Advice re get post bacc or just go for Masters

[fulwood]

Hello everyone, New to this forum. Have degree in non-comm field. Want to pursue career as SLP. Have knowledge and experience in working with children w/autism and comm disorders. I am 47..I am currently scheduled ot take Utah States 2nd bachelor program which is 12 classes all online. thought process here is get this degree, work as SLPA in whichever state will hire me and then maybe year later go to grad school. Yet again why take 12 classes when some school only required anywyere from 5-9 classes to get into their grad programs - that is what I am now asking myself? I have 3.58 GPA, not taken GRE yet. My concerns would be I HAVE to work. Do I go for the 2nd bachelors degree or apply to grad programs right away? I would need some kind of financial assistance to pay for grad school. Any advice is appreciated. Also if possible recommendations on programs is greatly appreciated. Is my undergrad GPA good enough as well? I can move anywhere in the US for the right program. Thanks..

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[RemiJP]

Hello everyone, New to this forum. Have degree in non-comm field. Want to pursue career as SLP. Have knowledge and experience in working with children w/autism and comm disorders. I am 47..I am currently scheduled ot take Utah States 2nd bachelor program which is 12 classes all online. thought process here is get this degree, work as SLPA in whichever state will hire me and then maybe year later go to grad school. Yet again why take 12 classes when some school only required anywyere from 5-9 classes to get into their grad programs - that is what I am now asking myself? I have 3.58 GPA, not taken GRE yet. My concerns would be I HAVE to work. Do I go for the 2nd bachelors degree or apply to grad programs right away? I would need some kind of financial assistance to pay for grad school. Any advice is appreciated. Also if possible recommendations on programs is greatly appreciated. Is my undergrad GPA good enough as well? I can move anywhere in the US for the right program. Thanks..

Since the application period for Fall 09 has ended, the soonest you could start is Fall 2010 (though there are a few schools out there that accept students for Spring 09). So you have a whole year to figure out what to do and to take the GRE. To save money, it might be best to simply apply for Fall 2010, see where you are accepted, and move on from there. If you don't get accepted, THEN take the online classes, and re-apply for Fall 2011. This would open up more possibilities to you as some schools aren't as friendly to students who haven't taken the prerequisite classes. In the meantime, any job that involves working with individuals with communication disorders should be a good fit. If you want to increase the likelihood of getting accepted on the first try, take the classes this year.

In terms of becoming an SLPA, some states require that you've completed 20 hours of observing speech/language therapy. So even if you take all the courses necessary to become an SLPA, I doubt they would provide opportunities to observe therapy - that might be something you'll have to work out on your own. Traditional undergrad classes in SLP have this observation component built-in as the undergrads observe the grad students conducting therapy in the clinic on campus.