Advice?

[IHSV]

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Any advice on how to stay motivated? I didn't do too well during undergrad... and I regret everyday for not putting enough time and effort into studying. With a lot of deadlines for schools coming up, putting in all this time AND money to apply to several schools , worrying if I'll even get accepted for an interview(see stats below) has got me thinking... Should I retake some classes and just postpone applying til next year?

B.S. - Exercise Science (Northern Arizona University)
3.01 Overall GPA 🙁
~2.8 Prereq GPA 🙁
40+ ongoing hours in local outpatient facility
20+ ongoing hours in inpatient facility
Extracurricular: Sigma Chi Fraternity, Intramural sports, various volunteer and philanthropic activities, Exercise Science club, University employee.
GRE: Taking it on the 28th!

I work full-time, so it's hard at times to muster up the energy and motivation to study for the GRE and get the PTCAS and secondary apps going. I'm sure a lot of you are in a similar situation; how do you stay focused and motivated?

 

[NeophyteParkour]

A lot of people are in the same situation you are. Have you graduated already? If not, retake classes. A lot of schools have a minimum GPA of 3.00 for overall and pre-req. A lot of schools, as far as I can tell, have an actual minimum GPA higher than that, although they list their required as 3.00 for applying. You don't need a 3.6 to get into every grad school (see below). There are some that accept GPA's below that, but you should research which ones are more likely to do that, and don't disregard the other factors that affect admission.

If you really want to be a physical therapist, then THIS is your time to study, not to work. You are a full-time student right now, not a full-time employee. If you're in a situation where working full-time is your only option in life, then perhaps PTA is the more logical choice. If not, then take out loans like everyone else.

If you want to see the average stats of students who applied to specific programs, go to ptcas.org and click on directory. Then go to list of PT programs and search by name or state. You'll find GPA and GRE scores near the bottom.

 

[IHSV]

Thank you.

Yes, I graduated last fall (2010), but began to work full-time immediately after to pay back loans, bills, etc. I have been researching schools these past few days and look forward to applying to a handful of them. I do plan to retake A&P next spring at a local CC, and perhaps Abnormal Psych (I noticed some schools have this as a requirement). I do aspire to be a PT, not a PTA, so I will take your words of advice and focus more of my time and attention towards that. Thanks again.

 

[PTgt]

Here is my 2 cents - this is what worked for me: certainly identify several schools that you are interested in, but choose the one that you want to attend the most. Then go hard after it: look at their specific list of pre-reqs and re-take as many classes as you can afford to that you may not have done well in. Go to their information sessions and meet with the admissions people so they can later associate your face with your application when it comes in. Find out what their mission statement or emphasis is and try to tailor your experiences and activities around it. Apply Early Decision - just like when trying to land a job, you want any chance you can to differentiate yourself or get in a smaller pool of applicants so you are given more scrutiny.
Once I found where I wanted to go, having a written checklist of these steps to take helped keep me motivated towards my goal - every class I took or observation I went on was one step closer...
Good luck!