some schools require different settings (I'm paraphrasing UIC's requirement, but it's something like "45 hours are required, with 15 hours in three distinct settings. An extended experience in one setting will not substitute for varied experiences." But they say it much better/clearer than I just did...you get the point).
Absolutely take the job though. It'll be great experience, and it will look good on your application. With UIC though, I don't think they mean you have to do one acute, one outpatient, and one rehab...they just mean 3 different companies/clinics. Of course, they recommend different settings so you have a broader view of the field. But, outpatient clinics are much more popular and therefore easier to get hours at. If you go that route, see if you can vary that experience a little bit (maybe a single-owner clinic, i.e. Bob Smith's Physical Therapy where Bob is the only PT and there are no aides, and then a larger corporate-owned clinic where there are lots of PTs, lots of aides, and they're seeing patients every 15 or 30 minutes).
Even if you can't get long-term experience in other settings, see if you can maybe do a full day of observation/volunteering in acute or rehab. I did 8 hours at my university hospital. I also did 15 hours at a local hospital's outpatient clinic, which saw a much different population (mostly older folks, lots of neuro) than the private sports medicine outpatient clinic I worked at for 2 years. You can also try to find if there are any elementary schools with PT programs - I shadowed a former co-worker (she left the clinic to go do peds work) at a preschool and elementary school who worked with kids with CP, spina bifida, etc. That was a kinda cool experience. Nursing homes are also not a bad place to talk to...if they don't have it in-house, they certainly will have some recommendations for where their residents go.
