Colorado Odds/Unrelated Major

[lexim22]

Hi there! 

I am new to this site, and new to pursuing a career in speech pathology. I originally wanted to go to PA school and after some soul searching I landed on slp grad school, and I couldn't be more excited! I'm looking for anyone who has experience going to school in Co (UNC or CU Boulder). I am graduating from CU Boulder with a degree in ecology and environmental bio this winter, but I have taken a wide variety of courses in anatomy, physiology, cell biology, psychology, human development and social sciences. I have not taken any speech science classes. I know CU has a three year program in which you can complete pre reqs through them. I have a 3.4 GPA, 100+ hours of volunteer work in related fields and 20 hours of shadowing SLPs as well as a GRE in the 305 range. Is coming from a completely unrelated major going to wreck me? Does anyone have experience with the three year program? I know applying to only these schools cuts my chances greatly, but I pretty much need to stay in Colorado. If I don't get in this cycle, will going back to school to get all of the pre reqs and perhaps working in the field give me a better chance to get into the two year program next cycle? Sorry in advance for my naivety, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!! TYIA

[VS-SLP2B]

On 6/29/2019 at 11:56 PM, lexim22 said:

Hi there! 

I am new to this site, and new to pursuing a career in speech pathology. I originally wanted to go to PA school and after some soul searching I landed on slp grad school, and I couldn't be more excited! I'm looking for anyone who has experience going to school in Co (UNC or CU Boulder). I am graduating from CU Boulder with a degree in ecology and environmental bio this winter, but I have taken a wide variety of courses in anatomy, physiology, cell biology, psychology, human development and social sciences. I have not taken any speech science classes. I know CU has a three year program in which you can complete pre reqs through them. I have a 3.4 GPA, 100+ hours of volunteer work in related fields and 20 hours of shadowing SLPs as well as a GRE in the 305 range. Is coming from a completely unrelated major going to wreck me? Does anyone have experience with the three year program? I know applying to only these schools cuts my chances greatly, but I pretty much need to stay in Colorado. If I don't get in this cycle, will going back to school to get all of the pre reqs and perhaps working in the field give me a better chance to get into the two year program next cycle? Sorry in advance for my naivety, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!! TYIA

Welcome! 

I don’t have any experience with CO schools however I thought I’d reassure you by answering some of your questions. 

Coming from an unrelated major won’t wreck you. There have been people who switched careers after obtaining their undergrad and have still gotten in so don’t let that discourage you. You have a good GPA and GRE score. It’s about average for this field but I believe it still offers you a good chance for grad school. If you weren’t aware of the ASHA Edfind site, it lists all the schools undergrad, masters, audiology etc. in the US. They offer statistics in terms of GPA range of those offered admission, average GRE score and a bunch of other useful information. 

Your GPA falls in this range for both schools so you have a comfortable cushion. I think your volunteer work and shadowing experience will really help when you apply and if you put this in your LOI it can really help your chances. 

Your backup plan should you not get in is good. Taking the pre reqs to get them out of the way and finding a job in the field/related to the major will add more experience and beef up your application. If you’re able to get all the pre reqs needed you should be able to get into the two year program. 

Also, as an FYI, our field requires a minimum of 25 observation hours that are actually different from shadowing an SLP. If you weren’t aware of this before, I would look into the requirements of this on UNC and CU Boulder’s websites.  

I hope some of this information helps you!