Master of Science in Occupational Therapy - Virtual Information Session

Good afternoon everyone. Thank you so much for joining. We'll give everyone just a moment to check your sound before we get started and get logged in. And thank you all so much for joining today.

We'll start in just a moment.

Great, great. Well, good afternoon or good day to you wherever and whenever you may be watching this. My name is Jen Radwanski and I'm the associate director for graduate admissions here at Stockton University. Uh, for those of us who are joining us Live Today, thank you so much. And for those of you who are watching this prerecorded, thank you as well. Umm, today we are going to be telling you more about our Master of Science and Occupational Therapy here at Stockton University.

And I am joined by my colleagues who will be telling you a little bit more. But before we begin, just a few housekeeping items for our live audience. Uh, we do have a chat feature as part of our webinar today. You'll notice that, uh, probably on the right hand side of your screen, uh, please feel free to drop any questions in the chat. However, we would encourage you to wait to put those questions in the chat, uh, until the end of the presentation because we have a really, really detailed, uh, overview for you today. And more than likely we will get to all of the questions that.

You have, so maybe hang tight, maybe John down on a piece of paper and then you can put those in the chat at the very end. We'll be doing AQ and a um.

In addition to that, we would encourage you because we are recording this and we will be sharing it with others after we have finished today's presentation. Please don't put any personal information in the chat. We're happy to answer those questions. We're going to give you our contact information at the end, both for our live and our virtual folks who are watching this prerecorded. So please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any personal questions that you may have. And so without further ado, I'm going to turn things over to Doctor Mary Kent, who is our program Chair.

Who will be doing our overview? And thank you so much for joining us today.

Great. Thanks, Jen. Hi, everybody. So I'm Doctor Mary Kent. I am the current program chair and associate professor in the Masters of Occupational Therapy program. So I'm happy to be here with you today. It's always this being a webinar. It's hard to talk just to a camera and not see you guys in your faces, but.

We'll plug through it and get through this this information. OK, so.

The MSOT program is a 2 1/2 year full-time entry level OT program. So we are part of the School of Health Sciences. This is just a picture of our campus. The School of Health Sciences is that single building over on the side and we are.

Part of, like I said this, the school Health Sciences.

So part of the.

Other programs in the School of Health Sciences, we have a Bachelor of Health Science degree, public health and bachelors and master's degree nursing, UMM, communication disorders, OT, PT, exercise science and holistic health. Umm, we do a lot. We'll talk about one of the strengths of our programs. We do do a lot of interprofessional education umm, so we do a lot with umm with.

Many of these these programs.

Umm so often we're asked what's the undergraduate major the best prepare me for a career in OT. It really is up to you. Umm we accept students obviously umm when you can apply, when you're almost done going into like your senior year but you have the majority of your prerequisites completed. Umm it can be. We've had students who umm come in and decide to be an OT after working.

I've even had students who are FBI analysts in the past who just found OT later and said that's what I want to do and they went back to school and got their prereqs done. So it really doesn't matter as long as you have the prerequisites completed as part of your your application.

Umm, OK, we already talked about that. OK so this is a picture of the West Quad building. This is where the majority of our classes are held. We have a whole wing up on the 2nd floor that comprises of two classrooms because we have two cohorts that are learning at the same time. We just had renovations done so we have a brand new ADL suite We have our kitchen has been updated plus.

I also do do classes over in the School of Health Sciences. There's a simulation suite over there and a table called the Antonomage table, which is an anatomy table, and so we, our students are over there frequently as well.

OK, so umm why choose OT umm.

So I've been in OT now and I don't even want to say how many years, let's just say over 35 years. Umm, and uh.

I would still choose OT again. So in my career I've been able to do with 1°. I mean, it could have been with 1° UMM, I did go back to school, umm later to get my uh, post professional masters and doctorate. But I could have stayed with just my initial degree, UMM, And besides teaching everything else I still could have done. But in my career, I've been able to work with adults in acute care, I've been able to work in school districts. I've done community based Pediatrics.

I've done early intervention, I had my own practice and I did all of that as with my degree as OT. So it's a very versatile, umm, profession. We see obviously people across the lifespan, umm, from infants to older adults. Umm, we work in many, many settings. Umm, one of the things that makes us different is that holistic part because we also consider.

Umm, the, uh, mental health component. So we have many of our alum who also work.

In mental health hospitals and settings. So there's such a flexibility in what we do and the types of clients that we have. So, you know, there's a variety of locations. There's flexibility in work schedules. It was very easy for me to cut down on hours when I had young children and be able to build up and build down that schedule based on what my family needs were, which was important.

You are really important member of the healthcare team. We really.

Are more closely with counterparts in PT and with speech, but also with psychologists and doctors and nurses and you know, it really is a career that helps you.

To be able to help people be able to do the best that they can in their lives, right, and get the most out of their lives. So, umm, if you know, you obviously know about OT because you're on the session, but I encourage you to, to look some more too and really look into the different settings and different things that we can do within our profession. There is a video, I'm not going to play that video. You'll have the link to be able to watch that. That's a video from AOTA, our national organization.

That has a therapist talk a little bit more about OT.

OK, so why choose Stockton in particular?

So we only admit 30 students per cohort. So every fall we have one cohort that starts on campus anytime we only have the two cohorts. So first year, second year. So you have a very small.

You know.

