DPT 2022 cycle

[christianb3]

Hey guys,

This is my first time applying to DPT programs and I have been through the wringer to get to this point. I graduated with a BS in Kinesiology in 2018, but with pretty low cumulative GPA . So, for the last 3 years I have retaken a bunch of courses and prerequisites I didn’t do well on while also working as an aide. I have put in so much work throughout this application process and really do not want to be denied and continue to make a non livable wage as an aide. I don’t want to start over again, although I realize NOW that my application could be improved with more variety of observation hours, retake even more classes, take the GRE again probably, and more volunteer hours. I am hoping what I have is good enough. But scared that all of this will be for nothing.

I have only applied to Idaho State and University of Montana only because I really do not think it’s a good investment to put myself in a huge amount of debt at the age of 26. However, I am thinking about applying to NAU, AT Still, and Franklin pierce because these schools work in my favor with my GPA/repeated course policies and GRE scores. Here are my stats:

For ISU- My pre requisite GPA is a 3.70 and my cumulative is a 3.4 (last 60 credits)
For Montana-pre req GPA 3.68
Cumulative 3.33

general pre reqs
A&P 1-B+
A&P 2-B
Chem 1-A, Lab-A
Chem 2-A, Lab-A
Physics 1-B, Lab-A
Physics 2-A, Lab-A
Stats-A
Exercise phys-B
Medical term-A
Psychology lifespan and general-both A’s
Sociology-A-


Observation-1000+ outpatient ortho, 30 hours sports, 17 hours pediatric, no inpatient yet due to covid.
GRE 1: Quant-147, Verbal-146, AW-3.0
GRE 2: Quant-145, Verbal-150, AW-4.5
Volunteer-Adapted physical education, personal training at a university’s Recreation center, local trash pickup, and local trail management work.
Extracurriculars-Softball scholarship

My essay is okay I did get it revised by a DPT (jasmine marcus) to make sure it was good.

Letters of rec-4 PTs, 1 professor
Certifications-Advanced Soft Tissue Therapy for the Cervical Spine-Precision Neuromuscular Therapy
CPR-BLS/First aid/aed, adults, children, infants
In the process-more volunteer work, and inpatient observation

I have awhile to wait for interviews, it’s September and deadlines are both in Oct. I may apply to NAU, RMU, AT still, and Franklin pierce to have better chances?? Any advice for students with a lower GPA, or waitlist/denial stories would definitely help. I’m trying to remain hopeful but this is just much harder of an application process then I realized. Fortunately everything is verified and ready to go. I just can’t help but feel impatient, scared, worried, not confident, etc.

Please let me know what you think guys! Much appreciated and hang in there all of you who are also in this crazy process.

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[christianb3]

Sorry if I made some typos or grammatical errors I typed this at work on my phone in my car. Lol.

 

[dptG]

Hey guys,

This is my first time applying to DPT programs and I have been through the wringer to get to this point. I graduated with a BS in Kinesiology in 2018, but with pretty low cumulative GPA . So, for the last 3 years I have retaken a bunch of courses and prerequisites I didn’t do well on while also working as an aide. I have put in so much work throughout this application process and really do not want to be denied and continue to make a non livable wage as an aide. I don’t want to start over again, although I realize NOW that my application could be improved with more variety of observation hours, retake even more classes, take the GRE again probably, and more volunteer hours. I am hoping what I have is good enough. But scared that all of this will be for nothing.

I have only applied to Idaho State and University of Montana only because I really do not think it’s a good investment to put myself in a huge amount of debt at the age of 26. However, I am thinking about applying to NAU, AT Still, and Franklin pierce because these schools work in my favor with my GPA/repeated course policies and GRE scores. Here are my stats:

For ISU- My pre requisite GPA is a 3.70 and my cumulative is a 3.4 (last 60 credits)
For Montana-pre req GPA 3.68
Cumulative 3.33

general pre reqs
A&P 1-B+
A&P 2-B
Chem 1-A, Lab-A
Chem 2-A, Lab-A
Physics 1-B, Lab-A
Physics 2-A, Lab-A
Stats-A
Exercise phys-B
Medical term-A
Psychology lifespan and general-both A’s
Sociology-A-


Observation-1000+ outpatient ortho, 30 hours sports, 17 hours pediatric, no inpatient yet due to covid.
GRE 1: Quant-147, Verbal-146, AW-3.0
GRE 2: Quant-145, Verbal-150, AW-4.5
Volunteer-Adapted physical education, personal training at a university’s Recreation center, local trash pickup, and local trail management work.
Extracurriculars-Softball scholarship

My essay is okay I did get it revised by a DPT (jasmine marcus) to make sure it was good.

