help!! bilingual student applying for grad school

[BADASSALICE]

Hello all,

My name is Alice. I am currently a senior student in Communication Sciences and Disorders major at a public university in the southwest region. I have a bit of an unusual background. I was born and raised in Beijing, China. My first language is Mandarin, and I speak very fluent, near native English. 
I am planning to graduate college in spring 2018, since I've decided to take my time to do 5 years for my undergraduate degree. I am very passionate about working with bilingual children in the future. Currently, I am taking classes towards a minors degree in linguistics, and an undergraduate TESOL certificate. I have worked as an English teacher in the United States for both children and adults, and I am currently working as a programs assistant at a daycare for international children.
I have been researching for graduate school lately, and I found my comparatively low GPA not desirable at all. I admit that I am not the hardest worker. But I have never been a great test taker, or a "school person". Being in a completely different cultural environment definitely didn't help either (I went through a very tough "lost period" when I first got here. But I got everything worked out now). Right now I have a couple B's and C's in my major classes, with a major GPA just above 3.0 (not even 3.1, ha). I have decided that along with applying for graduate schools, I will be re-taking 5 courses that I have gotten B's and C's on. And that will supposedly bump my major GPA up to 3.34 if I get all A's. My current overall GPA is 3.15. I know this is not the greatest situation, and that's why I'm here to seek help! Here are my questions:

1. Is this GPA really just hopeless? I have seen so many people who have their GPAs around 3.3 and do not get any offer. Would it be a better option if I just delay my graduation for another year, and re-take more classes and get more experience? (that will not help my GPA by too much though. My school does not take out my former grades after I re-take courses)
2. I know bilingual SLPs are kind of in-demand in the United States now. how can I maximized this advantage/counter my disadvantage on my GPA when I'm applying?
3. Are there any schools that I can specifically look at that provide bilingual research or clinical opportunities?
4. What cities or states should I be aiming for to have contact with a bigger population of bilingual clients? The state I am in right now does NOT have a lot of diversity.
5. I am debating if I want to get my permanent resident identity (the US green card) right now. If I do so I will lose my international student status. I know every school has a quota for international students. Does anybody have any idea or similar experiences on which identity I should be applying under to have a better chance to get in?
5. What are some of the other things I can do to help counter my low GPA?

Thank you for reading!

[lacuna]

I am not able to answer all of your questions, but some programs do require a second language and those ones typically have less applications, probably giving you a better chance for admissions. For example, the University of Utah offers a MS and a MA, the MA requires you to have a second language. I'm not sure of other schools that do the same, but I'm sure there are some. You should definitely talk about your unique experience in your personal statement! 

[slpgrad620]

If you're looking into bilingual opportunities, NY would be the best option to look into since it's extremely diverse and there's a huge Mandarin speaking population here.
However, you did say your GPA is low but there are people who have 4.0s and still don't get accepted which shows that GPA isn't everything. You should maybe look into volunteer/ observation/ research opportunities to help you gain more experience and then possibly write about your experience in your personal statement to help you stand out. 
Best of luck. 

Edited February 27, 2017 by slpgrad620

[BeachySpeechy]

To be brutally honest, if your major GPA is low you might struggle quite a bit in a masters program. I don't want to be discouraging but there are some students that end up getting into a masters program for SLP and then end up getting kicked out for earning two C's...in the end they are stuck with a large amount of debt and no degree. You say you are not the hardest worker or a "school person"....do you still feel this way? Trust me, people can change over time (like me!) but grad school is an expensive place to find out. 

If you feel that you have changed and you have grown to become a "school person" and a hard worker, and you are positive you want to move forward with grad school, make sure you have an awesome SOP (explaining your past grades), high GREs, strong LORs, gain some experience in the field, and earn As in all the classes you retake. But also be prepared and have a plan b just in case you do not get into a program. 

This is a challenging field and the journey can feel pretty rough...but if you are willing to put in the hard work and you take the risk, I wish you all the luck in the world! 

