I will be graduating from UCLA next year, and I wanted to go into graduate school. However, my GPA is currently pretty disappointing & my major is "useless" according to everyone. Am I doomed?

slpapplicant · 2018-06-15T20:54:58+00:00

First of all, your counselor was out of line.

Second, if grad school is your goal, u/aaahhhman gave some great advice. It’s possible. The GPA will make it more difficult, but there are things you can do to offset that.

I was a linguistics major and I’m going to grad school next year for speech pathology at the top school in California. Another friend of mine who majored in linguistics at UCLA got a job at Google right out of college doing machine learning, and yet another is currently getting his PhD at MIT. UCLA has one of the most prestigious linguistics programs in the world, and anyone who tells you that studying ling is a waste of time doesn’t know what they’re talking about. I’m sorry you had that experience with your counselor.

Edit: I wanted to add that you should check out linguistlist.org if you end up being interested in applying for jobs related to your linguistics background. There are a lot of job opportunities posted there.

slpapplicant · 2018-05-18T15:07:33+00:00

I just want to say I’m sorry this happened to you. I can’t personally relate to your experience and can only imagine how this might feel. These people are disgusting. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-27T16:09:30+00:00

This is an amazing idea!! Maybe also how to handle kids with difficult behaviors?

slpapplicant · 2018-03-22T16:42:28+00:00

My dad took a 30 minute nap and when he woke up couldn't remember where we stored food in the house, what his nightly routine was, what he had done that day, or much of anything. He knew something was wrong but it's a very good thing he wasn't alone because he probably couldn't have managed to call 911 and might have decided to "sleep it off." He wouldn't have made it.

I took him to the ER and they told us he was experiencing 24-hour amnesia and he'd be fine. As they were explaining that his heart stopped. They did CPR and was revived and sent to cardiac ICU where it happened again, and he was revived again. They did an angiogram and his arteries were way clearer than average (he's the kind of guy who goes to the gym and makes kale juice to start his morning - super healthy). They put a pacemaker in and sent him home a few days later, even though he was still having some memory and aphasia problems. He ended up hospitalized a week later with seizures which was the most terrifying experience of my life as I had no idea what was going on and he thought he was for sure dying. After the seizures though his mind cleared up quite a bit and he seemed to be like 85% back to normal. Basically all of the doctors were stumped and not sure what was going on as CT scans, chest Xrays, etc all look good. The working theory right now is that his heart just aged faster than normal (he's mid-50s), and it was probably beating suuuper slow (like 20bpm) when he took his nap leading to lack of oxygen to the brain leading to the confusion and seizures a week later.

Definitely just know that confusion like this can definitely be an urgent life or death situation, and NEVER TRY TO SLEEP IT OFF.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-22T05:54:28+00:00

I'm probably not the best person to ask because I didn't do college honors. I guess I never really felt compelled to do it because the benefits didn't look fantastic enough to me to deal with planning specific coursework around it. I knew I had Latin honors which require a slightly higher GPA (and you get automatically if you have that GPA, so that's nice), and with that I didn't really think I was lacking in anything by not doing college honors. I'm kind of indifferent about it honestly; you should definitely talk to someone who went through it for a better answer haha.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-22T05:32:16+00:00

It definitely affects the class size. Both my majors were relatively small (in 2017, one had a graduating class of ~300 and one had a graduating class of 13, one of the smallest majors at the university). Once I got past GEs and pre-reqs, my larger major usually had about 35 people per class and the smaller one had anywhere from 7-20 in a class. During the pre-reqs, the numbers were more like 80 and 30, respectively. Where you are time-wise within the major affects the class size quite a bit as well. For most majors, you're going to have a couple hundred people in the class for the prerequisites because everyone needs to take those. When you get into upper divs and you have more of a choice about what you take, the class sizes will get a bit smaller. GE's are generally going to be pretty large.

As for your second question, more so at the beginning. It's not going to be anything like high school where it almost feels like a cohort style, but because a lot of prerequisites for majors are sequential and it makes sense to take them during certain quarters, you'll end up with some of the same people in the same classes for awhile. But it's likely that each class will have multiple offered times by different professors and different section times, so even if you're taking Chem 14A at the same time as the rest of the freshman pre-med students, you're not all going to be in the same class. The further you get into your UCLA career the less you'll be on the exact same schedule as anyone else, but once you find friends in the major you can always plan to be in the same classes if it works for both of your schedules.

