Programs with accepted student GPA average 3.5 or below (2017)

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pegasuscvc

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Let's just say I have too much time on my hands. I know about this time of year is when people who didn't get into PT school this year will be looking to next year. For many of you guys out there, I know the cumulative GPA is an obstacle. You can retake the GRE, retake classes to improve your prereq GPA, get better LORs, and get more observation hours, but it's pretty hard to get your cumulative GPA to budge with 120ish credits already factored into it. I looked at every accredited/candidate program on PTCAS (including those not participating in PTCAS). For those that didn't provide GPAs, I went to the school websites and tried to find them (didn't always succeed). These are the ones where average cumulative GPAs of accepted students were 3.5 or below, in order from lowest to highest. Maybe it will help someone out there target schools for next year. Good luck!

Emory & Henry College
Cum: 3.10, Prereq: 3.41

Hampton U
Cum: 3.20, Prereq: 3.10

Marymount U
Cum: 3.20, Prereq: 3.41

U of Connecticut
Cum: 3.3

U of the Incarnate Word
Cum: 3.3

Springfield College
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.30

Nova Southeastern U - Tampa (Hybrid 4-year)
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.30

Methodist U
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.38

Mercy College
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.50

Touro U Nevada
Cum: 3.31, Prereq: 3.20

Neumann U
Cum: 3.32, Prereq: 3.4

Duquesne U
Cum: 3.33, Prereq: 3.36

Franklin Pierce U (NH)
Cum: 3.34, Prereq: 3.34

U of Mary
Cum: 3.34, Prereq: 3.66

AT Still U of Health Sciences
Cum: 3.37, Prereq: 3.26

MCPHS University
Cum: 3.37, Prereq: 3.34

Mount Saint Mary's U
Cum: 3.37, Prereq: 3.4

Western U of Health Sciences
Cum: 3.4

Indiana State U
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.20

Kean U
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.20

Howard U
Cum: 3.4, Prereq: 3.4

Rutgers U of New Jersey (Newark)
Cum: 3.4, Prereq: 3.4

South College
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.48

Lynchburg College
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.50

Campbell U
Cum: 3.4, Prereq: 3.5

Shenandoah U
Cum: 3.41, Prereq: 3.53

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical U
Cum: 3.41, Prereq: 3.21, Last 60: 3.52

Touro College
Cum: 3.42, Prereq: 3.31

Franklin Pierce U (AZ)
Cum: 3.43, Prereq: 3.45

Azusa Pacific U
Cum: 3.44, Prereq: 3.40

George Washington U
Cum: 3.44, Prereq: 3.56

Concordia U - St Paul
Cum: 3.45, Prereq: 3.38

New York Medical College
Cum: 3.46, Prereq: 3.39

Wheeling Jesuit University
Cum: 3.46, Prereq: 3.41

U of Jamestown
Cum: 3.49, Prereq: 3.46

U of New England
Cum: 3.49. Prereq: 3.48

U of Mississippi
Cum: 3.5

Florida International U
Cum: 3.5

Murphy Deming College/Mary Baldwin U
Cum: 3.5

Alabama State U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.4

Briar Cliff U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.4

William Carey U
Cum: 3.50, Prereq: 3.40

Temple U
Cum: 3.50, Prereq: 3.45

Angelo State U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Brenau U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

College of St Scholastica
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Misericordia U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Southwest Baptists U
Cum: 3.50, Prereq: 3.50

U of Maryland - Eastern Shore
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Wingate U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Governors State U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.55

Texas State U
Cum: 3.50, Cum: 3.55

Chapman U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.71

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SUNY Buffalo's program seem to take 3.4s+

I got in w/ a 3.4 this year and they only look at prereq GPA
 
These are programs where the average of all students was 3.5 or below. Obviously individual GPAs will vary. I didn't include schools that provided no data on the average GPAs of classes, which I think included SUNY. That's good info!
 
