1st year applying....waitlisted/rejected?

[otsomeday]

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Hi,

I plan on attending ot school hopefully within the next couple years. I applied this year to 3 schools and got waitlisted or rejected at all. Has anyone had experience reapplying and getting accepted and if so what they worked on that improved their chances.
I am just finishing my last pre-req, i have a 3.1 cum gpa (3.4 major gpa), 100 volunteer hours at acute care hospital. Any feedback would be beneficial. Thank You!

 

[Kaytie OT girl]

Hi,

I plan on attending ot school hopefully within the next couple years. I applied this year to 3 schools and got waitlisted or rejected at all. Has anyone had experience reapplying and getting accepted and if so what they worked on that improved their chances.
I am just finishing my last pre-req, i have a 3.1 cum gpa (3.4 major gpa), 100 volunteer hours at acute care hospital. Any feedback would be beneficial. Thank You!

Where did you apply to? I know a lot of schools wont even look at your application unless all pre-reqs are FINISHED. I think this is because OT is getting so competitive. I applied to 3 schools this year and was denied to two of them because I had one pre-req left.

Have you taken the GRE?

 

[otsomeday]

Where did you apply to? I know a lot of schools wont even look at your application unless all pre-reqs are FINISHED. I think this is because OT is getting so competitive. I applied to 3 schools this year and was denied to two of them because I had one pre-req left.

Have you taken the GRE?

I applied to 3 private schools since i havent taken gre....samuel merritt, at still, and touro nevada. I applied to midwestern as well and got interview but decided not to go because in my opinion the interview would have been to late since its rolling. When I was at at still a week ago they said they had already given out 28 of 32 offers.

 

[floridagator07]

Also, do you have shadowing experience in another OT concentration? A lot of schools like to see you have experience in at LEAST 2 different areas.

 

[otsomeday]

Also, do you have shadowing experience in another OT concentration? A lot of schools like to see you have experience in at LEAST 2 different areas.

How did u go about getting volunteer hours in different settings. How did you know who to call?

 

[jlr5585]

I shadowed in 3 different settings: a school, outpatient rehab, and a hospital acute care unit. I just cold called different places until I found someone who was willing to let me come in a shadow them. You're going to have to be really persistent with some places though, such as a hospital, because they may have more stringent requirements for letting volunteers come in and observe such as medical forms, PPD testing, etc. Keep in mind that these things may take time to clear before you are allowed to come in and work with the therapist. Plus you usually have to be your own advocate and follow up with the volunteer office. On the other hand, when I observed in the school I was able to just come in no questions asked. Try and think of local places, ask your friends who may be going into the field and just start cold-calling...you'll be surprised by therapists willingness to help future OT's 🙂 Good Luck!!

 

[lizzo76]

Regarding the prereqs... just my two cents...

If your GPA is kind of borderline, I think it would be very beneficial to apply only once you've finished your prereqs (assuming you'll do well in them) even if the school says it's okay to apply without having finished them. I think if you can manage to get As in all the prereqs (or any you didn't take in undergrad) that will show them what your abilities are. If you apply with kind of low grades and don't have the prereqs done, they can only guess that your grades in the prereqs will end up being kind of low, too. That might have been what happened here, if you've only just finished the last one now.

Also - maybe take the GRE (again, if you think you can do well on it) and apply to schools which require (or at least accept) it. This is another area in which you can show your abilities.

 

[lizzo76]

I shadowed in 3 different settings: a school, outpatient rehab, and a hospital acute care unit. I just cold called different places until I found someone who was willing to let me come in a shadow them. You're going to have to be really persistent with some places though, such as a hospital, because they may have more stringent requirements for letting volunteers come in and observe such as medical forms, PPD testing, etc. Keep in mind that these things may take time to clear before you are allowed to come in and work with the therapist. Plus you usually have to be your own advocate and follow up with the volunteer office. On the other hand, when I observed in the school I was able to just come in no questions asked. Try and think of local places, ask your friends who may be going into the field and just start cold-calling...you'll be surprised by therapists willingness to help future OT's 🙂 Good Luck!!

