Ask a DPT Admissions Director

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@easb:

Three year rolling average pass rates are here: https://www.fsbpt.org/FreeResources/NPTEPassRateReports/NPTEPassRatesByState.aspx?exam=PT. You can check out the listings by state, which include each program in the state. Indiana's three PT programs do very well according to these data.

The numbers differ most likely because of what's measured. Some institutions report three-year rolling averages, some report last year's first-time rate, some report total cohort rate, etc. I'd say three-year rolling average is a pretty fair indicator. NPTE is a reliable general source of information.

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
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Hi Josh! I was filling out a secondary application for one of PT schools and they suggest to apply for financial aid right after I submit the secondary application, which is in August. The program starts in Jun 2014. Does it really make sense to apply for financial aid NOW? And why would I apply for it if I do not know yet if I get accepted?
 
@easb:

Thanks for your question. There are a number of reasons to apply, and I suggest you do so early. This is because there are limited funds from federal or state sources. It could be that the program uses the data for its own financial aid purposes. There is no harm in applying using the FAFSA or other methods now, as long as you have the documentation required.

If you're competitive, why not get a head start? You can always ask the program about the financial aid process, if detailed questions. I would direct financial aid processing and award amounts you may be eligible for to the institutional financial aid office.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
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Hi Josh,

First off, I'd like to thank you for offering your time to help students. I have read many of your posts and have found them very helpful.

I am struggling with making a decision on whether or not I should retake the GRE. I received 151 Verbal, 148 Quantitative, and 3.5 AW scores. My overall GPA is a 3.11 and my Prerequisite GPA is a 3.36. I have 200 observation hours in 4 different settings. I meet all the minimum requirements for the 13 schools I am applying to and realize that my statistics may not be very competitive.

Many of the schools have rolling admissions policies and I am unsure if I should study more for the GRE or submit my application earlier with the scores that I have now. Would it be better to apply earlier with these stats or study more to increase my GRE scores while delaying the submission of my application?

Thank you.
 
I posted this on another thread as well, but maybe you would be the be the best person to ask...

I am currently applying for the 2014 DPT program and while working on my PTCAS application, I noticed that my community service section is completely blank! I've been working full time, taking night classes, and all of my volunteer time has been spent getting my observation hours. Is it significantly going to hurt my chances of getting accepted anywhere if I don't have any community service to speak of?

One of the PT's I worked with suggested listing all of the half marathons I've ran recently (for charity of course!) since being an avid runner is the only thing I can really consider an extracurricular activity. Is this a good idea? Or will it just look like I'm grasping at straws?

Any advice you could provide would be GREATLY appreciated! Here's a little bit more info about me if it helps....

BS in Public Administration (received 2009, currently finishing up some missing pre-req's)
Overall GPA: 3.6
Pre-Req GPA: 3.5
GRE (revised scale): 151 (V), 145 (M), 4.5 (AW)... retaking GRE in 2 weeks
Observation Hours: approx..1500 (mix of in-patient & out-patient in cardio-pulmonary, pediatrics, geriatrics, orthopedics, and neurological)

Thank you!!!!
 
@futuredpt1313:

Thanks for your question. Given your academic background I suggest repeating the GRE and really putting in some effort. This is not to say that you did not the first attempt, but your scores seem to be below average, and with GPAs in the ranges you indicate, it makes acceptance to many programs challenging.

Frankly I don't like rolling admissions because they favor the early and not necessarily the best candidates. There is some discussion that rolling admission encourages individuals to get their materials together early, and that's a good thing. The situation is you may not be competitive for early rolling admission, that is an admission decision that is made early in the rolling process. You certainly risk that classes are full, but you need to present the best academic case.

Given this, and that many programs use a "window" process rather than rolling, I still suggest repeating the GRE. Give it significant effort, read the "dummies" and other series books like Kaplan or other test prep company, and do your best. Practice some relaxation techniques and make sure you're not over-stressing.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@dcscott325:

Thanks for reaching out here. The answer, as with many programs, is it depends. PT is a service, albeit one that individuals need. Indiana University requires a supplemental question about a human service activity. What do you do that could be considered service that's part of your work now? Does your company do pitch-in days, days of service, etc.? These could be used.

