<p>For a Communications Disorders undergraduate degree does anyone have any positive or negative advice?</p>
<p>it seems that UDEL has more of a program in Linguistics (with a minor in communications disorders)......how tough is linguistics?</p>
<p>and Penn State has more of a program in Communications Disorders.</p>
<p>Penn State.
You will likely need the pre-reqs that come with the Communication Disorders degree than Linguistics. (linguistics- took a course undergrad when I was a Audiology and Speech Sciences major. It was off topic and not too interesting to me. Can’t see a major in it if you are planning on grad school in Speech or Audiology.</p>
<p>Plan on the Comm. Disorders, or similar degree from where you attend and get a teaching certificate too (requires some ed. courses) as you will need it for working in public schools. </p>
<p>(Penn State has a grad degree to which may be a hook for you if you attend undergrad and do well. )</p>
<p>PM me if you have more questions.</p>
<p>Hi Away2! I took a Linguistics course in college. I remember my professor telling us that when a person speaks a word (any word) it is like trying to hit a mark on a chalkboard - no one says the word exactly correctly - just their closest attempt. We also learned about the various dialects of English in the U.S. and regional words such a “sneakers” (an East Coast word) versus “tennis shoes” (a mid western word) at least originally. Then there is something called “R-less ness” (think a Boston pronunciation of “car” and a New York version of “fourth floor” which comes out more like “fawth flaw”). I remember doing a paper on the word “funny” and the often ambiguous usage of the word with a crossover in meanings from humorous to weird to humorously peculiar. I thought the course was OK and I’m doing pretty well remembering it all these years later (Ha!), but wouldn’t choose it as a major myself. One of my college D’s best friends is at Penn State, the school of her dreams. She has not been as happy there as she dreamed, but is doing OK in her sophomore year. Delaware is a nice college town. Good luck with the big decision!</p>
<p>My gut feeling tells me that linguistics is sort of off topic and very theoretical and hard to understand, and kind of dry…I am interested in speech and problems with speech.</p>
<p>I almost feel that University of Delaware added on some courses and called it speech disorders program but it is mostly linguistics.</p>
<p>Away2, I’d say the relationship between Linguistics and Speech is grounded in word origin and pronunciation. Linguistics is defined as “the study of the nature and structure of human speech.” Another thing that was huge with the English language is something called “The Great Vowel Change.” It happened in England (I believe after the U.S. Colonies were started) and it explains why the English say “Tomahto” while we say “Tomayto,” etc. If you have to take a huge block of Linguistics courses, you may find them too dry; but it actually is pretty interesting at a introductory level. Have you visited Penn State and Delaware? If not, a visit to each would be a big help in determining which is the best place for you, especially if you can meet and talk with some of the faculty from each school. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I sort of feel that maybe Penn State’s program is more geared to what I am interested in.</p>
<p>Away2, Penn State is a great school. I hope that you have a chance to visit and meet some of the faculty before you make your decision. When she was in the decision-making process, my daughter was able to attend an Open House for Accepted Students where she attended a session with 7 Psychology (her major) professors. They were all so, warm, open, funny, down-to-earth, and friendly, that is was a “no brainer” this was the school for her. She is now midway through her sophomore year and these professors have all been wonderful teachers and mentors, always approachable and never intimidating. I hope you get to visit and meet some of the professors ahead of time.</p>
<p>To avoid any confusion, my daughter is not at Penn State. She is at one of the many University of Pennsylvania schools scattered all over the state. Her school has a student body in the 8,000 range, a better size for her and it has worked out extremely well academically.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to not choose a school SOLELY based on the major - odds are you may change it. Then what?</p>
<p>Pick the school based on the school, location, size and personal fit. I think coming from PSU or UDel, you’ll have similar opportunities if you take advantage of everything they have to offer. I would visit and see which you like most.</p>
<p>Good point on not making a decision based solely on major.</p>
<p>Good point not to select a school based on a major UNLESS you are really sure your plan is to pursue a graduate degree in communication sciences and disorders/become a speech-language pathologist. To get accepted into grad program you will need approx. 8-10 specific undergrad slp courses…but remember you can also take those prereq. courses as elective within a different undergrad program…</p>
<p>best of luck</p>