<p>Hi there. Has anyone gone through the communicative disorders undergrad program at UA and then applied to another grad school for speech/language pathology? Just trying to find out how the communicative disorders undergrad from UA is received at other schools. </p>
<p>Daughter and I love, love UA!</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I told you to post here in hopes that a couple of posters that I know have looked into this at Bama will answer.</p>
<p>I don’t think either of them are old enough to have graduated yet, but they may be able to shed some light on your questions.</p>
<p>I know that the CD majors are accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). [Accreditation</a> Data | Communicative Disorders - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.as.ua.edu/cd/students/resources-for-prospective-students/accreditation-data/]Accreditation”>http://www.as.ua.edu/cd/students/resources-for-prospective-students/accreditation-data/)</p>
<p>According to that link above, accreditation is excellent, Praxis pass rate is excellent (last year 100% passed), and job placement is 100%.</p>
<p>That said, while I personally don’t know about that major in particular, I can tell you that Bama graduates do not have problems with other schools respecting their degrees and accepting them into their grad schools. My older son graduated from Bama last May and he was accepted into every PhD program that he applied to.</p>
<p>This forum’s popularity has been in the last couple of years so its members mostly consist of parents of current students or actual undergrads. The few alums that post here mostly graduated a number of years ago and not in that major.</p>
<p>Have you asked any of the dept people about where their undergrads have gone onto grad school? </p>
<p>[Faculty</a> and Staff | Communicative Disorders - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.as.ua.edu/cd/faculty-and-staff/]Faculty”>http://www.as.ua.edu/cd/faculty-and-staff/)</p>
<p>[Communicative</a> Disorders - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://www.as.ua.edu/cd/]Communicative”>Communicative Disorders – University of Alabama College of Arts & Sciences)</p>
<p>Hi there, My D is going to UA in the fall and majoring in Communication Disorders. When we visited a few weeks ago, Allison set us up to meet a Prof in the department. I asked him the question of how many of their undergrads get accepted into Masters programs. He didnt have the figures on that for me but suggested that a student who kept performing as my D did in HS would have no problem being accepted somewhere. He mentioned that Univ. of Iowa is the top of the top for Speech Path masters programs and they are a very exclusive. He stated it is hard to get in there if you do not go to undergrad there. He did say that all the grads of the UA masters program did find jobs.<br>
He mentioned quite often that Communication disorders is an exploding major at UA and he hopes in the future the department can hire more teachers to easy the size of the basic CD classes. Right now, approx 60 kids in each class. I wasnt thrilled about that but it didnt phase my kiddo in the least.<br>
She cant wait to start. Roll tide!</p>
<p>Mom2, thank you so much! I am amazed at what you were able to find. I am on the web almost every day Googling every search term I can think of to get more info. </p>
<p>Our local UA representative did provide me a contact in the department, and I’ve emailed them today as well. I know the school is very well respected so I’m really not too worried. This particular program is a small one though for UA and I want to make sure we’re doing our due diligence. </p>
<p>Thanks for going out of your way to help me out! I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Spring, thank you also for your response. All of that is great information. That is too bad about the class sizes though. Good luck with the rest of the process. Maybe we’ll run into you at Greek Preview or Bama Bound. Thanks again for the great help!</p>
<p>My sophomore D completed 12 hours of her Communicative Disorders classes before changing her major this semester (long story, but has nothing to do with the program). She loved all of her CD classes and was excited about the possiblity of going clinical or educational coming out of Bama. We heavily researched the CD program before choosing Bama and she was not disappointed in any part of it. She had a great relationship with her advisor and her professors. The class size was never an issue for her and due to her AP credits was able to take her first CD class during her freshman year. No complaints here, but she has since decided on a different career path. Your D will be fine!</p>
<p>Peachtide, that is very helpful indeed. Thank you, thank you! I know there’s always the possibility of a change in majors. My S did the same. Hoping your D has found her niche.</p>
