General Admissions & OTCAS GPA ETC. How I went from no chance to a chance

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.

CoastalOT

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
May 2, 2013
Messages
83
Reaction score
13
.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
Hey everyone. I just wanted to let people who think they have no chance what so ever that there are alternatives. I am an intelligent person who simply did not care about my grades as an undergrad because I saw little purpose to my education; if I did not care about my classes I simply did not attend. If I found the course interesting I earned an A. This resulted in a lot of A's and some not so A grades.

I've done a lot of growing up since discovering that OT was what I want to do with my life. I have shadowed approx. 90 hours so far and I am involved in a lot of volunteer work in my community, I've taken over 70 credit hours of pre-reqs and supporting courses and I have nearly a 3.8 GPA in those. I am applying to schools that look only at the last 60 credit hours or are willing to contextualize my poor undergrad record. I have a chance at getting in and I am optimistic.

I have also applied to a PsyD program with Argosy University Chicago as a backup.

I shared the same sentiments in undergrad and have found myself in the same predicament. My last year of undergrad and post-grad credits GPA is near a 4.0, but I'm having a hard time sorting out which schools will look at my most recent credits. Which schools have you applied to?
 
Wow...never thought I'd meet another OT who has read Hegel. We're few and far between! :) I just picked up Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment today. If you haven't read it, you should check it out!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Hey everyone. I just wanted to let people who think they have no chance what so ever that there are alternatives. I am an intelligent person who simply did not care about my grades as an undergrad because I saw little purpose to my education; if I did not care about my classes I simply did not attend. If I found the course interesting I earned an A. This resulted in a lot of A's and some not so A grades.

I've done a lot of growing up since discovering that OT was what I want to do with my life. I have shadowed approx. 90 hours so far and I am involved in a lot of volunteer work in my community, I've taken over 70 credit hours of pre-reqs and supporting courses and I have nearly a 3.8 GPA in those. I am applying to schools that look only at the last 60 credit hours or are willing to contextualize my poor undergrad record. I have a chance at getting in and I am optimistic.

I have also applied to a PsyD program with Argosy University Chicago as a backup.
So my question is what schools you have applied to??? What schools look at Post/Bachelor...I'm in the same boat. My gpa is a 2.83 but I'm taking Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2, Basic Physics, Development Psychology, CNA course, 2 theology courses, and history course. I'm taking a lot of classes this summer. Please what's your advice on this. I applied to Creighton University Davenport University, Abilene Christian University, and some others. I've heard its hard to get into TWU. If I don't get in for 2014 cycle then I will apply to 15 schools next years and try to get an extra 60 hours of observation hours. I love when schools look at the entire application instead of the grades.
 
i'm in the same boat.

here's something to make us feel better. the OT i volunteered with for about 60 hours told me that some of the OT students her department had gotten recently were pretty abysmal. this OT has been in the field for 20+ years and has also sat on the admissions/interview committee for one of our local programs. when i asked her why she said that she told me she thinks it's because the programs have started putting so much on emphasis on grades and test scores rather than if a student really has the personality or interpersonal skills to work in OT. she lamented that some of the programs have done away with interviews because she believes the true test of how effective someone could be in the field rests on their interpersonal skills. she told me her department had recently failed a few students who were doing their fieldwork with them because of this very reason.

obviously, intelligence, grades, test scores and the like are very important for really understanding the subject material and being an effective OT. however, it was nice to get this opinion from someone working in the field and to give me hope that schools will be looking for more well-rounded students in the future.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top