FAQ for CSDCAS/Application Process
FAQ for Undergraduates
FAQ for Prospective Graduate Students
FAQ for Extended Master (EM) Inquiries
FAQ for GPA Requirements
For information on applying to our graduate program for the next fall admission year, please carefully review the instructions on the Admissions page.
The deadline to apply for Fall 2012 admission is January 15th, 2012, by 5:00pm, PST. Please visit the Admissions page for application instructions.
As long as you have initiated the application process through CSDCAS, you can begin requesting to have the required documents sent to CSDCAS so that they will be received by the document deadline on February 1, 2012.
CSU Mentor requires you to write a "statement of purpose," which is not the same as the CSDCAS essay question requirement. Therefore, please do not cut and paste one to the other. You are expected to write a "statement of purpose" for CSU Mentor which is completely separate of the response that is required for the CSDCAS essay question; they should be two different submissions.
From now on, applicants will not be required to submit a letter of intent or a resume, as they are no longer required documents for submissions to CSDCAS.
GRE scores are not required in order to apply to the MA or EM graduate program. In fact, if you submit your GRE score on your CSDCAS application because another program requires it, the SJSU CD&S admission committee will disregard that portion of your application, as they do not review or consider GRE scores. However, if you have already taken the CBEST, you do have the option to report your CBEST score. CBEST scores are not required for acceptance into the program, but you do have the option of submitting them for review. NO OTHER SCORES WILL BE LOOKED AT.
Application materials will not be accepted in the department office. All materials must be sent directly to CSDCAS for processing. Any documents that are received in the department office will be discarded and will not be submitted for review.
If you do not have an undergraduate degree in CD&S, please make every effort to obtain letters from former professors who are familiar with your academic work. Letters from supervisors or co-workers are acceptable and should address your potential for success as a graduate student, especially if you have been out of school for more than two years.
The admission committee does not admit applicants on a rolling basis. Following the submission deadline, all applications are reviewed at the same time, regardless of when you completed or submitted your application.
Once you have submitted your application, you will hear back from us no later than April 15, 2012 (via email). Please do not call the office to inquire about your application status until April 16, 2012.
Yes! Through CSDCAS, you have the option to submit your references electronically or by paper/mail. Please follow the instructions for submitting either reference by logging into your CSDCAS account.
To declare CD&S as your major, complete a change of major form [pdf] and submit it to the department office in Sweeney Hall Rm. 115. The department coordinator will obtain the signature of the department chair for you and submit it to the Office of the Registrar on your behalf. The department will retain a copy of the completed form for your department file.
For a list of undergraduate course requirements for obtaining a bachelor's degree in CD&S, please view the BA degree requirements page and/or the undergraduate course sequence [pdf].
CD&S students cannot begin to take CD&S courses in the Spring due to a specific course sequence [pdf] that does not permit our students to enroll in Spring courses unless they have completed the preceding Fall courses. CD&S majors may only begin taking courses in the Fall, even if they have completed all of their lower division requirements.
If you will achieve upper division standing (60+ units) by the end of the Fall semester that you intend to enroll in, you may be granted special permission to enroll in your CD&S courses. Please see your undergraduate adviser to be granted permission to do so. Once permission is granted, the department coordinator will issue you a permission code for each course so you may enroll in CD&S courses.
To complete your Major Form [pdf], please schedule an appointment with your adviser. Once your form is complete and has your adviser's signature, please place it in the gray SJSU folder that is located in the three tiered rack on the department coordinator's desk in SH 115. She will obtain the signature of the department chair, make a copy of the form for your department file, and place it in a sealed envelope with your name on it. When your form is ready, the sealed envelope will be placed in a large PINK mailer entitled "Completed Major Forms", which can be found in the student paperwork pick-up box in SH 115. This process takes 1-3 days from the time you submitted the form; please keep checking the pink mailer to see if your form is completed. Remember, DO NOT open your envelope; the student must deliver the SEALED envelope to the Office of the Registrar with their Application for Graduation Baccalaureate Degree [pdf]. When you submit your Major Form [pdf] to the department, you may include your Application for Graduation Baccalaureate Degree [pdf] so that the department can make a copy of it for your department file. The Application for Graduation Baccalaureate Degree [pdf] will not be sealed, but will be returned to you with your Major Form [pdf].