Ratio of students to faculty There are 7 faculty members. One of the things that I like about our program is that you get to know us. We also get to know you, and we get to know you as as.

People we get to.

We are engaged with your learning. We want you to be successful. The way we look at it is you know you're going to you're the OTS of the future. So I want to be happy if you ever walk into my hospital bed and hopefully many years from now that I go, oh great, I taught the student and I know that they're a great OT, right? So that's what we want from every student that that we see.

You have, we really do use innovative teaching methods. We use technology. We do flipped classrooms. We have you do a lot of community based experiences. You are working with clients with actual disabilities in the program. For example, you run mental health groups in in your second semester.

And so you learn how to run groups your first semester.

2nd semester, you're actually applying that to clients. We have other innovation things like we run the Get Fit program, which is an exercise in nutrition program for adults, adolescents and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We also do gifted seniors, which is we apply the same principles and you actually go out and do Wellness activities, health and nutrition with older adults who live in the community.

We have a variety of field work experiences that includes out-of-state.

And possibility of maybe some international stuff that's kind of depends on where you want to go and what that is. But, but definitely we've had students go to Colorado, Arizona, Florida, trying to thank Carolinas, you know, Georgia. So there are a wide variety of experiences outside the state of New Jersey if that's what you want.

If you live in New Jersey and you're like, Nope, I want to stay close to home, we'll be able to find you that that as well.

We have outstanding faculty. Again, there's only seven of us, you we are all long standing OTS with over 20 years of experience. We all teach within our areas of expertise. So for example, Pediatrics is my primary area of of.

Of expertise and I.

Teach those pediatric courses every spring. We have a really good and strong reputation. We just had our A coat visit the accredited program through AOTA and ACO is the accreditation body. They just left yesterday and they were here and they talked to various groups and including field work educators who are clinicians who help you learn and you know they.

Were very impressed by the feedback that they got even from the field work educators because we are known to have very strong students who are well prepared, who are professional and who do very well in their clinical placements. So we have a, like I said, a really strong reputation. We have a very strong alumni network out there because this is our 26th year.

So we've been around for a long time and.

Like I said, a lot of alum that are out there that are now helping with our current students. Umm.

You have a student activity, so we have a very active soda group, which is Student Occupational Therapy Association and that is involved in doing a lot of community activities. We have a really strong relationship with Faces for Autism, which is a family support.

Group that is in Cape May and Atlantic counties. We help with them all the time. We have held like a 5K walk run every spring for like the last 10 or so years.

Plus, help them with things like they're having a Halloween party coming up and we do that. We do.

Tim Tim Tebow's Knight to Shine prompt, where we set up a sensory room for the participants in case they need to get away from all the dancing and other activities that are going on, plus a really wide variety of different things. New Jersey, the Special Olympics, young athletes Special Olympics, we run.

For kids two to seven, we do that for 12 weeks during the semesters. Umm and you know, again, that's all student run. So it's really, umm, a lot of these activities are what you make of it. So if you want to be a part of it.

You are, if you like, don't have time, don't want to do it, that's fine too. But there's a lot of opportunities for you to be applying kind of what you're doing through these student activities.

I think I've already mentioned that you develop a lot of professional relationships, so with us, with each other, with our alum. So there's a lot of opportunity for that. The other thing is we really have a very strong MB COT exam pass rate. So in any given year, that pass rate goes from 97 to 100%. So when you see a 90%, that just means one person because we only have 30 in the cohort, but so.

You know our students are passing.

The the exam without a problem.

OK, so some of the other things is that, umm, you have, uh, Stockton offers really, umm, outstanding facilities. Like I said, I'm really excited about our new ADL suite. Umm, if you end up coming on campus and umm, and get an interview, we'll show you the, the new space. It's really outstanding. Umm, we have a great simulation lab again, where you'll be learning a lot, umm, the anatomy table, So an entomology it's called.

Plus you have really. We have a really good library.

They're going to have a brand new library that will be open fall of next year. We have, you know, computers in every classroom. So we really do have really nice facilities. We have many, many clinical sites, over 200 contracts with different, different sites. We have. There is financial aid that is available.

We do have things like.

The Learning Access Center.

If you need accommodations, counseling, umm, you know you are. I have advising with one of the OT faculty at least once a semester. Umm, so we really try and umm.

Make sure that we're we're supporting you as best you can because, you know, life happens when you're in the program and we understand that too. So we want to make sure that, you know, you are all doing the best that you can and things don't get in the way with that. OK. The other thing is that we do have graduate assistantships. So that's where you can apply. So you can apply at the time that you're applying for the program.

And so one hour, one credit of assistance.

Is about 1 1/2 hours a week of work. So again, you are assigned to one of the OT faculty. You help us with things like if you're my GA, you're going to help me run the get that exercise and nutrition program. You might help with research. You might come to an open house. So there's lots of different things that that all of us are involved in that our GAS help us with.

So again, the graduate assistantships are are.

You have to. We really encourage you to apply at the time of the application so we know whether or not you're interested.

OK, so our curriculum is a 2 1/2 year program. OK, so it's 80 credits. You have 4 semesters plus one summer session, short summer session of all of your courses. When you're done with that, then you go out to your full time clinical work, which is 212 week experiences. That is full time work. OK, so.

We look at our curriculum is a developmental model.

