General Admissions & OTCAS Texas schools 2020-2021 stats

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jhaOT said:
i haven’t heard anything from ACU besides an email saying my application was under review
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Same with me :(. Its been almost a month since they sent out that email
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thefutureot said:
Me! As no one has taken me off the waitlist, I will likely be attending USA at the Austin location starting this May.
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Did you have to make a deposit already? I asked for more time to make a decision but they said they couldn't give me an extension so I had to decline my acceptance.
 
thefutureot said:
Me! As no one has taken me off the waitlist, I will likely be attending USA at the Austin location starting this May.
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I’m in my last didactic trimester at USA Austin. I would highly, highly suggest waiting for another university. I would be more than happy to expand on that.
 
zoem said:
I’m in my last didactic trimester at USA Austin. I would highly, highly suggest waiting for another university. I would be more than happy to expand on that.
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I had to decline my offer at USA, but have been regretting it as I'm still on the waitlist for other programs, so if you could expand on that I would appreciate it!
 
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cleangreenlight said:
I had to decline my offer at USA, but have been regretting it as I'm still on the waitlist for other programs, so if you could expand on that I would appreciate it!
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You dodged a bullet, in my opinion and in the opinion of the majority of my cohort. First, I highly recommend taking another look at reviews online - there weren't nearly as many when I was accepted and the ones that existed were, on the whole, pretty good. Now, they are more reflective of students' time there. The bad ones that I came across were the ones that studious students who are intrinsically motivated to do well scoff at and assume that the poster is lazy and wants a diploma handed to them - this, it turns out, is not the case.

I will say, though, that the fact that I will be finished with my entire program, fieldwork and all, months earlier than other programs is a silver lining. Certainly not silver enough to make me not regret my decision to attend USA, but it softens the blow just a little. Another preface is that some of the instructors are absolutely golden and, given the chance, I would have loved to have learned so much more from them, but the logistics of additional learning from really great instructors is such that it's not realistic to try due to both instructor and student time constraints and the proverbial handcuffs placed on them by administration.

I also want to preface with the fact that I cannot speak for the PT, SLP, or nursing programs - I've actually heard great things about the PT program, but couldn't offer an opinion from an insider's perspective.

First and foremost, it's a private university. As such, the tuition is double, triple, even quadruple what you will pay at other universities for the same (or even better) education and far less access to resources. Despite OTs not being allowed on campus during the pandemic (while PTs are and other universities are almost back in full swing with precautions), and not accessing resources (the gym, labs, study rooms, etc. etc.) we are still paying 100% tuition and 100% of the fees for the aforementioned resources. We've protested, gotten hundreds of signatures on numerous petitions, and have pled with the university to lighten the financial burden considering OTs are accounting for such a small percent of their current overhead - we were essentially told to stop whining.

Big one is that USA is absolutely NOT as "clinically-based" as they claim to be (in comparison to the more research-focused programs out there). The curriculum is very, very research-heavy. I've heard time and time again that OTRs should be researching, publishing, advocating, and serve as a foghorn for theory while COTAs are more for the actual "grunt work" of handling patients, treatment planning, etc..

Occupational therapists are second-class citizens (you'll see a lot of this lamented in other reviews). Case in point, we were promised a cadaver lab. What we got was extremely limited time (I'd say a combined 60 minutes the entire trimester) with 1 cadaver because "the PTs needed the lab." Instructors do not allow you, as an OT to touch or move the cadavers which is counterintuitive and pretty much makes the cadaver lab useless to OTs. We were also romanced with the promise of this new, shiny technology - the Anatomage Table (it's a really neat piece of tech, you should Google it) - an immersive table that mimics a cadaver - OTs, to this day, are not allowed to touch it.

