Is It Difficult to Get Into a Good Occupational Therapy Master’s Program?

Question by April: Is it difficult to get into a good Occupational Therapy Master’s program?
I am very interested in Occupational Therapy as a career, but I am concerned that OT’s growing popularity will make it difficult to get into a good Master’s program (I am particularly interested in USC).
I am currently a sophomore at a prestigious university with a 3.97 GPA, and it is feasible for me to take all of the prerequisites before starting the Master’s program. Additionally, this summer, I will shadow an OT at a brain injury rehabilitation center. However, I am concerned that I will not be a competitive applicant to OT programs because my major choices (Philosophy and French) are totally unrelated to OT.
How difficult is it to get into a top-notch OT school, such as USC? And how much does major choice matter in admissions?

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
Any accredited OT program is supposed to have a competitive admissions process :) They seem to look at both the GPA of prerequisite/science courses and overall GPA. How about calling some OT program admissions counselors and inquiring about the average GPA of both the prereq courses and overall GPA. It used to be that a lot of OT school applicants needed a 4.0 or close to it as perhaps they try to weed people out of the field otherwise. (My cousin had gone to school for OTA/occupational therapy assistant back when.)

That’s great that you’re shadowing (observing) an OT at a brain injury rehab center, however, please also observe at a “general” physical rehabilitation hospital that treats those with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), spinal cord injury/paralysis, stroke (“brain attack”) which is a type of brain injury, other neurological disorders, hip/shoulder/knee replacement, amputated limbs/prosthetics or such – pediatric hospital – nursing home/long-term care facility.

It’s best to apply to a few different OT schools due to its competitiveness. Please only consider OT schools accredited by the aota (american occupational therapy association): http://www.aota.org

With regard to schooling, please avoid those For-profit schools as they’re course credits usually do NOT transfer to other schools.

U.S. colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

General career info: http://www.bls.gov/ooh and can search.

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