Help OTA or OT

[LIssete]

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Hello everyone I have a dilemma and I am so stuck because I don't know where to seek help. I have obtained my bachelors in speech language pathology which was a disaster because due to my low gpa the first two year of college my transcript was all messed up. However I did manage to get my gpa from a 1.87 to a 3.1.. I Had a 2.3 gpa in the speech major and an overall score of a 640 on my GRE (HOrrible) and was rejected into 7 graduate programs for speech. I would like to enter into my next choice which is also occupational therapy but i hear that the requirements are extremely high. I havent taken most of the pre reqs but I am afraid that i would be wasting more time if I take the classes earn good grades and still not get accepted in a masters program. Does anyone have any suggestions or know if it is possible for me to get an associates as an OTA ..do I stand a chance? HELP PLEASE

 

[OThopefully]

Hi LIssete,

Your situation is a tough one! If I were in your shoes, I'd want to keep going and get a Masters in OT if I had already obtained my Bachelors. But, to keep it real, your GPA is just not competitive. One way to throw that off is to get all A's in your prerequisites for OT. (Or very close to all A's) And, you'll need to retake your GRE's. TRUST me, I HATE the GRE's. I took it once and got an 890. So, I understand getting a low score. However, I was too stubborn to them again to try to get higher. So, as a result my options became very limited. Thankfully and by God's sweet grace, I was accepted into a school. Granted, the GRE is freakin pointless BUT it's a part of the game we have to play in order to get into our schools. I would urge you to seek out GRE help (Kaplan or something) and conquer that dang test!

Ultimately it's your decision, but that's my two cents! Good luck!! 👍

 

[OTROX]

You earned your bachelor degree so that GPA is going to stay put. However, I wouldn't be so hard on yourself because a 3.1 does not necessarily keep your application from getting serious attention. That is assuming you do follow through with the prerequisites for a masters program. One annoying problem is finding out the differences various programs requires...which can include the GRE. You mentioned you applied to 7 graduate programs so I would say you know a thing or two about looking into programs that are out there. If your situation allows you to relocate then look around for programs with similar prerequisites which may or may not include the GRE.

One thing for sure though is that you should get out there and start volunteering to get an idea of what OT is...You'll need those hours to apply toward your application whether that means you want to pursue OT or OTA. Try a few places and a few hundred hours! 😛 Ok, maybe NOT that many but definitely get out there as soon as you can.

I think you should do what is best for you. I can understand the uncertainty of spending both time and money toward classes that may not pan out, but if you don't try you'll never know...and that is meant toward pursuing the MOT. As for OTA, you could definitely get in and still have a great job. Remember, you can always be an OTA for a number of years and once you get those loans down and that experience built up you can look into a bridge program to become an OTR.

Whatever you do, do it 100% and you can't go wrong! Best of luck!

 

[Whistle Pig]

Now, I'll be honest w/ you. If your application failed to gain your admission to a speech therapy program with a degree and 2 better final years, very low major area gpa (for grad schools ...they want to know how you've done in your key area of study and focus), and as you say "Horrible" GRE scores ...agreed, it will be substantially more difficult to gain OT admission, I'd speculate. While volunteering won't hurt and would give you further insight, it may likely not lend much value to your application.

Three thoughts:
1. If you really want this, you've dug a deep hole that will require some real risk-taking to attempt to dig out. Consider discussing this with an OT program head to see if there is ANYTHING you can do to make yourself competitive. Do it with the programs you perceive you might pursue. They are the ONLY ones who can tell you. Not here, for sure.

2. Whoever said they were "too stubborn" to retake very low GRE scores? That's not stubborn, but something far less attractive, imo. Who's the winner? No harm beyond a few bucks. Everything to gain. Consider this. Alone, barring a spectacular performance and transformation, it will not suffice, but could get some attention.

3. Costly but consider a do-over, perhaps in another, less competitive grad program ...or a more competitive undergrad. This is what many wannabe MDs do when they fall short. They commit to doing all they can do to stengthen and rectify poor showings.

Yours will be no simple, easy, cheap task. It's a steep hill now. The ol' pat on the back, you can do it, rah rah is pure baloney. And you need to know that so you are not naive about what you are asking. So not intending to be unkind. Nor will I patronize your fair question and its asker. For what it's worth.

 

[superCOTA]

Long long ago, my GPA as a liberal arts major was similiar to yours (horrible), and upon being a few classes short for applying to masters programs, I was offered a seat in a COTA program. I can't say i wasted my time b/c a decade later schools found a way to make transitional programs.... so i did what you are thinking, but remember assistants don't make a lot so you accumulate student loans and hogtied income, to only have to return to school in the long run... WASTED TIME AND $$$. BELIEVE ME.

What message are you sending the OT school? I really like your school because i cant get into SLP school? While I wouldn't put it past some schools to accept you anyway, why would they put you ahead of somone w/ a set of A's in all the hard sciences ... which leads me to the second point ...

I don't know if you have taken chem/bio/physics/ and anatomy, but these are the classes that probably hurt you the first time around. IF you take them again (and a word to the wise, there are some classes/teachers that are easier than others) and ACE them, then we have a before and after story, coupled with a beautiful heart-wrenching story about your alcoholic parents that needed you to dance on tables to make ends meet, causing your grades to suffer long ago. (you get the idea)

And if you ace them, re-apply to the SLP school b/c they make more than OT in the schools...
Schools are gong to see your weak areas and honestly wonder if they will be doing you a disservice by giving you a seat that you won't be able to keep. Retake the hardest classes... alone if you must (even though they notice that stuff) ... with the right teacher, at the right pace, with a tutor, and get the A.

