Best Masters Program if I want to work in the School District?

[NCAR823]

I have been doing research on programs and am looking for which may offer the best preparation for working as a SLP in the school district? I am flexible with options, have a relatively low GPA but was accepted into PSU's Post-Bacc program, which I plan to take this fall. Ideally, I'll stay on the west coast but any direction at this point will help.

[midnight]

Essentially every program--with the possible exception of certain medically based programs (perhaps someone else can confirm that)--will prepare you to work with children and be eligible for SLP jobs in schools.

 

You have a lot of options on the West Coast, but public schools in California are extremely competitive due to the number of applications they receive.

Edited April 13, 2013 by midnight

[NorcalSLP]

Essentially every program--with the possible exception of certain medically based programs (perhaps someone else can confirm that)--will prepare you to work with children and be eligible for SLP jobs in schools.

 

You have a lot of options on the West Coast, but public schools in California are extremely competitive due to the number of applications they receive.

Ditto everything midnight said. Even medically based programs (MGH, Rush, UW-Med SLP) would prepare you to work in the schools (I think it's an ASHA requirement). However, if you were to go to a medically based program you may just have to do course work/additional practicums that you were not as interested in (but don't quote me on that, I'm not at a med speciality program). Jobs in school districts are typically easy to find as they don't pay as well as medical settings (but you get summers off!). CA states are a bit of a bear to apply to and get into but that does not mean you shouldn't try. I would however, recommend applying to other schools (redlands, pacific, UO, UW, WSU, PSU) on the west coast. Best of luck in your applications and enjoy your post bacc! 

[CO (soon to be) SLP]

It's important to remember that while the ASHA certification is national, each state will have specific requirements for school certification. All of the programs I looked at pretty clearly spelled out which courses fulfilled those requirements for the state they are in, but be sure to check with your advisor. Once you have your Cs, with some exceptions, it is pretty portable; certain areas like NY, PA, and CA are a bit trickier to transfer into so consider where you want to live.

[arrowgirlie]

The ASHA EdFind website will probably be your best bet for finding programs.

Off the top of my head, CSU Long Beach and CSU Chico are notorious for taking only one or two people who didn't graduate from their respective schools each year. Everyone I know who applied to those schools said that they wouldn't do it again, simply to save the $110 in application fees. In-state, my friends have had the best luck with CSU Fullerton, CSU San Marcos, and CSU San Diego. Most everyone who applied out-of-state got in somewhere. Washington has Arizona has several schools (three to five each, I think?).  As for California privates, University of Redlands and Loma Linda University are within a ten minute drive of each other, and Chapman University is only about 45 minutes away. If you wanted to come down to visit, you could easily do all three in one or two days.