General Admissions & OTCAS Submit early or retake GRE

[Parker3]

Hey guys,

So I will be applying to several OT programs in the next month or so. The dilemma I'm having is on whether or not to retake the GRE. I took it last week and didn't score as high as I expected. My questions is, should I just use my current scores and submit my applications early as I originally planned (around Sept. 25th). Or should I wait the required 3 weeks and retake the GRE to score higher. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Stats are below for reference.

University: University of Texas
Major: Psychology. Minor: Biology and Sociology
Overall GPA: 3.15
Pre-req GPA: 3.4-3.6
Last 60 GPA: 3.75
GRE: V:155 Q:145
Observations: 35 hrs inpatient , 85 hrs outpatient
Healthcare experience: Firefighter/EMT (4.5 years).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OT2BE2017]

Hey guys,

So I will be applying to several OT programs in the next month or so. The dilemma I'm having is on whether or not to retake the GRE. I took it last week and didn't score as high as I expected. My questions is, should I just use my current scores and submit my applications early as I originally planned (around Sept. 25th). Or should I wait the required 3 weeks and retake the GRE to score higher. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Stats are below for reference.

University: University of Texas
Major: Psychology. Minor: Biology and Sociology
Overall GPA: 3.15
Pre-req GPA: 3.4-3.6
Last 60 GPA: 3.75
GRE: V:155 Q:145
Observations: 35 hrs inpatient , 85 hrs outpatient
Healthcare experience: Firefighter/EMT (4.5 years).

Which schools do you plan on applying to? Also, what are the deadlines for the schools? Are they rolling admissions or normal admission deadlines? Answering these questions will help determine if you should wait and retake the GRE or to submit your app as soon as possible.

The main reason I ask for the deadlines is because OTCAS states it takes 4-6 weeks (but usually faster, depends on how busy they are) for your application to get verified through OTCAS. So say your school has a deadline of October 1st, it would be too late to retake the GRE because of the time it takes to verify your application. In fact, if October 1st, is truly the deadline for the school, submitting around September 25th is cutting it close due to verification.

 

[Parker3]

Which schools do you plan on applying to? Also, what are the deadlines for the schools? Are they rolling admissions or normal admission deadlines? Answering these questions will help determine if you should wait and retake the GRE or to submit your app as soon as possible.

The main reason I ask for the deadlines is because OTCAS states it takes 4-6 weeks (but usually faster, depends on how busy they are) for your application to get verified through OTCAS. So say your school has a deadline of October 1st, it would be too late to retake the GRE because of the time it takes to verify your application. In fact, if October 1st, is truly the deadline for the school, submitting around September 25th is cutting it close due to verification.

Hey there , thanks for the reply. Although these aren't concrete just yet, I have narrowed my list of schools to the following 14 and will probably end u applying to 9 or 10.

Samuel Merritt Oct. 1st Deadline (NO GRE)
Springfield- January 1st Deadline (NO GRE)
AT Still- Rolling (NO GRE)
Usciences- January 1st (NO GRE)
AIC- December 1st (NO GRE)
Shenandoah- Oct. 15th (NO GRE)
Texas Tech- Nov. 15th (NO GRE)
Columbia- Dec. 1st (NO GRE)

St.Augustine- October1st or December 15th (for the following semester)
TWU- Oct. 15th
Nova Southeastern- Jan. 2nd
Towson Feb. 1st
San Jose State - Feb 1st
Creighton (Regis)- Nov. 1st

 

[nOTeworthy]

If you're applying to Texas Tech, do it now. I had an interview set up in the start of October. If you're applying next month, you likely won't get accepted. They do rolling admissions. And your GRE scores are fine in Texas. Your verbal and writing are what matters. Your verbal is above average. I wouldn't re-take it at this point. The schools with rolling admissions should be your biggest concern considering you're waiting until next month to apply. With those schools, ideally, you want your apps complete by August. September at the latest. They accept students as they come. Not by the deadline. They can have a full class before October is over with a November deadline. I was accepted before the deadline. I went with TWU though.

 

[Parker3]

If you're applying to Texas Tech, do it now. I had an interview set up in the start of October. If you're applying next month, you likely won't get accepted. They do rolling admissions. And your GRE scores are fine in Texas. Your verbal and writing are what matters. Your verbal is above average. I wouldn't re-take it at this point. The schools with rolling admissions should be your biggest concern considering you're waiting until next month to apply. With those schools, ideally, you want your apps complete by August. September at the latest. They accept students as they come. Not by the deadline. They can have a full class before October is over with a November deadline. I was accepted before the deadline. I went with TWU though.

