Help for an Undergrad CMSD Major? (SDSU grad advice especially appreciated!)

[joannly]

After some months of lurking around on The Grad Cafe, I'm finally making a post!

I'm currently an incoming 3rd year undergrad Communication Sciences and Disorders major at Loma Linda University, and I just wanted some advice from  the graduates or soon-to-be graduates for properly prepping myself for grad schools. 

The schools I'm thinking of applying to (in order of preference!) are:

• SDSU (top school!)
• University of Washington, Seattle (CoreSLP)
• Chapman University
• CSU Long Beach
• CSU Fullerton
• Loma Linda University (lol)

My stats currently are:

• GPA: 3.55 (I haven't taken any SLP classes yet, this is all general ed/pre-reqs)
• Extra Curriculars:
  • 6 years of academic tutoring with children
  • shadowing experience with elementary school SLPs and private clinic SLPs
• Professional experience:
  • a speech pathology paid research internship at a university's research facility
• GRE: I've just begun to study this summer!

If anyone could offer me advice to make me a competitive applicant (especially for SDSU!) I'd greatly appreciate it.
(Also, if this kind of post is frowned upon in this community, you have my sincere apologies and I'll remove the post!)

Edited June 28, 2016 by joannly

[castikat]

Your extra curriculars are good and that internship should be great for your chances of getting in. However, your gpa is on the low end of competative for this field and I know SDSU in particular has a very high average GPA for those who are admitted. Buckle down and get as high of grades as possible in your SLP classes. If you get a 4.0 in-major, your overall GPA will matter less. Also connect with your instructors so you can get good LORs. And of course, a high GRE score is helpful. Keep adding volunteer experience to your resume as possible, especially with different populations (elderly, special needs, etc.). GRE and GPA are the most important things though, so really just focus on your grades and you should be fine.

[Kslptobe]

Your internship should definitely help you out. However, I applied to SDSU, CSUF, and CSULB for Fall 2016 and didn't get in. I had a ton of volunteer experience and an ok gpa. My gpa was a 3.6. My GRE scores were extremely low and I honestly feel like that was what effected my chances. So my best advice for you, is to study all summer for the GRE. Good luck to you!

Oh and my friend applied to SDSU with a 4.0 GPA and a lot of volunteer experience and high GRE scores and still didn't get in... So I guess it just depends. 

Edited July 8, 2016 by Kslptobe