Early GRE opinions/retaking science classes

[user1107]

To give everyone an idea of my application (mind that I'm a rising junior):

Kin major/bio minor
cgpa: 3.90
prereq gpa: 3.82
PRACTICE GRE scores: 152V 157Q
Experience: 60 hours outpatient, 10 hours inpatient (I have two years of undergrad left so I plan on getting a lot more in about 3 or 4 more settings)
Extracurricular: President of a sports club, Pre PT society, Health sciences fraternity, I should (hopefully) get an invite to PKB honors fraternity this semester, and I also qualify to get an invite from my school's honor society next semester. The latter two organizations should happen, but I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch.

I have two question that I want to ask you guys for opinions on:

1. I've been playing around with the idea of taking the GRE this summer, before the start of my junior year. I figure that under the condition my scores come back a little low, I will be able to retake it next summer and hopefully bump my numbers up. What are your opinions on this?

2. When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to take chem 1, chem 2, physics 1 and physics two through community college (B, B, A, A, respectively). I know B's in community college aren't that great, but keep in mind I was 17 and still in high school. As of right now, my plan is to retake chem 1 and physics 1 at a university level, just to demonstrate to DPT schools that I can handle the rigor. and if I get an A in chem it will also bump up my prereq GPA to around a 3.9. Do you guys think that this is a wise thing to do, or am I being a little to cautious?

I appreciate any input anyone can give me. If this helps, my top schools are, in order:
US army baylor
VCU
ODU
WVU
U of southern Cali

But I also plan to apply to many more, just to be safe. Thank you guys in advance for the insight!

Update: Do I have to report all my GRE scores to my desired schools/ will they be able to see all my scores or just the ones I select?

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[kdhdpt]

To give everyone an idea of my application (mind that I'm a rising junior):

Kin major/bio minor
cgpa: 3.90
prereq gpa: 3.82
PRACTICE GRE scores: 152V 157Q
Experience: 60 hours outpatient, 10 hours inpatient (I have two years of undergrad left so I plan on getting a lot more in about 3 or 4 more settings)
Extracurricular: President of a sports club, Pre PT society, Health sciences fraternity, I should (hopefully) get an invite to PKB honors fraternity this semester, and I also qualify to get an invite from my school's honor society next semester. The latter two organizations should happen, but I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch.

I have two question that I want to ask you guys for opinions on:

1. I've been playing around with the idea of taking the GRE this summer, before the start of my junior year. I figure that under the condition my scores come back a little low, I will be able to retake it next summer and hopefully bump my numbers up. What are your opinions on this?

2. When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to take chem 1, chem 2, physics 1 and physics two through community college (B, B, A, A, respectively). I know B's in community college aren't that great, but keep in mind I was 17 and still in high school. As of right now, my plan is to retake chem 1 and physics 1 at a university level, just to demonstrate to DPT schools that I can handle the rigor. and if I get an A in chem it will also bump up my prereq GPA to around a 3.9. Do you guys think that this is a wise thing to do, or am I being a little to cautious?

I appreciate any input anyone can give me. If this helps, my top schools are, in order:
US army baylor
VCU
ODU
WVU
U of southern Cali

But I also plan to apply to many more, just to be safe. Thank you guys in advance for the insight!

I would suggest going ahead and taking the GRE, so you aren't stuck with the anticipation of getting good scores just before applying like I am right now lol. Your stats look great, I've spoken with a recruiter for the army Baylor program and you definitely need to get some hours at a PT clinic on a military base or a VA hospital, a letter of rec from a military PT is beneficial as well per my conversation with the recruiter! I wouldn't retake the science classes, your GPA is still great, but that's just my preference.

 

[dgt329]

Regarding the GRE, that's exactly when I took it and it's really nice to not have to worry about it anymore. If you have time to study for it and get it out of the way now, there's no reason not to!

 

[beyoutiful_sunshine]

Take the GRE early, if you end up doing really well, that'll be one less thing to stress about come application time next summer.

I think there is no need to retake your physics 1 if you already got an A in it. Yes you took it at a community college but I doubt it will hinder your application, if anything they'll be confused as to why you retook a a B and an A when you could have retaken two Bs.

Your GPAs look great by the way! Great job 🙂


And yes for Army Baylor, try to get hours at with the VA

 

[astarblaze]

With the GRE, you can select which test date(s) you want to report scores from, and schools will only see scores from that test date(s). See: https://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/about/scoreselect

So aside from the cost and time, you don't lose anything from taking the GRE early. If you don't do as well as you'd like, you can take it again, just report your better scores, and schools will never know.

 

[Grizzlyman]

I would not expect a school to have empathy for you taking those classes while in High School. By the way, I think it is really awesome that you did do that. Since you have time you should really think about taking them again, however it is not going to have huge impact on your pre-req GPA as the retakes will be averaged.

Your extra-circulars are really common and vanilla. Organizations do not really stands out and probably more of a waste of time than doing something productive. Every single application will have a bunch orgs. Try finding something that actually benefits other people. Another huge help would be getting a research position. There are very few people with research experience applying to PT school.

You should also really consider choosing a major that expands your educational experience more. Problem solving majors like engineering are really a great experience and the knowledge you could provide on mechanics will be very beneficial. Exercise science just does not help you grow as much as other education experiences. You will waste your time taking personal wellness classes. It's like hitting the easy button instead of focusing on your development.