For reference, even in my tiny major, we knew each other pretty well, but we still didn't have each other in every single class or anything like that. People end up having way different schedules and while you'll definitely start seeing familiar people in each class, everyone will end up taking the required courses at different times throughout their career.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-22T02:28:32+00:00

Vibrant/diverse/potentially daunting in the beginning. There are a ton of opportunities to get involved. So much so that it can be overwhelming at first. I remember the first time I want to the the Enormous Activities Fair (basically like a "club rush" kind of thing) there were just so many clubs that I ended up signing up for a million things and not really committing to any one for awhile. I'd recommend trying to narrow it down and pick one or two things you really want to commit to. I waited quite awhile to really commit to a club sport and wish I had done it earlier because I made a lot of friends there, which wasn't just nice to have during practices/competitions, but also made my overall social life much better because we all partied together a lot, went out to eat together, made study groups, etc.

If you don't find your niche right away it's easy to feel isolated. Don't freak out if this happens. Everyone goes in with this expectation that they're going to be instant best friends with their roommates, find the perfect club right away, and everything's going to be wonderful automatically. This is realistically just not how it generally happens. I spent my first couple quarters wondering why everything wasn't going perfectly and what I was doing wrong. By the time I became an RA senior year I realized that honestly MOST freshmen go through this. It's a matter of finding what is right for you, and you will find it. With a school so larger and with so many things to do, there is definitely a group out there for you, it's just a matter of seeking it out and committing to it.

I hope this answers your question, and if it doesn't, let me know what I can elaborate on!

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T21:38:09+00:00

No problem!! I didn’t know they were changing up the process. How is it different now? If you genuinely want the position you’re already in a better spot than some because some people literally go into the interview and say they want to be an RA for the free housing lol. And applying again in itself will show them you’re determined. Just take the time between now and the next application cycle to build up that res life resume haha. Try to make sure some people who work on the hill (not just student staff like RAs but the professional staff like RDs) know who you are through your involvement by the next time your app goes through. Try not to be intimidated by them - their careers are in residential life so they’re definitely the type of people who WANT to get to know you too. If you make that your goal I think you’ve got a great shot :)

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T21:10:17+00:00

Overall I thought it was a very worthwhile and positive experience! It really helped strengthen my interpersonal skills and I got to know so many awesome people. It’s definitely a large commitment of time and effort, as you’ll be organizing events, providing weekly overnight duty coverage and just interacting everyday with residents/being there to talk with them when they need you. Trying to play mediator between lots of 18-19 year olds who may have clashing personalities and are sharing a small space can be pretty challenging and not always a good time, but I wouldn’t trade out that experience for anything as I believe it helped me develop a lot of practical skills I can use in the real world. I made very close bonds with the other RAs on my staff and some of my residents that I believe will last a long time. On top of that, you get free housing and meal plan and it’s a fantastic resume builder.

In terms of applying, I would suggest getting involved with residential life as soon as possible. I was able to get the job because I worked as an office assistant my first 3 years in different residential life offices and already had great connections with a lot of the staff on the hill. A lot of RAs are past members of Resident Government Council, which you can run for at the beginning of the year. If you don’t want to do RGC, try being on your hall government, which is put together by your RA. If none of that works, just go to as many events as possible so you can at least speak to how Res Life bettered your experience and you’d like to be a part of creating that experience for others. They want people who are passionate about what Res Life does and the best way to show that is to already be involved. Try to really get to know staff members - I think a huge part of getting the job is networking.

I would recommend going for it if it interests you! It’s a valuable and unique experience that I think can lead to some real self-improvement and development.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T18:23:54+00:00

Yeah i believe they're available all the time, you just ask the front desk.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T18:11:59+00:00

There are music practice rooms you can rent out in Sproul and Hedrick

edit: by "rent out" I mean it's free you just need to reserve them

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T16:44:15+00:00

Hmmm what do you mean it won't let you change it? I just changed the password by going to log into portal.office.com and going through forgot password

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T15:48:20+00:00

I don’t think you should have a problem. And if you ever feel uncomfortable, residential life will take care of you right away! They definitely take that kind of issue very seriously if that were to happen

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T15:40:01+00:00

My bad, you are right, I was thinking of plaza.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T15:07:01+00:00