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Programs compute GPAs 1,001 ways in spite of what is listed on PTCAS. If you look at requirements on PTCAS for GRE/GPA and think you are in the ballpark for admissions you might be wrong. I can tell you that it all depends on how each program weights each and with over 100-200 programs the weighting permutations are well ... you get it. For instance I applied to a program where I did not make the cut for GRE verbal or writing. I applied before I took GRE. Because of the cost of the GRE I was not able to retake, so I wrote that program off and expected nothing from them. And this is my point about stats on PTCAS, the irony is that program invited me for an interview and admitted me to their program. The moral of the story is with this many programs and the many weighted permutations of the criteria each uses, the baseline in PTCAS is just that without any other intangibles that cannot be quantified on that site. I have followed the thread where accepted applicants reveal the program they chose and list their stats, and just for kicks I go to PTCAS and compare their accepted stats against what is listed as the "higher" end GPAs and GREs listed and from that comparison I can tell you that there were some accepted candidates who did not meet those program benchmarks - so what does that mean for those not accepted who did meet the benchmarks for that same program? I think that's a fair question to ask that program - what else were they looking for? Applying to DPT graduate school is like a box of chocolates ... you never know what you are going to get as an applicant. Or you could say it's a crapshoot I can understand how we as DPT candidates get so obsessive about comparing and worrying about "their chances" based on program stats, but the lesson is that type of comparison is only 30% of what we know a program is looking for in a candidate and should not lead us into false assumptions about admission.
 
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Programs compute GPAs 1,001 ways in spite of what is listed on PTCAS. If you look at requirements on PTCAS for GRE/GPA and think you are in the ballpark for admissions you might be wrong. I can tell you that it all depends on how each program weights each and with over 100-200 programs the weighting permutations are well ... you get it. For instance I applied to a program where I did not make the cut for GRE verbal or writing. I applied before I took GRE. Because of the cost of the GRE I was not able to retake, so I wrote that program off and expected nothing from them. And this is my point about stats on PTCAS, the irony is that program invited me for an interview and admitted me to their program. The moral of the story is with this many programs and the many weighted permutations of the criteria each uses, the baseline in PTCAS is just that without any other intangibles that cannot be quantified on that site. I have followed the thread where accepted applicants reveal the program they chose and list their stats, and just for kicks I go to PTCAS and compare their accepted stats against what is listed as the "higher" end GPAs and GREs listed and from that comparison I can tell you that there were some accepted candidates who did not meet those program benchmarks - so what does that mean for those not accepted who did meet the benchmarks for that same program? I think that's a fair question to ask that program - what else were they looking for? Applying to DPT graduate school is like a box of chocolates ... you never know what you are going to get as an applicant. Or you could say it's a crapshoot I can understand how we as DPT candidates get so obsessive about comparing and worrying about "their chances" based on program stats, but the lesson is that type of comparison is only 30% of what we know a program is looking for in a candidate and should not lead us into false assumptions about admission.

I totally agree. I applied to several schools where I thought I exceeded their averages for stats in GRE and GPA but got rejected. Also got accepted to schools where I thought my stats didn't stand a chance. Ultimately, I feel like schools look at other aspects of your application than just GPA and GRE (though they are really important). They also have different ways of computing your stats. Just apply to a lot of schools you could see yourself going to and hope for the best. Also, dont constantly compare yourself and stats to people on these forums because you'll just drive yourself crazy.
 
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I think St. Augustine should be on this list as well. They're average is 3.5 if I'm not mistaken.
 
CSU Sacramento might be on this list as well
 
This list is okay as a starting point, but I would not encourage anyone to think too much about how their average cGPA compares to the accepted students cGPA. It would be a shame if someone didn't apply to a program they were really interested in because they saw the average cGPA as some sort of cut-off number.

You are more than your stats. Yes, you should try to meet the minimum requirements in order to be considered. And yes, you should obviously put together the best application you possibly can, numbers and all. But if your cGPA isnt a 3.99 or even 3.50 don't stress out about your chances. There are no guarantees that a high stat individual will be accepted to a particular program and a low stat individual will be rejected from a particular program. Will the high stat individual probably get in at least somewhere? Yes. Will a low stat individual need to try harder to get in at least somewhere? Yes.

Also, there are other factors to consider like financial aid availability at a particular school. Maybe a program can't attract high GPA students because they lack the funding to give out grants/scholarships. That being said, there is a difference between accepted stats and matriculation stats.

I agree with @Tito204 that it is somewhat of a crapshoot. But people need to do their research and look more into what a particular program wants - which is why I said this is a good starting point.
 
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This list is okay as a starting point, but I would not encourage anyone to think too much about how their average cGPA compares to the accepted students cGPA. It would be a shame if someone didn't apply to a program they were really interested in because they saw the average cGPA as some sort of cut-off number.

