question about BS/MS program

[Tahlia]

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hi,

i was a bio major for 2 years and dropped out to work full time. i've done a little shadowing and volunteer work and am sure OT is what i want to pursue. i was thinking of applying for a BS/MS combined program rather than going back to finish my B.S., then applying to an entry-level masters...does this sound like a good idea? does anyone have experience with my kind of situation and can help me? would i still need to take some prerequesites? would i qualify for financial aid? where can i find a list of BS/MS combined programs? any kind of pointers would be tremendously helpful. thank you so much in advance.

 

[OT2Be2013]

hi,

i was a bio major for 2 years and dropped out to work full time. i've done a little shadowing and volunteer work and am sure OT is what i want to pursue. i was thinking of applying for a BS/MS combined program rather than going back to finish my B.S., then applying to an entry-level masters...does this sound like a good idea? does anyone have experience with my kind of situation and can help me? would i still need to take some prerequesites? would i qualify for financial aid? where can i find a list of BS/MS combined programs? any kind of pointers would be tremendously helpful. thank you so much in advance.

Hi Tahlia. You have not completed your bachelor's right? I was actually in a similar situation, although my reasons for dropping out were a bit different.

Combined programs still require you to take prerequisites, so you would have to take some more classes before you can apply. Unfortunately, the admissions process isn't any easier for combined programs than it is for non-combined programs. A community college, as long as you earn good grades, should be fine for this purpose.

If you have not yet earned a four year degree, I think that is the way to go. It would ultimately be less expensive for you, since the tuition for grad school is almost always higher than undergrad and you'd be paying undergrad tuition rates for half of your program. A combined program isn't inferior in any way to an MS program.

You are still eligible for financial aid; in fact, in my case, obtaining financial aid was a little easier than it was when I first entered school because I was old enough to be considered independent of my parents when I went back. You can find a list of BS/MS programs on the AOTA website.

Good luck!

 

[Whistle Pig]

Combined programs still require you to take prerequisites, so you would have to take some more classes before you can apply. Unfortunately, the admissions process isn't any easier for combined programs than it is for non-combined programs.

I must take some exception with this statement. A number of programs offer "guarantees" to undergrads that IF they fulfill certain requirements, then they are "guaranteed" admission to the grad school. Pitt, Duquesne, St. Francis, Gannon, a whole bunch of others ... Still, I don't know how pervasive this is, and I'm not suggesting it is "easier." All I'm saying is admission is guaranteed if/when all requirements are met. And they usually provide a BS degree after year #1 of grad school as well.

 

[OT2Be2013]

I must take some exception with this statement. A number of programs offer "guarantees" to undergrads that IF they fulfill certain requirements, then they are "guaranteed" admission to the grad school. Pitt, Duquesne, St. Francis, Gannon, a whole bunch of others ... Still, I don't know how pervasive this is, and I'm not suggesting it is "easier." All I'm saying is admission is guaranteed if/when all requirements are met. And they usually provide a BS degree after year #1 of grad school as well.

Hmm... the only thing is, do those programs still allow you to do that as a transfer student since the OP isn't just starting out as a freshman? If so, maybe she can do more research on that. AOTA is a good place to start.

For my own program, I had to take the pre-reqs, write about a zillion essays, go through the interviews... the whole nine yards. I will be earning my bachelor's degree a year and a half into the program (soon! 😀), though I don't walk at graduation until I have completed the program in its entirety and earned my master's.

 

[Tahlia]

thank you you two so much for the help! i have another question... should i apply to the school itself first, take the pre-reqs there, then apply to its OT program later on? or should i apply to the school and its OT program simultaneously (prereqs already completed elsewhere)? in which case would i maximize my chances of acceptance?

 

[OT2Be2013]

thank you you two so much for the help! i have another question... should i apply to the school itself first, take the pre-reqs there, then apply to its OT program later on? or should i apply to the school and its OT program simultaneously (prereqs already completed elsewhere)? in which case would i maximize my chances of acceptance?

That's something that depends on the individual school. At my school, while they said they recognized the "vigor" (their words) of science courses taken at their university, where you took your pre-reqs didn't matter as long as they met the requirements. There were lists of course equivalents for the local schools here and you could take those and be ok, but for schools that were out of the area, you had to meet with a faculty member and show him or her the syllabus and get it approved.

On the other hand, other schools might give preference to their own students. If I were you, I would start gathering as much information about the schools you are interested in applying to and contact the admissions offices to find out if any of those schools are offering information sessions where you can meet with the faculty and get your questions answered. A month or two after attending an information session, I contacted the professor, who had expressed that he was open to answering questions, via email and set up a meeting with him to talk with him personally about my pre-reqs (I took a required chemistry class out of state as a freshman). That may not be feasible for you if you don't live locally, though, but it helped me a lot because he gave me advice and let me know I was on the right track.

 

[MOTexas]

Tahlia,

I def. think BS/MS would be a good option for you, If you really would like to finish you Bio degree then by all mean do that. However, you should probably look at costs and the amount of years it may take to finish undergrad and grad (2-3 years at most). As far as pre-reqs go, I am sure anatomy and physics is probably taken care of, you will probably have to take lifespan psych, neuro (which only some schools requre), stats, and perhaps kinesio? You can take them at CC or a University. Do awesome on your pre-reqs and work tremendously hard on finding different observation settings. I personally observed in 6 different settings, and absolutely loved it. Each was very unique in its own way, I learned a whole lot, and it really gives you the idea of whether OT is really what you want to do. With this field i truly believe you must, LOVE it, have patience, and be a people person.

