1 OT school within a 100 miles

[LizOT]

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This is my first post on this forum and I am so very grateful to have found it!!!
I am applying for Adventist University of Health Sciences (use to be Florida College of Health Sciences) in Orlando, FL which seems to be the ONLY school within 100 miles that has a Masters in OT programs in my area. This school seems to be in the first stage of accreditation (development) and only accepts 25 students in the fall. I currently have a BA in business so I have to take about 6 more pre-req classes and the GMAT before I can apply. I'm wondering, this school also has a OTA program that requires NO pre-reqs and is accredited...considering the fact that I may have to go through all these classes to get into the masters in OT in this school with no guarantee of acceptance, should I even bother? MS program would take me 3 years to complete if accepted vs. 2 years for OTA. And then there is the issue with financial aid...very limited since i already have a degree. I'm turning 35 this year and really don't want to make any financially catastrophic mistakes or waste any precious time. I have a family and cannot move and my Undergrad GPA is a 3.1...too low to even consider Barry University. Any advice will be appreciated🙂

 

[pherrera]

This is my first post on this forum and I am so very grateful to have found it!!!
I am applying for Adventist University of Health Sciences (use to be Florida College of Health Sciences) in Orlando, FL which seems to be the ONLY school within 100 miles that has a Masters in OT programs in my area. This school seems to be in the first stage of accreditation (development) and only accepts 25 students in the fall. I currently have a BA in business so I have to take about 6 more pre-req classes and the GMAT before I can apply. I'm wondering, this school also has a OTA program that requires NO pre-reqs and is accredited...considering the fact that I may have to go through all these classes to get into the masters in OT in this school with no guarantee of acceptance, should I even bother? MS program would take me 3 years to complete if accepted vs. 2 years for OTA. And then there is the issue with financial aid...very limited since i already have a degree. I'm turning 35 this year and really don't want to make any financially catastrophic mistakes or waste any precious time. I have a family and cannot move and my Undergrad GPA is a 3.1...too low to even consider Barry University. Any advice will be appreciated🙂

Hi! I don't think you should really consider the matter of time vs OT and OTA because it's a matter of what you want to do. Down here in TX though it only takes 2- 2.5 years to be an OT, depending on the school. OTA's help OT's. OTA's are not the one's making therapudic plans for their patients. OT requires a Master's degree and OTA is only a certification. What do you really want to do? Do you want to help people, or make more money?.....
In regards to financial aid, if you do pursue OT, then I think you will have enough $ to repay loans you take out.
You mentioned the OT school isn't accredited yet... you might have trouble finding a job if you graduated from a school that is not accredited. That's a big deal. Why invest time and money in a school that might hinder you from getting a job because it is not accredited? Your lower GPA might not hold you back from getting into that other school. A lot of schools look at your last 60 hours, not overall GPA. Maybe you have a higher GPA because of that. They also look at your pre-req GPA. So if you're taking pre-reqs make sure you do really well on them. Especially A&P. In addition, they look into volunteer hours from different OT settings. I am not sure what their requirements are, but you should look into it before you disregard it completely.
Hope this helped! And good luck!

 

[LizOT]

Hi! I don't think you should really consider the matter of time vs OT and OTA because it's a matter of what you want to do. Down here in TX though it only takes 2- 2.5 years to be an OT, depending on the school. OTA's help OT's. OTA's are not the one's making therapudic plans for their patients. OT requires a Master's degree and OTA is only a certification. What do you really want to do? Do you want to help people, or make more money?.....
In regards to financial aid, if you do pursue OT, then I think you will have enough $ to repay loans you take out.
You mentioned the OT school isn't accredited yet... you might have trouble finding a job if you graduated from a school that is not accredited. That's a big deal. Why invest time and money in a school that might hinder you from getting a job because it is not accredited? Your lower GPA might not hold you back from getting into that other school. A lot of schools look at your last 60 hours, not overall GPA. Maybe you have a higher GPA because of that. They also look at your pre-req GPA. So if you're taking pre-reqs make sure you do really well on them. Especially A&P. In addition, they look into volunteer hours from different OT settings. I am not sure what their requirements are, but you should look into it before you disregard it completely.
Hope this helped! And good luck!

