Hey guys! I am currently a first year physical therapy student that is willing to answer any questions that you may have! Good luck to everyone applying this next cycle!!
Physical Therapy Student--AMA!!!
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HamsterRibbon
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Which school are you currently attending and what made you decide on that school?
Cat_Mom0917
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As a re-applicant this year, I would suggest you take the GRE well before you start applying. That way you have time to retake it if needed. And if you don't need to retake it, it will be one less thing you need to stress about when filling out your application. The PTCAS application is a long tedious process that takes time so trying to fill that out while studying for the GRE doesn't sound fun.
Currently I am attending the University of Lynchburg! I chose the school because the faculty and the facilities are amazing. The faculty made me feel so welcome and answered all the questions I had when touring the school. The facilities were amazing and the school has many opportunities for clinical sites. The school is also the most affordable out of all of the other schools that I had been accepted to. This school also is very student oriented in the sense that they want all of the students to succeed in the program meaning that they are always available for extra help when needed outside of class. The professors are always willing to help and are always easily accessible. The professors also have an "open door policy" which allows students to visit them any time outside of class without having to schedule an appointment. Overall, when deciding on a school I considered many factors. Tuition, location, passing rate, and the amount of clinical sites that are available. The statistics from the last 3 graduating classes really were an eye opener. I would suggest looking into the statistics of prior classes, as well as speaking to current students in the program that you are interested in if possible.
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I would suggest taking the GRE before applying to schools because it will give you the sense of what schools you can apply to based on your scores. It will also allow you to re-take the GRE if needed. I personally had to change a few of the schools that I wanted to apply to after receiving my GRE scores due to the minimums of some schools.
I ended up taking unsubsidized loans from FAFSA and the grad plus loan. I was given enough money to cover living expenses and all of the tuition! When the school decides on how much money you need, they take living expenses into account. However, the grad plus loan is credit based so make sure that you have established credit to be able to qualify! I was unable to have a job during the first year however some students in my cohort were balancing jobs such as athletic training, personal trainers, working in restaurants on the weekends, etc. If you are able to balance school and work, then having a side job is possible! I would recommend getting in the rhythm and getting your study habits down before getting a job!
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Could you talk briefly about what your PTCAS essay was about and if you took more of a narrative or technical approach when writing the essay?
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May I ask how much physical therapists are currently making in your specific area? Also, do you believe, based on your amount of debt and expected income upon graduation, that you will pay off your student debt within a reasonable time?
Absolutely! My best advice for the PTCAS essay is to be unique. My PTCAS essay was about the effect that physical therapy had on my best friend who was paralyzed after an accident. I was also sure to talk about my experiences during my work as a PT aide and the impact that Physical Therapy had on the lives of the patients at my clinic. The admissions committees review hundreds of applications and you need to find a way to be different from the rest and stick out of the pile. Talk about what physical therapy means to you, talk about your personal experiences, your observation settings and what you saw, etc. Tie all of those examples into how they helped you grow and how these experiences will help you be a successful clinician.
Absolutely! The average income for a new graduate is ~75k in my current area. Personally, I plan on specializing in Neuro so the pay will differ with that. The pay also ranges depending on where you want to work. I have met many Physical Therapists who make more working in areas such as Skilled Nursing and Home health. Im planning on paying off my student debt in a reasonable amount of time as well. If you live reasonably and pay more than the monthly minimum, paying off the debt is not impossible.
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deleted421268
How many hours a day do you study during PT school? How many credits/classes a semester? How do you prepare for exams? Are study guides provided? When do you take the board exam? How prep for that?
Awesome question! I'm not sure if I have a specific amount of hours that I study for school. It just depends on how comfortable I feel with the material that is covered in class. I usually go to the gym with some of my classmates after class and then get home and hit the books for a few hours. The biggest component in PT school is good time management. A few weeks before an exam is when I start reviewing older material so those days tend to be a little longer. The credits/classes just depends on the semester. Generally it's between 18 and 22. Clinicals count as credits as well so again, it just depends. I prepare for exams by making practice questions in a multiple choice format based on my notes. I also make sure i'm constantly reviewing material, understanding the material, and applying the material. I also run small study groups in my cohort so it allows me to retain information while teaching it to classmates. Study guides are not provided unfortunately so it's up to you to take sufficient notes. Some classes provide powerpoints, while others don't. My cohort created a google page for us to upload important material and allows students to share notes in order to help each other. I take the boards in the Summer of 2021. For the boards, my school provides study materials as well as study classes during our last year in the program.
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deleted421268
How important is it to get an A in all your classes or do you just try to pass the classes? What is the grading system? What if someone didn’t pass a class or two in a semester?
Hi I’m a Pre-PT student that will be applying this fall to Rutgers North and South, Seton Hall, Mercy College, and LIU Brooklyn. Im not sure what my cGPA is since i attended community college and then transferred. At community college my gpa was 3.15 after transferring my gpa is 3.8 so i assume combining together is about 3.45. My science gpa is about 3.7 and prereq gpa is 3.8. GRE quant is 161 verbal is 150 and writing is a 5. I am planning to take the GRE again to try to raise my verbal score. I have over 200 outpatient hours and 100 inpatient hours at a hospital. I wanted your opinion on what areas I should improve my application and if my stats are competitive enough for the schools I am applying to.
Sorry for the late reply!! I don't believe it's important to get an A in all of my classes, in fact it's merely impossible. In PT school a B is as good as an A. Anything over an 80 is considered a passing grade!! it's about understanding the information rather than remembering it! The grading system is as any other institution! We use An A, A-, B+,B,B-,C+,C and C<. Anything less than a C is considered failing. Youre allowed to have two C's throughout the program. On your third C you are dismissed from the program (I'm sure this stands for most if not all PT schools). However, our school has many early interventions that prevent students from receiving poor grades in classes. If you fail to score above an 80 on an exam, the professor schedules a meeting with you to go over different study habits, and how you can improve for future exams! In my opinion the early intervention is great for students to improve and perform better on future exams!
Hey! Sorry for the late response! I think that your stats are competitive for the schools that you mentioned. Keep working on getting more hours and trying to improve your application in that aspect. The more areas, the better. Even if you get another 100 hours at another outpatient clinic, it's better than nothing! I think your stats are good! Focus on writing an essay that is unique and will help you stand out from the other applicants! Talk about how an experience changed your life, and tie that back into PT! My best advice is to have as many people as you can read over it! Also, ensure that your letters of rec are good and unique! Admission committees hate seeing general letters, they want to know all about what others think of you! Ensure that you also get your application in as early as possible! I think you'll be alright!! If you have other questions or need any help with the process feel free to let me know!! I'll be more active on here since my semester is starting again and I am home from clinical!
Just try to pass. It isn't important at all. Our teachers actually tell us to just try to learn and absorb info, keep your head above water, and they don't care about A's, they just care about not failing. You're getting the same degree whether you got all Bs or all As, and school is stressful enough without worrying about being perfect. It is way, way harder to get an A in a doctorate program than in undergraduate.
That being said, I do think it's prudent to try to create a bit of a GPA "buffer" - if you have a class just totally shred you and you end up passing but below a B, doing well in another class will help balance out your GPA. Last semester I struggled with a class and got a B- and was very grateful that I had an A- in another to balance it out. I've also gone into exams feeling really confident in the material, and genuinely felt that I understood the concepts and so on, and ended up with a grade somewhere in the 80s. You just have to shrug and move on. The BIG PICTURE is you learned what you should have learned. If you get hung up on As, you are going to have a bad time in school.
That’s about $10k more than new grad PT salary offers. Average new grad salary is at or just above $65,000