Applying to DPT

[NorwichCity]

Hello All!

I was wondering if any of you have any advice for me as a potential DPT applicant.

I started as a Physician Assistant student, but decided that medicine was not for me, and after much contemplation, have decided to pursue DPT.

I have an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology with a 3.73 GPA. My grades in the major sciences are as follows:

A&P 1: A
A&P 2: A-
Bio 1: B+
Bio 2: B
Chem 1: A
Chem 2: B
Exercise Physiology: A-

My 2010 GRE is 79, 51, and 4.5 writing score.

I have work experience as an EMT (two years) and a varsity high school soccer coach (this past Fall).

I have begun to do shadowing with two physical therapists in two different locations. The only prerequisites I have left are an additional psychology course.

My questions are as follows:

1. How competitive am I? I am really hoping to apply in-state, but there's only one public program in my state.

2. Should I retake my GRE? My verbal scores are fairly low, and I feel I could definitely do better on another retake.

3. How many schools should I apply to? I understand that I will probably be having to wait a while to start at most schools, but would like to get a jump on things early.

Thanks for reading, and your responses!

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[nicolej5]

if you want an answer to your ridiculous #1 question go down a few threads to the one titled "should i keep trying." Those are the responses you'll get when you ask "am i competitive" with stats that are obviously competitive. And why ask others how many schools you should apply to? Do some research on schools and see which ones you like and want to apply to. The more you apply to, the better chance you have at getting accepted to at least one. I wish people would actually do research on programs and stats of prior classes before asking on forums. You're bound to get inpatient and trite answers if you ask and then research later.

 

[Oregon48]

You are in good shape! I would consider you a pretty competitive applicant. The only thing is most schools require you to take 2 physics classes in a sequence, so if you haven't done that I would get started ASAP. Also your GRE isn't bad however since 2010 they have since changed the formatting of the GRE. I'm not sure if schools are still accepting the old version, you would have to look at individual schools. While your verbal score isn't outstanding it also isn't bad...depending on where you apply. If you're thinking top tier competitive school then I would retake it....also so that it's on par with the new version. As for how many schools to apply to....I would never risk applying to just one school but applying is also really expensive! I would do a couple of reach schools, a couple of schools you feel comfortable getting into, and the a couple of "safety" schools. If you get enough shadowing hours and keep up that GPA, I wouldn't think you would have to apply to 15-20 schools just to make sure you get in somewhere like a lot of people did! (myself included...). One last thing: for your in-state school check and see if being a resident will help you or not. For example, some state schools like Kansas or Nebraska only accept 10-15% of applicants out of state...they look at their own residents first. Other state schools like UIC (and unfortunatly my state school), don't favor in state residents. Should give you a better picture of how you might stack up against others.

 

[qtran]

you're really competitive. apply to instate program, go to their open house to get your face recognized. retake gre if you want but that score is competitive. With your scores, you don't need to apply to many 3-5 schools.

 

[Oregon48]

if you want an answer to your ridiculous #1 question go down a few threads to the one titled "should i keep trying." Those are the responses you'll get when you ask "am i competitive" with stats that are obviously competitive. And why ask others how many schools you should apply to? Do some research on schools and see which ones you like and want to apply to. The more you apply to, the better chance you have at getting accepted to at least one. I wish people would actually do research on programs and stats of prior classes before asking on forums. You're bound to get inpatient and trite answers if you ask and then research later.

Also, I agree with Nicole. At this point in the process there are a lot of people posting with really good stats and asking if they'll get in anywhere....obviously you'll get in somewhere. It's obnoxious to the current applicants waiting around to get into their dream schools while people who clearly aren't as passionate are clogging up the system with their indecision and lack of research. However it looks as though you're coming from a genuine place of advice and not fishing for compliments. Just know you are competitive and looks like you deserve to get into PT school!

 

[NorwichCity]

Thanks all for responses so far! And I did take both physics--forgot to mention them!

I did not mean to come across as anything other than earnest/sincere in my questions. You are all very helpful.

Regarding applying to state schools out-of-state. Is there a general list of ones that are good to apply to for out of state students without sifting through every single one's website?

For example, I see that University of Colorado has a high percentage of out-of state students and allows in-state tuition after a year. Are there others that are out-of-state friendly like this?

 

[Oregon48]

No, from what I found you need to do the individual sifting. They usually have percentage breakdowns of the types of applicants they accept. And they are located in a different place on every single website. Once you can apply to PTCAS they have all the websites listed for you, but you can't access that until the 2014 cycle is up (probably in July). I know I spent hours upon hours upon days upon weeks looking at different schools and what they require and what types of students they favor and had to create big excel sheets to keep track of everything. This is also pretty basic but if you google "list of PT schools" and click on the wikipedia link (should be right on top) then it will at least list every single school and give you that schools PT website (this is helpful because sometimes it can be hard to find the correct webiste. Or it was for me). Also, of course, many schools are private which nullifys the whole in-state/out of state dilemma. It will be a ton of research (which you probably are familiar with for PA school), good luck!

 

[469738]

Really?! Do some searching on this forum and you can see that your GPA and pre-req grades are fine. You have a great chance of getting it, and you have to know this. IF you really need justification that your grades are not competitive, maybe you should rethink a career in the sciences.....because you have no common sense.

 

[NorwichCity]

Really?! Do some searching on this forum and you can see that your GPA and pre-req grades are fine. You have a great chance of getting it, and you have to know this. IF you really need justification that your grades are not competitive, maybe you should rethink a career in the sciences.....because you have no common sense.

I do know I am likely to get in somewhere, just was looking for some details from people who have maybe been through the process.

I was more wondering about the chances of getting in to specific places, and advice on possibly applying to public universities out of state versus private universities, etc.

I can look at the stats of a school, but if they only enroll 40 out of 400 students that apply, it's impossible for me to think that anyone has a good chance of getting in.

The advice from those who have responded is appreciated and helpful, and I will now finish researching the specifics of individual schools.

 

[469738]

Yes, PT schools is competitive! 40/400 is not great odds for any applicant. Apply to several schools and prepare the best you can. There are posters on here who said they have not gotten any acceptances even with 4.0 and great volunteering hours. Meanwhile, there are also posters with less than 3.0 GPAs who have gotten accepted at top schools. Take anything you read on SDF with a grain of salt, No one can predict what will happen when you apply. There are no gurentees in life. You won't know until you get accepted that your hard work was worth it.

 

[okramango]

Your GPAs are competitive, but if you want to get into a high demand state school, I would suggest retaking the GRE for a higher verbal score. Also make sure you have a variety of PT observation experiences (at least 3), build great relationships with your recommendation letter writers, and write an outstanding essay with your application. Schools will probably wonder why you left PA school, and you will need to convince them that you truly to want to be a PT and will not drop out. I don't think there are many states that let you become a resident after a year, if you move there specifically for school. I know Arizona does allow residency after a year, at least for now. Some state programs offer out-of-state tuition waivers as scholarships, so make sure to ask about that during your research (it's not usually listed on the websites).