General Admissions & OTCAS Students with non-competitive GPA's. Where did you end up going and what do you think helped?

[Chango90]

I went to an info session last night at my number one choice school and I was told that my chances of getting in... are not looking good at all, mainly due to my cum GPA (3.1). My plan is to re-take some courses and finish my pre-req's next year so I can apply for programs starting in 2017 but I want to be realistic and see what other options I have cause I'm definitely not going to be a top competitive student.

So to applicants who had a similarily low GPA before applying, where did you end up going? What do you think strengthened your application?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jp153]

To be honest apply to as many programs as possible.
Volunteer more, join the peace corp or health corp, give back to the community, take a leadership position, research under a professor, apply to schools that only factor in your last 60hours (Only if your last 60 is better than your cumulative GPA), do anything that will make you stand out.
You might not want to hear this but there is no such thing as "number one choice school" for a student with a low GPA.
I suggest you research OT schools with high acceptance rate, apply to them cross your fingers and hope you get in
Truthfully speaking, it doesn't matter what school you attend so long as the program is accredited and you pass your board that is all that matters in the long run.


Best of luck with future endeavors.

 

[Bokonomy]

Now my gpa is pretty average, but I've been told you're best off with private non OTCAS programs. They're more expensive and difficult to apply to. The rank doesn't necessarily correlate with how competitive it is, but try to apply to some unranked (due to how new they are) or lower ranked programs (not bad, but not a lot of research going on).

I've also been told schools with interviews view the candidate more holistically. However, I've seen a decent amount of the lower ranked schools not interview (at least in the northeast), so don't worry about that too much.

 

[Chango90]

I had some poor performance issues as an undergrad due to significant family problems that I had going on (I had a precipitous drop in my GPA during the last year and a half of undergrad due to it). A few years have elapsed since then and I went back to a community college/local university and took classes to address any possible concerns that an admissions counselor might have. I took in excess of 70 credits and I earned over a 3.8 in them. Some of the courses were very challenging and were at a very well respected 4 year university.

I applied to schools that considered the last 60 credit hours and I managed to get in. It helps that I could explain the drop in my GPA from a 3.4 to an abysmal situation that last 1+ yr. If you have poor grades due to not caring before you knew what you wanted to do with your life and you want to prove yourself, you can get in and I am proof.

These are courses I took:

Taken at a community college (I had nearly a 3.9 in these courses):

Intro to Biological Chem, Medical Terminology I, Bioethics, Life Span Development, Introduction to Art Therapy, Art Therapy II-Methods & Media, Anatomy and Physiology I, Occupational Therapy Principle, Abnormal Psychology, Ceramics I, Anatomy and Physiology II, Psychology of Personality, Adolescent Psychology, Fitness and Wellness Coaching, Cultural Anthropology, Child Growth-Development, Behavior Modification, Health Psychology, Task Analysis, Fundamentals-Devleop Dis, Critical Thinking, Honors Social Justice, Honors Ind Study: Psychology, Honors Fundamental Speech Communication, Gross Anatomy with cadaver lab (got a B in this very very hard class)

Taken at a prestigious 4 year univ. which had an agreement with my community college charging me community college tuition:

* Race and Society in the United States (A)
* Healthcare policy (B)

If you are determined to get in to a program you can do a similar schedule of post bach coursework to the above and apply to programs which consider your last 60 hours.

Schools that consider your last 60 exclusively are: Western Michigan University (1st tier, no GRE needed), Eastern Washington Univ (don't bother applying here unless you have near a 4.0 in your last 60 hrs), Rockhurst University, University of Wisconsin, Chicago State University (no GRE needed), Wayne State University (willing to take you with *marked* improvement-though they don't only consider last 60 strictly), Texas Woman's Univ., Shawnee State University, St. Augustine University (super expensive), Samuel Merritt (very expensive), Dominican University, Dominican College, NYIT, LIU, and West Coast University (in process of accreditation).

Volunteer work: Taught English to new immigrants, rape crisis center volunteer, rotation with lgbt community center as volunteer, Catholic Charities & Jewish Community center. I created a group for returning veterans at my college to express emotional issues through creative writing.

Shadowing: 80 hours with two very solid references from great OTs in pediatrics and acute care in a first class hospital.

I am sure there are a few others to add to this list.

Wow, thank you so much for this response. This is exactly what I was looking for.

My #1 choice school btw was SUNY Downstate which is a 10 minute walk from my apt., costs pennies, doesn't require GRE's, and has a 3.0 requirement. However, I went to their info session and they basically told me I wouldn't get in due to my GPA. Schools are getting more and more competitive and people are applying with 3.8-4.0 averages.

I need to take pre-requisites anyway and plan on taking 18 credits while working as a PT Aide during 2016. I'm not sure how much 18 credits will boost my GPA (if I ace most of them) but I'm hoping i can get to at least a 3.5 Cum GPA (and even better cum pre-req GPA).

