Low GPA (2.4). Advice for PT school please.

[sncm]

A very shameful undergraduate GPA story. I graduated from UCI with a 2.4 GPA in Psychology. I didn't care for school because I was more focused on having fun and enjoying the college life (and now I'm regretting not focusing on my studies because it's definitely biting me in the ass) but now I am determined to be focused and get in to PT school because I know I can do better than what I did in college. I was hoping someone can give an advice on what to do to get into PT school because I'm slightly getting discouraged from seeing posts about to not even consider applying to PT school due to low undergraduate GPA. I just graduated in June 2014 and I am currently working as a Behavioral Technician. I decided to take a year off from school and now I am thinking of getting volunteer hours to get more experience with PT and eventually look for a job as a PT aide just to have a good background with the profession. As with my GPA, any advice on what I should do to even get considered at any PT schools? I have taken a couple of psychology and math classes which I know are some of the pre reqs but I didn't so well in them, should I retake these classes? Should I go visit PT schools and talk to a counselor and see what I can do to get accepted? I have not taken any of the other pre reqs or the GRE's. I was planning on taking them at a local community college if that's a good idea or should I look into a post bacc program (the only problem is that it's more expensive)? Any advice would help. Thank you very much. Planning on maybe applying not till 2017/2018

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[CalvinPT]

Taking more classes would raise your GPA. You haven't taken any pre-req either, so you still have a good shot at achieving a high pre-req GPA which may be enough to overlook your sub-par cumulative GPA.

 

[brooklynyc]

Take prereqs and get it up there. I had a 2.6ish undergrad gpa but a 3.5 postbac gpa and am having moderate success (several interview invites and an acceptance to NYU).;

 

[DesertPT]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/sea...relevance&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=822+821+210

 

[starrsgirl]

Nail your pre reqs (As!). Community college is fine. Calculate how many classes/credits you will need to take to get at least a 3.0 cum GPA, it may be more classes than you might expect.

 

[DesertPT]

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

OP please seriously read this.

 

[sncm]

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

OP please seriously read this.

Thank you very much, that really helped

 

[Rudolph Mitchell]

Get all A's in your prereqs and Target schools that look at your last 60 credits instead of overall GPA. That's easier than actually trying to take classes to repair your overall GPA to a 3.0 (which would be a lot more than the necessary prereqs). There are even some schools that ONLY take your prereq GPA into consideration. My Undergrad GPA was lower than yours and im in the process of taking prereqs, getting Obs hours etc..and I'm confident that I'd get into a program when im done, so you'll be fine. Just take it one step at a time.

 

[CaptainBobo]

Get all A's in your prereqs and Target schools that look at your last 60 credits instead of overall GPA. There are even some schools that ONLY take your prereq GPA into consideration. Just take it one step at a time.

All this. You May want to consider getting a masters in something. Exercise science, biology, whatever. It's expensive and time-consuming, but if you've got a great post-bacc gpa, that's something to pay attention to. Plus, you may decide to just get a job with your masters degree.

I think it'd be a good idea (as you suggested) to contact some PT schools in your area. Sit down with some admissions officers to see what their advice would be. It might vary by school, but try and get a consensus. Also, if you do this, try to have another question besides, "What do I do?". That might be the only thing that's on your mind, but work on that.

If you can, study your ass off and NAIL your GRE's. While standardized tests are kinda meh, if you can score 160's on both verbal and quantitative, and a 5+ on writing, I'd imagine that shows you've got the stuff, and your undergrad GPA was just a mistake. This is a guess; ask some admission officers about good GRE scores offsetting your GPA.

Don't get discouraged just yet. You have an uphill battle, no doubt. If you REALLY want to be in PT, just keep trucking. It may take a few years, and you're going to have to WORK YOUR ASS OFF, but with enough re-applications and connections to faculty and them knowing how bad you want it (and proving it through getting good grades(p.s. any class you take from now on, make sure it's an A. Even a B+ wouldn't look great. You really need to show that you can take anything PT school can give you, and straight A's shows that.), you'll get it.

