Admissions Policies

Admission Requirements

To be considered for admission to the OTD Program, students must supply the following information. When this information is received, the Admissions Committee will act on the application.

• A non-refundable $50.00 application fee is required that accompanies the application. 
• OTD Candidates must hold an earned baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university or be in the senior year of undergraduate study. A completed bachelor's degree is required prior to enrollment, as evidenced by a final official college/university transcript.  A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale is required. (Huntington University may, on a case-by-case basis, admit students to the OTD program who have not completed the final requirements for their bachelor's degree.)
• OTD Candidates must achieve a grade of B- (2.7 out of 4) or better in all prerequisite courses, which must have been completed within ten years prior to application. Courses in progress need to be outlined in writing for plan of completion. Official transcripts showing completion of prerequisites with a grade of B- or better will be required prior to program matriculation. Completion of Prerequisite Plan form is available on the Huntington University OTD Supplemental Application Form. (For courses completed during the Spring semester, 2020, Huntington University will permit courses in which students earned a satisfactory (S), pass (P), or other designation of satisfactory performance to fulfill prerequisite requirements.)
• OTD Candidates must achieve competitive scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) taken within the past five years. The OTD program admission policy will use the GPA calculation from OTCAS (Occupational Therapist Centralized Application Service) for assignment of points for admission.
• OTD Candidates must complete a writing sample listed on the Huntington University OTD Supplemental Application Form. A scoring rubric detailing what our admissions committee will be looking for is included.
• OTD Candidates must complete a minimum of 50 hours of observational, volunteer and/or work experience in occupational therapy.  These hours do not have to be completed prior to application but must be completed before the start of classes. (Candidates may contact the Admissions officer to discuss alternative means to achieve observation hours if needed.)
• OTD candidates need to submit three letters of recommendation via OTCAS. At least one of the three recommendations required for application must be from a healthcare provider, preferably a licensed occupational therapist.
• Submit the OTCAS application at https://portal.otcas.org and the Huntington University Supplemental Application Form.
• Students will be required to pass a background and substance abuse checks at time of admission to the program in order to be eligible for fieldwork, experiential component and to take the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapists (NBCOT) exam. Eligibility requirements for the national exam for becoming an occupational therapist can be retrieved at www.nbcot.org.  NBCOT, One Bank Street, Suite 300, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; Phone: (301) 990-7979; E-mail: info@nbcot.org; Fax: (301) 869-8492
• Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the National Certification Examination for the Occupational Therapist, administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the graduate will be an occupational therapist, registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.

Prerequisites (Your undergraduate degree should include):

* The Admissions Committee may choose to waive some requirements for special circumstances. Students may be accepted on a provisional basis until all prerequisites are met. Prerequisites must be completed prior to admission to the OTD program.

Admission Requirements for Huntington University Graduates with a Bachelor's Degree

Applicants who have earned a bachelor’s degree from Huntington University within the past 10 years with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible for automatic admission into the Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program (Fall and Spring Cohorts) provided they meet all other admission prerequisites. Additional review will be required for Huntington University graduates who earned their bachelor’s degrees 10 years or more prior to applying to the program.

Advanced Placement and Experiential Learning

Advanced Placement (AP) and experiential learning are not options in the Huntington University OTD program to align with the OTD curricular completion of all accreditation standards as outlined in the ACOTE Standards.

Transfer Students

Graduate credits earned at other regionally accredited institutions may be transferrable to Huntington University's Graduate Programs. Only graduate courses with a grade of B- (2.67) or above are transferable. Generally, such credits must be no older than 10 years and must represent courses that can reasonably substitute for courses in the Huntington University Graduate Programs. Individual program directors determine the suitability of such courses for transfer credit and may deny transfer credit. Students will be asked to provide relevant materials for their transfer courses.

Students in the Occupational Therapy Program may transfer in a maximum of 12 credit hours. Although credits may transfer, no transfer grades are recorded nor counted in the cumulative grade point average.