General Admissions & OTCAS OTCAS Transcript Entry and Withdrawals

[am.otstudent]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Being the poindexter I am, I opened OTCAS today right after it became available for this cycle and started entering my transcripts. However, I'm at a loss for what to do with my numerous "W" grades on my transcript - withdrawals. I struggled with my health during undergrad and withdrew from every class one semester to go on medical leave, and have four other "Ws" in various semesters aside from that (again, basically for health reasons). Do I enter these the same way I enter classes for which I earned a grade/credit? Obviously they will see them, as they are on my official transcripts, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to enter them in.

Any info on addressing a medical leave and impact of health on grades also appreciated. How much info do I give? Is struggle due to mental illness viewed less sympathetically than a physical illness might be?

Also, how do you show OTCAS that a science class had a lab section - do you record it as a 0 credit class with no grade, or is there something I'm missing?

 

[MusicalOT14]

First of all good for you at getting a head start. You would list any withdraw courses as you would all of your other courses. Under the section that asks for a grade you would put a W. According to the OTCAS website "Any course with a grade of W (Withdrawn or Withdrawn Failing) or a special classification of “Incomplete” will not be calculated into your GPA’s."
As far as addressing medical concerns that is totally up to you as to how much you want to share. It could be something you include in your personal statement or you could address it in an interview and put a positive spin on how much you have learned / grown from it and how it has inspired you to help others. But otherwise I am not sure there is an area on the application that would allow you to address it.
As far as labs, unless it is listed separately on the transcript I would say keep them as one. The number of credits you received should indicate whether it involved a lab. Labs are normally 4+ credits where as non labs are 3 credits or less. I am not sure if there is a lab option in the classification section or not but otherwise like I said the credits should be an indicator. If you have any questions feel free to ask! Best of luck with your application! 🙂

 

[Bokonomy]

If it makes you feel better, I also has a lot of withdrawals and was able to get accepted into 2 of the 4 schools I was accepted into (and one was my top choice!) Some schools are going to care more about it than others. I personally didn't directly address it, but alluded to it by mentioning I was in a confused spot before discovering OT was for me. It's up to you. You can address it if you want, but it can be tough if you're trying to keep your essay concise.

 

[am.otstudent]

If it makes you feel better, I also has a lot of withdrawals and was able to get accepted into 2 of the 4 schools I was accepted into (and one was my top choice!) Some schools are going to care more about it than others. I personally didn't directly address it, but alluded to it by mentioning I was in a confused spot before discovering OT was for me. It's up to you. You can address it if you want, but it can be tough if you're trying to keep your essay concise.

I definitely feel like part of my issue in undergrad was being confused/changing direction a lot until finding OT. I think it reflects in my grades - looking back, I clearly hated my primary major and withdrew from/earned mediocre grades in most of my classes, but I have earned pretty much straight-As in my science, health, psych, and math classes. It's probably a good way to frame it!

 

[RUNNING_OT]

I definitely feel like part of my issue in undergrad was being confused/changing direction a lot until finding OT. I think it reflects in my grades - looking back, I clearly hated my primary major and withdrew from/earned mediocre grades in most of my classes, but I have earned pretty much straight-As in my science, health, psych, and math classes. It's probably a good way to frame it!

Don't worry, you are definitely not the only one! Keep in mind many schools take the prerequisite GPA or the last 45/60 units into consideration. Not everyone starts college knowing exactly what they want to do in the future and sometimes our grades reflect that. I, too had poor performances at first, but once I figured Kinesiology was for me, I excelled in my classes. I got accepted to a few programs last year and am starting a program thia fall ☺.

 

[FutureOT2018x]

Being the poindexter I am, I opened OTCAS today right after it became available for this cycle and started entering my transcripts. However, I'm at a loss for what to do with my numerous "W" grades on my transcript - withdrawals. I struggled with my health during undergrad and withdrew from every class one semester to go on medical leave, and have four other "Ws" in various semesters aside from that (again, basically for health reasons). Do I enter these the same way I enter classes for which I earned a grade/credit? Obviously they will see them, as they are on my official transcripts, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to enter them in.

Any info on addressing a medical leave and impact of health on grades also appreciated. How much info do I give? Is struggle due to mental illness viewed less sympathetically than a physical illness might be?

Also, how do you show OTCAS that a science class had a lab section - do you record it as a 0 credit class with no grade, or is there something I'm missing?

I would personally be carefully approach how you phrase it because obviously they want students who can be resilient through rigorous coursework. I had to address a WF from when I was in nursing school and an academic suspension. Basically, I explained the situation, what I learned from the situation, how I grew from it, what I've done to improve as a student/professional, and how I intended on staying resilient through grad school. I also included specific steps I took to learn from my mistakes (student development workshops, etc.) and what I have academically/professionally accomplished since then. Whatever you do, turn a negative into a positive. When I wrote my essay, I didn't know how to go about it either. There wasn't a lot of info from students on the OTD forum, but I found great insight on other forums on this site---like for Med Students. While what we professionally do is quite different, the process of getting into a program is quite similar. Hope this helps!

 

[cmbruin@13]

I have a question about transcript entry on OTCAS. My first semester in college, I dropped CHEM14A in the 10th week because of a personal emergency.

On my transcript, there is nothing listed for the grade (no letter indicating dropped). How would I input this class into the system?

 

[MusicalOT14]

I have a question about transcript entry on OTCAS. My first semester in college, I dropped CHEM14A in the 10th week because of a personal emergency.

On my transcript, there is nothing listed for the grade (no letter indicating dropped). How would I input this class into the system?

I would think it would still be a W for withdraw, since there is no letter grade. Although you could always email or call OTCAS to verify what they want you to put.