General Admissions & OTCAS What are my chances of getting into SUNY Downstate?

[CgmAtr]

Schools I plan on applying to: Seton Hall University, SUNY Downstate.


My preferred school will be SUNY Downstate.


I am applying for their master’s programs, not a doctorate. 2022-2023 application cycle.


I am going to graduate (with a bachelor’s in psychology) in autumn of this year.

Stats:
General GPA: 3.89 (by the time I’m applying for both schools)

Pre-req GPA: 3.84 (B in Chemistry, A- in Biology)
-Note: This pre-req GPA is for SUNY. My pre-req GPA for Seton Hall is higher.


LOR: 1 from professor, 1 from OT
Observation hours: 191 (three different settings: pediatrics, hand therapy, outpatient)

Volunteer experience:
Providing companionship to hospice residents:

• I was doing this on a regular (weekly) basis for half a year before COVID restrictions set in (which happened around early 2020), and then started again this year (the exact same hospice) once COVID restrictions became reduced. Without COVID, I would have continued volunteering for hospice up until this point in time (and beyond this point in time). I got the most experience volunteering in this manner.

Other organizations I volunteered for:

• For other organizations I volunteered for, I stopped once COVID restrictions set in. During lockdown, I reflected and realized that I wasn't really liking what I was doing in these organizations. As of this year, I recently found a volunteer organization I really like, and plan on volunteering for this organization alongside hospice, but I believe I started volunteering for this other organization too recently (a few months ago).

Work experience: Working part-time as a cashier for 5 years

What I believe to be weaknesses in my application:

• lack of leadership experience (I was not the head of an organization, nor responsible for managing a team, nor organizing events, in my volunteer & work experiences)
• Lack of work experience directly relevant to OT
• B in Chemistry

I believe being an out-of-state student is also a disadvantage when applying for SUNY Downstate (I live in Jersey City, NJ).

I am doubting that I am going to get into SUNY Downstate this cycle (this is my first time applying for OT school) due to lack of leadership experience, and comparing my stats to the stats of other applicants for SUNY Downstate on this forum (from previous application cycles) has definitely fed my insecurity. I know I am a new grad, so lack of relevant work experience would also be a weakness of mine.

If I don’t get into SUNY Downstate this cycle, I believe I definitely know what I need to improve on in order to improve my chances next cycle.

I know Seton Hall is my back-up school. However, the super-high debt I will pay if I get into Seton Hall (Seton Hall is ~110k, SUNY Downstate ~80k) makes me think it’s worth it to try to apply to both schools again to see if I can get into SUNY Downstate.

I plan on applying early (August) for both schools. For folks who applied for SUNY Downstate in August (or early in the cycle), when have you subsequently got an interview, and when did you get an acceptance/rejection/waitlist after that interview?

Peace.

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[Passion4OT123]

Hi there! I think your reservations to being accepted to an out-of-state school like SUNY Downstate are completely valid. Personally, I think your GPA and number of observation hours makes your application strong. I am not entirely sure how SUNY Downstate's application review process works since I had not applied (I applied later in the cycle for OT school) but I think it would be incredibly helpful if you reached out to their admissions office. They will likely be able to provide you with more information and address your concerns!

I can definitely relate to being worried about the high debt for the schools you are applying - OT school can be very expensive but if you are passionate about this field, it will be so worth it! If you are interested in potentially being in the Capital Region of New York (Albany/Troy area), Russell sage college has a MSOT program that is also roughly $80K overall! This is definitely one of the cheaper programs I found when applying!

 

[CgmAtr]

Hi there! I think your reservations to being accepted to an out-of-state school like SUNY Downstate are completely valid. Personally, I think your GPA and number of observation hours makes your application strong. I am not entirely sure how SUNY Downstate's application review process works since I had not applied (I applied later in the cycle for OT school) but I think it would be incredibly helpful if you reached out to their admissions office. They will likely be able to provide you with more information and address your concerns!

I can definitely relate to being worried about the high debt for the schools you are applying - OT school can be very expensive but if you are passionate about this field, it will be so worth it! If you are interested in potentially being in the Capital Region of New York (Albany/Troy area), Russell sage college has a MSOT program that is also roughly $80K overall! This is definitely one of the cheaper programs I found when applying!

Thank you for the advice. I'm now applying for Kean as well, which is another school closer to home. 👍