The graduate program requires the following to be included in my letter of intent/personal statement:
explain why you are interested in a career as a speech-language pathologist and how this interest came about;
explain why you have applied for admission into the graduate program at Louisiana Tech University;
describe your experiences with or exposure to individuals with communicative disorders;
identify/discuss your strengths and weaknesses for graduate study based on your academic and clinical experiences;
identify/discuss your personal attributes that you think will contribute to your success as a graduate student and as a professional;
discuss your professional goals for the next five years;
the needs and/or challenges you perceive as important in your field of study, and any personality qualities;
Describe the clinical observations you have completed;
Describe completed clinical experiences; and
Provide any additional information that you would like the Admissions Speech Language Pathology
Committee to be aware of which has not been addressed in the application process.
I have completed clinical observations at various private and public schools for children, and one hospital and one rehabilitation hospital. At the schools I basically watched/observed the kids and saw how the teacher worked with the kids and their different communication problems. At the hospitals I basically visited different patients with different communication disorders and the supervising speech pathologist explained effective treatment options and therapy. You can write positive things about the experiences at the different sites/settings and positive feelings from learning about different kinds of patients… Whatever sounds good and please put what you think will most impress the admissions committee!
Also, I’ve attached my letter of recommendation. Please incorporate the content of this letter into my personal statement. May I suggest maybe 2-3 sentences about how the clinical experience has prepared me for graduate school? Under supervision, I’ve basically administered routine tests to clients, collected data and implemented treatment plans designed by the speech pathologist.