Throughout the pandemic, OTs have been granted very, very limited in-class time, significantly less than PTs. Their rationale is that, to effectively treat patients as an OT, physical touch is not as necessary as it is for PTs so classes that teach mobilization, soft tissue techniques, modalities, etc... "aren't really necessary." Pandemic aside, you'll only be exposed to those aspects of OT in your last trimester, and not very much. Granted, the pandemic isn't forever (we hope), however, how the university behaves in times like this raises concerns for future behavior.

The curriculum is severely lacking and does very little to prepare you for a real world career in OT. I would say that nearly 50% of the classes that I've taken, I've passed with an A without buying the book or engaging in the online lecture content. How? It's nonsense and near irrelevant - winging it and doing the busy work gets you the A - this is not ok... half the curriculum is useless, meaning I've paid nearly $50k (half the cost for MOT) for useless classes.

I'm in my 4th trimester and, had it not been for my 6 years in an OT clinic (owned and operated by myself and my OT fiancee), until very, very recently, I could not tell you how to address a single complaint you might have (pain, stiffness, immobility, etc) that would warrant an OT referral. Most in my cohort have learned these techniques and approaches through outside inquiry and study. Even with what we are just now learning, we hear "learn this for school, but this is not how it's done in the real world) more often than not. You'll be a theory expert but have absolutely no idea how to apply it without harming your patients.

Here comes the complaint that, like I said before, "good" students roll their eyes at because it sounds like a cry-baby complaint from a lazy student. Your assignment load is so heavy in nonsense busy work, you have little time to learn applicable skills. Content is so disorganized that even the easy but labor-intensive busy work that should take a few hours takes days to figure out - often turned in incorrectly because directions were darn near written in Mandarin or non-existent.

FIeldwork placements - USA has a TERRIBLE reputation with Austin facilities. The process is NOT transparent and coordinators seemingly drop the ball on being persistent and dedicated to placing students. We were promised placement confirmations by Jan 12, most aren't placed and coordinators are sweating. Several students have reached out to facilities where they have contacts and are told that USA has never reached out and that they have placements that can be confirmed NOW if only USA's FW coordinators would get in touch - these students are told to stand down or have their possible placements cancelled due to conflicts of interest.

Honestly, I could go on and on and on. I haven't even scratched the surface here. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.
 
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HopefulOT1 said:
I can sort of speak to the reputation of USA among Austin OTs as well-
I currently work at a pediatric clinic in Austin- they won’t even consider taking students from USA for fieldwork. My mom is an OT, and she says that USA has a pretty bad reputation at least around the Austin area. She encouraged me not to even consider the program even though it is close to home and I could live rent free! I’m not sure about elsewhere. She knows multiple USA graduates that have very much regretted going to USA (they have had some difficulty finding a job and think it’s because of the USA reputation. This was pre-COVID also).
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I hate that I keep seeing negative stuff about the school on here but know people personally at the Miami or Dallas or st Augustine campus that say the school and professors are great. It's the only school I applied to and got into so the negativity you guys have experienced surprises me.
 
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futureotamy said:
I hate that I keep seeing negative stuff about the school on here but know people personally at the Miami or Dallas or st Augustine campus that say the school and professors are great. It's the only school I applied to and got into so the negativity you guys have experienced surprises me.
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I sincerely hope that your experience is 1000 times better and you reply to this thread this time next year disagreeing with everything I’ve said. I really do. We’ve voiced our concerns and grievances to anyone in admin willing to give us the time of day until we’re blue in the face and defeated. Some, very small, changes have been made (for example, 2nd tri OTs and 4th tri PTs are no longer taking the same neuro class together as it was so unfair to both with the experience and education gap skewing statistical analysis of student outcomes because PTs aced the class while OTs struggled and barely clung to passing grades) but on the whole, most of us going on rotations/graduating soon regret that our grad school experience was such an unnecessarily miserable experience.
 
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zoem said:
You dodged a bullet, in my opinion and in the opinion of the majority of my cohort. First, I highly recommend taking another look at reviews online - there weren't nearly as many when I was accepted and the ones that existed were, on the whole, pretty good. Now, they are more reflective of students' time there. The bad ones that I came across were the ones that studious students who are intrinsically motivated to do well scoff at and assume that the poster is lazy and wants a diploma handed to them - this, it turns out, is not the case.

