General Admissions & OTCAS Interview questions

[rach528]

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So I haven't applied to schools yet, but will be doing so this summer. Some schools that I am looking into will require interviews. Does anyone have OT school interview experience? What questions were you asked and what was the interviewing process like? I want to be as prepared as possible!
Thanks!!

 

[mgeagle]

So I haven't applied to schools yet, but will be doing so this summer. Some schools that I am looking into will require interviews. Does anyone have OT school interview experience? What questions were you asked and what was the interviewing process like? I want to be as prepared as possible!
Thanks!!

I do have experience in OT interviews and first and foremost let me say that it depends on the school not only on what questions they might ask but HOW they ask them. Pretty much every school to my knowledge (including the ones I interviewed at) are going to ask a question basically asking you why would you want to be an OT. DO NOT just give the generic "I want to help people" or "I want to interact with patients" line. There are a multitude of professions that help people and the interviewers knows this. There are a fair amount of health professions that include some sort of interaction with the patients and the interviewers know this as well. Do some research and find some of the distinct aspects of OT and explain how those aspects relate to you and who you are. Research the programs and be ready with questions about the program because I guarantee they will ask you why you would choose their program and they want to be kept engaged with questions from you. Show them that you have done your homework and that you approach professional situations with poise and confidence. Some interviewers may throw in an ethics question which is more or less a common sense situation. To stand out when answering this question be very detailed, methodical, and consider the entire situation and its possible consequences and how it might affect the greater good of the people around you. Concerning how a school might ask the questions, it could go one of two ways or a mixture of both: Machine gun style where they ask you question after question in fairly quick manner (almost like you are taking a test) or coffee shop conversation style where they throw out a few broad questions and allow you to ramble on and they really use the interview to really get to know you as if you were talking to a new friendly face you met at a neighborhood coffee shop.