Utah State Online Post-Bach and Acceptance

[caligirl88]

Since I am a Child Development major, I was looking into obtaining my second bachelors from USU's online program. I was wondering if anyone has received their bachelors online and been accepted to any SLP masters programs in California. I am scared that programs I want to apply to won't find an online degree equivalent to receiving a B.A from their institution.

looking into:

University of Pacific

Sacramento State

Fresno State

[sugarmilk]

From my understanding, "online" is simply a format. The courses you take should still be on par with "in person" courses in terms of rigor. I am not familiar with the schools you mentioned, but I would assume they hold their online program to the same standards as their campus programs. A degree is a degree, regardless of the format you used to earn it. Masters programs will recognize this.

[midnight]

Yeah, Utah State's online program is reputable. Really, as long as a school is accredited, you should be good to go.

My main concern would be the difficulty of getting into California schools due to their hypercompetitiveness. It may be a good idea to apply to a few non-CA schools if at all possible.

[UTK]

I've heard of people getting into CSUN and SJSU after USU's post-bac program.

[queenleblanc]

UNC-CH, a top SLP and Audiology program, highly recommends USU for doing pre-req's so I wouldn't think that it being "online" would be a problem with getting accepted at any school. Most universities are recognizing that "online" is still intense and the material is the same. When online first started, it was a reflection into the internet forum of "course by correspondence" and universities didn't like the correspondence classes and used to make people re-take them. Now, the online format can be just as rigorous if not more intense, because the level of work required to ensure mastery of the material.

Good luck!

[tspeechie]

Since I am a Child Development major, I was looking into obtaining my second bachelors from USU's online program. I was wondering if anyone has received their bachelors online and been accepted to any SLP masters programs in California. I am scared that programs I want to apply to won't find an online degree equivalent to receiving a B.A from their institution.

looking into:

University of Pacific

Sacramento State

Fresno State

 

I got a post-bach from USU's online program.  I was accepted at CSUN for their campus program. 

 

I needed to take four undergrad classes at CSUN to satisfy their requirements for grad school.  I did that my first semester and will begin grad classes this semester.  One gripe I have is CSUN didn't accept my observation hours from USU.  I had to do it all over again at CSUN.  The observation class at CSUN is much, much more involved than USU.  My advisor said they found the USU students weren't very well prepared for their clinics so they have all the USU online students take the observation class.  In addition to the observation hours, it's meant to be a prep class for clinic on campus.  The way the class is structured ends up being a ridiculous amount of work for a one-credit class.  Things may change so this would be a good thing to ask a CSUN advisor about if you apply to their program.  It's going to take me about 6-8 semesters to finish their program.

 

The CSUN classes I had to take were:  CD450(fluency), CD469O(observation), CD480(early speech intervention), & CD485(computer applications)

[Astrid Coleslaw]

Yep! I got in to several CA schools (see signature) and I have classmates that got into CSUN online, Fresno, and have a fellow USUer with me at San Diego. An advisor from CSUN also mentioned to me in a phone conversation that they felt USUers were ''unprepared'' for clinic but I feel like I had just as good (and better compared to some classmates) clinic preparation - and of course, they still accepted me despite that. But I don't know how CSUN's clinic works so that could be accurate.

 

I think the biggest obstacle for most CA schools is that many tend to favor their own undergraduates so its hard to get in ANYWHERE if you have a different undergrad degree in CSD - distance program or not. 

[genevieveanalisa]

Yep! I got in to several CA schools (see signature) and I have classmates that got into CSUN online, Fresno, and have a fellow USUer with me at San Diego. An advisor from CSUN also mentioned to me in a phone conversation that they felt USUers were ''unprepared'' for clinic but I feel like I had just as good (and better compared to some classmates) clinic preparation - and of course, they still accepted me despite that. But I don't know how CSUN's clinic works so that could be accurate.

 

I think the biggest obstacle for most CA schools is that many tend to favor their own undergraduates so its hard to get in ANYWHERE if you have a different undergrad degree in CSD - distance program or not. 

Hi Astrid,

 

I am from California and currently getting my 2nd BA through USU. I too had a pretty low GPA for my first BA and I was curious to know if you included your GPA from your 1st BA in your grad applications?

 

Thanks.

