What else do I need to do to be a competitive applicant?

[plume]

I am hoping for a little help deciding what my best move is this summer and fall to help my application. I am an out-of-field applicant applying to 3-year tracks. My issue is that I do not think I have time to fit everything in that I would like to. I am currently working directly in the field, essentially as an SLPA without the certification with children and young adults with language disorders, but have only been doing this for a little over a year. I have an English degree with a good GPA but I only have linguistics and anatomy prereqs completed. I am studying for the GRE and will take it at the end of September. I am also signing up for the required statistics course this fall to take in the evenings. I am making calls to shadow clinicians in other settings as well. I will be busy between GRE studying, a class, and work, but I would appreciate input on if I should do anything else! 

I could....

1) Take a speech-related class in the fall, along with the statistics course (this would help me get an academic LoR, since I have been out of school for 5 years - although I could get three great ones from supervisors in my current position)

2) Volunteer in an area of interest I do not have experience in yet

3) Try to fit in all of the above, maybe with a volunteer opportunity that doesn't require many hours?

3) Chill out (if possible!) and focus on studying for the GRE and writing my POS (and this could give me more time to study to retake the GRE if needed)

4) Any other thoughts? 

Thank you!!!!!! 

Edited July 4, 2016 by plume

[thespeechblog.com]

I´d say get an SLP related pre-req in order to earn an academic LOR and focus on the GRE and your Personal Statement. 

[Crimson Wife]

Most people find Phonetics to be an easy class and it's one that all grad schools are going to require you to complete (either as pre-req or as part of an extended master's). I would imagine that you'd find it easy with an English degree and having already taken linguistics (the linguistics course I took had a module on IPA, though I still had to take a full semester course in Phonetics).

[slporbust2016]

Position yourself to get appropriate LOR. Many of the programs that I looked at wanted 2 academic LORs. Research the schools you're interested in to see if this applies to them. 

Then prep for the GRE. Improving GRE scores is going to do a lot more to affect your application than volunteer work as you already have relevant experience. 

[plume]

Thank you! mcamp and Crimson Wife, you had brought up Phonetics and Language Dev in another thread as easier classes so I will look into signing up for one of those in the fall!

[MangoSmoothie]

Just wanted to echo the sentiment from above. While you may have three excellent LORs, it's hard to get over that requirement for an academic LOR and LORs required from SLPs. I had two great LORs from professors whose classes I only took the fall I was applying, so you can still get a good one in the short time frame! 

[plume]

Thanks MangoSmoothie! That makes me feel MUCH better about getting letters from professors I will not know for very long!