<p>My daughter is also going to UA as a Communicative Disorders major in the fall. We visited in the summer and met with Dr. Gaskill. He was informative about the various paths one could take with a Masters in Speech Pathology. He did say getting into UA Grad program is competitive. I believe there are only 25-30 spots. He was surprised at my D being an NMF; I guess most go into STEMs or business. There was also the possibility of taking grad classes early. She is so looking forward to being at Bama in the fall.</p>
<p>There was also the possibility of taking grad classes early</p>
<p>I wonder if that allows for a “leg up” into acceptance?</p>
<p>Also, it sure would look good when applying to other schools’ programs as well.</p>
<p>Speechmom, thank you! I believe my daughter has discovered her passion thanks to a wonderful summer job with a wonderful company. Tough road ahead since she changed her major, but having the AP credits helped make it a little less painful, plus she hopefully will have a job waiting for her at the end!</p>
<p>YankeeBelle, Dr. Gaskill was also my daughter’s advisor and she loved him!</p>
<p>I shouldn’t think that as a NMF your daughter will have any difficulty getting into a strong graduate program in speech pathology. I went to UNC as an undergrad but chose UVA for my masters because at the time UNC was not accredited by ASHA (the governing body for SLPs and audiologists). I’ve worked in both hospital settings and schools and have loved my work at each place. I added a degree in early childhood education in my early 40s and now team teach a first grade class with a special ed. teacher. There are amazing opportunities to go in unique directions in this field! I hope she will thrive and be happy with her choice. My daughter was also a NMF and will pursue a degree in physical therapy. She is an exercise science/Spanish major at Bama and has had great experiences in all her classes, including those in her major. We did a lot of checking with potential DPT programs since they have some varying requirements for undergrad courses. We were assured that they aren’t as interested in where you come from as much as they are about the basics like GPA, meeting required prerequisite courses in science and math, and GRE scores. She has also just joined the Pre-Health majors group and thinks she will find some great contacts and information there – so that might be a great option for your daughter as well. Hope she will love it!!!</p>
<p>While at Bama Bound (on day 1) there will be a break out session where you will be able to attend an info session by the Pre-Med/ Health majors group. My daughter and I did and it was quite informative and interesting…if your children are planning a health career I would suggest you attend this one.</p>
<p>My D is majoring in CD. This year she is volunteering at the RISE school. It is a wonderful opportunity to see Speech Therapists in action and confirmed that this is a good career fit for her. When we were touring UTD and asked about grad schools, I appreciated their candid response, that programs at the undergrad level are not significantly different, just make sure they are ASHA accredited. As mentioned earlier GPA and GRE results are the main determining factors.</p>
<p>Since I don’t know much about these “special needs” kinds of majors, I’m just guessing this…</p>
<p>But it seems to me that Bama is really getting into these special needs areas…including Autism Spectrum, Aspergers, etc. Don’t know if there’s been an uptick or not…just seems that way to me.</p>
<p>Anyone know?</p>
<p>I do not know about the specific majors at Bama that deal with special needs but that is the particular field I currently practice in. My actual job is a Collaborative Trainer for our local school district. Since 1994 when Aspergers became an actual diagnosis our school populations have doubled and in many cases tripled. Just as when ADD became popular, the Apergers diagnosis is now quiet prevalent. Unfortunately, many of these kiddos, especially those with what are considered mild impairments do not receive paras or services from the SPED programs in most districts. Our district has implemented master teachers who visit classrooms with these special kids and help the teacher with lesson plans, behavior strategies, social stories …anything we can do to support the classroom teacher with what is actually NOT an ideal situation.<br>
So…I am sure that there is an uptick in young people wanting to major in such areas as opposed to getting a blanket SPED degree. I applaud Bama is they are making these specialized majors options.<br>
There is much talk that with what some consider to be an “over diagnosis” of Aspergers that there will be a reconsideration of what determines a diagnosis. I fear that then we will come up with a new label for those kids who don’t “fit in the box”.</p>
<p>I know the exercise science major at Bama offers a “disability sports” track. It was a real draw for my daughter who has coached a swim team for children with a lot of different developmental disabilities. Even in the economic downturn, special ed teachers and SLP’s are in demand. I get cold calls every week asking me if I’m looking for a job as a speech pathologist!</p>