 

[ptlover]

All this. You May want to consider getting a masters in something. Exercise science, biology, whatever. It's expensive and time-consuming, but if you've got a great post-bacc gpa, that's something to pay attention to. Plus, you may decide to just get a job with your masters degree.

I think it'd be a good idea (as you suggested) to contact some PT schools in your area. Sit down with some admissions officers to see what their advice would be. It might vary by school, but try and get a consensus. Also, if you do this, try to have another question besides, "What do I do?". That might be the only thing that's on your mind, but work on that.

If you can, study your ass off and NAIL your GRE's. While standardized tests are kinda meh, if you can score 160's on both verbal and quantitative, and a 5+ on writing, I'd imagine that shows you've got the stuff, and your undergrad GPA was just a mistake. This is a guess; ask some admission officers about good GRE scores offsetting your GPA.

Don't get discouraged just yet. You have an uphill battle, no doubt. If you REALLY want to be in PT, just keep trucking. It may take a few years, and you're going to have to WORK YOUR ASS OFF, but with enough re-applications and connections to faculty and them knowing how bad you want it (and proving it through getting good grades(p.s. any class you take from now on, make sure it's an A. Even a B+ wouldn't look great. You really need to show that you can take anything PT school can give you, and straight A's shows that.), you'll get it.

This post says it dramatically! You can definitely do it. I applied 3 times and got in this year. I definitely think you can do this. A masters degree could be good - but getting those pre-reqs done first would be ideal. I would say doing a majority of your pre-reqs at a community college is okay, but some schools require some pre-reqs to be taken at a 4 year institution. I would look in to what schools you want to apply to and work with the admissions counselor to see what they recommend for classes. Best of luck to you!

 

[PTProspectny]

Take prereqs and get it up there. I had a 2.6ish undergrad gpa but a 3.5 postbac gpa and am having moderate success (several interview invites and an acceptance to NYU).;

Congrats on getting accepted to NYU DPT. That sounds awesome!! Can you elaborate a bit further on what you did to recover from the 2.6 undergrad? I am in a similar situation and would love your feedback 🙂

 

[redrose424]

A very shameful undergraduate GPA story. I graduated from UCI with a 2.4 GPA in Psychology. I didn't care for school because I was more focused on having fun and enjoying the college life (and now I'm regretting not focusing on my studies because it's definitely biting me in the ass) but now I am determined to be focused and get in to PT school because I know I can do better than what I did in college. I was hoping someone can give an advice on what to do to get into PT school because I'm slightly getting discouraged from seeing posts about to not even consider applying to PT school due to low undergraduate GPA. I just graduated in June 2014 and I am currently working as a Behavioral Technician. I decided to take a year off from school and now I am thinking of getting volunteer hours to get more experience with PT and eventually look for a job as a PT aide just to have a good background with the profession. As with my GPA, any advice on what I should do to even get considered at any PT schools? I have taken a couple of psychology and math classes which I know are some of the pre reqs but I didn't so well in them, should I retake these classes? Should I go visit PT schools and talk to a counselor and see what I can do to get accepted? I have not taken any of the other pre reqs or the GRE's. I was planning on taking them at a local community college if that's a good idea or should I look into a post bacc program (the only problem is that it's more expensive)? Any advice would help. Thank you very much. Planning on maybe applying not till 2017/2018

Agreed with all other posters. NAIL your GRE and take any pre-reqs and get A's, if you have already taken pre-reqs and don't have a good score, retake them. Question though: what made you decide on PT and if you didn't do so well in some psych/math classes, do you think you can handle the contact and workload at PT school?

