical science GEs in college, but when i emailed a graduate program advisor for a school i was interested in, one of my classes didn't have enough chemistry content =( i also assumed astronomy didn't work since some programs explicitly state that astronomy doesn't count

I personally enjoy chemistry more than physics, so I was originally looking for a chemistry course at local community colleges, but then I found a really easy physics course! What I mean by "really easy" is that it's a tier below your typical introductory physics course (called survey of physics). That said, try to take the least demanding physics or chemistry course you can find, but also factor in which one you'd understand more easily! You definitely don't need to take a class that has a high-level math class as a prerequisite.  I suppose taking physics would help you understand sound waves,  but I don't think it would give you a major edge.

as long as the course content matches what's written here, that class should be approved! but try to send course syllabi over to someone in the department to double check
https://www.asha.org/certification/course-content-areas-for-slp-standards/

Edited March 21, 2019 by Blossom19