I will say, though, that the fact that I will be finished with my entire program, fieldwork and all, months earlier than other programs is a silver lining. Certainly not silver enough to make me not regret my decision to attend USA, but it softens the blow just a little. Another preface is that some of the instructors are absolutely golden and, given the chance, I would have loved to have learned so much more from them, but the logistics of additional learning from really great instructors is such that it's not realistic to try due to both instructor and student time constraints and the proverbial handcuffs placed on them by administration.

I also want to preface with the fact that I cannot speak for the PT, SLP, or nursing programs - I've actually heard great things about the PT program, but couldn't offer an opinion from an insider's perspective.

First and foremost, it's a private university. As such, the tuition is double, triple, even quadruple what you will pay at other universities for the same (or even better) education and far less access to resources. Despite OTs not being allowed on campus during the pandemic (while PTs are and other universities are almost back in full swing with precautions), and not accessing resources (the gym, labs, study rooms, etc. etc.) we are still paying 100% tuition and 100% of the fees for the aforementioned resources. We've protested, gotten hundreds of signatures on numerous petitions, and have pled with the university to lighten the financial burden considering OTs are accounting for such a small percent of their current overhead - we were essentially told to stop whining.

Big one is that USA is absolutely NOT as "clinically-based" as they claim to be (in comparison to the more research-focused programs out there). The curriculum is very, very research-heavy. I've heard time and time again that OTRs should be researching, publishing, advocating, and serve as a foghorn for theory while COTAs are more for the actual "grunt work" of handling patients, treatment planning, etc..

Occupational therapists are second-class citizens (you'll see a lot of this lamented in other reviews). Case in point, we were promised a cadaver lab. What we got was extremely limited time (I'd say a combined 60 minutes the entire trimester) with 1 cadaver because "the PTs needed the lab." Instructors do not allow you, as an OT to touch or move the cadavers which is counterintuitive and pretty much makes the cadaver lab useless to OTs. We were also romanced with the promise of this new, shiny technology - the Anatomage Table (it's a really neat piece of tech, you should Google it) - an immersive table that mimics a cadaver - OTs, to this day, are not allowed to touch it.

Throughout the pandemic, OTs have been granted very, very limited in-class time, significantly less than PTs. Their rationale is that, to effectively treat patients as an OT, physical touch is not as necessary as it is for PTs so classes that teach mobilization, soft tissue techniques, modalities, etc... "aren't really necessary." Pandemic aside, you'll only be exposed to those aspects of OT in your last trimester, and not very much. Granted, the pandemic isn't forever (we hope), however, how the university behaves in times like this raises concerns for future behavior.

The curriculum is severely lacking and does very little to prepare you for a real world career in OT. I would say that nearly 50% of the classes that I've taken, I've passed with an A without buying the book or engaging in the online lecture content. How? It's nonsense and near irrelevant - winging it and doing the busy work gets you the A - this is not ok... half the curriculum is useless, meaning I've paid nearly $50k (half the cost for MOT) for useless classes.

I'm in my 4th trimester and, had it not been for my 6 years in an OT clinic (owned and operated by myself and my OT fiancee), until very, very recently, I could not tell you how to address a single complaint you might have (pain, stiffness, immobility, etc) that would warrant an OT referral. Most in my cohort have learned these techniques and approaches through outside inquiry and study. Even with what we are just now learning, we hear "learn this for school, but this is not how it's done in the real world) more often than not. You'll be a theory expert but have absolutely no idea how to apply it without harming your patients.

Here comes the complaint that, like I said before, "good" students roll their eyes at because it sounds like a cry-baby complaint from a lazy student. Your assignment load is so heavy in nonsense busy work, you have little time to learn applicable skills. Content is so disorganized that even the easy but labor-intensive busy work that should take a few hours takes days to figure out - often turned in incorrectly because directions were darn near written in Mandarin or non-existent.

