Schools that don't look at undergrad/bachelors GPA only..?

[PlieThenRose]

So it looks like I'll be applying to grad school for a third year. In the process of getting rejected the second time, I have found out that these schools are only looking at my undergraduate GPA (from 5 years ago in an unrelated field) and not looking at post-bacc/speech classes...this is unfortunate because I have a very low GPA. 

Does anyone know if certain programs look at a cumulative GPA that for example, CSDCAS calculates? I have a 2.8 overall via csdcas and a 3.2 last 60 (post bacc plus senior year). So a lot of the programs I applied to look at last 60, yet when I was rejected they told me otherwise.

I'm very discouraged and want nothing more than to be an SLP. I'm planning on completing a second bachelors in psychology if I can find programs that actually will look at the more recent AND relevant grades. 

Thanks in advance for reading my novel and offering advice! 

[slpmayb2123]

Unfortunately, GPA and GRE scores are a big component of the admissions process everywhere due to the competitive nature of the field. You will be hard pressed to find a school that disregards your GPA, even if it is not "recent and relevant."  I have a friend who received her first bachelors in the mid-90s and that 3.0 got her rejected many places despite a 4.0 post bacc. 

With that being said, your last 60 is not markedly greater than your cumulative GPA. Also, a lot of schools have a 3.5 cutoff, even if they don't explicitly state this. I know my institution does. What are your GRE scores like? Do you have relevant experience? Consider bolstering these aspects of your application, it will always help and never hurt.

I'm sorry that you are feeling discouraged by the SLP graduate school process. This field is deceivingly more competitive than my institution let on, and it's a rough thing to come to terms with for sure. I really struggled with it too. 

 

[mbf]

Hey there, still waiting on one more school, and need to figure out if I want to apply again next year, but this is my third cycle reapplying.

I can tell you this: if I do decide to apply for a 4th time, I will be reaching out to schools and asking them what I can do become a better candidate, and I plan on doing this through phone calls and maybe even some in person visits. I also may do an online SLPA program, or try to find someone to help me get the 100 hours since I have a bachelors in communication disorders.

Really work on finding experiences and try to find a school that finds that extremely relevant, I've heard that St. Ambrose is a school like that.

[kayyyyy_]

As stated above, GPA and GRE are huge components. With that being said, you may want to look into programs that look at the applicant at their entirety before rejecting them. I know a lot of my programs I applied to have this "unspoken rule" of looking at GRE & GPA at the admissions office level and if you have below the criteria they want, they reject you right away. If you pass their criteria, you go through to the SLP department. Find out if the school does this, and if they do, don't apply. Apply to a school where the SLP department looks at everything. 

[WannabSLP124]

I applied for my third cycle this year, and finally got in. I am still waiting on a few schools, but I was wait-listed at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (aka University of Tennessee - Knoxville) and Texas Woman's University. I got into University of Houston. My overall GPA is 3.22 via CSDCAS, and my major GPA was 3.57. So I am on the lower end of GPAs. Remember if an admissions committee can't decide between you and another candidate, they will likely let things like GPA and GRE make that decision.

In this field there are so many GREAT candidates, that having lower stats do make it difficult. Try to build upon your resume and experience. Think what can I offer (and how can I show that I offer this) that no one (or very few) else has. Everyone applying knows it's competitive, so they all have volunteer experience, many have research experiences, speak multiple languages, etc. Make sure you are a really good fit for that school, and vice versa. I applied to many schools that were not a good fit for me because I felt they were a "safer" school, and guess what? I didn't get into any of those safer schools! Lastly, I was really fortunate that my current SLP supervisor did her undergrad at UH and knows what they like. She told me what they like and where to volunteer to make the right connections. Try to get this kind of information. Best of luck!

[PlieThenRose]

My GRE isn't the greatest and I'm not taking it a third time. It won't improve. 

I work at a hospital in the rehab department assisting SLPs, have volunteer experience at a different hospital on their stroke floor, volunteer and observations at a pediatric clinic, and have attended several seminars relating to the field over the past year.

I have put a lot of time and money into this over the last 2 years. I have also put my life on hold. I am about to turn 30, I don't have any money in savings, and I have no career to turn to. It's very stressful and I plan to keep trying.

But if a school would look at a cumulative vs my bachelors degree GPA, I would be way more motivated to keep trying. I don't want to keep putting in thousands of dollars for nothing. If that makes sense!