In order to pursue a career as an SLP, you will be required to obtain a Master's Degree in Speech-Pathology.
Jobs for individuals who only have a bachelor's degree in CD&S are extremely limited. We advise you to explore options to become a speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) if you choose not to pursue a Master's degree in Speech-Pathology.
Upon completion of the MA or EM program, you will receive a Master of Arts in Education, Concentration Speech Pathology degree.
Appointments for prospective graduate students are not scheduled on a routine basis. However, the department does hold monthly informational meetings for prospective graduate students. For a list of upcoming informational meeting dates, please visit our homepage. If you live out of the area and are unable to attend any of the meetings, please call the department office at (408) 924-3688.
Prospective students are always welcome to come and visit the department, especially during our monthly informational meetings.For information on the next meeting, please visit our homepage. If you would like a tour during business hours, please call the office at (408) 924-3688 to make an appointment.
Due to a specific course sequence [pdf] that does not permit students to begin taking courses in the Spring unless they have completed the preceding Fall courses, applications are not accepted for Spring admission.
This program is a full-time program. Classes are held 4-5 days a week, morning, noon and night. We do not offer online, weekend or evening classes only. Most students are unable to work (or can only work part-time) as the course content is intensive and time consuming.
In terms of your application, the admission committee looks strongly at your GPA. In addition to your GPA, stronger candidates tend to have excellent writing capabilities, have related field experience or volunteer work, and come highly recommended.
For the Fall 2011 admission year, the department received over 400 applicants, which was a significant increase from previous year. Out of the total applicants, approximately 10% of those applicants were accepted and admitted into the graduate program. Approximately 50% of accepted applicants were admitted into the MA program, while the remaining accepted applicants were accepted into the EM program.
Once you have been accepted into the Master's Program, you will be required to take the CBEST test no later than one year from the time of your admittance. If you have already taken, passed and submitted a copy of your results to the office, you have no further CBEST obligations. Please remember that without proof of your CBEST passage, you will not be admitted into candidacy and will not be able to graduate. Therefore, it is pertinent that you make arrangements to take the test as soon as possible.
Yes, international applicants have additional requirements. To view additional requirements for international applicants, please visit our Admissions page.
All information regarding a program can be found on our website. Most questions can be answered answered by reviewing the FAQ page. Currently, we do not mail out informational packets.
Applicants who have a BA in a major other than CD&S can still apply to the MA Speech-Pathology Program. Upon acceptance into the program, they will be classified as an Extended Master (EM) student. An EM's program is three years long, per the EM course sequence [pdf].
During their first year in the EM program, EMs are required to complete the undergraduate coursework that students who received a BA in Communicative Disorders and Sciences had to complete, as shown on the EM course sequence [pdf]. Once undergraduate requirements are met, they will proceed with graduate level courses in their second and third years of the program.
If you are already taking EM pre-requisite courses at another university, you will want to attend one of our monthly informational meetings to verify that the courses are you taking (or intend to take) will allow you to enter directly into the standard MA program upon acceptance.
For a list of required pre-requisites, please see the Programs page for Extended Master students.
The average GPA of applicants who are accepted into the graduate program is 3.5 and higher.
While we understand that GPAs don't always reflect the true academic abilities of an applicant due to the vagaries of life and unavoidable circumstances, the committee does not make exceptions to this policy. Unfortunately, if you do not have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, your application will not be submitted for review, no exceptions.
The main GPA that is considered is your overall GPA from your bachelor's degree. However, nine other aspects of your GPA are also taken into consideration.
If your GPA does not meet the minimum requirement, you may take the pre-requisite courses that EMs take as a part of their course sequence [pdf] in order to prove your potential to succeed as a speech-language pathology master student. However, these courses cannot be taken at San Jose State University as our courses are only made available to students who have been formally accepted into the program.
Unfortunately, if you already have completed the undergraduate CD&S coursework and do not meet the minimum GPA requirement, you are not qualified to apply to the MA program. If you are an SJSU student, please refer to the SJSU catalog for information regrading course repeat policies.
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