General Admissions & OTCAS USC OT 2020-2021 Applicants Stats/Updates/Q&A

Started by OT_FTW
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Hi everyone! I just submitted my application on November 1. I’m a bit anxious since I know it was recommended to be turned in 2-3 weeks before the deadline.

Best of luck to everyone!
 
Hi everyone!
I received an email from USC notifying me that they received my application on November 3rd! Feeling super uneasy and nervous though since my application was verified and received past the November 1st deadline..
 
otstudent95 said:
Hi everyone!
I received an email from USC notifying me that they received my application on November 3rd! Feeling super uneasy and nervous though since my application was verified and received past the November 1st deadline..
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\When did you submit yours through OTCAS?
 
OT_FTW said:
Are applications that are submitted/verified past the deadline still reviewed?
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“If it is verified after this date, please note that your application will be considered late and will be reviewed only on a space available basis.” It’s a possibility.
 
OTforMe19 said:
I just interviewed one of the admissions team members for my blog and it sounded like there's still a really good chance of getting in even if you submitted late!
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Thank you for the update! It looks like my application was barely verified by OTCAS last night and received by USC this morning !
 
Hi Everyone!
I hear this is the last year they will have the Entry-level masters program. I turned my app in mid Oct and wanted to see if anyone knows how many applicants are estimated to apply this year with Covid? I wish everyone the best of luck. I am anxiously waiting to see if I get a email for the phase 2 video portion!
 
OT_4_OB said:
Hi Everyone!
I hear this is the last year they will have the Entry-level masters program. I turned my app in mid Oct and wanted to see if anyone knows how many applicants are estimated to apply this year with Covid? I wish everyone the best of luck. I am anxiously waiting to see if I get a email for the phase 2 video portion!
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Hello!
Okay so I went to the last information session which was on November 5th (after apps were due) and they said that they received the same amount of applications this year that they normally receive each year! I can’t remember the specific numbers but I believe she said 500/600. I turned in my application early October and am also anxiously waiting for a phase II email, good luck everyone!
 
Does anyone know if they’re doing an initial round of acceptances before the phase ll invitations? Reading last years thread, they sent the first acceptances around 20 days after the application deadline and then sent phase ll invitations about 1 month after that.
 
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hopefullyOTveronica said:
Hello!
Okay so I went to the last information session which was on November 5th (after apps were due) and they said that they received the same amount of applications this year that they normally receive each year! I can’t remember the specific numbers but I believe she said 500/600. I turned in my application early October and am also anxiously waiting for a phase II email, good luck everyone!
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Ugh! I figured. I was praying that some students would be discouraged to apply lol I guess It won’t make a difference! Good luck!
 
OhTeeJC said:
Does anyone know if they’re doing an initial round of acceptances before the phase ll invitations? Reading last years thread, they sent the first acceptances around 20 days after the application deadline and then sent phase ll invitations about 1 month after that.
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I saw that too! So nerve wracking because that would be right around this time! I’ve been checking this forum today way more than I’d like to admit to see if anyone’s gotten accepted yet. Anyways I asked at the information session if any applicants would receive an acceptance without having to complete a phase II video and they said that some will be accepted without a phase II video (which was the very first round of acceptances last year) but MOST applicants will have to complete the second phase
 
hopefullyOTveronica said:
I saw that too! So nerve wracking because that would be right around this time! I’ve been checking this forum today way more than I’d like to admit to see if anyone’s gotten accepted yet. Anyways I asked at the information session if any applicants would receive an acceptance without having to complete a phase II video and they said that some will be accepted without a phase II video (which was the very first round of acceptances last year) but MOST applicants will have to complete the second phase
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I’m the same way! Checking wayyy too much, but thank you! I was just curious if it would be a similar process or not 🙂
 
OhTeeJC said:
Does anyone know if they’re doing an initial round of acceptances before the phase ll invitations? Reading last years thread, they sent the first acceptances around 20 days after the application deadline and then sent phase ll invitations about 1 month after that.
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I thought they didnt hear back until mid-december? Or did they have a different timeline for submitting than we did? I recently got an email saying they'd have the decisions for phase 2 by mid-late December and final admissions and scholarships by mid-late Jan. So I wonder if they'll still accept people early without phase 2 or will there be some people who never hear about phase 2 then get accepted in Jan. Personally it will scare me so much if I don't hear back than magically got accepted in January so hopefully if they are accepting some people without a phase 2, it'll be in December and those applicants wouldn't be waiting until January.
 
