I'm currently a rising junior looking to pursue a career in Physical Therapy. I started off college with a low GPA due to being careless, but an upward trend since then has brought me up to a 3.3. I'm most likely going to take a gap year because up until now I don't have any experience shadowing or volunteering for Physical Therapy. I'm really not smart for this and I know this is going to affect me negatively but I've been trying to find somewhere to shadow or volunteer. I'm really afraid that I just won't be able to get in so what should I do? I know that my main objective as of now is to raise my GPA, practice GRE to get a high score on that and find a place to volunteer or shadow. I really don't have anything else on my resume, I did nothing up until now in college...
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Chances for PT School?
Started by kk.21
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ZA2SDPT
Full Member
You’ve got time. I had a significantly lower GPA than yourself and I was able to get into a program once I secured a masters degree as some schools overlook the undergrad degree if you have a masters. You should be sure that your science and prerequisites are high (A’s or B’s). GRE is important but some schools now are phasing it out of their applications. Try to find options to volunteer at a outpatient clinic, rehab facility, or hospice. Hospice might be difficult along with hospital due to COVID. If you can volunteer, go to the food bank or with the community. Some schools are very service oriented. Lastly, don’t call debase yourself. Everyone starts somewhere. You just have to remember how logic works. If you can do that, you’ll be fine
letsdothisptthing
Full Member
There are plenty of schools that only look at the last 60 hours of your GPA which will benefit you tremendously since you said you have an upward trend. Also I would say a 3.3 is not terrible! You can also retake classes to boost your prereq GPA if needed. I think a gap year would be beneficial to volunteer/work as a tech or aid to get more experiences that can help build your resume and get you some good LOR. You can build your resume with things that aren't physical therapy related too. I did research and things that interested me as well.
You are on the right track. GPA 3.3 already meets minimal requirements and is competitive in many (not all) schools. So keep doing what you have been doing recently.
You do not need any experience outside of minimal requirements to get to DPT school. Do observation hours in 3 different settings (outpatient, inpatient, neuro/ortho/vestibula/aquatic/pediatric, maybe SNF, ALF, memory care facilities- just some options). Don/t do more than 100 hours beyond the minimal requirements for total observation hours requirement (you will not benefit much from that).
You do not need any experience outside of minimal requirements to get to DPT school. Do observation hours in 3 different settings (outpatient, inpatient, neuro/ortho/vestibula/aquatic/pediatric, maybe SNF, ALF, memory care facilities- just some options). Don/t do more than 100 hours beyond the minimal requirements for total observation hours requirement (you will not benefit much from that).
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you said but just to be clear - there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a gap year! A lot of people actually recommend it. And programs won't care. They may ask what you've been up to during the year, but in and of itself it is not looked at negatively. So don't let that worry you.
