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How can I prepare to apply to PT schools?
- Thread starter chef30
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Check out PTCAS and do some research. If you've got a 4.0 you're in great shape and should be able to figure out what you need to do from there. Find some programs that interest you and look at what they require.
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You should not need a committee letter. Letters generally come from Physical Therapists, past professors, or the like.
As for the Physio labs, this can be found on PTCAS as well. If you browse to a school you're interested in, find the pre-req table. There should be a column for LAB, and should state if a physio lab is required or not.
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Hi!
Congrats on graduating! On congrats on getting great grades too!
The thing with physical therapy is that different schools have different requirements, so you really need to look a individual schools and write down what they require. PTCAS is a great resource, but sometimes, program's PTCAS profiles are not updated, so going to the school's website is the best way to get the most accurate information.
It looks however like you have most courses completed, however most schools will require Human Anatomy and Physiology with lab, and yes you can take those courses at a community college.
To put it in a nutshell:
1) Look for PT schools around you/in a location you're willing to move to
2) Narrow it down to the number of schools you want to apply to (I applied to 5 schools, the average of schools applied to per applicant is 6, but some apply to less, some apply to more, it's up to you).
3) Note each school's individual requirements and start working towards them. Don't worry the vast majority of requirements will overlap.
4) You will probably need to: take 2 or 3 additional classes (probably A&P), study and take your GRE, complete observation hours IN physical therapy. I see that you already have some hours, but were you shadowing a therapist ? If not then they might not count :/ And finally start planning for your LOR.
- For your LOR, no you won't need a community letter. Schools have different requirements, but most likely you'll need letters from 2 PTs, 1 prof, and maybe 1 supervisor/additional person. But for now, I would start thinking of a professor you can ask.
Hope that helps!
Congrats on graduating! On congrats on getting great grades too!
The thing with physical therapy is that different schools have different requirements, so you really need to look a individual schools and write down what they require. PTCAS is a great resource, but sometimes, program's PTCAS profiles are not updated, so going to the school's website is the best way to get the most accurate information.
It looks however like you have most courses completed, however most schools will require Human Anatomy and Physiology with lab, and yes you can take those courses at a community college.
To put it in a nutshell:
1) Look for PT schools around you/in a location you're willing to move to
2) Narrow it down to the number of schools you want to apply to (I applied to 5 schools, the average of schools applied to per applicant is 6, but some apply to less, some apply to more, it's up to you).
3) Note each school's individual requirements and start working towards them. Don't worry the vast majority of requirements will overlap.
4) You will probably need to: take 2 or 3 additional classes (probably A&P), study and take your GRE, complete observation hours IN physical therapy. I see that you already have some hours, but were you shadowing a therapist ? If not then they might not count :/ And finally start planning for your LOR.
- For your LOR, no you won't need a community letter. Schools have different requirements, but most likely you'll need letters from 2 PTs, 1 prof, and maybe 1 supervisor/additional person. But for now, I would start thinking of a professor you can ask.
Hope that helps!
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Your stats are very good so I would concentrate on your experience now. If possible, it's also a good idea to look into jobs as a physical therapy aide because a lot of schools like that since it's very good exposure. However, not all places accept paid hours (but most do). I learned a lot about the field of physical therapy from working as a pt aide. Try to observe in places that will make you stand out. Most people do inpatient and outpatient so if you can do numerous different settings (inpatient, outpatient, home care, sub-acute rehab, etc) it will show that you are very well rounded with experience. If you do all that and get a good GRE score you should have no problem at all since your grades are very good! P.s my GPA wasn't that high due to a few retakes and I got an interview with NYU which I'm assuming is because of all my observation hours so it is definitely not out of reach for you!
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If you poke around this forum (check out the FAQ sticky, use the search function, etc), you'll find a ton of information including the answers to all of your questions as well as other things you should know.
Re: caliber of schools, the strength of the PT program is probably what you should be concerned with, and not the name-recognition of the school itself. US News and World Report is pretty much useless because of the way they rank PT programs. Instead, look at licensing exam pass rates and graduation rates for programs you're interested in, and details of the curriculum, clinicals, faculty, etc. To get a sense of how competitive programs are and how you would compare, the GPA's, GRE's, XTRA's, ACCEPTANCES thread is pretty useful (look at posts from the last couple years- programs have gotten more competitive, so earlier stats will be of less use). Also many schools publish stats for accepted students on their website- this is a good source of information as well.
With a 4.0 GPA, you're putting yourself (at least stat-wise) in a good place to be competitive for any program.
To get PT shadowing hours, you'll probably need to do a bunch of cold calling. Look up hospitals, PT clinics, skilled nursing facilities, rehab facilities in your area. With the outpatient facilities (private PT clinics, etc), you'll want to just call them up. Say you're a pre-PT student and looking to get observation hours shadowing a PT and ask if there's someone you can talk to about the possibility of observing a PT. Most places are pretty open to this and used to it, since everyone applying has to get hours.
