junior in high school need help!

[reddy912]

Hi, I'm a junior in high school and I need help on knowing what classes should I apply for in high school so I could be ready for college, I was thinking about being a speech pathology/therapist. I have been doing service hours with a speech therapist at a hospital and a speech therapist at an elementary school so I have an idea what I would want to be. What classes should I take now and what college should I be looking into in California? 

 

Thanks for the help  

[greeneryforests]

Woah you are super early. Honestly, I hate to say this, but the classes you take now have little to now influence on something as far away as a Masters in SLP. I guess I suggest taking AP Bio or AP Physics so you get that over with and don't have to take those as an undergraudate, but then again taking them actually in college may be helpful...None of the prereqs for SLP you can take in high school, so there isn't much I can tell you.

 

As far as undergraduate institution, go to one that has a Communication Sciences and Disorders/Speech and Hearing Sciences undergraduate program so that you can take the prereqs then and don't have to be a 3-year-Master's student. I see that your info says Fall 2014...is that when you are going into undergraduate? Because if you are a junior in high school now, you aren't going to be an SLP student until at least 2017.

[SpeechieGeekie30]

As a recent graduate of a Masters program (May 2013), I can tell you, you have a long way to go.  None of the classes that you are currently taking will directly impact your Masters level education.  The only thing you should focus on right now is keeping your grades up and going to a good undergraduate institution.  THAT is where the deciding factor will take place.  When you get to college, I suggest you keep your grades (pre-reqs as well) at a B or above.  I played around in college my first 2 years and it took me a while to get back on track.  This is an awesome field, but getting into a graduate program takes hard work.  I wish you the best of luck and hopefully I can call you my colleague in 2017 :-)

[SLPamy]

If you can take any AP classes that would get you out of some gen eds that are unrelated to the field, that might be helpful. I'm thinking like AP English or AP History. That way, you can jump right into major classes. You can also take some subjects that can help prepare you for the classes you'll have to take for speech pathology, like biology, physics, anatomy & physiology, and statistics (even if they're not AP classes). If you have a background in the subject, it might help you when you're taking the college level courses. I took anatomy & physiology in high school and I did feel that it helped me when I was taking my anatomy & physiology for speech and hearing class. 

[sheranik]

I know I'm answering a few months after the fact, but I would definitely take AP classes if you can. But only the ones that would help give you credit at whatever school you end up choosing. You should look at the classes required in the undergraduate Speech programs you're interested in. If those programs require a Statistics class, or an English class, etc, then try to take AP Statistics and AP English--because more than likely, your school will count your AP classes toward those credits in college, which means you now have two less classes you'll have to take. And definitely keep your grades up so you can get into the college you'd like.

 

And you want to work hard in college. It's harder than high school, but it's easy to be lazy. Don't let your grades slip in college, because to get a masters in Speech, a lot of programs now are looking not just at overall GPA but at the GPA of the classes you take specifically for your Speech degree. So you want to do extra well in those classes. Sounds like you're definitely on the way to being a successful student and future SLP! Good luck!

[autismadvocate]

Also as for what college you should be looking into, beyond whether or not they have a CSD major, I wouldn't put too much concern into prestige or anything like that. Grad school costs A LOT of money, and CSD grad schools don't tend to care about the prestige of the undergraduate institute you attended. So pick the undergraduate college that costs the least and apply for lots of scholarships and financial aid while you're at it. You can apply the money saved towards grad school, or at least have fewer loans to pay off when you graduate.