If you are doing half-marathons and you are raising money for charity, that is certainly related. You have more than enough observation hours and your academics are generally good, though I do think the GRE score is not high. With the observation and good academics you'll likely be competitive at many programs.

Try not to worry about what you cannot control. You may be asked about service activities in your interview if your programs offer them. Don't try to make square pegs go in round holes. It's not unreasonable to focus on the explicit requirements of a program and not have significant time to donate to a local service organization. However, you should be prepared to speak to related experiences, whether they be through work or otherwise. If you've mentored a colleague, that's a related experience.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Hi Josh,

I have a question regarding a letter of recommendation. My uncle is a well respected Rheumatologist who also sits on the faculty of a great medical institution in his home state. Unsolicited, he decided to write me a heartfelt letter of recommendation. Seeing that he is a family member, would it be acceptable to use this, or would this be unacceptable? I have cultivated good PT and academic references, so I'm wondering if the use of his letter might be unnecessary. Thanks!

J
 
@b0rganic:

Thanks for your question. At the very least this is a gray area. I would err on the side of caution and not include it, even though it may technically be beneficial. What LORs are supposed to be are unbiased assessments of your capacity and preparation for graduate training in PT. A letter from your uncle is inherently biased, in my view, no matter how objective the letter may seem.

Since you have other options that appear strong, I advise against using this one. At the best it could be used favorably. At the worst, it could be seen as unethical to have submitted this one.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
IndianaDPT said:
I am the Director of Student Enrollment Services at Indiana University's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in Indianapolis, and would welcome the opportunity to respond to general questions regarding the admissions process from the perspective of an admissions director.

Feel free to contact me on this thread, or if desired you can reach me at [email protected].

Best wishes to all for a successful application season!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
Indiana University School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
Click to expand...
I am a rising junior, and I have yet to take several of my DPT pre reqs, because I'm a Business Management major. How will my major affect my chances of being accepted into a school? Also, how will my chances be affected if I complete some pre reqs from a community college? Do programs look "down upon" community college courses?

Thank you
 
Hi Josh! One more quick question before I submit my application tomorrow: None of the schools I am applying to require my PT observation hours to be verified, but I decided to get the first 2 experiences verified any way, in case I changed my mind about schools. However, I did not and am now entering my most recent experience as a paid aide. Should I get these recent hours verified? Do you think schools will want to see consistency in that all my hours were verified, or will they not care because verification is not required in the first place? Thank you!
 
@pdb27:

Thanks for your question. For the vast majority of programs, academic major is irrelevant. It is not a factor in an admission decision. Review the websites of the programs you are interested in attending. I would expect that none, or very few, prefer or require any particular undergraduate major. For Indiana University, the major is not considered in the admission decision. It simply is not relevant to success in DPT programs to any discernible extent.

On CC coursework, the answer again depends. Some institutions prefer or may even require all prerequisites at 4-year regionally accredited colleges or universities. Often this is for perceived rigor and depth of course content reasons. So again, research your program choices. If no preference is stated, do not assume a preference. Indiana University accepts prerequisites on an even-handed basis from any regionally accredited college or university, but we do not accept statistics from Ivy Tech.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@sunnyskies26:

Thanks for writing. I find it curious that none of your designations require PT observation hours to be verified, but it is a program-level decision.

If verification is not required, then the fact that some are verified just means you have them verified. I would not ascribe any other meaning to it. However, I don't really understand why you would not want all hours verified in the case you apply to programs that require verified hours. Indiana University requires 40 total verified hours split evenly among in-patient and out-patient settings. If these hours are not verified by the application deadline, then the applicant is not qualified and cannot be considered.

I would check carefully each program's requirements and make sure you're not overlooking something. Just yesterday someone told me that one of our program's start dates was two months later than the actual date. S/he had not read our website closely and confused the sentence "accept applications on X date" with "being the program on X date." That's a nontrivial misunderstanding.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
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Hello Josh,
Do you know how schools with rolling admissions process applications? I understand that the sooner you apply, the sooner they process your application. But still, how do they choose applicants for interviews? Let's say student A submits his application on Aug.1; his GPA is 3.0. Student B submits application on Oct.1; his GPA is 4.0 (assume that all other stats are the same as of student A and minimum GPA required is 3.0). Does student A have a better chance to be accepted than student B?
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!
 
