Ptcas per req GPA vs. university per req GPA

[mccomasg09]

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[djb051]

I'm a bit confused at how the ptcas per req GPA works vs program specific gpa's and what the program sees? Since every school has diff per reqs and some schools average retakes and some schools just take the highest grade? How does all this work? And what does ptcas consider per reqs vs. what are program specific per reqs..... I see some some people saying there ptcas prerequisite GPA is a 3.2 but for some programs there per req GPA can be as high as 3.5 ... But I want to know what does the program see. Overall GPA, ptcas prerequisite GPA, and there programs prerequisite GPA? Or do they just see there specific prerequisite GPA and overall GPA? Sorry if this is confusing I'm just nervous a school will see my averaged in retakes from ptcas cause I know they use all scores even retakes even if that school only requires the highest grade? Thanks in advance...

I would not be super nervous about that. Almost everyone I know has one or more classes that they did not do as well in, and they had to retake it. The schools know also that the ptcas GPA includes all grades even if you retook the class so it is likely that a lot of dpt applicants ptcas GPA is lower than the GPA that a lot of school programs calculate themselves.

Basically, the program will most likely see the ptcas GPA, and they can choose to use it or choose to calculate their own gpa in making their decision. If they calculate their own gpa, they may average the grades from the retake classes or they might just take the highest grade from the retake class.

If you go to the apta.org website. Click on perspective students, pt education, then directory of pt programs participating in ptcas. You can do a search for the schools you are interested in...and sometimes it says on the page for the school if they take the higher grade or if they average the grades for the gpa. There are other notes on each school that may be helpful also.

 

[CristianoParese]

I am not a fan of PTCAS at all as far as their GPA calculator goes. I applied to 9 schools for Fall 2012 (a mix of state and private school programs) and the PTCAS schools didn't give me the time of day. It was really frustrating.
The 2 non-PTCAS schools I applied to both gave me interviews and I am at least wait-listed with both. I feel this is because of the PTCAS GPA calculator. According to the non-PTCAS schools I applied to, my cumlative GPA was just above 3.0 and my prerequisite GPA was above 3.5. On the contrary, the PTCAS GPA calculator figures my cumlative GPA was 2.7 and my prerequisite GPAs were also very low relative to what the non-PTCAS schools calculated.
So, I am extremely anti-PTCAS for good reason. I know we don't have a ton of options outside of the PTCAS schools, but I would recommend applying to a few non-PTCAS schools--especially if your GPA is not outstanding.
Hope that helps, best of luck in your search.

 

[wjs010]

Yea the only thing good about ptcas is you get to use the same LOR . I tried and tried to calculate by hand what I would make If I retake x classes , and it worked for overall but it was impossible to calculate it for other gpas


Sent from my iPhone using SDN Mobile app I will accept any pt school at this point. I cannot sleep

 

[PTisfun]

Yea the only thing good about ptcas is you get to use the same LOR . I tried and tried to calculate by hand what I would make If I retake x classes , and it worked for overall but it was impossible to calculate it for other gpas

Schools get all of your grades from PTCAS not just the composite calculations from PTCAS. So a school can calculate whatever it wants very easily. It is not something you all should stress about.
There are just so many applicants in the PTCAS schools, so it is probable that grades need to be a bit higher to accommodate the high number of applicants. Non-PTCAS schools on average get a fewer number of applicants so there may be more opportunities for applicants with lower GPA and GRE. It is really just a numbers issue.

 

[adh28]

Does PTCAS take into consideration plus and minuses on grades. My undergrad university does this and I am worrying about something like what a C+ or B- might do to my PTCAS GPA.

 

[optionpaloma]

Does PTCAS take into consideration plus and minuses on grades. My undergrad university does this and I am worrying about something like what a C+ or B- might do to my PTCAS GPA.

Yes, PTCAS takes plusses and minuses into account. You can go to their website and take a peek at this year's instructions to get an idea of what to expect when you apply:

http://www.ptcas.org/#

 

[joshuao]

However PTCAS does not take into account A+ grades.

 

[optionpaloma]

However PTCAS does not take into account A+ grades.

