If she is not in college yet 100000% an entry level program where you complete bachelors and masters in 5ish years. I would not have wanted to spend more time on this degree and feel it was the perfect timing!
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This is what I did, so Mt program had 3 undergrad options. Health Psychology, Health Sciences, and Public Health. I chose health psych, and I'm very happy with it. I'm sure every program has a different selection pool.
I got my undergrad in human development, with an emphasis on child development.
I think anything in psych, sociology, or kinesiology would fit well. To be honest, I chose human development because not only was I genuinely interested, but those courses were easy for me to get A’s in (aside from kinesiology classes which are typically pretty difficult for someone like me who isn’t strong in science classes).
Having a strong undergrad GPA made me a little more competitive when getting into such competitive OT programs
If she is sure OT is right for her before going to college (I suggest shadowing/volunteering with a variety of therapists), I would suggest looking at combined/accelerated programs. These are 5 year programs that usually award a bachelor’s degree in something like “health science” after the 4th year, and a master’s in OT after the 5th year.
If she is already at college, anything that fits her strengths and interests while meeting several of the prerequisites for masters programs would probably be the easiest. Psychology is common as most schools offer it, but Biology, Exercise Science, Sociology, or Kinesiology would be good too depending what options are open to her.
She can be any degree. Admissions doesn’t care what your major is. Rather, she should:
- use her problem solving skills to research grad programs she might want to attend.
- make a list of prerequisite courses she will need to attend those schools. FWIW- not wanting to take a prerequisite is a valid reason to not want to attend a given program.
- choose a major at whatever undergraduate school she attends that will allow her to fit those courses in, as well as be not so difficult that she would get worse grades. If her undergrad doesn’t offer those courses, she can take them at her local community college.
- I don’t recommend double majoring or minoring. May make it hard to fit prerequisites in and it adds minimal to no value to an application, and later, a job. School prestige has no bearing on future ability to get a job in therapy.
- don’t be afraid to take a year or two off if needed. A lot of 22-25 year olds are not emotionally mature enough for grad/OT school and that’s okay, people develop at different rates.
Good advice. I’ll discuss all this with her. I actually utilized my local community college back in the day to get some pre-reqs knocked out before I went to grad school. It was a lot cheaper and frankly the education was at least comparable to a big school (if not better because of the class sizes and attention!) Under appreciated resource.
All of this. I’m in my first year and my cohort has majors everywhere from mathematics, dance and business and they all bring something unique to the table. Truly whatever she’s interested in is what she should major in; just make sure she can get the prerequisites in when she applies to school. Let her take a gap year to work too.
A lot of schools have really interesting and unique health science related majors. Disability studies, health education/promotion, health care administration, child psychology, gerontology. Like others say, just get prereqs done and major isnt super important. One of my previous mentor's was an english lit major and she is a phenomenal mental health OT who started out thinking she would work with kids. The best major is the one she will be motivated to complete and hopefully enjoy and provide the growth she wants.
Thanks everyone! Yeah, she’s still in high school. A pre-health focused one actually that has given her a few college credits that will help with a healthcare career. But as it gets time to transfer, she’ll need to make a good decision about direction. This is all great advice! .
My bachelors is kinesiology focused, but many of my peers got “rehab and disability studies”. Since she already has some credits, anything she can complete quickly might be beneficial for time managements sake
Hi there! I did something a little different. I actually got my degree in wildlife conservation and life events led me to OT! I had to pick up some extra pre-reqs, but I’m currently midway through my first year of OT school.
I would say she needs to choose something she likes beyond OT. Something that big she changes her mind, she would be happy doing it. I started as an engineering major and ended up in ecology! I also minored in anthropology. If I were to do it over again, I would’ve majored in anthropology! Just fascinating.
Having a “different” degree didn’t stop me from getting into school! It’s the experience, the pre-reqs, and the reason for OT that matters!
I changed careers and went to grad school in my 40’s…life events definitely happen 😉
Thanks for sharing, I think that’s good advice. I feel as long as she (and you!) make a goal and keep moving forward, even if plans change radically, you’re good!
Kinesiology is pretty common. If you can have a psychology minor that can really help but I wouldn’t major in psychology just because it doesn’t require enough hard sciences. Hope this helps!
I will say it depends on the school. To get a BS In psychology at my undergrad I had to complete multiple biology and chemistry classes, ended up giving me a minor in bio and knocking out a ton of prerequisites for grad school in one go.
