General Admissions & OTCAS Career change. How do I look as an applicant and where to go from here?

[Octopussional]

University: University of California, Riverside

Major: Biological Sciences, Medical Biology Track

Undergraduate GPA: 3.04

Overall GPA: 3.15

Prereq GPA: ~3.90 (Is there an accurate way to calculate this? I just gave an estimate using the typically required classes)

GRE: 155 V, 157 Q, 4.0 A (Plan on retaking with confidence that I will do better)

Licenses: AHA BLS, Pharmacy Technician

Experiences: 1800 hours as a patient transporter in a hospital. 1500 as a patient care technician mainly on the orthopedics/surgical unit but occasionally floating to other units. 500 as a pharmacy technician in retail. 400 as a clinical care volunteer (similar to CNAs but volunteer) in med-surg, SICU, pulmonary renal, radiology, orthopedics, and general surgery. 240 hours shadowing a physician and taking vitals.

Would like your opinion on if I have a chance of getting into OT school before devoting time and effort into researching and applying for schools. I am aware that I don't have any observation hours or know any occupational therapists to write my letters as of right now. Just wanted to see my chances before I begin. Lets assume that I meet the minimum amount of observation hours for most schools, what do you think my chances are? Advice on how to improve and what schools to look would be appreciated. Thanks.

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[harmcharm]

The only thing that could be hurting you from those stats is your undergraduate/overall GPA. But you seem to have tons of outside experience in health care that could make up for this if you swing it right. Is your last 60 hours GPA significantly better? You might consider wanting to apply to schools who use a last 60 hr GPA rather than a cumulative one if this is the case. Your prereq GPA is good and so is your GRE. If you were able to come up with a strong personal statement, perhaps linking in all of your health care experience- somehow relating it to OT (problem solving, creativity, etc), AND having a strong recommendation letter with it, I would say your chances are good. I would recommend getting more observation hours than the minimum if you can just to be safe, but I've seen people get in with just the minimum too.
To figure out your prereq GPA, just go find an online GPA calculator and input your grades and hours. Your prereq GPA can be different depending on the school, since not all schools require the same prereqs. Good luck!

 

[beestrng]

Do ota

 

[nOTeworthy]

I think you have a good chance. Yes, your overall GPA isn't the highest, but it also meets the minimum requirement for a lot of schools. Many schools focus on the prerequisite GPA or last 60 hours, not the overall GPA. As harmcharm said, find a GPA calculator for that. Your GRE is really good. I wouldn't worry much about that. And you have plenty of experience to use to your advantage. If you can follow all that up with solid letter of recommendations and personal statement, I don't see why you wouldn't get into a program.

With the exception of your overall GPA, you look much better than me on paper, and I didn't get denied or waitlisted anywhere. So, yes, you have a chance.

 

[MrTL]

Knock it out of the park with LOR's and personal statement and I don't see why you wouldn't have a solid chance. Oh, and definitely get OT observation/volunteer hours to get at least one solid OT LOR.

 

[Octopussional]

My last 60 hours are significantly better because I started to take school seriously then unlike before (reason why my overall is so low). I'll start looking for observation hours and give it a shot. Thanks for the input.

 

[student4life101]

I really think you have a shot at getting in somewhere in SoCal! It sounds like you did the CCV program at a local hospital. I also accumulated a lot of clinical experience that way and I think it helped tremendously while applying. If you can do close to 160 on both sections of the GRE and a 5 on the essay, then you may be competitive for Cal State Dominguez Hills and USC. You would need excellent letters, a 4.0 in all prerequisites, a very strong essay for every Cali program I would say (just my opinion, but doable!). Go ahead and shadow a bit and see if you like it. I don't know if you would want to continue studying on the West Coast, but just in case that was my two cents. Good luck! OT is an amazing field.