Admission Essay Sample: The University of South Carolina’s Speech Pathology Program

For the past eight years of my life, speech pathology has been the prime motivator for my education. My inspiration to pursue this career came from experiences I have had in my personal life. I saw a speech pathologist when I was younger, and my sister also required speech therapy when I was in middle school. My sessions with a speech therapist when I was a child changed how I communicated with others. My passion for this career has inspired me to shadow, volunteer, and intern in several capacities, as well as work in a phonetics research lab. The University of South Carolina’s state-of-the art program equipped with functional research opportunities and educational promise would have a profound impact on my future career.

Over the past five years, I have spent 70 hours shadowing a local private practice speech pathologist. Under her guidance, I learned best practices for interacting with clients and their parents as well as an arsenal of valuable teaching tools. During my sophomore year, I volunteered at a local Tuscaloosa Elementary school where I taught students English as a second language and worked with them on their reading. Seeing first and second graders grow in their vocabulary, speech patterns, and confidence cemented the importance of helping patients where they are, not where they supposedly should be. 

At the Tuscaloosa Ear, Nose & Throat Center my junior year, I interned with a speech pathologist and worked closely with her to evaluate patients through videostroboscopy and swallowing assessments. This unfamiliar environment was daunting at first, but I quickly adapted and felt at home with the fast-paced medical environment. While shadowing three speech pathologists at Charleston Pediatric Rehabilitation last summer, I worked with children coming from more diverse backgrounds than I had seen at home. As I looked to increase my experience, it was important to me that I work with clients of all ages, socioeconomic statuses, and ethnicities. The Montgomery Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic acts as an incredible resource for this need. The clinic engages with a variety of people at different ages and backgrounds, and due to my interest in interacting with a diverse client population, the clinic functions as a steppingstone to my future success. I would value the opportunity to engage in such an outstanding clinic. 

My experience in research has provided me with insight into the importance of the role that it plays. I was selected by my professor to join a project on studying prosodic labeling. We are creating the framework for a new system using points, levels, and ranges, called PoLaR, and I have spent over 150 hours coding and labeling language samples. The framework streamlines methods of analyzing phonetic research samples to facilitate the labeling process and promote new discoveries. We are partnered with professors from different universities around the United States for this project. My personal contribution in research has shown me how professionals can use this program to further their own work in the future by using a more advanced framework. Clinical research plays a drastic role in allowing the progression of speech pathology. Professionals use developed research to enhance their practices and improve treatments for clients. While the understanding of language continues to grow, the access and tools associated with speech therapy will also expand. As I continue my education in this field, I look forward to being involved in other research projects.

The focus on research is another compelling aspect that USC has to offer. The opportunity for engagement in neurogenic disorders is especially intriguing to me, as my courses in communicative disorders and psychology have exposed me to this area of education. This feature of the program would allow for research growth and a unique experience working with neurogenic disorders. Dr. Lisa Fitton’s focus on literacy development among diverse learners is interesting to me well as it correlates with my background in linguistics. USC’s commitment to education and research would cultivate the perfect environment for me as I continue into graduate school. 

I have spent the last five years preparing to be a professional in the field. I have devoted 335 hours to actively volunteering, shadowing, and researching communicative disorders. I would excel in the University of South Carolina’s speech pathology program and thrive learning from celebrated professors through unparalleled clinical opportunities. Through this program, I would be better able to help those who struggle to communicate find their voice in a world where words are so crucially important.