That's interesting. What you describe with a hospital is the same experience I had (see my other thread - I've only JUST been placed after almost 5.5 months, and I did have to sign all sorts of waivers, give permission for background checks, provide 3 references, do a personal interview, and do a hospital orientation.) But I used to work in a private boarding school and there was no way anyone could just come in off the street to observe... I had to pass strict background checks to work there, too. It seems like public schools are becoming more and more closed to the "public" now, too. I'm also going to see if I can get some hours at a school, and I wonder how successful I'll be... whether they'll just say "sure, come on in," or if I will also have to pass some sort of background check. Maybe since I would always be in the presence of an employee while shadowing, it would be okay.

 

[floridagator07]

Honestly, I had a hard time finding volunteer places, but mainly I googled occupational therapy and called a bunch of places until I found something that would fit! Also, look through your school sometimes they have ways to shadow an OT!

 

[Tango123]

I apply to Touro but have not heard back from them. How do you think the interview was? You have a higher gpa then me so that is freaking me out a little bit. I'm really supprised you didnt get in, they said when they last talked to me they were only 1/2 full.

 

[OTSOON]

I got accepted to Touro, A.T. Still, and Midwestern. It seems to me they are looking more at GPA than observation hours. A lot of people I interviewed with had around 20 hours of observation. Although the schools are a rolling admission, I think spots open up, because of the deadline they give for the deposit. I talked to some students at A.T. Still who received notice in May.

 

[TedB]

Don't be so sure you wont get in off a wait list. I did last year 2 months before the program started. You can call the school and ask where you stand on the list and how many people got in from the list in previous years. Don't be afraid to ask, just don't bug them every week! You can also send in your new transcripts as soon as you get finished with pre-reqs and let them know your file is complete (may help). A girl in my class got in after her second year of trying. I think if they see that commitment to the profession, then you have a greater chance. Good luck!

 

[MeemsGal]

I just received news from A.T Stills that I am on the wait list. I still have not heard anything from Midwestern and I sent in my application back in January! Does anyone know what the chances are of actually getting in when you are on a wait list? Or, if anyone applied to Midwestern, how long it took to hear from them? The anxiety is killing me!!

 

[OTSOON]

I just received news from A.T Stills that I am on the wait list. I still have not heard anything from Midwestern and I sent in my application back in January! Does anyone know what the chances are of actually getting in when you are on a wait list? Or, if anyone applied to Midwestern, how long it took to hear from them? The anxiety is killing me!!

I submitted on Dec. 15th, and heard by mid Jan. My email for the interview did get sent to my junk mail, so be sure to check yours!

 

[otsomeday]

I just received news from A.T Stills that I am on the wait list. I still have not heard anything from Midwestern and I sent in my application back in January! Does anyone know what the chances are of actually getting in when you are on a wait list? Or, if anyone applied to Midwestern, how long it took to hear from them? The anxiety is killing me!!

Did you have all your pre-reqs complete? I interviewed at AT Still and thought it went well and got rejected 3 days later....I dont have medical terminology complete though.

I submitted my applications in late november I believe and got an interview email invite to midwestern in late january. The dates were late feb and early march.....I decided to decline because I dont have any more pto and I thought it was too late to go because the rolling admissions began in november....

 

[Tango123]

otsoon,
Thanks, I hope to get an interview for March 23rd. I also hope they look at other things I teach special education and have ALOT of observation hours but like i said my GPA is not great. All I can think is if i dont get in this year apply really really early and take a class or two over the summer to up my GPA.

 

[MeemsGal]

I submitted on Dec. 15th, and heard by mid Jan. My email for the interview did get sent to my junk mail, so be sure to check yours!

I emailed Midwestern and they said I was on the wait list (even though I never got a letter or email telling me I was on the wait list...) and that I have not been called for an interview yet because there are more "qualified" candidates in front of me. But I guess that is better than a NO. I will make sure I check my junk mail frequently, thanks for that!!

