Apply to the Sammons Rider Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
Applications for Spring 2025 admission are due by 5:00pm EST on September 16, 2024.
Requirements:
- Cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better in previous undergraduate academic coursework.
- You must pass all prerequisite courses with a minimum C (or 2.0) before the January start of the OTA program. You may be enrolled in no more than two prerequisite courses at the time of application. There is no time limit or expiration date on prerequisites. Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) credits will be accepted.
Required prerequisites courses include: - Human Anatomy
- Human Physiology
- General Psychology
- Abnormal Psychology
- Lifespan Development
- Information Literacy in the Health Sciences (HSV 2650) OR a passing score (75% or higher) on the Information Literacy in the Health Sciences Proficiency Exam. Register for the exam HERE.
- Medical Terminology
- Introduction to Occupational Therapy (OT 2020)
- An interview is part of the OTA application process. It is essential that you demonstrate your knowledge of the profession during this interview. Therefore, while not required to apply to the program, it is strongly encouraged that you seek out job shadowing, or other related experiences, within the OT field before you apply.
Other factors considered:
- Work/Volunteer Experience – Involving helping others from disabled, culturally diverse, vulnerable populations. You may also list any OT-related experiences (job shadowing, volunteering, etc.).
- Leadership/Teamwork – Paid or unpaid.
- Diversity Experience – Courses taken that included substantial study of other cultures. Non-English or sign language classes can also be included here.
How to apply:
- Download the Spring 2025 OTA application (you must download to your computer before you can fill out the document).
- Once completed, save the application as a PDF file.
- Email the application PDF, along with all unofficial non-WMU transcripts, to Sarah Anderson at sarah.anderson@wmich.edu
- Pay:
Notes on program sequence
- Western ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ University Occupational Therapy program does not allow advanced placement based on prior academic or clinical experience.
- Due to the unique nature of each OTA program, we do not accept transfer of credits from programs at other institutions.
- Each semester’s course work in the OTA program builds on the prior semester’s work. Therefore, it is imperative that you complete required course work in the prescribed sequence.
- Each course in the OTA program must be successfully completed with a grade of C or above to move forward in the curriculum.
Admissions process
Upon receiving a completed application, the department will:
- Review and score applicants based on application materials.
- Send interview invitations to a select number of applicants based on initial scores. Interviews for our Spring 2025 cohort will take place Friday, October 4, 2024.
- A final score will be calculated (application score plus interview score) and applicants will be ranked highest to lowest.
- A cohort of 24 students will be admitted to the program. Offers will be emailed by mid-October.
- A small number of applicants may be placed on a waiting list.
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact the B.S. OTA program advisor, Mandy Cox, by email or at (269) 387-2656.