General Admissions & OTCAS Tufts/NYU/MGH vs Kean, advice on where to go?

[NikkieOT]

I'm applying to OT school this fall and I know it presumptuous to start thinking about where I want to go but I'm already torn. I heard Kean may start an OTD program for Fall 2019, which is great for me as a NJ native wanting to get her doctorate in OT. But I wonder if a program like Tufts, MGH, or NYU might be better as they are well established and a better known school, especially for getting fieldwork placements and eventual jobs. Any suggestions or advice?

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[OT0103]

I don't have much to say about Tufts or NYU but I interviewed at MGH and I was very impressed by their program and wish I would have been able to attend. Although they are fairly new their program seems well established and has a lot of fieldwork partnerships. The facutly/staff seemed very supportive, so much so that they were all present during the interview and were available to ask any and all questions you had which I didn't experience at other interviews. It is a smaller school and program size is a decent size ~40. I had a very low GPA and I got in so they seem to look at the applicant holistically. 10/10 would recommend applying, if you have good grades you could be offered a merit scholarship!

 

[waoshi]

I will be attending Tufts and one of the reasons is I would like to remain in Boston so I feel like going to school wherever you would like to stay would be a good idea. Also, talking to a former student she said the alumni network is really strong. I was also told at the accepted student reception, that later on, wherever you are looking for jobs, Tufts will look through its network to try and help you. Even though I know ranking doesn't really matter, it was important to me that when I was talking to OTs I observed, when I mentioned schools I would be applying to, Tufts would be one of the schools they would single out and be like, oh, that's a really good school. Maybe name recognition actually doesn't matter, but I believe it does, and more so than ranking. Another big reason for me is that for this incoming class, Tufts managed to give all of its students scholarships. I don't know if it will be the same for the following year.

 

[OTD2018MAtoCA]

As a recent graduate from MGH Institute of Health Professions, I can speak to many of the topics presented in this thread. First, MGH IHP has limited fieldwork opportunities as they are the smallest of the OT schools (Tufts and BU have claimed many contracts) and are a new program, therefore they are still working on increasing their fieldwork base in the area. MGH IHP uses mainly the Partners network, which includes some big names, however feels very limited considering the vast number of medical/rehab-based institutions in the Boston-metro area. Many of the fieldwork placements require a student to have a vehicle, as they are quite far from the city in rural areas. Many people within the Partners network and/or MGH Hospital are not aware that there is a "sister" (as they are separate entitities) school; I cannot tell you how many times on fieldwork and/or while living in Boston I educated people on the IHP school. This was disappointing to me as the health professions school has been around since 1977 and should have loudly and proudly been able to make a name for themselves by now. Within the school, trying to gain preferred fieldwork placements required a lot of brown nosing and the 2 fieldwork coordinators clearly played the favorites game and many students noted this in conversation. They say its a "lottery system" and random, however certain people in the class ALWAYS received the most desirable fieldwork placement. Very unprofessional. Competition post graduation in Boston is fierce and very cutthroat. Additionally, if you are a person of color, good luck finding desirable work, as the city of Boston is very stuck in the past in terms of equality among all persons. There are clear and objective signs of racism in the city, the politics in the region, the institution and among persons who live in Boston. I though Chicago was a very segregated city, until I moved to Boston for school, which was very disheartening considering there are so many higher education institutions in the region. As far as employment assistance post-graduation, there is ONE (yes, only ONE) career counselor and only one of the OT professors are from Boston, therefore their network is very limited.

As far as the university staff being supportive, I truly experienced that this is only the case for some persons (students). Honestly, if you fit the prototype of fairly well off white female you are golden in terms of support received. This institution is not prepared, nor equipped to deal with low income students, students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students with differing ideologies from the white-male-cis perspective. I am a very poor student with a mental health disability and I struggled a LOT at this school. The one person I was referred to as a "counselor" sort (Mike Boutin) has actually been accused of sexually assaulting several children (but was not caught). Otherwise, support is only provided offsite. This is the first school I have ever attended that has NO guidance counseling department and students are supposed to refer to their teachers for assistance. Well, who is one supposed to go to for advice if the teacher IS the issue? Additionally, anything said to one professor is told to all of them; things I said in confidence and asked not to be repeated were in fact repeated to me by professors I never told in a confrontational or "aww, poor thing" manner; very unprofessional. Lastly, if your professor is the one grading your performance, yet they know a lot about your life, how can they be unbiased in grading?

