Non traditional DPT route

[shuzzi]

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Hey y'all, totally new here so if I missed anything shoot me a heads up. I bet there's a few posts like this but after a quick search I didn't see too much.

So I'm currently a Peace Corps Volunteer stewing over my options back home in my last 7 months here. Looking at PT school (after deciding prosthetics is no longer my plan) and everything seems super GPA/GRE heavy.

Took the GREs before I left without really giving em my all for verbal 153 / quant 145 / 4

General prereq GPA is probably closer to 2.8/9 with overall more like 3.3 or so.

I'm looking to go back to community college and retake any of those lower prereqs and maybe some exercise physiology after shadowing to see if its really my deal.

What I'm wondering is, how much weight will my 27 months of health / communication work here in Nepal help my lower scores.

(Every other PC thread I found seems to be just people doing the med school thing)

 

[shuzzi]

Oh and my degree is a BS in Biology.

And most of my work here deals with basic nutrition and health aside from the odd grant writing.

I feel like the whole communication part of it would be relevant to actually working as a PT

 

[starrsgirl]

Your experience will absolutely stand out in essay and interviews. But you will need to make it through with good GREs and GPA first before anyone reads your essay. The experiences won't substitute for having competitive marks. Your plan sounds good. Retake any pre reqs with a B- or less. Squeeze in extra classes where possible. Ideally, you want GPAs at least up around 3.3 or higher. (Many recommend 3.5 if possible). Start getting lots of observation hours now too.

 

[shuzzi]

Haha thanks but I'm still in country with 7 months till my end of service, getting back early Jan

Anyway I def wanna jump on the hours as soon as I get back and pick peoples brains on different programs

Will for sure work on the GPA and probably end up taking another shot at the GREs

 

[jblil]

Your Peace Corps stint will definitely give you an advantage over other applicants, all other things being equal. So you need to beef up your GPAs.

I have a background somewhat similar to yours (27 months in a hellhole in Africa, although not with the Peace Corps). All the interviewers wanted to know more about it, so it's a good opportunity to talk about what you learned overseas, how medical care can be different or non-existent in other countries, etc etc. It can help showcase your maturity. Good luck, and be prepared for reverse culture shock when you come home.

 

[shuzzi]

Haha thanks, and I totally can't wait

And I'd definitely be down to hear from anybody else with similar experience

 

[SwampPT]

Hey y'all, totally new here so if I missed anything shoot me a heads up. I bet there's a few posts like this but after a quick search I didn't see too much.

So I'm currently a Peace Corps Volunteer stewing over my options back home in my last 7 months here. Looking at PT school (after deciding prosthetics is no longer my plan) and everything seems super GPA/GRE heavy.

Took the GREs before I left without really giving em my all for verbal 153 / quant 145 / 4

General prereq GPA is probably closer to 2.8/9 with overall more like 3.3 or so.

I'm looking to go back to community college and retake any of those lower prereqs and maybe some exercise physiology after shadowing to see if its really my deal.

What I'm wondering is, how much weight will my 27 months of health / communication work here in Nepal help my lower scores.

(Every other PC thread I found seems to be just people doing the med school thing)

My GRE was exactly the same. I didn't study, I just winged it. When I took it I was in the 63 percentile, but that decreases every year it seems. I would definitely retake prerequisites to get over a 3.0 and preferably a 3.5. Apply to schools that allow grade replacement. Also the hours you shadow are not that important. What is important is the number of settings. I would put 20 hours in 5 settings. That's far better than 1000 hours in one setting.

 

[okramango]

You're cumulative GPA is fine, but you'll definitely need to get your prereq GPA up. 3.5 and above is generally competitive. I lived in Nepal for several months many moons ago, and my husband is also from there. Thanks for the work that you're doing! I also have volunteer experience in other parts of the world. I definitely used what I learned from these experiences in my essays and interviews, and think they really helped my application process. However, these will not make up for a low GPA.

Also, depending on where in Nepal you are, you might be able to observe PT there. See these websites for some possible places (these are geared toward PTs who want to volunteer in Nepal, but list some locations for PT clinics where you might be able to observe).
http://www.worktheworld.com/nepal-pokhara/physical-therapy-internships
http://www.goabroad.com/providers/p...l-therapy-in-nepal-with-projects-abroad-20147

And I second what jblil said about reverse culture shock. 😱

 

[shuzzi]

Awesome, thanks for the insight y'all, I'll be sure to work on those prereqs, probs take a year or so to save some money and take classes when I get back.

And yeah they must cause those scores put me in the ~54% percentile for verbal/quant I think.

That's crazy that you can find PTs here! I bounce through Pokhara every couple months or so, I'll for sure hit them up! Thanks a ton on that heads up!

 

[shuzzi]

Oh whoa there's one it KTM too, I'm way out west but can totally use the rest of my vacay days for some volunteer time, this is awesome

 

[okramango]

Where out west are you? My husband's from Darchula district, near the India border, about as west as you can get.

 

[shuzzi]

Haha I'm not out that far, some of our volunteers are though.

I'm in Surkhet district, so like 3 hours straight North of Nepalganj. More like Midwest than far West.