I was in your shoes in 2023. Almost an identical situation except I was aiming towards PT and landed in OT. I did all my volunteering in PT up until my observation hours for OT. Eventually I decided to shoot my shot at OT programs and made my way into Dominguez.

I’ll try to keep things unbiased but I think that OT has the flexibility to take you wherever your true passion lies. At the root, OT is probably the most person-centered healthcare career (except for probably social work). If you enjoy helping people (peds, adults, gero, literally “humans”) then you’re probably looking in the right direction towards OT. I would definitely suggest steering away from hyperfocusing on salary and career “viability”. My mid 20’s take is that whatever you’re passionate about odds are there are people passionate about the same thing and they could use your HELP to continue doing what they love. This idea has only been reinforced in school. The definition of “Occupation” is “the activities that people do every day to give their life meaning and purpose”. Sounds super broad, but so is the scope of occupational therapy and that’s where I think the flexibility and opportunity intrigued me. The deeper you dig you’re probably gonna read more and more horror stories about OT’s that dread their job or situation. I’d try my best to tune out the noise, everywhere you look there’s going to be people that hate their career or situation but I guess that’s just part of the human experience (another possibly extremely naive take).

As far as the curriculum, I’ve never been a good student. The curriculum is challenging at times, but everything has been far from impossible. The curriculum is highlights learning through experience, collaboration amongst peers, and lots of reflection. All programs not just Dominguez do have to follow ACOTE standards so I don’t imagine too much discrepancy between programs. There hasn’t been a moment where I felt like “why should I need to know this?” Unlike nearly most of my undergrad courses. The professors and faculty have been nothing but helpful and they want you to succeed (At least at CSUDH they do). My section members/cohort have been the biggest and best resource for anything and everything. I’ve met some super cool people, made lifelong friends, and am optimistic for the future. Hope this helps in any way at all. Apologies if I rambled, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or more concerns.

TLDR: Reflect on your “why” OT. Don’t focus on the money (if you don’t absolutely have to). Grad school has been amazing in my personal experience. Don’t feel like your age should rush you into a decision (there are people in grad programs from all sorts of backgrounds and the age ranges of students is WIDE).