Background, chances of being accepted (schools in NYS), and other questions

[BlueHeron]

Hello all, 

 

After a lot of researching, I have finally decided that I want to pursue Speech Language Pathology as a career. I have explored many other health related careers (including medical research), and I believe that SLP will be a great fit for me. I currently have an associates degree with a concentration in biology, and in the fall I am starting my bachelor's degree in psychology. 

 

The reason I am majoring in psychology instead of communication sciences/disorders is mainly a factor of cost. I will save a lot of money commuting from home to a state school, and communication sciences/disorders is not an undergraduate major there. I'm hoping that majoring in psychology will not lessen my chances of getting into a graduate program. 

 

I currently have some biomedical (microbiology/genetics/pharmacology) research under my belt, and have presented posters at one national conference and two regional conferences. I am not sure if this will be beneficial or irrelevant, since the research has nothing to do with the field of speech language pathology. I am hoping to get involved in some psychology/neuroscience research at my new school, which might be more pertinent. 

 

I am hoping to be accepted to a local graduate program, and there are four different programs in my general area (Upstate/Western NY) that I have looked into. All four of the programs offer an extended (3 year) master's program for non-communication sciences/disorders undergraduate majors. They are Syracuse University, Ithaca College, University at Buffalo, and Nazareth College. My top choice is Nazareth College, as it is closest to home and offers a concentration in autism, which I am interested in. 

 

How realistic is it for me to only consider applying to these four schools? Does anyone have information about any of these specific schools, and/or the extended master's program option? Is there anything I can do in the meantime to increase my chances of being accepted? I plan to shadow an SLP eventually, and of course study for and take the GRE. Would it be worth it to contact the programs I am interested in now? Will attending a community college first and transferring hurt my chances at all?

 

I will graduate with my bachelor's degree in the Spring of 2017, and I would ideally like to start a 3 year master's program in the Fall of 2017. With this timeline, at what point should I plan to take the GRE?

 

Any other general advice would be appreciated. 

 

My apologies for the length of this post!

[slp1993]

Ub is extremely difficult to get into. I went there for undergrad and the lowest gpa they took was a 3.6 and only because I heard she had great gre scores. They do take out of major applicants but I would definitely try to keep your gpa as close to a 4.0 as possible for there. Buffalo state college is also a suny and has a masters program as well as fredonia but I'm not sure if they take out of field applicants. I know buff state is much easier to get into though than ub. Good luck!

[slptobe92]

I just graduated with a psych degree and it'll be no problem for any school as long as you have the prereqs they require.

 

Ithaca saves the majority of their spots for their undergrad students so it's hard to get into otherwise. I got rejected from there last cycle and they don't even have a spot on the app for an essay. I'd skip it.

 

Also, take the GRE as early as you can so you have time to retake it if you don't like your scores.

Edited June 30, 2015 by cmm28