HELP!- Currently or Recently Accepted Students in a DPT program that had a Lower GPA

[Breanna__]

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Hi everyone!

I'm going to apply this upcoming Fall 2015. I know it's a long application process and it's a really competitive program but I'm serious about it and wanted to speak with some people who had similar situation as me and is familiar with the process.

I am just trying to make my application stand out because my overall gpa was a bit on the lower side when I first started college I wasn't as serious....so now I have a 3.09 overall GPA so, of course, I'm a little worried and really trying to pull together as much as I can to make myself stand out. I didn't realize how much I wanted to be a PT until later on in my last 2 years at college that's when I managed to do better in all my classes, since then it's been an upward trend.

I have since graduated and I have about 4 pre-req classes to take at CCSF to pull together and end my pre-req GPA with a 3.36-3.43, if all goes according to plan.

I have done a number of volunteer hours: at a rehabilitation center (olympic events/fundraising), at a rehabilitation hospital, I volunteered at an outpatient sports therapy clinic, currently I am offering one-on-one assistance to a stroke-survivor (ongoing), been a TA for over a year for a former professor (ongoing), and currently work in a PT clinic (at the front/have assisted with my boss with his anatomy/biomech lectures based off his this year).

My questions are: going into the application process with a lower GPA than the pool of accepted applicants what sort of extra activities did you do to make yourself stick out as an applicant?

And, finally, which school did you decide to go to and how has the whole process been?

I truly appreciate your time!

TL;DR: I had a lower GPA earlier in college, didn't get serious until later on.... if you have a similar story, what did you do to be competitive and increase your chance of acceptance?

 

[PTMattI]

Sounds like you are doing all the right things with the extra curriculars. If you get an interview make sure you highlight all of those things and mention the upward trend in your GPA.

Unfortunately some schools have cutoffs for GPA which means they wont even consider an application below a certain GPA...so make sure you check each school`s minimum requirements before sending that application. Considering that your GPA is a bit on the low side, you may want to broaden your choice of schools when doing your applications, which means potentially going out of state if that is feasible for you.

Worst case scenario is that you dont get in on your first attempt..but it wont be the end of the world if you spend another year working to save money and you could retake a few classes to boost that GPA. If you keep on trying you will get in eventually!.

 

[noyceguy]

1) retake classes to get better grades
2) retake GRE and get higher score
3) do more observation hours in varied settings

This is 75% of getting into a state PT school. 20 percent is whether you are in-state. 5 percent other.

Take home is don't bother with extracurricular activities, awards, certifications. etc. Focus on the big three.

 

[DesertPT]

Take home is don't bother with extracurricular activities, awards, certifications. etc. Focus on the big three.

I agree. Pretty poor bang for your buck when it comes to extras compared to grades and test scores. These things are good bonus points to have on your application if you were going to do them anyway, if they are relatively easy to come by, or if the rest of your application is already good to go. But when you have a low GPA you've got bigger fish to fry. No amount of extras will make up for poor grades as it's impossible to rank applicants quantitatively based on extras.

And what to do about poor GPAs has been repeatedly covered ad naseum in the pre-PT forum. I would recommend @Breanna__ conduct a search and read up! 🙂

 

[DesertPT]

If you start cruising this thread you will see that plenty of people over the past seven or eight years have gotten in with bleh GPAs:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/gpas-gres-xtras-acceptances.427018/

 

[Breanna__]

1) retake classes to get better grades
2) retake GRE and get higher score
3) do more observation hours in varied settings

This is 75% of getting into a state PT school. 20 percent is whether you are in-state. 5 percent other.

Take home is don't bother with extracurricular activities, awards, certifications. etc. Focus on the big three.

All of that stuff I am aware of I just wanted to find people who had similar situations. There are people who have turned it around similarly to what I am doing and I've reached out to one and was hoping to find more.

Luckily, I still have a few classes I'm taking to raise my pre-req GPA and GPA as a whole, and I haven't taken the GRE yet I"m still studying for it.

Thank you for your advice 🙂

 

[Breanna__]

I agree. Pretty poor bang for your buck when it comes to extras compared to grades and test scores. These things are good bonus points to have on your application if you were going to do them anyway, if they are relatively easy to come by, or if the rest of your application is already good to go. But when you have a low GPA you've got bigger fish to fry. No amount of extras will make up for poor grades as it's impossible to rank applicants quantitatively based on extras.

And what to do about poor GPAs has been repeatedly covered ad naseum in the pre-PT forum. I would recommend @Breanna__ conduct a search and read up! 🙂

Thanks!!! Yeah I have looked through that forum and others, I just wanted to talk to someone directly from a recent pool of applicants.

 

[Breanna__]

Sounds like you are doing all the right things with the extra curriculars. If you get an interview make sure you highlight all of those things and mention the upward trend in your GPA.

Unfortunately some schools have cutoffs for GPA which means they wont even consider an application below a certain GPA...so make sure you check each school`s minimum requirements before sending that application. Considering that your GPA is a bit on the low side, you may want to broaden your choice of schools when doing your applications, which means potentially going out of state if that is feasible for you.

Worst case scenario is that you dont get in on your first attempt..but it wont be the end of the world if you spend another year working to save money and you could retake a few classes to boost that GPA. If you keep on trying you will get in eventually!.

Yep, my situation is self-inflicted, but it's definitely not a dead end. Luckily I have changed the past few years as a student and I hope this makes a difference. If not, I am prepared to apply to a bunch of schools and reapply next year. I know I am going to be a physical therapist and it's not about if it's about when. Thank you for your advice and encouragement.

 

[NewTestament]

Apply to the University of Saint Augustine in Austin Texas.... They often have students accepted with low GPA. They have 3 acceptance cycles per year so they are less competitive.

Keep in mind Austin's class is small. USA still requires a competitive pre-req GPA. USA-FL is more competitive.

 

[89bogues]

I was in a similar situation and was recently accepted to two state schools with a 2.99 cgpa (PTCAS), but my last 60hrs gpa was a 3.9 and I had a strong GRE. If your recent coursework has been good I would assume your last 60hrs gpa is much higher than your cgpa. I don't know where you live, but there are multiple schools spread out across the country that will use your last 60hrs gpa in lieu of a lower cgpa. While you might not have a chance at a specific school you want to go to, I am sure there is a school somewhere you could get into.

Check out

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/my-experience-in-applying-to-dpt-programs.1115591/