Thank you for your reply! This school is in "developing status" for their accreditation so basically it's in the beginning stages. Unfortunately, I'm unable to look into any other schools because moving is not an option. This school is the only MOT program within a 100 miles from my home so once I'm done with the pre-req credits I need, I hope to be getting in. Being that's its the only school makes me alittle nervous in taking all these classes and then risking not getting in. I'm in it for my love of helping people whether its OT or OTA🙂

 

[Sunny324]

It sounds like with the uncertainty of acceptance, accreditation issues, time frame, and distance factors, the MOT route will be a much bigger challenge than the OTA route. If you become an OTA, do you think you will look back and think "I wish I had gotten my masters in OT instead of an associates"? Maybe not, if you are happy at work and make enough money to suit your needs.

OTAs get to do more hands-on patient care and are less burdened by paperwork and responsibilities than OTRs. On the other hand, they are not given as much say in decision making and the pay is less.

According to the BLS, the mean OTA salary in Florida is $58,000.

 

[FloridaOT]

This is my first post on this forum and I am so very grateful to have found it!!!
I am applying for Adventist University of Health Sciences (use to be Florida College of Health Sciences) in Orlando, FL which seems to be the ONLY school within 100 miles that has a Masters in OT programs in my area. This school seems to be in the first stage of accreditation (development) and only accepts 25 students in the fall. I currently have a BA in business so I have to take about 6 more pre-req classes and the GMAT before I can apply. I'm wondering, this school also has a OTA program that requires NO pre-reqs and is accredited...considering the fact that I may have to go through all these classes to get into the masters in OT in this school with no guarantee of acceptance, should I even bother? MS program would take me 3 years to complete if accepted vs. 2 years for OTA. And then there is the issue with financial aid...very limited since i already have a degree. I'm turning 35 this year and really don't want to make any financially catastrophic mistakes or waste any precious time. I have a family and cannot move and my Undergrad GPA is a 3.1...too low to even consider Barry University. Any advice will be appreciated🙂

Hi LizOT,
I actually was in your exact same spot 3 years ago. I actually do reside in Orlando myself. I completed my bachelors and Master's degree in a social science field. I too was deciding between OTA and OT. The deciding factor for me was I already have a bachelor's degree so the next step for me was to pursue an advanced degree in the Occupational Therapy field. I visited Keiser University in Orlando to apply for their OTA program and they informed me I would have to still take prerequisites so that was a no brainer for me to pursue a Masters or Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy since I would still have to take prerequisites for the OTA as well.

I had to take 6 prerequisites myself I believe, It did take me over a year because I also work full-time but it was well worth it. Please don't feel discourage about your GPA to Barry make sure you submit your application early. I have a scheduled interview with Barry on March 25th but will be declining due to Nova. I applied to six schools for this upcoming term and decided to attend Nova Southeastern Doctorate Program which is a weekend program that may work well with your schedule. This program is also in the developing status but after speaking with the faculty and staff they informed me they are in their last stages of accreditation and preparing for the site visit from AOTA.

 

[LizOT]

Hi LizOT,
I actually was in your exact same spot 3 years ago. I actually do reside in Orlando myself. I completed my bachelors and Master's degree in a social science field. I too was deciding between OTA and OT. The deciding factor for me was I already have a bachelor's degree so the next step for me was to pursue an advanced degree in the Occupational Therapy field. I visited Keiser University in Orlando to apply for their OTA program and they informed me I would have to still take prerequisites so that was a no brainer for me to pursue a Masters or Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy since I would still have to take prerequisites for the OTA as well.

I had to take 6 prerequisites myself I believe, It did take me over a year because I also work full-time but it was well worth it. Please don't feel discourage about your GPA to Barry make sure you submit your application early. I have a scheduled interview with Barry on March 25th but will be declining due to Nova. I applied to six schools for this upcoming term and decided to attend Nova Southeastern Doctorate Program which is a weekend program that may work well with your schedule. This program is also in the developing status but after speaking with the faculty and staff they informed me they are in their last stages of accreditation and preparing for the site visit from AOTA.

Thank you so much for your insight!!! I think I've decided to go the MOT route! Thanks again for your thoughts!

 

[Member15279350]

Hey LizOT!

I just got accepted to ADU's MOT program, they should be finding out about accreditation results in May,so they are in their final stages 🙂 the program seems wonderful , I can't wait!

 

[NicMOT]

Thank you so much for your insight!!! I think I've decided to go the MOT route! Thanks again for your thoughts!

Hello!

Have you considered the University of St. Augustine? They may be a bit further than you are looking for but it is about 1.5 hours north of the area of ADU. Just thought I'd mention that. 🙂

Good luck with everything!

 

[LizOT]

Thanks!!!