General Admissions & OTCAS Please help me decide... OT vs. OTA vs. SLP

[steveNYot]

I'm in NYC, 30 years old, have 8 years experience in healthcare as an EMT and EKG/phlebotomy, mental health. I'm about to finish up an AA degree in Speech Pathology, but most of my pre-reqs fill OT requirements as well. I'm eyeing OT, but I have SLP as the back-up.

I only have 5-6 classes left to finish my AA. My current GPA is 3.6. I'm planning to apply to two OT schools in my area: Touro College and York College. York only requires an overall GPA of 3.0 but Touro on the other hand requires a overall GPA AND a science GPA of 3.0 each. While my overall GPA is good, my science GPA is 2.75. One of my pre-reqs left to do is chemistry. Do you think if everything else is good (my letter, references, OT volunteer hours, overall GPA) then maybe they won't make a big deal if my science GPA is a little under 3.0?

A part of me is really tempting to just go for OTA because its an associates. I know they average like $53-$55k but that's not too bad for an associates is it? Then again, the other side of me is saying just wait, do the masters in OT or SLP, it will be worth it.

I'm not looking to get rich, but at least to live comfortably and reasonably. For instance, I could be happy making $60-$80k with a masters in SLP or OT. I wouldn't mind that.

Any advice?

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[dobber]

Go to York, its cheaper, its a BS/MS program, and you'll be done in 3/3.5 years

 

[thebiggestsky]

With your AA in Speech Pathology, why do you want to do OT over SLP? Just curious.

I would definitely look at York. I think if a school requests a 3.0, then it's a must. Maybe call or email Touro and ask them. They might be really strict about it, and you wouldn't want to devote a lot of time and energy to applying to a program that would dismiss your app, right?

Edit to add: OTA is a less expensive program probably, but I would imagine it would be easier to find a job as an OTR rather than as a COTA. I may be misinformed (and really don't know what the market is like in NY), but this is what I've heard.

 

[steveNYot]

With your AA in Speech Pathology, why do you want to do OT over SLP? Just curious.

I would definitely look at York. I think if a school requests a 3.0, then it's a must. Maybe call or email Touro and ask them. They might be really strict about it, and you wouldn't want to devote a lot of time and energy to applying to a program that would dismiss your app, right?

Edit to add: OTA is a less expensive program probably, but I would imagine it would be easier to find a job as an OTR rather than as a COTA. I may be misinformed (and really don't know what the market is like in NY), but this is what I've heard.

thebiggestsky,

I agree about York. I'm already at 2 year CUNY School. Being that its public i might have hard time getting in vs. Touro. Long island university Brooklyn isn't ideal since they require more pre reqs than anywhere else. Then there's mercy college which is too far, BUT if you already have a bachelors in anything, you can apply directly for OT

Well correct me if I'm wrong but i hear that OT has the most job opportunities out of the three, that's why i have OT as my main goal and SLP as my backup. I'm just concerned about salary/job security, i don't want to waste my time in school being that I'm 30 now.

OTA would have been cool to do in my 20s if only i had known about it then. But then again the idea of knocking that out in 2 years or less is kinda tempting vs. Doing a masters degree.

 

[OTfromIT]

You might also consider what sort of setting you want to work in (if you even have an inkling at this point). I worked as an aide at a "big box" outpatient clinic and at two inpatient rehab hospitals, and I can count on one hand how many OTA's they hired total between them all. However, if you are interested in senior care or senior rehab, I have seen just as many, if not more, OTA's than OT's. Of course, this is a very limited sample size, but it is something I definitely noticed right away. Perhaps there is some research somewhere that tells if certain settings hire OT's more than OTA's, or vice versa...

 

[steveNYot]

I spoke with York College today, they looked at my transcripts and said everything looks good except... A&P 1 has a C+ and Statistics has a C. If I can get B or above in Chemistry next semester, then that will improve my chances of getting into their OT program.

Do you think I should just stick to the Speech Pathology since I'm already finishing an AA in it or make OT the first priority?

 

[beestrng]

When I initially applied I didn't get any love with sub 3.0 sgpa. I retook it and got B and A in AP 1/2 and it seemed more favorable.

Like OTfromIT said you need to consider the setting you want to be in. There maybe a glut of OTAs in certain areas as some people have told me. So if you are looking into job pay/security I would look into OT.

Acute/Inpatient-Have not spoken/seen too many COTAs in community hospitals in Michigan.

SNFs/Subacute- I have seen a bunch in FL and MI.

You will get paid more in SNFs but everyone doesn't like it.

There was a blog entry about SLP and OT overlap in treatment on the anonymous ot blog. I think it was regarding cotreatments but you can google info on that.

 

[steveNYot]

beestring,

I see. Good to know. Is there also job pay/security in SLP as well?

 

[beestrng]

Probably ask in slp forum.