The Occupational Therapy Assistant Admissions Committee makes the final decision regarding an applicant’s acceptance to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. A successful applicant for admission to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program must meet the general requirements for admission to ADU and will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Have a minimum high school unweighted GPA of 2.50 (on a 4.00 scale) ¹ or achieve a minimum Admission GPA of 2.50 in at least 12 credits of previous college work.

2. Have a minimum ACT standard composite score of 19 or a combined² SAT score of 910. Applicants with 24 or more credits from a regionally accredited college are exempt from taking the ACT or SAT.

3. A student may repeat only two cognate courses one time each due to failure of the course (below a grade of “C”) to remain eligible to enroll in the OTA program. This includes any courses taken at other institutions. Courses retaken with passing grades in each attempt will not be counted against the applicant. Failed courses that fall outside of the Transfer of Credit time limits will be counted against the applicant; however, the applicant is eligible to explain the reason for the repeated courses in an appeal process.

4. Submit two recommendations on ADU recommendation forms. Recommendations submitted at the time of initial application to the College will meet this requirement for new ADU students. Students who have attended ADU for at least one trimester must submit an additional recommendation from any ADU faculty member, adjunct professor, tutoring coordinator, or chaplain.

5. Write an essay explaining his or her interest in becoming an occupational therapy assistant and the reason for selecting a faith-based institution. The essay must be proctored and hand-written. It must include correct spelling and grammar, be completed in two hours, and be one to two pages in length. For proctoring instructions, call the Center for Academic Achievement at 407-303-7747 x110-6413. Topics for the essay will be related to the field of occupational therapy, the student's aptitude toward the field, and what it means to attend a faith-based college. Questions to answer will be chosen at random by the essay proctor. Essays will be reviewed based on content, spelling, grammar, and organization.

6. Although volunteer or observation hours in an occupational therapy clinic are not mandatory prior to admission, prospective students are strongly encouraged to spend as much time as possible observing, volunteering, or working in multiple occupational therapy settings in order to gain knowledge of the profession. Applicants with this experience have shown enhanced performance in writing their essay.

Admission into all professional programs is competitive. Each program has a maximum number of students that can be admitted each year. Students meeting the admission requirements for a given program qualify to be considered for admission to that program. However, due to the competitive nature of each program's admission process, meeting minimum admission requirements does not guarantee acceptance. Students may be given preferential consideration for admission to degree and certificate programs when they have successfully completed 12 college-level hours at ADU.

¹ Applicants who do not meet the high school GPA requirement must complete a minimum of 12 trimester hours of credit in required non-OTA courses, including English and math, and achieve a cumulative GPA of at least 2.50 (on a 4.00 scale).

² SAT combined score of Critical Reading and Mathematics.