audiologystudent

Thank you to anyone who is reading this and willing to help me out.

So here is the deal. I am currently a junior majoring in Communicative disorders aka pre-audiology (testing hearing). I am also embarking on the crazy journey of searching for my next step in my education: grad school. Now I will get to the point, I am wondering if I qualify to get into any university at all.

So here is a brief resume/facts about myself:

GPA: 3.2
GRE: haven't taken yet.
I work a job 20 hours a week.
I participate in Marching band, pep band, Service Sorority, and NSSLHA.
I also volunteer by helping out a local church choir, helping at the hospital, and nursing home. I have had past experiences with a mentoring program at a local junior high school.
My leadership opportunities consist of Special operations for Marching band and Vice President of Membership of Service Sorority.

Do I have a chance to get in, or should I just find another career path and stick with that? Help me out in any way. I want everyone's honest opinion about this!

THANKS

TitoMorito

Based on the requirements of schools I've looked at, your chances aren't very good based on your GPA, and your application might not even be looked at based on that factor, at some schools. However, as you have a lot of relevant experience, you might still have a shot. I wouldn't say you should abandon your hopes of getting into an audiology program, but it would be best to expect that a few years of work and volunteer experience may be required before you'll be accepted. Hopefully not, though!

Best of luck, it's a great field to get into!

juillet

You haven't taken the GRE yet, and you didn't specify what that job was. Do note that for graduate school admissions, your extra-curricular activities don't matter. I don't see where you have "a lot of relevant experience" unless that half-time job is something related to audiology or speech disorders (even if it's tutoring in an elementary school or working with children, that's still related). Your volunteering at a hospital and mentoring may help you. If you are applying to doctoral programs in audiology they won't care that you were in marching band, a sorority, or even that you had leadership positions in those organizations. They are going to care about your GPA and your GRE scores, plus any work or research experience related to audiology/communication disorders.

However, I don't think your 3.2 is too low to give it a shot. Is your major GPA higher? I would apply to some doctoral programs but also some master's programs. Perhaps you could get into an SLP program and then work for a few years before pursuing your Au.D?

TitoMorito

I don't know if your proposed plan would work, juillet -- SLP and Audiology are related disciplines, but quite different in practice, and it doesn't look good if you pass the stringent requirements to get into one field, only to jump into the other a few years later. Besides, I don't think it's any easier -- in fact, it may often be harder -- to get into an SLP program.

3.2 is a bit on the low side, as where I found statistics on admitted students in the States, the average of admitted students was at least 3.5, if not higher (in Canada, a B+/3.3 is the minimum to be considered, so my estimate was a bit skewed). That GPA won't rule you out everywhere, but competition is stiff in these programs, so it's definitely not a point in your favor. I guess it wasn't clear in my last post, but I think you should still apply, audiologystudent, you'll just need to make up for your GPA with clinical experience and other volunteering (depending on the program, this can be a boost) and research experience, as well as a decent GRE score.

polarscribe

Well, and if you're only a junior right now, you're not going to be applying for at least a year anyway. You have plenty of time to improve your GPA. You're going to need to work hard to earn the best grades you can the next two years.

Something I would suggest is taking a year off between undergrad and graduate school, and use that period to pursue jobs in audiology. Not only will that give you real-world experience in the field, but it will enable you to apply with your full, four-year undergraduate transcript in consideration - and if you have strong junior and senior years, that will bring your GPA up significantly.

TitoMorito

Whoops, I feel silly. Since you're a junior, you've got more than enough time to boost your GPA and get more research and volunteering experience in, especially if you follow polarscribe's advice about applying after you graduate. Sorry for missing that important point!