Program-Specific Info / Q's Philadelphia area OT programs/ Questions about applying

[AGOT]

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Hello 🙂

I'm a long time reader on here but this is my first time posting. I have a few questions about applying for graduate schools. Here's a little bit of background:

I'm currently a senior in my last semester at Philadelphia University, and I'm majoring in psychology with a biology minor. I have completed all of my prerequisites for the OT programs that I'm planning on applying to. My overall GPA is currently 3.912 and my prerequisite GPA is 3.97. I have about 50 observation hours completed so far. Most of my hours were in elementary schools (about 40 hours), and I was able to spend about 8 hours at a local hospital in the inpatient rehab unit.

The schools that I'm planning on applying to are Philadelphia University, Thomas Jefferson University, Salus University, and Temple University. Jefferson is my top choice right now, but I have heard that it is EXTREMELY competitive, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Here are some of my questions:

• Are there any students on here that have attended or are currently attending any of these schools? Do you have any information to share about the application process or about the schools in general?
• Is there a certain number of observation hours that I should be aiming for? Most schools that I'm looking at require 50, but I feel like I should probably have more.
• I'm assuming that most people take the general GRE. Has anyone taken the GRE subject tests (such as the bio or psych tests)? I'm a little bit worried about the general GRE because there is a math section and I'm not great at math. Does anyone know if GRE scores are focused on heavily at any of the schools that I listed above?

Sorry--that was more than I planned on asking!
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this 🙂

 

[Bokonomy]

Hey, I'm an incoming student at Jefferson!

Anyway, you have a better pre req/cum GPA than I did when I applied, same for with Salus, and I got in (didn't apply to the others). I had about 100 hours between 4 settings. If you can get some more at another setting in progress, I'd recommend it.

I took the MAT instead of the GRE. I believe most of the schools in the area accept it, and it's 75 bucks and an hour. Barely any math on there!

I'm not sure what to say about acceptances. They accepted a wide range of students with different backgrounds. You don't have to be a perfect student, so don't worry too much, and just think about why you want to be an OT and you'll be good. Good luck!

 

[AGOT]

Hey, I'm an incoming student at Jefferson!

Anyway, you have a better pre req/cum GPA than I did when I applied, same for with Salus, and I got in (didn't apply to the others). I had about 100 hours between 4 settings. If you can get some more at another setting in progress, I'd recommend it.

I took the MAT instead of the GRE. I believe most of the schools in the area accept it, and it's 75 bucks and an hour. Barely any math on there!

I'm not sure what to say about acceptances. They accepted a wide range of students with different backgrounds. You don't have to be a perfect student, so don't worry too much, and just think about why you want to be an OT and you'll be good. Good luck!

Thanks for responding! I'm going to look into the MAT. I think I would be more comfortable taking a test without a math section. I will try to find a few more places to observe to get some more hours.

 

[Bokonomy]

Now that I'm in my fourth week of classes, I wanted to update you a bit about my experience.

For the most part, my professors are great! Even though it's a "competitive" program, I don't get a cutthroat feel for the culture of the program. Half of the class is in the EMOT, and a quarter each are in the BS/MS or the OTD. We share most of our classes together, but some of these classes are broken into lab groups, so it doesn't feel like close to 80 students! Although I don't know everyone's names...

If you want to be a grad assistant, there are opportunities to get involved for about 8 hours a week. It's not much, but it's great to get involved in something you're interested in.

Another somewhat unique opportunity is Health Mentors, where we work with people in other programs in a small group on the health conditions of a member of a community. This lasts 2 years, and I think we meet once a month?

It's cool to be within walking distance of lots of things, and while it's not a traditional campus, some activities go on.

As for fieldworks, I'm not sure if we get an advantage over other schools because I got placed pretty far for mine even though I live on campus... But it's not a big deal. It just depends on how lucky you get, I guess.

So that's all I know so far I guess! Let me know if you have other questions! I love it here, but also got a good vibe from Salus when I interviewed. I didn't apply to the other two, but as of now, even though PhilaU is integrating with Jefferson, it's not affecting the program yet.

 

[AGOT]

Now that I'm in my fourth week of classes, I wanted to update you a bit about my experience.

For the most part, my professors are great! Even though it's a "competitive" program, I don't get a cutthroat feel for the culture of the program. Half of the class is in the EMOT, and a quarter each are in the BS/MS or the OTD. We share most of our classes together, but some of these classes are broken into lab groups, so it doesn't feel like close to 80 students! Although I don't know everyone's names...

If you want to be a grad assistant, there are opportunities to get involved for about 8 hours a week. It's not much, but it's great to get involved in something you're interested in.

Another somewhat unique opportunity is Health Mentors, where we work with people in other programs in a small group on the health conditions of a member of a community. This lasts 2 years, and I think we meet once a month?

It's cool to be within walking distance of lots of things, and while it's not a traditional campus, some activities go on.

As for fieldworks, I'm not sure if we get an advantage over other schools because I got placed pretty far for mine even though I live on campus... But it's not a big deal. It just depends on how lucky you get, I guess.

So that's all I know so far I guess! Let me know if you have other questions! I love it here, but also got a good vibe from Salus when I interviewed. I didn't apply to the other two, but as of now, even though PhilaU is integrating with Jefferson, it's not affecting the program yet.

Thank you for the update! I'm glad that you seem to be enjoying it so far. I heard about the Health Mentor program when I went for an info session and it sounded interesting.