 

[BADASSALICE]

On 2/27/2017 at 4:27 PM, lacuna said:

I am not able to answer all of your questions, but some programs do require a second language and those ones typically have less applications, probably giving you a better chance for admissions. For example, the University of Utah offers a MS and a MA, the MA requires you to have a second language. I'm not sure of other schools that do the same, but I'm sure there are some. You should definitely talk about your unique experience in your personal statement! 

Thank you for responding! How much do you know about the MA program at UU? I looked through their website, but they didn't say much about it. Do you know any further info?

[Louly]

Alice, 

I'll try answering your questions from above, being that I am bilingual and were accepted to a few bilingual programs/research labs.

1. Is this GPA really just hopeless? I have seen so many people who have their GPAs around 3.3 and do not get any offer. Would it be a better option if I just delay my graduation for another year, and re-take more classes and get more experience? (that will not help my GPA by too much though. My school does not take out my former grades after I re-take courses)

I had a GPA lower than a 1.0 when I first started college .... I took a break for 5years, gain some experiences in the medical field and came back swinging. I eventually earned a 3.8 in the major, 3.8 in my last 100 credits, and re-did about 6-8 courses that would jeopardize my chance of getting into grad school. Some classes were so old that they could not be redone and they're still sitting on my transcript. It eventually took me 7years to graduate from my undergrad but ...good news, I got into grad school on my first try! =) 

As I was reading your post, you stressed the fact that you are "not the hardest worker" and a "school person" ---to be honest, the people that make it into grad school are. I have friends in grad school that had a near perfect GPA, were some of the smartest classmates I know ....who literally cries in the hallway because its that hard. I'm not discouraging you in anyway but I do suggest rethinking a few things over because one of the reasons why this field is so competitive is because grad school IS extremely tough, like, mentally and physically draining tough. My grad friends describes our undergrad studies as a "kiddie playground".
2. I know bilingual SLPs are kind of in-demand in the United States now. how can I maximized this advantage/counter my disadvantage on my GPA when I'm applying?

 I suggest doing some research to show that you're making an effort in helping bilingual populations. Mandarin and Spanish speaking SLPs are in high demand both in the workforce and in research. During my interviews, every faculty member asked me if I knew how to speak Mandarin or Spanish, sadly, it's a no WHICH cost me a few rejections. If you can somehow make use of your talents, do it! because they need more bilingual speakers to help recruit and interpret data.
3. Are there any schools that I can specifically look at that provide bilingual research or clinical opportunities?

Bilingual labs are very popular in our field... I suggest looking down south where there are a higher populations of bilingual speakers. Some schools like Arizona and Texas are top schools for research in bilingual speakers.
4. What cities or states should I be aiming for to have contact with a bigger population of bilingual clients? The state I am in right now does NOT have a lot of diversity.

(read above)
5. I am debating if I want to get my permanent resident identity (the US green card) right now. If I do so I will lose my international student status. I know every school has a quota for international students. Does anybody have any idea or similar experiences on which identity I should be applying under to have a better chance to get in?

I'm not an international student or know any, I'm unable to answer this question.
6. What are some of the other things I can do to help counter my low GPA?

I knew my low GPA in the past was going to hurt my chances of getting into grad school so I did three years of research, got an article published and presented at 5 conferences (one of them being ASHA). I looked for volunteer opportunities everywhere! I volunteered at inclusion schools (working with children with special needs), volunteered at a rehabilitation center (working with AAC devices), became active on campus to build good rapport with faculty members so that I can have strong LOR. Also, by volunteering, I made sure I stayed there long enough so I can get a speech language pathologist to write a LOR for me. When you apply to graduate school, they typically want two letters from someone who knows your academic strive (so like, professors) and one from a clinical perspective (someone who knows your hands on experience). 
 

I hope that helps! Good luck in whatever decision you make =)

 

 

Edited March 11, 2017 by Louly

[plume]

I think most of your other questions have been covered.... but I just want to say that you should use ASHA's EdFind tool to find programs with a bilingual/multicultural emphasis—there are so many! You can click on "Bilingual emphasis" under "Institutions with:" on the right side of the page for a list of them.

