USU Problem?: CSULA considers grades infalted

[ralt]

Hey everyone,

I thought I would share a recent post on the USU COMD Facebook group. A USU student inquired to the CSULA program to see if they were on track to meet qualifications for their upcoming fall deadline, and she was met with this response, which I've attached as a screen shot. As you can see, the COMD Dept. Head of CSULA considers USU's online program grades to be "inflated".

I as well as many others have come to this forum for insight on how to pursue SLP as an out of field major, and from my research many, many people had ecouraging things to say about USU's online program.  The comments on the Facebook thread were pretty supportive of the program, and as a student currently almost through the 2nd BA program, I also believe it's been a good program thus far. But competitiveness is always an issue and I'm curious if anyone has heard anything more about this. 

Is this just a problem for California schools, because they have more applicants and thus more rigurous standards (I know they also have 3 pre-reqs not part of USU's program as well)? Or is USU now considered a lower tier leveling track among programs? What do you guys think? 

http://imgur.com/1hCkHip

 

Edited April 16, 2016 by ralt

[Crimson Wife]

When I talked to the head of the CSD department at one of my target schools (not a CSU), she had good things to say about USU. The only thing she mentioned was to make sure that I took both 3100 and 3400 in order to meet the A&P pre-req as she said many of their USU grads made the mistake of taking only 3100. Those folks have to retake A&P as part of the grad school.

I think the CSULA comments have more to do with dissing the competition for post-bac/2nd bachelor's than a general perception among non-CSU grad schools.

[Jolie717]

6 hours ago, ralt said:

Hey everyone,

I thought I would share a recent post on the USU COMD Facebook group. A USU student inquired to the CSULA program to see if they were on track to meet qualifications for their upcoming fall deadline, and she was met with this response, which I've attached as a screen shot. As you can see, the COMD Dept. Head of CSULA considers USU's online program grades to be "inflated".

I as well as many others have come to this forum for insight on how to pursue SLP as an out of field major, and from my research many, many people had ecouraging things to say about USU's online program.  The comments on the Facebook thread were pretty supportive of the program, and as a student currently almost through the 2nd BA program, I also believe it's been a good program thus far. But competitiveness is always an issue and I'm curious if anyone has heard anything more about this. 

Is this just a problem for California schools, because they have more applicants and thus more rigurous standards (I know they also have 3 pre-reqs not part of USU's program as well)? Or is USU now considered a lower tier leveling track among programs? What do you guys think? 

http://imgur.com/1hCkHip

 

I had a professor visibly cringe when I mentioned the program once.  Then followed up by saying some of their students don't do well in our grad program.  That said, I wonder if Cal states are looked down upon similarly by all of the bigger universities with research, etc. since the only Cal PhD program is SDSU. 

[esopha]

I took my prerequisites at USU and got into U of Iowa.* The fact is that everyone is going to have their own opinions. I've enjoyed my classes at USU for the most part, but I don't think the education is going to be equivalent to a four-year BA in Comm Dis, there's just no way. I'm just preparing myself to play catch up a little bit, when I get into school, and reading everything I can in the mean time.

I think there's also a stigma against online education, tbh, which I can understand. But you always get out what you put in with education, and I think some professors underestimate the amount of slacking off you can do in an in-person class, as well.

*Ftr I am not going to Iowa, but a different program.  One professor I spoke to there said that all online education was inferior, but I should be fine if I was prepared to work. I appreciated that candor - although I wondered, too, if that would be so different from anyone else attending the school. Grad school is tough!

[Lyra1960]

I went to USU and did a 2nd BS and also got into the University of Iowa and several other schools. It's entirely possible that some individual professors and departments look down on certain programs, but I think that is also not unique to online schools. I know that locally, some undergrad programs have better and worse reputations than others and you'd be surprised which ones, it doesn't always correlate to rank/format. 

I think it's also really important to remember to consider how your 1st undergrad looks. I'm pretty sure that that is what got me into grad school not my 2nd BS which just allowed me to be qualified to enter as a first year grad student. If you have a very strong overall profile, I doubt just going to USU alone would immediately bar you from entry. However, if everything is a little mediocre, it's probably valuable information to know so that you can carefully consider if you really want to apply to it.

In terms of preparation, I'm just finishing up my second year and feel well prepared compared to my fellow classmates. First off, almost everyone has no idea what to do when clinic starts unless she is an exception and have been doing something prior like teaching preschool for five years. Sure, in some areas, others are more knowledgeable, and in others areas  I am because I just took the courses and it has been close to three years since my fellow classmates took it.  I hope that helps a little. 

[Yancey]

5 hours ago, Jolie717 said:

I had a professor visibly cringe when I mentioned the program once.  Then followed up by saying some of their students don't do well in our grad program.  That said, I wonder if Cal states are looked down upon similarly by all of the bigger universities with research, etc. since the only Cal PhD program is SDSU. 

I can not speak to programs feelings regarding USU online, as I have no experience. However, I just wanted to put it out there that many  graduate students from California with Cal State undergraduate degrees are accepted, and do well, at bigger research universities in SLP. SDSU actually grants their PhD's in conjunction with UC San Diego. The way that the Cal state system and UC systems were set up originally was to serve different purposes; the UCs were designed to be more research based/oriented while the Cal states were designed to deal with more practical, professional majors. Some degrees obviously overlap, especially as schools have expanded, but that is why the Cal states usually work in conjunction with the UCs to grant PhDs. None of the UCs have a CSD undergraduate program and only a few private schools in CA offer undergraduate/graduate degrees in CSD currently.  so in CA your overwhelming option is to attend a Cal State if you know you want to pursue CSD as an undergrad. 

[ralt]

 

10 hours ago, esopha said:

 

I think there's also a stigma against online education, tbh, which I can understand. But you always get out what you put in with education, and I think some professors underestimate the amount of slacking off you can do in an in-person class, as well.

 

I definitely agree with this. Well said.

[Mpc11g]

I was the student who originally posted the e-mail on the USU page. I've already said a LOT on that fb post, but basically I think the general consensus among most schools is that the grade inflation does not exist. I just think CSULA has negative feelings towards the program, probably for a variety of reasons. I have two more semesters of the USU 2nd bachelors and I'm enjoying it! I don't think it is easy by any means, and I'm hoping that it will help me in the long run. Good luck!

[wannabeSLPnc]

My COMD prereqs are from Utah State since I'm an out-of-field applicant (vocal performance undergrad). I was accepted at the University of South Carolina, James Madison University, and I was waitlisted at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. I was rejected from UNC-Greensboro, however, a school that tends to only accept a few out-of-field applicants. Based on my experience with the application process, I don't think my USU courses hindered me in any way.