General Admissions & OTCAS High School Junior wanting to study occupational therapy?

[Crazy_8]

I am in High School and have decided I want to be an OT. I know MOT programs can be hard to get into so want to start my college career off on the best foot and looking for advice. I am looking at schools along the East Coast, from up in Boston down to North or South Carolina.

Is going for a dual degree the best option? If I am in an undergraduate program in an OT accredited school do I have a better chance of getting into the masters program? Any advice anyone can provide would be great. Thank you.

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[Bokonomy]

If you're serious about it, a BS/MS will save you time and possibly money. What state are you in? UNH and Worcester state I believe have BS/MSes, and it'll probably be easier to get in this way if you're doing reasonably well now.

 

[MusicalOT14]

I know they haven many schools that offer a 5 year BS/MS program which seems like a pretty good way to go if you are sure OT is for you. It would allow you to get done in 5 years what will take you anywhere from 6-8 years if you get your BS then your MS. I know at certain schools they select a good portion of their MOT students from their own undergraduate program, but I have also heard a few stories where a student did not get into the MOT program after attending the school as an undergrad. So for that reason I would say it depends on the school and that would be something that you should look into when applying. Doing it separately would allow you to get your BS/ BA in another subject though so if you are unsure or want to explore other options this would allow you to do that and then if you are still set on OT you could get your masters after. But if you are sure, then the 5 year seems like the way to go. It will save you from having to reapply for your masters and will save time & probably money. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

 

[Crazy_8]

Thanks for the advice. I am in NJ but do not want to go to school in state. I would prefer to go south but will look at schools up north as well. I work with ABA/autistic children now and am pretty serious about wanting to be an OT in the end so I do like the idea of the dual degree in a shorter time, but I know it would be rigorous as well. Does anyone know which schools offer the BS/MS dual programs? I read that BostonU used to but does not anymore?

 

[Nonameiwant]

You should look into the University of North Dakota, 2 years undergrad to a 3 year masters program.
http://www.med.und.edu/occupational-therapy/admissions.cfm

One of the Pedriatric OT's I observe attended UND and has told me how great the program is. She is one of my favorite OT's at the clinic, and all her clients love her.

You could probably even take some of the pre-requisite locally to save time/money.

 

[dobber]

I am in High School and have decided I want to be an OT. I know MOT programs can be hard to get into so want to start my college career off on the best foot and looking for advice. I am looking at schools along the East Coast, from up in Boston down to North or South Carolina.

Is going for a dual degree the best option? If I am in an undergraduate program in an OT accredited school do I have a better chance of getting into the masters program? Any advice anyone can provide would be great. Thank you.

I made a video about this a while back, check it out.

 

[ChrisC462]

The best thing to do will be to attend a 5 year BS/MS program because it will save you time and money. You will graduate with your bachelors degree after the 4th year then graduate with you masters degree the following year. Im starting my second year of OT school in August and about half the students in class are doing the combined BS/MS track. They will have their masters degree in only 5 years with less debt while it will take me 7 years because I went for my bachelors degree first. If I were like you and knew I wanted to go for OT in HS I would have also done a combined BS/MS program but I didn't decide to be an OT until my junior year of college

Also, I don't believe that doing your undergrad at a school that has an OT program will necessarily improve your chances of getting into their OT program but it probably depends on the school. I attended a school in NJ for my bachelors degree and even though they also had an OT program, many of my friends and I were still rejected to their OT program. I heard they favored students from outside universities but I'm not sure if thats actually true.