General Admissions & OTCAS advice for masters OT??

[kbl7td]

I found this forum, but just realized that this is for the doctorate of OT. Currently I am trying to get into a master's program...

I have 100+ hours of volunteer experience, a 3.73 gpa through my junior year, and I've been a cheerleader at university of Missouri for 3 years. I've applied both my soph and junior year at missouri and was wait listed the first year and this year I wasn't even on the wait list. I can graduate this summer with a bachelors in health sciences, or continue to take classes to boost my CV.

Can anyone give me some tips, advice, etc? Im just stumped at what I'm doing wrong at this point? Any other schools close to Missouri I should try?

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[ExceptionalSea]

you came to the right place! although this forum is labeled OTD, everyone pretty much uses this forum to discuss admissions to all OT programs, including master's programs.

that being said, admissions to occupational therapy school has become increasingly competitive within the past 5 years. go to the sticky thread at the top of this forum labeled acceptances, gpas, gres, etc. this is where forum members post their stats, where they applied to school, and where they got in. although it looks like you do have very competitive stats, you will see that many people also have very good stats and still get rejected from many schools. i'm not trying to say anything bad about your chances, just trying to get you to see the reality of the situation. this means the next time you apply you need to cast your net far and wide and definitely apply to more than one school (honestly, at least 3). do some research. you can find a list of all accredited OT programs on aota.org

go ahead and finish your bachelors. you will need to have a bachelor's anyway, to gain admission into entry-level master's programs. my guess is you were trying to apply to your school's combined bs/ms program, and since it didn't work out, your next step will be to move forward and finish your degree and try to apply to entry-level master's programs. you can continue to take classes after you earn your degree to help boost your grades or if you need to take more pre-reqs.

once you research some potential programs you will then have to research what kind of requirements they have for entry. do you have all the necessary pre-reqs? do you need to take the GRE? how many volunteer/observation hours do they require? etc. etc.

the best way you can prepare yourself is to try to go above and beyond any programs minimum requirements. do some more research about the profession. do some more research about OT admissions - this forum is great for that. it sounds like you are a little unaware exactly how big of a process this can really be, so this forum should give you a starting point. but grad school applications are all about being self-sufficient and also figuring out for yourself what can be done and how to go about it - so get out there and talk to people and research and read some more of these forums. GOOD LUCK! YOU CAN DO IT!

 

[MT2bNOT]

I found this forum, but just realized that this is for the doctorate of OT. Currently I am trying to get into a master's program...

I have 100+ hours of volunteer experience, a 3.73 gpa through my junior year, and I've been a cheerleader at university of Missouri for 3 years. I've applied both my soph and junior year at missouri and was wait listed the first year and this year I wasn't even on the wait list. I can graduate this summer with a bachelors in health sciences, or continue to take classes to boost my CV.

Can anyone give me some tips, advice, etc? Im just stumped at what I'm doing wrong at this point? Any other schools close to Missouri I should try?

What classes have you taken? Also what setting did you volunteering? If all you did was outpatient and pediatrics no schools going to care they want to see that you can do inpatient acute work as well. Also what are you saying in your interviews? I am in my first year. I applied to 7 and got accepted to one but that's because my GPA wasn't great.

 

[msot4me]

I would apply to more than 3 if I were you. The more schools you apply to, the greater your chances are of getting accepted. I made a spreadsheet of all of the schools that I was interested in and took down their pre-reqs, number of recommendations, phone numbers, etc. Also make sure you have your recommendations ready at least a few months before applications are due. From my experience, some people were unreliable so be prepared to ask a few more people than you'll think you'll need and give them about 2-3 weeks.