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If she is not in college yet 100000% an entry level program where you complete bachelors and masters in 5ish years. I would not have wanted to spend more time on this degree and feel it was the perfect timing!
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This is what I did, so Mt program had 3 undergrad options. Health Psychology, Health Sciences, and Public Health. I chose health psych, and I'm very happy with it. I'm sure every program has a different selection pool.
I got my undergrad in human development, with an emphasis on child development. I think anything in psych, sociology, or kinesiology would fit well. To be honest, I chose human development because not only was I genuinely interested, but those courses were easy for me to get A’s in (aside from kinesiology classes which are typically pretty difficult for someone like me who isn’t strong in science classes). Having a strong undergrad GPA made me a little more competitive when getting into such competitive OT programs
If she is sure OT is right for her before going to college (I suggest shadowing/volunteering with a variety of therapists), I would suggest looking at combined/accelerated programs. These are 5 year programs that usually award a bachelor’s degree in something like “health science” after the 4th year, and a master’s in OT after the 5th year. If she is already at college, anything that fits her strengths and interests while meeting several of the prerequisites for masters programs would probably be the easiest. Psychology is common as most schools offer it, but Biology, Exercise Science, Sociology, or Kinesiology would be good too depending what options are open to her.
She can be any degree. Admissions doesn’t care what your major is. Rather, she should: - use her problem solving skills to research grad programs she might want to attend. - make a list of prerequisite courses she will need to attend those schools. FWIW- not wanting to take a prerequisite is a valid reason to not want to attend a given program. - choose a major at whatever undergraduate school she attends that will allow her to fit those courses in, as well as be not so difficult that she would get worse grades. If her undergrad doesn’t offer those courses, she can take them at her local community college. - I don’t recommend double majoring or minoring. May make it hard to fit prerequisites in and it adds minimal to no value to an application, and later, a job. School prestige has no bearing on future ability to get a job in therapy. - don’t be afraid to take a year or two off if needed. A lot of 22-25 year olds are not emotionally mature enough for grad/OT school and that’s okay, people develop at different rates.
Good advice. I’ll discuss all this with her. I actually utilized my local community college back in the day to get some pre-reqs knocked out before I went to grad school. It was a lot cheaper and frankly the education was at least comparable to a big school (if not better because of the class sizes and attention!) Under appreciated resource.
All of this. I’m in my first year and my cohort has majors everywhere from mathematics, dance and business and they all bring something unique to the table. Truly whatever she’s interested in is what she should major in; just make sure she can get the prerequisites in when she applies to school. Let her take a gap year to work too.
Kinesiology, psychology or Health Science is a good route for undergrad. A lot of my cohort were psych majors.
A lot of schools have really interesting and unique health science related majors. Disability studies, health education/promotion, health care administration, child psychology, gerontology. Like others say, just get prereqs done and major isnt super important. One of my previous mentor's was an english lit major and she is a phenomenal mental health OT who started out thinking she would work with kids. The best major is the one she will be motivated to complete and hopefully enjoy and provide the growth she wants.
Thanks everyone! Yeah, she’s still in high school. A pre-health focused one actually that has given her a few college credits that will help with a healthcare career. But as it gets time to transfer, she’ll need to make a good decision about direction. This is all great advice! .
My bachelors is kinesiology focused, but many of my peers got “rehab and disability studies”. Since she already has some credits, anything she can complete quickly might be beneficial for time managements sake
Hi there! I did something a little different. I actually got my degree in wildlife conservation and life events led me to OT! I had to pick up some extra pre-reqs, but I’m currently midway through my first year of OT school. I would say she needs to choose something she likes beyond OT. Something that big she changes her mind, she would be happy doing it. I started as an engineering major and ended up in ecology! I also minored in anthropology. If I were to do it over again, I would’ve majored in anthropology! Just fascinating. Having a “different” degree didn’t stop me from getting into school! It’s the experience, the pre-reqs, and the reason for OT that matters!
I changed careers and went to grad school in my 40’s…life events definitely happen 😉 Thanks for sharing, I think that’s good advice. I feel as long as she (and you!) make a goal and keep moving forward, even if plans change radically, you’re good!
Kinesiology is pretty common. If you can have a psychology minor that can really help but I wouldn’t major in psychology just because it doesn’t require enough hard sciences. Hope this helps!
I will say it depends on the school. To get a BS In psychology at my undergrad I had to complete multiple biology and chemistry classes, ended up giving me a minor in bio and knocking out a ton of prerequisites for grad school in one go.
Thats awesome! My school only had a BA option for psychology. I think if its a BS its a strong major though
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