I feel that this program will be great in 10-15 years, however currently it is not an optimal school option and had I done my OT school career all over again, I'd have opted to go elsewhere. The major reason for this is the program costs far too much in comparison to similar programs and falls short of being able to offer a complete, well-rounded, highly-informed curriculum and support to all students regardless of ability. Neither school-based pediatrics nor vocational rehab were covered (despite having a pediatrics class; no voc rehab courses were offered) leading to a ton of self-study in these areas.

Lastly, I would highly advise against having Andrea Fairman as a mentor, especially if you have a disability, mental health issue, or family issues. She is not supportive of life stuff and does not follow her own deadlines for projects and assignments. I would highly recommend Diane Smith, as she is very well-versed and well-rounded as a professor, mentor and fellow human being.

 

[NikkieOT]

As a recent graduate from MGH Institute of Health Professions, I can speak to many of the topics presented in this thread. First, MGH IHP has limited fieldwork opportunities as they are the smallest of the OT schools (Tufts and BU have claimed many contracts) and are a new program, therefore they are still working on increasing their fieldwork base in the area. MGH IHP uses mainly the Partners network, which includes some big names, however feels very limited considering the vast number of medical/rehab-based institutions in the Boston-metro area. Many of the fieldwork placements require a student to have a vehicle, as they are quite far from the city in rural areas. Many people within the Partners network and/or MGH Hospital are not aware that there is a "sister" (as they are separate entitities) school; I cannot tell you how many times on fieldwork and/or while living in Boston I educated people on the IHP school. This was disappointing to me as the health professions school has been around since 1977 and should have loudly and proudly been able to make a name for themselves by now. Within the school, trying to gain preferred fieldwork placements required a lot of brown nosing and the 2 fieldwork coordinators clearly played the favorites game and many students noted this in conversation. They say its a "lottery system" and random, however certain people in the class ALWAYS received the most desirable fieldwork placement. Very unprofessional. Competition post graduation in Boston is fierce and very cutthroat. Additionally, if you are a person of color, good luck finding desirable work, as the city of Boston is very stuck in the past in terms of equality among all persons. There are clear and objective signs of racism in the city, the politics in the region, the institution and among persons who live in Boston. I though Chicago was a very segregated city, until I moved to Boston for school, which was very disheartening considering there are so many higher education institutions in the region. As far as employment assistance post-graduation, there is ONE (yes, only ONE) career counselor and only one of the OT professors are from Boston, therefore their network is very limited.

As far as the university staff being supportive, I truly experienced that this is only the case for some persons (students). Honestly, if you fit the prototype of fairly well off white female you are golden in terms of support received. This institution is not prepared, nor equipped to deal with low income students, students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and students with differing ideologies from the white-male-cis perspective. I am a very poor student with a mental health disability and I struggled a LOT at this school. The one person I was referred to as a "counselor" sort (Mike Boutin) has actually been accused of sexually assaulting several children (but was not caught). Otherwise, support is only provided offsite. This is the first school I have ever attended that has NO guidance counseling department and students are supposed to refer to their teachers for assistance. Well, who is one supposed to go to for advice if the teacher IS the issue? Additionally, anything said to one professor is told to all of them; things I said in confidence and asked not to be repeated were in fact repeated to me by professors I never told in a confrontational or "aww, poor thing" manner; very unprofessional. Lastly, if your professor is the one grading your performance, yet they know a lot about your life, how can they be unbiased in grading?

I feel that this program will be great in 10-15 years, however currently it is not an optimal school option and had I done my OT school career all over again, I'd have opted to go elsewhere. The major reason for this is the program costs far too much in comparison to similar programs and falls short of being able to offer a complete, well-rounded, highly-informed curriculum and support to all students regardless of ability. Neither school-based pediatrics nor vocational rehab were covered (despite having a pediatrics class; no voc rehab courses were offered) leading to a ton of self-study in these areas.

