Prerequisites for PT school

[GLinLA]

Hi everyone. New here. I am interested in PT and doing my prereqs right now. I mapped out the rest of my undergrad and it looks like I will get these done:

1 year Bio + Lab
1 year Chem + Lab
1 year Physics + Lab
1 year Anat&Physio + Lab

1 course Intro Psych
1 course Abnormal Psych

1 course Biostats

PT was kind of a late decision and I'm in an unrelated major. It seems this will be all I can get done (unless I give up my minor in business management, still thinking about it).

I just want to know if these are the basic standard of prereqs (since the prereqs vary from program to program). Should I try to get more? I looked around some school's websites and I found about 4 I can apply to. However I will be grateful to go to any DPT program. Any advice whether to forego my minor or take a year off to get more classes?

Anyway, thanks for reading!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dizzy88]

What is your minor in and how strongly do you want to pursue it?

I'm not sure if this goes for all schools, but my minor did not even show up on my transcript. I was obviously putting it onto my resume, but I don't feel like getting a minor holds a lot of weight in the application process. If I were to go back in time, I would have not pursued the minor and replaced those classes with pre-reqs that would have allowed me to apply to more schools. If you are passionate about it though, I would go ahead and do it. 4 schools (and possibly more) isn't bad for your first time applying. I only had 2!

 

[GLinLA]

My minor is management.

It's just an interest of mine and more related to my major as well (Economics). But I have had thoughts of starting my own business, mainly in case the PT thing doesn't work out. But thanks for the tip. I guess the first try isn't my only try...

 

[Myosin]

Those are the bread and butter prereqs for every school. Some think they're being special by requiring one or two extra arbitrary ones, but what you're doing will be what you need for virtually every school.

I could go off on a whole tangent about the pathetic current state of how universities teach "Business" and "Management" degrees, but it's suffice to say that a minor in business is not going to prepare you for opening/running your own business..

Everyone and their little brother had a minor in either psychology, business, or management when I was in school, and none of them had any real understanding of those subjects when they graduated.

If I could go back, I would do a double major. It's harder and takes longer, but it gives you so much more flexibility with your career choices.

 

[greco13]

http://www.ptcas.org/uploadedFiles/...sites/PTCASCoursePrereqsApplicants2012_13.pdf

 

[GLinLA]

Those are the bread and butter prereqs for every school. Some think they're being special by requiring one or two extra arbitrary ones, but what you're doing will be what you need for virtually every school.

I could go off on a whole tangent about the pathetic current state of how universities teach "Business" and "Management" degrees, but it's suffice to say that a minor in business is not going to prepare you for opening/running your own business..

Everyone and their little brother had a minor in either psychology, business, or management when I was in school, and none of them had any real understanding of those subjects when they graduated.

If I could go back, I would do a double major. It's harder and takes longer, but it gives you so much more flexibility with your career choices.

Yeah I've been considering a fifth year. That would make things a lot easier. I'm going to have to think hard about this one. Thank you for your words.

http://www.ptcas.org/uploadedFiles/...sites/PTCASCoursePrereqsApplicants2012_13.pdf

Wow this is very helpful! Thank you!

--

By the way, just so I don't saturate the forum with my threads, I have another question:

I have been given the opportunity to observe a PT's clinic (she's board certified and everything). But I want to ask about shadowing vs. volunteer/intern. Which do we need to keep track of. Both? Or do I hope that shadowing will turn into a volunteer position. Or is it dependent on school?

Sorry if there's a FAQ or multiple post somewhere (couldn't find any that answered my question). Thanks!

 

[greco13]

From what I've seen, there's no difference. I think schools just want you to know the breadth and daily tasks of the profession. I did a 230hr internship where I was pretty much a PTA - soft tissue work, ther.ex. modalities, joint mobs. In the end it was still counted as 'observation hours' except where I added it as an extra curricular because it was an ATR clinical rotation. I double-dipped.