How hard is it to get into speech pathology for graduate school? It can be pretty competitive! There are people out there who will say you need a 4.0 GPA, stellar recommendations, killer GREs, and lots of valuable experience to be considered.
But, to be honest, I wasn’t a perfect candidate! I’m here to tell you that you can make it into grad school! You’ll have to put in the work, but you can make it happen!
By far, the most stressful period of my life thus far was applying to graduate school. To be honest, I didn’t have the best GPA out there, but I was passionate. I was lucky enough to obtain an SLP-A position during my undergrad, as well as doing in home therapy with autistic children, and numerous other relatable jobs. I understand the stress involved in the entire process! Here are my bits of advice:
1) Start early! I know you’ve heard this a million times, but if you start an application at the last minute, it will show!
2) Don’t get too hung up on the numbers, but realize the numbers do count. I got into multiple universities with less than average statistics! It can be done, but realize if you have less than average numbers (i.e., GPA, GRE scores), you will need to make it up elsewhere if your application! Make sure you’ve volunteered or worked at relatable places. Make sure you have amazing letters of recommendation from professors in the department. And make sure your application is flawless. My advisor in graduate school told me that you wouldn’t believe how many people turn in applications with typos. Don’t be one of those people!
3) Have multiple people edit your essay! Do everything you can to find family, friends, colleagues, or supervisors that will edit your essay. Do not use fluffy language such as, “I want to help people” or “I’ve wanted to do this forever”. Really tell the admissions committee what you will contribute to their graduate class. Everybody wants to help people… What is unique and amazing about you?
4) DO YOUR RESEARCH. This is in caps for a reason. If you are nervous about getting in, DO NOT apply to all of the same schools as your friends. I know in my home state, almost everybody I knew applied to the same 5 schools. Use this website to search through all of the graduate programs in the United States. Email them! Find out what type of students they are looking for. Learn about their resources and their areas of specialty! Don’t be afraid to apply to smaller schools.
5) Take good care of the people writing you recommendations. Make each of them a packet containing organized information about each school they will need to send a recommendation to. Include the deadline for each school in addition how they should submit their recommendation (online, in the mail, or give back to you). Do send them a nice and thoughtful thank you note afterwards!
6) Don’t look at GradCafe. Resist the urges! It will only make you feel inferior. So many of my panic attacks were induced by GradCafe. If you don’t know what GradCafe is… good! If you’re wondering how hard is it to get into speech pathology, you might find lots of absolutely stellar applicants worried about nothing. Do not go look and thank me for saving you much stress!
So, how hard is it to get into speech pathology? It’s a process, but you can do it! And we would love to have you! There is a legitimate need for speech therapists and we could use you in our ranks! The good news is that if (when!) you make it into (and through) grad school, and you should have excellent job security. It might take you a few years to get to your ideal setting, but you can get there!
Well, hope that helps! For me, the application process was more stressful than graduate school itself! But, in case you need them, I have some of my best grad school survival tips here! If you want any advice or help during the process, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’ll do the best I can to point you in the right direction. At the end of the day, be proud of the work you’ve put in to get to where you are!
Great advice!!
I’m so glad that I found your blog! I graduated in December 2011 and have been working as an SLPA ever since. I just applied to graduate school, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I love your activities and look forward to following your blog!
Thank you so much for your comment and your kind words!! Best of luck! The application process is stressful, but I promise it’ll be worth it when you get your first acceptance letter 🙂 Also, I just clicked on the link to your blog and it is FANTASTIC! Keep up the great work!
Excellent advice! I loved the tip about not looking at gradcafe! Keep up the good work!
Thank you 🙂
Thank you for your helpful tips! I’ll keep that in mind! 😀
You’re welcome! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Unfortunately, I stumbled upon GradCafe before finding your blog. It was very discouraging. It made me seriously consider changing my career path and abandoning everything I have worked so hard for. I’m very glad I found your blog. It’s great to read some positive information and useful tips for grad school acceptance. It gives me hope. Thanks so much!
GradCafe is THE.WORST. And you are more than welcome! Let me know if you have any questions throughout the process! Good luck!
Hey! I know I’m a little late to the club, but I just found this blog via Pinterest haha. I just got into the SLP undergrad program at my school – so I have 2 more years until grad school but I can’t help but try and prepare my self as early as possible. So, if you have any great tips and/or good ideas for volunteering/working related to the major, I’d be so grateful to know some! Or just advice, that’d be great, too.
That’s great! Being an SLP is the best career ever 🙂 Really, it is as simple as getting out there and doing activities related to the population you could see yourself working with! Camps for children with special needs, in home autism therapy, babysitting for kids with disabilities, are some things I did to get involved! They all contributed positively to my application! Good luck!
Oh, awesome! Thanks for responding so quickly.
I’ve volunteered a lot with children with special needs and absolutely love it. Also interested in the in-home therapy and looking into that. Where/how did you begin working with the in-home autism therapy? Because that sounds like an awesome opportunity! (That’s my last question, promise)
Hi! When did you take the GRE and when did you apply to grad school? Thank you for your help!
I can’t remember my actual timeline, however I started grad school in the fall of 2012. Hope that helps!
What is considered to be a less than average GPA or GRE score?
I’m not sure. From what I know, “average scores” vary significantly by school. I do not know of an overall average. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!
I love this! I’m applying to audiology grad school and this is pretty much similar. I didn’t even know what GradCafe is. Hopefully I don’t look at it. I’m curious ????????
That might be a reeeally old reference that dates me a bit! It was an old forum!