I am wondering if anyone who applied for Midwestern IL 2015 hear back? I just received an email that my file was complete.
Program-Specific Info / Q's Midwestern IL for Masters in OT 2015
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Hi,
Midwestern started interviews in early October. I believe they will hold interview dates once or twice a month up until they have all 50 students enrolled. If you are a qualified candidate they will probably contact you for an interview within a few weeks. I interviewed recently and was accepted, so if you have any questions you can send me a message.
Good luck!
Midwestern started interviews in early October. I believe they will hold interview dates once or twice a month up until they have all 50 students enrolled. If you are a qualified candidate they will probably contact you for an interview within a few weeks. I interviewed recently and was accepted, so if you have any questions you can send me a message.
Good luck!
Congrats! When did you submit your application and when did you get called in for an interview?
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Hey! I am considering applying for Midwestern next cycle. I was just wondering what your stats are if you don't mind sharing, please!
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I submitted in early August and they offered me an interview in September. I have a 3.9 GPA, 150+ observation hours, and I currently work as a chirpopractic/physical therapy assistant. Just keep checking your emails and hopefully you will get an interview 
I submitted in early August and they offered me an interview in September. I have a 3.9 GPA, 150+ observation hours, and I currently work as a chirpopractic/physical therapy assistant. Just keep checking your emails and hopefully you will get an interview
Your stats are awesome, I'm applying next year w/ midwestern being my top choice. If you don't mind me asking, did you have a lot of other extracurriculars or volunteer experience outside of OT & are you an instate resident?
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I also volunteer at a food bank regularly and I have been working since I was 16. I worked at Goodwill for four years so I talked about working with people with disabilities and disadvantages; what I learned from it and that I enjoyed it. I did my own research in school so I included that and a few other extracurriculars but nothing that great or unique. I think they were really interested in my current job since I already work one-on-one with patients in their rehabilitation process.
I am in-state and a traditional student. The other people interviewing were mostly from Illinois but a few were from other states.
I believe I submitted either late July or early August. Waiting for all my LORs and transcripts seemed to take forever! You could either wait until those summer course grades are posted or submit and state that those courses are in progress. If you are likely to get A's in them, it may be better to wait since your GPA would look better.
Just keep getting observation hours from multiple settings, get quality LORs, study hard for the GRE, and you should be fine!
I am in-state and a traditional student. The other people interviewing were mostly from Illinois but a few were from other states.
I believe I submitted either late July or early August. Waiting for all my LORs and transcripts seemed to take forever! You could either wait until those summer course grades are posted or submit and state that those courses are in progress. If you are likely to get A's in them, it may be better to wait since your GPA would look better.
Just keep getting observation hours from multiple settings, get quality LORs, study hard for the GRE, and you should be fine!
Thank you!
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What is their interview process like? Did they notify you via e-mail about your interview? Sorry for all of the questions! My application is complete with them so I've been stalking my e-mail waiting to hear from schools.
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They allow you to update your grades on OTCAS in December. So if you want to submit in July, the summer courses would be listed as "in progress" and you would update it in December. Some schools with rolling admissions will see your application before it is updated in December, but it shouldn't change much.
Mull015,
You will receive an email from Midwestern if they want to interview you. It is a group interview for about five hours, but most of the day you just learn about the curriculum, finances, and get a tour. The one-on-one interviews are quick and since the interviewers are so nice, it's not bad at all. Good luck!
Mull015,
You will receive an email from Midwestern if they want to interview you. It is a group interview for about five hours, but most of the day you just learn about the curriculum, finances, and get a tour. The one-on-one interviews are quick and since the interviewers are so nice, it's not bad at all. Good luck!
Hi there,
Has anyone heard back from Midwestern recently?
I applied in September but my application was verified in October. I haven't heard from them, only that they received my application...I'm thinking that I wasn't early enough with my application, I know they have a lot of good applicants! I already interviewed and got in to Midwestern in Glendale AZ though. Getting nervous!!
Has anyone heard back from Midwestern recently?
I applied in September but my application was verified in October. I haven't heard from them, only that they received my application...I'm thinking that I wasn't early enough with my application, I know they have a lot of good applicants! I already interviewed and got in to Midwestern in Glendale AZ though. Getting nervous!!
I just had my interview at Midwestern IL. They said there were over 1100 applications received so far (and counting since they will accept until Feb). They approximate that they will interview 150 applicants for 50 slots. About half of the interviews are complete and the remaining will likely continue through April. Good luck everyone!
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When did you apply?
I applied towards the beginning of December and they emailed me to set up an interview about two weeks after.
I believe they said that there is one more scheduled interview date in January and one in February. Then the Admission Committee will meet again to see where they are and will most likely add more interviews until April. Hope that helps.
I believe they said that there is one more scheduled interview date in January and one in February. Then the Admission Committee will meet again to see where they are and will most likely add more interviews until April. Hope that helps.
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Really?? I applied and was verified early November. May I ask your stats? And, did they email you or did you login MWUNET?
