<p>My daughter is a rising senior and has recently decided she is very interested in speech pathology as a career. UW is our state flagship and and is highly ranked (#3) in the speech path graduate program, so I assume their undergrad is good too. She has the stats to suggest UW is a safety, however UW admissions isn't as predictable as it used to be. Also, daughter is not convinced that the size or the urban setting is a match for her. She would like to stay on west coast. We're having trouble figuring out what other schools should make her "short" list. I know speech path grad programs are competitive. What other schools have strong programs? How can we find stats about number of applicants from a prospective school who are admited into grad programs?</p>
<p>A lot of schools have a Communication Sciences and Disorders/Speech and Hearing Sciences major, which isn’t required for entry into a graduate program, but is the suggested major. In Washington, I know WWU has a good program (and Bellingham is a goodsized town, just be sure not to get a dorm on the Ridge… ugh), and WSU Spokane and EWU also have programs. University of Oregon, Portland State, and a whole bunch of schools in California also offer CSD/SHS degrees. Pacific University in Oregon does as well, but its a very new program, and their professional programs don’t have a very good reputation anyway. Extending her boundary out to Idaho or Utah or Arizona would open up a few more good options.</p>
<p>As far as admission stats go, I’d communicate with an admissions rep at your daughter’s target grad school.</p>
<p>Check the American Speech Language Hearing Association website. They have a section on it for graduate programs. Perhaps you can figure out which ones in your area also have undergrad.</p>
<p>One important thing to check…some schools do NOT accept kids into the Communications Sciences (or whatever they call their undergrad program) until AFTER the freshman grades are in. Students have to apply to be accepted into the major as an undergrad, and have a certain GPA for acceptance (and some schools also have certain freshman courses they want to see). My speech path undergrad program did that back when the dinos roamed.</p>
<p>If you have a good instate option for undergrad, go there. A masters is required anyway for grad school and your daughter can look for grad programs elsewhere when the time comes.</p>
<p>[Undergraduate</a> Program](<a href=“http://pacificcmsdev.pacific.edu/Academics/Schools-and-Colleges/Thomas-J-Long-School-of-Pharmacy-and-Health-Sciences/Academics/Speech-Language-Pathology/Undergraduate-Program.html]Undergraduate”>http://pacificcmsdev.pacific.edu/Academics/Schools-and-Colleges/Thomas-J-Long-School-of-Pharmacy-and-Health-Sciences/Academics/Speech-Language-Pathology/Undergraduate-Program.html)
University of the Pacific</p>
<p>I am a SLP and my dd13 is also inter4ested in this major. I have done alot of research recently and have 3 young SLP’s on my staff (all of whom have graduated in the last 5 years or so, from CA schools)</p>
<p>While I have researched schools NOT on the west coast, it is consistent with what my recent grads have told me as well.</p>
<p>It seems like schools with a larger number of grads keep NO data on acceptances into grad school. I believe this is because they don’t want to advertise poor percentages. The schools we have looked at have 70-100 grads per year and 30 in their own grad program. Do the math!</p>
<p>This is a link to find out more about grad school acceptance:
[Browse</a> EdFind](<a href=“http://www.asha.org/students/edfind/browse/]Browse”>Sorry! That Page Cannot Be Found)</p>
<p>If you look at University of Washington, there are 130 undergrads in the program. They had 390 apply for the grad school, accepted about 60 for a class size of 40. </p>
<p>Obviously, some of these numbers are out of date, but its consistent with what we talked to school this summer.</p>
<p>One school (University of Kentucky) has a more stringent undergrad application process (you apply to the major spring of sophomore year, and they accept about 30 student of 100). But, they then really focus on these student and we were told they have a grad school acceptance rate of above 90%. Another school had requirements at sophomore year, but they weren’t stringent, so a lot of people can be accepted. </p>
<p>My advice if you are going to school in this field:
get the undergrad comdis degree (or speech path, or speech and hearing science or whatever it is called)
make sure you have a lot of volunteer experience in some kind of related field (maybe special ed)
get additional observation hours with a speech path who can sign off for those hours. Even if your school doesn’t count them for their program (many won’t) you’ll look better for grad schools. This could be with schools, in a nursing home or hospital,there are alot of opportunities.