@easb:

Thanks for your question. Indiana University doesn't use rolling admissions, and I don't think we've done it in the history of the program, at least to my knowledge.

Correct; generally applications are processed in order of submission, though materials do not always arrive at the same time, and so an application can only be officially complete or unqualified once all materials are received.

Programs that use rolling admission most likely take "batches" at a time and then consider for interviews. They have multiple interview dates and select the most well qualified applicants based on their criteria for each interview date. The earlier the application, the earlier potential interview dates.

Student A has a better chance earlier in the process but Student B is better qualified, at least if you count every other thing as being equal. So if there are spaces available in the class, Student B will likely be competitive at later cycles. The issue is, will there be spaces? It's advantageous for applicants who are perhaps less well qualified to apply early.

However, there is quite a lot of competition and so applicants are best served by finding institutions that they are interested in and those for which they are well qualified. Also, look at first-time board pass rates, facilities, and clinical rotations.

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Thanks for your reply Josh. What should I look at for clinical rotations?
 
@easb:

I suggest you talk with the clinical coordinator and get a sense for the options, travel requirements, and past reviews or evaluations of the sites. The other thing is to view the curriculum to understand how clinicals are viewed by the program. Some discussion now about moving to a model closer to what MD/DO students might do, where clinicals are back-loaded only. Personally I think that's the wrong approach and it's diametrically opposed to what IU has been doing over the last few years with integrated clinical education (ICE).

You also want to know about out-of-state or international clinicals if those are of interest.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Hi Josh,

I am applying this cycle and I want to do everything I can do improve my GPA and turn C's into A's. That means retaking 3 classes this fall. Do you think that it would be beneficial to take all 3 classes? I am retaking Chem 2, Stats, and Physiology. I know that some schools only allow a certain amount of outstanding prerequisites and a certain amount of retakes, just wondering if you had an opinion on this. Thank you for all your time and dedication answering all of these questions. It is much appreciated!
 
Hi I was wondering if work experience that is not related to science or physical therapy factors into the decision process? For instance I worked in retail for about 3 years and I have research experience as well. Will that increase my chances in getting in PT schools?

Thanks
 
@ashley25:

Thanks for your question. PT admission is becoming increasingly competitive for many programs. Just meeting the minimum requirements is unlikely to yield admission offers. The bottom line is you should do whatever you can to become more competitive given the policies of each designated program.

For instance, Indiana University allows up to 15 credit hours of repeated prerequisites with the highest grade applying to the requirement. Only two prerequisites may be outstanding at application deadline. In the case that two are repeated, we consider those outstanding and do not use them for admission purposes pre-interview.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@AP191:

Thanks for writing. Only the items that programs require can be considered in the admission process. Only to the extent that your work experience relates to the qualities necessary in a PT student are your non-health or PT experiences relevant. This would only come out in an interview, where you could talk about your experience dealing with difficult customers/clients, time management, overcoming obstacles, and so forth.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@IndianaDPT

I just saw this, and really appreciate you taking to time to answer all of these questions. I am hoping to get advice on my own situation currently. I currently work at a Chiropractic and Progressive Rehabilitation Office as a Rehabilitation Therapist. I also am ACSM Certified as a CPT on the side. My normal day does consist of some limited soft tissue work and limited modality use, but mainly consists of exercise prescription and education for the patients. We are also not just limited to treating the spine as I have treated patients ranging from someone with Parkinson's, to someone with Tennis Elbow, to knee pain. In the 6 months that I have worked here, I have had great patient results. I have learned so much about working with patients, and has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I feel it has truly benefited me for my future goal of becoming a Physical Therapist, and now I am trying to figure out the best way to highlight this on my application.

Here are my questions:

1. Would I be able to use these as hours for the PTCAS? I would consider what I do similar to what a PTA does, and way above way a PT Aid does. I know that I work with a Chiropractor, but it really stinks if I would not be able to use those hours as documented.

2. How would you recommend I highlight my experience? Should I write about patient experiences and how I feel I've become a more experienced healthcare provider or how it has affected me as a person? I feel honestly it has matured me more than anything because I feel committed to provide better treatment for my patient, and the only way I can do that is become better educated.


Thank you and look forward to your response.

