UW-Madison OT Program - Applying to the MSOT Program

Applying for Admission to the MS-OT Program

NOTE: ALL applicants MUST include the application supplement section of the UW online application. Special directives apply to OTCAS participants. Please see details below.

Complete the UW-Madison Graduate School Online Application (Linked Here)

Please! Carefully read this page before you use the online-application's link.

• Be sure to select "Summer" as your Term of Admission and "Occupational Therapy" as your Program Applied To
  • The UW MS-OT Program admits new students only for the "summer" term
  • An applicant who doesn't select "summer" will not find a menu selection for Occupational Therapy 
• Be sure you have read and understood the UW MS-OT Admission Criteria which include additional instructions specific to the application items described on this page
• Please read the Graduate School's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Items you must be sure to include within the UW Grad School on-line application

• Statement of Purpose (upload on online admission application)
• Letters of Recommendation (identify letter writers so UW Grad School can email them instructions about online letters)
• GRE scores (and TOEFL, if applicable, or equivalent)

Also included within the UW-Madison Graduate School online application is a "Supplemental Application" (supplement). When compiling your online application, you may see "Supplemental Applications" for various programs. Be sure you select the supplement for "Occupational Therapy". In the supplement you must provide the following items:

• Identification of your Prerequisite Coursework (completed, in-progress, and to-be-completed). Provide this data by keying it into the fields at the top of the supplement that call for the course number/title, credits, school, completion date, grade, and any comments for each prerequiste course. Comments are particularly pertinent if the course is in-progress or planned for future completion. You should then be as specific as circumstances allow so the UW OT Admissions Committee can ascertain that you are likely to be fully ready to begin classes as scheduled if you do receive an admission offer.
• Transcripts. You may upload unofficial transcript(s), or scan your official transcript(s) for upload, and they will be accepted during the application stage. To upload transcript(s), scroll to the bottom of the supplement of the UW Grad School online application. The field for transcripts is the second-to-last field on the supplement. NOTE: The UW MS-OT Program will request your printed official transcript(s) if you are selected for admission, because the UW Grad School requires them before it will officially admit you.
• Resume. You may prepare this on your computer and upload it in the final field at the bottom of the supplement. See the technical note, below, on file type.
• OT Observational Experience Forms
  • Form for Occupational Therapy Observation Experience  (PDF)
    • Please print as many of these forms as you need to document your completion of 40 hours (minimum) of OT Observational Experience.
    • Fill in the information requested, and obtain a signature from the clinician(s) you worked with. You may mail, email, or fax your form(s) for clinician signature(s).
    • Scan the completed form(s) for upload to the UW Grad School online application.
    • Please upload all of your forms at the OT Observational Experience upload area of the "Supplement". The field for upload of observations is the third-to-last field at the bottom of the supplement. 
  • Students who have had an optional Introduction to Occupational Therapy course, for example Occ Ther 100, "Orientation to OT" at UW-Madison, may use the OT100 form to document course completion. Fill in the form and upload it under the OT Observational Experience Forms section of the "Supplement." We will accept an Introduction to Occupational Therapy course as 10 hours of the required 40 hours of observation if you submit this form with instructor signature. Note that this course won't qualify as an OT Practice Setting, and at least two practice settings are required.

Technical Note: The UW online supplement was programmed to allow uploads of file type .doc, .docx, .jpg, .png, or .pdf, so other file types may not load. If you aren't able to produce an upload in one of these accepted file types, please contact the OT Program before you submit your completed UW online application.

Special Directives for Applicants Interested in Optional Usage of OTCAS

OTCAS, the Occupational Therapy Central Application System, is a service available via the AOTA to allow more convenient application to multiple OT programs. OTCAS is optional and involves added fees.

Applicants who use OTCAS must still complete:

1. UW-Madison online Graduate School application. (Applicants who use OTCAS are not required to submit a Personal Statement or Letters of Recommendation  with their UW online application. Those sections of the UW online application can be left blank. The Admissions Committee will review items on OTCAS.)
2. "Supplement" portion of the UW-Madison online application. This especially includes identification of Prerequisite Coursework, and a Resume. (Applicants who use OTCAS are not required to upload transcripts or OT Observations to the UW supplement. These will be available for review on OTCAS.)

Please Note: If you used OTCAS to provide a generic version of a mandatory application item, and if you wish to submit that item in a version more specific to the MS-OT Program at UW-Madison (e.g. Personal Statement), you may include that item within your UW-Madison Graduate School Application. Required items that you include in the UW-Madison Graduate School Application will be considered the primary source of evaluation or review by the UW OT Admissions Committee. The corresponding item(s) in OTCAS will be considered secondary or redundant, and they may not be reviewed at all. If you provide an item in your UW-Madison online application, be sure it is complete and self-contained.

Information on our Admission Procedures

Graduate School Involvement

• The Graduate School makes the final admission decision based on the Occupational Therapy Program's recommendation.
• Graduate School Checklist 
• Graduate School Requirements for Admission

Occupational Therapy Program Application and Admission Procedures

• When to Apply for Summer 2013:  The deadline for completing applications is early Fall, 2012; specific dates will be posted when available. UW OT is considering an application procedure change. Please watch this web site for details soon.
• When to Begin the Application Process: Summer of 2012. Monitor this web site for details soon.
• Notification of Application Status:  Applicants will be notified no later than April of their status for admission in June. Some applicants will have final action on their applications prior to that date. All offers of admission are provisional until all bachelor's level grades are final and documented (if bachelor's degree pending at time of application) and criminal background investigation results are reviewed. If, after a student has been offered admission, the final transcript or results of the criminal background check indicate that a student did not satisfy all the eligibility criteria, the offer of admission will be rescinded. Students should be aware that the offer of admission could be rescinded after the start of Anatomy 622. Information About Criminal Background Checks for Prospective Occupational Therapy Students (PDF)

Criteria for Student Selection

The admissions process of the Master of Science-Occupational Therapy Program is highly competitive. The MSOT Program will select students for admission based on the following:

60% Academic Factors

• GPA (on last 60 credits of undergraduate courses, prerequisite courses and overall average)
• Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores

40% Non-academic Factors

• The following qualities will be considered:
  • breadth of life experience;
  • evidence of maturity/responsibility;
  • insight into and potential for success in the OT field;
  • depth and breadth of pre-occupational therapy experience;
  • leadership skills or potential; and
  • communication and interpersonal skills.
• The consideration of qualities will be by Admissions Committee analysis of the following application materials: 
  • Personal Statement
  • Resume
  • Letters of Recommendation
  • Occupational Therapy Observation Experience Forms
• Interviews are not required for admission.

Questions

For questions on submission procedures for your UW online application you may contact John Hageman at kinesgrad@education.wisc.edu or 608/262-8730.

For questions on the content of your application, especially questions about course prerequisites and equivalency, you may contact Alexia Rebne, Admissions Coordinator at otadmissions@education.wisc.edu.