General Admissions & OTCAS What are my chances of getting into a MOT program?

[buckeye214]

Hi guys, application time is coming around and I'm really nervous about my chances of getting accepted into a master of occupational therapy program anywhere. Some background information about myself: I'm very involved on campus: I'm on the executive board of two different organizations here at my undergraduate school (one of them being my sorority and one of them being the volunteering organization here on campus). I was elected homecoming queen of my college this year out of over 17,000 students. I have over 400 hours of volunteer work. I have over 50 hours of shadowing 2 different OTs. I've worked with special needs for over 7 years, I want to be an OT for individuals with special needs. I also have over 20 hours of research done with a program called Go Baby Go. I have such a passion for OT, I would honestly do it for free if I could survive without money. When I think about being an OT and helping people everyday for the rest of my life, my heart seriously jumps with joy. I'm also a resident assistant in the dorms here at my college and an orientation leader so I am very involved on campus and I have a lot of school spirit. I did a college program in high school, so I am also graduating a year early. So I will hopefully be graduating from my undergrad at the age of 20. I am a very disciplined, hard worker and that is very clear from my resume and background.
Cum GPA: 3.7
Pre-Req GPA: (I'm not sure, probably a 3.6)
GRE: Q:153 V:156 Writing:5.5

I am really worried because I am currently in human gross anatomy with a full cadaver lab and this is the first form of anatomy I have ever taken so that makes it 10X harder by never taking an anatomy class and then being thrown into one of the hardest anatomy courses offered. I am currently getting a C in both the lab and lecture. This is very uncommon for me, I don't really get bad grades. As you all know, applying to graduate school is VERY expensive and I don't want to spend almost $500 applying everywhere if I'm not going to get accepted anywhere due to my grades in anatomy. Would you guys suggest taking the chance and applying to see if I'll get in or should I just do an extra year and retake human gross anatomy? If I retake it, I basically have two options, I could drop my minor in psychology which will allow me to drop 3 psychology classes in my spring semester schedule and I can retake human gross anatomy then and still graduate on time. The only problem with that option is I will also be taking my senior capstone and neuroscience lecture and lab, I feel like those would be a lot of hard classes to balance all at once. My other option is to just do another year of school and instead of minoring in psychology, I can double major in health sciences and psychology and also add more shadowing hours to my resume and bring my GPA up. I guess what I'm asking is, realistically, what are my chances of getting accepted anywhere? Thank you all so much for helping!
Here are the schools I'm planning on applying to: Florida Gulf Coast University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Southern California, Cleveland State University, and Colorado State University.

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[julianac4]

I don't know much about the schools you're applying to, but from the schools I've talked with they really look at the prereq GPA. Especially A&P because it is a fundamental portion of OT and will only get more in depth (more functional and related to OT) in grad school, which is why they look closely to see if you will be a successful student in their program. This by no means is to say you won't succeed but it could be something that hurts your overall application, even with your stellar stats of overall GPA, involvement, and OT related opportunities. I think you could still try, but you could also use the extra time to improve the anatomy grade and get more OT shadowing. A C is usually the minimum requirement for prereqs so if you could improve that I think you would have a good shot. This is just my two cents, I would talk to the schools if at all possible on how the weight their application.

 

[calling4color]

You really sound like such a great candidate but I do know some schools require certain grades for anatomy-such as a B- or better, etc. Check to see what your schools' requirements are. You are so involved and because of your GRE score I think you have a chance. I would apply if you have the money (maybe 1 or two schools?) or even email an admissions counselor and ask if they have accepted students with C's in anatomy before. Also, see if you can get help from your teacher because if they see you want to learn and you go for extra help they'll be more lenient when it comes to the final grade- rounding that C+ up to a B- or something.