Choosing the Right Speech Therapy Programs in Maine

If you're actively planning on pursuing a speech therapy career in the highly competitive state of Maine, then you have hopefully already researched the field and the educational requirements. If you have not, then you are not ready to choose an educational program. If you have, however, then you'll want to avoid the temptation to just go with the first program that sounds interesting or, as is often the case, the first program that accepts you as a student. Not all speech therapy programs are created equally and, as such, not all will lead to the successful and lucrative career in the field that you've always dreamed of. In fact, some will be completely dead end and will leave you with nothing but wasted time and money. To avoid disappointment, it's important to do a lot of research and to choose the right educational programs every step of the way.

Your first step to becoming a speech therapist is, of course, to obtain a bachelor's degree, preferably but not necessarily in a related field. Contrary to popular belief, you can do this by choosing to obtain first an associate's degree and then a bachelor's degree without disdain. You can also, of course, choose to pursue your degree all at once. No matter what path you choose, make sure that your undergraduate program is fully accredited by the state. Otherwise, you will not be able to proceed to the next level of education and to be met with eventual success. Your major is not that important at this point in time. Your grades, however, are. You will need to get into graduate school in order to work as a speech therapist, and most graduate schools will require a grade point average of at least a 3.0 (B) for admission.

Even if you are an excellent student, you might have some trouble getting into graduate school, so this is something to be prepared for. Graduate schools are notoriously selective and it's often difficult to know what each program is looking for. As such, apply for as many schools as necessary; ideally, you should choose several "first choice" schools, as well as several "safety" schools. Just make sure that, as with the undergraduate degree, the schools you apply to are fully accredited. You'll also want to choose schools that offer opportunities and guidance as they relate to internships, licensure, career paths, and other important areas of the field. Choose a school with a strong reputation of turning out professionals who work successfully as speech therapists. Also, do not opt for a school where you have to design your own major. A good, strong speech therapy program should already be in place.

It is important to note that choosing the right programs is just half of the battle of becoming a speech therapist. Once your education is complete, you will be required to complete licensure in the state. This will require hours of experiential learning and the passing of a national examination. As such, the best programs are the ones that prepare you for this rigorous licensure process. The test will cover everything you learned, both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student, and it will be evident if you chose a weak program when testing time rolls around. Likewise, it will be evident if you chose a strong program, because you'll have a much easier time with testing. The only way to ensure success is to do the research ahead of time and to only go into programs after you know all of the facts and are confident that the program will help you reach your goals.