General Admissions & OTCAS Honest Advice Needed: I was accepted, now what?

[HopefulOT17]

After two years of blood, sweat, and tears (many, many tears), I am pleased to say I was accepted into a program! I will be starting at D'Youville College in Buffalo, NY this August. I've spent so much time trying to get into a program that I haven't actually considered what to do after I'm admitted. I have paid my deposit and filed my FAFSA, but that is the extent of what I have done.

Basically, there are three things to which I need advice on:

1.) How to look for an apartment and when to start the hunt? I live in a really rural area, currently still with my mother. I've never had my own apartment or lived in a city before. I don't know the first thing about trying to hunt for an apartment and what websites would be reliable sources of listings. Also, I don't plan to move until August. How soon can I realistically look for places? I'm eager to get started, but I feel like five months is too long.

2.) How in the world do I pay for grad school? Undergrad was so simple. I had a lot of scholarships that covered about 75% of my expenses, and federal loans covered the rest of the tab. I walked out with about $22K in debt from subsidized and subsidized loans. I only have about $5k saved up right now. The program is about 3 years long with a total cost between $70-75k. But that doesn't include my living expenses. So at the risk of sounding like a total idiot, how do I pay living expenses? Can I take out extra student loans or do I have to get some kind of private loan?

3.) What should I be doing before classes start? Is there anything I should brush up on or things I should get myself involved with? Honestly, the last two years have been nothing but trying to get into a program, so now that that isn't my sole focus I am not sure how to manage. I've gotten really good at obsessing over programs and stats, but I don't know what to do with my spare time now that I don;t have to worry about that. I work 60 hours a week, so the spare time isn't plentiful. But you get my point. How should I spend my time before school?

Thank you to anyone and everyone that can help me out in any way. I feel completely stupid for being so clueless, but I don't know what I should be doing next. I guess I never thought I would get this far.

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[beestrng]

Congrats. I liked their program when I was applying to schools.

Dyouville is probably not for profit so you should be able to get loans to cover tuition fully. A lot of guys I know take private loans and family support. 3 years sounds long, do you get summer off?

You better ask the financial aid office to discuss your options and see if you are in a shortfall with financial aid.

I would review medical terminology (commonly used terms) and OTPF just to get a general understanding of OT heading in.

Dont bother reviewing Anatomy. Assuming their curriculum is similar to my program, it will be like 10 times harder than anatomy in ug. Just relax.

Buy a gait belt on amazon that isn't made of cloth. Extra long as you may use it in fieldwork (which starts early in OT).

Buy a good set of Gonis and I really liked my stainless steel goni for finger rom. I have one made by Jamar. Its probably the only expensive thing I would buy atm. You may not use it immediately (we used ours 1st term). I lost all of my gonis except my steel goni .

I got everything off amazon.

 

[HopefulOT17]

Congrats. I liked their program when I was applying to schools.

Dyouville is probably not for profit so you should be able to get loans to cover tuition fully. A lot of guys I know take private loans and family support. 3 years sounds long, do you get summer off?

You better ask the financial aid office to discuss your options and see if you are in a shortfall with financial aid.

I would review medical terminology (commonly used terms) and OTPF just to get a general understanding of OT heading in.

Dont bother reviewing Anatomy. Assuming their curriculum is similar to my program, it will be like 10 times harder than anatomy in ug. Just relax.

Buy a gait belt on amazon that isn't made of cloth. Extra long as you may use it in fieldwork (which starts early in OT).

Buy a good set of Gonis and I really liked my stainless steel goni for finger rom. I have one made by Jamar. Its probably the only expensive thing I would buy atm. You may not use it immediately (we used ours 1st term). I lost all of my gonis except my steel goni .

I got everything off amazon.

Thank you!!!

Yes, three years is long. Summers are off technically, but I talked to a current student who is taking two classes this summer. I didn't get specifics, but even to lighten the load a little would be nice!

I actually just talked to my admissions counselor today and set up a day to meet with her, financial aid, and *fingers crossed* the OT department.

Med Term is a good idea. Luckily I still have my materials from the class. What exactly does OTPF stand for? And Anatomy is what worries me the most. Guess I will just cross that boat when I come to it!

I love shopping on amazon, I'll definitely add those to my wish list!

 

[beestrng]

http://motfieldwork.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/81197459/Practice Framework.pdf

OTPF^. They will explain more hopefully when you get into school. Dont go crazy over it atm.

Anatomy was hard-just study as it comes. Dont prestudy lol.

For the med terms know specifically the OT/PT abbreviations. Not necessarily know them before school but I think it might be helpful and it is easier to know them now than later. You can google it.

Ill be doing my FW2 soon so any questions about classes in general just ask.

 

[ANJALU]

Congrats. I liked their program when I was applying to schools.

Dont bother reviewing Anatomy. Assuming their curriculum is similar to my program, it will be like 10 times harder than anatomy in ug.

Was your ug Anatomy with cadavers? If I recall you are/were at St Augustine in Florida? Is that right? I am considering attending and wondered about the anatomy being 10x harder. My UG anatomy and physiology was with cadavers so I am hoping yours wasn't!