Need some advice on alternative options

[Orange951]

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I'm getting ready to graduate with my undergrad degree in Kinesiology in spring 2018, but my original plan to get into a PT school come crashing down after attempting to double major in chemistry. I'm currently on the older end of the spectrum (29) and graduated from high school back in 2006. I was not financially or academically ready to go to a four-year school after high school, and I choose to take the community college approach, but took roughly six years to get out of there. I was able to get into a cal state in Fall of 2014 and in my mind overachieved with 3.8 and 3.6 gpa during the first two quarters, but the great start did not last long and I expected to finish up with either a 2.2 or 2.3 overall GPA. Now that PT school seem beyond unrealistic for me at this point, i'm seeking advice for other alternatives in the health field that would be consider a possibility for me. I should mention that my major issues was actually making it to the campus everyday, since from 2014-2016 I lived 70 miles away from the school, and this year I actually live about 125 miles away from the school. I know it not the greatest excuse, but I was not financially able to make it to campus everyday and that gave me major problems in a good amount of courses.

 

[BoomshakalakaPT]

My response is based on my ownexperience and other applicants’ experiences.

What are your prereq grades (bio series, Chem series, Physics series, anatomy, Physio, psychology)?

Here are some options:

1)
—If you have any Cs retake them. I understand about your situation but if PT is what you want to do then you have to make more sacrifices then you already have and go all out on improving those grades. There is not much else to say about that because unfortunately schools don’t really care about applicants’ situations, it’s the grades they look at first. —There are quite a few schools that don’t look at the cumulative gpa and focus on the last 60 credits or prereq grades only. Focus on those Programs(mostly non ptcas)
— Make sure your Gre score is above average
— keep very close contact with your advisor(s). Ask them what they reccomend on improving your application and if you follow their advice and succeed, it will be in your favor
— complete observation hours in at least 3 different settings

2) it’s going to take a very long time to bring that cumulative gpa up to a 3.0 the other option is a post bach and try to get all As. No Cs obviously. But if you take option one seriously, you will get in somewhere.

3) PTA school. Ptas are also in high demand depending on location. I’m from the Bay Area California and PTAs make $32+ an hour. And in other locations experienced ptas make good money. And they do A LOT of the same job duties as a PT. They are not allowed to perform the initial evaluation but after that a pta can take over the patient as long as the pt approves any changes made to the patients treatment plan.
— pta school is only a couple years or less and wayyy less expensive

 

[dptgirl_2017]

I was somewhat in your position, I started off really strong and gave up my senior year which dropped my cGPA from 3.4 to a 2.95. I was burnt out from school, being an athlete, and having no idea what to do with a somewhat useless kinesiology degree. I took a few years off and decided to look at DPT programs but got a slap in the face with how competitive they are. I won't say that getting your DPT is impossible, but you would definitely need to bring your cGPA to as close to a 3.0 as you can. Since it sounds like you already have a lot of credits taken, taking courses to increase your GPA will take a long time and cost a lot of money. For reference, I already had taken ~130 credits and I calculated that bringing my 2.95 up to just a 3.2 would take 48 credits of all As (~2.5 to 3 semesters). I still only managed to bring it up to just over a 3.1. Then you must also consider your science & prereq GPAs. Depending on where that’s at will also affect your chances if you need to retake courses or not. Unfortunately you have to be realistic with your time, money, and academic abilities and it sounds like you might be burnt out on school. DPT programs are pretty reluctant about accepting someone who has shown that they have a hard time adjusting to learning a lot of material quickly or burning out midway through the program. It’s not personal, but it is an investment for them just as much as it is for you. This is my second cycle applying so I could get into a lot of detail of which programs to apply to and how to make your application more competitive, but the #1 priority will be bringing up your GPA. If you want more info you can DM me.

As for other career options, it really depends on what you type of job responsibilities you want and can handle. I don't know exactly how competitive admission to Physical Therapy Assistant programs are but that would be the next likely choice if PT is your passion. There are a lot of discussions out there between DPT vs PTA and many who are happy with their choice to become a PTA so I highly encourage you to look those up. There are even some transitional PTA to DPT programs if that’s truly your end goal. Other options could include becoming an Occupational Therapy Assistant, Medical Assistant (you'd have the ability to work in a specialty if you wanted like ortho, gastroenterology, family health, etc), CNA, nurse if you could start at an associate's program (still pretty competitive), EMT or paramedic, surgical tech, rad tech, pharmacy tech, lab tech (testing bloodwork and such), phlebotomist, etc. With all of these options you will need to complete more schooling/training even if it's only 6 months or up to 2.5 years. I would take the time to research and explore these fields before committing to a certain program. Outside of healthcare there are more wellness type jobs like personal training, physical education, and a wellness or activity coordinator for anything from small and large companies to nursing facilities. There is also the paperwork and business aspect of the medical field like working in medical records.

Lastly, I would solely focus on finishing out your last 2 undergrad quarters as strong as possible. It might feel like a drop in the bucket, but mentally it will help you feel like you've accomplished something and keep you motivated for your next steps in life.

 

[Orange951]

Thanks for the input. I'm actually more burnt out by the commute then school if I had to be honest. I'm actually taking the winter quarter off due to financial restraint to register for my final classes and will only have spring quarter to finish strong. I don't mind taking the classes over, but due to my history of taking classes over in the past I don't think I will be offer any grade forgiveness in my scenario. I have lost alot of faith in my own academic ability due to the lower marks then expected, but the shining mark that I was able to notice is when I'm given a online class I generally an low A or high B student. I was considering trying to find a accredited online school, but the price of those universities were out of my price range, which lead me to continue on with this outrageous commute.

I never really look into doing too many other things in the medical field and always had my heart set on PT, but realistically my time and financial situation would make that nearly impossible at this moment in my life. I'm guessing looking into a online school for a PTA or OTA might make some sense. I guess nurse would not be too bad, but never looked into realistically seeing myself doing that and honestly think my grades would be a set back in me getting into the programs as well.