Thanks for the reply. I have sent in all of my transcripts and am currently only waiting on my letters of recommendation before I submit. Do you think if I submit for verification on September 21st it would be too late for Texas Tech.? Im honestly a little confused on the concept of rolling admissions. I was under the impression that if there was a deadline for a certain school, then they did not have rolling admission. Guess i was mistaken.

 

[nOTeworthy]

The deadline just means they will accept no more applications beyond that date. But they can and do accept students long before then with rolling admissions. I think you'll be okay with 9/21. Mine processed and verified in less than a week last year.

 

[ambrosa1]

Hey guys,

So I will be applying to several OT programs in the next month or so. The dilemma I'm having is on whether or not to retake the GRE. I took it last week and didn't score as high as I expected. My questions is, should I just use my current scores and submit my applications early as I originally planned (around Sept. 25th). Or should I wait the required 3 weeks and retake the GRE to score higher. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Stats are below for reference.

University: University of Texas
Major: Psychology. Minor: Biology and Sociology
Overall GPA: 3.15
Pre-req GPA: 3.4-3.6
Last 60 GPA: 3.75
GRE: V:155 Q:145
Observations: 35 hrs inpatient , 85 hrs outpatient
Healthcare experience: Firefighter/EMT (4.5 years).

Hello, did you end up retaking the GRE?

 

[Parker3]

Hello, did you end up retaking the GRE?

No, unfortunately I didn't have enough time to. However, I received interview invitations from just about every school I applied to. Hopeful that at least one of them will offer me a spot.

 

[ambrosa1]

No, unfortunately I didn't have enough time to. However, I received interview invitations from just about every school I applied to. Hopeful that at least one of them will offer me a spot.

Nice, looks like you didn't need to retake. Good luck!

 

[gOT2beOT]

Question, so Towson does require the GRE? I cannot get a concrete answer from Admissions. They just sent me a link to the webpage (*eye roll*).

Also congrats on receiving interviews! Our stats are pretty similar. I am taking the GRE tomorrow and I feel that I will earn a similar score. Math is not my strong suit. Your progress towards admission gives me hope! Thank you

 

[NatOT]

Hey there , thanks for the reply. Although these aren't concrete just yet, I have narrowed my list of schools to the following 14 and will probably end u applying to 9 or 10.

Samuel Merritt Oct. 1st Deadline (NO GRE)
Springfield- January 1st Deadline (NO GRE)
AT Still- Rolling (NO GRE)
Usciences- January 1st (NO GRE)
AIC- December 1st (NO GRE)
Shenandoah- Oct. 15th (NO GRE)
Texas Tech- Nov. 15th (NO GRE)
Columbia- Dec. 1st (NO GRE)

St.Augustine- October1st or December 15th (for the following semester)
TWU- Oct. 15th
Nova Southeastern- Jan. 2nd
Towson Feb. 1st
San Jose State - Feb 1st
Creighton (Regis)- Nov. 1st

Which schools did you end up applying to?

 

[Parker3]

Question, so Towson does require the GRE? I cannot get a concrete answer from Admissions. They just sent me a link to the webpage (*eye roll*).

Also congrats on receiving interviews! Our stats are pretty similar. I am taking the GRE tomorrow and I feel that I will earn a similar score. Math is not my strong suit. Your progress towards admission gives me hope! Thank you

I didnt end up applying to Towson but I believe that this was the first year that they began requiring the GRE , I could be wrong though.

Thank you! Good luck on the GRE, if I could give any advice it would be to not get caught up on the math questions you do not know. I spent wayyyy to much time on a few questions and it ended up costing me because I didnt even get close to finishing. I believe if I would have finished my Q score would have been closer to a 150.

Let me know if you need any advice on anything.

 

[Parker3]

Which schools did you end up applying to?

I didnt end up applying to nearly as many as I first had planned. I applied to

ATSU - Interview 2/2
TWU (Denton)- Interviewed at the beginning of Jan
St.Augustine (Austin)- Interview 1/26
Brunel (London)- Interview 2/13
UTEP
Creighton- Interview 2/23