FAQ - EOTD

The application portal for the EOTD program is open from mid-July until March.  You must first apply to the Occupational Therapy Centralized Application System, www.OTCAS.org.

The application for OTCAS is found at www.OTCAS.org. You must apply to OTCAS first, and once your application is verified, then you will receive the supplemental LLU application.

If you have submitted an application to OTCAS first (see #2 above), LLU will send you an email with the link to the electronic supplemental application. There is no additional fee for the supplemental application.

Your OTCAS application must be submitted by the end of March, it does not have to be verified by that date.  However, OTCAS could take up to 4 weeks to verify your application so we highly recommend applying early to avoid possible delays in the verification process.

No, OTCAS must receive your paid and summited application first; no processing will be done until your application is official. You are responsible for checking your application status to ensure that all transcripts have been received by OTCAS so they may begin their verification process.

Applicants wishing to transfer prior OT-related credits towards our program must receive written approval by our program. Please submit a written request via email to studyot@llu.edu. Include the title of the course(s), number of units, syllabus, and the course you are wanting the program to consider for equivalency. A representative from the program will follow up in writing with a decision from the Admissions Committee.

The application portal for LLU is open from mid-July to March.  If you are applying after March, the option is no longer available to apply to LLU.  If you are applying in July, make sure that OTCAS has opened the application portal for your desired academic year.

A minimum of three recommendations are required. Please submit one or two academic recommenders, and you may also select employment supervisors, church officials, volunteer or community service supervisors, or occupational therapists. Once you have entered the names and email addresses of your recommenders, they will receive an email requesting them to fill out the recommendation evaluation form and then submit a letter of recommendation.  It is your responsibility to check in your application status to ensure that your recommenders have submitted their recommendation evaluations and letters.

Do not mail the recommendation letter to OTCAS, they will not accept paper recommendations; the letter must be scanned and uploaded to the OTCAS application.

Yes, your personal statement may be uploaded on your OTCAS application, under Supporting Information.  Suggested maximum length is 2 pages.

Yes, you may upload your resumé on your OTCAS application, under Supporting Information, or Program Materials.  The resumé is optional.

No, the GRE is not mandatory for admission to our EOTD program at LLU.

We require a minimum cumulative and pre-requisite GPA of 3.20.

You may inquire at any facility where there are occupational therapists, such as hospitals (in-patient and out-patient), rehabilitation centers, convalescent homes, school districts, private clinics, assisted living.  When you inquire, ask if you are able to observe or shadow the OT, vs asking if you can volunteer. If the facility only takes volunteers, then you need to sign on as a volunteer, but request to be placed in the OT setting. Start observing as soon as you can, many facilities have a waitlist and you may have to wait for your turn.  See #15 below for the link to find the observation verification forms.

• The observation verification forms may be found at this link: http://alliedhealth.llu.edu/sites/alliedhealth.llu.edu/files/docs/allied-EOTD-verification-forms.pdf.  
• If you observed at more than one facility, you must submit forms for each separate facility.
• All forms for each facility, the observation verification by the OT, your reaction to the observation experience, and your time log, must be submitted in order for the observations to be accepted.  Please scan the forms as one pdf and upload to the OTCAS application, under Program Materials.
• If the OT prefers to return the observation verification form directly to us instead of giving it to you, it may be mailed to: Department of Occupational Therapy, Loma Linda University, Nichol Hall A901, Loma Linda, CA 92350.

• We will accept observing or shadowing of occupational therapy in a variety of settings, such as acute care, out-patient rehabilitation, school-based, private clinics, behavioral health, assisted living, etc. 
• You must shadow an OT or OTA, not PT or other disciplines. 
• If you are working as an aide, and directly assisting the OT, this is acceptable for fulfillment of our requirement.  However, if your work involves clerical or other duties not in the vicinity of OT, then that is counted as work experience and not OT observation.
• You must submit separate observation verifications and reactions to your experience of each facility that you observed at, in order for those hours to be counted.

You do not have to wait until you have completed all your observation hours before submitting your OTCAS application.  You may upload documents of the hours you have already completed, with a notation that you are completing the rest of the hours, and indicating when we may expect the rest of the documents.

Please keep in mind that the OT observation requirement is part of our criteria for acceptance.  If your application shows incomplete hours and there is no indication of when you will submit the remaining hours, review of your application will be held up.

You will need to obtain additional updated observation hours at other OT settings and get verification from the OT.  All observation hours must be verified with the occupational therapist’s verification evaluation form, timesheet, and your reaction to the experience.

Yes, you may substitute the time sheet provided by the facility.  You may print out more time sheets if you need more space than the one sheet.

The letter from the OT verifying your experience may be used in lieu of the observation verification form, however it may not also be used as one of your recommendation letters.

Initially, only OTCAS needs your official transcripts from all your colleges attended.  If you are accepted to LLU, then we will require you to request official transcripts to be sent to LLU. Note: International applicants are required to request transcripts to be sent to LLU at the time of application.  See item# 29. 

You may submit your application to OTCAS as long as you will be completed with your prerequisites by the end of the Fall term of the year that you are applying.  For instance, if you are applying for our June 2025 start date, you must have all prerequisites completed by December of 2024.  As soon as you have completed those courses, send us your grade report so that we may calculate those grades into your GPA before we make a final decision on your application.

The supplemental LLU application is submitted separately from the OTCAS application.  Your OTCAS application must be verified by OTCAS first, then they will release your name to LLU. When the LLU admissions office receives your name, they will send you an email with the link to the electronic LLU application, which must be completed and submitted before the deadline specified in the email.  There is no additional fee for the LLU application.

The core values questions are part of the LLU supplemental application, which you will receive once your OTCAS application has been verified.

There are four core values essay questions in the LLU supplemental application. Your answer to each question should be kept within 600 words.  Please be succinct rather than long and rambling.  The electronic LLU application is on a timer and will shut off after a period of inactivity; always save each section that you complete. You should work on your essays off-line, and then paste them into the application.

No, your recommenders do not need to fill out LLU’s recommendation form if they already did the one for OTCAS.  Please leave that section of your application blank, otherwise your recommender will receive the request from LLU to fill out the LLU form.  If you wish to add additional recommenders to the ones you submitted on OTCAS, then you may list the additional names on the LLU application.

No, we do not need your transcripts because we have access to them on OTCAS.  If you are offered acceptance to LLU, then we will require official transcripts at that time.

International students will be required to request their international transcripts and transcript evaluations to be sent to LLU at the time of submitting the supplemental application.

Once we have both your OTCAS and LLU applications, they will be reviewed and scored.  If your application is recommended for the next stage, you will be sent an email inviting you to an online interview via Zoom. This process will go on from October to April.  Final decisions will be made in January and notifications will be sent out immediately after that.