I’m currently an undergrad at SUNY Buffalo, majoring in speech and hearing science. I love the major but I’m considering transferring to New Paltz - it has a smaller campus, is only 40 minutes from home (instead of six hours), I like that it’s kind of an artsy school instead of more research-heavy, and I would absolutely love to be back in the hudson valley. I was wondering if some undergrad students could give me insight into their Communication Disorders program. It’s not ranked as highly as Buffalo’s is but I know several speech therapists who have gotten their bachelors from New Paltz. Do you think it’s worth the switch? What’s the environment like, and how are the professors, and internship opportunities? Any information you could give me, both about the specific major or about the school in general would be much appreciated! Thanks!
You are going to have to go to graduate school in order to become a speech-language pathologist or audiologist. Keep in mind that grad school acceptances have become quite competitive, especially on the east coast. I would choose the school that you like better and where you can achieve the most success in terms of GPA, relationships with your professors (they will write your letters), volunteer experiences, and overall happiness (that is very important). Graduate programs are not going to care which of these two schools your undergraduate degree comes from. They will care about the factors that I mentioned, as well as other things that you may bring such as research, fluency in another language, etc. Anything that you can do to make yourself stand out will be helpful.
Both schools are very different (you are right in that NP is very artsy, the student frequently go into the city, etc) but the programs will be similar in terms of the classes offered. Some of the smaller SUNY’s offer school certification at the undergraduate level; UB does not. This does not really matter because you can get the certification in grad school. On the other hand, getting certified as an undergrad means that you will student teach; this experience can only help you once you are in graduate school. You will not be doing internships as an undergrad; you may student teach (depending), see some clients in the speech and hearing clinic (depending on the school), or do volunteer work such as observing (if permitted) and answering phones. Internships are completed in graduate school.
Is it worth it? You will have to make that decision for yourself.
NP does offer classes online- not sure if this is at the undergrad or grad level. You may want to check that out and decide what you think.
One of my best friends got her BS in communication disorders at SUNY New Paltz. We met while she was getting her master’s in speech-language pathology at Columbia (Teachers College). She’s currently a practicing bilingual SLP in the NYC DOE.
My friend is super artsy, so she very much liked the artsy atmosphere at New Paltz. She got involved in a lot of student organizations and student life and was the president of the student body in her senior year there. The Hudson Valley is absolutely beautiful - I’ve visited New Paltz with her and it’s a cute little college town! Lots of little coffee shops and the like in the nearby area. She’s had several professors she likes from there, and mentors she still talks to. She seemed pretty satisfied with the preparation she had for graduate school - she told me a couple times that she learned a lot of stuff that she felt put her ahead of people who didn’t major in communication disorders in undergrad but were in an SLP program for grad school (a CD major is not required for most SLP master’s programs).