[edardi1]

16 hours ago, PlieThenRose said:

So it looks like I'll be applying to grad school for a third year. In the process of getting rejected the second time, I have found out that these schools are only looking at my undergraduate GPA (from 5 years ago in an unrelated field) and not looking at post-bacc/speech classes...this is unfortunate because I have a very low GPA. 

Does anyone know if certain programs look at a cumulative GPA that for example, CSDCAS calculates? I have a 2.8 overall via csdcas and a 3.2 last 60 (post bacc plus senior year). So a lot of the programs I applied to look at last 60, yet when I was rejected they told me otherwise.

I'm very discouraged and want nothing more than to be an SLP. I'm planning on completing a second bachelors in psychology if I can find programs that actually will look at the more recent AND relevant grades. 

Thanks in advance for reading my novel and offering advice! 

I'm in the exact same boat as you.  This is my 4th year applying, and so far have been rejected from three schools.  I'm starting to get a little discouraged over here, so I understand how you feel.  I'm 28, graduated 6 years ago, an my UG GPA is still haunting me.  Definitely "shop around" and find out from different schools what specifically they are looking for in a candidate including the ones who rejected you.  Seek additional advice other people about what to put in your statement, explain in your statement why your UG GPA is low while also assuring them you are ready for graduate school, maybe reconsider retaking some courses to get your GPA up.  Your GRE can definitely change.  I got a tutor this year and I went up about 6 points from last year.  Also, maybe look at schools that offer spring admissions.  Less people apply for spring.   

Edited March 21, 2017 by edardi1

[Crimson Wife]

Honestly,if you do decide to shift gears, I wouldn't bother with a 2nd bachelor's in psychology because it isn't necessary for grad school in the field. My first degree is in psych but if I look at the local university that offers a MA in Counseling Psychology (leads to state certification as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist), it just requires a bachelor's in any discipline. Having an undergrad psych degree wouldn't get me out of any courses or shorten the time to degree at all.

[edardi1]

2 minutes ago, Crimson Wife said:

Honestly,if you do decide to shift gears, I wouldn't bother with a 2nd bachelor's in psychology because it isn't necessary for grad school in the field. My first degree is in psych but if I look at the local university that offers a MA in Counseling Psychology (leads to state certification as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist), it just requires a bachelor's in any discipline. Having an undergrad psych degree wouldn't get me out of any courses or shorten the time to degree at all.

Psych?  I think she's talking about a 2nd bachelor's in COMD.  

[edardi1]

2 hours ago, Alicia124 said:

I applied for my third cycle this year, and finally got in. I am still waiting on a few schools, but I was wait-listed at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (aka University of Tennessee - Knoxville) and Texas Woman's University. I got into University of Houston. My overall GPA is 3.22 via CSDCAS, and my major GPA was 3.57. So I am on the lower end of GPAs. Remember if an admissions committee can't decide between you and another candidate, they will likely let things like GPA and GRE make that decision.

In this field there are so many GREAT candidates, that having lower stats do make it difficult. Try to build upon your resume and experience. Think what can I offer (and how can I show that I offer this) that no one (or very few) else has. Everyone applying knows it's competitive, so they all have volunteer experience, many have research experiences, speak multiple languages, etc. Make sure you are a really good fit for that school, and vice versa. I applied to many schools that were not a good fit for me because I felt they were a "safer" school, and guess what? I didn't get into any of those safer schools! Lastly, I was really fortunate that my current SLP supervisor did her undergrad at UH and knows what they like. She told me what they like and where to volunteer to make the right connections. Try to get this kind of information. Best of luck!

Just curious, what do they like?

[PlieThenRose]

47 minutes ago, Crimson Wife said:

Honestly,if you do decide to shift gears, I wouldn't bother with a 2nd bachelor's in psychology because it isn't necessary for grad school in the field. My first degree is in psych but if I look at the local university that offers a MA in Counseling Psychology (leads to state certification as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist), it just requires a bachelor's in any discipline. Having an undergrad psych degree wouldn't get me out of any courses or shorten the time to degree at all.

I am looking into the 2nd bachelor's in Psych.  I already have post-bacc requirements for speech, and I have been looking into doing social work if speech doesn't work out. But to boost my GPA for both speech and social work, as well as have a better social science background for social work, I am looking into a 2nd bachelors. My bachelor's has nothing to do with science whatsoever....so I figured that could maybe help? But before spending more $$ I need to do more research to see if these SLP programs would look at my 2nd Bachelors GPA as well.

