Course Requirements
General occupational therapy school course requirements include:
- Human Anatomy
- Human Physiology
- General Chemistry
- One semester of general psychology
- One semester of developmental psychology
- One semester of abnormal psychology
- Sociology or Anthropology
- One semester of public speaking
- Ethics
- One semester of physics
- One semester of college algebra
- One semester of statistics
Different programs may have additional requirements.
Suggested Course Work Arrangement:
First semester
- HES 1004 Intro to Health and Exercise Science
- FYS 1004 First-Year Seminar
Second semester
- BIO 1206 Integrated Concepts of Biology: Organisms and Ecosystems
- FYS 1104 First-Year Research Seminar
Third semester
- CHEM 1055 Principles of Chemistry I
Fourth semester
- CHEM 1065 Principles of Chemistry II
To be taken as schedule allows:
- PSY 1004 General Psychology
- PSY 2114 Human Development: Conception to Adolescence, PSY 2124 Human Development: Adulthood to Aging, or PSY-2104 Lifespan Development
- MATH 1144 Elementary Statistics
- WRC 1034 Public Speaking or other communications course
- BIO 3065 Animal Physiology or BIO 3016 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy or both semesters of BIO 2014 Anatomy and Physiology I and BIO 2104 Anatomy and Physiology II**
- EXSC 3014 Physiology of Exercise (required for some programs)
- EXSC 2094 (BIO 2014) Anatomy and Physiology I
- EXSC 2104 (BIO 2104) Anatomy and Physiology II
GRE
The GRE is a requirement for most programs.
The GRE tests the following subject areas:
- Verbal Reasoning
- Sentence completion
- Analogies
- Antonyms
- Reading comprehension
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Arithmetic
- Algebra
- Geometry
- Data analysis
- Problem solving
- Quantitative comparison
- Analytical Writing
- Present your perspective on an issue
- Analyze an argument
Competitive applicants
- Overall GPA: 3.2
In addition to a minimum grade point average, a minimum GRE score, and the prerequisite coursework, many occupational therapy schools also require that applicants have a minimum number of direct observation hours in occupational therapy clinical settings.
Factors that increase competitiveness:
- Community service/volunteer work
- Experience in the field
- Leadership
- Strong communication skills
Important Links
- American Occupational Therapy Association
- Information about the GRE
- In-state schools
- Spalding University