Edited August 24, 2013 by genevieveanalisa

[Katieeb88]

Yep! I got in to several CA schools (see signature) and I have classmates that got into CSUN online, Fresno, and have a fellow USUer with me at San Diego. An advisor from CSUN also mentioned to me in a phone conversation that they felt USUers were ''unprepared'' for clinic but I feel like I had just as good (and better compared to some classmates) clinic preparation - and of course, they still accepted me despite that. But I don't know how CSUN's clinic works so that could be accurate.

 

I think the biggest obstacle for most CA schools is that many tend to favor their own undergraduates so its hard to get in ANYWHERE if you have a different undergrad degree in CSD - distance program or not. 

Thanks for your response that is really encouraging. I am planning to apply to SDSU, Sacramento State, and UOP (and a few others but those are the top 3). I was wondering if you completed the 2nd bachelor's or if you just did the leveling coursework. If you did just do the leveling coursework, what courses did you complete? Thanks!

[LMZ]

Since I am a Child Development major, I was looking into obtaining my second bachelors from USU's online program. I was wondering if anyone has received their bachelors online and been accepted to any SLP masters programs in California. I am scared that programs I want to apply to won't find an online degree equivalent to receiving a B.A from their institution.

looking into:

University of Pacific

Sacramento State

Fresno State

Hey Caligirl88! 

 

    I have just completed the 2nd Bachelors from USU and submitting all my grad apps, I will definitely keep you posted on how it all pans out. I'm receiving a BSc in Communicative Disorders and Deaf education, and I am applying to NYU, BU, Northwestern, U of Washington MedSLP, and Vandy in the states as well as U of T in Canada. Sorry I won't be any help with Cali schools! 

[vpeters25]

Hi!  I just finished my USU second degree this fall and I went ahead and applied to some spring schools.  I applied to Fresno State, Kansas State, U of South Dakota and App State.  Got into all of them except Appalachian.  

 

I have heard from multiple people that University of Pacific prefers students to have taken courses in person at an institution.  In fact, I emailed their program director, and he told me that while taking online pre-reqs doesn't necessarily hurt your application, if they are looking at two students who have equally good applications, but one took pre-reqs online and the other took them in the traditional setting, they would choose the traditional student.  

 

As for the CSU's, I have also heard that they really favor their own students.  One of my fellow USU students who went to Fresno said that she was the only one in her cohort who hadn't gone to Fresno as an undergrad.  

[Saila09]

Hey Caligirl88! 

 

    I have just completed the 2nd Bachelors from USU and submitting all my grad apps, I will definitely keep you posted on how it all pans out. I'm receiving a BSc in Communicative Disorders and Deaf education, and I am applying to NYU, BU, Northwestern, U of Washington MedSLP, and Vandy in the states as well as U of T in Canada. Sorry I won't be any help with Cali schools! 

 

I would be interested in knowing how things turn out as well. Thanks for sharing!

[LMZ]

I would be interested in knowing how things turn out as well. Thanks for sharing!

No problem! I will be sure to update this feed when I find out! I am sure I'll be writing on the others as well if it's good news 

[LMZ]

Since I am a Child Development major, I was looking into obtaining my second bachelors from USU's online program. I was wondering if anyone has received their bachelors online and been accepted to any SLP masters programs in California. I am scared that programs I want to apply to won't find an online degree equivalent to receiving a B.A from their institution.

looking into:

University of Pacific

Sacramento State

Fresno State

 

 

I would be interested in knowing how things turn out as well. Thanks for sharing!

It's official!! Accepted at NYU and wait listed at Seattle! Couldn't be happier! 

[slp2018]

Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and have newly decided to pursue communicative disorders.  I majored in special education and I am now a special educator.  I just applied to Utah State for my online post-bac classes starting this fall (I know, I am way behind you all but I am finding it so encouraging to read what everyone has to say!).  I got accepted to the non-degree program, but since I am going to be taking all the courses they offer, I'm wondering if grad schools would look more favorably upon it if I did the 2nd bachelors degree program.  Any thoughts?

[sayjo]

Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and have newly decided to pursue communicative disorders.  I majored in special education and I am now a special educator.  I just applied to Utah State for my online post-bac classes starting this fall (I know, I am way behind you all but I am finding it so encouraging to read what everyone has to say!).  I got accepted to the non-degree program, but since I am going to be taking all the courses they offer, I'm wondering if grad schools would look more favorably upon it if I did the 2nd bachelors degree program.  Any thoughts?

 

I don't know if they will necessarily look more favorably on the 2nd Bachelors; however....

