Faith Yuen graduated this spring with a Bachelor of Arts. She completed a major in linguistics, an extended minor in psychology, and a minor in learning and developmental disabilities. She has been accepted to the UBC Master of Science program in Speech-Language Pathology for Fall 2020.

How did you learn about SLP as a career option?

From the ages of 3 – 5, I received regular speech therapy from a SLP. I vividly remember loving the strawberry flavored tongue depressors the SLP gave me to practice articulating speech sounds. The SLP provided unconditional guidance and support during my early communication development to both myself and my family.

I didn’t think too much of it until in high school when I needed to do some volunteer experience in order to graduate. I reached out to the SLP who treated me as a child and I was able to reconnect and volunteer at the health clinic. It was through shadowing the SLP and observing different client sessions that solidified my decision to purse SLP as a career. Not to mention, I love working with kids!

A big aspect of the SLP application seems to be volunteer experience. What kind of volunteer experience did you have? How did this experience relate to your goal?

I volunteered at a speech and hearing clinic that sees children from ages 3 -5, at a stroke recovery group with aphasia patients, at the down syndrome resource foundation and working as a research assistant in three labs at SFU. I was exposed to both child and adult populations, which gave me the opportunity adapt and learn effective strategies in order to connect with a wide range of clients. The opportunity to talk with and learn from many dedicated SLPs who love their job really excited me as a future clinician!

How did you build a strong SLP application?

While there is no set formula to getting into the programs, it definitely helps to do some research about the school you are trying to get into. I applied to multiple schools in Canada so I did ample research well in advance to ensure I would meet all the pre-reqs, volunteer experience (some schools require a certain amount of hours alongside a SLP), reference types (some schools require 2 academic references instead of 1), and other components (such as the Casper test). Grades are important, but it is also your overall application that is taken into account. Your practical experiences help shape your letter of intent. Start working on your letter of intent early because it takes many revisions to get the perfect one! Don’t sell yourself short, you need to be specific and concise, and make yourself stand out from the other pool of applicants. Get to know your references (SLPs and profs), because not only can it help strengthen their letter for you but you also learn so much from them. 

INFLUENTIAL COURSES

• LING 290: The Science of Speech

• LING 350: First Language Acquisition

• LING 415: Neurolinguistics