How do you stand out?

[butterflykisses]

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Hi everyone,

I've been browsing through this site for a little while and decided to join.
I just went to Kean's OT information session and I'm terrified - only 34 out of over 300 applicants were accepted last spring. I live in NJ and it would be nice to go to one of three schools here, but these programs are so competitive. I'm definitely open to out of state schools, like in Philly, NY, even Boston, etc.

I'm taking a year off to catch up on pre reqs and get my hours in. What can I do to stand out? Become CPR, special ed, teaching assistant certified? How does an applicant have an edge over another? I'm sure everyone has a great GPA and a lot of hours, but I'm getting really overwhelmed and afraid I will blend right in.

Also, if anyone is in the same area as me and wouldn't mind sharing their stats/acceptances I'd appreciate it 🙂

 

[Cierra]

Being bilingual and excellent writing abilities help.

 

[STHERE]

Hi Butterfly,


I am from NJ. I applied late this year to some schools. I would say don't waste your time becoming special ed assistant certified. I am certified to teach science and that didn't really help. Concentrate on you prereqs., how many do you have to take? It would be good for you to take the GRE or MAT because most schools outside of Jersey want that too.

And word of advice, don't bother applying to Stockton if you are not an undergrad from there, they do not accept non-Stockton grads. They had 180 applications this year and they chose 21, all of which are Stockton graduates! Don't believe it? I couldn't either, until I read the FAQ denial letter! I even went to the information session!


I would say the reason why there was so many at Kean is because the tuition is the most reasonable and near a city area. People shy away from Seton Hall because it's nearly double. I am going to apply there and I get, "Oh Seton's expensive!" I tell them, if you want to get into OT you can't be choosy!

I ran into someone from another A&P class that got into Temple. They also applied to Stockton, Kean, Sacred Heart, Philadelphia and another one. They were able to get into Sacred Heart as well. I do not know her stats., but she bombed the GRE and was still able to get into 2 schools. I asked her what she thought she said honestly I think it's a crap shoot; luck of the draw...

My stats are competitive
I have 116 hours in volunteer
Overall GPA: 3.65
Last 60: 3.9
Prereqs: 3.8
Certified Teacher, CPR and AED both adult and child.
Tutored A&P through the college program.


I agree with the last poster bilingual will not hurt!!

 

[STHERE]

Hi Butterfly,


I am from NJ. I applied late this year to some schools. I would say don't waste your time becoming special ed assistant certified. I am certified to teach science and that didn't really help. Concentrate on you prereqs., how many do you have to take? It would be good for you to take the GRE or MAT because most schools outside of Jersey want that too.

And word of advice, don't bother applying to Stockton if you are not an undergrad from there, they do not accept non-Stockton grads. They had 180 applications this year and they chose 21, all of which are Stockton graduates! Don't believe it? I couldn't either, until I read the FAQ denial letter! I even went to the information session!


I would say the reason why there was so many at Kean is because the tuition is the most reasonable and near a city area. People shy away from Seton Hall because it's nearly double. I am going to apply there and I get, "Oh Seton's expensive!" I tell them, if you want to get into OT you can't be choosy!

I ran into someone from another A&P class that got into Temple. They also applied to Stockton, Kean, Sacred Heart, Philadelphia and another one. They were able to get into Sacred Heart as well. I do not know her stats., but she bombed the GRE and was still able to get into 2 schools. I asked her what she thought she said honestly I think it's a crap shoot; luck of the draw...

My stats are competitive
I have 116 hours in volunteer
Overall GPA: 3.65
Last 60: 3.9
Prereqs: 3.8
Certified Teacher, CPR and AED both adult and child.
Tutored A&P through the college program.


I agree with the last poster bilingual will not hurt!!

 

[butterflykisses]

That is absolutely crazy about Stockton, ugh. You would think they would be more open to having non-Stockton students because they are only one of three programs. For pre-reqs, I really don't need to take too many, which is a huge relief, but I absolutely need to take A&P over again. I'm taking the new GRE in August and I've been studying from the books when I'm not looking at OT stuff!

I honestly did not want to apply to Seton Hall because it's so expensive. But if it's private, they should give you alot more financial help and be pretty close to what another school would probably cost anyway. It's worth a shot and it would be nice to be close to home so I could take the train/commute instead of looking out of state, which will cost more off the bat.