FIeldwork placements - USA has a TERRIBLE reputation with Austin facilities. The process is NOT transparent and coordinators seemingly drop the ball on being persistent and dedicated to placing students. We were promised placement confirmations by Jan 12, most aren't placed and coordinators are sweating. Several students have reached out to facilities where they have contacts and are told that USA has never reached out and that they have placements that can be confirmed NOW if only USA's FW coordinators would get in touch - these students are told to stand down or have their possible placements cancelled due to conflicts of interest.

Honestly, I could go on and on and on. I haven't even scratched the surface here. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.
Click to expand...

Wow. Thanks for sharing your experience. I know this particular university has multiple locations, so perhaps some are better than others, but I think these concerns you mentioned extend to the San Diego campus as well. Back when I was first starting my OT journey and I was living in San Diego at the time, I took a tour of this school because I knew nothing about it and it was and still is the only OT school in San Diego County. I didn't want to move so my interest was piqued by its convenience. It was located in a business-park setting and on my tour I got distinct corporate-y vibes. It wasn't until later when I went home that I learned it is a for-profit university. Ultimately, it is being run as a business, answering to shareholders, with profit as its number one priority. This stands in stark contrast to non-profit schools which place student success front and center with emphasis on attracting high-quality faculty who will perform research and add value to the school's reputation.

I met multiple graduates at the SNF and the peds outpatient clinic I did my hours at who gave me a PSA like yours to steer clear and I appreciated it. I would go as far as to say to be wary of any for-profit school (i.e. West Coast University here in LA, and possibly Stanbridge? in OC). It isn't that a quality education is impossible at USA and I am sure some outstanding OTs graduate from these programs, but OT-hopefuls can be a bit starry-eyed and need to hear sage words like yours. Thanks again for sharing.
 
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zoem said:
You dodged a bullet, in my opinion and in the opinion of the majority of my cohort. First, I highly recommend taking another look at reviews online - there weren't nearly as many when I was accepted and the ones that existed were, on the whole, pretty good. Now, they are more reflective of students' time there. The bad ones that I came across were the ones that studious students who are intrinsically motivated to do well scoff at and assume that the poster is lazy and wants a diploma handed to them - this, it turns out, is not the case.

I will say, though, that the fact that I will be finished with my entire program, fieldwork and all, months earlier than other programs is a silver lining. Certainly not silver enough to make me not regret my decision to attend USA, but it softens the blow just a little. Another preface is that some of the instructors are absolutely golden and, given the chance, I would have loved to have learned so much more from them, but the logistics of additional learning from really great instructors is such that it's not realistic to try due to both instructor and student time constraints and the proverbial handcuffs placed on them by administration.

I also want to preface with the fact that I cannot speak for the PT, SLP, or nursing programs - I've actually heard great things about the PT program, but couldn't offer an opinion from an insider's perspective.

First and foremost, it's a private university. As such, the tuition is double, triple, even quadruple what you will pay at other universities for the same (or even better) education and far less access to resources. Despite OTs not being allowed on campus during the pandemic (while PTs are and other universities are almost back in full swing with precautions), and not accessing resources (the gym, labs, study rooms, etc. etc.) we are still paying 100% tuition and 100% of the fees for the aforementioned resources. We've protested, gotten hundreds of signatures on numerous petitions, and have pled with the university to lighten the financial burden considering OTs are accounting for such a small percent of their current overhead - we were essentially told to stop whining.

Big one is that USA is absolutely NOT as "clinically-based" as they claim to be (in comparison to the more research-focused programs out there). The curriculum is very, very research-heavy. I've heard time and time again that OTRs should be researching, publishing, advocating, and serve as a foghorn for theory while COTAs are more for the actual "grunt work" of handling patients, treatment planning, etc..