Lastly, I would highly advise against having Andrea Fairman as a mentor, especially if you have a disability, mental health issue, or family issues. She is not supportive of life stuff and does not follow her own deadlines for projects and assignments. I would highly recommend Diane Smith, as she is very well-versed and well-rounded as a professor, mentor and fellow human being.

Thank you for the advice! I'm cautious about MGH for its newness but I really appreciate you telling me about how fieldwork works because that is a major concern. Also how the professors treat the student is really important to me, as I come from a small and very accepting undergraduate institute and really do not want to leave that behind for cold or calloused professors. I really appreciate your advice!

 

[NikkieOT]

I will be attending Tufts and one of the reasons is I would like to remain in Boston so I feel like going to school wherever you would like to stay would be a good idea. Also, talking to a former student she said the alumni network is really strong. I was also told at the accepted student reception, that later on, wherever you are looking for jobs, Tufts will look through its network to try and help you. Even though I know ranking doesn't really matter, it was important to me that when I was talking to OTs I observed, when I mentioned schools I would be applying to, Tufts would be one of the schools they would single out and be like, oh, that's a really good school. Maybe name recognition actually doesn't matter, but I believe it does, and more so than ranking. Another big reason for me is that for this incoming class, Tufts managed to give all of its students scholarships. I don't know if it will be the same for the following year.

Congrats on getting in to Tufts! I feel like it will be my top desired program as I have heard wonderful things about it from nearly everyone I talk to. Do you know how the fieldwork assignments work? Do they assign you or have an office that helps you find places or are you on your own?

 

[YayOT]

My daughter really enjoyed Tufts. She was in the class of 2016. She was also able to study abroad in the UK for a semester. That included round trip flights and housing. She just paid her regular tuition. It was very rewarding. As for Fieldwork ll, they have an advisor who works with the students to secure placements. Her second internship was at a private pediatric therapy center in our county. They had never had Fieldwork placements there, so they (daughter, Tufts advisor and facility) all worked together to make that happen. Tufts wants you to choose Fieldwork placements early. They ended up hiring her and she’s been working there for a year. Tufts gave her a good OT education! She was able to find a reasonably priced room in Medford within walking distance to the school. And Boston was just a “T” away. She was given a scholarship both years as long as she kept her grades up. In fact, they gave her a “raise” the second year. Went up to $15,000. Every bit helps! All in all. Tufts was a good choice for her! We’re in California and she wanted to go to grad school on the East coast. She did her first Fieldwork ll placement in Providence, RI at a psychiatric hospital. She and my husband drove her car to Boston from CA before her last semester, so she had it for her Fieldwork, as well. She had been admitted to NYU, but realized that it would be too expensive to live in NY and the scholarships weren’t promised.

 

[NikkieOT]

I used an intro to ant

SOS! Somewhat unrelated, but I'm applying to Tufts now and saw that there is a pre-req for a general soc/ant/psych class. Should that be an "Intro to ____" class or can I use an upper division soc/ant/psych class to fill the prerequisite? Thank you!!

I used an intro to ant to fill it so I'm not sure. Email Jill Rocca, she is super helpful! Also I formally decided to go to Tufts so yay!

 

[alksaOT]

I will be attending Tufts and one of the reasons is I would like to remain in Boston so I feel like going to school wherever you would like to stay would be a good idea. Also, talking to a former student she said the alumni network is really strong. I was also told at the accepted student reception, that later on, wherever you are looking for jobs, Tufts will look through its network to try and help you. Even though I know ranking doesn't really matter, it was important to me that when I was talking to OTs I observed, when I mentioned schools I would be applying to, Tufts would be one of the schools they would single out and be like, oh, that's a really good school. Maybe name recognition actually doesn't matter, but I believe it does, and more so than ranking. Another big reason for me is that for this incoming class, Tufts managed to give all of its students scholarships. I don't know if it will be the same for the following year.

Hi! Did Tufts end up renewing the scholarships u received upon acceptance for the 2nd and 3rd years?