[PlieThenRose]

1 hour ago, edardi1 said:

I'm in the exact same boat as you.  This is my 4th year applying, and so far have been rejected from three schools.  I'm starting to get a little discouraged over here, so I understand how you feel.  I'm 28, graduated 6 years ago, an my UG GPA is still haunting me.  Definitely "shop around" and find out from different schools what specifically they are looking for in a candidate including the ones who rejected you.  Seek additional advice other people about what to put in your statement, explain in your statement why your UG GPA is low while also assuring them you are ready for graduate school, maybe reconsider retaking some courses to get your GPA up.  Your GRE can definitely change.  I got a tutor this year and I went up about 6 points from last year.  Also, maybe look at schools that offer spring admissions.  Less people apply for spring.   

I hate that the UG GPA haunts us still! I did write about my UG GPA in this year's statement, but I don't even think any of these schools looked that far due to my GPA.

But spring! That's a good idea. I did not apply for spring last year in hopes I'd gain more experience during this year to help. I will for sure apply for spring this time around.

Also, I did take the GRE twice. The second time it went up 9 points. My verbal went up 15 points the second time around, quant went down 6, AW stayed the same.  I was also advised not to take it too many times, so I am not sure if taking it a third time would really help much.  I also had a higher GRE score than several of my post-bacc classmates, and they all got in to multiple programs.

 

Thanks!

[edardi1]

1 hour ago, PlieThenRose said:

I hate that the UG GPA haunts us still! I did write about my UG GPA in this year's statement, but I don't even think any of these schools looked that far due to my GPA.

But spring! That's a good idea. I did not apply for spring last year in hopes I'd gain more experience during this year to help. I will for sure apply for spring this time around.

Also, I did take the GRE twice. The second time it went up 9 points. My verbal went up 15 points the second time around, quant went down 6, AW stayed the same.  I was also advised not to take it too many times, so I am not sure if taking it a third time would really help much.  I also had a higher GRE score than several of my post-bacc classmates, and they all got in to multiple programs.

 

Thanks!

good luck!

[WannabSLP124]

21 hours ago, edardi1 said:

Just curious, what do they like?

UH has a reputation for taking nontraditional applicants. Most of their grad students I have met are in their 30's like myself. I feel like you have that working for you with your work experience. I also volunteered for a couple years at a local organization that the dean is affiliated with. This not only helped with my resume, but 2 of my letters of recommendation came from people she knew and trusted. They also like for you to have your pre-reqs done, as they are very strict about you having everything done before starting the program. They are not as flexible on that as other programs when it comes to that.

[edardi1]

4 hours ago, Alicia124 said:

UH has a reputation for taking nontraditional applicants. Most of their grad students I have met are in their 30's like myself. I feel like you have that working for you with your work experience. I also volunteered for a couple years at a local organization that the dean is affiliated with. This not only helped with my resume, but 2 of my letters of recommendation came from people she knew and trusted. They also like for you to have your pre-reqs done, as they are very strict about you having everything done before starting the program. They are not as flexible on that as other programs when it comes to that.

Perhaps the prequisite thing was what got me.  I haden't taken observation yet.  Also, I didn't double-space my statement.  I didn't discover that until after I already turned it in that it needed to be done.    

[SLP1719]

I squeaked by with a 2.8 from my undergrad in 2012 in linguistics. I'd withdrawn from and failed quite a few courses during that time. 

So far, I've taken ~30 credits post-bacc in the last 16 months, and my GPA for those more recent courses is 3.8. Overall, my GPA is still only a 3.0 (or 2.99 depending on how you round... lol). I contacted grad schools that I was interested in, and some of them were more willing to overlook the bachelor's GPA from a few years ago if the academic work since that time has shown a marked improvement. I had decent GRE scores with a very high AW score, and extensive work experience in management... partly because the reason I did so poorly as an undergrad is because I was working full time and worked my way up the ladder in a company in another field. It was during the recession, so earning a comfortable living during a recession became my focus over coursework at that time. I made sure to discuss this in my grad school essay. I've been accepted at one school and had interviews at two others, so I know it is possible for those of us with a low GPA to make this work!

