What are pre-req classes like?

[slp0828]

Hi all! I'm going to be taking my prerequisite classes online this fall, and am curious what the classes are like and how to prepare myself. Im sure they differ from university to university, but I'm just curious of anyone's overall take on the classes. About how much time did you spend working on your reading, assignments, studying etc for each class a week? Just trying to get an overall idea of what next semester will be like!

[laurengreen1]

It depends on what school you go to, if you're doing an online or residential program, what classes are easier/harder for you, how much homework you get, etc. As a rule, schools suggest planning on 6 hrs/wk outside of class for every 3-unit course. I did the online program at USU and spent an avg of 4-6 hrs/wk per class, including class time. Of course, it can fluctuate a lot depending on the class, professor, time of year, etc. Good luck!

[sayjo]

I also did classes at USU.  I don't remember how much time I spent per week, but I felt that most of the time I spent outside of lectures was memorizing.  Quizlet is your friend.

[ImHis]

Hi sayjo! I'll be taking Articulatin Disorders and Speech Science at USU. I'm wondering if you took them and what you thought of it? Any tips on how to succeed? Thanks!

Edited August 18, 2014 by Articklish

[sayjo]

Hi Articklish!  I took both of those classes.  COMD 3120 (Artic Disorders) is really cool because it teaches you a lot about what you will actually be doing as an SLP.  There are several labs where you complete and score assessments for articulation disorders.  The class was fairly easy.  Early in the semester, one of our T.A.s (Carol Hurd) posted study guides that she'd made for 3120 in the discussion section.  I used those pretty much exculsively to study for the tests.

 

Speech Science is my FAVORITE class I took at USU, but - a disclaimer - a great number of people don't like it.  It is a lot more science-y than other courses.  However, the professor is very clear and explains concepts well.  He is also VERY quick to get back to you if you have a question or don't understand a concept.  He provides a study guide for each test.  You pretty much only need to know what is on the study guide.  He won't trick you with any other questions at exam time.

 

Hope that helps!  I loved USU and think it's a great way to learn!  Good luck with your semester.

[GandalfTheGrey]

One of the perks of working hard in speech science: You will forever be the life of the party when you can read spectrograms, and you will make physicists jealous. I didn't take Speech Science at USU but it was one of my favorite pre-req courses. You may have to study differently than for other classes - memorization might help less as you will actually have to understand the material. I found it helpful to talk about the material with someone, teach myself in the mirror, and play around A LOT with Praat, which is free software that lets you make and manipulate spectrograms (essentially pictures of sound). There are also a lot of great animations of speech science concepts if you google them that I found really helpful. Good luck and have fun!

[ImHis]

Thank you sayjo and Gandalf for those great tips! I am happy to hear that studying aloud works well for speech science. I have always studied this way and it has economized my studying for all classes. I do however, prefer to talk infront of a wall or scribbling on scrap like I'm lecturing. I start to lose my voice so drawing things out helps.  I never thought about manipulating the softwares. I will try that.   Hope y'all rock grad school