I am career shifter so I'm older than most of the applicants. I already have two graduate degrees completed with high GPAs plus I've been an executive of a healthcare company for the past 8 years. In addition, I have a child diagnosed on the autism spectrum, and I am a very involved parent when it comes to his treatment. I think my stats were comparably unique and made me stand out a little more.
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Thanks for sharing! Your application must have been very strong with all your life experiences. I'm sure you will be an amazing therapist to your community and your child. Good luck! Hopefully I'll hear from the committee soon.
I just received notice that I have been accepted to the MWU program
Hi. I was just accepted too. Were you at the interview last Wednesday? If so, then I met you. Congrats!
I'll be applying next fall and I know that the program recieved over a thousand applicants this year so I was hoping to get an idea of what the accepted applicants looked like. Thanks!
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Yes I was there on Wednesday! I was the short brunette lol, not sure if that helps. I remember you, the one with the twins? Congrats on your acceptance!! Will you be attending there in the Fall or are you waiting to hear back from other places still?
Hey ot.3277 - My GPA is 3.8, pre-req GPA is a 4.0, GRE I got a 306 combined score, with a 4 on writing, and I had about 50 observation hours in different settings. As you can see, they don't look at one thing in specific as my GPA is high but my GRE is not as. I also don't have a million observation hours like many applicants. I think it is about being well-rounded and MWU cares about the applicant behind the stats as well
good luck to you in your application process and let me know if you have any further questions!**Also PSA for anyone who applied to Midwestern IL and hasn't heard back -- check your SPAM MAIL! I missed my email inviting me for an interview at first because it had gone to my spam mail. So check that and maybe call them to check your status if you think you would have been invited for an interview and missed the email! Good luck everyone!
Yes that's me. I think you were the one seated next to the applicant that just flew in for the interview. I am still waiting on one more school before making a final decision. How about you? Congrats again!
I gave my general stats in an earlier post. But to summarize:
Graduate GPA (2 Masters degrees completed already): 3.7
Pre-requisite GPA: 4.0
GRE: V- 155, Q- 153, writing - 3.5
Observation hours: 60 hours (rehab) and 16+ hours (pediatric) at time of application
Work history: 5+ years in private and public sector and 8 years leading a healthcare organization with an average of 300 patients and over 80 allied health professionals
Additional info: Father to a child on the autism spectrum
What I can add though is the I agree with melissaOT that Midwestern seems to look at the applicant as a whole which is great. It's not just about numbers. Note that I am not complete with my prerequisites yet but I will be before Fall term starts. I am currently taking Anatomy & Physiology I and Statistics. In the summer I'll take A&P II. In addition, my undergraduate GPA was comparably underwhelming (under 3.0) but I feel they did not place too much importance on it in my case since I made up for it in my post-graduate degrees and work experience.
Though I am not familiar with their screening process or how they determine who gets an interview or not, it seems that from my interviews at least they want applicants who have shown leadership in some form or another. They also alluded that high GPA's was a common factor amongst those that were chosen for an interview. But I almost feel that GPA's aside, they are looking for something unique in each applicant. Something that will allow them to stick out from the rest of the pool. Remember that given the large number of people who applied this year, everyone is bound to have some other person who is comparable in stats and relative experience so it's important to show them how you are different.
I did it though my Personal Statement. I have an extensive work history and multiple degrees which on the surface do not automatically relate to Occupational Therapy. I used the Personal Statement to show how I can use everything I learned towards the benefit of my future career as an Occupational Therapist. I connected the dots for them. I was very sincere in my essay and explained my journey.
They see tons of essays so make yours unique. Don't assume that they will see your application and that it will automatically paint a picture of who you are and what you can contribute to this profession. You need to do that for them through your Personal Statement. I cannot stress this enough since I feel that is where I stood out.
Also get Letter of Recommendations from people that can vouch for your capabilities and passion for this field. I assure you that it plays a big role in the screening process. I submitted 4 LORs. Two were from OTs that I shadowed with, one was from the Director of a therapeutic day school that I am interning for and the last was the Director of Student Services from my last graduate program that I still keep in touch with after 8 years.
Bottom line: Think of ways to show how you are different from the rest. Explain your journey on how you came to want to be an OT. Express how you will eventually contribute to the field. Make it specific and clear, but most of all make it sincere. They've read enough essays to weed out the generic statements and fluff.
Hope that helps. Good luck everyone!
OT_2015, have you decided where you will be attending school next year?
I am just waiting on UIC's decision before I'll be able to decide where I'm going. How about you?
I am waiting on UIC's decision as well. Did you apply to Rush? I have been accepted there so for now am deciding between Rush and Midwestern, I think I am leaning towards Rush though. Anyone else in this position? Or have input on the two programs?
No I didn't apply to Rush only because I still have a prerequisite to take over the summer so I can't start class in June. Congrats on the acceptances! The admissions committee at UIC is meeting next Monday to finalize their incoming class so let's keep our fingers crossed.
Btw, I have a contact at Rush who is a first year OT student. He gave me his contact info just in case I had any questions about the program. If you'd like, I can PM you his contact info. Maybe he can provide you with some insight. Let me know.
That would be great if you could! And thanks for the info about UIC, I was wondering when they were going to finalize their decisions
