DOCTOR of OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
APPLICATION PROCESS

gold lines

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR OTCAS

  • The LSU Health Shreveport Occupational Therapy Program will use the information provided on the Occupational Therapist Centralized Application Service (OTCAS) to make decisions regarding admission.

  • Applicants must send all application materials (e.g., transcripts) directly to OTCAS. Applicants should NOT send any application documents directly to the Occupational Therapy Program.

  • Applicants are advised to regularly check their OTCAS email, as all program communications will be sent there. They should also verify that OTCAS emails are not filtered into junk mail by their email provider.

  • It is the responsibility of the applicant to complete the correct prerequisite courses and to meet application deadlines. The Program does not notify applicants of missing documents, ineligible prerequisites, or approaching deadlines.

  • The Program starts accepting applications through OTCAS in July. Interviews are held in November, and successful applicants begin coursework the following May. Applicant responsibilities are listed according to this timeline.

gold lines

What is the application process and timeline?

July 2025

  1. Create  OTCAS account  and begin the application.

  2. After listing all the colleges you have attended in the OTCAS system, please request that each college send your official transcripts directly to OTCAS, either electronically or by mail. You can find detailed instructions on the OTCAS Application Help Center website.

    1. If you are taking prerequisite courses at any college/university during Summer 2025: Wait until your final grades for these courses have been posted before sending the transcript from that institution to OTCAS. (This ensures your transcript includes your completed grades for the prerequisite courses.

    2. If you have transcripts from other colleges/universities where you are NOT taking any Summer 2025 prerequisite courses: You do NOT need to wait; you can send those transcripts to OTCAS at any time, preferably in July.

  3. Upload a resume addressing the following as applicable: work history, volunteer work, extracurricular activities, and relevant life experiences.

  4. Upload your Personal Statement. Your personal statement should address why you selected occupational therapy as a career and how this degree relates to your immediate and long-term professional goals. We invite you to share how your lived experiences (e.g., personal, professional, cultural, etc.) have influenced your interest in pursuing OT. This essay is an important part of your application and allows you to clearly and effectively express yourself. Do not personalize this essay for a particular program, as it is shared with all your programs.

  5. Document observation hours in the Experience section of the OTCAS application and/or upload the certificate of completion for the Online Shadowing Program to the Documents section of the OTCAS application.

  6. Submit three letters of reference via the OTCAS Evaluation Portal. If completing observation hours, each LOTR you observed must submit an evaluation on your behalf.

October 15, 2025

Deadline for "verified" OTCAS application. To ensure your application is verified by the deadline, please submit it at least 4 weeks in advance. If your application is not verified by OTCAS by this date, your application will not go forward.

November 2025

Interviews are scheduled in early November. Students selected for interviews will be notified by email through OTCAS. It is the applicant’s responsibility to monitor their OTCAS email account and respond to all emails. 

December 1, 2025

Applicants will be notified of the admissions committee’s initial decisions via email through OTCAS, as well as through an official letter from the university. Acceptance into the program is conditional until all requirements outlined in the acceptance letter are fulfilled and pre-matriculation processes established by the Office of the Registrar are completed. These processes include, but are not limited to, successfully passing a drug screening and a criminal background check prior to matriculation. Final admission is contingent upon meeting all specified criteria.

January 31, 2026

Unofficial Fall 2025 transcripts are due in the Program in Occupational Therapy office for students enrolled during the fall semester. These transcripts should be sent to Connie Perkins via email at connie.perkins@lsuhs.edu.

May 18, 2026

Classes begin. 

   

Contact for admissions questions:

Sara Walters, DrOT, LOTR, BCP
318-813-2951
sara.walters@lsuhs.edu

Visit our Registrar webpage for questions regarding determining Residency Status.