Concerned father for daughter!!!!

[ptfather1955]

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I have some questions for the forum in reference for my daughter applying to Physical Therapy school. Long story short she was in Physician Assistant school and after the 2nd semester she ended receiving 2 F's on her transcript. When I asked her what happened she told her mother and I that she always wanted to do physical therapy and went to PA school to make me happy because I am actually a PA-C for well over 20 years. I feel really bad for her not following her dream of physical therapy. What are her chances of even getting interviews to DPT programs with 2 F's on her transcripts from PA school? Obviously her undergraduate coursework was competitive: GPA:3.6; Science:3.87; pre-req to most programs: 3.7 & GRE: 1125 under the old system. Thank you!!!!!!

 

[toes crossed]

I think your daughter's undergraduate stats are competitive and great. I think that alone will give her many opportunites to interview. She can use her personal essay to say so much. She has the ability to talk about her career change mid-education and with that alone she should be able to explain and show her passion towards this particular field. I would focus on the positives of her application and be prepared to address her failures when asked.
Step one is making yourself look the best that you can on paper to get to step 2...an interview.

 

[adh28]

With those competitive stats any applicant would be just fine. As long as all of the proper pre-reqs were taken or will be taken and a good essay is composed during applications, I believe everything will be fine!

 

[francium]

I also agree with the others' comments. If she makes an awesome personal statement and rocks the interview, then anything is possible! 🙂

 

[fejin757]

I have some questions for the forum in reference for my daughter applying to Physical Therapy school. Long story short she was in Physician Assistant school and after the 2nd semester she ended receiving 2 F's on her transcript. When I asked her what happened she told her mother and I that she always wanted to do physical therapy and went to PA school to make me happy because I am actually a PA-C for well over 20 years. I feel really bad for her not following her dream of physical therapy. What are her chances of even getting interviews to DPT programs with 2 F's on her transcripts from PA school? Obviously her undergraduate coursework was competitive: GPA:3.6; Science:3.87; pre-req to most programs: 3.7 & GRE: 1125 under the old system. Thank you!!!!!!

I would kill to get into PA school, it's such a rewarding, both personally and financially, profession.

I think this is a very interesting situation. Your daughter has fantastic stats that would get her into most schools, but I'm curious how they will look at those F's. It's good she realized that PA school wasn't for her, but did she fail those classes because she hated medicine or was it beacuse PA programs are known to be academically demanding? It takes a lot of work to get into PA school, with most being accepted having a serious amount of HCE under their belt, so it's strange to hear someone dropping out to pursue a different health profession(esp. considering she would be almost half way done by now). I only ask because elementary through undergraduate education basically trains people to do well in classes even if you consider it irrelevant. Seems like an odd time to throw in the towel unless you absolutely hate it. That being said, she can offset any damage done by PA school by letting the adcoms know that she is truly invested into the profession of PT.

I think she has a great shot with a solid PS, LORs, and Interview. Sorry for the longwindedness( I'm looking at you coffee )

 

[jesspt]

I would kill to get into PA school, it's such a rewarding, both personally and financially, profession.

I think this is a very interesting situation. Your daughter has fantastic stats that would get her into most schools, but I'm curious how they will look at those F's. It's good she realized that PA school wasn't for her, but did she fail those classes because she hated medicine or was it beacuse PA programs are known to be academically demanding? It takes a lot of work to get into PA school, with most being accepted having a serious amount of HCE under their belt, so it's strange to hear someone dropping out to pursue a different health profession(esp. considering she would be almost half way done by now). I only ask because elementary through undergraduate education basically trains people to do well in classes even if you consider it irrelevant. Seems like an odd time to throw in the towel unless you absolutely hate it. That being said, she can offset any damage done by PA school by letting the adcoms know that she is truly invested into the profession of PT.

I think she has a great shot with a solid PS, LORs, and Interview. Sorry for the longwindedness( I'm looking at you coffee )

I agree with the bolded statements above. She has a shot at admission, but I think many people on an admissions committee will look at those F's as an inability to handle graduate level course work. She'll need a really good answer for why she got those poor grades. It should probably be better than "I really wanted to do PT so I just threw in the towel." Every PT student will come across a class that they don't enjoy, or don't feel will be relevant to the area in which they want to practice. They are still expected to pass them.

 

[flyhi]

I agree with some of the others with regards to why she received the F's. Giving up and getting F's is not going to bode well with any professional program and she will need a rocking personal statement. I switched from one professional doctorate medical program to another, and it was hard enough explaining even though I thought I had a very good reason. I left in good academic standing, however. One thing I did that I think helped tremendously, was to get a LOR from a professor of the school I left. If she could get a great LOR from a professor at PA school, I think it would help tremendously. If not a professor, maybe her director of studies?

How did she do in her other courses? If it was all A's and B's with 2 F's, that is easier to explain then all C's and 2 F's. The latter would be a huge red flag for admissions.


She has great UG stats and I wish her well. Keep us posted!