Two AuD Questions

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Hey guys! I've enjoyed browsing the forum for a little while now and decided to get some varied input. I'm about to graduate with a bachelor's in humanities (I wanted to get out of accounting and I love philosophy), so I'm trying to find out what I want to do for a career. Speech and Hearing Science has interested me very much.

My first question is this: I've been looking mainly into SLP, really because of the diversity and surplus of available jobs. But I've visited the local university to observe SLP sessions, and I did enjoy it, but I don't want to disregard Audiology either. I'm very interested in science in general, and I like biology and psychology and the medical field. But I also enjoy linguistics like phonetics and such. I am an introvert, but I've really always worked with people and have gotten along just fine so long as I have had time to energize by myself. When I was telling an SLP professor that I like science and technology, he asked me if I had considered Audiology. So I was wondering if you guys think there are certain personalities or interest areas that do better in one field or the other. I'm going to try to do some audiology shadowing, but my work schedule makes that really hard.

Secondly, I was wondering if the school ranking is all that important, or if the programs are very similar across the universities. The school has a medical school, an awesome allied health building, full SLP and Audiology clinic, but it ranked very low on the USA Rankings thingy. Is that even a real ranking? Should I be worried about the education there? How can I tell if it's a good program?

Many undergrad programs gear their cirriculum towards SLP which I think is a disadvantage. When I first started out like most people I wanted to do SLP but after my first class I immediately switched to Aud. I didn't enjoy the teaching part of SLP, I couldn't see myself sitting in a room with a child for 45 min or even an adult. Most of the SLP labs we observed were children with delays or accent reductions. All in all it just seemed so boring to me. I don't think its so much personality but what you imagine yourself doing everyday. I saw myself doing all the things audiologist do on a daily basis. And most important as an SLP you work with the same patients for a long period of time while many audioologist see a patient once perform the hearing test and that's it.

As for school rankings I dont pay attention to them. In the end we all must pass the licensure exam and complete the 4th yr residency. If a school has what you are looking for them I don't see why it should matter if its #1 or #40. I've never heard someone being denied a job based on their school. When it comes time to pick internship sites choose diverse sites so you will have experience in all aspects.

Originally Posted by sjlamb77

I am an introvert, but I've really always worked with people and have gotten along just fine so long as I have had time to energize by myself. ... So I was wondering if you guys think there are certain personalities or interest areas that do better in one field or the other.

As a fellow introvert, I share your concern. At first, my clinic days were very draining, but the more I saw clients and the more I practiced my small-talk, the less draining it became. It's still not easy, but it's not as bad as 45 solid minutes of talking. Even if SLP interested me, I don't think I'd be able to handle all the extraversion expected of me.

As far as the science and technology interests, that will definitely help in audiology as it is a technical field. Some of my classmates in undergrad used to tell me that if it weren't for all the equipment, they might be interested in audiology. Definitely shadow an audiologist before you make your decision!

Originally Posted by sjlamb77

Secondly, I was wondering if the school ranking is all that important, or if the programs are very similar across the universities. ... Is that even a real ranking? Should I be worried about the education there? How can I tell if it's a good program?

Pay attention to the attrition rate and rate of employment for the universities you're considering. Pay attention to the clinic facilities and when you'll start seeing patients (the sooner, the better). Ask about fourth-year placements and who organizes them (or if you'll be expected to do that on your own). Consider the sizes of the cohorts (8-12 is normal). If possible, talk to current students and get their perspective on the matter. All of these things (and more that didn't immediately pop into my head) are more important than the school's ranking.


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One thing that makes me question the ranking is that the school has really nice facilities, the professors have been friendly and helpful in my visits, and the AuD program has almost 100% first time exam pass rate, with 100% job placement, and I think only one or two students didn't graduate in the past 5 years. That all sounds wonderful to me.

The rankings are based on peer assessments. If not much is known about your program, of course they're not going to rank very high. So much of the rankings is based on the third-person perspective, and people who are not in the program can't really say for sure what it's like. Don't place too much stock in the rankings (this is coming from someone at program #2).