General Admissions & OTCAS Advice Please!!

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OT2020kelsey

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Hi everyone! So happy to have found this website. This will be my 2nd year applying to OT schools- so I am super super nervous that I will get denied again. I am from Michigan. I applied to SVSU and WMU last year and got denied from each. Since then I have retaken a couple courses- but still contemplating retaking more this fall semester. I haven’t submitted to OTCAS yet but here are my stats I calculated:

Average Cumulative GPA: 3.45
Pre req- 3.5~
GRE scores-147, 145, 3.0
OT shadow hours- Over 100

I am planning on applying to about every school in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. (expensive, but better than waiting another year) Some of my schools I would be most interested in are Indiana University, OSU, Indiana Stata, university illinois at chicago, Grand valley, SVSU, University of findlay, Huntington university and Walsh university.

Here are my questions for you:
1) Should I retake the GRE? Not every school requires it, but again I am trying everything I can to get in. Is it worth it in your opinion?

2) Wayne State University requires 3 classes I have not taken (can be pending if I take them this fall) Is it worth it to take 3 extra classes for 1 or 2 schools?

3) In everyone else’s opinions- do you think this application cycle will be easier to get accepted into due to COVID? Do you think less people will apply? (Hopeful this could be the case)

If you made it this far- thank you for reading! I have such a passion for the field and am afraid if I get denied again I will give up on this career path.

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Hi everyone! So happy to have found this website. This will be my 2nd year applying to OT schools- so I am super super nervous that I will get denied again. I am from Michigan. I applied to SVSU and WMU last year and got denied from each. Since then I have retaken a couple courses- but still contemplating retaking more this fall semester. I haven’t submitted to OTCAS yet but here are my stats I calculated:

Average Cumulative GPA: 3.45
Pre req- 3.5~
GRE scores-147, 145, 3.0
OT shadow hours- Over 100

I am planning on applying to about every school in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. (expensive, but better than waiting another year) Some of my schools I would be most interested in are Indiana University, OSU, Indiana Stata, university illinois at chicago, Grand valley, SVSU, University of findlay, Huntington university and Walsh university.

Here are my questions for you:
1) Should I retake the GRE? Not every school requires it, but again I am trying everything I can to get in. Is it worth it in your opinion?

2) Wayne State University requires 3 classes I have not taken (can be pending if I take them this fall) Is it worth it to take 3 extra classes for 1 or 2 schools?

3) In everyone else’s opinions- do you think this application cycle will be easier to get accepted into due to COVID? Do you think less people will apply? (Hopeful this could be the case)

If you made it this far- thank you for reading! I have such a passion for the field and am afraid if I get denied again I will give up on this career path.

The GRE question is kind of tricky especially this year. I guess I would say this as most apps are holistic see if it's worth your time to retake. If you make the minimum requirement then don't and make it up through spending more time on your personal statement.

Depends on how much you want to get into that school. I know from personal experience I did because SJSU required a 4 on GRE and higher grades on certain pre reqs. Since it was my top choice I did.

That's also a hard question. It could be easier or harder. With many schools taking the GRE requirement and one less thing to judge applicants, so schools have one less thing to decide on. So if you do well on the GRE it Might be bad for you. But that's true seeing that the future is mostly all online classes, some might not want to invest in masters yet since it's pricey. So there might be less applying. Hard to answer this one.

Good luck you'll do great. I also had to apply two cycles before getting in.
 
1) I'd evaluate how many schools out of the schools you're applying to require the GRE this year. For me, that number is currently 3/10 schools. Double check, some schools are waiving the GRE this year or making score reporting optional.

2) It's probably not worth it, especially if you can apply to other schools without those prerequisites. It might be worth it if this is your dream school or if you think that taking these classes would increase your overall GPA, but I wouldn't spend more time and money on school than you need to.

3) I'm also kind of hoping that this will be the case, but it's difficult to know. On one hand, people may be hesitant to invest in graduate programs, especially as they're shifting towards the online model, and they may decide to postpone applications. On the other, applicants might see this as an opportunity to invest in themselves as they're out of work and times are uncertain.
For me, I have been planning to apply this year since my junior year of college. My intentions to apply weren't going to change based on the pandemic unless the schools shut down their programs.

Good luck on your application!
 
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My GRE scores were VERY similar to yours and I chose not to retake it and got accepted to many schools my second time applying! So this is totally up to you, but I'd say skip it and put more energy into the rest of your application. It's better to apply to more schools so I'm sure you'll have a good chance getting into a few. I am thinking that less people will apply this year, and programs might even consider accepting more students per cohort since things will be online! If this is your passion, keep at it. Don't let being rejected discourage you! :)
 
My GRE scores were VERY similar to yours and I chose not to retake it and got accepted to many schools my second time applying! So this is totally up to you, but I'd say skip it and put more energy into the rest of your application. It's better to apply to more schools so I'm sure you'll have a good chance getting into a few. I am thinking that less people will apply this year, and programs might even consider accepting more students per cohort since things will be online! If this is your passion, keep at it. Don't let being rejected discourage you! :)
if you don’t mind me asking, what schools did you apply and get accepted to? :)
 
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