chances of getting into DPT school? honest answers please!

[BigT]

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hey everyone,

i'm going to keep it short and simple.

I graduated with my degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting in 2009. long story short, i worked in accounting for a few months and didn't like it. i now work at a bank and dislike that also. i'm 27 (almost 28) and decided to switch careers. i have now gone back to school this past summer at a community college to take science previews required for DPT school. my cumulative gpa from undergrad is a 2.45. extremely bad; i know. i have no one to blame but myself. i just simply wasn't interested in accounting whatsoever, but stuck with it. i hadn't taken many science courses during that time (only 1 biology class; which i'm currently taking again since the first bio course i took was such a long time ago).

so far, i've been doing well. A in intro psych, B in developmental psych. i'm currently taking bio w/lab and getting an A so far. i know these courses are not as difficult compared to physics, chem, anat, physiology and my true test to how well i do in the science prereqs will be in those classes. i'm also volunteering at a hospital and will be doing some shadowing in the coming months. i'm also hoping to land a pt aide job sometime next year if possible.

is there ANY chance i can get into any dpt program if i do extremely well in my sciences, high gre, and great rec letters? i know i can't change my past gpa, but i've matured and know that this is what i want to do. please, please give me your opinions and advice. i appreciate it. thanks.

 

[Myosin]

A good 90% of the schools are way out of your league. If you get As in all the prereqs and have an absolutely amazing GRE (>310), then there are a few schools that you will have a chance with. Even with that, your prereq is still going to be under 3.0, which is an automatic disqualifier for the majority of schools

The problem with those easy to get into schools is that they are very expensive.

 

[Snugglyjeff]

You certainly are not in a good place right now. However, everything depends on you. How hard will YOU work? As long as it takes? It might take a quite some time to boost your GPA again and take GRE's etc. But ask yourself, would I rather have a career I hate for the rest of my life or spend the next few years getting my self together and having a rewarding career?

 

[nomattic]

Just to give you some idea of the challenge that would lie ahead, I graduated with a totally unrelated degree as well with a low GPA (2.95). My silver lining was that since my degree was SO unrelated, I didn't take any of the prerequisites during that time, so as far as my pre-req GPA was concerned, I had a clean slate (which it sounds like you do as well since you've only taken Bio 1). After taking 75 credits of post-bacc classes in the sciences and math earning nothing but A's, my cGPA only rose to a 3.27. It has been a hard road back from a crappy GPA. Since you're at 2.45, if you took the same amount you could get up to ~2.75.

If you can take a ton of science classes, do AWESOME in them, apply to schools with a 2.75 min GPA requirement instead of 3.0, and spin your story as one of newfound focus and maturity, I think you have a shot.

 

[wrennywren]

Destroy your pre reqs. I mean, absolutely destroy them. No B's! You need all A's. There are quite a few schools that just look at your last 2 years (or 60 credits) and base their GPA decision on that. Show them that your undergrad grades were an anomaly.

I had a 2.83 undergrad GPA (unrelated major) and got all A's (3.9 GPA, so a couple A-'s) in my pre reqs. I applied to only two schools (had to apply in state) and got waitlisted at the established, respected school and got accepted to the brand new program (a program that is now CAPTE accredited). You can do it, but kick butt in your pre reqs and your GRE!

 

[jasonc]

Hey!

I graduated with business economics with a minor in accounting and ended up not liking the field either. I actually now work for a physical therapist and do billing and scheduling along with PT aide/tech work.

I heard some schools look at the last 60 semester units. Might want to look at those. Some schools also look for all the units AFTER your first year. So if your grades were horrible your first year, that might be to your advantage.

There are also PTA programs then maybe a bridge program to be a PT. I don't know too much about those but worth a shot for a plan B.
http://www.capteonline.org/Programs/Bridge/

 

[NewTestament]

Your chances are not good. That's my honest assessment.

Definitely make an attempt. If you don't 'you'll spend the rest of your life regretting that you never applied to PT school.

Do as well as you can in your pre-reqs, obtain hundreds of volunteer hours in three different settings, obtain good LORs, and get at least a 300 on the GRE.

Only apply to schools that will consider your last 60 hours (freshman forgiveness). If a school has strict cutoff of 3.0, don't even try. They'll just discard your application. Call schools that you plan to apply to and ask if they would consider your application.

Kevin

 

[BigT]

thanks for the responses everyone!

i do plan on continuing with taking prereqs and additional, upper level (not required) science courses to boost my science gpa. i have already considered applying to schools that will consider the last 30-60 units (since those are pretty much my only options) and i have faith that that is where i have a chance in being accepted. thankfully, there are a few of those schools decently close to me.

i don't think i've read of any success stories of anyone who's had such an extremely low undergrad gpa as myself and got accepted. so, that kind of bums me out...but, i'm willing to take that chance and i don't want to regret not even trying. i've only read of people with as low as 2.7-2.8 and they killed it in their prereqs and got accepted...which motivates me since there is that chances that i could get accepted.

again, thanks for the responses. if anyone has ANY advice, i'm all ears.

 

[NewTestament]

That's the right attitude. At least make an attempt. If you fail, then maybe you can become a PTA. PTAs are highly skilled and qualified. They might not have the prestige, training, or salary that PTs have, but it's a good profession.

If you do well in your pre-reqs and your GRE, and obtain a couple hundred of volunteer hours, I think you should have a chance, as long as your overall GPA exceeds the cutoff. Let us know what happens.

Kevin