So when you come in the your first courses are foundational courses. So for example, the students who started this fall, they're taking courses like group process and like I mentioned, they're learning how to run a group, right. They are taking clinical conditions course, they are learning foundations of OT, that's another course. So these are are courses that set you up for you to understand what is OT.

Settings are we in? You know you're starting to understand the lingua and the word.

Words that we use and all of that stuff. Then you go into your second semester and then that's the the semester you start your first level 1 field work. So for every Wednesday you will be in a pediatric setting and then for seven weeks and then after spring break it switches and then you're going to do a mental health field work.

These courses, now you're starting to apply what you learned in the fall and you start to learn how to apply it to the pediatric population, mental health population.

Then you have 1-6 week umm.

226 week summer courses that are the first summer session that runs from May till third week in June, typically umm, Mondays and Wednesdays 1 is they're both online, so it allows you to be able to go home if you are commuting to Stockton, umm, and be able to start work and do whatever. So umm classes, uh, the one is synchronous, which is typically on Monday mornings, umm, 9 to 12. The other one is asynchronous. Umm, and so it allows you.

A lot of flexibility. Then you come back for your third full semester. Now you're a second year student that's a focus is on adult intervention, so that's where you're going to learn more about.

Adult settings such as and diagnosis. So working in a hospital, things like burns, multiple sclerosis, head injury, OK, so and again, that's tied to a level 1 field work that happens on Wednesdays. You also have, you'll be taking things like research courses, general practice, so things that you have to know.

That are going to enhance your skills as an OT, then the last semester the focus.

This is on older adults, so same thing but more focus on strokes, you know, things like total knee replacements. What happens with that dementia. So all of that happens. OK, Then again, you have a level 1 field work on Wednesdays working in older adult settings. OK, so that's the those two full years. Then what happens is.

Umm, by mid-May semester ends like typically first week in May, mid-May to end of May, you start your first level 2 field work. That is your full-time experience. Umm, where you need you go out and you are working full time. Umm and in a clinical experience, OK, umm, that typically is going to be done by umm, August, beginning of August you have.

UMM then have time off between August and umm, September. Then you start your second level 2 field work.

Separate setting, separate population. So it's another 12 work 12 week distinct experience. You successfully complete that you will be a December graduate. So that's where the 2 1/2 years come in. Then once your December grad then you. Most of our students take a little bit of time off because they officially graduate whenever the semester ends, which is typically like the 17th, 18th of December. So they become.

A then they're done. Then they can sit for the MB COT exam. So I would say our earliest sit for the exam.

Beginning in January, some students elect like I'm going away first I want to celebrate graduating and I'm going to take that test. And some of them don't take it to March or April. So that's really kind of on you. But you will officially have that diploma. But then it's on you to be able to do that NBCOT exam. OK. So that's the the way the program kind of works and and follows. And the one we say it's a developmental model. What we do is, is like the things that you learn for a semester, they're built upon second semester.

And it's built upon in the summer. So we have different, you know, we, we expect like your clinical reasoning and your understanding to keep expanding as, as you go throughout the program.

Again, our classes are held one day a week, but they're five days. But each class is like one-on-one day, right? So sometimes students hear that and they're like, you know, it's like 4 hours, a nine to one class or a nine to three class. But one of the things that happens is you are never sitting 9:00 to 1:00 and you're never sitting nine to three. You are up, you are doing activities, you might be a little bit of lecture, then you apply it. So there's we very much use an experiential hands.

Approach with With our teaching we also have.

Experiences with international students primarily from Colombia. So in the past we have traveled during spring break to Bogota, Colombia and we have relationships with two OT schools over there. And unfortunately since COVID the we've had the trip now with some.

The way things are are politically, it's difficult for us to have the the trip and have people feel comfortable leaving the country. But we still hope to have those experiences continue when the time is right. And we also do Zoom activities, class activities with the students from Bogota. So for example, every we have a assistive technology course.

So every fall, students in from one of the universities in Bogota.

And our students collaborate together on activities and work together. We also are doing a foundation, one of the foundational first semester courses about talking about what is OT, What does that look like in OT in the US? What does that look like in Colombia? How is it the same? How is it different? But it's a really great cultural experience, whether you do it in person or if we do it.

Virtually.

OK, so I think I kind of already talked about this. So level 1 field work occurs during the academic coursework. So the goal of that is to introduce students to field work. So that's the one day a week. On Wednesdays, you have 4 placements and you get 35 to 4042 hours in each of the settings. So pediatric, mental health, adult and older adult. And then the level 2 field works are the ones where you are full time placement.

12 week you have exposure to a variety of settings and clients across the lifespan. So our policy is that you may you will tell our academic field work coordinator very soon if you come into our program where you expect to be where are you going to be living Are you living on Stockton's campus are you renting an apartment are you home which is I commute 45 minutes away. You're going to let her know that because then.

Your field work sites, even the level ones, are based on.

Where, where you're saying that you're living so that the the policy is up to an hour and a half commute one way. I would say the that really doesn't happen too often. Most of the time, you know, Sue tries to get you within an hour, less than an hour commute. Sometimes students, if it's going to be more than an hour, we will ask them about it and they'll elect to do that commute because it's a very.

Good placement.

And a setting that they really want to go to. So say like it was a rehab hospital and they're like, I really want to go there. I don't mind. I'll do that. That commute, OK.

Umm, so applying to the program.

