There are so many discrepancies about being an out-of-field major. Reality check – if you are an out-of-field major, you are not a hindrance, you are an asset. Being an out-of-field major allows you gain unique competencies and bring a different perspective to the field of SLP.
Gaining relevant SLP knowledge and experience as an out-of-field major requires meticulous planning. I changed my major near my junior from business to psychology. I met with countless advisors and spoke to graduate programs to see what my options were, since my university didn’t have an SLP program. The first step I took was to find all of the ASHA prerequisite requirements that I needed to take. Next, I researched all healthcare-related fitting major that would relate to SLP. I also considered fitting my SLP-specific prerequisite courses as well.
Some options I explored as an out-of-field major were: Health Sciences (B.S.), Biology (B.S), Neuroscience, (B.S.) and Psychology (B.S.). Here are some comments that resonated with me while I was trying to find the right major:
โTo be honest with you, itโs not worth it for you to attend this university. You should transfer elsewhere that has this undergraduate program.โ
โYou wonโt be able to make it here. You are going to struggle.โ
โAre you sure? This will delay your path.โ
I was freaking out. I was beyond frustrated when being told this, but I didn’t give up. I was under the impression that I had to be a hard sciences major, when I haven’t taken a single science course during college. Let me tell you that this is false. You can be a hard sciences major, but you don’t even need to take any lab components to meet ASHA prerequisites!
With this being said, I changed my major to Psychology with a concentration in Human Development. Being a Human Development major allowed flexibility as I was able to focus on ASHA’s requirements and find relevant psychology courses to gain knowledge about the populations that I would be working with as a future SLP.
To fulfill my concentration requirements, I took the following courses: child psychology, adolescent psychology, social psychology, abnormal psychology, behavioral problems in children, brain & behavior, and theories of learning & cognition.
I highly recommend taking courses similar to these at your university, if you are an out-of-field major, or have some additional electives to cover. Why?
- Child psychology, adolescent psychology, social psychology, abnormal psychology, and behavioral problems in children:
- It is essential to understand the populations you will be working with as a future clinician. Taking these courses will give you an understanding about why a client may be behaving the way they are. It may be that a client is trying to communicate through their behavior, express their emotions, or an underlying factor may even be present.
- I gained evidence-based knowledge during these courses about a wide range of behaviors, typically developing milestone, and learned so much through peer-reviewed research and the DSM-5.
- Research has shown an interaction between behavior and speech. A past supervisor once told me, “progress cannot be seen without being able to control behavior”…and this is where multidisciplinary collaboration comes into play. From my knowledge, behavior and speech essentially go hand in hand, thus, it is essential to understand.
- Brain & behavior and theories of learning & cognition:
- Understanding brain functioning and the cognitive system is vital for speech and language development, especially for the traumatic brain injury population.
- Most graduate programs require some type of neurocognitive/neurolinguistic course. I was able to get prior exposure and a baseline understanding by learning how the brain is organized, how it neural networks communicate throughout the body, and the correlation between altered functioning due to traumatic brain injury/disease.
In addition to taking these courses, I went onto completing independent studies to fulfill my course requirements by contacting professors who had similar research interests that I did. My initial independent study allowed me to gain my observation hours and intern under an SLP. I researched the correlation between neurological development and speech-language development. My next independent study was through my university community research center. It allowed me to gain in-depth knowledge of research and statistics by conducting analyses of access to healthcare within an international database, for patients specifically with a chronic disease.
I graduated Cum Laude in November 2019, nearly a year early! I completed all of my ASHA prerequisite courses, and took supplementary courses about the populations I will be working with as a future clinician. I am currently enrolled in a leveling program to fulfill my SLP-specific prerequisite courses.
Being an out-of-field major allowed me to gain vast experiences through internships, observations, independent studies, and research. During my grad school group interviews, I had more relevant experiences to talk about than my fellow interviewees. Don’t let anyone shame you or make you feel bad about becoming an SLP – prove them wrong! I have been accepted into 11 graduate programs, and got into my dream graduate program. You can become an SLP with ANY major, you just have to meet the prerequisites!
Reach out with any questions/comments by sending me a message!
XOXO