Intro, stats, questions - please help

[klaysan]

---

Members don't see this ad.

University: Rutgers University
Major: Psychology and Human Resource Management double major
Overall GPA: 3.556 so far, messed up in my first semester of college
Pre-Req GPA: ~3.8-3.9 depending on school
GRE: have not taken it yet
Extra-Curric: 2 years of being on the eboard of RED (Rutgers Empowering Disabilities) an organization that seeks to spread disability awareness throughout the community (I was the community outreach coordinator and am now an executive assistant), PsychAlliance, PsiChi (Psychological Honor Society), Polish Club
Experience: 1,000+ hours as a nursing unit clerk in a hospital (on a postpartum unit), still have exposure to patient population
~500 hours as a research assistant for 3 professors of the HR department at my university
Volunteer: I do a lot of volunteer work within the organization I mentioned earlier (should I include that in this section?)
Shadowing: I will have ~70-80 hours of shadowing experience in 4 settings (inpatient brain trauma unit in a hospital, hand therapy, low vision therapy, geriatrics)
Schools applying to: Kean U, Seton Hall, Stockton, NYU, Columbia, D'Youville, University of Pittsburgh?
* also I am graduating a semester early, while having two majors and a minor, I'm not sure if this will brighten any chances lol

Questions:
1. What are my chances of getting into any of these schools? A lot of them don't require too many shadowing hours, max is 60... should I continue to look for shadowing opportunities even though I don't have much time and my schedule is kind of packed?
2. Does anyone know about the program at the University of Pittsburgh? I haven't taken my GREs and that is the only school I am applying to that requires them. I am wondering if I should even spend time preparing for the GREs just for one school.

Thanks!!! 😍
- Klaudia

 

[jewel11786]

Your stats look really good. Graduating a semester early doesn't matter, your GPA and pre-req grades do though. Having a good variety of observation/volunteer is important too and if you can secure a letter of recommendation from an OT would be really helpful. I know that Kean and Stockton are extremely hard to get into and personally I haven't heard a lot of good things about Kean either, even though I'm an alumni. A few other schools I'd suggest looking into in the area are Philadelphia U, Thomas Jefferson, U of Sciences in Philly, and Misericordia (where I attend).

Keep in mind now that OT is getting more and more competitive to get into now that everyone is seeking a healthcare job. Expand your options of places to attend and hopefully your chances will be greater.

 

[klaysan]

Thanks, I appreciate your advice!

 

[klaysan]

Also... are Kean U and Stockton harder to get into than NYU and Columbia? That would be ridiculous!

 

[speedyy12]

NYU and Columbia are top ranked OT programs in the U.S so I would think they would be harder. Don't forget that every school looks at different criteria so it just depends. Seton Hall is also getting very competitive, as I am a current student in their program. The rankings for Seton Hall went up this year in U.S News and I have found that the program has prepared me well up to this point in my first Fieldwork II affiliation. Good luck.

 

[jewel11786]

I think Kean has a 10-20% acceptance rate, but I'm sure it depends on how many people apply. I know at my school they accept up to 30 students per year and receive 150-200 applications now. I'd say that all OT programs are very competitive, but I'm sure bigger schools such as Columbia or NYU are even more difficult, I'm sure more students apply there.