Work to have a strong GPA…at least an overall 3.5 and above that in major. (3.7, 3.8)
Make sure if you attend a large program, you get to know the professors (you’ll need their recommendations)
Make sure you prep for the GRE and do well on it.</p>
<p>Its alot of work, but a great field!</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. We did more research over the weekend and are making progress on the short list. I am hoping to find a source for “outgoing” grad school stats–similar to the info good pre-med programs offer up–rather than looking at the admit stats for “incoming” grad programs since that info won’t tell me what I want to know about where the students came from or how well they were prepared. We have so much to do, it seems overwhelming to try to figure out what her target grad schools might be in 4 years on top of everything else. </p>
<p>Cheer–we know Bellingham and WWU intimately. 
Daughter is opening her mind to the previously dismissed possibility of WWU on her list. We visited Pacific University briefly last spring and were less than impressed. (But we did not have an official tour and weren’t seeking specific SLP related information at the time)</p>
<p>Thumper–UW, for whatever reason, seems to take more students from outside UW into their grad program (this is an even bigger problem in their med school). So, we are wondering if daughter’s chances of getting into the UW grad school would be better if she gets her undergrad elsewhere. We’ve sent an email to the department asking from which other schools their grad program students are most frequently admitted. We’ll see if we hear anything back. </p>
<p>Mom60–University of the Pacific looks good in every way except that it is in Stockton. Daughter wants to go somewhere where she can walk or bike to “stuff” (coffee shops, retail stores, theater, etc.) Could she do that safely in Stockton? Care to share any specifics about the school or the program? </p>
<p>VBC Mom–Thank you very much for all the great advice/info. Any chance you can share insight from your SLPs on the CA programs? </p>
<p>DD is accumulating volunteer hours working with special ed kids now and I anticipate she will continue with the same program for awhile. </p>
<p>Thanks again everyone! </p>
<p>More advice anyone?</p>
<p>Scuba…I did not get my masters where I got my undergrad degree (Ohio University) and neither did MOST of my classmates. The undergrad program had about 200 students spread over four years…the grad program had about 30 at the time. </p>
<p>I got my masters at Western Illinois university. It was a small program but the key is ASHA accreditation. As long as the grad program has that, it will be fine. Right now you want your future undergrad to get a degree in communication sciences or whatever they call the undergrad program. You need to be SURE that she takes the prerequisite courses to be admitted to a grad program. She needs to get top grades. As someone else mentioned, she should try to work summers as a para in a special education program. She should spend time shadowing speech pathologists in many different settings. She should do well on her GRE.</p>
<p>Check out University of Redlands. They have a Communicative Disorders Major.</p>
<p>I actually went to UOP for my undergrad. Its a lovely school. You can bike to the local mall (very nice, very big) and bike the other way to a cute downtown area. I was just in Stockton in May. The area where the school is located is quite safe (or I should say, seemed to be when I was there (I have been back twice in the last two years, after not having been there for ages!)</p>
<p>The school has Greek life, but I don’t believe it is major. My friends son was accepted their recently, but couldn’t afford to go, but it was his first choice school.</p>
<p>They have an AMAZING facility for comdis (it was not there when I attended!)</p>
<p>I don’t know if its true now, but when I was there, undergrads actually got clinical hours. ASHA is moving away from that, so not sure if its true anymore. </p>
<p>That’s something to ask about.</p>
<p>My SLP’s went to Chico and are strong SLP’s. I know someone who did undergrad in comdis at San Diego State and didn’t get into grad school and is know going to get a spec ed credential. But, one of her issues (again, IMHO) is she was only willing to apply to 2 grad schools, both highly competitive. I have told dd that when the times comes for her, she will apply to many, and we will use the ASHA site to find grad schools with a higher acceptance rate as safeties (of sorts). Honestly, where you do your masters (in terms of outside life) doesn’t matter alot. Most grad students do internships/clinical hours from morning until afternoon, have an hour or two break (at max) and then head to class from 4-7 and maybe 7-9. Not all nights, but some. Other nights, you are studying. Its intensive.</p>
<p>Here’s the list of questions we asked when we met with people from the department on our college trip:
- how many students in each year of the undergrad major? (generally juniors and seniors is what we cared about)
- What is the average class size? (at one school, Ole Miss, there are about 70 students per class level, but they offered 2 sections of each class. At another, UGA,m there are 70-100 and there aren’t multiple sections)
- What percentage of your undergrads are accepted to grad school? (only one school answered us)
- Do undergrads get clinical hours or just observations hours (most schools told us they now just do observation hours, as this is following ASHA recommendations)
- Are there requirements to be accepted into the undergrad major (as I mentioned., for one school, there were stringent requirements for undergrad, which may benefit my dd, as they look at HS ACT scores and she had a relatively good ACT for their program) Ask about academic requirements, test requirements and if they lok at experience in their decision (such as volunteering)</p>
<p>Honestly, IMHO, check out the departments, but also find a good university fit. As long as the school is certified by ASHA, you’ll be fine. ASHA has extremely stringent requirements.</p>
<p>The job market has so many options and I don’t care where anyone did their schooling, as long as they have the correct certifications. Their interview is what gets them the job in most cases.</p>
<p>scubasue-As mentioned above UOP is one of the most beautiful Ca campuses. It looks like an east coast school but set down in the not nicest location. The school does a good job of keeping the students safe. The town of Stockton is not the ideal student town but the school does an excellent job of providing activities for the students on campus. I have heard that their program is very difficult and heavy science based. My S knows 2 females who recently graduated. One graduated in 4 yrs but struggled with the science classes, she is now doing her grad work in Hawaii. The other did some sort of accelerated program and finished the masters in 4. I would assume she came in with a lot of AP credit.
