Grad School Application Advice

[SLPA2021]

Hi everyone!

I'm currently an undergraduate SLP major and I will apply to grad schools in California in the Fall. I took the GRE recently and received such low scores. On my practice tests I would get anywhere from 150-160 on both V & Q. However, I got 147 V & 148 Q on the actual test, still waiting for my writing score. I have a 3.85 cumulative GPA, 4.0 in the major. I have worked in city recreation planning programs for teens of all abilities for the last 3 years (some had autism, hearing aids, ADHD). I have also worked as substitute special education instructional assistant in elementary school for about a year and a half. I was a student research assistant for a geriatric resource center on my campus for about 8 months, and am currently volunteering as a research assistant for a graduate clinician's research project within the SLP department. Apart from this, I volunteered as a translator at the speech clinic on campus for a semester until COVID. I am bilingual in Spanish. I've been part of NSSLHA for 2 years and held a very minor leadership position the first year I joined. I also volunteered at a private speech clinic and local children's hospital for a year. I've received 2 minor scholarships as well. I'm basically spilling out my resume to you all to ask whether or not I have a chance getting accepted to CSU's in California. I'm aware my GRE scores are super low, but I sent them to my schools out of impulse anyway and I'm regretting it! Should I retake it and send my scores if they end up being higher, or would you think that would make me look bad? Thanks for any insight

[slpforme]

Your GPA and experience are excellent and being bilingual is real advantage. Not sure which CSU's are on your list but Fresno has waived the GRE requirement for this cycle and Fullerton does not require it. I have not seen other CSU's waive the GRE yet but we should know more over the next month. With that said, since you were scoring much higher with your practice tests, I would definitely retake the GRE. I'm retaking it tomorrow - also applying to CSU's with similar grades but strong GRE scores can help especially with SDSU, CSULB, etc. Both SDSU and CSULB take your best subscores across multiple test dates so if you improve definitely resend. Good luck your app looks strong!

[Futureslp90]

After just applying to 7 CSU's this past round of applications, I think you are looking great! You have a lot of experience and other aspects to be considered a great candidate.  I had similar scores as you, maybe slightly lower and this was not a deciding factor to whether I got in or not.  Message me if you have more questions! Good luck!