Other OT-Related Information How good are my chances for OT school?

[Hopeful OT]

I am a rising senior at the University of Richmond. However, I only have a 3.05 GPA and I've received a 153 on the verbal portion of the GRE and a 153 on the Quantitative. I started out Pre-Med wanting to be a pediatrician but I came across OT last year and began taking the courses for it. My low GPA is account of pre-med courses such as organic chemistry and inorganic etc.. My prerequisite GPA so far is a 3.53. I have a total of 52 hours of OT shadowing so far and 52 hours of volunteering in a hospital and church. I have a wide range of extracurricular activities such as being an RA, a school ambassador, mentor, teaching experience, and research interning. If it helps at all I am an African-American female. If anyone has gotten into schools with low stats do you mind sharing those as well? Thanks everyone!

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[10ninja]

Hey Hopeful OT! I have a 3.13 and will also be applying this year! I did a quick search on the OT forms for people that have gotten in with gpas like ours and there seems to be some hope! We're going to have to apply and see what happens.

I wish you the best of luck! You have really great leadership experience and a pretty decent prerequisite gpa so you have stats that are totally in your favor. With occupational therapy really shifting towards evidence-based practice, admissions reps will really like your experience in research. I would try to highlight that somehow in your application.

 

[Hopeful OT]

Hey Hopeful OT! I have a 3.13 and will also be applying this year! I did a quick search on the OT forms for people that have gotten in with gpas like ours and there seems to be some hope! We're going to have to apply and see what happens.

I wish you the best of luck! You have really great leadership experience and a pretty decent prerequisite gpa so you have stats that are totally in your favor. With occupational therapy really shifting towards evidence-based practice, admissions reps will really like your experience in research. I would try to highlight that somehow in your application.

Awesome! That's great to hear! I'm almost done with applying I just have to write my personal statement. Good luck to you !!

 

[deejayy]

Hi @Hopeful OT,

I have pretty similar stats to you and also was kinda prepharm/premed.

I have seen some people with our similar stats get accepted, so yes there is still some hope.

Hopefully things work out for all of us! Good luck!

 

[CAOT]

 

[Hopeful OT]

Your gre scores and prereq gpa are good. Your overall gpa meets the minimum for schools that specify 3.0, so while it's on the low side, it's still worth applying.
Have you calculated whether your last 90 sememster credit gpa is higher than your overall? Some schools look at only your last 2 years of undergrad, and if this is higher, applying to some of those schools would be to your advtange.

Hi! @CAOT My last two years of gpa so far is a 3.6. Hopefully that will help as well!

 

[sngot]

I can say that high pre-req will definitely work in your favor despite having a lower overall gpa. There are also schools which look at last 60 units in addition to only pre-req and overall. Schools that offer interviews also take account to factors outside numbers. You won't know until you try it. Good luck everyone. Hardest part is getting in.

 

[Hopeful OT]

I can say that high pre-req will definitely work in your favor despite having a lower overall gpa. There are also schools which look at last 60 units in addition to only pre-req and overall. Schools that offer interviews also take account to factors outside numbers. You won't know until you try it. Good luck everyone. Hardest part is getting in.

Thank You for the encouragement! I hope you are enjoying OT school!

 

[MT2bNOT]

So I would say that you're looking pretty good so far. The fact that you even took Ochem and such looks very good. Be sure to do more OT volunteer hours though. Your extra curricular and other 52 hours at the church and hospital look great. Make sure that you're getting at a very minimum a C in your OT coursework- **most** competitive programs do not take pre-reqs that are less than B's. Additionally there are stellar programs (e.g. Samuel Merritt in Oakland) that do not require a GRE however it is pricey. I can say though from working with people from different programs that you do get what you pay for.

That being said have an idea of what area of OT you want to go into- if you actually want to get into school show an interest in geriatrics- 80% of the new job openings are in geriatrics in SNF's and Sub-Acute or Outpatient facilities with geri's. If you say 'oh I want to do peds' your application will look like everyone else and the schools have an obligation to fill slots for the upcoming jobforce openings...

Secondly- make sure you do your OT volunteer in inpatient acute/subacute settings- no one is impressed if you spent all of your time in a private peds clinic or just hand therapy- that is the plush side of OT where there are very few job openings but it's definitely possible.

Keep up the good work and as long as your overall GPA floats above the 3.0 and your pre-req GPA is a bit higher you should be fine.

I'm so glad you found OT-it literally is the best job ever..I'm in my last level 2 right now headed for acute. PM me if you have any q's

 

[Bokonomy]

That being said have an idea of what area of OT you want to go into- if you actually want to get into school show an interest in geriatrics- 80% of the new job openings are in geriatrics in SNF's and Sub-Acute or Outpatient facilities with geri's. If you say 'oh I want to do peds' your application will look like everyone else and the schools have an obligation to fill slots for the upcoming jobforce openings...

Secondly- make sure you do your OT volunteer in inpatient acute/subacute settings- no one is impressed if you spent all of your time in a private peds clinic or just hand therapy- that is the plush side of OT where there are very few job openings but it's definitely possible.

Not the OP, but what if you genuinely want to do peds? As of right now, all settings I've seen are interesting except geriatrics to me. I have basically zero desire to do it. Peds is the most interesting to me, but I have a lot of experience in schools from my experience as a formal special ed/el ed major. Also, I'm going to have a minor in behavioral neuroscience, and I've heard that you're more likely going to work with neuro disorders in peds than geriatrics. It would be weird if I DIDN'T say peds because my experiences definitely led me there. :/