Masters for PT School

[reems112]

Hi Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone has done a masters in order to get into PT school, especially if your undergrad GPA was low? If so did it prove to be beneficial to you? Did admissions see how dedicated you are to pursue the field of physical therapy? I am currently a masters student, and I was hoping that this would serve as a boost to me in my application and grad GPA as well considering how well I am doing in my program. I also wanted to know what others have gone through or if admissions sees these things as bonuses when you apply, and doesn't just judge your application based off the undergrad GPA. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[kdubz7w7]

Hi Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone has done a masters in order to get into PT school, especially if your undergrad GPA was low? If so did it prove to be beneficial to you? Did admissions see how dedicated you are to pursue the field of physical therapy? I am currently a masters student, and I was hoping that this would serve as a boost to me in my application and grad GPA as well considering how well I am doing in my program. I also wanted to know what others have gone through or if admissions sees these things as bonuses when you apply, and doesn't just judge your application based off the undergrad GPA. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Hi,
I have a MS, not to get into PT school though (my UG GPA was 4.0), I did it just because I wasn't really sure what I was doing with my life at the time.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think admissions looks at or even sees graduate work...? Isn't it a totally separate transcript you'd have to send in? If the MS came from the same school as the BS (mine did), are they a part of the same transcript or are they two separate ones?

I don't think it boosts your GPA because it's a completely separate GPA from your UG work. It is a great talking point in an interview (meaning you have to get that interview first).

But, I did an info session at one school and asked this same question, and they point-blank told me that they do not care about master's degrees and are only interested in my UG GPA, UG pre-req grades and my GREs. I thought perhaps having a MS with a GPA of 3.9 (not to brag, just saying I did not do badly) would waive or prop up my GRE scores (which were NOT stellar) and they told me that they care more about GREs since it's standardized, and that they don't look at graduate work at all.

At my school that I am currently a DPT student, I honestly don't remember if it was even a part of my application. I did mention it in my interview - I had a question about stress management or some such thing and I talked about it in terms of being able to multi-task and handle high stress levels of graduate work while working, etc.

Curious as to other people's experiences with this.

 

[reems112]

Hi,
I have a MS, not to get into PT school though (my UG GPA was 4.0), I did it just because I wasn't really sure what I was doing with my life at the time.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think admissions looks at or even sees graduate work...? Isn't it a totally separate transcript you'd have to send in? If the MS came from the same school as the BS (mine did), are they a part of the same transcript or are they two separate ones?

I don't think it boosts your GPA because it's a completely separate GPA from your UG work. It is a great talking point in an interview (meaning you have to get that interview first).

But, I did an info session at one school and asked this same question, and they point-blank told me that they do not care about master's degrees and are only interested in my UG GPA, UG pre-req grades and my GREs. I thought perhaps having a MS with a GPA of 3.9 (not to brag, just saying I did not do badly) would waive or prop up my GRE scores (which were NOT stellar) and they told me that they care more about GREs since it's standardized, and that they don't look at graduate work at all.

At my school that I am currently a DPT student, I honestly don't remember if it was even a part of my application. I did mention it in my interview - I had a question about stress management or some such thing and I talked about it in terms of being able to multi-task and handle high stress levels of graduate work while working, etc.

Curious as to other people's experiences with this.

Oh i see! Well a couple of school admissions people I have been in contact with say they definitely take it into consideration and look at how you did. Not to mention there are some schools that also waive the GRE requirement if you have a masters as well. Most of the schools will factor it into your pre req GPA as well. They let you substitute certain classes that you did in grad school vs in undergrad or let you combine both, just depends on the program really. It definitely is a different GPA from undergrad but some schools do factor it in because the coursework is more challenging and they will even count it towards your last 40 or 60 hour GPA for that matter as well.

 

[wiseOldPT]

I would not recommend paying for a master's with the sole reason of hoping it helps you get into PT school. Maybe it'll help, maybe it won't, but if it is a master's you are paying tuition for (not getting tuition reimbursement/stipend) and not getting you towards any alternate career path, it is a waste of money and time.