Admission Requirements

  • The following are the prerequisite requirements for admission into the School of Health Professions' Occupational Therapy Program.
  • A Bachelor's Degree including the courses below:
    • 3 credits of English Composition
    • 6 credits of Arts and Humanities
      • (Courses include music, art, literature, language [intermediate level or above], philosophy, ethics, logic, religion, and theater study. Performance courses [chorus, ballet, ceramics, photography, or acting] are not accepted)
    • 9 credits of Social and Behavioral Sciences
      • (must include Introduction to Psychology and Abnormal Psychology and either Introductory Sociology or Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (these courses must be 3 credits each).
    • 8 credits of Biology with laboratories**
      • (must be courses designated for science majors)
    • 4 credits of Chemistry with laboratories
      • (must be courses designated for science majors)
    • 4 credits of Physics with laboratories
      • (must be courses designated for science majors)
    • 4 credits of Anatomy** 
    • 3 credits of Statistics (may be biology statistics, math statistics, business or social sciences statistics course)

**Anatomy and Physiology I and II can be accepted in lieu of 4 credits of Biology and 4 credits of Anatomy

Prerequisite Courses for Stony Brook Students only:

Bio 202 w/204 lab or Bio 203 w/205 lab
Chem 131 and 133; or 129, 130 and 133
Physics: choose one set: 113 and 115, or 121 and 123, or 131 and 133
ANP 300
Psych 103 and 230
Either Soc 105 or Ant 102
Statistics: select one from the following: Ams 102, 110; Psy 201 or Soc 202 or Eco 320
*HAN 200 and HAN 202 will be accepted for the Anatomy & Physiology I and II requirement

Other recommended courses include:

  • College-level Math
  • Developmental Psychology

PREFERENCE is given to applicants with an overall GPA of 3.5 in all coursework and a GPA of 3.0 in both the Science Prerequisites and the Natural Sciences GPA; a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 a minimum GPA of 2.8 in both the Science prerequisites and the Natural Sciences are required to be invited for the interview portion of the admission process.

PREFERENCE is given to applicants who have completed the 20 credits of the prerequisite biology, chemistry, and physics courses at the time of the application and who meet the minimum Science GPA of 2.8 for these prerequisites, as well as the other minimum GPA requirements.

A minimum GPA of 2.8 in prerequisite science courses and a minimum GPA of 2.8 for natural science is also required for all applicants, in addition to the minimum overall GPA of 3.0.

HEALTH RELATED EXPERIENCE

Current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (Infant and Adult)

  • Current certification in Standard First Aid (Infant and Adult)
  • A minimum of 100 hours of volunteer or work experience observing an occupational therapist (not an OTA) in two different settings
    • Volunteer or work experience may be fulfilled in a combination of out-patient rehabilitation, developmental disabilities, nursing homes, or school-based, psychosocial or acute care settings
    • At least 75% of the volunteer hours (75 hours) must be at a site other than the applicant’s place of employment
    • No more than 25 hours of virtual observation hours are accepted
    • To learn more about volunteering at Stony Brook University Hospital, please call the Department of Volunteer Services at (631) 444-2610.
    • To learn more about volunteering at the Long Island State Veterans Home, please call (631) 444-8590

OTHER ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Applicants must have completed the required science coursework within the last 10 years.
  • Students may take their prerequisite courses at Stony Brook University or at other institutions. Transfer credits are granted for relevant college level course work with grades of “C” or higher.
  • All international applicants whose native or first language is not English must also score at least 550 paper-based or 213 computer-based on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) within two years prior to admission. ALL foreign transcripts must be evaluated by World Education Services (WES) and submitted with your OTCAS application.
  • Three references; Two of these references must be from the observations of a licensed Occupational Therapist from each of the facilities at which you have volunteered.

NOTES

  • All prerequisites must be completed by the end of the spring term of the year for which applicants are applying. Students who are accepted for entrance without final grades on transcripts are accepted on a conditional basis and may be placed on probation until official final grades have been submitted for review and filing or may have their admission status rescinded.
  • The Stony Brook University OT Program does not grant occupational therapy course credit for previous work experience under any circumstance.

INFORMATION SESSIONS

Information sessions about the Occupational Therapy Program are held monthly. Refer to the information session section for these scheduled dates.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS

Application requests for the Occupational Therapy Program are handled by OTCAS (Occupational Therapy Central Application System). Online applications are typically available mid-July for the year prior to the admission date: https://otcas.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/login

Online applications include but are not limited to:

a. Application and instructions
b. 3 reference forms, 2 must be from an OT
c. Summary sheet

All applicants must complete and submit applications online.

Students must complete a Stony Brook supplemental application which is located at the end of the application. There is an additional fee for this application to be paid in order to have your application reviewed.

March 1 is the application deadline. This deadline is for those who are applying to the Program. This is not an e-submit deadline, but rather the deadline for us to have received your completed and validated application.  It is strongly recommended that you submit your completed application at least 3 weeks prior to the March 1 deadline in order to allow OTCAS time to receive and validate your application, letters of recommendations and transcripts.

  • The  OTD program is a traditional full-time, weekday, entry-level program. Please note that some courses may be held in the late afternoons or early evenings, and/or may be held on one weekend in the third year of the program. This is to allow experts in the field of occupational therapy to be able to instruct our students.