Speech Pathology--Am I good enough? What should I do!?

Graduate School
1

<p>WARNING: Pessimistic right now, so this post has a good deal of negativity :(</p>

<p>A bit on me: I'm currently a Linguistics and Japanese double major looking to get into a public SLP program. I'm not really considering private because I can't afford it, and I don't think I've done well enough to get scholarships. I'm not even sure if they're rewarded.</p>

<p>To get directly to the point--I'm now aware that SLP programs are EXTREMELY competitive and I'm freaking out. I'm not a very strong applicant at all: I'm going to a mediocre university (UC Davis), and I have a decidedly tepid GPA (3.59 overall after the first quarter of my senior year.) Even if I get all A's from now on, it won't get over a 3.7, which is a far cry from the average acceptance GPA of 3.9 (!!!) into most public universities. Furthermore, they wouldn't even know about my improved GPA until the rejection/acceptance period has passed.</p>

<p>I made the mistake of both being a total slacker when I was a teenager and getting horrible grades my first two years, and picking a hard second major (Linguistics... Yeah, I know it sounds wishy washy but it's extremely difficult, at least here) in my last two years so I wasn't capable of getting straight A's. I have all A's and B+'s at UCD except for one B- (rule-based phonology) and one C+ (semantics & pragmatics), which make me want to puke.</p>

<p>I took the GRE this summer before it changed, which I don't even need for public schools apparently, and got a kind of blah score: 700 verbal, 540 math, and 4.5 writing.</p>

<p>Anyway... Are there any SLPs or SLP students here who can advise me as to whether I have a chance at all?</p>

2

<p>If you think UCD is a “mediocre” university (ranked 38 in national universities), no wonder you’re stressing yourself out.</p>

3

<p>Sorry… I was freaking out when I posted this >.< UCD definitely isn’t an ivy, MIT, or Berkeley but it’s still good.</p>

4

<p>Based on rankings, UCD is the best university in agriculture, food science, evolution/ecology, animal science, plant science, entomology, nutrition, and veterinary medicine (arguably beats cornell) but it is pretty “mediocre” in everything else (as in 20+ rank, which is by no means mediocre). But rangkings isn’t everything, so yeah.</p>

5

<p>In addition to your academic background, SLP programs like to see volunteer work in the field. You can contact an SLP and ask if you could shadow her/him. That way you learn more about the field and, as you build a relationship with that professional, she/he can help you by writing excellent letters of recommendation as a candidate for grad schools. You want to have the best GRE scores possible. Remember that it often takes more than one round of applications to get an acceptance. Students also have to apply to many programs to find a match.</p>