Too late to choose OT?

[Theresa92]

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This is my first time posting on this site, but I have browsed the OT forum a bit and I find it helpful. I am a junior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and I'm majoring in Psychology. I also am majoring in Business Management. For most of my life, I have always wanted to work in the mental health field. Specifically, counseling. I was planning on attending grad school for my masters in counseling so that I could individually work with patients.

Recently, I visited my career counselor at school. I took the Strong Career Test(the test matches your interests to the interests of those in dozens of occupations), and it came out with OT as the #1 career aligned with my interests. I have never thought about OT as a possible career choice, but after researching, reading, and asking more questions, I think that I would enjoy OT a bit more than counseling.

Here is the thing.. I only have two years of college left, and I feel that it may be too late to choose OT has a potential career. I have taken statistics, sociology, and abnormal psychology(which as I understand are prerequisites to most OT programs). I have not taken any of the sciences such as anatomy, physiology, etc. and I have taken no labs. I also have not taken developmental science. My college does not offer an inclusive developmental science, instead it offers child, adolescent, and adult developmental psych. 3 different courses I would have to take.

I got a B in the sociology, and a C in abnormal psychology and statistics. I went through some personal problems in my life, and unfortunately I did not devote enough time to my school work. I really regret this now. Currently, my GPA is a 2.9. I know for a fact that if I take the science pre-reqs, then I can get a pretty strong grade in those.

I guess what I am wondering is... is it too late to pursue OT as a career choice? Given that I have not taken about half the pre-reqs yet. And 2/3 of the pre-reqs that I DID take, I got a C. I definitely know that I can and WILL bring my GPA up. I started very strong as a freshman in college. My 1st semester of sophomore year was horrible. That's how my GPA lowered... I bounced back my 2nd semester though. Now as a junior... I'm wondering if that 1st semester of sophomore year ruined all my chances of grad school?? 🙁

 

[Hillary]

I definitely think you can do it. If for some reason you can't fit all your prereqs in, then take the remaining ones at a community college after you graduate or during the summer after your junior year, and get good grades. You can even take some classes over, I ended up taking 3 classes over that I got B-'s in. I didn't decide to pursue OT until after a couple months after I graduated from college, then spent a year taking prereqs and shadowing, and now Im about to apply. Btw I only have a 3.1 but think I still have a good chance because of my experience and personal statement. Some schools only look at your last 60 units (2 years) of school.

 

[movershaker]

you have pleenttyy! of time. i would double check that you need all three of those developmental classes. look at what's required of schools you might be interested in for mot, and you can even contact them to clarify and ask questions. do you requirements with the rest of your degree. if you get As your earlier lower grades may be explainable/acceptable. if they are average or low, you may want to retake and comm college could save you $.

it is never too late! you are at a great time to decide. tons of ppl your age have no clue. and tons of ppl go back and change careers many times throughout their lives, many going into OT much later in their lives/careers. you are fine! good luck!

 

[CurlyHairedGirl]

I also took some of those career tests - but waited until I was 2 years out of college and was in a career field I didn't enjoy. Then spent another 10 years staying in the field I didn't enjoy most of the time, before deciding to bite the bullet and go back and spend 3 years to take the pre-reqs and apply for schools.


If you think you want to be an OT, go for it now.

 

[Marie1441]

OT schools don't put a heavy emphasis on just your GPA. They look at the whole package (GRE, extra curricular, real life experiences, volunteer, etc). I think you'll be a strong applicant if you retake your pre-reqs and do dynamite on the GRE. Also, each school is a little different. I've been to a few open houses and they look for different qualities in an applicant. I suggest you attend a couple of informational sessions to get a better idea of what your ideal schools are looking for.

With that said, it's never too late to go to OT school. I graduated over 2 years ago with a BS in psyc and I've worked in many different job settings. I finally realized that OT was for me and it took me over a year to get my pre-req ducks lined up in a row. Actually, I went to an info session at OSU and I talked with one of the prof in the program. She said that she is making a push towards admission boards to favor individuals who have a little more "real life" experience under their belt. I hope that helps. Good luck with everything!

 

[EastCoastHope]

OT schools do put a heavy weight on your GPA. The ones I considered and the ones I got did get into use it as a filter before even reading the rest of your application. My GPA suffered from the fact I had a "fun" first semester in college but they didn't seem to pay attention when I tried to explain the facts in an addendum.

For example my college transcript also contained classes I took as a junior in HIGH SCHOOL and were counted even no other applicant had their, in effect, high school grades counted towards their GPA.

But it may be just the schools I applied to.

So, yes, your GPA will probably matter in my experience. But if you go visit the programs you are considering before applying, explain the situation and ask them if they will consider that it was just one bad semester, you'll get a better idea if they are reasonable people who you will even want to study with or not.

Don't forget you are a consumer who will pay a lot of money for the degree. If they don't sound reasonable, move on.

Hope this helps!