You have to have a bachelor's degree with a 3.2 cumulative GPA. So umm, let me just say that that 3.2 cumulative GPA is from all of your undergraduate work in any institution that you attended. So if you went to umm school and it kind of didn't do well that first semester and you failed all your classes, that's included.

In your cumulative GPA.

So you need to make sure that overall with everything together, it has to have that 3.2. Otherwise the we don't look at your file. OK, so can you apply before getting your bachelor's degree? Yes, you'll get a conditional acceptance. So if you're applying going into your senior year and then you will get a conditional acceptance that then once you graduate, you need to send us that final transcript that indicates you graduated and then you can.

And matriculate into the program as we talked about, there's no specific degree required. Our thing is, and we'll talk about the prereqs in a minute, that you have the prerequisites completed.

So we typically get a lot of psychology undergrad, public health, bio, exercise science, Health Sciences, all are great. OK and then.

There's two types of entry level degrees and we're going to talk more about this in another slide. You can become an OT, there's 2 levels of entry as with an entry level masters or with an entry level doctorate. OK, so umm, and like I said, we have that slide coming up. We'll talk more about what the differences.

Are you sit for the same test, There is no difference between an entry level UMM master student and exam for the entry level doctoral student. And you get the same jobs umm and you get the same pay, but we'll talk more about that.

OK, so you do have to make sure you complete all of the prerequisites with AB minus or better. So, umm, if you apply to the program and say a application you had gotten AC minus in A and P2, OK, not C minus, AC or C plus, OK, umm, and we interview you and we're going to admit you to the program you're going. That will be a conditional admittance.

Because you're would you will have to retake that amp too and get AB minus or better before the semester starts that following fall. OK, so if you don't do that, then your seat will be umm, an offer will be rescinded. OK, Umm, so we really umm want you to make sure that you're working with your if you're at Stockton with your preceptor or your advisor. If you're at other schools, make sure you're getting all.

The prerequisite courses that that you need and fitting into your schedule if you're still in the process of taking your undergraduate courses, OK.

OK, so here's the list of the required prerequisite courses. The numbers listed are Stockton courses.

If you go under our frequently asked questions, and I think it's also under the prereqs, there's a list and a button you can push on our website and it tells you what are the equivalent courses, especially for other schools in the in New Jersey. OK, so you have to take anatomy and Physiology.

One and two OK, and it has to be with an in person lab. So the lab cannot be virtual. Umm, you have to have taken umm these these courses within four years of applying to the program. So if you're applying for 2026, umm, you have to have taken them with in 2022. OK, the latest we do that because it's really important that.

Umm, you are up to date.

And understanding your amp, we have just have found that students who took it too far in the past weren't remembering it and it was making the program more difficult for them.

You have a general psycho intro, intro to psychology that you need to take. Intro to anthropology or sociology. OK. It has to be an introductory course, so higher courses won't be accepted. Same thing with general psych or into the psych. Can do we accept AP credits if you took that in high school? Yep. So as long as as you can, you know, show that and it's it's on your transcript that is accepted.

Umm, abnormal psych and then human development or lifespan development. Now this has to cover the lifespan. So if your university has a course that does, umm, that is a lifespan development course, try to take that. If you're like, well, I've already done a child development, then you need to find another course that's going to cover adolescents through older adult. OK, so sometimes it's one course, sometimes it's two courses sometimes.

Students put in three courses depending on your university and where you're taking those courses. OK, But it has to cover the lifespan. And then you have to take a statistics course. This has to cover statistics primarily, not research methodology, OK. So you have to make sure that that is a covers the the statistics part.

You can always reach out to grad admissions office.

If you have a question if your course is acceptable or not, but please don't just send an e-mail and say like does this cover it? Send us the we're going to need to look at the syllabus and see what is offered and what's covered in that course to be able to give you a, a decision about that.

OK, umm, other prerequisites as a completion of a CPR course which doesn't need to be completed before applying, but umm has to be done before the program starts. It has to be a face to face course. OK, so umm and so that has to umm.

Yeah, let me it just has to be face to face if you are renewing.

If it you're like, I already have that and I'm renewing, then it could be online. But your first credentialing has to be face to face. You have to have documentation of 40 hours of work. OK volunteer work or community service with an OT. So umm, sometimes we get asked but I was in a PT clinic.

That doesn't count. It needs. You need to be observing in OT. Umm.

Can be in a variety of different settings. It could be the OTS you're working at a therapeutic course writing center and it's with an OT that counts, right? It could be a hand clinic that counts. It could be in a school. Yes, it could be in a nursing home. Terrific. OK, but you need to also make sure that you have you're using the Stockton form that is on our website. Umm, the clinician that you're observing needs to sign that with.

Her, umm, license number. OK.

So that verifies to us that you actually were observed with an OT and then additionally we have a technical standard. So we just really require requests that you look at that make sure that you feel that you can hit everything that that you need to be able to do to be successful within our program.

OK, So applying to our program, we have rolling emissions. So rolling emissions begin to every September. We are currently in the process of reviewing applications now and we.

I'll, I'll get to that part. OK, so Gres are not required OT cast is using the application process. So the complete instructions are is on the website and then you can reapply if you're unsuccessful on your first attempt. So if you don't get in the first year, you know, it's OK, go get some clinical experience, go find a job.

You know, figure out. Maybe look at what might be.

