I recently graduated from PT school! I am just about to start my first job which is kind of fun. When I was applying for school I would try to find information anywhere and everywhere about PT school. I am happy to serve a resource and help where I can. If you have any questions/comments about PT school I would love to discuss them 🙂
Just graduated from PT School
- Thread starter BillBills
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Hey, I saw in another thread that you went to USA-Austin, I was wondering, had you applied anywhere else in Texas?
What was your typical day like?
Did you find it hard to adjust to the DPT curriculum coming out of undergrad?
What was the toughest course for you personally?
What setting is your first job in?
Just a few off the top of my head 🙂
Hey congrats on graduating. My question, if you can answer it: how do i find out if certain schools prefer out-of-state vs in-state students. I check schools last years stats on PTCAS. Is that just last years out-of-state vs in state statistics? Or just they're general out vs in state acceptance trend? I'm in New York and I'm looking to apply to out-of-state schools that accept a large percentage of out-of-state schools. Any advice?
The other school I applied to in Texas was Texas State as an out of state applicant but I did not get in.
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Typical Day: This depended on the semester but for the most part I was at school from 8 am to 7 pm. Many of my classmates would head home after classes were out and study at home but I have 3 kids which made it impossible to study at home. When I was in my internships life was much better... I would go to work for 8 hours and spend a little time reviewing things in the evenings. Overall it was great.
Adjusting: I felt like the material was not extremely difficult by any means. There were very few concept that I thought were difficult to grasp but I did underestimate the amount of material. There is so much information to know which made things tough because it takes so much time to study everything that needs studying. I had to focus on the most important things in each class. All in all PT school is tough no questions asked...
Personal toughest class: This will depend on what you background is, as well as where your strengths and weaknesses lie. For me pharmacology really sucked. I don't do well with anything chemistry. (Also, I have a baby during the semester).
First job: Outpatient Orthopedics. I am super excited but pretty nervous to get started.
Honestly this is a tough place to be in... I was in Utah applying for mostly schools out of Utah. Most state schools only accept a VERY limited amount of out of state applicants. The way around this is applying to private schools. Private schools don't care where you are coming from. On the flip side by applying to private schools your tuition costs go way up. Its a tough place to be especially if your state doesn't have many programs.
I don't know if this is a bit personal but I'm interested in USA, I see the price tag that goes along with it, but it doesn't seem to bother people seeing how popular it is. Can you describe what kinds of loans you took out and how you plan on paying it back?
It is important we get caught up in just getting into PT school we over look the price tag more than we should. The problem is when you are looking at state schools that have low tuition you also have to think about the fact that you will not likely get in unless you are from that state. When I was applying it was not uncommon for state schools to get 1000+ applicants for 40-60 seats. USA gets far fewer applicants than that which makes it less difficult to get in but the price tag is massive and just going up. I ended up taking out the maximum Stafford loans as well as some Sallie Mae loans to make up the difference. I wish I would have paid closer attention the cost before applying to schools because the loans are looking pretty scary.
Something to keep in mind when thinking about how much you are willing to go into debt is where are you willing to work. If you want to live somewhere that does not pay as well you likely need to take on less debt.
As for my pay back plan I have a loan that is a 15 year term and I hope to make extra payments but worst case scenario I just pay the minimum payments and pay it off in 15 years. Honestly the thought of paying it back is daunting but it is what it is. Hope this helps.
Thank you this was a helpful response I totally agree on the state school aspect. Many times you can't get in even if your from the state unless you have 3.8+ GPA. I live in NY and most of the schools here private and expensive so thats why I am looking out of state where tuition is low for OOS and cost of living is lower than NY
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Can you give study tips? I just started school and dont know how get all this info in and retain it.
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Congrats! It's a new chapter in your life!
How was it like looking for jobs? Did you actively search prior to graduation or were job searches facilitated by the program? I've heard different stories on how students obtained job offers prior to graduating and I'm curious as to how it happens. Are there job hunters that come to the program to pick out students? Thanks
My tip is get in routine and stick to it. When you have a slower week stay on course and keep studying. When you have a busy test week try not to cram but keep the pace. It makes it easier to retain what you learn and makes heavily tested times not as stressful. Through school I tried to maintain a schedule of 8 am to 7pm 6 days/week. I took off every Sunday though all of PT school even if I had a big test the next day. It sucks but it is worth it! Good luck and let me know if you need anything else. Sorry I'm so slow to reply, my computer crashed so I have not been on the forum for a while.
So I started looking g do jobs in my last 2-3 months and there were plenty of places to get in touch with. I talked to a lot of recruiters and agencies that I found online and that I met at job fairs at school. Ultimately I found a clinic online, I liked their website so I called them and asked if they were hiring. They said they were and flew me out for an interview a week or two later. They offered me the job and I accepted it before I had even taken the boards. So I had no problems finding a job. I knew PTs were in high demand but did not realize how in demand until I actually started looking for a job. So if you are in school no worries there will be jobs waiting for you... Just gotta plug through school... There is life after school and it's great!
Going off of that response, what worked best for you as far as the actual studying went? Of course everyone is different, but did you digest the material well studying alone, with others, a mix of both, etc.
This is a great question... I tried a variety of different approaches. When it came right down to it I pretty much just studied on my own. When I would get in a group it seemed like we were studying one minute and next thing you know the group would be talking about frustrating homework or tests and not actually studying. Gotta find what works for you but for me it just seemed like the group think often got led astray on other topics. Hope that helps, let me know if you need anything else.
