How can I improve my chances of getting in to grad school as a SLP?

[Jitterfix]

I went to UCLA as an undergrad, majoring in a field not related to Speech Language Pathology (Global Studies).

 

I'm currently a graduate student in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) which is more closely related to SLP as I am considering linking it to accent reduction, in which I have some experience teaching.

 

In addition to my educational background, after graduating from UCLA, I taught ESL (English as a Second Language) for approximately 3 years in a variety of private ESL schools and last year (2013), I spent the fall semester in Japan where I participated in a study abroad program, learning Japanese and also teaching English at a university.

 

Moreover, although not fluent, I speak intermediate-level Japanese, which I learned in high school, in college and also utilized while I was living in Japan.

 

My GPA as an undergrad was not stellar, and in grad school it is currently only 3.28 (while studying Teaching English as a Second Language). However, I am shooting for straight A's in all of my preliminary SLP classes.

 

I have a lot of leadership and multicultural experience from when I was an undergraduate student (I was a leader in the student government and was also an exchange student with Rotary International in Japan several years ago).

 

Around the same period of time, I received a variety of scholarships from my community college before transfering to UCLA.

 

My quantitative skills are not that great, but I'm hoping to improve them before taking the GRE. I'm not too worried about my verbal or writing skills.

 

Lastly, I recently started out as a volunteer for a book club for individuals with Aphasia and will be continuing that for about 3 months.

 

How can I improve my chances?? I realize that my grades need a LOT of work. Any other suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

 

[lookwhoslp]

They do like people with outside experience, especially when it's with other cultures. It's good that you're also volunteering. I'd just say try to keep your GPA up in the post-bacc classes and get the 25 hours of shadowing (your program might have a class where you watch videos and get some hours that way, so I'd ask if they do). A lot of schools don't care all too much about the quantitative score, but it also varies from each application reviewer. If you go to the results page on this site and type in "Speech" you'll get all the entries from ppl who applied, where they applied and if they got in... sometimes in the comments section (or if you hover over the red diamond, if they supplied the info) you can see their scores. ASHA's EdFind also lets you search programs and they usually list average scores of ppl that got in... Keep in mind some ppl with lower and some with higher get in each time. I'd say your best bet is to aim for a total of 300+ (quant + verbal) and/or above 50th percentile for both. But ask I've said, I've seen people on here get in with lower. 

If you have time, get involved with a professor's research (if you find that interesting) or go to office hours sometimes so they know your face. You at least have experience with other cultures and know some stuff from learning TEFL. Your best bet is to check the results page and ASHA's edfind to find schools that your stats fit. There are a couple schools out there that take like 3.2 or 3.4 and above rather than the usual 3.5 and above... I forget which ones though. :/ 

If application season comes around and you feel like you still need help, contact the programs you are interested in. State that you are interested in their program and have lots of experience with ESL and have done XYZ to improve your application but want to know if there's anything you can to do improve or if it'd be more helpful to just mention certain things in your essay. If you really love the school, then keep in contact with them and remind them of your interest. i've seen people get of the wait list because they showed more interest than others. Good luck!