Top of Page
Skip main navigation

Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Request / Apply Now

To receive more information about NSU occupational therapy programs or to apply now, use one of the options below.

Request Information

Apply Now

Admissions Updates Due to COVID-19

Admissions Requirements

The Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) Program selects students based on grade point average (GPA), Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, a written essay, letters of evaluation, and interview. Prospective students may submit their applications at the beginning of the summer before the start date of the program through the Occupational Therapist Centralized Application Services (OTCAS). Information about OTCAS is available at www.otcas.org.

Strong candidates will demonstrate concern for people of diverse backgrounds, as well as the ability to use judgment, insight, and reasoning. All applicants must complete a minimum of 40 volunteer hours in at least two different OT practice settings. Some of these environments include hospitals, clinics, and private practices with a variety of populations.

The Master of Occupational Therapy program is designed so that a student may enter after completing an undergraduate or graduate degree from a regionally accredited college or university. Applicants must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale for each of the last two years of study, have social science and humanities prerequisite GPAs of 3.0 or better, have a natural science prerequisite GPA of 2.75 or better, and have a 2.0 or better in all prerequisite courses. All prerequisites must be completed with a 2.0 or better, no later than the Friday before the first day of matriculation in the MOT program which begins in the summer semester.

Students are required to submit official scores that are less than five years old from all three areas of the general test of the GRE (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing). Preference will be given to applicants who have a combined verbal and quantitative score of 800 on the General Test taken prior to August 1, 2011, or a 284 on the Revised General Test, and a 3.5 on analytical writing.

Please direct questions to the Admissions Office at (954) 262-1101 or 877-640-0218.

Admissions Updates Due to COVID-19

We do realize that the pandemic has impacted people in many different ways. Nova Southeastern University's M.O.T. program has provided information on mechanisms that may be helpful to applicants in satisfying requirements: 

  • Official GRE Scores:We will accept the "GRE General Test at Home" option that ETS currently provides
  • Official TOEFL Scores (If applicable): We will accept the "TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition" option that ETS currently provides
  • Letter of Recommendation from an Occupational Therapist: If you are unable to obtain a letter of recommendation from an Occupational Therapist due to the impact of COVID-19, a letter of recommendation from the following sources may be substituted:
    • Professor within your undergraduate degree program
    • Employer or supervisor for whom you have worked for 
    • Representative from an organization for whom you completed volunteer work with 
    • Recommendation letters should minimally state how the person knows you (relationship), how long they have known you and direct contact time the person has had with you. 
  • Observation/Volunteer Hours Requirement: If you have not fully completed your volunteer hours, we have developed an alternative, virtual mechanism to help you satisfy this requirement.
    • The virtual alternative to observation hours will entail the review and completion of modules found by accessing the Occupational Therapy Online Shadowing Experience, using the password LucasQU (case sensitive).
    • For students who have completed a portion of their observation hours with an OT, please see below for the number of modules required based on the number of observation hours completed. 
      • If you have completed less than 10 hours, complete all 6 modules.
      • If you have completed 10 – 20 hours, complete your choice of 5 modules.
      • If you have completed 21 – 30 hours, complete your choice of 3 modules.
      • If you have completed 31 – 40 hours, complete your choice of 1 module.
    • Students must complete the questions and reflections for each module chosen and upload their completed packet to OTCAS.  Navigate to the "Program Materials" section of your OTCAS application, select Nova Southeastern University, and click on the "Documents" tab

NSU would like to recognize and thank Cheryl B. Lucas, EdD, OTR/L, Quinnipiac University for her willingness to share these learning modules in support of our future Occupational Therapists

Return to top of page