Letters of rec-4 PTs, 1 professor
Certifications-Advanced Soft Tissue Therapy for the Cervical Spine-Precision Neuromuscular Therapy
CPR-BLS/First aid/aed, adults, children, infants
In the process-more volunteer work, and inpatient observation

I have awhile to wait for interviews, it’s September and deadlines are both in Oct. I may apply to NAU, RMU, AT still, and Franklin pierce to have better chances?? Any advice for students with a lower GPA, or waitlist/denial stories would definitely help. I’m trying to remain hopeful but this is just much harder of an application process then I realized. Fortunately everything is verified and ready to go. I just can’t help but feel impatient, scared, worried, not confident, etc.

Please let me know what you think guys! Much appreciated and hang in there all of you who are also in this crazy process.

Stay hopeful! At the end of the day, all schools are looking at candidates holistically and averages are just averages. You never know who's going to love your story. You've done all the hard work just stay patient and fingers crossed for it all to work out!

 

[KorbinL]

Look into E&H in Virginia. They consider your last 60 credits and extenuating circumstances. It worked for me when I applied with a low GPA from college and a few years out of school. Good luck!

 

[eschmitt98]

When you say you only applied to two schools because you don't want to be in debt, were you referring to the application fees? If so there are fee waivers that you should apply for. I haven't done so but definitely look into that if it is holding you back from applying to more schools.

 

[wiseOldPT]

I think you are in decent shape but recommend applying to more than two schools, especially since I'm guessing those both have smaller class sizes. I absolutely get keeping debt low and encourage that, but if you strike out on the two, you'll also have another year of lost wages. Cast a wider net while still keeping total cost in mind. Things like location can also factor into cost, with rural schools being cheaper to live than urban which can make a big difference money wise. Might be too late for this advice but I'd also suggest applying early in the cycle as many schools do rolling admissions.

You do not need more observation hours. GRE is on the lower end but don't encourage a third try.

 

[dptdptdpt2020]

Have you heard back from Idaho State?

 

[DPT1DAY]

“…Continue making a non-livable wage…”

I was just thinking about this for the past week, it sucks being an aide. On top of the low, low wage page it just sucks knowing that we can only do so little for patients. Whenever I have patients ask me questions, I have to wait and ask the PT so that I make sure I’m not giving bad information.

I live in Northern California, and it sounds cool to get more hours in at the clinic, but minimum wage gets me no where (14/hr). I’ve had to pick up a part time night job, where I work anywhere from 29-33 hours, and that’s just to make ends meet, and paying the bills. I have no life anymore, and I struggle to even find time for sleep. Being an aide sucks! I’m really hoping I get in this next time because I don’t know if I can continue this work schedule like I do. I’m also in the Army Reserves, so whenever I have to work for them, I definitely lose all my hours to “catch up” on sleep on the weekends.

 

[mochipoki]

“…Continue making a non-livable wage…”

I was just thinking about this for the past week, it sucks being an aide. On top of the low, low wage page it just sucks knowing that we can only do so little for patients. Whenever I have patients ask me questions, I have to wait and ask the PT so that I make sure I’m not giving bad information.

I live in Northern California, and it sounds cool to get more hours in at the clinic, but minimum wage gets me no where (14/hr). I’ve had to pick up a part time night job, where I work anywhere from 29-33 hours, and that’s just to make ends meet, and paying the bills. I have no life anymore, and I struggle to even find time for sleep. Being an aide sucks! I’m really hoping I get in this next time because I don’t know if I can continue this work schedule like I do. I’m also in the Army Reserves, so whenever I have to work for them, I definitely lose all my hours to “catch up” on sleep on the weekends.

Also in NorCal. Working at minimum wage sucks, but I've always been able to negotiate above it even if its just a couple dollars (got offer $19 at one clinic, $17 at another, negotiated a $14 offer to $16). I've always heard that after a certain amount of hours in a clinic, getting more hours in that clinic doesn't matter. After a few months, I felt that there wasn't much more that clinic could teach me so I cut my hours, applied to more places, then left for another clinic in a different setting. Schools care more about variety than thousands of hours in one setting. Plus having that variety actually shows you so so much more. Is the aide job really giving you enough (resume & money wise) to constitute having "no life anymore" and sacrificing your health?

