In order to apply to the undergraduate major, applicants must meet the following admissions requirements:

Minimum Grade Point Average (GPA)

To be considered for admission, applicants are required to have a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.5. Please note that competitive applicants should have a GPA of at least 3.0 (B) in the prerequisite undergraduate Speech and Hearing coursework with no single course graded less than 2.0 (C). It is highly recommended that all prerequisite coursework grades be at 2.5 or above.

Minimum Number of Credits

Students must have completed a minimum of 75 credits to apply to the major. If accepted, students must complete at least 90 credits by the quarter they enter the major.

Prerequisite Coursework

In order to apply to the major, students must complete the introductory coursework outlined below.  Please note that these courses are not only prerequisites for applying to the major, but a requirement of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) for certification in speech-language pathology and audiology. Students intending to pursue professional graduate study must complete this coursework at the undergraduate level before applying to graduate programs. (More information on certification requirements can be found on the ASHA website).

Please note that courses cannot be in progress at the time of application; courses must be complete in order to apply (see note below)*. See the Undergraduate Advisor with any questions about these course requirements.

Special Note: Applicants must review the specific details about acceptable prerequisite coursework very carefully. At the time of application, the department will conduct a perfunctory review of prerequisites to verify there are five courses listed. If determined, after acceptance, that a course listed does not meet the prerequisite based on course content, majors must complete another course that meets the prerequisite requirement in order to finish the degree.

  1. Statistics Coursework
    Students must complete at least one 3 - 5 credit college-level statistics course. Acceptable courses must involve statistical computation. We will not accept remedial, historical, or methodological statistics courses, or other math courses such as logic, algebra, geometry, or calculus.
  2. Biological Science Coursework
    Students must complete at least one 3 - 5 credit introductory course in human- or animal-based biological science, anatomy and physiology, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology, human genetics, or veterinary science. Acceptable courses are at the 100-level or above and do not need a lab component. We will not accept non-human or non-animal biological coursework in botany, ecology, environmental science, or microbiology.
  3. Social/Behavioral Science Coursework
    Students must complete at least one 3 - 5 credit introductory course in the social and behavioral sciences. Acceptable courses are at the 100-level or above in the disciplines of psychology, educational psychology, sociology, anthropology, or public health. We will not accept coursework in other social or behavioral areas such as education, special education, social work, history, political science, or economics.
  4. Physical Science Coursework
    Students must complete at least one 3 - 5 credit introductory physical science course in either Physics or Chemistry. Acceptable courses are at the 100-level or above and do not need a lab component.
     
    • Acceptable physics courses are taken in a physics department at the 100-level or above and cover the nature, properties, and interactions of matter and energy, including areas such as the principles of relativity, motion, force, sound, light, mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism. We will not accept coursework in astronomy or geology unless they are courses specifically in astrophysics or geophysics.
       
    • Acceptable chemistry courses are taken in a chemistry department at the 100-level or above, and cover the composition, structure, and properties of substances that comprise matter and the transformations that occur when substances change and react with other substances.
  5. Linguistics Coursework
    Students must complete at least one 3 - 5 credit introductory linguistics course. Acceptable courses are taken in a linguistics department at the 100-level of above and cover language structure and use, including the topics of phonology, phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics.

Courses used to fulfill these out-of-department requirements must have the following attributes:

  • They must be taken outside the Speech & Hearing Sciences department
  • They must appear by name and number on the student’s official college transcript with a final grade
  • They must be taken for a numeric grade
  • Students must achieve a grade of at least 2.0

In lieu of specific courses, these requirements may also be satisfied by Advanced Placement credit or International Baccalaureate credit. However, students must have transcript record of these credits. CLEP or DSST examinations for credit are NOT accepted for these requirements.

*NOTES:

1. UW students must have all prerequisite coursework completed prior to applying. This means, all prerequisites must be completed by Winter Quarter before submitting an application in April.  They may not be "in-progess" or "planned" during Spring Quarter.

2. Transfer students must have all prerequisite coursework completed prior to applying, with the exception of Linguistics. Transfer students may always apply to the major with Linguistics “in progress” or with it “planned” for their junior year. Linguistics is the only prerequisite exception for transfer students and if it is not completed prior to entering the major, it must be completed in either Autumn or Winter quarter of junior year.

Virtual Advising

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