Freshman year was a disaster. Can I recover?

[dptknight]

I messed up my freshman year in college. Really bad. 🙁

My first semester:
General Biology I- C
Credits: 12
GPA: 2.682

Second semester:
General Biology II- D
General Chemistry I- F
Calculus- C+
Credits: 15
Cumulative GPA: 2.01

My first year was a disaster to say the least, and I can't stop thinking about if I completely ruined my chances of becoming a Physical Therapist. I doubled up on my sciences and took General Biology II and General Chemistry I, and Calculus. Unfortunately, I didn't take them all as seriously as I should've. I could've worked for As but I was incredibly stupid, didn't study smart, and neglected my grades. I'm currently retaking Chem I over the summer, and am planning on recieeving an A in the course. I will be taking Chem II over the summer as well, and hope I will be able to receieve an A in that as well. I will take Human Anatomy and Physiology I in the Fall, and then will retake Biology II in the spring, and will probably receive and A in that. I will take Human Anatomy and Physiology II next summer. My university replaces grades for repeated courses, however graduate schools average them out.

In high school I volunteered for four years in a physical therapy gym at a local children's hospital and fell in love with the profession. Next summer I will continue to volunteer at the children's hospital, and will be working as a paid facility aide at another physical therapy center nearby. I hope to one day become a pediatric physical therpist. I was deciding between majoring in Biology or Exercise Science, but I think I will most probably major in Exercise Science because more of the courses overlap with DPT prerequisites, and because I think I will enjoy it more then Biology.

If I start taking things much more seriously this summer and next semester, and I raise my GPA(the one graduate schools would count) up to a 3.1 or 3.2, and my prerequisite GPA to a 3.0 or 3.1 by graduation, realistically what are my chances of acceptance into a DPT program? What should I do to increase my chances?

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[NewTestament]

It's too early to say at this point. As long as your overall GPA exceeds 3.0 then you shouldn't have a problem getting accepted somewhere. If you take school a little more seriously the next three years and prove you're a better student, then schools will notice that. You might have to stay in school an extra year to retake all those classes. I'd suggest you major in something other than Exercise Science because you might change your mind about PT and then you'll have a worthless major.

 

[WarriorPT]

You need to figure it out soon. By the time you apply to PT school a 3.0 GPA will not help. Many schools are screening out anything below a 3.4 because the applications are so plentiful. Schools can be very selective now. If you struggled with simple biology classes then advanced coursework (i.e. graduate-level human biology) will be even more challenging.
GOOD NEWS:
1. Many schools evaluate your last 2 years of study.
2. Your credit hours are very low and can still be changed dramatically with retaking classes, and earning better grades in new ones.
BAD NEWS:
1. Intro biology didn't grasp your attention. The question you have to ask yourself is: Why? I was an engineering student who needed a science course. I took biology and loved it. My grade reflected it. I switched my major to biology and my ensuing grades reflected it. Granted intro bio is not human biology persay or even anatomy/physio, but you should have had some interest in the course. Being a PT is about living science on a daily basis to exact change in another's life. Are you willing to put in the work? So far it looks like a 'no.'
FINAL THOUGHT:
If this is what you want to do, then don't give up. You still have a lot of time to make changes and someday be an excellent therapist. However, you need to figure it out soon.
Good luck,

 

[starrsgirl]

I had pretty much identical grades to you my freshman year. It's recoverable but trust me, from here on out, give it your all. Every semester than passes with so so grades is at least 1-2 semesters after school to redo those classes. It's expensive and not as fun to redo them later. I would plan to do summer classes every summer from here on out too. You could retake those one at a time then in a condensed format. Get your head on straight. I wish someone had talked sternly to me after my first year. Instead, I gave myself permission to sluff off the rest of college since I was telling myself I couldn't recover or I would have to go back to school anyway. I wish I had just worked like crazy and paid my dues my sophomore year and on.

I also echo choosing biology over exercise science. There are many more job options for biology out there.

 

[dptknight]

Thanks so much for the advise, I truly appreciate it! I know I have a long road ahead of me, but failing two courses really gave me the reality check that I needed.

I'm pretty dead set on going through with Physical Therapy, but I'm still on the fence about what I should major in. Exercise Science courses seem somewhat easier then Biology courses, and I like that they are more anatomy and physiology based. I could major in Biology, and I know I would have more career options, however, I am worried that taking courses like Organic Chemistry would not help improve my GPA. I know taking those courses would help me in graduate school, however to get my graduate school GPA up to a 3.0 before the beginning of my junior year I would need to get a 4.0 the next two semesters :/ That doesn't seem like its possible, and I'm not too sure I can make it happen, but I'm pretty motivated to try to make it happen or at least come close.

I'm meeting with an academic advisor next week to plan out my next semester. I plan on taking core courses for my school, and prerequisites that overlap for both majors and PT this coming year. I'm also planning on starting out easier by taking only 12.5 credits my first semester back. I want to focus on improving my GPA, and I want to see how well I can do the next two semesters before I declare my major. Next summer, I will most definitely take advantage of my time by retaking classes and volunteering/working at two practices. One of them I have volunteered at before, and the other one has expressed interest in me working there next summer. This summer, I am also volunteering at another nearby practice. As soon as my GPA situation is better, I want to work on getting hours and experience to enhance my application and maybe somewhat help makeup for the disaster that was my first year. That is my plan of action as of now. I'm a little scared, but the stress is motivating me pretty well.

 

[Kuhdaytee]

You might also want to consider that some schools will take organic chemistry over general chemistry, if you were to get a higher grade in it. This would be useful especially for the schools that average retaken classes. So, you might have a higher grade in organic chemistry than the average grade between the first and second time you take gen chem.

 

[dptknight]

Thanks! I didn't know some schools do that. In that case, I'll look into it and I might consider taking Organic Chemistry junior/senior year, depending on how much I am able to bring up my GPA this year.

 

[Kuhdaytee]

Look on the PTCAS website for each school. Most of the schools that I looked into will take general, organic, or biochem for the year of required chemistry. Good luck though! 🙂 OChem was easier for me than gen chem was, but I also had an amazing professor.

 

[SympatheticTrunk]

I messed up my first 2 and a half years. I started school at one university, was an art major, hated the school and just did not go to class. I had several WF's on my transcripts. I was able to pull up my cum. GPA to a 3.3 after going back to another university to finish my bachelors degree, and obviously I switched to being a science major. I just found out last week that I was accepted to a DPT program, so it is not impossible. Just keep getting A's, and get to know your professors because you will need solid letters of recommendation. Good luck!

 

[DPT41]

Thanks! I didn't know some schools do that. In that case, I'll look into it and I might consider taking Organic Chemistry junior/senior year, depending on how much I am able to bring up my GPA this year.

Out of curiosity, what university are you at now for undergrad?

 

[dptknight]

Thanks! And congradualtions! That gives me some hope =)

I'm doing my undergrad at Rutgers University.