I'd forgotten -- that's right! Which sucked for me because I did have one of those and didn't get any love for it on PTCAS.

 

[joshuao]

ya i graduated from the University of Oregon with a 3.81 cumulative and PTCAS calculated a 3.7ish was slightly upsetting.

 

[greenwoodwa]

Most of the schools I spoke to said they didn't use the PTCAS GPA, but calculated their own, which makes sense since a lot of schools have slightly different prerequisite requirements. I specifically asked this question to several schools I was applying to because I was using 3 courses to fill my Gen Chem requirement and so my prerequisite GPA was a little skewered (I did much better in organic chem than gen chem and half the schools I applied to took this course instead of my gen chem course while the other half did not. I was told by PTCAS to include all three - they ask for two - as chem prerequisites). On this note, a couple schools also told me that when they calculate their own GPA they include the courses you performed best in (another concern I had). For example, some schools have one, while others have two biology course requirements, and so with PTCAS you might list two of them, say embryology and biology. The school with the one bio class requirement will take the grade from course you performed best in and calculate this into their GPA. If you are still concerned, I would contact the schools you are applying to. Those I spoke to I found were very helpful and nice.

 

[hoosier24]

I had the same concerns... I had some retakes that I definitely did NOT want calculated. I contacted the schools individually and asked about their pre-req GPA calculations and most (4 out of 6) said that they use highest grade earned. I'm not sure if they do the same thing for cGPA though. When I emailed, I also told them that I was really interested in their program and asked what I might be able to do to help my application for their program specifically. A lot of them responded positively and told me things like great GRE scores and LOTS of well-rounded observation hours. Some even gave me an idea of what the algorithm they use is like (how heavily the different GPAs are weighted, they awarded X number of points for a GRE higher than 1000, denied all students below a certain GPA, etc.) I got the impression that GRE scores are actually the best way to offset a lower GPA, which makes sense because they basically want proof that you're smart enough to succeed if your GPA is low.

 

[hopeful1010]

I had the same concerns... I had some retakes that I definitely did NOT want calculated. I contacted the schools individually and asked about their pre-req GPA calculations and most (4 out of 6) said that they use highest grade earned. I'm not sure if they do the same thing for cGPA though. When I emailed, I also told them that I was really interested in their program and asked what I might be able to do to help my application for their program specifically. A lot of them responded positively and told me things like great GRE scores and LOTS of well-rounded observation hours. Some even gave me an idea of what the algorithm they use is like (how heavily the different GPAs are weighted, they awarded X number of points for a GRE higher than 1000, denied all students below a certain GPA, etc.) I got the impression that GRE scores are actually the best way to offset a lower GPA, which makes sense because they basically want proof that you're smart enough to succeed if your GPA is low.

Hi I am extremely worried about this as well. and just wanted to ask you (if you don't mind me asking) what schools (the 4 out of 6) said they take the highest grade in the class?

 

[nomattic]

This might sound like a dumb question, but what kinds of factors can cause such a large disparity between the PTCAS GPA and your university's calculations? I could see the plus and minus issue coming into play, however, could that sole differentiation really have such a large effect? My pre-req GPA is also on the low side, but my school calculated it using the + and - system, so I'm just hoping it matches pretty closely. I did enough damage myself and definitely don't need them fanning the flames of my mediocrity...

 

[mitherapy]

If you retook a class, or failed a class then retook it for a higher grade most universities will only count the most recent or higher grade of the 2, thus leaving your gpa intact. However, ptcas calculates all gpas using all attempts on all courses which screws over some people, especially if they repeated courses to and did better the second attempt. I too feel that most programs that use the ptcas gpas are not looking at the applicant as a whole. It's complete crap.
For example, I had a bad freshman and sophomore semester too. However, I have cleaned up since then, retook what I did poorly in and now my university GPA is around a 3.5! However, ptcas calculates my gpas to reflect exactly a 3.0 and for some of their science GPAs even lower!!! It's complete crap. This is my second year now applying because of this.
My advice, be sure to contact every program you apply to and find out if they are using the ptcas gpas for admissions or maybe they calculate their own (using most university's methods and only counting the higher/second attempts)