Hey you guuuuys! Can I get some advice? (letters, stats, etc)

[Kristenza]

Hello! This is my first post- I'm starting to get a little anxious about applying to grad school (obviously), and I am oh so selfishly searching for advice! Hopefully there are others in a similar situation to me that will also find my questions beneficial!! 

   I finished my undergrad in linguistics/English last year with a somewhat lackluster performance- 3.4 GPA (*cue slow clap*). I kind of faltered in my academic/career direction and got waylaid by some serious depression and anxiety issues. But that has all been resolved now and I'm looking to get back on the wagon.

   I'm taking post-baccalaureate courses for CSD (current GPA is 3.8...ish) which will be completed by August 2015. I've taken my GRE  and have a verbal 163, quant 151 and AW of 4.5. My major issue is: I have no sources for stellar letters of recommendation (like, I said, I kind of faltered and probably irritated a lot of profs that would have previously given me very good letters). My postbacc is all distance learning, so I don't actually ever get to *talk* to the professors. Should I seek out some of my undergrad professors to write my letters after having shown up late, unprepared, and/or disheveled? (I still did good work and completed assignments, I just was sort of unprofessional about it ) Should I attempt to ask one of these mysterious distance learning professors?

  I also seem to be severely lacking in experience and volunteer service. Any advice there? I have some experience teaching English to speakers of other languages (refugee populations), as a German tutor, and as a writing tutor. I was in German club (again, *slow clap*) but was not an officer. I also went to a lot of Ling club meetings and helped with fundraisers, but again- I was not an officer.  My mother is a special ed. teacher and I have volunteered in her classroom a few times and am kind of familiar with special ed practice (she talks about work a lot). She does work with a SLP who I have job shadowed once.

 

So- if all that was too long for you to get through comfortably- here are my questions in a nutshell: Are my stats competitive for some graduate schools? How can I beef up my resume? Are there ways to make my current experiences seem more relevant? 

 

Thank you so so so so much in advance for any advice or consideration you offer! I wasn't even considering grad school until about 5 months ago so I feel like I have a lot to catch up on!

[CBG321]

I'd say ask your distance learning Professors if it seemed like they were on top of things and your grades were high in their classes and you feel you did good work.  I think since you've mentioned you were possibly perceived as 'unprofessional' I would personally avoid anyone who may have a negative impression of you.  It's great that you have things turned around but if you don't have a close personal relationship with them I would avoid asking.  The showing up late/assignments probably would impact your letter of recommendation negatively because they would feel obligated as a professional to report that to schools you are applying to.

 

I have been told that distance learning professors can and do write letter's of recommendation so i'd try and connect with one of them.  Perhaps be conscious of sending them really professional emails and if the opportunity arises figure out ways to help them get to know you even through email. 

 

I think it seems like you've dabbled in a lot of great areas to show that you are interested.  I would advise that you find some kind of volunteer experience that is regularly scheduled.  Just showing you do something every week is going to show rather then tell them that you have turned around your life and are reliable and commited to pursuing this field.  Try and volunteer somewhere related to the population you are interested in working with. 

 

I'm not up to date on GRE stats as i've not taken it myself yet but i'd go onto ASHA and look up the schools you want to apply to in order to find answers on if your gpa and gre stats are competitive.

 

Hope this advice helps, i'm not in Grad school myself but think some of this might be of use!  Goodluck with everything!

[lookwhoslp]

A general ruleof thumb for GRE id 50%tile in math and verbal and about 4+ on the writing so you're good on that. the best thing to do is go to the school's website and see if they list average stats... you can also go to the top of this page and click on "Results Search" and then type in the name of a school and Speech  (ex. Temple Speech or UCLA Speech) and it will give you results from last year and people will list if they got in or not... then under the column where it says if the person is accepted/rejected there might be a red diamond... just hover over it and it will say their stats to give you an idea. (Someitmes ppl post their stats in the comment section to the right of their entry too)

[Kristenza]

Thanks for the advice! I feel more confident now

[CBG321]

Oh one more thing if you have time i've heard of people just taking a random class at a JC for a more personal letter of rec.  Perhaps a writing class or liguistics or counseling, communications something where they can get to know you through your academic work and personality.  Only a suggestion if the LOR is an area of concern still! 

[spursnpearls]

Definitely try to get some experience under your belt if you're trying to improve your resume. Volunteering/observing is a good place to start, but I've noticed that experience (at least at the schools I have applied to) seems to be a real tie breaker. I had a professor tell me experience doesn't matter, but I'm willing to bet my experience and my LOI got me a spot over people with a better GPA. I completed a SLPA internship in my final semester of undergrad, so that gave me over 100 hours of direct contact with therapy, and I think that was a selling point to have, and then have a supervisor who spoke highly of me in LOR's. I also did some observation/volunteering, and I think if you can ask pertinent questions and show genuine interest and knowledge in the field, an SLP would be able to write you a good rec. I hate to say it, but watching the others in my post-bacc cohort apply to schools last fall... people with observation hours, speech aide positions did better than everyone else. ABA aides etc are also relevant. Unforunately it's all about hour collection (in my post-bacc, they made sure to let us know at every turn that pretty much no amount of hours was going to mean we knew anything... rude, but realize that these people have been working in the field for years, so 50 hours of observation doesn't always come off as impressive to them. That's like, a work week for them.)  Also, most schools do want at least one academic source, so I'd reach out to your current professors. They may not know you extremely personally, but they should be able to speak to your academic ability -- and remember, it's kind of part of their job to write you a LOR if you haven't given them a reason not to. Hope this helps -- just keep your head up and learn to play the game a little bit Good luck!