Frightened that I am not impressive enough

[rchldid]

Hi, I am an out of fielder who has been considering a shift to Speech Therapy for some time now. I'd like to throw my stats out there and see if I could be competitive.

GPA, 3.54. Yeah, my broken dreams of being a biochem major really dragged my scores down. I took a number of graduate level coursework in my major, and got As and high Bs in them. It's frustrating--most discliplines would consider this gpa fantastic!

GRE--165 verbal~155 math~4.5 AW. Hoping this offsets the gpa

Work History~teaching EFL to Asian students. This isn't considered a high powered career at all. I got into it through my passion for travel and language, but I am worried my CV looks flakey. 

 

Opinions?

 

[2020slp]

Hi there! I don't think that a 3.54 GPA is going to disqualify you from getting in to graduate school. However, you will need to try harder in other areas of your application than a student with a 4.0. Your GRE scores are good and with a great SOP and LORs, I think you will have a chance. Make sure you pay attention to the kinds of stats that schools are looking for. Obviously don't apply to a school that weighs heavily on GPAs. People who are out of field get into grad school all the time...you just have to make solid argument for why you want this and why this is the career for you. You could easily turn teaching EFL to Asian students to your benefit by emphasizing working with different cultures, etc. My point is that a lower GPA can definitely be balanced out, but you need to be strategic and work hard. Best of luck to you!

[Elska]

9 hours ago, chloslp said:

Hi there! I don't think that a 3.54 GPA is going to disqualify you from getting in to graduate school. However, you will need to try harder in other areas of your application than a student with a 4.0. Your GRE scores are good and with a great SOP and LORs, I think you will have a chance. Make sure you pay attention to the kinds of stats that schools are looking for. Obviously don't apply to a school that weighs heavily on GPAs. People who are out of field get into grad school all the time...you just have to make solid argument for why you want this and why this is the career for you. You could easily turn teaching EFL to Asian students to your benefit by emphasizing working with different cultures, etc. My point is that a lower GPA can definitely be balanced out, but you need to be strategic and work hard. Best of luck to you!

This! I'd also add that it is pretty standard to have some sort of SLP shadowing or therapy-related volunteering experience on the resume. Grades alone aren't enough, and you need to show that you've been proactive with getting outside experience in the settings or with populations you might be interested in. It's an easy way to boost the resume for balancing out grades, and lets you meet people who could write you strong letters of recommendations. You could also look into working as as special education aide in the schools, or becoming an ABA therapist to get this experience as well.

Since the SOP is the pretty much the only place where you can infuse your personality in the app, be sure to take the time to write a show-stopping essay than will convince the committee that you deserve a spot. I think when a school is deciding between two applicants with similar stats, the SOP becomes one of the biggest deciding factors.  

Also, do your homework. Be open about location, and find schools that are willing to consider the full application instead of prioritizing GPA. Try looking into schools in the Midwest--they tend to be less competitive than those on the coasts. It's possible to get in without the 4.0, but you have to work hard and be flexible to make it happen. Good luck!

[poor_salieri]

Do you have any speech and language related experience? Like volunteering for shadowing?   If not maybe you should try and get some to help.

[NYslp93]

On August 11, 2017 at 2:19 AM, rchldid said:

Hi, I am an out of fielder who has been considering a shift to Speech Therapy for some time now. I'd like to throw my stats out there and see if I could be competitive.

GPA, 3.54. Yeah, my broken dreams of being a biochem major really dragged my scores down. I took a number of graduate level coursework in my major, and got As and high Bs in them. It's frustrating--most discliplines would consider this gpa fantastic!

GRE--165 verbal~155 math~4.5 AW. Hoping this offsets the gpa

Work History~teaching EFL to Asian students. This isn't considered a high powered career at all. I got into it through my passion for travel and language, but I am worried my CV looks flakey. 

 

Opinions?

 

Hi! 

I went undergrad for speech and was not accepted my first time applying, my GPA was really low and my senior year spring semester was definitely a low point academically, 3.01 GPA overall, 3.18 in major.  I took time off, retook some classes, worked with children for two years and reapplied.  My GPA was still not very high (around 3.38).  With that being said I was offered interviews at 4 schools and ended up getting accepted to my top school.

With that being said, do not sell yourself short.  Your work history is interesting!  I would look into volunteer opportunities that are somewhat related to speech therapy (tutoring, reading to children at a library, etc).  As it does seem it's 100% GPA related, it really isn't.  I think that what got me in the door at schools was my experience after college (showing that I genuinely wanted to do this) and the way I presented at interviews.

With all that being said, make sure you apply to a broad range of schools.

 

Good luck!

[rchldid]

Thanks for all your replies! 

I am definately volunteering, but it is hard to find opportunities where I am at (Vietnam). I'm currently shadowing school based therapists. 

I probably will not be applying for this year, and I would like to take classes for the up coming years to show my dedication.

Thank you for your advice!