Your list of schools is awesome, thanks for sharing. I will take your advice and reasearch on them.

 

[sngot]

If GPA is your weak mark then you will need to compensate in other areas (GPA is also the hardest to change because it has accumulated over the years)
-GRE
- Great letter of recs
- Have people read over your personal statement (try to stand out and articulate your passion with your voice)
- Focus on schools that conduct interviews (they look less on numbers)

 

[SFcareerchangepreOT]

I had some poor performance issues as an undergrad due to significant family problems that I had going on (I had a precipitous drop in my GPA during the last year and a half of undergrad due to it). A few years have elapsed since then and I went back to a community college/local university and took classes to address any possible concerns that an admissions counselor might have. I took in excess of 70 credits and I earned over a 3.8 in them. Some of the courses were very challenging and were at a very well respected 4 year university.

I applied to schools that considered the last 60 credit hours and I managed to get in. It helps that I could explain the drop in my GPA from a 3.4 to an abysmal situation that last 1+ yr. If you have poor grades due to not caring before you knew what you wanted to do with your life and you want to prove yourself, you can get in and I am proof.

These are courses I took:

Taken at a community college (I had nearly a 3.9 in these courses):

Intro to Biological Chem, Medical Terminology I, Bioethics, Life Span Development, Introduction to Art Therapy, Art Therapy II-Methods & Media, Anatomy and Physiology I, Occupational Therapy Principle, Abnormal Psychology, Ceramics I, Anatomy and Physiology II, Psychology of Personality, Adolescent Psychology, Fitness and Wellness Coaching, Cultural Anthropology, Child Growth-Development, Behavior Modification, Health Psychology, Task Analysis, Fundamentals-Devleop Dis, Critical Thinking, Honors Social Justice, Honors Ind Study: Psychology, Honors Fundamental Speech Communication, Gross Anatomy with cadaver lab (got a B in this very very hard class)

Taken at a prestigious 4 year univ. which had an agreement with my community college charging me community college tuition:

* Race and Society in the United States (A)
* Healthcare policy (B)

If you are determined to get in to a program you can do a similar schedule of post bach coursework to the above and apply to programs which consider your last 60 hours.

Schools that consider your last 60 exclusively are: Western Michigan University (1st tier, no GRE needed), Eastern Washington Univ (don't bother applying here unless you have near a 4.0 in your last 60 hrs), Rockhurst University, University of Wisconsin, Chicago State University (no GRE needed), Wayne State University (willing to take you with *marked* improvement-though they don't only consider last 60 strictly), Texas Woman's Univ., Shawnee State University, St. Augustine University (super expensive), Samuel Merritt (very expensive), Dominican University, Dominican College, NYIT, LIU, and West Coast University (in process of accreditation).

Volunteer work: Taught English to new immigrants, rape crisis center volunteer, rotation with lgbt community center as volunteer, Catholic Charities & Jewish Community center. I created a group for returning veterans at my college to express emotional issues through creative writing.

Shadowing: 80 hours with two very solid references from great OTs in pediatrics and acute care in a first class hospital.

I am sure there are a few others to add to this list.

Holy moly how long was that whole process??

 

[ot.3277]

Some ways to strengthen your application is to get relevant job experience and take on leadership roles.
If you're still in undergrad a relatively easy way to take on a leadership role is joining a student volunteer organization where you choice from different sites to volunteer at. This allows you to get volunteer experience hopefully with a population that receives OT (dev. disabilities, tutoring, homeless, SNF, women's shelter), but also tends to require a site leader which you can ask to take on. Try to pinpoint leadership experiences in your past/present and expand on them (training new employees/volunteers, overseeing coworkers, organizing events/projects, etc).
Relevant work experience can include; SNF resident programs assistant/activity aide, home care aide, rehab tech, tutor, camp counselor, adaptive sports team assistant, and if you have time CNA or EMT, etc.
I would also try expanding on volunteer experiences. If you have a low GPA, try to show dedication to the field with ot hours through volunteer/shadow. I'd say aim for 200 if low and do at least 5 settings covering a variation of pediatrics, geriatrics, inpatient and outpatient.

If you have to take a year of don't sweat it, you can use that time to get a lot of great work experience and start paying off/saving for student loans. If you are nervous and thinking about aa back up OTA is another option and some programs offer bridge programs. They are changing requirements in the future (OTA-> BA & MOT->OTD), but you should be fine for the next few years. You'll do fine, don't freak out before you've even submitted any apps)

 

[Cvl27]

Is your gpa considering your prerequisites as well? If I remember correctly OTCAS combines everything. My suggestion is to do as well as you can on your prereq courses. That will show them you're capability. I did not have an amazing gpa but I also worked full time throughout undergrad which was explained at interview. I think my resume was submitted too. I had really good references, and I wrote the heck out of my entrance essay because I knew that was the first time they would catch a glimpse of who I am as a person. Best of luck!