Have been a weak area for you and then definitely you can try and reapply the following year.

Umm, OK, so.

Umm, there's something else I wanted to say and I forgot what I was going to say. OK, it will come to me. OK, so the program, we emit a maximum of 30 students in each cohort. OK.

So.

It keeps our numbers small. It keeps the ratios great. Our labs are 1 to 15. There's always 2 faculty in all of our lab activities. Umm, so depending on the number of applicants we get.

Depend on the percentage of students that get in. So if it's a year that we have a lot of applicants, then obviously it's going to be harder to get in. If it's a, you know, our, our acceptance rate is going to vary depending on the number of of applications we get per year. OK, but you have to have that cumulative minimum cumulative 3.2.

The typical cumulative GPA and prerequisite GPA typically is higher. You know of of our once we look at it, once we look at the cohort.

But it doesn't mean that we don't accept students who are near that 3, two or three, three.

It, you know, like you could have, it could have been from a couple other courses, say you did horrible in chemistry and we don't look at chemistry, right. And that put down your, your cumulative GPA, but your prerequisite GPA is really good. You know, we're going to look at your application. If you're 32 above, we're going to look at that application, OK.

OK, so this is what I was looking for. OK, so the interviews. So what happens is if you meet the minimum qualifications, we will invite you to come in for an interview. OK, so we look at things like your your cumulative GPA, your GPA for all your prerequisite courses, but we also look at your application essay.

Your recommendation form and I would say for us, we really need.

The form filled out, so there's a form and you can attach a letter. The letters helpful, but that's not necessary. It's the form that we really need and your your volunteer hours. OK, so we really look at at all of that. And then if you're asked to interview, we look at things like the quality of your interview, your professionalism, your work and extracurricular activities. OK, So again, sometimes students are like, well, I didn't do a lot of extracurricular.

Because I had to work full time. That's all right. Talk to us about your work experiences, right? Or if it's like, yeah, I've been, I'm so involved and I do all that. This is that interview is your time to tell us about you. OK, Umm, so don't be afraid to toot your horn a little. Umm, you know, all we have by the time you come in from the interview is who you are on paper. So that's your, your time to be able to talk to us. Umm, and for us to kind of see who, who you are as a person.

As well, right and get to know you a little bit. So definitely make sure you you talk up your strengths when you come in for the interview.

OK. So since Stockton is a public institution in New Jersey, there's some preference given to residents of the state of New Jersey and Stockton grads. However, out-of-state applicants and non-stop students are routinely accepted. We actually have our first international student in our program. She's from Canada, but she's still international, so we were excited to have her in our program.

I would say.

The cohort of 30, it ends up really being pretty close to 5050 every year of students who attended Stockton, students who did not attend Stockton. OK, umm, there is the students who are accepted in the pre OT track of the BSHS program at Stockton. You're not guaranteed to see in our program. It's not a umm, it's not a guarantee from that you have to apply just like everybody else. OK, so it just umm, but again, most of the time it's.

About 5050 Stockton and non Stockton students and I would say the majority of our students are primarily from New Jersey.

OK, so let's very quickly go over the differences between the OTD to the doctoral entry level doctoral degree or the Master's degree, OK? So the big difference is with the doctoral degree, you're going to be in school longer, OK, So you have all the same accreditation standards and we just went through our accreditation process, so.

They're top of my head right now. We have all the same accreditation standards except for the doctoral degree.

There's a few more that are about research, umm, and that umm, and you have to do a doctoral capstone, which means like you have to do independent research or a project in the community, that sort of thing. So that pushes the completion of the program to about three to four years, OK, depending on the program.

The per credit umm.

Cost of doctoral degrees are also more expensive. So for example, at Stockton, the DPT students pay more per credit because it's considered a doctor program versus our MSOT students because that's their master's level. All right, So masters degree, you can obtain your degree in 2 to 2 1/2 years. So it's quicker, it costs less because of the less credits and lower tuition rates. OK.

You again are learning the same.

Skills. You're learning the same information and you sit for the same test, whether it's entry level doctorate or entry level UMM.

Or entry level masters. OK, so we have elected purposefully to stay a master's degree because as a faculty, we do not feel that you need an entry level doctoral degree to be an entry level therapist. I would rather encourage my students to go back to school after working for a few years and then get a post-professional doctoral degree or go get a PhD or go get.

A doctor in education, whatever their interests might be.

I feel like that is a better route if you're thinking about getting a doctoral degree. But we do this because, you know, again, most of our students.

Are looking for the lower cost option to be able to to get out to practice and we understand that. So that's also one of the why we chose to stay a master's degree. A coat will not is not mandating. Let me make that close too. They are not mandating a move to entry level doctoral degrees and even if they did, you would be grandfathered in. So for example, I got my bachelors degree in OT. As I said, I've been for a long time.

That was before.

They had a mandate for masters level. And if I didn't go back to school on my own, I still could be working with now as an OT with my bachelor's degree. And some of my classmates still do. Like one of my friends, she works in schools and she has that bachelors level. And that's fine because her experience will put to, you know, shame anybody else who you know, she's a highly qualified, highly experienced OT.

OK.

OK, so how can your questions be answered?

So sometimes you're asked us to meet with a faculty member. So we don't meet individually because we are our own admissions team. So we're the ones who also interview you. So we do not want to give an unfair advantage to prospective applicants. So you can, though.

