General Admissions & OTCAS Applying to OT programs

[ems07]

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I am currently a student in PA and will be starting to apply to OT grad programs this year! I have been getting extremely nervous after reading how hard getting in OT programs is and am wondering my chances/any advice I can get to better improve my chances. Here are my stats. Any advice would help!

Major: Rehabilitation and Human Services
Minor: Psychology and Deafness and Hearing in Society
Cumulative GPA: 3.53
Volunteer Hours: 1,080 (most with crisis hotline and basic needs assistance)
OT Observation Hours: 80
1 year as a research assistant (about 4 hours a week)
GRE: haven't taken yet
Recommendations: OT, Dean of my program, Professors
Graduating semester early

I plan on applying to about 14 schools all from different parts of the country. I know it is important to get my apps in early so I have already selected all my schools and started the process. I'm really just hoping to get into a program on the 1st try although after reading some posts I feel is unlikely. Once again any advice would help! Thanks!

 

[gottabeOT]

Well, this is just my personal observation, but your stats seem to indicate that you are already dedicated to helping others and ready to enter the field of occupational therapy! I think that 14 is a VERY large number of schools to apply to, and I can't help but wonder why you are applying to such a vast number. My first piece of advice would be to think long and hard about why you are applying to so many programs. Is it out of fear that you won't get in anywhere? Or wanting to maximize your options when you do get in? Whatever the reason is, I (personally) tend to believe that with your strong background and the drive you seem to have, your time could be better spent working hard on a smaller number of applications versus spreading yourself thin (to a certain extent) over 14 apps. But that's just me!

Next, I would say that you're already WAAAYYY ahead of the game by applying starting now! I thought that four months would be enough time to comfortably apply to ONLY 5 schools, and boy was I wrong! The head start you're getting will be a great advantage to you as you work on essays and applications.

Another important part of the application process is the OTCAS website. While it's fairly easy to use and utilized by a large number of schools, I found that the instructions were unclear at times and the deadlines/time-sensitive procedures were very poorly outlined. That said, I would like to tell you -- as I wish somebody had told me -- that there is a post-completion verification process that can add up to two weeks to the processing of your applications! For example, I completed and sent in my app on Nov. 25, with a Dec. 1 deadline (what I thought was a week to spare...not that that is actually a lot of time). I didn't realize that "verification" would have to take place, and I spent a week freaking out about whether or not my application would be verified in time to meet the deadline. Fortunately it was, but I honestly made a thorough reading of the OTCAS website and only found this information innocuously listed in one place. So beware! Also, start working on the various parts of the OTCAS application (like the extracurriculars and items requiring brief descriptions) early. And put a LOT of time, editing and effort into your OTCAS essay, since it will be reviewed by several schools!

Finally, I would suggest that you create physical files or files on your computer for EACH SCHOOL you plan on applying to. This helped a great deal in keeping me organized and prepared. A large calendar with deadlines and other important information clearly labeled can also be very helpful!

I hope all this writing contained some information that will be useful to you as you begin applying, and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[SunnyDee37]

I agree that 14 schools is a bit much. You also need to think of your recommendations unless you have 14-20 different people writing recommendations (which would be challenging to coordinate)- that is a lot to ask of people. I would chop that number in half to the schools you really WANT to go to. I only applied to three and got into one. Was waitlisted at one and just never heard from the third. Your stats sound excellent. Also- another helpful hint. My recommendation (ha) is to use recommendations that have some affiliation with the school you are applying to. Schools love recommendations from alumni!

 

[ems07]

Thank you gottabeOT and SunntDee37 for your input. I really appreciate the advice and you have eliminated some of my anxiety for sure! I had the large list of schools because I had been told the more you apply to the better chance you have (and I thought my stats were not as good as they could be). I am def going to take your advice and take off the schools that probably aren't the perfect fit for me!

 

[mgeagle]

Thank you gottabeOT and SunntDee37 for your input. I really appreciate the advice and you have eliminated some of my anxiety for sure! I had the large list of schools because I had been told the more you apply to the better chance you have (and I thought my stats were not as good as they could be). I am def going to take your advice and take off the schools that probably aren't the perfect fit for me!

It is true that the more you apply to the better your chance of getting in but the application process is not cheap. Including applications, supplemental applications, Otcas fees, travel fees for interviews, etc. my application journey cost me about a $1000 and I applied to four schools. Granted I had to travel to a few states for interviews and flights cost a little bit lol but still the process isn't cheap and as the others who have commented have already said, your stats are pretty good so you shouldn't be too worried. Focus on fine tuning your application to make it the best you can and add some passion to be an OT that resonates to admission committees and I am sure you will get in 🙂.

