Dreaming of Ohio State University - Can you help me decide if I should apply?

[onozanAuD]

Hello fellow AuD students/undergraduate students.

I am a senior at Utah State University. I just recently transferred to the Distance Education program for Communication Disorders and Deaf Education because my husband, who works for the military, got a job at Wright-Patterson AFB. I have been recently compiling and preparing my list of graduate schools to apply for Audiology. One of my top schools is Ohio State University in Columbus. However, after reviewing the statistics for admittance I am a little leery if I should even attempt. Here are my stats, maybe you all can offer me some friendly advice.

I am a Communications Sciences and Deaf Education major, 3.65 major GPA (3.4 cumulative). I have a rocky transcript because my first year and a half of school I was majoring in engineering and I did terribly. I decided to switch over to Communication Sciences and it went way smoother. I have a decent GRE score, which I recently took and may possibly take again to try to improve (159 V, 150 Q, 4.5 essay). I volunteered for the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Monitoring for 1.5 years at USU where I was a research assistant. I've worked at the Veterans Hospital in SLC as an Audiology assistant for a year, worked at the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind with the audiology department from sophomore year till when I moved (a month ago), and many other random volunteer experiences over the course of my college career, including being a student committee member for SAA and the Utah Speech and Hearing Association. I also am affiliated with most audiology related societies (SAA, NSSLHA, Utah Speech and Hearing Association, ASL Club at USU, AG Bell, etc.)

My question is, my GPA is not as good as the average GPA at Ohio State University. In fact they said most students who apply have between 3.7-3.8 cumulative GPA. I will not have a 3.7 cumulative GPA when I graduate, most likely it will hoover at 3.5 at best. My last 60 hours are very good, 3.75 GPA, so I do have that. I just don't know if my extracurricular activities, GRE scores, and my LOR which should be from credible sources and strong, will be enough to make me a viable enough candidate to apply. What do you guys think? Thanks for the advice.

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[lstactionxero00]

If it is a school that is at the top of your list, then there's no need to even ask the question if you should apply. If you apply and get in, that's great, but if you don't, it really isn't the end of the world. I would recommend using the search feature in this forum to get an idea of what former Ohio State applicants have had as their stats. There's no need to worry about if you're "viable enough" to even apply, just go for it.

 

[TheEarDoc]

Hello fellow AuD students/undergraduate students.

I am a senior at Utah State University. I just recently transferred to the Distance Education program for Communication Disorders and Deaf Education because my husband, who works for the military, got a job at Wright-Patterson AFB. I have been recently compiling and preparing my list of graduate schools to apply for Audiology. One of my top schools is Ohio State University in Columbus. However, after reviewing the statistics for admittance I am a little leery if I should even attempt. Here are my stats, maybe you all can offer me some friendly advice.

I am a Communications Sciences and Deaf Education major, 3.65 major GPA (3.4 cumulative). I have a rocky transcript because my first year and a half of school I was majoring in engineering and I did terribly. I decided to switch over to Communication Sciences and it went way smoother. I have a decent GRE score, which I recently took and may possibly take again to try to improve (159 V, 150 Q, 4.5 essay). I volunteered for the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Monitoring for 1.5 years at USU where I was a research assistant. I've worked at the Veterans Hospital in SLC as an Audiology assistant for a year, worked at the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind with the audiology department from sophomore year till when I moved (a month ago), and many other random volunteer experiences over the course of my college career, including being a student committee member for SAA and the Utah Speech and Hearing Association. I also am affiliated with most audiology related societies (SAA, NSSLHA, Utah Speech and Hearing Association, ASL Club at USU, AG Bell, etc.)

My question is, my GPA is not as good as the average GPA at Ohio State University. In fact they said most students who apply have between 3.7-3.8 cumulative GPA. I will not have a 3.7 cumulative GPA when I graduate, most likely it will hoover at 3.5 at best. My last 60 hours are very good, 3.75 GPA, so I do have that. I just don't know if my extracurricular activities, GRE scores, and my LOR which should be from credible sources and strong, will be enough to make me a viable enough candidate to apply. What do you guys think? Thanks for the advice.

Well as someone hailing from Ohio you have a wealth of programs to choose from.

Ohio State is awesome. I know many of the faculty and you would get an amazing clinical education there! They are also in a large city with many various clinical placements. I would definitely apply with your background. GPA isn't everything.

Also though you have 3 other programs to choose from.
NOAC (Kent State and Akron U) is awesome as well. Erin Miller is an amazing audiologist and mentor! You can apply through both schools to get into the program. You would be a couple hours from Dayton, but it's not a bad drive at all and is all interstate.
Ohio University - great program in a small town. The only down side is you will drive an hour or so to get to clinical placements. The plus side is you're 2 hours from Dayton by way of all interstate.

I've seen great students come from all of these programs and I personally know all the top clinical faculty at these programs and trust me you will get an amazing clinical education at all of them! Also what are your plans after getting your AuD? Being the wife of an active duty military member you would get a good bump in hiring preference for your 4th year and as an AuD in the VA system if you are interested in going that route.

 

[onozanAuD]

Thank you both for your replies, you make me feel a lot better about applying to Ohio Schools!

@lstactionxero00: Thanks for the motivation. I was leaning towards the same school of thought but its nice to hear someone else say "just go for it".
@TheEarDoc : I had looked into Kent State/Akron U as a school but was mostly worried about the drive. My husband as I mentioned would be working for Wright-Patterson and he offered to split the drive as evenly as possible, but I believe it is still 3 hours from Dayton, so that's quite a hall. I still intend on applying just to see, I really did like the looks of their program as well.
I am not sure what my plans are yet after my AuD. I know through my shadowing and my extracurricular experiences that I really enjoyed working with the VA, that was probably one of my favorite opportunities. So I would highly consider them for my clinical placement. I also was interested in possibly doing research, as I have really enjoyed my time with my undergraduate RA position.

Thank you both again for the responses, you have helped put my mind at ease.

 

[Dfbsny67]

you should def give it a shot but look into other schools as contingencies. Audiology/deaf education are awesome fields, great and relatively unique background IMO