Admissions

Satisfactory completion of 60 credits in liberal arts and sciences is required and must include specified prerequisites as listed below. Only coursework completed with a grade of "C" or better can be accepted as prerequisites. No more than 15 prerequisite credits in total, and preferably no more than 4 credits in prerequisite laboratory sciences, may be outstanding at the time of application. All outstanding prerequisites must be scheduled to be completed before the first day of classes at the OT program location where the student will be attending.

SCIENCE PREREQUISITE REQUIREMENTS:

• 8 credits Anatomy and Physiology with lab
• 4 additional credits, with lab. We recommend you take Chemistry, Physics, or Biology.

Applicants whose science prerequisite courses are more than 10 years old, may be required to re-take the course(s) unless exempted by the OT admissions committee.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITE REQUIREMENTS:

• 3 credits Sociology or Cultural Anthropology
• 6 credits English or Communication with a writing component
• 3 credits Statistics (Biostatistics preferred. Additional liberal arts credits may be required if you complete Business Statistics.)
• 3 credits General Psychology or Introduction to Psychology
• 3 credits Developmental Psychology/Human Development. Course(s) should address development across the lifespan and may be taken in 1 or more courses.
• 3 credits of Psychopathology / Abnormal Psychology
• Additional credits in liberal arts and sciences to total 60 prerequisite credits. We recommend no more than 12 credits per subject area. Liberal arts courses are typically history, literature, language, social sciences, philosophy, religion, and ethics.

Students with previous occupational therapy experience or courses are not exempt from satisfying all admission requirements and completing all courses in the BS/MS degree program.

Applications will be reviewed holistically. A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, with a minimum science GPA of 3.0 are preferred. Decisions regarding admission to the program are based on a rigorous and competitive review process. Meeting only minimum admission criteria cannot guarantee selection for an interview or admission to the program.

SAT, ACT, or GRE are optional.

Documentation of completion of the equivalent of 40 hours of observation experience in OT practice completed within the last 3 years.

Observation hours should be completed in a setting under the supervision of a licensed occupational therapy practitioner and verified on the OT Observation Hours Form for an application to be eligible for review by the OT Admissions Committee. Observation experience with more than one type of setting or population is strongly recommended.

Applicants also have the option to complete up to 20 of the required 40 hours at ClinEdWeb Intro to OT: 20 Observation Hours and submit the Certificate of Completion.

Two written recommendations submitted through OTCAS. One written recommendation should be from a licensed occupational therapy practitioner and one from a professional and/or academic source.

A personal statement must be submitted as instructed on the application through OTCAS.

Students whose native language is not English, or who did not graduate from a college in the USA or other English-speaking countries, must also demonstrate proficiency in English through satisfactory performance on the TOEFL examination or IELTS examination:

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) – minimum score of either 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based), or 80 (Internet-based)
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) – minimum score of 6
• Pearson’s Test of English – Academic (PTE) – minimum score of 58

Note: the TOEFL exam does not substitute for the SAT, ACT, or GRE requirement, nor does it fulfill the 6-credit English prerequisite requirement. Foreign credentials must be evaluated by an approved agency. International Student Services can help.