EIU Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences

Undergraduate Admission Criteria

Probationary Admission to Communication Disorders and Sciences

All students entering EIU as freshmen or transfers seeking a CDS major will be classified as probationary CDS majors.  Probationary majors may register for all lower division (2999 or lower) courses in the CDS major.  Access to the upper division CDS courses (3000 and 4000) requires admission to the CDS major.  The Department reviews the applications of all probationary CDS majors seeking admission to the major and determines if the students’ academic achievement supports admission to the major and access to the upper division courses.  (Adopted Fall 1994, documentation in the EIU catalog).

Undergraduate Admission to Communication Disorders and Sciences

Criteria for Admission:

1.     Admission to the University.

2.     Classification as a probational CDS major.

3.     Achievement of a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher for all EIU coursework.

4.     Completion of at least 3 of the 5 lower division core CDS courses in the major, with one of the three being either CDS 2500 or CDS 2800, and achievement of a minimum 2.75 grade point average for all lower division core CDS courses completed at the time of application.*  Lower division courses are:

• CDS 2000: Introduction to CDS
• CDS 2100: Phonetics and Phonological Dev
• CDS 2200: Language Acquisition
• CDS 2500: Anatomy & Physiology
• CDS 2800: Speech Science   

 *In lieu of items 2-4, students who transfer to EIU with a minimum grade point average of 2.75 in at least 7 semester hours of equivalent CDS coursework (as specified in item #4) will be allowed access to upper division coursework. (Revised, Spring, 2007;documentation in the EIU catalog).

GPA Requirement for Undergraduate Clinic

Student must attain a 3.00 MGPA and 3.00 CGPA, or receive permission from the chair, to register for CDS 4900.

 Computation of the Major Grade Point Average

1. The undergraduate major grade point average in CDS is calculated from all grades with a CDS prefix.

2. The university policies for calculating the cumulative GPA will apply to the CDS major GPA.  When a course is repeated the higher of the two grades received for the course is included in the computation of the MGPA.  Grades for subsequent repeats of the course will both appear on the students' record and be included in the computation of both MGPA and CGPA. 

Only students admitted to the CDS major will be approved to register for upper division (3000 or higher) CDS courses. Applications are available in the department office, Room 2105, Human Services Building or click here to download a form.

*For additional information regarding specific undergraduate courses, please visit CDS Courses.