Long Story short...

[Amurri9030]

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I initially started my college career at a community college, not knowing at all what I wanted to do with my life. I obtained many low marks in my pursuit of soul searching, and I eventually (won't go into details) found a love for Physical Therapy. I set my goals on becoming a physical therapist, began working in an outpatient clinic (4 years now) and love the field. I have obtained many references within the field. I transferred from the community college after agonizing years of trying to figure my life out with a 2.7 gpa... I just recently graduated with a bachelors in health sciences Pre-PT with a 3.4 GPA at my university. (Still could improve) I took the GRE, and on my first attempt obtained a 154 on my verbal, 149 on my quant, and a 4 on the writing. The problem is looking back many years ago the community college transcript is ruining my PTCAS GPA and i've already received 2 rejection letters. Physical Therapy is my ultimate goal, and I will be reapplying the next go around if the remaining schools reject me. In the mean time I am 52 credits away from a biochemistry degree. My question to you guys is do you see it better fit for me to pursue a biochemistry degree, which includes many advanced courses from what the Physical Therapy program requires while I wait for the next application period? Or would it be more beneficial for me to retake courses that i've already retaken? The advisor at my university says go for the biochem degree and that it would look really good on my application to prove I can handle advanced coursework. That said i'm assuming many Universities would tell anyone to go for another $50,000 bachelors degree... I'm kind of looking for a non-biased outsiders opinion. Thank you for the help, it's greatly appreciated!

 

[Skyris]

It would be more beneficial for you to retake pre-requisite courses you've already taken, especially if you have a C in any of them, or if you got anything other than an A in anatomy. Some schools will give you extra admissions points for advanced coursework, so ask programs you're interested in individually-- it's often displayed on the website but not always. The extra B.S is totally not worth it for application purposes, but some of the extra courses could be. If your programs don't care about CC coursework (most don't, ask), you can even retake pre-reqs at a CC if it's more convenient. It will definitely be cheaper.

I took all of my pre-reqs at a CC and I got acceptances and interview invites even from a school who said they looked down on it. My undergrad GPA was 3.49 and the CC coursework, about 40+ units worth, increased my PTCAS GPA to 3.63. Just get A's in everything.

I don't know how flexible you are about where you will apply, but you can also find schools that look heavily at the last 60 credit hours, or schools that do grade replacement when calculating pre-req GPA.

 

[kato3]

What's your pre-requisite GPA? I would not waste money on getting a 2nd degree and focus on improving your pre-req GPA. Also, your GRE is decent, but I think you would be in a better position if you scored at least a 150 on both sections. That said, you do have tons of experience in the field, so that could offset your GRE scores.

 

[Amurri9030]

It would be more beneficial for you to retake pre-requisite courses you've already taken, especially if you have a C in any of them, or if you got anything other than an A in anatomy. Some schools will give you extra admissions points for advanced coursework, so ask programs you're interested in individually-- it's often displayed on the website but not always. The extra B.S is totally not worth it for application purposes, but some of the extra courses could be. If your programs don't care about CC coursework (most don't, ask), you can even retake pre-reqs at a CC if it's more convenient. It will definitely be cheaper.

I took all of my pre-reqs at a CC and I got acceptances and interview invites even from a school who said they looked down on it. My undergrad GPA was 3.49 and the CC coursework, about 40+ units worth, increased my PTCAS GPA to 3.63. Just get A's in everything.

I don't know how flexible you are about where you will apply, but you can also find schools that look heavily at the last 60 credit hours, or schools that do grade replacement when calculating pre-req GPA.

I did apply to some schools that are not affiliated with PTCAS, but they are accredited. Those are the ones I am still awaiting on a response from. The way the advisor explained it to me was for example I obtained a C+ in Gen Chem 1, and a B- in Gen Chem 2. So by me pursuing Organic 1 and 2 and showing I can get a high B or A in that type of course, would be more beneficial to admissions than me retaking Gen chem 1 and 2. This seemed to make sense to me at the time, but like you're saying if I can retake the course at a CC and score an A in it then why not go that route...

 

[Amurri9030]

What's your pre-requisite GPA? I would not waste money on getting a 2nd degree and focus on improving your pre-req GPA. Also, your GRE is decent, but I think you would be in a better position if you scored at least a 150 on both sections. That said, you do have tons of experience in the field, so that could offset your GRE scores.

I do plan on retaking the GRE, and at least boosting the Quant score. I guess with situation I am in being 27 years old would be that I cannot make a career out of a Health Sciences Pre PT degree. If I pursue this Biochemistry degree (I do enjoy chemistry) then if I do not get accepted the second time around I at least have a degree where I can find work, and build upon. PT is my goal obviously, but i'm sadly, and slowly running out of time here lol.

 

[astarblaze]

Is 3.4 your cum GPA including community college classes? If not, what is your cum GPA? Your prereq GPA? What about your last 60 credit GPA?

Like Skyris, I don't think that the extra degree is worth it for PT admissions purposes, and I think that's the general consensus you'll get on this forum. If I were in your shoes, I'd only do the biochem degree for its own sake, if it were something I was psyched enough about to fork over $50k or whatever it will cost you.

For PT admissions, I believe you're better off focusing on improving your numbers (cum GPA, prereq GPA, GRE). If I were you, I would retake any prereqs I got a B- or less in (and probably some of the Bs, too), study like crazy for the GRE, try to get my last 60 credit hour GPA as high as possible (make sure I'm only getting As from here on out and potentially taking some extra classes that I know I can get As in if the cost isn't outrageous- community college classes are a good option). All the while, I'd try to make sure I'm keeping up/cultivating PT and professor relationships for references. Finally, I'd research and apply to schools that 1. use grade replacement when calculating prereq GPAs and 2. look at last 60 GPA in place of cum GPA.

Hopefully the PT path works out for you! I'll be starting PT school this upcoming fall, and turning 30 soon after the start of the fall semester so you're still young compared to some of us!

 

[beyoutiful_sunshine]

If PT is your end goal, then I would only pursue the biochemistry degree if:

1) you're confident you can do really well
2) it's not going to drag you into a financial hole

- you want to make sure everything you do improves your application. If completing this degree decreases your overall gpa, or your last 60 gpa then you would actually have done yourself a disservice. I understand the logic of your advisor about performing well in higher classes as a proof that you can do well, but O'chem is a tough subject and unless you're confident you can do well, I don't know if it's worth the risk ...

- if you're paying with loans then this second degree will just add on to your debt on top of what's coming ahead with PT school.

I understand you wanting to have a degree that is practical, but it looks like your passion is with PT and I strongly believe you can get in. Your 3.4 gpa is not the lowest I've seen people get in, in fact the average of accepted students is around 3.5-3.6 I believe. People have already commented tons of advice to improve your application and I think you can get in a PT program; just make sure you spend plenty of time researching programs.

 

[PTinspired]

If PT is your end goal, I would avoid going into Biochemistry and just retake the prerequisites. PT schools look at pre-reqs more than upper division courses. Also, the amount of Chemistry that is involved within PT is low. If I were you, I would save the money, retake pre-reqs and make sure you do well in Anatomy and Physiology.