Scott
 
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@jsmurray:

Thanks for your question. Best of luck this year with your process. Sounds like you have a lot of good experiences, which can be described in a personal statement. Keep in mind this is about your preparation for PT school and knowledge of the profession. Extraneous information may be nice but less relevant.

When you say "use these hours," I don't quite know what you mean. In PTCAS you can document three types of experience: Employment, Observation, Extracurricular Activities. Certainly these are employment hours. "Observation" is typically reserved for observing physical therapists in practice. Indiana University requires 40 hours minimum total, split evenly between in-patient and out-patient observation. Though you have done work related to PT, and that's clear, I do not think the hours meet the standards of "observation" if the term means observing PTs.

With regard to highlighting the experience, the issue is how these experiences relate to PT school and PT practice. So I would focus on how these experiences have prepared you for PT school in terms of ease of interacting with clients, communication skills, and positive outcomes. You might discuss a challenging case or one that caused you to go out of your comfort zone in order to reach a client.

The other thing that I think is useful is to demonstrate resilience, which means that you have the internal will or strength to overcome obstacles. Use these stories to demonstrate resilience and creativity to the extent possible.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Hi Josh,

This is a highly informative thread! Thanks so much for doing this.

I filed for bankruptcy a few years ago (due to being medically underinsured) and I am concerned that if a credit check is part of the background check process that I will be in danger of not gaining final admittance. I know that the background check is to confirm eligibility for clinicals and that each state/school handles it differently. How common is it for a school (or potential employer such as a hospital or home health company) to require a credit check as part of the background check and would a bankruptcy preclude admittance?

I know that one option is to contact my schools directly to ask what their policy is, but perhaps you can understand why I would be very hesitant to do this.

Thanks in advance!
 
Josh,

I asked a professor who I am doing research with to write me a recommendation letter. And in PTCAS I didn't know how to categorize him so I put his reference under the "Other" category. Now I am looking at some schools and they do not even look at "Other" references but I think I may have made a mistake and I should have placed it under "Academia". My question is do people in admission department just pass over the "other" reference since they do not even consider it or do will they actually glimpse at it to see what he/she wrote. Also thanks for answering my previous question.
 
Josh,

I am unsure whether or not it is necessary that I list the restaurants and fast food places that I have worked at, since they are not relevant to the field of PT. Should I still include these in my application? Will it be viewed negatively that this is all the work experience I have?

Thanks for your help.
 
@JS45:

I have not heard of programs conducting a credit check on those they are admitting. I don't see how it's relevant to PT practice or admissions. However it might impact federal or state financial aid, but as I'm not an expert on those areas it's best to consult the financial aid folks directly. This may be one or two steps removed from admissions staff.

JS, it's best to focus on your strengths and what you bring to the program, not any particular issue in your past that's now beyond your immediate control. Focus on becoming the best applicant you can be and the most well-prepared you can for PT school.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@AP191:

Unfortunately you've made an error, and one that was likely avoidable. Can you not contact PTCAS and ask their staff to recategorize your reference? Really, we get one individual .pdf of up to four references and the page that shows references does not indicate which category in which they are intended to fall.

Indiana University does not use reference letters, but programs that do will at least print or examine to review those required. So if they require three, they'll likely take the first three, or may have a policy by which they select three of the four provided. If a recommendation letter or letters are considered in the process, the programs should be following their own procedures and reviewing each of them.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@futuredpt1313:

There is no harm in fully completing the application. As I think I mentioned to another poster, your experience outside of PT is perhaps not fully relevant. However, the key components of that experience may be useful, such as dealing with difficult people, communication skills, management, leadership, followership, managing resources and time effectively, etc.

So please complete the application fully and accurately. It might help you that someone on the committee or in your interview knows what it's like to work a XYZ Corp and you can "talk shop" about how it is now versus back in the day.

In short, complete the application fully and accurately. Leaving items off may be considered disingenuous, or perhaps even unethical.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Josh, there are schools that "recommend" to have observation hours but not require. There are schools that "recommend" certain classes. In this case, do applicants get any points/advantage for having those recommended classes/hours or do admissions use them only if applicants are on the borderline or something like that?
 
