ADMISSION AND TUITION

To be considered for admission, applicants must meet the following criteria:

Bachelor’s Degree:

• Completion of a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution prior to the start of the program. Admission may be granted pending degree completion.

Academic Performance

• Minimum cumulative and prerequisite GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
• Prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of 2.0 or higher.
  • Applicants with an overall or prerequisite GPA below 3.0 are still encouraged to apply, as academic records may be evaluated on an individual basis.
  • Consideration will be given to applicants who demonstrate a GPA of 3.0 or higher within their most recent 60 semester hours or last 90 quarter hour credits of coursework, as this may indicate strong recent academic performance and readiness for doctoral-level study.
• Five prerequisite courses must be completed to establish an initial prerequisite GPA for application review.
• The highest grade earned in repeated prerequisite coursework will be used in GPA calculations.
• All coursework applied toward GPA calculations must be from a regionally accredited institution.

Interview:

• Completion of a virtual interview after students’ eligibility to move forward in the admissions process is determined based on their academic performance.

Letters of Recommendation

• Submission of three letters of recommendation that address academic readiness, professional qualities, and potential to succeed in an accelerated hybrid doctoral program.
• Recommendations may not come from family members, friends, clergy, or politicians unless they serve or have served as the applicant’s direct supervisor.

Observation Hours

• Completion of 15 hours of occupational therapy observation, with at least 10 hours completed in person.
• Applicants completing all hours in person are encouraged to observe across varied OT practice settings.

Program Essay

• Submission of the Hanover OTD essay, following the character or word count guidelines provided in the application portal.

Additional Requirements for Program Progression

Applicants for whom English is not a first language, or who request language proficiency evaluation, may be asked to submit scores from the TOEFL or IELTS taken within the past five years.

Preferred minimum scores are:

• TOEFL: iBT ≥ 80, CBT ≥ 213, PBT ≥ 550
• IELTS: Overall score ≥ 6.5

(Note: The NBCOT Examination is administered in English.)

• Overall cumulative GPA 3.0
• Prerequisite cumulative GPA 3.0 (the highest grade in a repeated course will be applied)
• Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II with lab (8 semester hours/12 quarter hours)
• Human or Lifespan Development (3 semester hours/4 quarter hours)
• Statistics (3 semester hours/4 quarter hours)
• Introduction to Psychology (3 semester hours/4 quarter hours)
• Abnormal Psychology/Psychopathology (3 semester hours/4 credit hours)
• English Composition (3 credits)
• Sociology/Anthropology (3 semester hours/4 credit hours)
• Medical Terminology (1 semester credit)

* Applicants must have successfully completed accredited Anatomy and Physiology (A/P) courses within the five (5) years prior to entry into the program. If A/P courses were completed more than five years prior, applicants are required to complete and pass a refresher course before matriculation.

** Special requests are reviewed by the OTD Director of Admissions and the Hanover OTD Admissions Committee. Decisions regarding special requests are made on a case-by-case basis and are final.

Such requests may include, but are not limited to:

• Consideration of course substitutions
• Evaluation of pass/fail coursework
• Other exceptions to standard prerequisite requirements

All courses required for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Degree, didactic, lab, and experiential must be completed within the Hanover College OTD Program. The Hanover College OTD Program does not grant advanced placement, credit for experiential learning, credit for work experience, or transfer credits from another program or institution. However, advanced placement credit and course credit transfers are reviewed and may be approved for the prerequisite requirements. 

• The Hanover OTD Program requires all students to complete a criminal background check. Other health and clearance requirements such as additional background checks and/or drug tests may be required by fieldwork and capstone sites prior to beginning those experiences in year two of the program.
• A criminal background may affect a student’s eligibility to be placed in fieldwork and capstone experiences, to register for the National Board for the Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) examination, and to obtain a state license required to practice as an occupational therapist. In an instance where a student has a criminal background, enrollment in or completion of Hanover’s OTD program alone does not imply or guarantee eligibility for NBCOT examination or state licensure. To determine eligibility, each applicant or student is responsible to contact NBCOT and their state’s licensure board to verify whether their criminal background allows for occupational therapist certification and a state occupational therapist license. 

Students can expect to receive class assignments electronically and will be required to submit assignments electronically. Computer specifications are provided below. 

Students are required to have a laptop computer and a mobile device that meet the following specifications. 

Mobile Device

Android and Apple products are acceptable and must have mobile broadband capabilities. Please see below for example products. 

• Android – Example products include phones and tablets from Acer, ASUS, Google, HTC, and Samsung. Android operating system version 6.0 or newer required. 
• Apple – Example products include the iPhone and iPad of various generations.  Apple operating system version 9.0 or newer required. 

 Notes

• Students are required to have the laptop computer and mobile device in their possession at the time of the OTD Program Orientation. 
• Software is required that enables viewing and editing frequently used file types, including Microsoft files (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel) and portable document files (PDFs). Even while using the most compatible applications, some software and applications may not be fully compatible with all hardware and across all platforms. For example, Adobe Flash files may not run on some Apple and Android operating systems. In these situations where incompatibility results, it is the student’s responsibility to view any required files utilizing compatible hardware. All assessments, with the exception of certain lab exams, contributing to >5% of the final course grade will be administered via a secure-testing computer software. Students will download and register secure-testing software to their personal laptop computers during the onsite orientation. Tablets and mobile devices cannot be used for computer-based testing.
• A variety of mobile device applications are required for use throughout the program. 

 Mobile broadband capability for the mobile device is suggested to provide an internet connection when a local wireless network is not available. 

Laptop Computer

Laptop computers, with Windows or Apple/Macintosh operating systems, are acceptable. Laptop recommendations can be found here.  The following is a list of minimum requirements: 

• Navigate the features of a laptop and mobile device
• Navigate the features of Microsoft 365 Office  (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Determine and establish usernames and passwords
• Learn new software programs
• Upload documents and photos to webpages
• Use videoconferencing software for chat functions, turning camera/mic on and off, and screen sharing
• Access video conferencing from both a laptop and mobile device