Program-Specific Info / Q's Univeristy of St. Augustine, California-San Marcos

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deejayy

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Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could provide any insight on this program, such as campus lifestyle, academic preparation, faculty, cohort size, students, etc.? Pretty much any information that is worth mentioning is greatly appreciated.

The information can be from a friend, word of mouth, firsthand experience, or from a friend-of-a-friend, all forms of information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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Hello,
I was invited for an interview this coming February 26 at 10 am, and the only thing that I do know about the program is that it is interdisciplinary, meaning that some classes OT's and PT's take together. Im nervous for the interview, because I really do not know what to expect, apart from generic questions that I would be asked. Ill prepare whatever I can. Ive also heard that its a beautiful location, and I have no doubt in that San Diego area is beautiful anyhow.
 
I was also invited to interview on Feb 26th. I know that it is a group interview (which I don't really like). Cost of attendance is on par with the other private OT institutions in California, 80 to 90k. The campus is in San Marcos which is technically not San Diego, more north and inland. Still nice socal weather. We are right around 80 degrees today. Campus lifestyle, it is a commuter campus. As for academic preparation I would say adequate. I volunteered with two OT students doing their level I I fieldwork at a peds clinic both of which I know passed their boards
 
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For you guys interviewing - what start date is it for? Summer or fall?
 
For you guys interviewing - what start date is it for? Summer or fall?
Fall Term. I sent my app in by the 12/15 due date. Spent the last 12 years in San Diego but St. Augustine is my safety school.
 
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sorry to hop in the conversation so late. I have an interview on the 26th as well (May start date). I live about 10 minutes from the campus, let me know if you have questions about the area.
 
Hi @socal150,

Your interview is for the May start date?

I'm a little surprised that they are still interviewing for the May start date since it is such a short time away.

Good luck though!:)
 
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Thanks @deejayy ,

From what I understood they had a spot or two open, So I am giving it a go.
 
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Thanks @deejayy ,

From what I understood they had a spot or two open, So I am giving it a go.

That's what I did with my Skype interview a few days ago with the Austin campus, and I was accepted literally hours later. I think I could have chosen to be considered with the fall cohort and still get in, but I figured what's the difference in graduating a couple months earlier. I'm still waiting to hear from a couple schools (hopefully within the next two weeks or so) but until then I'm getting everything settled to move down to Texas from Ohio in the next two months!
 
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Hello... Who had an interview on Friday? what did you think of the interview and the campus ?
 
Hello... Who had an interview on Friday? what did you think of the interview and the campus ?
I had an interview Friday. The interview was different: almost intimate for a group interview (in my case groups of three), in a small office with a professor, sometimes we got the same question, sometimes we each got different ones. They focused on being concise. Quite a few questions on integrity and how particular actions and scenarios would reflect back on the school.

The campus is new but small, parking was a bit challenging. Financial aid portion was a waste of time.
 
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For those of you that chose to attend, what influenced your decision? What about this program stood out to you?
 
For those of you that chose to attend, what influenced your decision? What about this program stood out to you?
Admissions decision are made this week for the May cohort and not for another couple of weeks for the Fall cohort. I don't think anyone has head back yet. I may be mistaken (I interviewed for the May cohort and have not head anything yet).

I would say personally I like the fact that the professors are all full time (no adjuncts), small staff I think it was 6 or 8 professors so you get to know them well, they have a cadaver lab on site (8 bodies in total and new ones each term I believe), location (only school in San Diego), and that some classes like anatomy are shared with the PT program so the material is much more exhaustive.
 
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It's also 2 years in length (including fieldwork). Having said that, it's considered an accelerated program which makes the curriculum very challenging (it's doable though).
 
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Admissions decision are made this week for the May cohort and not for another couple of weeks for the Fall cohort. I don't think anyone has head back yet. I may be mistaken (I interviewed for the May cohort and have not head anything yet).

I would say personally I like the fact that the professors are all full time (no adjuncts), small staff I think it was 6 or 8 professors so you get to know them well, they have a cadaver lab on site (8 bodies in total and new ones each term I believe), location (only school in San Diego), and that some classes like anatomy are shared with the PT program so the material is much more exhaustive.


