Can Someone Explain The Application Process Please

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ktachiba

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Hi All,

I am planning to apply to PT school next summer (2013). I have several questions regarding the application process that I hope someone can answer as it would be of tremendous help.

1.) When should I start writing the essay?
2.) Is the PTCAS application sent to every school you apply to?
3.) When I get my letters of recommendations, should I make copies of them to send to every school I apply to?
4.) The current nursing home I shadow at doesn't document my hours, so I have documented them myself on microsoft excel. Should I have the PT that I shadowed with sign the excel spreadsheet? In other words, how do schools want you to verify that you shadowed at different places?

Any other input would be helpful, as I probably have other questions that I might have forgotten.


Thanks!!

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Hi All,

I am planning to apply to PT school next summer (2013). I have several questions regarding the application process that I hope someone can answer as it would be of tremendous help.

1.) When should I start writing the essay?
2.) Is the PTCAS application sent to every school you apply to?
3.) When I get my letters of recommendations, should I make copies of them to send to every school I apply to?
4.) The current nursing home I shadow at doesn't document my hours, so I have documented them myself on microsoft excel. Should I have the PT that I shadowed with sign the excel spreadsheet? In other words, how do schools want you to verify that you shadowed at different places?

Any other input would be helpful, as I probably have other questions that I might have forgotten.


Thanks!!

Hi,

1. Now. The sooner, the better.

2. Yes, PTCAS will automatically send your application to the schools you select.

3. Letter of recommendations are handled in two ways - electronic or paper. Electronic is the quickest method. All you have to do is input your writer's information, along with their email address. You will have the option of waiving your rights see the LoR. For the paper based version, you will need to print out the forms and give them to your PT. instructions are included.

4. Hours are also completed through PTCAS. You manually enter your hours and your verifying PT's email. Your PT then gets the email, click on the link provided and verifies the hours you report.

Please DL and read:
http://www.ptcas.org/PTCASInstructions_2011_12.pdf
 
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Also, don't forget that not every school accepts PTCAS. There are still plenty of other schools you maybe interested in that are not on the PTCAS list. It is up to you if you want to go thru all that trouble because then you will have to fill out a second (or third or fourth) set of applications, letters, verifications, essays, etc.

I don't discourage you from doing it. Just know your limits and how many applications you can handle at once. Make sure you do all the research and obtain all proper documents so you can give them to your teachers or employers all at once with clear instructions.
 
Also, don't forget that not every school accepts PTCAS. There are still plenty of other schools you maybe interested in that are not on the PTCAS list. It is up to you if you want to go thru all that trouble because then you will have to fill out a second (or third or fourth) set of applications, letters, verifications, essays, etc.

I don't discourage you from doing it. Just know your limits and how many applications you can handle at once. Make sure you do all the research and obtain all proper documents so you can give them to your teachers or employers all at once with clear instructions.


Link to non PTCAS schools:

http://www.ptcas.org/ptcas/public/allprograms.aspx?listorder=nonptcas&navID=10737426794
 
Thanks for the input! Will the essay question next year be the same as the one for this year? Because I don't want to start on the essay early, only to find out they changed the topic.
 
Thanks for the input! Will the essay question next year be the same as the one for this year? Because I don't want to start on the essay early, only to find out they changed the topic.

No one can ans. this question.......if I could I'd play the lottery and not have to worry about loans.:laugh:
 
random question but does the "pre-req" gpa for PT school only include the bare minimum requirements? for example I'm a bio major so do the grades for only the bio1/bio2 get factored into this pre-req gpa, while upper levels are basically in the cum gpa? same goes for chem (say you did orgo 1 and 2, but will gen chem 1/2 only be counted in the pre req gpa)?
 
random question but does the "pre-req" gpa for PT school only include the bare minimum requirements? for example I'm a bio major so do the grades for only the bio1/bio2 get factored into this pre-req gpa, while upper levels are basically in the cum gpa? same goes for chem (say you did orgo 1 and 2, but will gen chem 1/2 only be counted in the pre req gpa)?

Pre-req GPA only accounts for the classes specified as pre-req classes. For example, if the class required is General Anatomy and Physiology I & II and you took a class at your university called BIO 1134 General A&P I and BIO 1144 General A&P II, the grades you receive from those two classes would be included in the pre-req GPA calculation. If you took a class called BIO 4323 Molecular Biology or whatever and it was not part of the pre-req list, it will not be included in the pre-req GPA calculation, but in the cumulative GPA calculation.

In short, pre-req class grads = pre-req GPA. lol
 
okay thanks for the clarification...only thing I'm confused about is the fact that at my undergrad there is only a one-semester gen. bio course essentially in lieu of bio1/bio2 as separate courses...any idea what would count as the other bio (to complete the one year)? I am a bio major and have taken many upper level bio courses like cell bio, ecology, invertebrate bio, genetics, etc...
 
okay thanks for the clarification...only thing I'm confused about is the fact that at my undergrad there is only a one-semester gen. bio course essentially in lieu of bio1/bio2 as separate courses...any idea what would count as the other bio (to complete the one year)? I am a bio major and have taken many upper level bio courses like cell bio, ecology, invertebrate bio, genetics, etc...

Check with the schools you're applying to. That's the safest way.
 
okay thanks for the clarification...only thing I'm confused about is the fact that at my undergrad there is only a one-semester gen. bio course essentially in lieu of bio1/bio2 as separate courses...any idea what would count as the other bio (to complete the one year)? I am a bio major and have taken many upper level bio courses like cell bio, ecology, invertebrate bio, genetics, etc...

Any course that counts for a 1 year bio sequence for medical schools should be fine, minus ecology, plan bio, etc. As a biology major, you're good to go.
 
well i've done eukaryotic cell bio and thus far...can i like choose which one counts for it...i hope i can count euk. cell bio (bc i did better in it lol)? How do i specify which one i want to factor into the gpa?
 
well i've done eukaryotic cell bio and thus far...can i like choose which one counts for it...i hope i can count euk. cell bio (bc i did better in it lol)? How do i specify which one i want to factor into the gpa?

PTCAS will ask you to designate which courses are prerequisites.
 
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