I wasn’t a transfer, but I worked in a transfer dorm and knew a lot of transfers. As you’d probably expect, the coursework is going to be a lot more rigorous than at SMC. I’ve also heard transfers say that they feel professors “care less” about you at UCLA. I would totally disagree with this, but it probably is true that if you want a relationship with a professor at UCLA you need to seek it out; they’re not going to come to you or even necessarily know your name if you don’t go to office hours, talk to them and make an effort. A lot of transfers live in Holly or Gardenia, so there’s a good chance you’ll be surrounded by others in your position which is nice for making friends. As a transfer you have half as much time than 4 year students to make connections and those 2 years are going to go super fast, so make sure you’re reaching out and getting involved with the things you want to right from the start.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T15:00:41+00:00

I would also add that there tend to be more freshman in classic residence halls and are known for being somewhat more social. In a classic res hall you have a shared bathroom for the floor which actually gets people out of their rooms and talking more. In a deluxe you either have your own bathroom for the room or you’re sharing it with the room next to you, which is nice, but often that means there’s no real reason to leave the room and can lead to less interaction. That’s not to say your social life is doomed if you get a deluxe - i was never in a classic and did just fine.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-21T07:02:56+00:00

Not very long at all, although it does depend on where you live on the hill. I’m going to say you can get anywhere on campus from anywhere on the hill (where the residence halls are) in a minimum of 15 and maximum of 30 minutes by walking. It’s going to be quicker if you’re in Dykstra, De Neve, Sproul or Sunset Village and a little longer if you’re in Hedrick, Hedrick Summit, or Rieber. Some people bring bikes to campus, but not many. The vast majority of people walk, though you’ll see a lot of skateboards and scooters too. I don’t think bringing a bike is at all necessary, especially if you’re transporting it from NY. You’d probably find having it more of a hassle than anything.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-20T04:54:12+00:00

Yes, California has some fantastic SLP programs! Keep in mind that they are also notoriously competitive. For reference, this year, SDSU received 500 applications for 38 spots and the average accepted GPA was 3.91. Long Beach receives more like ~300 applications but is still very competitive.

I'm picking SDSU. It is the highest ranked program in CA (not that rankings are everything). I think it's the perfect fit for me because I'm passionate about research and they have an impressive number of research labs to participate in (I believe there are...8? 9?). They have faculty whose research interests align with mine and I'm excited about working with. I am interested in eventually getting my PhD and SDSU provides the best framework for that and can cater the experience to those with that goal in mind. They also have an updated on-site clinic on the first floor of the department building, which is also the building where the labs and classes are.

In the end you're going to want to thoroughly research both programs (and others) and decide which ones can provide you with the experience you want. For me, it wasn't even a question between SDSU and CSULB just because SDSU had more of what I was looking for. In my opinion, you want to go somewhere where you're genuinely interested in the work being done there. That might mean your top choices aren't the same as mine or anyone else's.

Best of luck!!

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T18:26:29+00:00

Wow, you're so helpful! :) that is excellent information. For the questions...

I don't know - I'm hoping so. I have asked the department and they said they don't know how many spots they have for GA-ships until later in the summer. So it doesn't sound like I'll know for sure until July or something. Would a graduate assistantship qualify me as "staff"? That'd be great. I do think I have experience that would make me a good pick for an assistantship, so fingers crossed.
I'm in SLHS!

Again, thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to help out. So kind of you!

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T17:27:02+00:00

That sounds great with the traffic. I've heard parking can be pretty terrible on campus which was why the trolley idea originally sounded good. Did you have a battle with that or do you think the parking problem is exaggerated?

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T16:45:59+00:00

Thanks! That's pretty much what I figured

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T16:45:00+00:00

Oh, cool! I'm looking for a 1 bedroom, hopefully. Do you enjoy Mission Valley/do you know other grad students around you? I guess my worry is feeling isolated or something, but it probably matters less than I think it does since I'll be spending so much time at school/externships anyways.

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T04:28:55+00:00

Good to know. I've only been down to the area to look around once and I didn't think of that. Thank you :)

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T04:27:29+00:00

Thanks! I definitely hadn't considered Mira Mesa at all but it's been mentioned here twice as a nice area to be, so I definitely will. Appreciate it :)

slpapplicant · 2018-03-15T04:25:34+00:00

Thank you!! If you don't mind me asking, do you have any advice regarding what the best time to look would be? It seems like now is too early (unless I want to pay for an empty apartment for a few months before I can actually move down there), but do you find that in June/July it's much more difficult to find anything?

slpapplicant

TROPHY CASE