I applied for the May cohort as well and had my interview on Feb 26! I have not heard back yet either. Honestly, I took a deep sigh of relief knowing I'm not the only one who hasn't heard back yet! Hopefully soon though since the one week mark is officially tomorrow!
 
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I interviewed on the 26th for the summer class as well I was wondering if anyone has heard back today? Since they said they would hopefully be letting us know today?
 
I haven't heard back as well (May Start Date).
 
Hi everyone!

I was just curious, Ive read over St. Augustine Univeristy's MOT admissions requirements and noticed that their GPA requirement says that a minimum GPA of 3.0 on calculated program prereq is preferred. Does that mean they look more on your prereq GPA rather than your cumulative GPA? Has anyone been accepted for a sub 3.0 cumulative GPA but above 3.0 prereq GPA?

Any input is appreciated! Thanks
 
Hi everyone!

I was just curious, Ive read over St. Augustine Univeristy's MOT admissions requirements and noticed that their GPA requirement says that a minimum GPA of 3.0 on calculated program prereq is preferred. Does that mean they look more on your prereq GPA rather than your cumulative GPA? Has anyone been accepted for a sub 3.0 cumulative GPA but above 3.0 prereq GPA?

Any input is appreciated! Thanks

They will look at both. While it says 3.0 preferred. All that means it that a sub 3.0 gpa will not stop them from reviewing your application (whether it's for 5 seconds or 15 minutes). It does not mean that your application will be competitive. I would review or request the average or range of stats from the previous cohort. This would give you a better idea of the stats you need.
 
I was invited for an interview at the St. Augustine- San Marcos campus set for March 18th. For those who had the interview in February, how many/what questions did they ask? Was there an essay component like in previous years? Thanks !!
 
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I was invited for an interview at the St. Augustine- San Marcos campus set for March 18th. For those who had the interview in February, how many/what questions did they ask? Was there an essay component like in previous years? Thanks !!

There was no essay component, they use your GRE writing score.

Interview questions were all over the board and varied between each individual in the group interview.

Questions varied from how would deal with a person you saw cheating, a person speaking unfavorably about a professor/s, how would you approacha person wanting weight loss surgery/use medicinal marijuana.

Sometimes each of us recieved the same question sometimes a different one for each of us. My group interview was with a group of 3.

Hope that helps.
 
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There was no essay compnent, they use your GRE writing score.

Interview questions were all over the board and varied between each individual in the group interview.

Questions varied from how would deal with a person you saw cheating, a person speaking unfavorably about a professor/s, how would you approacha person wanting weight loss surgery/use medicinal marijuana.

Sometimes each of us recieved the same question sometimes a different one for each of us. My group interview was with a group of 3.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for responding !! That is really helpful. About how long did the interview portion last? Did they say the time span in which you would hear back ?
 
Thanks for responding !! That is really helpful. About how long did the interview portion last? Did they say the time span in which you would hear back ?
Lasted about 45 min. They said about 1 week for summer start and 2 to 3 weeks for fall start
 
I too, received an acceptance email today ! !
 
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I received my acceptance today for may start.
 
I have been accepted as well for the May start ! Have you guys (@LAtoSDtoOT or @socal150 ) joined the Facebook group or figured out living situations?
 
I had an interview Friday. The interview was different: almost intimate for a group interview (in my case groups of three), in a small office with a professor, sometimes we got the same question, sometimes we each got different ones. They focused on being concise. Quite a few questions on integrity and how particular actions and scenarios would reflect back on the school.

The campus is new but small, parking was a bit challenging. Financial aid portion was a waste of time.


For your answers to the questions asked in the interview, how long should an answer be to be considered concise? I'm looking for a length of time. My interview is for another school but it's a 3-person group interview with 3 faculty members. From what I know, the interview itself will only take 30 minutes. Thanks for any input! And a huge congrats on your acceptance!!!
 
For your answers to the questions asked in the interview, how long should an answer be to be considered concise? I'm looking for a length of time. My interview is for another school but it's a 3-person group interview with 3 faculty members. From what I know, the interview itself will only take 30 minutes. Thanks for any input! And a huge congrats on your acceptance!!!

Thanks @nicole_meow

I would say a minute max. The faculty member would tell people to "wrap it up" after more than a minute or so. I think the only one that may have run longer was the "tell me about yourself" question and that was maybe 2 or 3 minutes.

