Graduate Admission
Admission Requirements
Applicants to the Communication Disorders program are considered on a competitive basis. Admission decisions are based on the applicant’s success in undergraduate course work in communication disorders, overall undergraduate GPA (a minimum of 3.0 on a 4.0 point scale), writing samples, letters of recommendation that indicate an appropriate potential to succeed academically and clinically in a graduate program in speech-language pathology, and any post-graduate coursework grades. GRE scores are no longer required; however, you are welcome to submit your scores if you took the exam. If you do elect to submit GRE results with your application, scores near or above 150 on the verbal, 141 on the quantitative, and 3.5 on the analytical writing sections typically receive a more favorable review.
INTERVIEWS: We may be inviting qualified applicants to an on-campus or online interview day. Interviews would be conducted in the Spring, likely on a Friday or Saturday. The session will include an introduction to our program, an opportunity to meet with current graduate students, a virtual tour of the clinic, and campus, as well as your interview for admission to our program.
Additional Admission Standards:
- Bachelor's degree in communication disorders or equivalent. If academic and/or clinical deficiencies exist in a student’s undergraduate program, the student will be required to complete specified prerequisite courses prior to admission to the graduate program. A list of courses and a timeline for completion should an applicant choose to take the courses at Indiana State is available in the document below. Courses taken at other institutions also will be accepted. It is highly recommended that prospective applicants complete at least half of the pre-requisite courses prior to applying to our graduate program.
- All students need to demonstrate proficiency in English. For international applicants information about required scores to demonstrate English proficiency can be found here: http://www.indstate.edu/apply/international/english-proficiency/required-scores
Note: It should not be assumed that meeting minimal standards guarantees admission to the program. Occasionally, an applicant with a GPA of less than 3.0 may receive an offer of conditional admission. However, this occurs rarely.
HOW DO I APPLY?
We will be using a rolling admissions approach this cycle. Complete applications will start being reviewed no earlier than October 15th and offers of admission will be extended to qualified applicants. All applicants should have submitted their applications to CSDCAS, including their official transcripts, by MAY 1st (11:59 PM EST) to be considered for admission. Incomplete files WILL NOT be reviewed.
- The Communication Disorders program at Indiana State University utilizes the Communication Sciences and Disorders Centralized Application Service (CSDCAS) IMPORTANT!! You do not have to apply to Indiana State University--you ONLY apply through CSDCAS.
- Please consult CSDCAS for more information regarding specific CSDCAS application requirements, other procedures, and fees. Indiana State's CSDCAS application site opens in mid-July each year.
THE CSDCAS ONLINE APPLICATION
You will find further instructions regarding the application with the CSDCAS application. Briefly, the application will include:
Coursework and Grades
Official transcripts (from ALL institutions attended post-high school; this includes vocational/technical school transcripts) must be submitted to CSDCAS as part of the application; DO NOT send transcripts to the university at this time. Transcripts must be received by CSDCAS by the March 1st deadline for your application to be considered complete.
Responses to Program-Specific Questions
As part of the application, you will be asked to write responses to several questions. For one of the questions you need to read the journal article below, briefly summarize the article, and discuss how you would use the evidence from the article in clinical practice. Your response is to be no more than 300 words in length.
Another question asks you to write the background information section of a clinic report using the information in the case history form below. You will need to enter your background section into the question response field, but you can write it in Word then copy/paste it into your CSDCAS application.
Video Recording
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Each applicant must submit a YouTube video recording of him or herself that will serve as our introduction to you. Think of this video as an opportunity to 'sell' yourself and your ability to succeed in our graduate program. Do not read a statement from your computer screen or cards. Talk to us as you would in a face-to-face conversation. The maximum length of the video is four (4) minutes with approximately one-minute for each prompt. Please address the following prompts in your video.
- Tell us a little about yourself--What interests or hobbies do you have? What makes you unique? Think of this as a 'speed dating' type of introduction.
- Describe your academic, work, and/or personal experiences that have developed a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. What do the terms equality and equity mean to you?
- As compared to undergraduate education, graduate studies will present you with challenges and an increased workload. What are some of the challenges or adversity you might face in graduate school? What strategies or approaches do you anticipate using when you experience these challenges or adversity?
- What unique qualities or abilities would you contribute to Indiana State's speech-language pathology graduate program?
- Once you have completed your video, please upload it to YouTube (please be sure your video is not set to "private" or we will be unable to view it; instead, please select "unlisted").
- Submit your YouTube link/URL in the "Questions" section of the CSDCAS application.
NOTE: We do not require you to upload a resume or vita; rather we will look at the information you enter under Supporting Information within the CSDCAS application. Therefore, we recommend you take the time to provide thorough responses to those sections.
Three (3) Letters of Reference
At least one letter of reference should come from a university faculty member. Letters of reference must be received no later than the final deadline of May 1st. Note that your application may not be considered complete and ready for review until your letters are available.
Admission Number and Timetable/Rolling Admissions
In order to ensure an effective student-to-faculty ratio in classes and clinical education, the graduate program has limited the number of students accepted into the program each year to approximately 20-22.
The graduate admissions committee is made up of Communication Disorders faculty. The committee will begin to review complete applications as they are made available in CSDCAS. With rolling admissions, decisions about offers of admission will be made as highly qualified applicants have been identified by the committee. Notification of acceptance, placement on the waitlist, or denial will be sent via email from WebAdmit/CSDCAS so be sure it is listed as a safe sender otherwise emails could end up in your junk mail folder. Applicants offered admission will need to respond to the offer within a few weeks whether they accept the offer, remain interested in the admission offer, or are declining the offer. Final responses to offers need to be provided no later than the national deadline of April 15th. The rolling admissions process will continue until the program has reached its maximum enrollment limit. Typically, the entire admission decision process will be completed around late May.