You are more than your stats. Yes, you should try to meet the minimum requirements in order to be considered. And yes, you should obviously put together the best application you possibly can, numbers and all. But if your cGPA isnt a 3.99 or even 3.50 don't stress out about your chances. There are no guarantees that a high stat individual will be accepted to a particular program and a low stat individual will be rejected from a particular program. Will the high stat individual probably get in at least somewhere? Yes. Will a low stat individual need to try harder to get in at least somewhere? Yes.

Also, there are other factors to consider like financial aid availability at a particular school. Maybe a program can't attract high GPA students because they lack the funding to give out grants/scholarships. That being said, there is a difference between accepted stats and matriculation stats.

I agree with @Tito204 that it is somewhat of a crapshoot. But people need to do their research and look more into what a particular program wants - which is why I said this is a good starting point.
Agreed.
Story time: I didn't apply to one of my dream schools because I thought my GPA was sub-par. Two of my classmates with similar GPA's got accepted to that school. :mad:
 
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Let's just say I have too much time on my hands. I know about this time of year is when people who didn't get into PT school this year will be looking to next year. For many of you guys out there, I know the cumulative GPA is an obstacle. You can retake the GRE, retake classes to improve your prereq GPA, get better LORs, and get more observation hours, but it's pretty hard to get your cumulative GPA to budge with 120ish credits already factored into it. I looked at every accredited/candidate program on PTCAS (including those not participating in PTCAS). For those that didn't provide GPAs, I went to the school websites and tried to find them (didn't always succeed). These are the ones where average cumulative GPAs of accepted students were 3.5 or below, in order from lowest to highest. Maybe it will help someone out there target schools for next year. Good luck!

Emory & Henry College
Cum: 3.10, Prereq: 3.41

Hampton U
Cum: 3.20, Prereq: 3.10

Marymount U
Cum: 3.20, Prereq: 3.41

U of Connecticut
Cum: 3.3

U of the Incarnate Word
Cum: 3.3

Springfield College
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.30

Nova Southeastern U - Tampa (Hybrid 4-year)
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.30

Methodist U
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.38

Mercy College
Cum: 3.30, Prereq: 3.50

Touro U Nevada
Cum: 3.31, Prereq: 3.20

Neumann U
Cum: 3.32, Prereq: 3.4

Duquesne U
Cum: 3.33, Prereq: 3.36

Franklin Pierce U (NH)
Cum: 3.34, Prereq: 3.34

U of Mary
Cum: 3.34, Prereq: 3.66

AT Still U of Health Sciences
Cum: 3.37, Prereq: 3.26

MCPHS University
Cum: 3.37, Prereq: 3.34

Mount Saint Mary's U
Cum: 3.37, Prereq: 3.4

Western U of Health Sciences
Cum: 3.4

Indiana State U
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.20

Kean U
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.20

Howard U
Cum: 3.4, Prereq: 3.4

Rutgers U of New Jersey (Newark)
Cum: 3.4, Prereq: 3.4

South College
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.48

Lynchburg College
Cum: 3.40, Prereq: 3.50

Campbell U
Cum: 3.4, Prereq: 3.5

Shenandoah U
Cum: 3.41, Prereq: 3.53

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical U
Cum: 3.41, Prereq: 3.21, Last 60: 3.52

Touro College
Cum: 3.42, Prereq: 3.31

Franklin Pierce U (AZ)
Cum: 3.43, Prereq: 3.45

Azusa Pacific U
Cum: 3.44, Prereq: 3.40

George Washington U
Cum: 3.44, Prereq: 3.56

Concordia U - St Paul
Cum: 3.45, Prereq: 3.38

New York Medical College
Cum: 3.46, Prereq: 3.39

Wheeling Jesuit University
Cum: 3.46, Prereq: 3.41

U of Jamestown
Cum: 3.49, Prereq: 3.46

U of New England
Cum: 3.49. Prereq: 3.48

U of Mississippi
Cum: 3.5

Florida International U
Cum: 3.5

Murphy Deming College/Mary Baldwin U
Cum: 3.5

Alabama State U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.4

Briar Cliff U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.4

William Carey U
Cum: 3.50, Prereq: 3.40

Temple U
Cum: 3.50, Prereq: 3.45

Angelo State U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Brenau U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

College of St Scholastica
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Misericordia U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Southwest Baptists U
Cum: 3.50, Prereq: 3.50

U of Maryland - Eastern Shore
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Wingate U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.5

Governors State U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.55

Texas State U
Cum: 3.50, Cum: 3.55

Chapman U
Cum: 3.5, Prereq: 3.71
Thank you!!!!!!!!!
 
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