 

[steveyk]

I had a 2.28 after graduating and decided I was passionate about PT and committed to applying to school. I retook many courses and finished with a 2.54 overall and a 4.0 post bac gpa. I applied for the first time this cycle and got in. The only Way for lower gpa applicants to get in is first to retake or finish up prereq courses and excel. Then, you have to nail the gres. Those two things are your priority. Then you will have to shadow in a bunch of settings if you haven't already. All of your experiences should help you gain insight and wisdom, just enough for you to write a killer essay and do well on your interviews. Good luck and msg me if you have any questions

 

[starrsgirl]

Like the last poster, I had something near a 2.5 from undergrad. I also retook every single pre req for an A (community college) and so applied with a 4.0 post bac. I personally don't recommend a masters as a first line of attack. Re do all your pre reqs first. Then if you are still in need of courses for some reason, or you have the option to do one for nearly free though employee tuition assistance, great. But otherwise, it's not as valuable as pre req retakes.

 

[PennyP]

A very shameful undergraduate GPA story. I graduated from UCI with a 2.4 GPA in Psychology. I didn't care for school because I was more focused on having fun and enjoying the college life (and now I'm regretting not focusing on my studies because it's definitely biting me in the ass) but now I am determined to be focused and get in to PT school because I know I can do better than what I did in college. I was hoping someone can give an advice on what to do to get into PT school because I'm slightly getting discouraged from seeing posts about to not even consider applying to PT school due to low undergraduate GPA. I just graduated in June 2014 and I am currently working as a Behavioral Technician. I decided to take a year off from school and now I am thinking of getting volunteer hours to get more experience with PT and eventually look for a job as a PT aide just to have a good background with the profession. As with my GPA, any advice on what I should do to even get considered at any PT schools? I have taken a couple of psychology and math classes which I know are some of the pre reqs but I didn't so well in them, should I retake these classes? Should I go visit PT schools and talk to a counselor and see what I can do to get accepted? I have not taken any of the other pre reqs or the GRE's. I was planning on taking them at a local community college if that's a good idea or should I look into a post bacc program (the only problem is that it's more expensive)? Any advice would help. Thank you very much. Planning on maybe applying not till 2017/2018

I finished my undergrad with a 2.5 or something close to yours, same story, didn't take it seriously, didn't care. Later on I decided to focus on PT, I got into a PTA program, did pretty well, graduated took the boards, but I was always thinking about DPT. So, while I worked as a PTA I began to take pre-reqs for programs. I threw myself into it and ended up with a pre-req GPA of 3.4. I had to be very particular when applying to DPT programs, look at those that look at either pre-req GPA or last 60 hour GPA. Retake those pre-reqs that you didn't do well in. Do well on the GRE, which I took it multiple times.
Don't lose hope. I'm starting a DPT program in May! There's hope for everyone who wants it and is willing to put in the work, time, and money.

 

[DanceQueen66]

I finished my undergrad with a 2.5 or something close to yours, same story, didn't take it seriously, didn't care. Later on I decided to focus on PT, I got into a PTA program, did pretty well, graduated took the boards, but I was always thinking about DPT. So, while I worked as a PTA I began to take pre-reqs for programs. I threw myself into it and ended up with a pre-req GPA of 3.4. I had to be very particular when applying to DPT programs, look at those that look at either pre-req GPA or last 60 hour GPA. Retake those pre-reqs that you didn't do well in. Do well on the GRE, which I took it multiple times.
Don't lose hope. I'm starting a DPT program in May! There's hope for everyone who wants it and is willing to put in the work, time, and money.

Hi PennyP, where are you attending? what schools you applied?

 

[DanceQueen66]

I have a D in Chem 2. I got C- 2nd time. If i take that again how is it calculated? I can substitute that with my Orgo grade which was also repeated and got B 2nd time. Similar situation in physics also. Can someone explain me.

 

[aroszko]

I have a D in Chem 2. I got C- 2nd time. If i take that again how is it calculated? I can substitute that with my Orgo grade which was also repeated and got B 2nd time. Similar situation in physics also. Can someone explain me.

It depends on the school, some average them out, some I think take the better grade, you'll have to contact the school you're interested in and see their policy.