Personal Training Boosting your DPT Acceptance Chances?

Hey guys. First time poster here. I was wondering if anyone knows if DPT programs think highly of personal training certs as well as specialties (i.e. corrective exercise, performance enhancing, etc.). I was thinking to get a CPT cert through NASM this summer and then a CES the next (I still have a couple years 'til I apply). Any input from anyone that's gone through the process is extremely helpful!

focus your time on getting good, varied observation hours and lor's. Sure 2039439 certifications may make you stand out a little, but I don't think it'll solely push you over the top.

I had a NASM certification when I applied. I don't know how much difference it made, but it probably helped. I worked as a trainer for about 9 months before I realized it was a terrible way to make a living and went back to school. I think my experience as a trainer and my story made a bigger difference than the certificate itself. CEP would look good, but I think it's $700. You'll learn way more about therapeutic exercise in PT school than you would in a six-week course. Save your money and time and focus on what matters: scores, grades, and experience.

Kevin

NewTestament said:

Save your money and time and focus on what matters: scores, grades, and experience.

Kevin

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nicolej5 said:

focus your time on getting good, varied observation hours and lor's. Sure 2039439 certifications may make you stand out a little, but I don't think it'll solely push you over the top.

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Yeap. Those are what weighs the most in the application process. As mentioned above, observation in different settings would be great. I was thinking about getting certifications but people on this forum informed that wasn't going to get me into PT school. It may help but it wasn't going to push me over the top.

Tip: It is never too early but during this time you should also be thinking about why you want to be a PT. Integrating life or observation experience that lead you to pursue PT. By doing that, your personal statement and identity in PT will have so much more depth, volume, and direction. Schools love applicants who have direction and purpose. Some people make the mistake of searching this late in their application. It is a process and takes a lot of time to really sort this out.

"Identity is such a crucial affair that one shouldn't rush into it."

I'm certified through NASM and got into a DPT program. I don't know what difference it made, probably very little. But you need to leverage that experience in your personal statement or any other essay. Let the reader know you can do movement assessments, identify muscle weakness, develop an exercise program. You have to make the connect with the skills in personal training that overlap with those in physical therapy.

ynby86 said:

I'm certified through NASM and got into a DPT program. I don't know what difference it made, probably very little. But you need to leverage that experience in your personal statement or any other essay. Let the reader know you can do movement assessments, identify muscle weakness, develop an exercise program. You have to make the connect with the skills in personal training that overlap with those in physical therapy.

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I think you're absolutely right. Like you said, it's not so much about the NASM CPT, CES name as it is being able to make a connection with those overlying principles between personal training and physical therapy. I currently work between 10-15hrs a week as a PT aide and plan on having this job for the next couple of years, so I'm not too worried about my observation hours. I figure I'll probably have around 1,500hrs completed by the time I apply. I also work 15hrs a week at a gym, though I am currently not a trainer. If I do get the cert(s), I plan on keeping the job at the gym but just switching over to the personal training dept. In addition, my gpa is (I think) pretty competitive (3.7). I'm just hoping that the ability to make connections between what I learn through a pt cert or specialized cert will give me that extra something to get me in to the school of my choice.

ynby86 said:

Let the reader know you can do movement assessments, identify muscle weakness, develop an exercise program.

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I don't think that admissions people are concerned with this when looking at applications. Being able to do these things are skills we learn in pt school, they don't expect you to know that before. IMO, they won't deny you just because you can't identify muscle weaknesses at the time of applying.

nicolej5 said:

I don't think that admissions people are concerned with this when looking at applications. Being able to do these things are skills we learn in pt school, they don't expect you to know that before. IMO, they won't deny you just because you can't identify muscle weaknesses at the time of applying.

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Surely you wouldn't get denied because you can't identify muscle weaknesses, but I think being a trainer, especially a corrective exercise specialist, would show that you've had experience in the rehabilitation process and want to further your eduction in it by applying to PT school. As a PT aide, there is only so much I am able to do with patients. Specializing in rehabilitation based training gives you another dimension that I don't think anyone really gets as a volunteer or a paid PT aide. Obviously I haven't been through the physical therapy application process yet, but it is my thought that this extra dimension would help.