low gpa physical therapy school still possible?

[Future Physical Therapist]

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Hello guys im new to this forum and would like to get some advice from pts, pt students or pre-pt students like myself about if its possible to get into pt school with low gpa. My overall gpa right now is 3.2 and my pre req gpa is about 3.6. ive retaken all my science prerequisites and made As and Bs in them. I started shadowing a month ago and i have about 55 hours outpatient volunteer experience (i know thats pretty low) but i plan to get up to atleast 200 or more to be competitive. I havent done inpatient volunteer yet but i will soon. So do you guys think ill have a chance if i do good on the gre? Do you guys have any advice on where i should volunteer to help make my application better? What score do you suggest i should make on gre to make up for my low gpa? Any ideas or comments would be great. Thanks guys.

 

[swolecat]

Every other post on this forum is this exact question

 

[Luima]

Hello guys im new to this forum and would like to get some advice from pts, pt students or pre-pt students like myself about if its possible to get into pt school with low gpa. My overall gpa right now is 3.2 and my pre req gpa is about 3.6. ive retaken all my science prerequisites and made As and Bs in them. I started shadowing a month ago and i have about 55 hours outpatient volunteer experience (i know thats pretty low) but i plan to get up to atleast 200 or more to be competitive. I havent done inpatient volunteer yet but i will soon. So do you guys think ill have a chance if i do good on the gre? Do you guys have any advice on where i should volunteer to help make my application better? What score do you suggest i should make on gre to make up for my low gpa? Any ideas or comments would be great. Thanks guys.

I definitely would take a look at some of the statistics that have been posted on PTCAS so see what your options are. It also helps to have some community service and extra-curricular activities on you. I would also recommend getting more shadowing hours, like you have suggested 🙂
Other than that, do well on the GRE (so a score of at least a 150 on the Quant and Verbal section and roughly a 3.5-4.0 on the AW) and you'll do fine! 🙂

 

[Future Physical Therapist]

I definitely would take a look at some of the statistics that have been posted on PTCAS so see what your options are. It also helps to have some community service and extra-curricular activities on you. I would also recommend getting more shadowing hours, like you have suggested 🙂
Other than that, do well on the GRE (so a score of at least a 150 on the Quant and Verbal section and roughly a 3.5-4.0 on the AW) and you'll do fine! 🙂

Hey luima thank you for replying to my post. Ill definitely study hard to make sure i get a 150 or higher on verbal and quantitative section, especially aiming to make a 4 on aw. What was your experience on the quantitative section of the gre? I hear it the toughest part of the gre. Also did you volunteer in different pt settings like neurology, orthopedic, and etc when you applied for the program? Thanks again for your advice

 

[Luima]

I am actually taking my first GRE in a couple of days but have taken 7 practice exams. It depends on the type of person you are; I found the verbal section more difficult because words haven't really been my strong suit. So it really depends on the you to which section would be tougher.

I've volunteered in 3 different settings consisting of outpatient orthopedic, sports medicine, and inpatient rehab. I'm currently about to apply to a program but, I've talked to many programs and was the PT officer for my pre-health organization. A lot of schools have said that they would rather have someone who did the minimum hours in multiple settings as opposed to someone who did a ton of hours in one setting. Plus getting hours in different settings helps with getting those different letters of recommendations from PTs. Hope this all helps! [emoji2]

 

[daphersDPT]

I was on the same boat as you 🙂 3.2 GPA. But your pre-req GPA is definitely higher than mine. You will be just fine! GRE wise, a minimum of 150-155 will give you a good chance with a writing score of 4 or higher. Just make sure you apply to schools within your GPA range and do your research on PTCAS. Also, you might want to do some inpatient hours if you have the time! A lot of schools are now looking for that as a requirement. Best of luck, feel free to PM me with any questions!

 

[jzoo725]

Recent DPT grad here (texas woman's university) who is also a california native. Here were my stats before applying, being waitlisted, and eventually pulled off for acceptance:

Undergraduate Program: Dartmouth College
Undergrad cumulative GPA: 2.4
Last 60 hours GPA: 2.8
Science Pre-req GPA (all taken at a community college): 3.8
GRE Math: 760 GRE Verbal: 650 (i'm not sure what this equates to on the revised edition)
Inpatient hours: 120
Outpatient hours: 350

With these stats, it is nothing short of a miracle getting into TWU since they are a top 25 program WITHOUT an interview (only paper based application with no interview). I think what helped me a lot was my extracurricular experience of being a tennis coach and running my own academy, being a competitive tennis player for 14 years including being a top player on a D1 team, and running my own photography business as well. Because of my low GPA I had to explain why it was so low and that I had improved my academic performance significantly in the last two years of college.