Come, obviously to an information session. You can contact Graduate Admissions. They would be glad to meet with you, whether in person or virtually. And I do have to say that you need to visit the Stockton MSOT website. Umm.

Any and all information is on that website. So make sure you click on the frequently asked questions section, go through all of those and if you still have questions, then you know, reach out to grad Admissions and they will, you know, be glad to help you and answer any questions. OK, so if you have further questions, again, grad admissions, there's a telephone number, there's their e-mail. And I really thank you guys for being on today.

And we'll open it up now for any questions or.

That anybody has.

Thank you so, so much yes, alright, questions are coming in. I believe my colleague Matt is also going to be joining and we'll have him introduce himself really quick before we begin that Matt, thanks for helping with the the chat. Uh, do you want to tell us a little bit more about you?

Sure. Yeah, Hi, everybody. My name is Matt. I work in the Office of Graduate Admissions. I oversee our application systems, uh, work very closely with our MSOT committee and uh, veryverse in the OT CAS application. So happy to answer any questions that might come through.

Excellent. All right, so we're gonna jump right in. Umm, the first question we have do shadowing hours with an OT count for the 40 hours of work?

Hope. I think Mary might have frozen.

Yes, so those hours they they could count as shadowing hours as well.

Great. Um.

So the next question, other than the grades and experience, what else do you consider when choosing who gets an interview?

Sure, yeah, absolutely. So it's a holistic review as uh, Mary talked about, umm, all things are considered. So everything that's requested of you within the application is for a reason. I would also say do not be bashful. So it's, it's an important time to really talk yourself up and utilize every corner of the OT CAS application, right? So, umm, we touched on it briefly, but make sure you're getting great letters or recommendation, really good recommenders. Make sure that you're doing the hours, you're getting the experience.

Positive of the experience would be to possibly switch up your locations and get varying hours that can make you look stronger. Um, but ultimately you're reviewed academically and non academically in a holistic setting so everything is taken into consideration. But as I just said, I would really would not be bashful. Speak about yourself highly, you should be. Also, if you are forgetting some things, it's very helpful to talk to a family member.

Or someone that is a counterpart and like.

Hey, didn't you get that award or you got that certification, or you volunteered at that day, Right? Speak about yourself and really do not be bashful. I would say that that would be my advice. But yeah, you're reviewed in all different ways. Just include everything that you want the committee to know about yourself.

Mm-hmm.

Thanks, Matt. Umm, all right. So next question, the requesting form from OT CAS, is that automatically sent to whom you are requesting the form from?

Yep, Yep. So I think you're referring to your recs, the recommendations, they go directly through OT cast, they'll receive them, upload it, and then they will include some information about themselves as a recommender that is directly sent through OT CAS and everything is OT CAS. Umm. So if you are on our site and you start a graduate application, just be sure that you're starting an OT CAS app. That is the application for this program.

Great. And I know Doctor Kent is having some login issues. We're going to get her back in hopefully in just a moment. But um, let's see, does statistics for sociology count?

As long as it's meeting the core requirements of statistics course, you can review the core words in that class. As long as it's covering the base of statistics, it should count.

Perfect.

Alright, and next we have a question about how much is the MSOT program. I'm going to drop a link in here for you all, umm, that has the financial information. What I will share with you is that is the information for this fiscal year. So going up until umm, so it's fall 25 through summer of 26. So if you're applying for uh, fall of 26 or after that, those prices may change. We encourage folks to take into consideration A2 to 4%.

Increase if you're trying to map it out big picture, you know, just in case, we're hoping that that would not be the case, but you know, you could do the math on that just based on whether you're in state out-of-state and then you can see the full transparent breakdown per credit there at that link, so.

Yeah, we have Doctor Kent's back. Excellent. Uh, umm, Alright, so we're going to jump into the next question. Umm, uh, I have a uh, Alright, let's see. No, I missed 1. Umm.

If applications are already being received September, would being received September? Would someone who submits December still be considered?

I wouldn't do that because although we are rolling, we do have a priority deadline. Umm, so they're not. Your application still needs to be verified by November 21st. The benefit of rolling is that you could have gotten to it earlier in the summer. And as you are getting verified, those that get verified as, as Mary has said, umm, if they meet the academic standard, they are invited to interview. So the benefit of rolling is that we're doing it right now. I would not wait until December. That's going to be way too late.

Correct. Yep.

And the verification deadline is November 21st, so that's after the verification that you don't want to do anything. Uh, you know, everything should be done before November 21st, and anything you can do sooner than that is even better. Umm, uh, question about, uh, someone has a master's degree from Spain, umm, with the US equivalency accredited from Wes. Great. Would this count towards my cumulative GPA in addition to my bachelor's degree also from the US?

So they actually listed as a W GPA because it's hard. So you're going to go through the evaluation. It will be evaluated. Umm, I do not believe a foreign transcript is automatically included in an overall GPA. It is going to be listed as a Wes evaluated GPA because although the standard has been articulated to understand if you've successfully completed a prerequisite, the Gpas would not match in that manner. So no, it is not combined. Foreign GPA is not combined with your overall.

However, it is listed as a W evaluated GPA.

No, and that corrected me if I'm wrong, but, umm, having a master's degree does count, does provide, uh, that's, uh, an additional benefit to an applicant.

