Post Bacc Programs

[NCAR823]

I am building my way toward Grad school in SLP. I've applied to Portland State University's Post Bacc program and was wondering if anyone knows how competitive it is? I also wonder if a Post Bacc could ever put an applicant at a disadvantage for any reason beside grades. Could a post-bacc at a less competitive program hurt an application to a more competitive school?

[caterpillar]

Competitive to get into, or competitive to be applying from once completed? For admissions, Portland State's post-bacc program is noncompetitive. You apply, you get in. Of course, there's the usual rush to get into the classes you need, but the classes are large and generally pretty accommodating. 

[midnight]

I am building my way toward Grad school in SLP. I've applied to Portland State University's Post Bacc program and was wondering if anyone knows how competitive it is? I also wonder if a Post Bacc could ever put an applicant at a disadvantage for any reason beside grades. Could a post-bacc at a less competitive program hurt an application to a more competitive school?

 

The only way a post-bacc will put you at a disadvantage is if you don't do well; SLP program rankings generally don't matter.

 

It seems like most of the post-bacc graduates here had extremely high GPAs (usually 3.8+, many 4.0), so it is important to put everything into your work to be as competitive as you can, especially if you decide to ask one of your PB professors for an LOR.

 

Good luck!

[NCAR823]

Is a post-bacc advantageous to an application in lieu of pre-reqs? I have the opportunity to take my pre requisite courses at University of Washington with the potential to get accepted into their post-bacc. Is it worth an easy acceptance at Portland State U or the time and chance with UW...

[midnight]

Is a post-bacc advantageous to an application in lieu of pre-reqs? I have the opportunity to take my pre requisite courses at University of Washington with the potential to get accepted into their post-bacc. Is it worth an easy acceptance at Portland State U or the time and chance with UW...

 

A post-bacc program is a year-long (usually) program that fulfills all or most of your SLP pre-reqs.

 

I believe that UWashington has a post-bacc (i.e., pre-req completion) program of its own, but as they state on their site, completing your post-bacc/pre-reqs at UW does not necessarily increase your chances of getting accepted to their master's program.

Edited March 27, 2013 by midnight streetlight

[kingspeech]

I did a post-bacc at Utah State. At the time I was looking at programs, it seemed to me that you needed either (1) an undergrad degree in SLP/CSD, or (2) completion of certain prereqs. The list of prereqs varied from school to school, and I had NO idea where I would be applying yet, so I decided to just get the degree.

 

USU's 2nd BS is a distance program, and acceptance is noncompetitive. This did not hurt my grad applications this year at all. I did, however, get all of my LORs from professors at my first undergrad school, instead of the in-field USU profs who I took 1-2 courses each with, and who had never met me in person. My first undergrad school IS competitive, so I'm sure that helped as well.

 

I'll also echo everyone else's advice and say, be sure to get the highest grades you can in your in-field courses.

[midnight]

And just to offer my experience, I haven't taken any SLP pre-reqs, have a good but not great GRE score, graduated from a non-competitive state university, and applied straightaway to two three-year programs for out-of-field applicants.

 

There are different options, but applying to three-year programs exclusively limits your choices since there aren't as many of them.

[NCAR823]

Thanks so much for all the words of advice. I am eager to get into school and start my program and the more I learn the more I realize to take my time and put all the pieces in place. Any thoughts from applicants of Fall 2013- things you would have done differently or wish you'd thought of before applying?

[midnight]

Thanks so much for all the words of advice. I am eager to get into school and start my program and the more I learn the more I realize to take my time and put all the pieces in place. Any thoughts from applicants of Fall 2013- things you would have done differently or wish you'd thought of before applying?

 

I don't think I would've done anything differently aside from possibly taking a few pre-reqs so I could've applied to Boston-area schools (another region I've always wanted to live in).

 

My main advice is to make sure your grades are as high as they can possibly be, and make sure your SOP is standout and tailored to each program in some way (there are several incredibly informative threads on GradCafe about SOPs, including a recent one in this subforum with some great tips and advice specifically for SLP).

[clydeyo12]

My main advice is to make sure your grades are as high as they can possibly be, and make sure your SOP is standout and tailored to each program in some way (there are several incredibly informative threads on GradCafe about SOPs, including a recent one in this subforum with some great tips and advice specifically for SLP).

 

Totally agree with these two points. If you're doing a post-bacc program, commit to absolutely working your butt off in the fall semester! When you apply to grad schools, these are the grades that they will see on your transcripts for the fall 2014 application season so you want to show that you're capable and committed. I would also make a concerted effort to participate in class and visit your professors during office hours. You will want to ask at least one or two of these professors for letters of recommendation and you don't have a lot of time to make an impression, so make it count!

 

Also, I would start working on your personal statement soon. I know that sounds extreme, but my advisor told me to start working on it 6 months in advance and she was right. It took me a lot of workings and re-workings to develop essays that I felt comfortable with and that didn't come across as canned and cliche.

 

Good luck! Sounds like you're doing your research =)

[NCAR823]

Because I am looking at Post-Baccs, I have a pretty good start on my personal statement. At this point, it's doing the research to figure out what's going to make my application stand out as 1 of the 30 to admit instead of 1 of the 500 who apply. I speak Spanish fluently and have Portuguese experience so I am beginning to look into some international volunteering over the summer to take a bilingual approach in addition to some local job shadowing and volunteering in clinics... I just imagine that everyone who applies has similar backrounds (experience in education, tutoring, SLP clinics, etc) so I am brainstorming how to make my application stand out to catch and hold the admissions comittee's attention.

[clydeyo12]

Definitely get as much experience as you can. If you can get international experience that is SLP-relevant, that sounds like something not many people have!

 

I'm not sure what your GREs and GPA are like, but if you have lots of experience and can demonstrate its usefulness in your personal statement I'm sure you will be in good shape!

Edited March 27, 2013 by clydeyo12