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[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I think you need an undergrad in Linguistics to get into Speech Pathology, don't you? (or maybe that's what you have).

I think others have mentioned that you can increase your GPA by simply taking more courses and getting good grades in them until your overall GPA is higher (if your GPA is all that bad- there are different rates for different schools in Canada, but I'm guessing that in the US yours means you have a low 60s range GPA?). In order to increase the overall GPA you may be looking at doing one or two years worth of courses to pull it up (like maybe ten FULL courses or HALF of a degree- think about seeing if your university will let you get a minor in something by distance. I can tell you from experience that first year survey courses suddenly seem ridiculously easy after you've finished your degree, and so getting a minor in something vaguelty related to either your degree area or to your career would probably help)

Also, always, ALWAYS look at HOW the school to which you are applying calculates GPA. They often don't just look at your overall GPA. Some only look at the GPA over the last two years of study (they only look at your final two years' grades). Some ONLY look at relevant courses (so for a degree in Music History, they ONLY look at your Music History grades and NOT your French grades).

Another option is that some schools have Post Graduate Diplomas (or Certificates) in TESOL. The sometimes have lower admission requirements, and having done one of those, you then do one more year and can get the school's MA TESOL (the grades to the Certificate/Diploma will increase your overall GPA, plus they are going to be more heavily wieghted than unrelated undergraduate courses). Then you aren't actually doing any grunt work at all. You are simply doing it in two steps. Step one for the certificate (which is often an optional exit point for people who don't want to / can't finish the MA in total) and then step two is the reast of the courses required for an MA.

I know both British and Australian universities have this kind of a system.

Final option: Go to a university that has an 'open' policy. For example, in Canada there's Athabasca University. It's a real university. But it also has an 'open' policy so that people with lower GPAs can still get master's degrees from them etc. The issue with Athabasca is the cost and there aren't all that many choices as to what you do an MA in (they have an MBA, and also an MAIS - Master of Arts in Integrated Studies- and a few others). Even if you have to do an MA in a more general area, then it will improve your GPA while at the same time allowing you to be able to put that you have a graduate degree on your resume, AND you will be more likely to get into another MA after having completed one already. PLUS you would actually learn something! I thought about doing the MAIS program at Athabasca university in the past- you choose concentrations of study and educational studies is one of them (as is distance learning, and Adult education). The UK also has an Open University, though I'm nto really sure what it's like.

Basically, just don't give up. Start looking for alternative paths to get where you want, and have a couple of ideas of where you want to be.

[Orpheus]

Rather than sending you a PM, I'll keep this here so others can see it.

If your plan is getting in @ ASU, your options are pretty much what have already been mentioned: take a couple of classes at a community college and show that you're serious or enroll as a non-degree seeking student and work toward the degree as you build up your GPA. I know a couple of international students that were having some sort of visa problems or something, and they basically took most of the classes for the program and gained degree-seeking status after a semester or two.

As far as the specific programs you're looking at, ASU has a kick-ass linguistics program, and I have been really impressed with the professors I've had so far (there are some pretty big names in the field working here). If you apply here, you'll probably want to keep your program pretty research-focused (i.e. Applied Linguistics or Theoretical Linguistics), since that's really the focus of this university. I'm in the MTESOL program, and it's definitely viewed as the bottom of the totem pole in the Linguistics department.

Shoot me a PM if you have any other questions.