Advice for next year..

[jtb93]

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I sent in 8 applications this year, and my chances of getting accepted are looking slim. I have gotten 4 rejections so far. Any advice on how I can become a more competitive applicant next year if I don't make it in this time around?

School: UW-Green Bay
Major: Human Biology-Exercise Science
cGPA: 3.31
pGPA: 3.30 (PTCAS), 3.3-3.5 for all of my schools
GRE: V148, Q152, A3.5
Observation hours: 325 (IP nursing facility/rehab tech), 21 (IP acute), 40 (OP ortho), and 20 (OP pediatrics)
LoR: 2 PTs, 2 professors

I plan on starting GRE prep again in the coming weeks. 5 months should give me ample time to boost my scores for the next application cycle. I am also taking Med Term and Development Psych at my local community college in the interim. These won't have a major effect on my GPA, but I calculated my cGPA to be 3.35 assuming I get A's in both courses.

I know volunteer experience is lacking on my application. I am in the process of looking for good volunteering opportunities that I can log on my next application.

Any advice on what else I could do to make myself a more competitive applicant? I know my current stats aren't the best, but I am still determined that I will get an acceptance letter, whether it be this year or next.

Thank you!

 

[Lefty1339]

Higher GPA, higher GRE, something else to make you stand out

 

[astarblaze]

I sent in 8 applications this year, and my chances of getting accepted are looking slim. I have gotten 4 rejections so far. Any advice on how I can become a more competitive applicant next year if I don't make it in this time around?

School: UW-Green Bay
Major: Human Biology-Exercise Science
cGPA: 3.31
pGPA: 3.30 (PTCAS), 3.3-3.5 for all of my schools
GRE: V148, Q152, A3.5
Observation hours: 325 (IP nursing facility/rehab tech), 21 (IP acute), 40 (OP ortho), and 20 (OP pediatrics)
LoR: 2 PTs, 2 professors

I plan on starting GRE prep again in the coming weeks. 5 months should give me ample time to boost my scores for the next application cycle. I am also taking Med Term and Development Psych at my local community college in the interim. These won't have a major effect on my GPA, but I calculated my cGPA to be 3.35 assuming I get A's in both courses.

I know volunteer experience is lacking on my application. I am in the process of looking for good volunteering opportunities that I can log on my next application.

Any advice on what else I could do to make myself a more competitive applicant? I know my current stats aren't the best, but I am still determined that I will get an acceptance letter, whether it be this year or next.

Thank you!

Contact the schools you were rejected from and ask what you can do to improve your app for next year. If there was a big red flag (poor essay, bad rec letters, etc), sometimes they will tell you (or hint at it).

Otherwise, you need to improve your GPA as much as possible. In addition to retaking the GRE, retake prereqs that you didn't get As in (and get As this time) to raise your prereq and cum GPA. Take extra classes to raise your cum and last 60 GPA. This will help your app more than volunteer work, so I'd prioritize this over volunteering.

Also, be strategic about the schools you apply to. Your stats will keep you out of some schools, but not others- make sure you're applying to schools in that second group. This means you'll need to do some research to find out which schools are a good fit for you.

Good luck!

 

[jtb93]

Thanks for the responses.

I would love to retake another prereq course, but I really don't think that would fit in my schedule. I graduated in May and am not in close proximity to the school where I took my prereq courses, so that is out of the question. The tech school where I'm taking classes at now doesn't have a wide variety of courses so that's not going to help me much.

I could be wrong, but most of the schools I was looking at only calculate 1 or 2 repeated courses into the pGPA. I already boosted 1 grade from a BC to an A, so some schools wouldn't even factor in an additional repeated course.

I think my last 60 GPA is relatively strong (3.66). Not perfect, but it's definitely better than my other GPAs. I'm one of the many who messed up his first year of undergrad, so that's definitely coming back to haunt me.

Concerning additional (non-repeated) coursework, does anyone have any recommendations on what types of courses I should look for? I obviously don't want to take filler classes, rather ones that would look decent on my app.

Again, thanks for the help. It's greatly appreciated.

 

[astarblaze]

Concerning additional (non-repeated) coursework, does anyone have any recommendations on what types of courses I should look for? I obviously don't want to take filler classes, rather ones that would look decent on my app.

Take courses you can get As in. Admissions mostly looks at your GPA, not actual coursework. Unless the program specifically says they give extra points for taking specific classes, you'll likely benefit much more in the admissions process from just boosting your GPA as opposed to taking something specific.

With that said, courses that are interesting to you and applicable to PT would probably be what I would do- along the lines of Neuroscience, advanced Anatomy and Physiology classes, Exercise Phys, Kinesiology, Cell Bio, Molecular Bio, Organic Chem, Abnormal Psych, etc. Anything you haven't taken already. You could also take language classes. Spanish (especially if you already have a background in it) could be very useful down the line as a PT. But whatever you take, make sure you can get As in it!