If you have any questions feel free to message me and i'll be happy to answer any questions. I'm currently studying for the licensure/board exam so i'll do my best to respond in a timely manner. Best of luck my friend.

JT

 

[Future Physical Therapist]

I was on the same boat as you 🙂 3.2 GPA. But your pre-req GPA is definitely higher than mine. You will be just fine! GRE wise, a minimum of 150-155 will give you a good chance with a writing score of 4 or higher. Just make sure you apply to schools within your GPA range and do your research on PTCAS. Also, you might want to do some inpatient hours if you have the time! A lot of schools are now looking for that as a requirement. Best of luck, feel free to PM me with any questions!

Hey Daph, thanks for replying to my post I hope you are doing well in your PT program. I happy to hear that you were accepted and hope you are successful in your program. do you think nursing homes would be a good place to get inpatient volunteer hours? I was told to volunteer at the VA but I hear theyre no longer accepting gapplications. also what places did you go to to get your inpatient hours?

 

[Future Physical Therapist]

Recent DPT grad here (texas woman's university) who is also a california native. Here were my stats before applying, being waitlisted, and eventually pulled off for acceptance:

Undergraduate Program: Dartmouth College
Undergrad cumulative GPA: 2.4
Last 60 hours GPA: 2.8
Science Pre-req GPA (all taken at a community college): 3.8
GRE Math: 760 GRE Verbal: 650 (i'm not sure what this equates to on the revised edition)
Inpatient hours: 120
Outpatient hours: 350

With these stats, it is nothing short of a miracle getting into TWU since they are a top 25 program WITHOUT an interview (only paper based application with no interview). I think what helped me a lot was my extracurricular experience of being a tennis coach and running my own academy, being a competitive tennis player for 14 years including being a top player on a D1 team, and running my own photography business as well. Because of my low GPA I had to explain why it was so low and that I had improved my academic performance significantly in the last two years of college.

If you have any questions feel free to message me and i'll be happy to answer any questions. I'm currently studying for the licensure/board exam so i'll do my best to respond in a timely manner. Best of luck my friend.

JT

Thank you you for sharing this JT. this gives me a hope that I can still enter PT school even though its a very competitive field. Im happy you got accepted into TWU I know that school is one of the toughest to get into in Texas. I think its cool that you had experience in tennis and owning your own academy and photography business. I hear PT schools like to see people from different backgrounds wanting to enter the program and congratulations on receiving your DPT degree.

 

[Future Physical Therapist]

I am actually taking my first GRE in a couple of days but have taken 7 practice exams. It depends on the type of person you are; I found the verbal section more difficult because words haven't really been my strong suit. So it really depends on the you to which section would be tougher.

I've volunteered in 3 different settings consisting of outpatient orthopedic, sports medicine, and inpatient rehab. I'm currently about to apply to a program but, I've talked to many programs and was the PT officer for my pre-health organization. A lot of schools have said that they would rather have someone who did the minimum hours in multiple settings as opposed to someone who did a ton of hours in one setting. Plus getting hours in different settings helps with getting those different letters of recommendations from PTs. Hope this all helps! [emoji2]

I agree with you Luima. PT schools want to see that their applicants have been exposed to different areas of physical therapy. it will also help you in your interview as well since they might ask you questions about these different settings. yeah I think knowing which section of the gre is the most difficult depends on the person taking it. just have to study hard and try your best. Goodluck on your GRE exam, I hope you get a high score and get accepted into PT school!

 

[deleted699287]

Hello guys im new to this forum and would like to get some advice from pts, pt students or pre-pt students like myself about if its possible to get into pt school with low gpa. My overall gpa right now is 3.2 and my pre req gpa is about 3.6. ive retaken all my science prerequisites and made As and Bs in them. I started shadowing a month ago and i have about 55 hours outpatient volunteer experience (i know thats pretty low) but i plan to get up to atleast 200 or more to be competitive. I havent done inpatient volunteer yet but i will soon. So do you guys think ill have a chance if i do good on the gre? Do you guys have any advice on where i should volunteer to help make my application better? What score do you suggest i should make on gre to make up for my low gpa? Any ideas or comments would be great. Thanks guys.

You definitely have a chance. My overall was 3.5, prereq 3.1, and did well on my GRE. I had maybe 120 hours and 1/2 year working as a personal assistant to a person with disabilities. I applied to 3 top 15 schools and got into all 3. Your GPA is better than mine. If you have time, pick up a health-related job. You can be a personal assistant for a lot of people with not a lot of training, so that could be a good opportunity. Try to get 160 in both aka ~315-320 total and you should be in a great position. I would recommend buying the ETS GRE book along with one other of your preference and spending at least 1 week doing 3-4 FULL practice exams in an environment similar to the exam. For me, the exam was in a cubicle of some exam center, so I tried to practice in my library cubicles a lot.

