advice for an average student aspiring to get into OT school

[rebels2010]

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Hi everyone. I need some advice from OT's and current OT students. I'm really interested in OT and I would like to pursue this career. But I feel like i'm such an average student and that my GPA and my overall academic performance isn't good enough to get into OT grad school. I'm not strong in math or science, and I know that those are some of the more important subjects for MOT, and I don't have many volunteer hours under my belt.

I just finished my 2nd year at community college, and I plan to transfer to the local university for a child development degree. I've been back and forth on which undergrad major I should do, I originally planned for kinesiology, but I changed it to child development since it's more interesting to me.

So I would like some advice, what should I do to increase my chances of getting into an OT program? I still need to get my undergrad degree, but I want to get a head start and build a "road to OT school" profile for myself...

Any suggestions? THANKS!

 

[WinginIt]

I think you should try your hand at the OTA program. The prereqs are less stringent and you can see if you can get into that program with your current grades. Many OTAs transition into OT school after a few years. Also, the classes you have to take are similar and you can see how well you do with those.

 

[quraish]

I am a current OT student and math is good but not that important once you are in OT school. Its just good for the GRE🙂 You can do OTA first and then OT. It would help you in your OT path. If child development is important or interesting then do that. Pediatrics is a huge and demanding area of OT and they background would def help in that sense. Its "just" undergrad so do something you enjoy, get good grades, and shadow an OT for at least 40 hours bare minimum (the more the better) before applying to OT school. Good luck!

 

[eagle88]

If you want to pursue an MOT after getting your bachelors: I suggest doing very well on the prereq coursework you have left to take towards OT. I'm not sure how "average" your current GPA is, but you should aim for a minimum of an AB (A-) on all of the prereq coursework. Those are the most important. I suggest a minimum of 100 hours of observation time in many different settings (peds, geriatrics, mental health, opthamology, TBI/ABI etc) Start drafting your personal statement now and have MANY people review it for you. You will have to sell yourself through your personal statement so that is a very important aspect in the application process. Also, forget about how average you have been the last 2 years at community college. Once you transfer to your local university, It's a new start for you. Work on doing well from this point until you graduate. There are some schools that look at your prereq GPA more or the last 60 or 90 units you have taken. You may be average now, but you definately have time to be above average by the time you graduate and start applying. There is no easy way of getting into an OT program since it gets SUPER competitive year after year. Just work hard, do well in school here on out, get lots of observation hours in different settings, prepare your personal statement now and get it looked at by your professors, academic advisors, english majors, family. Make sure it is perfect and to the point of why you want to be an OT. Also, make sure you do well on the GRE but I wouldnt worry about that until your senior year of undergrad. None of this is probably news to you, but the preparation starts now and you have a chance to be a quality applicant if you put in the work.