 

[jtb93]

Thanks for the response.

I took Business Stats (got a B) in my undergrad, so I am going to enroll in regular math Stats at my CC next semester. I also plan on taking Developmental Psych concurrently. The school where I did my undergrad offers a hybrid summer Biology course in the summer that I would like to retake. I know some schools don't accept/like online courses, but since this is half online/half in-person, it looks like most schools will accept it. Not sure how I'll make this work, but I'm determined to get accepted to PT school.

Received positive feedback today from one of the schools I got denied from, so that boosted my spirits a little. In short, I was told that my stats and application as a whole were "very good," but the extreme number of applicants barred me from getting accepted. I calculated my prereq for that school to be 3.4, but I was notified in the email it was a 3.53. I'm optimistic that the courses I will enroll in will only boost my GPA. Alongside a higher GRE score, I plan on being a much more competitive applicant in the next cycle.

 

[astarblaze]

Thanks for the response.

I took Business Stats (got a B) in my undergrad, so I am going to enroll in regular math Stats at my CC next semester. I also plan on taking Developmental Psych concurrently. The school where I did my undergrad offers a hybrid summer Biology course in the summer that I would like to retake. I know some schools don't accept/like online courses, but since this is half online/half in-person, it looks like most schools will accept it. Not sure how I'll make this work, but I'm determined to get accepted to PT school.

Received positive feedback today from one of the schools I got denied from, so that boosted my spirits a little. In short, I was told that my stats and application as a whole were "very good," but the extreme number of applicants barred me from getting accepted. I calculated my prereq for that school to be 3.4, but I was notified in the email it was a 3.53. I'm optimistic that the courses I will enroll in will only boost my GPA. Alongside a higher GRE score, I plan on being a much more competitive applicant in the next cycle.

So, I know you didn't specifically ask about suggestions for GRE prep, but thought I'd share some unsolicited advice (sorry!) in case it's useful to you since I know you're planning on putting lots of effort into GRE studying.

I self-studied, and found this to be much more affordable, and probably a better use of my time than taking an actual course. I had a limited time to study, so I mainly focused on my weak areas: reviewing math content, getting used to test timing, and doing lots of timed essays. I found doing test questions and essays under timed conditions to be the most helpful for me. I also took a bunch of practice tests, which helped me to feel more confident and also know what to expect.

The most helpful materials that I used included:

• The official guide that ETS puts out-- I felt like using actual ETS questions really helped me to get used to the way that they ask questions. This was crucial for me.
• ETS' two free online practice tests through their Power prep software: these look and feel exactly like the actual test.
• Magoosh's online GRE prep materials (https://gre.magoosh.com/). Magoosh is expensive but especially for test-taking strategies/tips, practice with timing, and review of math concepts, I found their materials to be super helpful, especially for learning time-saving strategies to solve the types of math problems I saw on the test. They also have a lot of free stuff on their blog, including study schedules and test-taking tips, so even if you don't shell out the money for their online stuff, their free stuff is worth checking out. Their 6 month plan goes on sale occasionally, so keep an eye out and you might be able to get it for cheaper (I got it for $99 instead of the $149 sticker price)
• Using the ETS GRE pool of prompts for the Issue and Argument timed essays. I basically wrote a bunch of timed essays using these prompts. They're all similar, and you're basically writing a formulaic essay, so after doing 6-8 of these and looking at high scoring examples, you're pretty set to churn out a decent essay fast.
• Manhattan prep books and their online practice tests- if you buy one of their books, you get an access code to a bunch of online practice tests.
• If you're doing vocab flashcards, Anki is a really good free flashcard program with a timed repetition algorithm so that you see cards at appropriate intervals to actually learn them. It does have a bit of a learning curve to use, though.
• For vocab and reading comprehension, I didn't do much (because I'm already pretty comfortable with this) other than increase my reading of "intelligent" materials online (like stuff from Arts and Letters Daily, NYTimes, Atlantic, Economist, The New Yorker, etc).

With these strategies I went from a 166V 158Q 3.0 AWA to a 169V 169Q 4.5 AWA-- so they definitely worked for me!

Hope your studying goes well! 🙂

 

[jtb93]

Question about coursework someone may be able to answer. Wisconsin colleges have a "transfer wizard" system which shows how credits will transfer if you switch schools. I looked up my Developmental Psych and Intro Stats courses that I will be taking this upcoming semester, and they transfer to a few schools as Intro Human Development and Intermediate Algebra, respectively. I assume a Developmental Psych course would fulfill the requirement, but I don't want to be blind-sided when the time comes and realize they won't work. I know this question is probably school-specific, but I figure someone else has encountered it before so I thought I'd ask.

astarblaze- Thanks for your detailed post! I studied with Magoosh for a couple months before I took my GRE, but it's obvious that I didn't do enough. I've been reviewing their study plans, and I plan on starting a strict study regimen soon. I'll definitely take your suggestions into consideration, thanks again!