The tricky part is trying to give a complete and intelligent answer while being concise and not appearing like you're monopolizing the groups time.

But if you figure it's a 30 minute interview in your case and there are thee of you interviewing at a time that's 10 questions each give or take depending on response time. This also leaves just 10 minutes per person for the interviewer "to get to know you", not alot of time.

I also see you'll have three faculty members conducting the interview. So each member would get 2-3 questions per interviewee.


Hope that helps and good luck!
 
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I have been accepted as well for the May start ! Have you guys (@LAtoSDtoOT or @socal150 ) joined the Facebook group or figured out living situations?

I have not, still waiting to hear back from USC before I make final decisions.

As for housing I own my condo/townhouse in San Diego, it's where I did my undergraduate stuides.

If you need opinions on a specific area or price PM me and I'd be happy to help.
 
I don't have a Facebook lol... I will be living with my parents while in school. I am from the area, If you have any questions feel free to message me.
 
I have an interview for March 18th! So excited but slightly nervous. Any tips would be appreciated!
 
I have an interview for March 18th! So excited but slightly nervous. Any tips would be appreciated!
Congrats on your interview!

Your status is listed as Pre-PT, not sure if the interview process for PT and OT have any overlap. Sorry.

If you have questions about the OT interview process I'd be happy to answer them, if not already addressed in the thread above.
 
Thanks @nicole_meow

I was say a minute max. The faculty member would tell people to "wrap it up" after more than a minute or so. I think the only one that may have run longer was the "tell me about yourself" question and that was maybe 2 or 3 minutes.

The tricky part is trying to give a complete and intelligent answer while being concise and not appearing like you're monopolizing the groups time.

But if you figure it's a 30 minute interview in your case and there are thee of you interviewing at a time that's 10 questions each give or take depending on response time. This also leaves just 10 minutes per person for the interviewer "to get to know you", not alot of time.

I also see you'll have three faculty members conducting the interview. So each member would get 2-3 questions per interviewee.


Hope that helps and good luck!

Thank you so much!! Your response helped immensely. It was definitely important to keep my answers concise!


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Decided to decline my admissions today for USA - San Marcos, for a variety of reasons. So anyone who interviewed for the May start that was put on the waitlist, there should be one spot opening up.

Best of Luck to all! Fingers crossed to all those still waiting to hear back or interviewing.
 
I interviewed last Friday (May start). Anyone who interviewed that day heard back yet? Anxiously awaiting a decision haha
 
I received my waitlist notification yesterday for the Fall Start date :/ Does anyone know the likelihood of getting off the waitlist, and how soon you would find out ?
 
I received my waitlist notification yesterday for the Fall Start date :/ Does anyone know the likelihood of getting off the waitlist, and how soon you would find out ?

Hi @Pr0spective0T,
I just received an admissions offer yesterday by email. It says we have 20 days to decide so you should hear something after that time. I'm still waiting on a response from another program before I commit so I'm not sure if I'll be attending USA in the fall or not.

Good luck!!
 
I received my waitlist notification yesterday for the Fall Start date :/ Does anyone know the likelihood of getting off the waitlist, and how soon you would find out ?

Hi! Do you know how many spots are still open for their Fall class and how many interviews they still have to do?? I still haven't heard anything yet. Any response is appreciated! Thanks!
 
Hello,
Would anyone be willing to comment on how long it took for them to contact you after your app was submitted? Thanks!
 
Hello,
Would anyone be willing to comment on how long it took for them to contact you after your app was submitted? Thanks!

Hi!

I applied by the deadline in January, heard back about an interview on 3/4, interviewed on 3/18, and heard back about admissions on 3/25.

Hope that helps!
 
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Hi! Do you know how many spots are still open for their Fall class and how many interviews they still have to do?? I still haven't heard anything yet. Any response is appreciated! Thanks!

I'm not sure how many spots are left but I think they said there are about 30 spots open altogether for the fall cohort.
 
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@Pr0spective0T I just declined my acceptance for the Fall start date so there should be a spot opening up soon.

@OTheart I submitted my application at the start of January. Heard back for an interview Feb 16, interviewed Feb 26th, heard back about admission on Mar 9.

Good luck to everyone!
 
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I've decided to attend a different program so I'll be giving up my spot for the fall term as well. Good luck to those who are waiting!
 
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