DisneyK02 said:
I thought they didnt hear back until mid-december? Or did they have a different timeline for submitting than we did? I recently got an email saying they'd have the decisions for phase 2 by mid-late December and final admissions and scholarships by mid-late Jan. So I wonder if they'll still accept people early without phase 2 or will there be some people who never hear about phase 2 then get accepted in Jan. Personally it will scare me so much if I don't hear back than magically got accepted in January so hopefully if they are accepting some people without a phase 2, it'll be in December and those applicants wouldn't be waiting until January.
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So last year the application deadline was actually November 30th not the 1st. The first people who heard back received emails on December 19th that they were accepted (these were the people who didn’t need to complete phase ll). Then I believe in mid-late January people were invited to complete phase ll. The timeline last year and this year match up if you take into account the application deadline difference. That would mean that some people would hear tomorrow or next week if they were accepted without phase ll.
 
Hey everyone!

I'm super nervous and anxiously waiting to hear back about phase II. would you guys mind sharing other programs you've applied to and stats? Best of luck to all of you!

Major: Health Science
Minor: Psychology
GPA: 3.838
GRE verbal 155, quantitative 155, analytical writing 4
also applying to Stanbridge, St Augustine San Marcos, Clarkson University
currently working as a registered behavioral technician.
observed 80 hours in rehab setting
 
hopefullyOTveronica said:
I saw that too! So nerve wracking because that would be right around this time! I’ve been checking this forum today way more than I’d like to admit to see if anyone’s gotten accepted yet. Anyways I asked at the information session if any applicants would receive an acceptance without having to complete a phase II video and they said that some will be accepted without a phase II video (which was the very first round of acceptances last year) but MOST applicants will have to complete the second phase
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I check it multiple times a day as well! I’m so glad there is more people on here now. Best of luck to us all!
 
OhTeeJC said:
So last year the application deadline was actually November 30th not the 1st. The first people who heard back received emails on December 19th that they were accepted (these were the people who didn’t need to complete phase ll). Then I believe in mid-late January people were invited to complete phase ll. The timeline last year and this year match up if you take into account the application deadline difference. That would mean that some people would hear tomorrow or next week if they were accepted without phase ll.
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I’m wondering if there will be early acceptances this year as well or not due to the pandemic. I’m thinking it’s possible that the usual time it takes for them to review applications could be slowed down (assuming the admissions team are not meeting up in person ).
I guess we’ll have to see in the upcoming posts here
 
OT_Ali808 said:
Hey everyone!

I'm super nervous and anxiously waiting to hear back about phase II. would you guys mind sharing other programs you've applied to and stats? Best of luck to all of you!

Major: Health Science
Minor: Psychology
GPA: 3.838
GRE verbal 155, quantitative 155, analytical writing 4
also applying to Stanbridge, St Augustine San Marcos, Clarkson University
currently working as a registered behavioral technician.
observed 80 hours in rehab setting
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school: USC
Major: health promotion and disease prevention
Minors: occupational science; early childhood education
Gpa: 3.6 with bad freshman year grades. 3.8 last 60 units
Gre: guess it won’t matter? Verbal: 156 Quant: 149 Essay: 4.5
Applied: nowhere else. I’m a senior and a lot of schools require a degree to apply plus I’m trying to stay in Southern California
Extracurricular: lots of education and service experience with leadership . Unfortunately couldn’t start volunteering until recently so I have about 15 hours done in pediatric outpatient

good luck to you also!!
 
Hi! So I emailed Dr. Anvarizadeh
There won’t be an early acceptance it seems. I also wanted to know if there was a confirmation deposit if you get accepted.

She said “I hope you are well. Thank you for your email. There is no deposit to confirm acceptance. Also, yes all applicants this year will be either invited to a Phase II or denied. They will not be accepted without moving to Phase II. I hope this helps. Have a wonderful weekend.”
 
DisneyK02 said:
Hi! So I emailed Dr. Anvarizadeh
There won’t be an early acceptance it seems. I also wanted to know if there was a confirmation deposit if you get accepted.