@easb:

I view observation hours and recommended courses differently. There are some programs, for instance physician assistant programs, that do not require but highly recommend health care experience or observation. They recommend it so much that no one without the experience is considered or is offered an interview!

My expectation is that for PT programs, observation hours are highly recommended, whereas courses are recommended but not strictly necessary. If they were necessary, they would be listed as prerequisites. Our OT program has a list of probably a dozen subject areas of recommended coursework. No one looks at that coursework for admission purposes, but it is listed as a guide to help students determine where they should put their academic energies.

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Hi Josh,

Thanks again for all the great insight. You're posts have been invaluable. I am wondering if references should be varied across all volunteer experiences, or if they can be from the same location? I had my mentor and the PT rehab director where I work both submit letters on my behalf, as well as my physiology professor. I am currently an inpatient rehab aide at a San Francisco teaching hospital, but have also volunteered in acute rehab and outpatient. Should I add a 4th reference for more variety, or is that overkill?

Thanks!

J
 
@b0rganic:

Thanks for your question, and appreciation! Happy to do it.

The point of references is to provide external evidence of (a) your preparation for PT school and (b) the personal qualities that are necessary for success, such as determination (motivation), respect/appreciation for diversity/inclusion, communication skills, etc. The references should be geared toward providing such evidence.

Of course, since PT is a broad field, it would help to obtain multiple perspectives on (a) and (b) above. The location of the reference is not necessarily relevant, but the perspective and the "value add" of that perspective if important. So those that can speak to your academic ability (focus on (a)) and on your rapport with clients, communication skills, interest/knowledge of PT (b) are preferred.

Four references are I think the limit on PTCAS, but many programs only review 3. It would not hurt to include a fourth, particularly to bolster your (b) argument.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Are there any major disadvantages for attending a DPT program that will be starting it's class for the first time. I know that some students will have to be the first class, but is it really worth the risk?
 
@IndianaDPT

Another question for you, if you don't mind. So I just retook the GRE and ended up getting better scores as a 149V/156Q. Now I know my verbal isnt the 50% that everyone wants, but will my decent Quant Score make up for that at all in the eyes of the admissions staff?
 
@tincture:

Thanks for writing. Every program starts at some point and is new or just received accreditation. The disadvantage is the program is new, and you'll probably be met with some bumps in the road in terms of facilities, faculty, curriculum, clinicals, or some other aspect of the program.

If you are an adventurous type who is OK with uncertainty and "rolling with it," you're probably fine. If your personality is more play-by-the-rules and you crave structure, it's probably not a good idea.

You have to judge programs based on their strengths and challenges. Every program has some. Go in with an open mind, but be skeptical of claims and always consider the evidence.

Good luck - you'd be in for an adventure!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@jsmurray:

Happy to help. The scores are certainly an improvement but I am not sure the quantitative score is over the 60%ile score. In any case, it's an individual program-level decision. Indiana University doesn't consider quantitative scores, so for us it's irrelevant. Your verbal score is below the 50%ile, but many programs do not have cutoff scores, they just require applicants to complete the exam.

So in short it depends on the program. We're running short on time for Fall 2014, so I do not think you have much time to repeat unless you're looking at Spring 2015 admission. If you've taken the exam multiple times, the scores suggest either you've not put in sustained effort on preparation or you may just not be a strong test-taker. There are ways around both, but they involve work!

So ask the programs for profiles of their most recently admitted cohorts and designate programs with this in mind.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Josh,

Thanks again for replying. You said that Indiana University receives reference letters but do not know what category they fall under. Does that mean that the PT programs decide for themselves which references, which were provided by a particular applicant, fits in their criteria, what ever that is required for that particular program? So for example, if one program requires 3 letters, one from a PT, another from a professor, and one from a work/supervisor. And the applicant submits 4 reference letters, will the program read all 4 reference letters and decide for themselves which or any fit in the specified criteria? Also does that hold true for all PT programs where they do not see which category the references fall under when received from PTCAS?

Thanks a lot. (I swear this is my last question :) )
 
@AP191:

Happy to help. In PTCAS, when viewing the "documents" section, there are hyperlinks to various documents including the .pdf application, transcripts, and the LORs. At this page the LORs are not sorted in any fashion that is meaningful, though they may be in alphabetical order.