 

1. Schools often have different requirements for prereqs.  For example, three schools you apply to might want Aural Rehab and two schools don't care.  Doing the 2nd Bachelors ensures that you cover all your bases and are able to apply to a wide range of schools that have different prereqs.

 

2. If you have a low undergrad GPA, showing that you can get an excellent GPA in a 2nd Bachelors program will help your chances.

 

3. Some schools require that you have a degree in Communication Disorders.

 

Hope that helps!  I've been doing prereqs at Utah State and have LOVED my experience.  It's very well organized and seems to be well known throughout the SLP community as having a good reputation for an online school.

 

ETA: Just saw that you said you're planning to do all the courses anyway.  If that's the case, justl do the 2nd Bachelors.  It doesn't cost any more $$ than just doing the prereqs.  Might as well!

Edited March 8, 2014 by sayjo

[combustiblecake]

Does anyone know if it's possible to transfer courses taken part of the USU post-bac that have already been taken in undergrad school? Or do you do them all over?

[sayjo]

Does anyone know if it's possible to transfer courses taken part of the USU post-bac that have already been taken in undergrad school? Or do you do them all over?

 

If you have questions about courses, I suggest you email Brynne Davies, who is the online advisor for USU.  She responds to questions very quickly and is knowledgable about the program.

 

Just a note - this week is USU's spring break, so she might not get back to you as promptly as she normally does.

[Saila09]

It's official!! Accepted at NYU and wait listed at Seattle! Couldn't be happier! 

 

Congrats!! 

[LMZ]

thank you!! 

[hopefulspeechie16]

Was anyone able to transfer the credits from USU to their bachelor's degree at their home institution?

[Mpc11g]

Does anyone know if you can apply to USU's 2nd degree program before you graduate from undergrad? Say, I were to finish undergrad in the Spring of 2015, would I be able to start my 2nd bachelor's right away that summer or would I have to wait until I received my degree? Anyone have experience with this?

[Saila09]

Does anyone know if you can apply to USU's 2nd degree program before you graduate from undergrad? Say, I were to finish undergrad in the Spring of 2015, would I be able to start my 2nd bachelor's right away that summer or would I have to wait until I received my degree? Anyone have experience with this?

 

I don't think you can do this. I think you need to have a first bachelor's completed. Please double check with them to be sure. 

 

I didn't apply to CA schools, but I got into 2 of the "top 5" programs with USU's post-bacc. I had 1 LoR from an online USU professor as well. For full disclosure, I think I had lots of other strengths as an applicant... but I want people to know that this is a legit and reputable program. Good luck everyone!

[Lyra1960]

I don't think you can do this. I think you need to have a first bachelor's completed. Please double check with them to be sure. 

 

I didn't apply to CA schools, but I got into 2 of the "top 5" programs with USU's post-bacc. I had 1 LoR from an online USU professor as well. For full disclosure, I think I had lots of other strengths as an applicant... but I want people to know that this is a legit and reputable program. Good luck everyone!

 

Just wanted to second this : ) So far I've been very successful with my application process and have also gotten into several programs, including one "top 5" (not that that really means too much, I think it's all about fit since any program will get you a job. I just wanted to show I'm being taken seriously as an applicant at all different types of schools with my USU prereqs).

 

My main point is,  I think if you are a strong applicant (I mean solid GPA, good letters of rec, above average GRE scores) ANY graduate program will take you very seriously as a candidate regardless of whether or not you took your prereqs online or in class.

 

I also want to add that from person experience, the graduate programs I've applied to seem to really value seeing tough classes on a transcript (hard science and college level math courses). I have what in SLP would be considered quite a low GPA but took a lot of math and science courses, and they seems to have actually helped me in spite lowering my GPA somewhat. I feel like that's sometimes overlooked by applicants because so many people seem to be talking about their GPA and the average GPA of programs. However, I truly believe the admissions committee really takes into heavy consideration what a student's major is when looking at GPA, but just the number.     

 

All in all USU's online program has made it possible for me to become an SLP : )

[ivalopez]

Has anybody with comm disorders as their undergrad taken the 2nd bachelors courses at USU?

 

I graduated from CSUF last spring with a low GPA and am hoping that taking this as a 2nd bachelors would help my application.

 

On the website it says "The second bachelor's degree also provides courses for students who may need to retake courses or establish core courses for a master's degree."