I've been a cota for 12 years or so, and I can tell you that medcaid is going to make opportunities harder for OTA's and PTA's, and the economy isn't helping either. By the time you get done it may not be cost effective to go after all of this. 6 years of school and debt vs 6 years of developing experience and making money is a serious argument. Go with the flow.

 

[FutureOT2013]

You should just start over at another 4 year and try to get into a 5 year BS-MS. It's hard to make up that GPA, and doing the OTA thing well might take longer than just simply starting over. I always thought OT was more competitive than SLP, I always had that impression sorry if I'm wrong. I think you need to find a way to avoid showing admissions people your past grades, I too climbed out of a hole but not a hole THAT deep.

 

[OTROX]

how would pursuing another BS or BS-MS prevent someone from having to show other grades?

 

[FutureOT2013]

There's no database which lists all of the schools you went to. Go to another college, take the courses there, earn high marks, and report the transcripts you want them to see. Plenty of people do it when they screw up and would rather start from scratch, I thought about it too when I was pre pharmacy.

 

[Shelby029]

if SLP is what you want to do rather than OT being the second choice why not work on getting into a speech program. SLP programs don't require the chemistry, anatomy, physics that OT one's do...so I'm assuming you'll be taking more classes if you were to attempt getting into OT. Why not do it to what you really want to do? I mean most likely if you were an OT you'd work in a proximity of SLPs, it would really stink to be watching someone else do what you want to do everyday.

 

[OT2Be2013]

how would pursuing another BS or BS-MS prevent someone from having to show other grades?

It doesn't. You still have to send all your transcripts. The only thing you can do is pursue a second degree or take more classes (the prereqs) and earn good grades to try to prove to the admissions committees that you have changed and that you are a strong student.

 

[OT2Be2013]

There's no database which lists all of the schools you went to. Go to another college, take the courses there, earn high marks, and report the transcripts you want them to see. Plenty of people do it when they screw up and would rather start from scratch, I thought about it too when I was pre pharmacy.

I'm all for second chances, don't get me wrong. I wish it could work that way. The problem is, if the school requests transcripts from your previous schools and you knowingly omit information from your application and then sign off on that, it is viewed as a form of academic dishonesty and can get you in big trouble later even if you do get into a program.
Honesty's the best policy, I think.

 

[FutureOT2013]

It doesn't. You still have to send all your transcripts. The only thing you can do is pursue a second degree or take more classes (the prereqs) and earn good grades to try to prove to the admissions committees that you have changed and that you are a strong student.

No you don't. If you go to another school and take all of the required courses there and earn a degree there, there is no reason to send transcripts from the school you earned the crappy grades at because you have all the required courses on the new transcript. Just don't return to any of the schools you have earned low grades and you don't need to send in those transcripts. Think about it. I earned an F at this one junior college, the only course I took there and retook the class at another college. Why would I send the transcript with only the F on it? There's no need. Now put that on a larger scale, that is how you start from scratch.

 

[FutureOT2013]

I'm all for second chances, don't get me wrong. I wish it could work that way. The problem is, if the school requests transcripts from your previous schools and you knowingly omit information from your application and then sign off on that, it is viewed as a form of academic dishonesty and can get you in big trouble later even if you do get into a program.
Honesty's the best policy, I think.

No it's not, especially when counselors are the ones who suggest this to people who really want to become doctors later on in life but have screwed up because they lived it up when they were young and immature. This isn't a theory, it is being done by plenty of people who realize they want to get serious with their lives. It's a suggestion, take it how you want, but it's been done time and time again.

 

[OT2Be2013]

You have a point when it comes to someone who previously completed a degree, but I would think that if the application says to send ALL (I've seen it written in caps, they mean business) transcripts from all previous institutions attended, it means they require those transcripts as well. I would just be careful. If anything the fact that you were able to retake that class you got an F in at another college and do fine reflects well on you- it shows that you didn't give up on that class and learned a way to study effectively/learn the material.

They expect people to screw up sometimes; we're only human. But then they want to see how you fixed it.

But I definitely see your point. The whole thing is so complicated.

 

[FutureOT2013]

I understand where you are coming from, honesty is the best policy, I can't really apply it to admissions too much though. You aren't falsifying anything, you are simply giving them the information they need to see. Unfortunately admissions boards are sometimes cutthroat and are strictly going by numbers with the large amount of applicants. Calling it a form of academic dishonesty is a stretch, there really isn't any cheating. It is also a bit tedious to completely start over, but if this person is set on becoming an OT and knows it then she would do what is necessary. In my own situation, I did send all of my transcripts from the schools I attended. If I did have a situation where I had to send a transcript with 5 F's and 1 A, I would just not report that school and retake the A course somewhere else. I know if there ever was a situation where someone was beyond help, this would be the case. I was just putting myself in their shoes and thinking what I would've done.

 

[superCOTA]

You have to send all transcripts. ALL.

If a teacher joined your new school that taught at the old one... dropped from the program ... you don't want to chance it.

Some schools wont weigh grades if they are past a certian age... you would want to look at those schools.

 

[FutureOT2013]

You have to send all transcripts. ALL.

If a teacher joined your new school that taught at the old one... dropped from the program ... you don't want to chance it.

Some schools wont weigh grades if they are past a certian age... you would want to look at those schools.

You really don't, but I'm not going to keep arguing it. I been through the process and I could have very easily omitted transcripts from certain schools and still earned admission. That teacher scenario is very unlikely, and even if that somehow did happen no one is going to talk about your admissions application if they even remember it, there's nothing unfair or illegal about it. You don't have to agree with it or do it yourself, but people can and people do. Just saying.