I quit the management job in August 2016 to focus on more pre-reqs full time, and also interned fall 2016 for a residential program for students with ASD. I was subsequently offered a paid position at the agency as my internship came to an end, so I made sure to highlight this on my resume when I applied to these programs. 

I know Western Kentucky University (online) takes into consideration the last 60 credits GPA as it compares to the overall GPA. So, if you haven't looked into that program, I would maybe give it a shot. I don't remember if they offer spring start dates, but that's possible. I had them on my list to apply to for Fall 2017, but I honestly ran out of money after paying all of these application fees, and their deadline was a little bit later than my other programs, so they were on the end of my list and I just couldn't afford it at the time.

[Louly]

I did an interview with U of Missouri a few weeks back and they specifically stated that they do a holistic application process. During the interview, they gave me the opportunity to explain what contributed to my bad grades. Do try them in the future. Good luck!

[BADASSALICE]

On 3/23/2017 at 9:47 AM, Louly said:

I did an interview with U of Missouri a few weeks back and they specifically stated that they do a holistic application process. During the interview, they gave me the opportunity to explain what contributed to my bad grades. Do try them in the future. Good luck!

Hi! I am applying this year to U of Missouri and I'm about to do the online interview! Since I am not from the state and do not know anyone who applies to this progam, I have no idea what this interview is going to be like! Would you mind sharing some information about their interview? What is it like? What type of questions do they ask? What do I need to prepare? Thank you so much!

[hopefulfuturespeechie]

On 3/21/2017 at 12:53 PM, slpmayb2123 said:

Unfortunately, GPA and GRE scores are a big component of the admissions process everywhere due to the competitive nature of the field. You will be hard pressed to find a school that disregards your GPA, even if it is not "recent and relevant."  I have a friend who received her first bachelors in the mid-90s and that 3.0 got her rejected many places despite a 4.0 post bacc. 

With that being said, your last 60 is not markedly greater than your cumulative GPA. Also, a lot of schools have a 3.5 cutoff, even if they don't explicitly state this. I know my institution does. What are your GRE scores like? Do you have relevant experience? Consider bolstering these aspects of your application, it will always help and never hurt.

I'm sorry that you are feeling discouraged by the SLP graduate school process. This field is deceivingly more competitive than my institution let on, and it's a rough thing to come to terms with for sure. I really struggled with it too. 

 

What school are you attending that has a 3.5 cut off? and is that for last 60 credits or overall?

[Louly]

On 1/12/2019 at 3:08 PM, AliceWang said:

Hi! I am applying this year to U of Missouri and I'm about to do the online interview! Since I am not from the state and do not know anyone who applies to this progam, I have no idea what this interview is going to be like! Would you mind sharing some information about their interview? What is it like? What type of questions do they ask? What do I need to prepare? Thank you so much!

It’s been awhile but I remember them asking about why I pursue a career path in CSD? How and why were grades bad and how/what I did to raise them? It was a interview catered more towards me. Like how would it be like if I were to move away since I had cultural ties with my family and community. I do encourage you to study the general questions (e.g., why you chose this program? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Etc.) because somehow they gave me the hardest time. It’s like ‘I’ knew why I want to be an SLP but it was hard for me to explain it in words without sounding like every other student out there (e.g., because I want to help people). 

[BADASSALICE]

23 hours ago, Louly said:

It’s been awhile but I remember them asking about why I pursue a career path in CSD? How and why were grades bad and how/what I did to raise them? It was a interview catered more towards me. Like how would it be like if I were to move away since I had cultural ties with my family and community. I do encourage you to study the general questions (e.g., why you chose this program? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Etc.) because somehow they gave me the hardest time. It’s like ‘I’ knew why I want to be an SLP but it was hard for me to explain it in words without sounding like every other student out there (e.g., because I want to help people). 

Thank you so much!!! You are so helpful. I didn’t know it was going to be a get-to-know-you type of interview or a scenario interview. This really helps a lot!!

[KEIM]

On 3/21/2017 at 9:53 AM, slpmayb2123 said:

Unfortunately, GPA and GRE scores are a big component of the admissions process everywhere due to the competitive nature of the field. You will be hard pressed to find a school that disregards your GPA, even if it is not "recent and relevant."  I have a friend who received her first bachelors in the mid-90s and that 3.0 got her rejected many places despite a 4.0 post bacc. 

 

 

Oh no, please tell me you friend got in SOMEWHERE because I may end up having similar stats.