 

[lacuna]

On 3/8/2017 at 11:57 AM, AliceWang said:

Thank you for responding! How much do you know about the MA program at UU? I looked through their website, but they didn't say much about it. Do you know any further info?

 

 

No I don't, it was kind of hell to prove my second language proficiency and the whole application process was kind of a nightmare for me (for many reasons). If I was considering the program more seriously I would have inquired more about how the sequence differs. 

Edited March 28, 2017 by lacuna

[fuzzylogician]

On 2/27/2017 at 4:31 PM, AliceWang said:

5. I am debating if I want to get my permanent resident identity (the US green card) right now. If I do so I will lose my international student status. I know every school has a quota for international students. Does anybody have any idea or similar experiences on which identity I should be applying under to have a better chance to get in?

I'll only address this one -- if you can get a green card, and you want to live and work in the States as an adult, do it now. With the current administration, you just don't know what will happen next with immigration. Even if you qualify now, you can't be sure that that will still be true in a year or three. So, do it now, while you can. I would personally tend to think that there is no advantage to being an international student. There are usually fewer funding sources and spots for international students than for domestic students. But regardless, I'd do it just to be sure that you have it because, again, these days things are just so unpredictable. 

[BADASSALICE]

On 3/11/2017 at 2:09 PM, Louly said:

Alice, 

I'll try answering your questions from above, being that I am bilingual and were accepted to a few bilingual programs/research labs.

1. Is this GPA really just hopeless? I have seen so many people who have their GPAs around 3.3 and do not get any offer. Would it be a better option if I just delay my graduation for another year, and re-take more classes and get more experience? (that will not help my GPA by too much though. My school does not take out my former grades after I re-take courses)

I had a GPA lower than a 1.0 when I first started college .... I took a break for 5years, gain some experiences in the medical field and came back swinging. I eventually earned a 3.8 in the major, 3.8 in my last 100 credits, and re-did about 6-8 courses that would jeopardize my chance of getting into grad school. Some classes were so old that they could not be redone and they're still sitting on my transcript. It eventually took me 7years to graduate from my undergrad but ...good news, I got into grad school on my first try! =) 

As I was reading your post, you stressed the fact that you are "not the hardest worker" and a "school person" ---to be honest, the people that make it into grad school are. I have friends in grad school that had a near perfect GPA, were some of the smartest classmates I know ....who literally cries in the hallway because its that hard. I'm not discouraging you in anyway but I do suggest rethinking a few things over because one of the reasons why this field is so competitive is because grad school IS extremely tough, like, mentally and physically draining tough. My grad friends describes our undergrad studies as a "kiddie playground".
2. I know bilingual SLPs are kind of in-demand in the United States now. how can I maximized this advantage/counter my disadvantage on my GPA when I'm applying?

 I suggest doing some research to show that you're making an effort in helping bilingual populations. Mandarin and Spanish speaking SLPs are in high demand both in the workforce and in research. During my interviews, every faculty member asked me if I knew how to speak Mandarin or Spanish, sadly, it's a no WHICH cost me a few rejections. If you can somehow make use of your talents, do it! because they need more bilingual speakers to help recruit and interpret data.
3. Are there any schools that I can specifically look at that provide bilingual research or clinical opportunities?

Bilingual labs are very popular in our field... I suggest looking down south where there are a higher populations of bilingual speakers. Some schools like Arizona and Texas are top schools for research in bilingual speakers.
4. What cities or states should I be aiming for to have contact with a bigger population of bilingual clients? The state I am in right now does NOT have a lot of diversity.

(read above)
5. I am debating if I want to get my permanent resident identity (the US green card) right now. If I do so I will lose my international student status. I know every school has a quota for international students. Does anybody have any idea or similar experiences on which identity I should be applying under to have a better chance to get in?

I'm not an international student or know any, I'm unable to answer this question.
6. What are some of the other things I can do to help counter my low GPA?