Occupational therapists are second-class citizens (you'll see a lot of this lamented in other reviews). Case in point, we were promised a cadaver lab. What we got was extremely limited time (I'd say a combined 60 minutes the entire trimester) with 1 cadaver because "the PTs needed the lab." Instructors do not allow you, as an OT to touch or move the cadavers which is counterintuitive and pretty much makes the cadaver lab useless to OTs. We were also romanced with the promise of this new, shiny technology - the Anatomage Table (it's a really neat piece of tech, you should Google it) - an immersive table that mimics a cadaver - OTs, to this day, are not allowed to touch it.

Throughout the pandemic, OTs have been granted very, very limited in-class time, significantly less than PTs. Their rationale is that, to effectively treat patients as an OT, physical touch is not as necessary as it is for PTs so classes that teach mobilization, soft tissue techniques, modalities, etc... "aren't really necessary." Pandemic aside, you'll only be exposed to those aspects of OT in your last trimester, and not very much. Granted, the pandemic isn't forever (we hope), however, how the university behaves in times like this raises concerns for future behavior.

The curriculum is severely lacking and does very little to prepare you for a real world career in OT. I would say that nearly 50% of the classes that I've taken, I've passed with an A without buying the book or engaging in the online lecture content. How? It's nonsense and near irrelevant - winging it and doing the busy work gets you the A - this is not ok... half the curriculum is useless, meaning I've paid nearly $50k (half the cost for MOT) for useless classes.

I'm in my 4th trimester and, had it not been for my 6 years in an OT clinic (owned and operated by myself and my OT fiancee), until very, very recently, I could not tell you how to address a single complaint you might have (pain, stiffness, immobility, etc) that would warrant an OT referral. Most in my cohort have learned these techniques and approaches through outside inquiry and study. Even with what we are just now learning, we hear "learn this for school, but this is not how it's done in the real world) more often than not. You'll be a theory expert but have absolutely no idea how to apply it without harming your patients.

Here comes the complaint that, like I said before, "good" students roll their eyes at because it sounds like a cry-baby complaint from a lazy student. Your assignment load is so heavy in nonsense busy work, you have little time to learn applicable skills. Content is so disorganized that even the easy but labor-intensive busy work that should take a few hours takes days to figure out - often turned in incorrectly because directions were darn near written in Mandarin or non-existent.

FIeldwork placements - USA has a TERRIBLE reputation with Austin facilities. The process is NOT transparent and coordinators seemingly drop the ball on being persistent and dedicated to placing students. We were promised placement confirmations by Jan 12, most aren't placed and coordinators are sweating. Several students have reached out to facilities where they have contacts and are told that USA has never reached out and that they have placements that can be confirmed NOW if only USA's FW coordinators would get in touch - these students are told to stand down or have their possible placements cancelled due to conflicts of interest.

Honestly, I could go on and on and on. I haven't even scratched the surface here. If you have specific questions, please feel free to ask.
Click to expand...
That’s is super helpful information! I had heard things bad things about USA from my shadowing facilities but never anything specific. I was accepted into USA so this really solidifies my choice to attend another school that isn’t in my dream city. It also gives me an idea on what to look for in an OT school and to make sure we are treated fairly. I work at a clinic where there were some USA OT fieldwork students and they said they had a really hard time being placed at field work and one girl had to go to Arizona for her fieldwork.
 
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I have been wondering is there a big difference between a private ot program vs. a public ot program? I have tried researching the benefits of each but have had no success. USA is private/profit is there a difference between profit and non in the level of education?
Something else is with a lot of the Private schools you are sharing the resources with PA’s, PT’s and med students. My fear is just like stated does one profession get better resources like at USA?
For me I have had success getting accepted to private institutes. Is the application pool so much larger for the Public schools?
 