Yes, and it would come down to the evaluation. So as long as that master's degree in umm, the country of discussion, umm, after it's evaluated, it's still an equivalent to a master's degree here in the States that that is master at level umm courses. Umm. So yes, you would definitely have a strong academic profile, especially if you are basically, umm, have a record of completing these courses at the masters level. As as long as it's evaluated in that manner, yes, I would definitely make it a strong profile.

Yeah.

That's great. Umm, if I'm completing A prerequisite right now, how does that work in terms of submitting it with the application if they are not finished before November? Great question.

Absolutely. So your, your massive part of your OT CAS application is the academic entry section, right? So right now if you are registered for coursework coming up, you're including that and you're listing it as in progress. What happens is when you're reviewed, the committee can be positive and certain that you have registration because you've stated it and CAS has verified you. So if you said it's in progress, your transcript should be listing them as in progress. So everything matches everything should.

He corrected that time.

Mm-hmm.

Umm, and I'm going to skip ahead. I'm going to, I, I'm going to go back to some of these, but on that same topic, if I had to, if someone had to retake a prerequisite course, is there an area on the application to explain the reasoning for the retake?

Um, there may be a question within the application that list. Do you feel your academic profile, um.

Mirrors like the truth. You do have an ability to explain, umm, some circumstances, umm, but retaking prerequisites, that is normal. Uh, you're going to list them as as a retake, Umm, but yeah, you will have the ability to.

Say why within your application. Uh, there should be additional conversation that can take place at the interview level too if needed.

Yup.

And one more prerequisite 1 and I'm going to, I'm trying to paraphrase this. I'm gonna go ahead and just read though, that if a conditional acceptance occurs and a prerequisite course needs to be retake retaken from the B grade, is there an opportunity to retake the course at Stockton even if you did not attend Stockton as an undergraduate?

Yeah, great question. So we're going to keep you guys very involved. So if you were admitted with a a condition, you get a checklist known as a matriculation checklist, right. So whatever was listed as outstanding at your admission, our office is guaranteeing that we'll receive it and we'll let you know via checklist. This is the prerequisite that needs to be accomplished or your CPR cert and we'll gather that information and that is normal. You're going to go out and and complete the conditions of your admission. Ultimately we'll receive final.

Scripts confirming what was outstanding and then everything's good to go when you would start, uh, in the fall cohort, umm, but that is very normal, Umm, and you could take your prerequisites at Stockton if they're able, uh, and they are open, you could take them at community colleges. As long as these are legitimate institutions where you can take these, umm, courses at, that is OK. And then ultimately you're going to be providing final transcripts from whatever institution you went to. That's how we'll verify any outstanding conditions.

Correct. Absolutely. Yep.

Yep, and those have to be completed before starting the program. You cannot do it concurrently. We get a frequent question where they say, well I have one more prerequisite, may I start the program and then take it at the same time? The answer is unfortunately no, those do have to be completed all before the start of the program in the fall. So just wanted to clarify that too. Next question is I'm currently doing my 40 hours. Can I apply while still doing my hours?

Yes.

Can you guys hear me now?

Yep, yes.

Yeah, yes, yes. And we got.

Thank you.

No, you're good. No worries.

The weather's crazy right now. Yes, it is.

Yes, you can do those hours.

OK, I've been trying to answer. Sorry, that was bad. And I moved. I moved closer to like the window. I don't know, it must be the weather. Yeah. Umm. The other thing I want to say about prereqs is that, umm.

You you should not apply.

For this cycle, if you still have like you've only done two or three of the prereqs, if you have 4 outstanding prereqs, we won't consider your application because we really need a cumulative GPA. I mean a prereq GPA as well. So if you have not taken that those classes yet, we really can't evaluate your learning. OK, so umm, if that's the case, wait, just wait do it the next year you'll be in much better position umm and.

Be a stronger applicant having all of those grades in.

Great. Umm, I do see that we have a, a question about a specific course from a specific institution. Umm, if you would like to e-mail grad school at stockton.edu with the course description and if you have a syllabus, that's even better. Umm, please send that our way. I do see that on the link that we shared, it doesn't appear that, uh, that course is one of the ones listed, but we'll take a look at it. But you can send that to grad school at stockton.edu, the one from Seton Hall.

Umm.

All right, we did not.

Page No, that does not. So the question is if you decide to take a gap year after undergrad with that negatively impact. No, not at all. Nope. Umm, like I said, we have umm, you know, we like people who have experience, you know, especially if you're gonna go and use it for whatever you start working, you're traveling, whatever you want to use it for. That's terrific. Umm and like I said, we have umm applicants who come in who have worked totally different fields umm, and have come in and you know that diversity just really helps.

You guys learning to? So no, it won't hurt you at all if you take a gap year.

Great. I'm going to combine the next two questions. Umm 1 is asking about, you know, what the timeline looks like and another is asking about how often, how quickly will you hear umm about an interview? So would you, can you talk a little bit more about what the the current timeline looks like?

Sure, I could help out too, Mary, if you would like. Umm, so you, you're applying your timelines now. So we're in the current timeline. If you are thinking about applying to our program for Fall 26, the time is now. So I would start an OT CAS application, umm, ASAP. Umm, get all of your academic history in there. It's very important to get verified. Umm, but now is the time to apply now the, uh, everybody's academic profile and their circumstances can dictate.