My soon to be college freshman considered Speech Therapy and applied to several schools. The school that she looked at with undergrad programs- Univ of Montana (they offered her a ton of merit aid), Boulder (no merit), Redlands (ended up not applying), UCSB (has a minor that gives you the masters undergrad requirements), Univ of Vermont.
Chapman has a grad program only but they do offer a post grad 1 yr program if you major in something else.
In the end my D ended up deciding on UC Davis for a totally different major.</p>
<p>Second pacific, Redlands. I went to Redlands for undergrad and uw for grad. Both wonderful, but uw’s program was stronger in my opinion.</p>
<p>VBCMom…thank you very much for the list of questions! I’ll share those with my DD. </p>
<p>Shoot4mooon, do you have any idea how many of your classmates were NOT accepted into a grad program somewhere? What about your experience at UW? Did you get any kind of feeling about their “favorite” undergrad programs? (i.e.–aside from UW, where were most of the admits from?) </p>
<p>Daughter would love to be at a smaller private school. She’d also like to be somewhere where she is “the smart one”. She is a 4.0/2000ish SAT. Math and science are her strongest subjects. She’s decided that she’ll have more opportunities/experiences if she attends a program where she is the above average student. </p>
<p>I, of course, am attracted to the SLP program rank/reputation at UW, even for undergrad. She says she wants to maximize her chance to go there for grad school and that might mean getting her BS elsewhere. Is there any truth to that? I know UW doesn’t take many of their own grads into their med school. </p>
<p>UoP is out. Unfortunately she and I are both too intimidated by the crime. If we were talking petty theft and vandalism, I’d be fine with that. But stockton is ranked in the top 2% of cities with highest violent crime rates. Understand that a few years ago our small town was ranked number one for the lowest crime rate for any incorporated city in North America. </p>
<p>We’ll take all the advice we can get here…</p>
<p>Communications disorders programs are somewhat competitive. Your daughter should find smart kids in ANY program she attends.</p>
<p>Again I suggest that she look at instate public universities where her costs for undergrad will be less. A masters is REQUIRED to become ASHA certified, and for licensure. But even for her masters…as long as the school is accredited by ASHA, she will be fine. </p>
<p>I don’t think knowing an adult’s school’s rate of grad acceptances will help you much as times have changed over the years.</p>
<p>At the time that I went, there was practically a pipeline between Redlands and UW. professors went back and forth, etc. I really enjoyed a small undergrad school in a town where our school was a cultural draw to the community, followed by a large school in a completely different area. We have 3 Chapman grads working for my company, and have interviewed grads from Chico, U of P, and UW lately. I would never recommend Chapman for a grad with a family,but for a single gal or an empty nester it is doable. I think those gals work 70 hours a week with minimal breaks. I worked hard in grad school at UW,but not at that pace. I think their coursework is very high quality. I would consider a double major as an undergrad if possible…education and comm dis or psych and comm dis. Education coursework was very easy compared to comm dis, and the dual background would be helpful. And Chapman is in a beautiful area fifteen minutes from my house.</p>