As far as observation hours go, I would say, email and call everyone in your area. Don't be shy about it, because most OT's are willing to help. Some may be busier than others..but even if you do get no for an answer, just move to the next OT on your list! Try hospitals (they are a little more fast paced than other settings), Try private peds clinics, hand therapy, Psych unit...Use all your options and research a whole lot! lol It may sound funny, but when i was deciding if OT was for me, I interviewed quite a few OT's, to figure out how they liked it, where they went to school...But all that will only help you!

Anyway, good luck! It's not an easy process, its stressful but work hard and your end results will def. be rewarding!

 

[lizzo76]

Just to throw in my two cents because while back I was admitted to a combined program (though ultimately pursued a different masters degree (I already had one bachelors), and am now back applying for a second masters (in OT)) - if you are applying to a combined program, you don't need prereqs beyond the usual high school sciences. Maybe the poster who said you do meant that within the BS part of the program, you complete prereqs, prior to starting the MS part of the program? Otherwise the statement doesn't make sense... the BS/MS program generally assumes applicants are coming from high school, so it doesn't require you to take undergraduate courses as a prerequisite for admission. (And yes, once you're in the BS part of an OT program, admission to the MS part is guaranteed, assuming you do well in your earlier courses. Think about it... it really couldn't NOT be guaranteed, because you can't do anything with a BS in OT anymore. You have to have the masters to practice. They wouldn't just leave you hanging with a useless degree.)

Whether this route will be cheaper for you depends on what you already took in your first years of college (and maybe this is what the poster meant about prereqs) - if you didn't do something close to the OT curriculum, you're not necessarily going to just go ahead and finish your last two years of college within the BS part, and then go into the one year post-BS masters program which those in the combined program would normally do. You might have to complete three years of undergrad, on top of the two years you already did, and then do the final grad year, making you be in school for just as much time as you would be if you finished your other undergrad degree and then did the direct-entry masters program. It's really mostly state schools which charge much more for graduate programs than undergraduate programs - private schools usually charge pretty much the same amount.

One thing to think about - The Stafford loan program allows a lot less to be borrowed for undergraduate years than graduate - so if you do the combined BS/MS program in order to make more of your years undergraduate, you'll have less (non-private, non-credit-based) borrowing power for much of your schooling. (I'm not sure how this changes if you're designated an independent student and your parents income is not considered... I think you can borrow more, but not sure how much more.)

Finally... I know that at some schools students who are already within the university, in non-OT majors, have a VERY hard time transferring into the OT major. I don't know if that difficulty would extend to those from outside the university applying as transfer students, or whether it would be easier for outside transfers, or whether it might be harder for outside transfers.

And regarding your question about just applying to the university and completing the prereqs prior to applying to the OT program... can you apply with two years already under your belt and not apply to a specific program? (I assume you'd be trying to apply as a transfer student, not a freshman going for the second bachelors.) And if you can... see my comment above about how difficult it can be to transfer into the OT program... and wouldn't you, at that point, basically be applying to the longer direct-entry masters, not the masters part of a combined program? (not saving you any time or money.) Also - if by "prereqs" you mean those BS classes people in the BS part of an OT program would be taking (versus the basics those applying to direct-entry programs would take) - a lot of the OT classes at many schools are limited enrollment, limited to those in the OT program. Sorry if I am misunderstanding your questions.

 

[OT2Be2013]

Just to throw in my two cents because while back I was admitted to a combined program (though ultimately pursued a different masters degree (I already had one bachelors), and am now back applying for a second masters (in OT)) - if you are applying to a combined program, you don't need prereqs beyond the usual high school sciences. Maybe the poster who said you do meant that within the BS part of the program, you complete prereqs, prior to starting the MS part of the program? Otherwise the statement doesn't make sense... the BS/MS program generally assumes applicants are coming from high school, so it doesn't require you to take undergraduate courses as a prerequisite for admission. (And yes, once you're in the BS part of an OT program, admission to the MS part is guaranteed, assuming you do well in your earlier courses. Think about it... it really couldn't NOT be guaranteed, because you can't do anything with a BS in OT anymore. You have to have the masters to practice. They wouldn't just leave you hanging with a useless degree.)

Just the part about not needing any pre-reqs for a BS/MS program is not necessarily true. At my school, you could not enter as a freshman and declare OT as a major. There was no transferring into the program, either. Everybody had to take those pre-reqs, get the observation/volunteer hours, go through the interview process etc. If you knew that was the path you wanted right out of high school, all that meant was that you would start with knowing what you wanted to do and start taking the prerequisites right off the bat. The only health program that is guaranteed here from the time you are a freshman is respiratory care. Every school is different though. I was admitted to a nursing program right out of high school, but I couldn't have declared nursing right away if I had gone to my current school- I would have had to apply for the nursing school after my sophomore year. None of my classmates came directly from high school; they couldn't have- they needed that two years of college or so first to do pre-requisites.

Also, the bachelor's portion of the program is all OT (and I am talking specifically about my program here- I don't have enough knowledge about other programs). It's all professional and OT-related classes, and the field work level 1s are all in the undergraduate portion. Many if not all of the classes you would have to take during the first year of other (strictly graduate) programs, you take here at the same level (you still need to have a solid knowledge base for the boards no matter what)... only difference is we're "technically" undergrads- the level of the classes is the same you'd expect in any OT program. We took the same science classes (medical physiology... seriously, taught by the med school, gross anatomy, etc.) with graduate level PA and PT students- the only difference between us and them with those classes was that we had a more lenient grading curve. The graduate portion of the program is focused on level 2s and research. That's here, though.