Anxiously Waiting

[daoxx026]

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I've been reading everyones posts about getting accepted and quite honestly its making me very nervous. I only applied to 4 schools this year (first time applying) and won't hear back until April. I am regretting not applying to more since many people stated that they applied to 8+. I am an average student so I am very worried that my chances aren't good. I have a 3.0 cum GPA and 3.2 prereq GPA but I majored in biology. I have a lot of experience working with people with disabilities and have about 100 hours in volunteer work. Can someone that got in this year compare their stats with me? I want to know what my chances are in getting accepted.

 

[HopefulMOT]

4 schools, you are better off than me. i only applied to one school. Stats aren't everything. they get you in the interview, everyone's stats are similiar, plus some degrees and universities are easier than others so how is that fair? As long as you have proven you have the cognitive ability to learn the course work that is what is important. There are too many variables that affect GPA from one student to another. Written Essay, experience, and Letters of Recommendation help separate the crowd. After that it is the interview and what qualities they are looking for to add to their program.

 

[lizzo76]

You guys might feel better if you look up your programs on petersons.com. Once you have searched the particular program (for instance, University of New Hampshire Masters in Occupational Therapy) and you are on the page for it, you can select the "admissions" link and it will likely give you the percent accepted, and usually, the total number of applications and the actual number accepted. This information isn't available for all schools, but it is available for most. I have yet to see any OT school, even those that are highly ranked by US News & World Report, that accept under 50% of applicants. Many are in the 60-something% to 70-something% range. Some accept 100%. I'm no longer very worried about getting in... it is true that there are some very smart and accomplished people on here, but there are also a lot of average students who went to middle-level universities and these are the people we're competing against.

 

[OT2Be2013]

You guys might feel better if you look up your programs on petersons.com. Once you have searched the particular program (for instance, University of New Hampshire Masters in Occupational Therapy) and you are on the page for it, you can select the "admissions" link and it will likely give you the percent accepted, and usually, the total number of applications and the actual number accepted. This information isn't available for all schools, but it is available for most. I have yet to see any OT school, even those that are highly ranked by US News & World Report, that accept under 50% of applicants. Many are in the 60-something% to 70-something% range. Some accept 100%. I'm no longer very worried about getting in... it is true that there are some very smart and accomplished people on here, but there are also a lot of average students who went to middle-level universities and these are the people we're competing against.

I am not saying your information is incorrect, but I would just caution any one out there not to be overconfident. The field is growing in popularity as OT gains more recognition (which is a great thing for our profession). In particular, state schools are going to be more competitive because of the economy right now. My school only takes 30 people, and I believe there were over 200 applications last year.

 

[jendelarosa]

I'm sure there's some accuracy of the stats on petersons.com, but I can definitely tell you that the OT program at UIC did not have 96 applicants this year. UIC had approximately 360 applicants for 38 spots, so it's definitely getting more competitive!

 

[Kaytie OT girl]

You guys might feel better if you look up your programs on petersons.com. Once you have searched the particular program (for instance, University of New Hampshire Masters in Occupational Therapy) and you are on the page for it, you can select the "admissions" link and it will likely give you the percent accepted, and usually, the total number of applications and the actual number accepted. This information isn't available for all schools, but it is available for most. I have yet to see any OT school, even those that are highly ranked by US News & World Report, that accept under 50% of applicants. Many are in the 60-something% to 70-something% range. Some accept 100%. I'm no longer very worried about getting in... it is true that there are some very smart and accomplished people on here, but there are also a lot of average students who went to middle-level universities and these are the people we're competing against.

I also agree petersons.com may not have the most accurate information. I think it might be a couple of years old before OT became as popular as it is now. Also, just because you went to a middle-level university doesnt mean you are just an "average" student. Admissions committees want students who are dedicated and really interested in OT, not just wanting to become an OT because that's where the jobs are. In my opinion it does not matter if you are a 4.0 student from Harvard or a 2.8 student from Cal State Sacramento, they want someone who is going to make a caring, dedicated professional in the field and truly help people and make a difference in their lives.

 

[daoxx026]

Thanks for sharing that link. However, I doubt the accuracy of the numbers as well. I applied to St. Catherine's and received an email yesterday that they received over 300 applicants. Keep in mind, this is a private all girls school in Minnesota. If this school is getting these kind of numbers, I'm scared to think what the big Universities are getting. With so many people applying, I'm so afraid that admissions committee will just concentrate on applicants with the highest gpa and won't even look at my application because I have a 3.0.

 

[Lizzie314]

This is my first year applying as well. I applied to 5 schools and have not gotten anything yet.

 

[Cierra]

I agree that the peterson.com numbers are probably too low.

One reason may be if the stats are old.

But keep in mind that one person could be accepted into multiple schools. So a school with 300 applicants and 32 spaces to fill might offer 32 students a spot, but since those students may have gotten into another school or decided that school was too expensive, there may only be a couple of people who accept that spot. So the school then accepts more people, bringing their acceptance rate much higher than 32/300. Many schools all want the top people, so the first people to get accepted may be more likely to be the people who get accepted somewhere else they prefer to go.

Another thing is that some schools may report the people on their wait list as being "accepted", bringing up their acceptance rate.

I would be concerned with acceptance rates that are very high. I would wonder why more people didn't apply there, or why those who did apply there didn't all choose to go there. It could be cost, reputation, being unknown, or a bad area.