How Raritan Valley Community College uses the HSRT in admissions
Raritan Valley selects OTA applicants using a standardized rubric combining overall GPA, HSRT score, and an essay, all administered through the RVCC Testing Center. The top 25 scoring applicants are offered seats; a rubric-qualified waitlist is maintained for additional offers.
No published minimum. A higher HSRT score directly improves your rubric position against the applicant pool.
HSRT testing at Raritan Valley Community College
- Location: In person at the RVCC Testing Center (Branchburg, NJ).
- Fee: Contact the RVCC Testing Center. (non-refundable)
Retake policy
Contact the RVCC Testing Center for the current retake policy.
About Raritan Valley Community College's Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program
Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg is the only New Jersey community college offering an Occupational Therapy Assistant program. The application cycle opens in July with a January cohort start.
About the HSRT exam
The Health Sciences Reasoning Test is developed by Insight Assessment. Unlike the TEAS or HESI, it does not test science, math, or vocabulary. The Standard HSRT reports an overall score plus eight critical thinking skills: analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, explanation, induction, deduction, and numeracy. The HSRT-AD form reports six of those skills (it does not report interpretation or explanation separately). Programs choose which HSRT form they administer. The Standard HSRT is 38 questions in 55 minutes, and the HSRT-AD is 35 questions in 50 minutes. Confirm with Raritan Valley Community College admissions which form and time limit you will sit.
New Jersey allied health programs use the HSRT because occupational therapy assistant (ota) requires strong clinical decision-making ability. The HSRT is designed to assess whether applicants can reason through novel problems, the core skill of clinical practice.
How to prepare for the HSRT at Raritan Valley Community College
Because there is no content to memorize, HSRT preparation looks different from TEAS or HESI prep. Effective preparation involves:
- Understanding the skill areas the HSRT reports (eight on the Standard HSRT, six on the HSRT-AD)
- Taking a baseline diagnostic to identify your weakest subscale
- Practicing argument analysis, inference, and logical reasoning with original HSRT-style practice questions
- Completing full-length practice exams under realistic conditions
- Reviewing every wrong answer by skill area, not just overall score
StudyBuddy is a dedicated HSRT prep platform: 1,331 questions across eight skill modules (one per reported skill) and a mixed-reasoning module, 70 interactive lessons, and 10 timed mock exams in the Standard HSRT format (38 questions, 55 minutes). It is designed to build the reasoning skills publicly described for the HSRT. Our questions are original practice material and do not reproduce the proprietary exam. If Raritan Valley Community College uses the HSRT-AD, the same course applies, and the pace per question is about the same (about 86 to 87 seconds).
Registration at Raritan Valley Community College
Registration for the HSRT is coordinated through Raritan Valley Community College's admissions office. You will receive a direct link and access code to the Insight Assessment online testing platform. Do not attempt to register independently, the test requires a program-issued access code.
