Have no idea where to start

[Speechie05]

Hello everybody! I'm new here so don't mind me. I'm currently freaking out because all of a sudden I found out I am graduating in Spring 2017. I have no idea where to start when it comes to Grad schools and where to really begin doing my research. I currently will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology though I do have 6 Speech Pathology classes I took 2 years ago. My current GPA is a 3.66 though I'm hoping to bring it even higher in Spring. Speech Pathology is what I want to get my masters in. Now, I signed up for Magoosh to begin my GRE studying since that seemed to be the most important at the moment. Next, I have no idea what exactly I need to look for when it comes to schools. I have looked at a few and it seems very very overwhelming because so many of them want additional courses in Speech. In addition, some schools have extended programs where some want a Post Bacc. So here is my question. Where do I even start? Should I email the schools I want to attend and ask if my current Speech courses are acceptable there? Should i stop stressing about my GPA? Sorry this is all over the place.

[imunster]

1) Look up schools you want to apply to and see whether those programs accept out of field applicants (usually 3 year programs) or whether they require you to have the prereqs/postbacc. Most of the time if they require prerequisite classes they will have a list of them on their website. 

2) Take the GRE ASAP because most of the schools' deadlines are early/mid January to early February. You need to a lot time for your writing portion to be scored and also time for ETS to send the scores to your desired schools. 

3) It's kind of late in the game but you need to figure out who you're going to ask for letters of rec!

4) Don't stress too much about GPA. My undergraduate GPA is 3.28 but i'm doing well in my postbacc courses. Just make sure you ace your spring courses! Plus there is more to you than grades. Figure out what stands out about yourself and develop that into a kickass letter of intent. 

5) Sign up for CSDCAS and put all the schools you want to apply to on your account. From there you can check out specific requirements of the school, their statement of intent prompt, other things they want you to submit, the deadline, and etc. Also.. check the application instructions for each specific school on their own website. They're usually have detailed instruction such as... "in addition to CSDCAS you must fill out a supplemental application" or whatever. They'll also tell you where to send transcripts/GRE scores. 

 

There's a lot to do so you better get started!

[slporbust2016]

SLP Master's all have speech-related pre-requisites. You can get these in three ways:

1) major in CSD as an undergrad 
2) enroll in a Master's program that includes the pre-reqs (usually 3 years)
3) complete the pre-reqs in a post-bacc program and then do the Master's in a separate program

In your case, I would pursue route 2 with route 3 as a backup. I did route 3 since it had been a long time since I did my undergrad, and the schools that would work for me don't have the included pre-reqs option. The advantage to route 2 is that you're already guaranteed a spot in a Master's program. The advantages to step 3 are that you can choose from more programs, but you have the uncertainty of whether or not you will get into a Master's program which can be a little stressful.