Should I even try to get in?

[sundaisy]

Hello, 

I wanted to post my stats and see if you guys think I even stand a chance of getting into grad school and what else I could possible do before applying for the Fall 2017 cycle. I have $30,000 in student loans for my undergrad and leveling courses, I've spent $615 on the GRE, I've spent 7 years in undergrad and leveling courses and I'm starting to think that it has all been for nothing. So what do you think?

G.P.A: 3.156 (after Fall 2016)

Last 60 Cr G.P.A. 3.314 (after Fall 2016)

Gre: VR 149 QR 150 AW 2.5 (retaking August, this time I'll study harder, but how do I study for analytical writing?!?!?!?)

Extra curriculars - Study Abroad France 1 semester, KKPSI Honorary Band Fraternity 4 yrs, college marching band 3yrs

Volunteer - cat shelter 1.5 yrs

What else can I/should I do before next February?!?!

How can I get my analytical writing score up? I got a 3 the first time I took it and I thought I did terribly. The second time I took the GRE I got a 2.5 but I thought I had done amazing. 

Any advice or insight is welcome!

 

[thespeechblog.com]

Janessa, 

I think you´ve got a chance, but it might not be easy. Your GPA is pretty much set - not much to do at this point. You need to work your butt off to raise your GRE as much as you can. Those "extracurriculars" you mentioned don´t really matter unless they gave you some great experiences to include in your SOP. Speaking of which, start drafting your SOP now. Get lots of feedback on it (especially from people in academia). 

Here´s a post about someone who has a similar story as yours that you should definitely read: http://www.thespeechblog.com/treasyri/  

As for GRE writing...first you need to understand really clearly what they´re asking you to do in each section. Then, you´ll want to look into how it is graded. Finally... do one practice essay each day. Find someone who is a GREAT writer (or maybe use your Uni´s writing center) to critique it and help you improve. 

Finally, I used Magoosh for GRE Prep - spent about 6 months and raised my score 17 points (started about the same as yours). I worked super hard at it though. You can read more about why I used Magoosh on my blog. I don´t know if it is the best for GRE writing, but it had a few good ideas.

Other ideas: Have you considered taking time to work as an SLPA first? Do you have any great, stand-out experiences to base your SOP´s around? Do you have strong Letters of Rec from in field faculty? 

[qqliu11]

I second mcamp's recommendation of Magoosh. I used it for a month and increased my score by 19 points. But I studied almost 6 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a whole month. 

Raising your score is entirely possible, but you have to work your tail off.

Also, do you intend to get a master's or a phd? 

Master's--you definitely have a chance (after you raise your GRE score). 

Phd-Slim, you'll need more research experience. See if you can join a research lab as a volunteer or an assistant.

[castikat]

What is your in-major GPA? Mine was 3.2 (after my second bachelor's) but in-major was 3.6 and I think that helped.

You really need to take the GRE again and get your writing score up to 4 or 4.5 at a minimum or else I'm afraid your chances of being admitted are pretty low. My scores were 165V 152Q and 5.5W and I still had a really hard time getting admitted, it took 2 application seasons after doing leveling courses and I was still only on waitlists at first. 

How are your LORs? Did you know your profs well and are confident they are saying good things about you? If not, maybe having one come from an employer in a related field would be helpful.

What work experience do you have? Anything related to the elderly, children, or special needs populations? If you don't have any experience with any of these populations, I would say take a year or two to work and volunteer with as many of these populations as you can. Summer camps, nursing homes, working in the school system (aide/para, substitute teaching), doing respite care, and doing ABA are all great options. SLPA is also great if you can do that in your state.

What was your undergrad degree in? Anything related? Did you do any research or work on special projects with profs or in any labs? Did you attend any conferences? Those things look really good applications.

[coffeecode]

You can learn to write. You need to make sure that you understand the prompt, and that you know how it is graded. Make sure that you plan your writing, so that you're not just drifting in any old direction. Write with purpose. Make sure that what you wrote answers the prompt, when you are done. Also, make absolutely certain not to use any words that you are not sure you are using correctly. That includes being unsure how to spell them. Once upon a time, people became great writers by reading a lot of literature written by other great writers. That's a strategy for the long haul. In the short term, for this test, you will need to read all of the study information on the website. As you have been told, practice writing from a prompt every single day. See if you can get a friend to read and critique your writing. If you're friend is an English major, so much the better! If you don't know someone, this is worth hiring a tutor for. Grad school is all about writing.

[CBG321]

Hi I would advise you to consider all of the stuff that previous posters have put.  But I would go one step further and say do not apply until you have above average GRE scores.  If you are already 30K in debt it wouldn't be helpful to spend money on applications until you have raised those GRE scores and gotten some relevant work experience.  As another poster pointed out unfortunately the graduate committee most likely won't put any weight on the stuff you listed.

I know there are variables where people get in with lower/similar GPA's, but the rest of their application is extremely well drafted.  I would wager (not trying to sound cruel) that if your GRE writing score is a 2.5 or a 3 that you will also need to spend a lot of time on your statement of purpose and get that thing read by PHD professors to make sure it is up to the quality and level they expect from a future graduate student.  The Manhattan GRE books have a whole book dedicated to what they want in your GRE essay.  Counselors at your school can also offer advice on what to change in your statement of purpose.