I knew my low GPA in the past was going to hurt my chances of getting into grad school so I did three years of research, got an article published and presented at 5 conferences (one of them being ASHA). I looked for volunteer opportunities everywhere! I volunteered at inclusion schools (working with children with special needs), volunteered at a rehabilitation center (working with AAC devices), became active on campus to build good rapport with faculty members so that I can have strong LOR. Also, by volunteering, I made sure I stayed there long enough so I can get a speech language pathologist to write a LOR for me. When you apply to graduate school, they typically want two letters from someone who knows your academic strive (so like, professors) and one from a clinical perspective (someone who knows your hands on experience). 
 

I hope that helps! Good luck in whatever decision you make =)

 

 

Thank you for your response. After I read your response almost a year ago and consulted many people along with a great amount of soul searching, I made the decision to stay in college for 1 more year to work on my GPA as well as to gain more experience. I am looking to graduate in fall 2018 with all As except one B in my major classes and a GPA of nearly 3.6. I have truly stepped up my game academically, and was honored with a leadership award by ASHA during last semester. I have started my process of obtaining a green card and I will be helping a professor with his research project starting this summer. Needless to say things are looking up a bit for me and I hope I will have a better chance of getting into graduate school after all my hard work. Thank you again for your advise 

[Red_diet]

Hello Alice! My first language is also Mandarine and I'm an international student. Many graduate programs have a bilingual track, but unfortunately, most of them are focused on Spanish and English. I just got admitted into the University of Delaware and my personal statement definitely highlights my cultural background. Feel free to ask me any questions!

[BADASSALICE]

7 hours ago, Red_diet said:

Hello Alice! My first language is also Mandarine and I'm an international student. Many graduate programs have a bilingual track, but unfortunately, most of them are focused on Spanish and English. I just got admitted into the University of Delaware and my personal statement definitely highlights my cultural background. Feel free to ask me any questions!

Congratulations! I am definitely interested in that program as well. I know that the program is brand new and I absolutely admire Dr. Sheng's work in the bilingual pediatric field. I am sure you will thrive under her. I am thinking about going to an open house this coming fall. May be we will be able to meet by then. If you don't mind me asking, where do you currently go to school at? and what was your GPA when you applied? Do they have a different application deadline for international students as well? I love exchanging thoughts with fellow Chinese international speech path students since I don't see a lot of them here. Good luck on your journey to Delaware!!

[Red_diet]

On 2/20/2018 at 12:46 PM, AliceWang said:

Congratulations! I am definitely interested in that program as well. I know that the program is brand new and I absolutely admire Dr. Sheng's work in the bilingual pediatric field. I am sure you will thrive under her. I am thinking about going to an open house this coming fall. May be we will be able to meet by then. If you don't mind me asking, where do you currently go to school at? and what was your GPA when you applied? Do they have a different application deadline for international students as well? I love exchanging thoughts with fellow Chinese international speech path students since I don't see a lot of them here. Good luck on your journey to Delaware!!

Thank you! I graduated from a university in China with a bachelor degree in linguistics (GPA:3.45) and am currently a post-bac student at the University of Washington (GPA:3.94). UDel also uses the CSDCAS system and they have a uniform deadline for domestic and international students.

[Louly]

On 2/19/2018 at 4:12 PM, AliceWang said:

Thank you for your response. After I read your response almost a year ago and consulted many people along with a great amount of soul searching, I made the decision to stay in college for 1 more year to work on my GPA as well as to gain more experience. I am looking to graduate in fall 2018 with all As except one B in my major classes and a GPA of nearly 3.6. I have truly stepped up my game academically, and was honored with a leadership award by ASHA during last semester. I have started my process of obtaining a green card and I will be helping a professor with his research project starting this summer. Needless to say things are looking up a bit for me and I hope I will have a better chance of getting into graduate school after all my hard work. Thank you again for your advise 

Congratulations! I hope we'll bump into one another in the near future... I, too, am interested in bilingualism/multilingualism and am now a MS/PhD student. A lot of my research will be bilingual-based.