How Beneficial is it to be Bilingual for grad school acceptance?

[xoxoaimee]

How Beneficial is it to be a Bilingual SLP for grad school acceptance? I always hear that there is a big demand for spanish speaking SLPs, but I want to know if it could help me get the edge I need to get into grad school. My GPA  and letter of recs are meh, but good GRE scores. Getting nervous about getting into the programs I want tho. 

Edited January 10, 2018 by xoxoaimee

[futureSLPhopefullylol]

Extremely beneficial. Make sure you take advantage of discussing that in personal statements. 

[Elska]

It definitely gives you an edge especially if the programs you apply to has a multicultural emphasis, like some of the California schools. You definitely have to make talking about it a priority in your SOP otherwise the committee member who reads/skims it may not realize you are bilingualism. There was this bilingual girl who didn't get into my program who went and asked the head of the grad program why she didn't get in. She was told that one reason was that she didn't talk about her bilingualism enough and it got glossed over during review. Basically, she would have gotten stronger consideration if she had talked about it more.   

[hopefulslp1]

From what I've heard it's super important since it's such an up and coming area in our field! I wish I mentioned it my first few essays but I'm definitely making sure to mention it more in my remaining apps

[NatRose]

I absolutely would make it a huge point in your application.  I focused my letter of intent on my bilingualism and asked a couple of my letters to emphasize that aspect of mine -- I'm pretty certain I got into grad school because of it.

[futureSLPhopefullylol]

Also-- I personally know someone who had not so good GPA and GRE stats but highlighted that they were a native Arabic speaker and got accepted into a school that is nearby a large Arab population. So maybe also consider applying to schools that have a bilingual emphasis or are nearby populations that speak your other language.

[snoves]

It can be important and i would DEFINITELY mention it in your personal statements/letter of intent. Doesn't hurt to highlight your unique skill set!!!

[AVSchilling1995]

What about languages other then Spanish, my minor is French, and I'm curious to see how that impacts my chances! 

[Paslp]

I'd think any second language would be a plus! That said, I think it's only beneficial if you demonstrate you have proficient or better abilities in that language. When applying, I had a minor in Spanish that very few people seemed to care about. Once I added that I worked at a Spanish summer camp, I got A LOT of interest. Demonstrating your use of the language, I think, will give you WAY more of an edge.