When you open each, there is a "header" section that includes the reference's name, affiliation, contact details, and position, such as faculty member, PT, work supervisor, etc., but I think this is an open field, which means anything could be typed there.

So we cannot see the particular type of reference from the start but must examine each. If you have met the requirements with the letters submitted, no problem. It should be intuitive to the admissions group which reference meets a certain requirement, but if you are concerned it doesn't hurt to drop a polite email indicating that reference G is to meet the LOR requirement F.

Programs may have hard or soft caps on references; as you know Indiana University doesn't use them. If I were a program that required three letters, at least one from a PT or professor, I would count the first otherwise received letter for clarity's sake, to avoid the bias of cherry-picking a third.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Hi Josh,

I just have a quick question... This may be a dumb question, but should I even bother applying to schools that have a time limit on how old certain pre-req's can be if mine are older than that? There are multiple schools I would like to apply to that say that the science classes can't be more than 7 years old and mine are roughly 8-9 years old (from a previous nursing school stint).

I exceed every requirement otherwise, I just don't know if it's worth risking my time and money if it will just result in an automatic denial.

Thanks for your help!
 
@dcscott325:

Thanks for your question. I do not advise you to apply to programs for which you are ineligible. Programs cannot waive requirements or make exceptions, generally, as they must keep all application requirements constant for fairness reasons. If you are violating the "7 year rule" and you do not have courses that are more current than 7 years, then you would be ineligible because you do not meet prerequisite requirements.

Again, exceptions cannot be made on these situations for fairness and for preparation reasons. So unless the programs have caveats in their policies for current health care workers or something, you are best advised not to waste your effort.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Thanks, Josh! That's what I thought too, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway. Thanks again.
 
Hi Josh! I am applying to one school where I applied last year. Last year, the school got a bad DPT LOR for me (it was only 5 lines and I was marked as"average." I did not expect that, of course, and I could not see the LOR, the school just told me about it later...). I am not asking that PT for LOR this year, of course, but I wonder if the admissions still will see/consider it? Or will they only look at the new material that they received this year?
 
@easb:

Thanks for your note. I expect that the program retains all materials from the previous year's cycle. You might call and ask the program specifically. We retain the documents because we have several applicants who reapply if unsuccessful. If it were me, I would take the most recently received LORs, as the previous letters are less relevant to your ability now to complete PT school successfully. But this is an individual program-level decision.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Hi Josh,

I know your program requires both inpatient and outpatient hours but from the standpoint of a DPT program that does not require inpatient hours, do you think an applicant with 1500 outpatient hours and no outpatients hours would stand a chance against an applicant with 200 outpatient hours and 60 inpatient hours?

I've heard that variety is key from other forum posters, but I wanted to know your opinion as an Admissions Director

Thank you!
 
Josh,

I know schools are looking for students that are committed and will be a good fit in their program but I was wondering, do schools usually give any extra consideration to students that are applying for the 2nd or 3rd time that were waitlisted in previous attempts?

Thanks for any insight!
 
@krohs:

Thanks for your message. I do think variety is important, but there may be good reasons for why an applicant only has certain types of hours, such as employment. I do think doing at least some observation in the other type is good, because if you only have outpatient experience, it may be difficult to handle when you see inpatients who have all other types of medical needs and PT is only one component of their care. Inpatients may do all sorts of unpleasant things in that setting, including bleed, among others.

Keep in mind that observation experience is only one part of the puzzle with admissions. You have a gap, that's for sure, but observation is not the only factor, and may not be a determining factor, in admissions.

Very rarely is the choice such that we "pit" two applicants against each other for the "final" spot in a class. The process is more robust than this.


Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
@jlester:

From experience I can say that we have had multiple second and third-attempts. Those applicants do not have any advantage in the process, though if they were interviewed in previous attempts there is a natural benefit due to knowing what to expect.

In general terms I do not think programs have preferences for those reapplying or consider this as an indicator in an admission process. What we are looking for are the most well qualified applicants based on the standards set. It wouldn't make sense to give an applicant that has reapplied bonus points simply for persistence, particularly if those bonus points meant better qualified applicants by academics or other measures were not admitted.

Good luck!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Josh,

What are your thoughts on interview attire? Everything I'm reading says to be as plain and conservative as possible to "showcase your personality". Is this really necessary?
 
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