The overall time, right? So if you get held up in verification, that could extend your process and you might not hear from our committee because you're not verified. So a key aspect of this is verification. If your application is not verified, I can't guarantee any timeline because you will not go to review, right? So if you get verified quick, umm, your timeline could be within two weeks. You could be umm, invited for an interview. Our committee is going to review the files once they reach verification.

And then they're going to look at your academic profile, your non academic profile, assess if you need to be invited for an interview. And then right from there, as soon as that committee informs our office, the emails will go out. You are invited and everything takes place from there. We're very, umm, open communication lines. You'll see directly in the e-mail, umm, if you are invited for an interview, there's tons of things that you have to abide by and there's steps. So we'll be very consistent with our messaging. Umm, and then from there, uh, decisions can be made post.

Interview because that's just our process, right? So you, you must go through an interview and decisions can go sometime after that interview is completed and we have a final decision. Umm, rolling admission means we can roll. So as soon as interviews start taking place, we will roll out decisions. Umm, do you have anything else, Mary, that you would add for the timeline?

Umm no, I, I think again, the biggest thing is if you get stuck in OT cash. So we've been umm, pretty quick in reviewing applications once everything is verified, umm, and you'll know pretty quickly after that if you're umm, you know, asked to interview umm. But we do have, still have a November date for umm, application deadline. So everybody needs to, to know that it's like third week in November.

Yep, November 21st. Yep, verification.

Umm, yeah, yeah, so.

Um, so you have to have your application in by then, otherwise you're going to have to wait till to next year.

Then is the document that OT signed that we find in OT cast website that goes up that should be uploaded to OT CAS. So all that information that request should go into OT CAS umm.

Do applicants that submit sooner have a better acceptance? Umm we admit umm as.

As applicants are qualified, so I would say yes, if you have, if you are a strong applicant and umm, this is your first choice school, I would say get it in sooner than later. Because as soon as we hit 30 in that cohort, then even if you're qualified after then you're going to end up being on the wait list. Umm doesn't mean you're not going to get in. Let me just say that umm, so we often have, you know, not all top 30 end up umm.

You know, coming to our program, so we always every year accept students off that wait list. But umm it, you know.

That's going to, if we fill the cohort and it's you know November, then it's filled. We may not fill it to December. We don't know really until we see what applications.

Umm, just to clarify, you need to take prerequisite courses or at least half before the November deadline, yes?

Because we need those grades. So if you currently only have two of those prereqs done and you're taking 2 now and you're planning on two in the spring, we're going to tell you you need to wait till next year to apply because we don't have enough grades to indicate that. OK? Umm.

You know, we can't really assess how you're doing as a student with that. There was another one that was up here.

Yeah, there was one about a seat the minus the CPR SUR certification, what other do you?

I would say if you have any like.

Yeah, I'm not sure what that, I'm not sure what Michelle, what you're asking minus CPR certification, what other ones do you think would be important to add? You mean other certifications?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Required.

Yeah, any maybe healthcare certifications or anything that you're certified that feels like you want to include, you can do. So the most important one just because that's a part of your matriculation is CPR. That's going to be a standard that is is needed. It's part of the the tech standards too required. Yeah. But if you wanted to include other things that you think you know, make your application strong, you can do so really the CPR certification is the thing that they are emphasizing in regards to being certified.

And I think going back to what Matt had said earlier too, any certificates that you have are it, it, it, it shows, you know, your breadth of knowledge in, in even a variety, even if it's something that's maybe adjacent to OT that you want to brag, put everything in anything in a certificate is, is something you've earned and something that, uh, is academically based. And so, umm, brag about yourself in every way that you can for these applications. We see that students don't do that enough. They're like, oh, well, I, I don't know.

If I should put, put it, if you have it, put it. That's really important. And especially other things like volunteer experience. Umm, you know, it's not just work experience, it's not just your academics, umm, but it's all the other things that you're involved with. I tell students all the time, umm, you know, if, if you have children, you're involved in the PTA, if you hold a leadership position in, in your place of worship, all of those things are really.

Show you know you as a whole person, umm, and show leadership skills, communication skills, all those different items.

Brag about yourself in any facet that you can on these applications. Umm, it's really critical.

In addition to meeting the requirements too.

Right.

Did we answer everything?

Umm, did we get to, uh, how do I indicate that I'm still completing my 40 hours?

Do we get that? I don't think, I think we missed that one. So.

Say that again. You broke up with me.

So if you're still complaining it, you should probably upload your, umm, your so you're going to get a signature from it. At least I would upload it, say the hours that you've completed with the signature of the individual. And you could still say there's there's more to come, more in progress, right? That that's how I would do it. So umm, still get them to sign off on whatever hours you've done. And you could also list, obviously there's more coming umm, that that's how you would do the process.

Perfect and so that I think has brought us to our final question and I thank all of you for attending today. I want to thank Matt and Mary for also helping and for presenting and answering all of the questions and for all of you who are watching live or watching this prerecorded our contact information for the grad admissions office team is on here. Please don't hesitate to e-mail call us. We are very happy to answer all of your questions and to assist you through this process. It is it is a huge.

Huge process, but we were here to answer those questions for you and we we look forward to seeing those applications come in and to hopefully seeing you here as a Stockton student. So I wish you all a wonderful day and thank you all so, so much for your time. We'll talk with you soon. Take care everybody. Bye, bye.