She said “I hope you are well. Thank you for your email. There is no deposit to confirm acceptance. Also, yes all applicants this year will be either invited to a Phase II or denied. They will not be accepted without moving to Phase II. I hope this helps. Have a wonderful weekend.”
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I’m thinking this is probably because they waived the GRE..? I guess the Phase II serves as the replacement for GRE
 
heyitsolil said:
I’m thinking this is probably because they waived the GRE..? I guess the Phase II serves as the replacement for GRE
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That makes sense! Because now there’s less available to judge applicants on. I think it’s a fair system and it takes away the stress of wondering if your application was good enough to get accepted in a few days. Now we all wait till January for a decision... so close yet so far
 
Hey everyone! I hope you're all well! I know this is an extremely stressful time with waiting to hear back about Phase II, but I want to congratulate all of you for sending in your applications!

I'm currently a student at USC Chan right now and one of my pediatric fieldwork educators wanted me to pass this message along to prospective students! Her name is Justin Waring Crane and she's an occupational therapist at The Center for Connection in Pasadena, CA. She said that they're in need of a few volunteers to help around the gym (sanitizing equipment, organizing toys, etc). It's a great opportunity to get observation hours and learn more about OT. Volunteer hours aren't required for our program, and probably not other programs during this time, but if you are interested, please feel free to reach out to Justin at [email protected].

Thanks so much!
 
Good luck to everyone! For those that had their application received after the November 1st deadline, do we know if we'd be getting the email for phase 2 later than the early applicants?
 
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ONLYOT said:
Hey everyone! I hope you're all well! I know this is an extremely stressful time with waiting to hear back about Phase II, but I want to congratulate all of you for sending in your applications!

I'm currently a student at USC Chan right now and one of my pediatric fieldwork educators wanted me to pass this message along to prospective students! Her name is Justin Waring Crane and she's an occupational therapist at The Center for Connection in Pasadena, CA. She said that they're in need of a few volunteers to help around the gym (sanitizing equipment, organizing toys, etc). It's a great opportunity to get observation hours and learn more about OT. Volunteer hours aren't required for our program, and probably not other programs during this time, but if you are interested, please feel free to reach out to Justin at [email protected].

Thanks so much!
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Thanks for the info! I happen to live relatively close to this business and could use the observation hours for graduate school. I will be reaching out!
 
OTforMe19 said:
Hi there! I am a second year OT student at USC, and I am writing a blog about my application experience! I know it is past the deadline for applications, but I have my stats on there and other information that might be helpful if anyone is interested! Also if you have any questions I'd love to answer them on there! My blog is: OT with Bethany
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I checked out your blog and it was very helpful and insightful! Thank you very much ❤️
 
OTforMe19 said:
Hi there! I am a second year OT student at USC, and I am writing a blog about my application experience! I know it is past the deadline for applications, but I have my stats on there and other information that might be helpful if anyone is interested! Also if you have any questions I'd love to answer them on there! My blog is: OT with Bethany
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Your blog posts are so helpful and encouraging! Thank you for being selfless and for taking the time to write and share your experiences with prospective students!
 
Hey Everyone!! I'm in a bit of a dilemma and wanted to get your opinion. I got into the OT program at St. Augustine San Marcos campus, which starts this January. Though, USC is my number one choice.. should I maybe ask USC for any early decision? Since I'm going thru all the end requirements for St. Aug - I don't want to start paying anything before I know where I'm at with USC. I know we are going to hear back soon about the Phase II situation - maybe I should wait till then? As you can tell I'm at a crossroad lol
 
I haven't said anything yet, and have secured my seat, only because I need to for St. Augustine by Dec. 15th, which is roughly around the time we hear about Phase II. I didn't want to loose my spot incase things didn't work out with the other schools.
 
msr524 said:
I haven't said anything yet, and have secured my seat, only because I need to for St. Augustine by Dec. 15th, which is roughly around the time we hear about Phase II. I didn't want to loose my spot incase things didn't work out with the other schools.
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Hey! To be honest I wouldn't email USC and ask for an early decision. It could come off impatient and I think you could give off a bad impression. Just my personal opinion, it's a really hit or miss but if USC is your #1 then I wouldn't take the offer and just wait for the best.
 
I am positive this thread will blow up once we start hearing back about interviews so just the waiting game still! I would imagine we hear something by the end of this work or maybe next not sure. I'm sure they just have a lot of apps to go through.
 
FutureOTD2021 said:
I am positive this thread will blow up once we start hearing back about interviews so just the waiting game still! I would imagine we hear something by the end of this work or maybe next not sure. I'm sure they just have a lot of apps to go through.
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Definitely! I have been checking this forum everyday this week hoping someone has gotten some updates. Wishing us all the best of luck!
 
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