General Admissions & OTCAS Gap Year Question(s): Retaking Courses at a Community College & OTCAS

[PositivOT]

Hey everyone! So I didn't know that I wanted to be an OT until after graduating from undergrad. I decided to spend the year observing OTs (inpatient, outpatient, and school settings), and finishing up prereqs that I haven't taken before as well as retaking a few prereqs. Since I'm observing and working at a clinic each week, I decided that the best decision financially was to take these courses at a community college that was close to home in order to save money when it comes to living and transportation expenses.

My main worry is related to whether or not these courses will actually replace the courses I took in undergrad or have any impact at all on my prerequisite GPA. I made an account with OTCAS last summer before I decided to take a year off to prepare. Recently, I decided to browse around on the site and saw that I could select courses that I've retaken but they don't count as repeated if they weren't taken at my undergraduate institution, which is concerning for me. When I'm putting in courses for the specific prereqs for each school, should I select both the course from my undergraduate institution and community college or should I just put the one with the highest grade? I want to have the highest GPA possible but don't want to cut corners or do anything that I'm not supposed to be doing.

My cumulative undergraduate GPA is on the lower side because I took a ton of challenging courses not related to OT that brought my GPA down freshman and sophomore year. Luckily, it still hits the minimum for a lot of the schools I'm looking into but I'm mainly worried about whether or not retaking these courses is actually helping me in the long run. I really want to give myself the best possible chances of obtaining interviews next year because I just want to at least be able to show my personality and really showcase why I could be a great addition to an OT program. Outside of these 3 courses, all of my prereqs are mostly A's and a few B's.

If anyone has advice or experience with retaking courses, specifically if they're taking at a separate institution, or anything similar to this, please let me know! Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[OTtd727]

Contact the enrollment advisors of the schools that you are interested in and confirm whether or not your prerequisite grades will be replaced!

Though I didn't retake any courses, I was like you in pursuing OT after I graduated undergrad (but with a social sciences degree) and finished my prerequisites at a local community college. However, because there were some schools that required extra courses that: 1) were not required by the majority of other programs and 2) I couldn't afford to take within a year, I contacted the enrollment advisors to ensure that the courses that I am taking will be accepted by the specific program. This alleviated the stress of figuring it all out on my own and narrowing down specific programs to apply.

My cumulative GPA for undergrad was about the same due to the fact that I was pre-med my first year and the challenging courses kicked my ass. I'm also not a good test-taker but I managed to get a 296 on the GRE, which is a minimum requirement by most programs, after getting a 288 the first time. Knowing all of this, I worked really hard to get A's in all of the prerequisite courses so that my GPA would be high in that area. Additionally, I really focused on getting an adequate number of observation hours at 3 different clinical settings (geriatrics rehab center, school, and clinic for children with disabilities) and getting 5 letters of rec from 2 OTRs, 1 OTA, 1 professor, and 1 former supervisor. I have a lot of experience with pediatrics, people with disabilities, and geriatrics so I let those shine forth through my personal statement. Since submitting my applications at end of September, I have received interviews from 4/5 of the programs that I applied to (the last one doesn't do interviews) and been accepted to 3 (I don't plan on confirming the last interview and the last school won't let me know until Feb/Mar).

The enrollment advisors of each program will reach out to you soon after you select their program through OTCAS - actually, more like spam you. Don't be afraid to ask questions, because that's what they're there for. Remember: it's not always about the stats, especially in a career like OT. If this is what you truly want to do, you will get through the hellish application process. Good luck!

 

[PositivOT]

Contact the enrollment advisors of the schools that you are interested in and confirm whether or not your prerequisite grades will be replaced!

Though I didn't retake any courses, I was like you in pursuing OT after I graduated undergrad and finished my prerequisites at a local community college. However, because there were some schools that required extra courses that: 1) were not required by the majority of other programs and 2) I couldn't afford to take within a year, I contacted the enrollment advisors to ensure that the courses that I am taking will be accepted by the specific program. This alleviated the stress of figuring it all out on my own and narrowing down specific programs to apply.

My cumulative GPA for undergrad was about the same due to the fact that I was pre-med my first year and the challenging courses kicked my ass. I'm also not a good test-taker but I managed to get a 296 on the GRE, which is a minimum requirement by most programs, after getting a 288 the first time. Knowing all of this, I worked really hard to get A's in all of the prerequisite courses so that my GPA would be high in that area. Additionally, I really focused on getting an adequate number of observation hours at 3 different clinical settings (geriatrics rehab center, school, and clinic for children with disabilities) and getting 5 letters of rec from 2 OTRs, 1 OTA, 1 professor, and 1 former supervisor. I have a lot of experience with pediatrics, people with disabilities, and geriatrics so I let those shine forth through my personal statement. Since submitting my applications at end of September, I have received interviews from 4/5 of the programs that I applied to (the last one doesn't do interviews) and been accepted to 3 (I don't plan on confirming the last interview and the last school won't let me know until Feb/Mar).

The enrollment advisors of each program will reach out to you soon after you select their program through OTCAS - actually, more like spam you. Don't be afraid to ask questions, because that's what they're there for. Remember: it's not always about the stats, especially in a career like OT. If this is what you truly want to do, you will get through the hellish application process. Good luck!

