Non-Traditional Students

[linguistics_grad]

Hello friends!!

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one freaking out a little waiting for a response on my application to SLP. My question for you, in advance, is this: Do you think there is any chance I'm going to get in?? 

This is my situation: I did an undergrad and a master's in linguistics. I was a total brain when I was in university; I got dozens of scholarships, had a 4.0 GPA, learned 3 languages, did research assistant positions, got SSHRC funding, presented a conferences... Then I did my master's at a prestigious linguistics program in Canada, wrote my thesis, did a teaching assistantship in phonetics, got a 3.88 GPA.... annnnd ultimately decided that going into academia wasn't really suited to my personality. Loved the subject matter, but it just wasn't the vibe I was looking for. I felt like I couldn't see how my long hours working on research would benefit the world in any tangible way (my area of expertise was very esoteric), and I spent so much time alone. It wasn't a social enough environment for me.

So, I decided to take time off and that turned into 6 years of doing all kinds of things. Travelling, serving, government jobs.. I did several years of organic farming and sang in a band also. Taking that time off was a great "life" move that I wouldn't take back for the world.

And THEN I developed a vocal disorder called muscle tension dysphonia, which made it impossible for me to sing, socialize, or do the kinds of work I was used to (mostly working in loud restaurants and talking about 15 hours a day). Long story short, it turned my life upside down, and I ended up in speech language therapy. I found my sessions to be FASCINATING and all of a sudden I felt like everything clicked into place and that I'd figured out what my long term career goals needed to be. Since that time (last summer), I've had no doubts about going back to university and training in SLP.

HOWEVER! I don't have any volunteer experience. And I've been travelling since September, so I only applied for one program, McGil. I feel that I put together the strongest application I could; good references from profs that I worked for or did research with who know me quite well, my transcript is very strong, and I do have a master's degree already. I spent a month fussing over my letter and getting profs and other smart friends to edit it.

But I am also very aware that I am not the average SLP applicant, in that I don't have the volunteer experience and I have been out of school for 6 years. And during this time I've had very diverse and interesting life/work/travel experiences, but those experiences aren't directly related to SLP.

What do you think, comrades? 

I know that if I don't get in for Sept 2017 the world won't end. I'll have another year to volunteer and do more prerequisites and do all of the things you're supposed to do. But I am *so excited* about the idea of getting started! And I was such a strong student that I've always felt that the academic world would just be open to me whenever I wanted to go back to it.

Do people like me get in? How hard should I be bracing myself for disappointment?

 

Thanks for reading, and GOOD LUCK to all! :))

 

[Paslp]

Happy you are doing better after therapy!

While i dont know anything about Mcgil my personal opinion is that you have a great chance. Your personal experiences sound like they will far outweigh any type of volunteering experience or lack of. 

For all grad programs I'm aware of, 3.8 GPA is a solid GPA that will get you into most schools easily. The main point is you've demonstrated academic excellence in your studies. That proves you can handle a heavy workload in slp grad school. Extra language skills are also good.

As long as you don't get 10th percentile on the GRE I'm pretty sure you'll get in wherever you apply. 

But then again, you're in canada. I have no idea how things work up there. Hopefully everything works in our favor when acceptances start rolling out!

Edited February 9, 2017 by Paslp

[lacuna]

I have a B.S. in Cognitive Science and a minor in linguistics and have gotten into a program straight in from that without a pre-existing MA, which I actually think will really benefit you. I wrote some of my statements that had to be either academic samples or review of the professor's work on really phonetic-heavy analyses which I believe gave me an advantage. I talked about how being a non-traditional student benefits me in my statement instead of how it may hinder me. I also have a high GPA (3.85) and scored in the top 15% on the GRE. I have 15 hours of shadowing an SLP as experience and 1 year of work in a research lab on literacy and speech communication, as well as lots of leadership in my school's student government. I'm not sure how your outside school activities look, but I think overall I would not be too worried.