 

[shihalud]

I was on the same boat as you 🙂 3.2 GPA. But your pre-req GPA is definitely higher than mine. You will be just fine! GRE wise, a minimum of 150-155 will give you a good chance with a writing score of 4 or higher. Just make sure you apply to schools within your GPA range and do your research on PTCAS. Also, you might want to do some inpatient hours if you have the time! A lot of schools are now looking for that as a requirement. Best of luck, feel free to PM me with any questions!

Daphers would you mind telling us what schools you received acceptances from with your stats? This is very good news. Congrats on getting in.

 

[daphersDPT]

Daphers would you mind telling us what schools you received acceptances from with your stats? This is very good news. Congrats on getting in.

hey, sorry i took so long to reply. just copied and pasted my stats, let me know if you have any questions! feel free to PM me. good luck with applications! seems like a lot to do but you got this

University: University of Maryland, College Park
Major: Cell Biology and Genetics, Minor in Human Development
Cumulative GPA: 3.24
Pre-Req GPA: 3.47 (PTCAS)
GRE: V 155, Q 155, AW 4.5

Extracurriculars: Kappa Phi Lambda (Minor and Exec board positions), involved in a lot of church stuff (worship leader, teen counselor, activities supervisor), research assistant for the Smith school at UMD, etc.

Experience: Outpatient Ortho PT (200+ hours, working as a tech), Inpatient hospital (25 hours)

Applied: University of Maryland Baltimore, UMES, GWU, Shenandoah, Marymount, UNC Chapel Hill, Franklin Pierce (NH), Duquesne, Loma Linda, U of Southern California, Western U, Azusa Pacific

Interviews: Loma Linda (Skype 12/14), Shenandoah (12/16), GWU (1/22), Western U (2/18 - declined)

Rejections: Azusa Pacific, UMBaltimore, UMES, Marymount, UNC Chapel Hill, Loma Linda

Acceptances: Shenandoah University, Franklin Pierce University - NH, George Washington University

 

[daphersDPT]

Hey Daph, thanks for replying to my post I hope you are doing well in your PT program. I happy to hear that you were accepted and hope you are successful in your program. do you think nursing homes would be a good place to get inpatient volunteer hours? I was told to volunteer at the VA but I hear theyre no longer accepting gapplications. also what places did you go to to get your inpatient hours?

hey! omg im so sorry i took so long to reply. PT school is definitely a challenge but it's super fun haha. Nursing homes are great; i got most of my hours at an inpatient rehab hospital in maryland

 

[Boka3]

Okay I think I'm in the same boat. Low scores. So my question is should I apply?

My overall GPA is 3.46 and GRE cumulative is 293. I founded the first multicultural sorority on my campus, was very active in different organizations, and this past year I volunteered at a special Ed school on the Navajo Indian reservation. The school didn't have a PT so I don't have someone to officially sign off as observation hours. I worked alongside an OT as a therapy activity aide, I was able to reach out to a PT at another school and he allowed me to observe is sensory motor classes. In addition to that I have 400 hours of observation in inpatient and outpatient. I am also bilingual-fluent in Spanish and English.

Please be honest, do I have a shot at getting in?

 

[Chernz]

Okay I think I'm in the same boat. Low scores. So my question is should I apply?

My overall GPA is 3.46 and GRE cumulative is 293. I founded the first multicultural sorority on my campus, was very active in different organizations, and this past year I volunteered at a special Ed school on the Navajo Indian reservation. The school didn't have a PT so I don't have someone to officially sign off as observation hours. I worked alongside an OT as a therapy activity aide, I was able to reach out to a PT at another school and he allowed me to observe is sensory motor classes. In addition to that I have 400 hours of observation in inpatient and outpatient. I am also bilingual-fluent in Spanish and English.

Please be honest, do I have a shot at getting in?

You should retake the GRE. I have the exact same GPA as you, am multilingual, had a bunch of work/life experience, but had a high GRE and I just got in. I feel like that could have been the thing that made it for me.

 

[Boka3]

You should retake the GRE. I have the exact same GPA as you, am multilingual, had a bunch of work/life experience, but had a high GRE and I just got in. I feel like that could have been the thing that made it for me.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your GRE?

 

[Chernz]

If you don't mind me asking, what was your GRE?

161/160/5.0. If you get into the mid 150's, you should be fine. You'll be above average for sure.