LT65 said:
I have been wondering is there a big difference between a private ot program vs. a public ot program? I have tried researching the benefits of each but have had no success. USA is private/profit is there a difference between profit and non in the level of education?
Something else is with a lot of the Private schools you are sharing the resources with PA’s, PT’s and med students. My fear is just like stated does one profession get better resources like at USA?
For me I have had success getting accepted to private institutes. Is the application pool so much larger for the Public schools?
Click to expand...
I really couldn’t speak on the differences/pros/cons of public vs private. What I can say is that learning alongside those other professions is super beneficial and can only help in future patient care. You’ll learn things that aren’t part of an OT curriculum - diagnoses, diagnostics, differential diagnoses, how to approach some of these things in ways your books or instructors don’t know let alone will ever tell you.

It also adds to the credibility and exposure of OT as a profession and allows you to network with the very professionals that you’ll come to rely on for outside advocacy, referrals, and a reply to a quick text asking about a complex case. I wish wish wish we were working closely with PTs, PAs, NPs, etc. versus simply having some classes in the same building.
 
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I didn't see a groupme for TWU Houston 2024 yet. If you want to join here is the link :) GroupMe
 
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I’ve been accepted into both UTHSCSA and UTMB and I’m having a hard time deciding which school I’d prefer to attend. Any opinions? Why y’all chose one over the other?
 
I just got off of the waitlist at TTUHSC on 3/5. I will accept since I haven’t heard back from TWU Denton.
 
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otapplicant20 said:
I’ve been accepted into both UTHSCSA and UTMB and I’m having a hard time deciding which school I’d prefer to attend. Any opinions? Why y’all chose one over the other?
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I've heard uthscsa has been a little better because of the lifestyle living in the city and more opportunity's in the end for fieldwork placements
 
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Hey group! I’ve decided to attend the program at LSU and wouldn’t change my mind at this point- however, I’m still curious if I’ll ever get off that UTMB waitlist! Anyone know if they are done with the waitlist yet?

Thanks
 
For those still on the waitlist at TWU, did any of you receive this email from them today? Back in December I accepted to be placed on the waitlist but it looks like I got the same email again.

“If you would like to accept your place on the wait-list, please complete the form found on this link by January 15, 2021. If we do not hear from you by this date, you will not remain on our wait-list. TWU does not reveal an applicant's ranking on the wait-list.”
 
astridgass said:
For those still on the waitlist at TWU, did any of you receive this email from them today? Back in December I accepted to be placed on the waitlist but it looks like I got the same email again.

“If you would like to accept your place on the wait-list, please complete the form found on this link by January 15, 2021. If we do not hear from you by this date, you will not remain on our wait-list. TWU does not reveal an applicant's ranking on the wait-list.”
Click to expand...
i got the same one, I think it was an accident
 
shine525 said:
I got an email saying that they're still working off the waitlist and asking me to confirm continued desire to stay on the list.they ju
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dominiqueeee said:
i got the same one, I think it was an accident
Click to expand...
Okay! They just sent a follow up email to disregard that one and they provided an updated link to submit before March. At the very end it has a section for optional comment. Are you all putting anything specific there?
 
astridgass said:
Okay! They just sent a follow up email to disregard that one and they provided an updated link to submit before March. At the very end it has a section for optional comment. Are you all putting anything specific there?
Click to expand...
I just put that I would love to attend this program. I’m hoping this might clear some names off and we can get accepted!
 
anyone hear back from abilene? i feel like it’s been a while since they sent out the last email
 
jhaOT said:
anyone hear back from abilene? i feel like it’s been a while since they sent out the last email
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I emailed them and they said the cohort isn’t full. I think what they’re doing is sending out acceptances a few at a time and then if the applicant declines then they send out some more again. So they’re going super slow.
 
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Just got off the waitlist for TWU-DALLAS !😄
 
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TWU waitlist is moving. Has anyone been accepted to TTU and has now decided on TWU because they got off the waitlist? Just wondering how many TTU spots might open up?
 
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Just got off the waitlist at TWU Dallas! I’m currently committed to UTMB. Anyone have any thoughts/heard anything about either of the schools? I heard some not-so-great things about TWU but idk how true they are.
 
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