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So this is going to sound stupid but hear me out: if you are as overwhelmed as I have been about where to begin picking programs to consider applying to, read on.
I'm a Junior at SUNY Oneonta in upstate NY, so I will be applying to programs during this upcoming PTCAS cycle. Outside of a few relatively local programs, I had no idea where to start picking other programs to apply to.
So, I came up with an idea over break: create a tournament bracket to objectively see which programs fit me best. Still don't believe me? Read on. Here is how I did it:
1) I opened up PTCAS and listed every PT Program east of the Mississippi River.
-I know I did not want to go too far away from home so I focused on this geographic area. Don't look at any specific information on the programs yet.
2) I narrowed this down to 32 schools that jumped out at me.
-I selected schools who's programs were moderately familiar to me, were in attractive locations, or other subjective factors. This is one of two parts where you can be biased. Still do not look up any specific info that is not readily obvious at this point.
3) I Ranked the 32 programs you selected based on your preconceived notions.
-Be even more biased at this point. Have a school in mind that you think is your number 1? Rank it as such. Continue ranking all the way through the last of the 32 schools.
4) I Printed out a 32 team bracket online and fill your schools into their seedings.
-A quick google search will bring up a lot of blank printable brackets.
5) I Came up with a list of things that you are looking for in a program to calculate their "score."
-Put the bracket aside for now. On a separate sheet of paper, list as many criterium as you can come up with and assign a point value to it. For example, I gave +2 points for my GPA being within 0.1 of a program's average for accepted students and +1 point if my school had a tie-in articulation agreement with the PT program. I also deducted 1 point if a school was over 4 hours from home or was north of where I lived. Whatever you want to do here works! It comes down to what you are looking for.
6) I Calculated the permanent score for each program.
-This was the time consuming part. I used the PTCAS directory and google searches to find all the info I needed for each program. At the end of this I had a permanent score for every school. For example, Upstate Medical University had criteria points of +2, +1, +1, -1, +1, and +1 for a total of +5. This score of +5 stayed with them throughout the entire bracket.
7) I began the head to head match ups! Ran the numbers through the whole bracket.
-Whichever school had the higher score moved on from each matchup. In the event of a tie, the school with a higher national ranking moved on.
8) Its Over! Looked at my results!
-In the end, the #2 overall seed based on my preconceived notions won in the final. There were a few "upsets" as well. Hampton Univ, for example, I had seeded 14th overall but after I researched more, they wound up with a pretty high score and made a run to my Final Four.
This actually worked really well for me. Some schools that I was heavily biased towards ended up getting knocked out early because, in the end, they actually did not fit my criteria. When I looked at them alone, under heavy scrutiny, they ended up with lower schools than some unexpectedly strong programs.
While there was one "winner" for me, I also took the other top ten schools based on this formula and placed them on my primary list of programs to apply to.
Let me know if you have any questions!
I'm a Junior at SUNY Oneonta in upstate NY, so I will be applying to programs during this upcoming PTCAS cycle. Outside of a few relatively local programs, I had no idea where to start picking other programs to apply to.
So, I came up with an idea over break: create a tournament bracket to objectively see which programs fit me best. Still don't believe me? Read on. Here is how I did it:
1) I opened up PTCAS and listed every PT Program east of the Mississippi River.
-I know I did not want to go too far away from home so I focused on this geographic area. Don't look at any specific information on the programs yet.
2) I narrowed this down to 32 schools that jumped out at me.
-I selected schools who's programs were moderately familiar to me, were in attractive locations, or other subjective factors. This is one of two parts where you can be biased. Still do not look up any specific info that is not readily obvious at this point.
3) I Ranked the 32 programs you selected based on your preconceived notions.
-Be even more biased at this point. Have a school in mind that you think is your number 1? Rank it as such. Continue ranking all the way through the last of the 32 schools.
4) I Printed out a 32 team bracket online and fill your schools into their seedings.
-A quick google search will bring up a lot of blank printable brackets.
5) I Came up with a list of things that you are looking for in a program to calculate their "score."
-Put the bracket aside for now. On a separate sheet of paper, list as many criterium as you can come up with and assign a point value to it. For example, I gave +2 points for my GPA being within 0.1 of a program's average for accepted students and +1 point if my school had a tie-in articulation agreement with the PT program. I also deducted 1 point if a school was over 4 hours from home or was north of where I lived. Whatever you want to do here works! It comes down to what you are looking for.
6) I Calculated the permanent score for each program.
-This was the time consuming part. I used the PTCAS directory and google searches to find all the info I needed for each program. At the end of this I had a permanent score for every school. For example, Upstate Medical University had criteria points of +2, +1, +1, -1, +1, and +1 for a total of +5. This score of +5 stayed with them throughout the entire bracket.
7) I began the head to head match ups! Ran the numbers through the whole bracket.
-Whichever school had the higher score moved on from each matchup. In the event of a tie, the school with a higher national ranking moved on.
8) Its Over! Looked at my results!
-In the end, the #2 overall seed based on my preconceived notions won in the final. There were a few "upsets" as well. Hampton Univ, for example, I had seeded 14th overall but after I researched more, they wound up with a pretty high score and made a run to my Final Four.
This actually worked really well for me. Some schools that I was heavily biased towards ended up getting knocked out early because, in the end, they actually did not fit my criteria. When I looked at them alone, under heavy scrutiny, they ended up with lower schools than some unexpectedly strong programs.
While there was one "winner" for me, I also took the other top ten schools based on this formula and placed them on my primary list of programs to apply to.
Let me know if you have any questions!
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