Fastest way to earn undergrad degree with all SLP prerequisites?

[miranlin]

Hi everyone~ I'm still in high school, really excited about the SLP career. My problem is that I would like to graduate as early as possible so I could be enrolled in graduate school sooner and start working in less than 6 years from now. Are there any programs or institutions that could give me a lead on this?

If there's any info, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

[lisa19]

Look into programs that do a 5 year combined bachelor and masters program. I know Duquesne is one and I believe LIU Brooklyn has it as well.

[autismadvocate]

An accelerated program will help you. Also take AP and dual-enrollment courses now, that way you don't have to spend as much time on undergraduate foundational classes.

[miranlin]

I know the masters education will be very important, so i don't mind doing it for 2 years like the usual. I was hoping to speed up the undergrad education mostly, because 4 years of broad education seems like a long time... The faster I could get started on my masters I think, the better.

[lisa19]

An accelerated program will do just that! During your five year program, it will be likely that you'll take graduate course work in years 4 and 5 so you can think of it as 3 years undergrad + 2 years grad. Also take as many AP courses as you can and try to take summer courses when you start college. However, as a current senior in college I've found that it's definitely not four years of broad education - I'd say it's more of your freshman and sophomore years that are broad and as a junior and senior you will be taking major/advanced classes primarily.

[ImpulsiveNixie]

It is definitely not 4 years of broad education. The speech undergrad is very specific in its courses. It's not a major like psych or political science. If you do not get accepted into an accelerated (sped up) program like Duquesne and are trying to speed up the pace take summer courses for your lower level courses. In some states that is very hard to do because a lot of the lower division courses are impacted (aka hard to get into because there are not enough seats). The best way to get past that is to do what autismadvocate and Lisa said - take as many AP courses that you can.

[SLPamy]

If you don't do an accelerated program, then I have some tips for graduating early at a regular undergrad program! I graduated a semester early with a major in speech path and a minor in Spanish. I definitely could have graduated an entire year early, but I did the Spanish minor and I also took a few electives.

I came in with a lot of AP credit (32 credits according to CSDCAS - Bio, US history, Euro history, English comp, and Literature). I got out of a ton of gen eds thanks to this. If you can take AP classes and pass your AP tests, this will definitely help you.

I also took the maximum amount of credits/classes almost every semester. At my school, a full caseload was 3.5 credits, but they allowed you to take a maximum of 4.5 credits. So while most students took 4 classes, I took 5. It was hard at times, but doable. 

Taking classes in the summer either at your university or a community college is also helpful, especially if you don't come in with much AP credit. I only took 1 class over the summer, but if I had taken 2 or 3 I would have definitely been able to graduate a year early even with my minor and electives. 

I also tried to be smart about which classes I took first - I saved classes that were offered every semester at multiple times for my later semesters when my schedule was less flexible. For example, certain required classes at my school like Voice Disorders were only offered during the fall semester. So, I made sure to take that class over a class like Learners with Disabilities, which met 3+ times every semester.

My freshman year of college, I made a word document that pretty much mapped out every semester. I kept track of all my gen eds, major requirements, minor requirements, and a tentative plan for when to take each. This was SO helpful because I could make sure that every semester I was taking the maximum number of credits and that I was on-track to graduate early.

[miranlin]

Wow! I didn't expect to receive so many comments =D Thanks so much everyone!!! This is really helpful information. I'll probably try to do a little bit of everything if I can, with accelerated programs, summer courses, transfer credits, etc

[Arcanelady27]

Miranlin,

 

SLP is very specific

Yes, you take some courses to fulfill the college's requirement of graduation such as sociology, psychology, and science. However, you do actually major in( let's say SLP) where you take many classes in that major. 

 

Many of those classes you take to fulfill the college requirements to graduate are needed to fulfill ASHA's requirements to become certified. 

[emikate51]

SLP is very easy to graduate early from. I go to University of Illinois and am easily graduating with an SLP degree in 3 years, could have been 2.5 if I pushed myself. I tested out of a lot of classes though. Just take as many classes as you can handle and get your gen eds done ASAP. I know many people in different colleges that are graduating in SLP in 3 years, it is definitely possible.

[carsilveira]

I'm currently finishing my "junior" year at West Virginia University. I came in with 20 AP credits and got approval through the undergraduate committee to apply to the program (they only take 45 students after sophomore year to continue with the major). That being said, next year will be my last year of undergraduate and only my third year of college. You honestly just need to make sure you track out your schedule immediately when you get into college to make sure you can fit everything in within a 3 year time frame.

[ljhslp]

I only started my bachelors with 24 AP credits, too, but I just applied into a program that would allow for me to take 21-24 credits per semester in order to get my courses done in a three year span. I also worked full time and was able to pull it off, so if you don't plan on working, it probably wouldn't be that hard. You can easily complete your undergrad in three years and your graduate degree in two years following Good luck.

[Papaya91]

Ditto to what everyone else said. AP credits are great if you're still in high school. AP Stats, AP Physics or chemistry, and AP psychology would knock out 3 ASHA prereqs before you've even started college. Also, only take one AP English class if you choose to take one at all. Most schools will not give you credit for both (as I unfortunately found out).

Take the maximum credits that you can each quarter, even if it's just a 1-credit PE class. 12 credits cost as much as 18 at some schools, and there's no reason to waste them. More classes each quarter = more credits = earlier access to upper division classes = earlier graduation. Also take summer classes if you can.

 

Lastly - talk to the CSD department in college early on. And don't let the advisor for the program intimidate or discourage you! I met with the advisor at the end of my freshman year, because I wanted to start the CSD major during my second year, rather than waiting unti lthe 3rd year. To her I looked like a freshman, but I had sophomore status. Even so, she actually told me not to start the program until my 3rd year, because I wouldn't be able to handle the 'depth and intensity' otherwise... I went ahead with it anyway, and proved her wrong. I got 100% on her first test, and finished her final in just 19 minutes... when I turned it in, she was like, "Do you need something?" and I was like, "Nope, I'm done. Have a good break." I didn't stick around long enough to see, but my classmates said her face was priceless. I ended up getting a departmental scholarship that year because I did so well! So anyway, my point there... don't let anybody scare you or try to hold you back from something that you know you can do. If they try to tell you you can't do it, prove 'em wrong.

The sooner you finish, the more money you save. If you have what it takes and are prepared to do the work, you can pull it off!