 

[DPT1DAY]

I’ve sacrificed my health due to the military for 16 years already lol so it’s nothing really new.

I only work somewhere between 18-24 hours a week at the clinic. I only started there 3 months ago, so I just keep telling myself it’s for the experience. I’ve applied to other clinics, but most of them won’t even call me back for an interview. So right now, it’s pretty much I’ll take what I can get. I think once I’m accepted to a DPT school, then I’ll start cutting back on some hours.

 

[christianb3]

In Idaho aides start at around $10 in an hour. I’ve been lucky to get $14. Boise is growing like crazy so the cost of living in comparison to wages…not great. California I could not see how someone could live off $17 but I get your point.

 

[christianb3]

Have you heard back from Idaho State?

I was waitlisted :/ I got accepted to College of Saint Scholastica. No other offers or interview invites yet. I ended up applying to a few other schools. Elon university, university of st Augustine, and Saint Francis but really bummed about Idaho. Desperate to hear back from Montana but by the time I have to put a deposit down for CSS I will hear back from them.

 

[DPT1DAY]

In Idaho aides start at around $10 in an hour. I’ve been lucky to get $14. Boise is growing like crazy so the cost of living in comparison to wages…not great. California I could not see how someone could live off $17 but I get your point.

$17 is if the company needs you and they give it to you, I make $14 an hour as an aide. At first, they were underpaying me at $13 for the first 2 months. Cost of living in Sacramento is only going up too, because Bay Area people are coming here. Also got told today at my aide job that they’re cutting down aide hours too, so I’m glad I have the night shift still.

But the great news is I got into my number 1 choice and also the only school I applied to. So there’s some kind of light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[christianb3]

$17 is if the company needs you and they give it to you, I make $14 an hour as an aide. At first, they were underpaying me at $13 for the first 2 months. Cost of living in Sacramento is only going up too, because Bay Area people are coming here. Also got told today at my aide job that they’re cutting down aide hours too, so I’m glad I have the night shift still.

But the great news is I got into my number 1 choice and also the only school I applied to. So there’s some kind of light at the end of the tunnel!

Congrats! What school? Yes that’s kinda how my clinic is going as well. I used to get full time 35-40 hours a week, now we are hiring PTAs so my ability to ask for a raise and and ask for more than 30 is impossible bc I’m not needed. It’s crazy to see how many other jobs in the medical field are out there that we are overly qualified for but don’t have a certification yet have a relatable degree (bio or Kines). I feel like the advice given to pre-pt students needs to be more than just get an aide job and observe as many settings as you can. An aide job is necessary during undergraduate but after? Not worth it. Should be like start as aide, work at a few different settings/clinics, then expand and work in any medical office to make a living until you can get in. Not everyone can get into PT school right out of their undergraduate at 22-23.

 

[DPT1DAY]

Congrats! What school? Yes that’s kinda how my clinic is going as well. I used to get full time 35-40 hours a week, now we are hiring PTAs so my ability to ask for a raise and and ask for more than 30 is impossible bc I’m not needed. It’s crazy to see how many other jobs in the medical field are out there that we are overly qualified for but don’t have a certification yet have a relatable degree (bio or Kines). I feel like the advice given to pre-pt students needs to be more than just get an aide job and observe as many settings as you can. An aide job is necessary during undergraduate but after? Not worth it. Should be like start as aide, work at a few different settings/clinics, then expand and work in any medical office to make a living until you can get in. Not everyone can get into PT school right out of their undergraduate at 22-23.

I got into Samuel Merritt!

Even if I got 35-40 hours a week, being only 14 an hour, that wouldn't pay for much. After taxes and everything, it comes out to way less. Gas prices alone these days too, I'd use half of that just on that.

It sucks because having a BS in Kine/Bio gets you absolutely no where. The military even told me my degree is useless, and I realized the most I could've been is a glorified personal trainer. I also have 15+ years of experience in the military, and because of needing hours for PT, I couldn't get a regular job with the experience I have. So I was blessed enough to work a warehouse job at night, with no experience. It's just now I have no time for sleep lol.