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. It measures five critical thinking skills: analysis, inference, evaluation, inductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning. The exam is approximately 33–35 questions and is typically timed at 50 minutes.
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 six skill areas tested on the HSRT
- Taking a baseline diagnostic to identify your weakest subscale
- Practicing argument analysis, inference, and logical reasoning with HSRT-format questions
- Completing full-length practice exams under realistic conditions
- Reviewing every wrong answer by skill area, not just overall score
StudyBuddy is the only dedicated HSRT prep platform, 1,000+ practice questions across 10 skill assessments, 64 interactive lessons, and 10 timed practice exams, all built for the specific format and skill areas that Raritan Valley Community College tests.
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.