And I definitely agree with your friend there. My plan is to just apply to 5-10 schools that are a reasonable fit and see which one gives me an acceptance. The process is so discouraging.

 

[STHERE]

I did not want to apply to Seton Hall at first either, then I got asked by an OT do I really want this?! I said yes! When I really started to think about it I realized I would be paying the same price out of state because I am applying to 4 schools in Philly anyway. Basically I think of it as only 2 schools in NJ because I don't even have a chance with Stockton. Kean there is a slim chance, but I have to try anyway.

Thought I'd give you the heads up too if you were thinking about Jefferson in Philly the minimum GRE score is 950. I am glad I didn't waste the $70 or whatever it was this year because my score was no where near that.

I looked into all the weekend programs in NY and I think it's ridiculous that they require their own prerequisites that you can't take anywhere else. I am not traveling all the way to Brooklyn every day just for prereqs!

Don't worry I am feeling your pain!

 

[butterflykisses]

Thought I'd give you the heads up too if you were thinking about Jefferson in Philly the minimum GRE score is 950. I am glad I didn't waste the $70 or whatever it was this year because my score was no where near that.

Thanks for the sympathy - means alot! Of course, NJ would have the worst possible scenario. It's the luxury of living here

Do you know what that score translates into for the new GRE (scores go from 130 to 170, i.e. 133 is a possible score - not in tens anymore) I doubt I'd score high but just out of curiosity. I was looking into Jefferson =(

 

[STHERE]

Oh... I did not know they were completely changing the grading format! Your best bet it to give Don Sharples at [email protected] an e-mail and find out, he would know.

I was rushed to take that test and do not plan to take it again! I am trying my luck with the MAT this time, since it doesn't really involve math! lol When I was interviewed I was told give the MAT a try. Statistically women do better on the MAT. I already have a better feeling about it, it seems conquerable to me.

 

[lizzo76]

Late to this thread, but... I wanted to point out that low acceptance rate does not necessarily equal "competitive." There are certain schools in certain regions which attract tons of applicants for a variety of reasons... often, it's because there are lots of people living in the region. (This tends to be true in NY/NJ, California, and Florida.) Second, a school might have unusually low tuition. This doesn't mean that the majority of applicants are extremely well-qualified.

Look at Harvard to illustrate this point. Harvard is, of course, very competitive. They have many more qualified applicants each year than they can accept. But, the <10% acceptance rate is due to the fact that everybody and his brother from all over the world applies there. I knew lots of people in high school who applied just "for the he!! of it" and to see if through some fluke they might get accepted. But, they weren't qualified at all... they never had a chance of getting in. But these non-qualified applicants raise the overall number of applications and thus lower the acceptance rate.

It's a similar thing at some OT schools. They might accept 10% or 11% of all applicants, but if you focus on only the applications which really stand a chance, and toss out the others, the acceptance rate would be higher. Still, do what you can to be as strong a candidate as you can, but if you're a strong applicant don't be terrified by what seem like overwhelming odds.

Butterflykisses - regarding a private university giving a lot more financial aid help - that's very true for undergrad, largely untrue for grad school, particularly professional programs. We discussed this on another thread. Even Harvard, the university with the highest endowment, which gives free rides to many undergrads, gives zero in assistance for many of its grad programs. It's ALL loans.

 

[Whistle Pig]

Lizzo's on the money. The stats don't always tell the story.

Re: Stockton's scenario, on its surface, it seems to smack of serious ethical issues, i.e. allowing, encouraging applicants when the post-facto pic would suggest that the chances were slim, and literally none this year for those outside applicants. So why would they bother? Any number of issues ...
1. Accreditation issues
2. Enhance PERCEIVED selectivity, always a massive issue among academics and how they "keep score"
3. Money -- generate some pocket money from fees, and more important, portraying a programmatic posture that would lend to grants and internal allocations
4. Rankings ... consider if they simply said, "only Stockton students accepted" and thus generating NO outside interest, awareness, or app numbers.
5. Faculty -- this would undoubtedly reflect poorly on them among their professional colleagues and community.

You get the drift here ...

 

[STHERE]

I put in a complaint to my congressman of the 4th district about Stockton. They are completely unethical. Don't know what else I can do... I don't really want to see others get scammed out of their $50!