I've posted these suggestion previously, but these are some things I think would have been helpful for my first year.
Since you know which program you're getting into my first piece of advice would be to research everything available about the program. Get familiar with the curriculum, I know in my program we have pre-determined specific classes we have to take each semester with no choice of electives or anything, so I'd definitely look ahead and see which classes you'll be taking each semester. Also, find a copy of the course catalog and read through the descriptions of all your classes, especially for the first year. For instance, if you know you'll be taking anatomy or neuroscience it may be helpful to pick up a study guide or even do a little reading ahead to get familiar with different muscles and neural pathways. This will also give you an idea of the time commitment you'll be putting in each semester so you can decide if you want to hold a part-time job or not or do any other activities, because ultimately OT school comes first but there may be other things you want to do.
I'd suggest you talk to students in the program about knowing what to expect. And see if they would be willing to be a mentor in case you have any questions or concerns while you are in the program. Having a good relationship with other students ahead of you or even within your cohort is so helpful, because this will be a tough and stressful commitment!
Go onto the AOTA website and look for the OT Practice Framework and become familiar with this as you will probably be using this a lot in some of your classes. Look for other documents that give an intro of OT because at least for the first few semesters you'll be learning more about what OTs do and some of the guiding principles and theories and such, so this will be helpful. The Centennial Vision and other "what is OT" type publications they make are good to get familiar with the profession.
Do a little research into interesting areas of OT and the different populations they serve. Your time in OT school will be a lot of self-discovery as you become familiar with different methods of practice, you'll want to have an idea of where you want to gain experience especially by the time you start fieldwork. I know I discovered interesting areas such as hippotherapy and recreation therapy by just doing a little Googling.
If you have time, you may also want to do more volunteering or job shadowing, which is always helpful, especially if you can develop a close relationship with an OT to pick their brain on different things. I think the more you know about the field beforehand, the better, because my first few semesters was about learning about what an OT actually does.
Brush up on Anatomy & Physiology and Medical Terminology. Review the names of muscles, bones, and nerves including what muscles the nerves innervate, what muscles control what movement, and read up on basic anatomy and physiology of the nervous system (brain structures, spinal cord segments, etc.). It may also be useful to look over disabilities.
Keep a binder of everything. I've kept binders for every semester and I still have the notes for every class including stuff I've taken and what my professors have given me.
Make up a study guide for each class. I would also suggest making up a study guide for finals for each class and start it early. Like read and take notes of important terms or combine main topics and notes you are given into one compiled document. Start taking the notes the week you are given the reading assignment to save time later on. This will make studying for finals so much easier and will be helpful when it comes time to refer to notes for the NBCOT.
Praise the Lord! hahaha