 

[MeemsGal]

Did you have all your pre-reqs complete? I interviewed at AT Still and thought it went well and got rejected 3 days later....I dont have medical terminology complete though.

I submitted my applications in late november I believe and got an interview email invite to midwestern in late january. The dates were late feb and early march.....I decided to decline because I dont have any more pto and I thought it was too late to go because the rolling admissions began in november....

I am finishing my A&P pre-reqs right now. My interview at AT Still went well, I guess I am fortunate to at least be on the wait list! I was worried that I would not have as good of a chance getting in since I submitted all my applications toward the end of the deadline (I was trying to complete a good number of observation hours before submitting). The girl that showed me around AT Still after my interview said that she did not have all of her pre-reqs finished last year when she applied and she still got in. That gave me some hope. Did you get into any schools that you applied to? Are your pre-reqs complete?

 

[otsomeday]

I am finishing my A&P pre-reqs right now. My interview at AT Still went well, I guess I am fortunate to at least be on the wait list! I was worried that I would not have as good of a chance getting in since I submitted all my applications toward the end of the deadline (I was trying to complete a good number of observation hours before submitting). The girl that showed me around AT Still after my interview said that she did not have all of her pre-reqs finished last year when she applied and she still got in. That gave me some hope. Did you get into any schools that you applied to? Are your pre-reqs complete?

Nope, didn't get into the three i applied too. Just waitlisted or rejected. I don't have medical terminology completed and 1 volunteer setting. Did you volunteer at multiple settings?

 

[MeemsGal]

Nope, didn't get into the three i applied too. Just waitlisted or rejected. I don't have medical terminology completed and 1 volunteer setting. Did you volunteer at multiple settings?

I live in New Mexico and it is SUPER competitive here to even do observation hours. I did 60 hrs at Health South and had 3 hrs with an OT doing in home care. That was all I could do. I have been and still am on 2 wait lists (since July of 2010) for observation hours at pediatric facilities in town. It is really hard to volunteer in multiple settings here so I just tried to complete a bunch of hours at the place that I could get into. Luckily, I was able to explain that at the interview but I think it had a lot to do with me not getting into some of the places I applied. How many hours did you complete?

 

[Marine07]

I'm only able to apply to one school due to the geographical area I live in and not being able to up and move to attend another school. Unfortunately for me I was not accepted into the school I applied for. I will apply again next year as I was told that I would get an additional 5 points for reapplying but I have doubts that I will get in for next year either. So looks like time to find plan B and move on 🙁 good luck to everyone who is still waiting to hear from the schools they applied to.

 

[toyslp]

Hi, I was wondering if any of you can tell me these things? For those who were accepted in 2011, did they give you a date to accept by? Did you have to make a deposit to secure your spot at UTMB? My husband was waitlisted and we are just wondering how long we should wait before contacting them to see where he is on the list. Ex. If people who were accepted had to pay by April 15, we might wait until the 16th to call them...
or, for those of you who might know...
How many people does UTMB traditionally take off the list? or if you have experience with that in years past, do you know anyone who accepted off the waitlist, and how far down the list he/she was?
Also, does anyone know if you can do things after the fact to "move up" the list? raise GPA or volunteer more before school start date?
We were really heartbroken b/c he was waitlisted before and this was his 2nd time to interview, and he thought it went really well. We just didn't think he would get asked back again this year only to be waitlisted again...

 

[jamtime]

Does anyone know of anyone who has gotten into NYU off of the waitlist?

 

[OT3]

Hi! It doesn't look like anyone has used this thread for a loooong time! But I'm going to give it a shot. I'm wait listed at a school called West Coast University in LA. I was wondering if anyone out there could tell me how long the waitlist is when they applied. Or just in general how long waitlists can be.. I'm guessing at least as big as the cohort size.. so 28 people in the cohort and 28 people waitlisted... but I don't know. I'm 9th on the wait list at West Coast and I wanted to know what are my chances of actually getting accepted. I feel like only 5 or so people will defer or decide to go to a different school.. I'm not planning on leaving the wait list, but I want to keep it real too.