If this is your passion, I wouldn't discourage you from pursuing it, but I would go in with the knowledge that it might not happen right away and you would definitely have to raise the GRE scores to balance out your GPA and have a stellar statement of purpose with great directly related speech experience.  I guess my advice is to decide if with 7 years already under your belt you are willing to wait a few more to get that application ready for grad school.  But we are all working much longer these days so if this is your dream job it's just a drop in the bucket of time!

I hope my advice does not come across too harsh, I just want you to know ahead of time what it will take to get that acceptance letter in your hands.  Good luck!!

[marycaryne]

My program is merchandising, not SLP, but I wanted to chime in on the writing since that was the section my program put its primary focus on. Yes I did study, and hard, for the other sections. And at least you get a score when you take practice tests, giving you a good idea of how you may perform on test day. But obviously you don't know what you'll score with a practice AW test, so I read up a lot on it. I did my undergrad online, and online schooling tends to be writing intensive, so I got a LOT of practice in writing through that. I'm also with coffeecode in that "old fashioned" sense of becoming a better writer by being a big reader. I have noticed that those I personally know who do not write very well are the same people who also do not read very much. Read books, newspapers, journals, magazines...just get an idea of how ideas and thoughts are being articulated into information for the reader. One of my GRE resources was Cracking the GRE by The Princeton Review. I felt they had a great section on the essay, at least from my perspective. They clearly explained what was being asked, gave plenty of examples of how to approach it, things the graders look for, etc. I took several practice AW tests just to time myself so that I would be comfortable being able to brainstorm, do an essay, and very quickly review everything within that timelimit. Then I'd review the essay on my own to look at how I could improve. Then I would take another practice AW test (maybe a week or two later), putting those mental notes on improvement quite literally to the test. By my last practice test I noticed a big difference between it and my first practice test. Come test day, I was very comfortable with how to go about doing the essays. I wound up getting a 5.5.

 

[wcslp]

Just to chime in, I also agree that getting your GRE scores up should be your first priority. Frankly, your AW score is quite low and will not make the cut off for many graduate programs. I know my professors always said to aim for at least a 4. The AW section is something that you can absolutely study well for. What many people don't know is that if you go to the GRE site online, you can find a pool of every single question that can be asked. Be warned, there are a LOT of question prompts. Who knows, though? The one you study for might be the one you actually get during the exam. If you take some time to look through the pool, you'll notice that many of the questions are very similar (almost duplicates). All of the questions can pretty much be separated into a few categories (educational, environmental, political, etc... It's been a while and I've forgotten). What I did was I picked out these major categories and thought up 3-5 concrete examples I could memorize and use. I would study my examples every day, and answer at least 2 essay prompts nightly. By the time the actual test rolled around, I had a whole set of thorough examples to pull from. The more concrete your examples, the better (historical figures, educational reform laws, actual dates, etc just to name how concrete I went. Vague examples won't really help). In addition, I believe you can pay 10$ or so to have 2 of your essays graded by the same program that will look through your actual test, so that is also an option. All in all, the GRE is just like any other exam; you need to set aside time to study. I started studying in September, took the exam in October and then in November again, and received a 6.0 AW score both times. It can definitely be done. Good luck!

[SRod2015]

I do not think you should ever give up. Try to apply to as many schools are possible when you apply. Take a GRE prep course if you can afford one. I agree with @mcamp if possible try becoming a SLPA for a year and then apply. When you apply do not apply look at the stats for school generally CA, OR, WA, NY and FL schools those are hard to get into unless it is a new program. I know Cal Baptist in Riverside, CA has a new program.

Volunteer with a SLP at a clinic or hospital or a school, join NSSHLA or a club for Comm Disorders majors at your school and try to as many activities related to the major. Its the summer time its the best time to get involved.

[futureSpeechLP]

Issue Essay tips - http://www.kaptest.com/study/gre/how-to-structure-the-gre-issue-essay/

Argument Essay tips - http://www.kaptest.com/study/gre/how-to-structure-the-gre-argument-essay/

[Gab - future SLP]

I agree with most people who commented on this by saying you definitely should focus on getting your GRE score (especially the writing score) higher. Honestly, your verbal and quantitative scores are higher than mine were, but I received a 4.5 on my writing. I had other things on my resume such as experience and GPA plus my letters of recommendation that picked up the slack of my GRE scores. I do honestly think that I did get rejected from some schools because my scores other than the writing were sub par, but I got accepted to a couple programs so that's all that matters now. To study for the GRE I used the Magoosh online program and it was great. Taking the practice tests will help you with the writing for sure. I recommend it just like a few other people who posted on this and honestly think I wouldn't have broke the 130's if I didn't use it (I got mid to high 140 for both quantitive and verbal) . Some experience I had was volunteering in multiple programs with nonverbal children and mentally/physically challenged children. Also, I was involved in the speech & hearing club, health sciences club, and was a NSSLHA member. I believe the hands on experience was very beneficial and strengthened my application. I do not think you should give up. Good luck!