Wow! Thank you so so much for the reply! It really means a lot! Also, congratulations on the acceptances! Thats great news! I definitely agree with you about reaching out to enrollment advisors. I've only reached out to two so far, one of which was incredible and offered to meet with me individually while the other unfortunately hasn't responded. My prerequisite GPA differs depending on the school (some schools are more focused on natural sciences, which I performed lower in freshman year, while other schools are more focused on social sciences, which I performed very well in). Without retakes, my prerequisite GPA for some schools is around 3.1-3.6, but with retakes I can potentially get up to a 3.75+. I definitely need to reach out to more schools because these retakes can be very helpful! I know my cumulative GPA from undergrad isn't going to budge much at all so the prerequisite GPA is where I'm trying to shine!

I also took the GRE last summer and I choked on the quantitative section even though I was scoring about 6-8 points higher on that section on the practice tests, so I might retake it one more time next summer after I finish my last class just to see if I can raise it a few more points.

I really appreciate your support! I've been very fortunate to have such incredible OTs to observe in the settings I've been in so far and they constantly remind me why I'm taking this year to (hopefully) better myself for the upcoming application year. Congratulations again on your success thus far and best of luck to you in the future!

 

[FutureDocOfOT]

Wow! Thank you so so much for the reply! It really means a lot! Also, congratulations on the acceptances! Thats great news! I definitely agree with you about reaching out to enrollment advisors. I've only reached out to two so far, one of which was incredible and offered to meet with me individually while the other unfortunately hasn't responded. My prerequisite GPA differs depending on the school (some schools are more focused on natural sciences, which I performed lower in freshman year, while other schools are more focused on social sciences, which I performed very well in). Without retakes, my prerequisite GPA for some schools is around 3.1-3.6, but with retakes I can potentially get up to a 3.85 or so. I definitely need to reach out to more schools because these retakes can be very helpful! I know my cumulative GPA from undergrad isn't going to budge much at all so the prerequisite GPA is where I'm trying to shine!

I also took the GRE last summer and got a 298 (I choked on the quantitative section even though I was scoring about 6-8 points higher on that section on the practice tests), so I might retake it one more time next summer after I finish my last class in July just to see if I can raise it a few more points. I had a 146Q; 152 V; 4.5 AWA.

I really appreciate your support! I've been very fortunate to have such incredible OTs to observe in the settings I've been in so far and they constantly remind me why I'm taking this year to (hopefully) better myself for the upcoming application year. Congratulations again on your success thus far and best of luck to you in the future!

While I can't speak to whether certain classes will count and stuff like that, I just wanted to pop in and say that many good schools will focus on more than just your GPA. My overall GPA is considerably low ( ~3.25) for the same reason as you – tried taking lots of science-y classes freshman/sophomore year and those are just not my forte. My GRE was pretty good but nothing crazy/special (150 Q, 157 V, 5 writing), however I had a lot of great outside experiences (volunteering, work, shadowing, extracirriculars, etc) that in my opinion speak a lot louder than some numbers on paper. I think if you can show that you have a real passion for OT and really showcase the work you've done since undergrad in order to be able to apply & become an OT, you will be able to get in somewhere I have the very minimum GPA for WashU, top in the country, and I got an acceptance there! Just shows that there's definitely hope for low GPAs!

 

[old noob]

Sweet AWA score!

OTCAS. Although not about GPA/classes, when it gets closer to application time, be aware that any letters of recommendation you obtain are for the current cycle only. I was unaware of this and I thought I was being smart by proactively obtaining LORs to be stored in OTCAS. Two of my LORs were purged after the previous cycle and had to be re-obtained. Asking for LORs for the second time was an embarrassing experience.

Also, if you pay for transcript entry, they don't start inputting the transcript UNTIL you apply. They don't explicitly stipulate this. The payment does not carry over to the next cycle. You'll have to repay.

 

[PositivOT]

While I can't speak to whether certain classes will count and stuff like that, I just wanted to pop in and say that many good schools will focus on more than just your GPA. My overall GPA is considerably low ( ~3.25) for the same reason as you – tried taking lots of science-y classes freshman/sophomore year and those are just not my forte. My GRE was pretty good but nothing crazy/special (150 Q, 157 V, 5 writing), however I had a lot of great outside experiences (volunteering, work, shadowing, extracirriculars, etc) that in my opinion speak a lot louder than some numbers on paper. I think if you can show that you have a real passion for OT and really showcase the work you've done since undergrad in order to be able to apply & become an OT, you will be able to get in somewhere I have the very minimum GPA for WashU, top in the country, and I got an acceptance there! Just shows that there's definitely hope for low GPAs!

Congratulations on getting into WashU! That's incredible! I have a ton of extracurriculars, including being a campus tour guide, being an orientation leader, being an RA, volunteering in mobile clinics abroad, and quite a bit more. I'm mainly worried about the stats right now because I feel like those are the main things holding me back at the moment. I feel like I have a ton of unique and fun experiences and just hope I can get some interviews so I can express myself to the admissions committee. Thank you so much for the encouragement! It's definitely refreshing to hear that a lot of schools have such a holistic approach to reviewing applications.

 

[PositivOT]

Sweet AWA score!

OTCAS. Although not about GPA/classes, when it gets closer to application time, be aware that any letters of recommendation you obtain are for the current cycle only. I was unaware of this and I thought I was being smart by proactively obtaining LORs to be stored in OTCAS. Two of my LORs were purged after the previous cycle and had to be re-obtained. Asking for LORs for the second time was an embarrassing experience.

Also, if you pay for transcript entry, they don't start inputting the transcript UNTIL you apply. They don't explicitly stipulate this. The payment does not carry over to the next cycle. You'll have to repay.

Thank you so much for the reply! This is super helpful information. I was on the fence with beginning to obtain LORs before the new cycle began but now I'll definitely be holding off until this summer.