For hospitals, go to their websites and search for a section on volunteering. For most hospitals, you'll have to go through the volunteer department to get access, and that can take a long time and require an application, shots, etc. Most have information and someone to contact on their website. Make sure you're clear that you need to observe a PT specifically. If you already have contacts from the places you've already volunteered, might be worth contacting them to see if they can connect you to rehab departments.
For getting in to shadow, you'll need to be persistent and contact a lot of places. I had about a 40% success rate of being able to get in to the places I contacted.
In general, diversity of hours is more important than shear number. You want experience in at least 3 different PT settings, including at least one outpatient and one inpatient setting. I'd say shoot for at least 100 hours total. This will also depend on the programs you want to apply to. Some have specific observation requirements (like that you need to observe in 3 settings for at least 40 hours each, or that you need at least 100 hours, etc). Something I wish I had done was journaling about my observation experiences. You'll need to write essays when you apply, and also talk about your experiences, so keeping a journal or some other record would be useful.
PT programs don't care when you got your observation experiences; it won't be a problem if you cram it all in this spring.
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Chef90,
Last year I was in almost the exact situation that you are in right now, and I've been accepted to PT school with a lower GPA than you currently have. Here's my advice:
Volunteer in as many settings as you possibly can. You need to show that even though you decided recently on PT, you've developed a good idea of the field. Make cold calls and visit facilities with your resume ready to show. Astarblaze's post above mine is 100% on the money.
Find out which schools you can apply to next cycle without needing to take too many superfluous prereqs. For me this excluded many options in California. I took the vast majority of my prereqs at a CC, this was never mentioned in interviews etc.
Make a concerted effort to connect with the PTs that you are shadowing, you will likely need 2 LORs. I found that getting a job as a rehab aide allowed me to spend more time getting to know the PTs and my letters were stronger because of it.
I assure you that you can do this, but you need to start getting that experience and find out which prereqs to take in order to maximize the number of schools that you'll be able to apply to come next cycle!!
Last year I was in almost the exact situation that you are in right now, and I've been accepted to PT school with a lower GPA than you currently have. Here's my advice:
Volunteer in as many settings as you possibly can. You need to show that even though you decided recently on PT, you've developed a good idea of the field. Make cold calls and visit facilities with your resume ready to show. Astarblaze's post above mine is 100% on the money.
Find out which schools you can apply to next cycle without needing to take too many superfluous prereqs. For me this excluded many options in California. I took the vast majority of my prereqs at a CC, this was never mentioned in interviews etc.
Make a concerted effort to connect with the PTs that you are shadowing, you will likely need 2 LORs. I found that getting a job as a rehab aide allowed me to spend more time getting to know the PTs and my letters were stronger because of it.
I assure you that you can do this, but you need to start getting that experience and find out which prereqs to take in order to maximize the number of schools that you'll be able to apply to come next cycle!!
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Honestly some of the most competitive programs to get into are your in state, state universities. Their relative affordability is often very much desired and the most competitive students often have these schools as their first choices. Private schools, with great name recognition often cost $50,000-$75,000 more. If money is not a problem then great, however if you are doing school all on loans, that is something to consider. Perhaps in addition to thinking about the schools you mentioned, look at the programs in your state. Good luck and PTCAS has much of the info you need.
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The school doesn't really matter. Focus on going to a school with cheaper tuition and good pass rates. Probably in that order.
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Not going to say it never matters, but everything I have read says that school choice for PT will not affect future income. Obviously there may be places where it does, or more likely clinical options may land you a job somewhere you want to be. With that being said, I am planning to attend an in state university that is ranked highly and has a well known reputation. However, there are several other schools I would have considered if money were not a consideration. Just not sure that you can count on the choice of school alone getting you a better paying job.
If you are going into this field to make a lot of money, you will be disappointed. That's why we keep saying keep your debt as low as possible. Read these threads carefully and research this field a bit more before you commit.
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/starting-salary-for-dpt-new-grads.931151/
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/physical-therapy-and-money.1065823/
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@chef30 there isn't such data available: an average income made by graduate according to PT school mainly because as @dptwannabee1 says it, it's not a direct correlation: go there and you'll make the most money.
Your starting income will depend on what type of setting you work in, what state/city you work in, and who you are as a person/your interviewing skills.
Your starting income will depend on what type of setting you work in, what state/city you work in, and who you are as a person/your interviewing skills.
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Exactly. If you work in out patient peds, you will make less than home health. If you work in rural Texas, you will most likely make less then working in Manhattan. And so on. So going to Southern California or Duke or Columbia will most likely not earn you any more than if you graduate from State U.
