Help appreciated. Recieved bachelor's degree in 2005...

[ringle20]

Hello everyone, I came across this forum while trying to find information on how to go back to school. My goal is to get into a DPT program by 2015. I'm currently not finding information that helps me regarding community college credits and transferring. My bachelors degree was recieved in 2005, so I'm under the impression from all my research on CAPTE and other websites that I need to retake my prerequisites. I have read many things saying that a specific number of hours needs to be completed at a four year colllege before acceptance to a DPT program. But what if I am just retaking prereqs at a community college because of time lapse of my Degree? I live in San Diego, graduated from a University in Nebraska and am in the process of enrolling in some summer classes at a community college to bring prereqs up to date. Will they be accepted if this is the reason for taking them even?

Right now I currently work as a corrective exercise specialist for an inhome healthcare company. Most often I take over patient care from a physical therapist and continue therapy with doctors after insurance stops paying for PT. I have been in this field for three years now, after 12 years of personal training and sports performance work. I have found rehabilitation to be the most rewarding and wish to further my education in a DPT program. I just cant seem to find much information for people in my situation, do I actually need to retake my prereqs at another 4yr school or will community colleges be adequate since I already obtained a bachelors?

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[Junta87]

Hi Ringle, every program has different requirements. Most schools will accept community college credits, but you should check with the programs you're interested in. Also make sure to ask if they have a policy about the age of prereqs- not all programs will require you to retake them. Good luck!

 

[bythebay]

I graduated in 2003 and took all my classes over the last year and a half at community colleges. All of the schools I wanted to go to accepted them and only two schools didn't accept me so I don't think it matters where you take them. I agree with Junta87, contact all of the schools you want to apply to and ask them about your application. Some of them won't require you to retake classes, most will make you retake anatomy and physio. If you do retake them they will probably see why, if you got good grades the first time around. Just do well so you don't ruin your GPA!

And carve out some time to study for the GRE. As an older student I found relearning my 10th grade geometry one of the hardest and most annoying parts of the whole process.

Your work hours will most likely count as observation hours, are you under the direct supervision of a PT? IF so they should count and that PT should write one of your letter. Then if you can get 40 or 50 hours in another setting, most schools like to see you've observed in the hospital, that will give your app a boost.

Sounds like you're in a good place to get accepted. Good luck! Also in case you haven't found it check out the pre physical therapy forum. Great place to recieve support and all kinds of info throughout the process!

 

[ringle20]

Thanks Junta and bythebay, I appreciate the assistance. It was the one subject matter I havent quite been able to figure out. I was starting to get the feeling it might be a case by case scenario depending on the DPT program. I always see they will accept community college courses under specific conditions, I just cant find the info that relates specifically to my situation. It does make me nervous as planned to take Anatomy/Phys, Chem, Physics, and Bio all at the same time next year. I originally got an A in all my prereqs, so that should help, but it was 9-13yrs ago. I already purchased some physics, chemistry, and biology text books and have been studying those for 15-20hrs a week and will continue to do so through the summer. Also waiting to recieve some GRE prep materials I ordered so I will also spend a lot of time reviewing those.

Im just stressed about the community college classes as I obviously dont want to waste money if they would not count. Here in San Diego though, they have basically cut all the summer classes for community colleges, so I'm kind of rushing myself trying to get into some classes for the summer since there is only one school within 20mi of me that offers them.

Still researching all DPT schools and their requirements. Just making a list of the (highest pass rate/ tuition/cost of living), once I narrow that down to 30 or so, I will start ranking them by other factors such as research or manual therapy reputation and then go from there. I have a few I know i will apply to and just wrote a few emails asking about the requirements related to community college courses and outdated degree.

As for my job now, I mainly work with the primary physician of each client. Often, I will alternate days with a physical therapist if a client is in a rehabilitation program, following the protocol they set forth. I do hope I will get some credit for this but Im also interviewing at a few other places in the next few weeks to do volunteer work in other settings.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Junta87]

If the programs will allow you to take community college courses, you could also consider taking them online. That way, you can take them with any program in the country and not feel pressured to enroll immediately. I live in Vermont, but I took several prereqs online with the Iowa Community College network, because they are good quality and very affordable. I got into my #1 choice program. Make sure to check with the programs first, though!

 

[Member60439]

Checking with the schools you will be applying to is really important, both to see if they accept community college or online credits as well as if they will accept credits taken X number of years in the past.

Similar to you, I earned my B.A. in 2004. The pre-reqs I completed at that time were counted at some places and at others I was past the appropriate date range. Other pre-reqs I had never taken before. I sort of did a mix of taking things at community college and four-year universities, both in class and online. I applied to PT programs before I was finished with all of my pre-reqs (but had a plan in place to finish before PT school would begin). I saved the classes I would need to retake until last just in case it wasn't necessary to do so.

 

[okramango]

I got my bachelor degree fifteen years ago, took all of my science prerequisites at a community college, and got into all the programs I applied to. When researching programs, I did see one or two that required that prerequisites be taken at a four-year, but most accept community college courses. You should be fine taking them at a community college, but double check with some of the programs you are interested in.

Also, my schools did accept some of my older non-science prerequisites. Still, it would look good to take some science courses now, anyway, because schools like to see some more recent academic performance. It sounds like you are the right track.