 

[gottabeOT]

I'm glad you found my advice helpful. Just another tip, when narrowing down schools don't sell yourself short, but definitely do your research and apply to schools where you'll be competitive based on their posted scores/info. For example, don't have the mindset of "I'm average, so I'll only apply to schools that I think might accept someone like me." I felt this way when I started applying, but a good friend of mine encouraged me to shoot for the stars (which were all possibly within reach!) and I ended up getting into Boston, the #2 school in the country! So make your (now significantly less than 14!) choices spread across a wide range of options and "difficulty levels"!

 

[ems07]

This is definitely encouraging to hear. I feel like I have had somewhat the same mindset when trying to pick my schools so ill keep this in mind for sure! There is one other thing I am concerned about. I have all my prerequisites completed except my anatomy and physiology (these will be completed my fall 2014 semester before I graduate). Do you think having these in progress at the time of applying will hurt my chances?

 

[sb0106]

I agree that 14 schools is a bit much. You also need to think of your recommendations unless you have 14-20 different people writing recommendations (which would be challenging to coordinate)- that is a lot to ask of people. I would chop that number in half to the schools you really WANT to go to. I only applied to three and got into one. Was waitlisted at one and just never heard from the third. Your stats sound excellent. Also- another helpful hint. My recommendation (ha) is to use recommendations that have some affiliation with the school you are applying to. Schools love recommendations from alumni!

You make a good point with the number of recommendations that may be needed. My question is this: I plan on applying to a large number of schools (not 14) in order to increase my chances of being accepted. The problem is that many of the schools I am looking at do not use OTCAS. I feel like this is a great nuisance when getting reference letters. I don't want to have to make people write 5 different letters for me, so how do I deal with this? Would you suggest having one person write, say 3 letters and have another person do another 2? Have someone do OTCAS and someone do non-otcas? Not sure how to deal with this because I don't want to ask the people writing my letters to have to do TOO MUCH.

Thanks.

 

[Kidamnesiac]

You make a good point with the number of recommendations that may be needed. My question is this: I plan on applying to a large number of schools (not 14) in order to increase my chances of being accepted. The problem is that many of the schools I am looking at do not use OTCAS. I feel like this is a great nuisance when getting reference letters. I don't want to have to make people write 5 different letters for me, so how do I deal with this? Would you suggest having one person write, say 3 letters and have another person do another 2? Have someone do OTCAS and someone do non-otcas? Not sure how to deal with this because I don't want to ask the people writing my letters to have to do TOO MUCH.

Thanks.

Have you planned for 14 possible interviews? I guess if they're relatively close programs, it won't be a problem.

 

[msot4me]

Apply to as many schools as you can because each school has different criteria for admissions. You may go crazy writing multiple essays but it will greatly increase your chances.

 

[sb0106]

This was my first year applying and I did not get in. I am from PA and decided to stick to only local schools. Many of the schools in PA are very good and attract A LOT of applicants. I was told by 3 of the programs that I applied to that they received 600+ applicants for only 20ish seats. While doing research on other schools I realized that various schools throughout the country attract less people and frankly aren't as hard to get into as the schools in my area. I just don't want to waste another year of my life not in school. I want to get going, I want to be in school and on my way to becoming an OT. In my eyes, the best way to do this is to apply to many schools. I have considered interviews and may be omitting schools far away that have interviews. I don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg on travel expenses, application fees are enough of an expense.

I guess I will have to look at OTCAS schools and consider only a few non-OTCAS schools and make sure to take interviews into consideration.

 

[ExceptionalSea]

You make a good point with the number of recommendations that may be needed. My question is this: I plan on applying to a large number of schools (not 14) in order to increase my chances of being accepted. The problem is that many of the schools I am looking at do not use OTCAS. I feel like this is a great nuisance when getting reference letters. I don't want to have to make people write 5 different letters for me, so how do I deal with this? Would you suggest having one person write, say 3 letters and have another person do another 2? Have someone do OTCAS and someone do non-otcas? Not sure how to deal with this because I don't want to ask the people writing my letters to have to do TOO MUCH.

Thanks.

i only applied to 1 school outside of OTCAS, but i asked my LOR writers to save the document they created when they wrote their recs to OTCAS. (OTCAS makes you write the recommendation on another program like Word and then upload it to the OTCAS system - so I asked them to save their Word documents). for my other school i then gave them the form they needed to fill out and also gave them a stamped, addressed envelope to send in their rec. this made is as easy as possible for them since all they had to do for the non-OTCAS rec was fill out the form, print off the Word doc they had already created, and drop it in the mail. if you plan on doing multiple schools outside of OTCAS that you need recs for i would recommend getting EVERYTHING together at once and organizing it in a way that makes it easy for your LOR writers to just drop copies of their letter in the mail. giving them pre-stamped envelopes is also key so they don't spend their own money sending in your rec or worry about sending it to the wrong address.

good luck!