Unsure where to begin in starting my SLP journey

[Josieok]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am interested in a career in SLP but, I don't know how to decided which schools are the best fit for me or how and where I go to take the prerequisites necessary for the programs (I am going back to school after several years, I have a BA in Psychology so this career change is huge for me). I guess I am looking for advice on the best ways to start this career journey given my current situation.

 

Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!  

[JennSed]

11 hours ago, Josieok said:

Hello Everyone,

 

I am interested in a career in SLP but, I don't know how to decided which schools are the best fit for me or how and where I go to take the prerequisites necessary for the programs (I am going back to school after several years, I have a BA in Psychology so this career change is huge for me). I guess I am looking for advice on the best ways to start this career journey given my current situation.

 

Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!  

Hi! I also have my BA in psychology and am just applying to start SLP in September. I would say you could reach out to some SLPs in your area to get some volunteer experience so that you know what you're getting into and have a better idea of what to expect if you don't already, and that would give you good experience to put on your applications too to make you stand out from others! It also depends where you want to go to school or where you live! I'm in Canada so there's not too many options to choose from which makes it pretty easy to narrow down. You can even start by searching "speech-language pathology in [state]" to see which schools offer it in whichever states you were interested in. From there, each school has their own perquisites. Some schools don't require anything at all, while some have specific courses you need to have taken and even certain grades in each of those courses. Start by making a list of the prerequisites and see if there are any schools you can already fulfill or are just short by a couple classes. Then you can research where to take them, perhaps online through distance learning or somewhere in your area. It's hard to answer this question as it depends so much on which schools you are interested in!

[Josieok]

On 1/14/2020 at 8:54 PM, JennSed said:

Hi! I also have my BA in psychology and am just applying to start SLP in September. I would say you could reach out to some SLPs in your area to get some volunteer experience so that you know what you're getting into and have a better idea of what to expect if you don't already, and that would give you good experience to put on your applications too to make you stand out from others! It also depends where you want to go to school or where you live! I'm in Canada so there's not too many options to choose from which makes it pretty easy to narrow down. You can even start by searching "speech-language pathology in [state]" to see which schools offer it in whichever states you were interested in. From there, each school has their own perquisites. Some schools don't require anything at all, while some have specific courses you need to have taken and even certain grades in each of those courses. Start by making a list of the prerequisites and see if there are any schools you can already fulfill or are just short by a couple classes. Then you can research where to take them, perhaps online through distance learning or somewhere in your area. It's hard to answer this question as it depends so much on which schools you are interested in!

Hello JennSed!

Sorry for the uber late reply! Thanks so much for taking the time to provide a response to these questions. I think there is a lot of wonderful advice you offered! In fact, I have already taken some steps to connect with SLPs in my area and conduct informational interview (since I can't conduct volunteer work at this time). However, I am at a crossroads with whether I should just complete the required courses through a leveling program or get a second BA in SLP before applying to the MA/MS program. With the leveling program, I would have to pay upfront as financial aid isn't a factor. I might also have to take more classes than I need to fulfill the requirements of the various master's programs I am looking into. However, with a 2nd BA, I don't think I would have that issue as the prereq requirements would already be satisfied. Also, the BA program would qualify for financial aid and can be used to bolster my cumulative GPA (leveling programs don't do this). I'm just not sure which way I should go with this in respect to the time it will take to complete these requirements and the financial obligation it imposes.