Pursuing a job in Physical Therapy

[P0W3RL1FT3R]

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Hello everyone,
I was wondering if I could receive steps to follow in order to increase my chances of being admitted into a Physical Therapy Program. Any advice on choices I should make would be greatly appreciated!🙂
Here's some background information:
-I'm currently a freshman at a community college in New Jersey. I was accepted into Rutgers University as well as Richard Stockton College, but unfortunately I was not ready to take out student loans while being undecided on a career path. After nearly a year of community college, I have decided Physical Therapy would be best for me due to the fact I enjoy health and wellness and helping people in need.

-Not sure if this is relevant, but some stats from high school include a 3.5 GPA, 23 ACT, perfect attendance for all 4 years, varsity wrestler (do not wish to wrestle in college) and some community service hours.

-My first semester of community college I ended with a 3.9 GPA (Spanish messed me up) in a Liberal Arts degree. During this semester, I am doing well other than Anatomy. I enjoy Anatomy, but the teacher surprised our class with an Exam that failed every single student in the class and he refuses to provide a curve, therefore I may have to Withdraw. Although this may come out to be a blemish, I am determined to study Anatomy, Biology and Chemistry during the Summer to prepare.

-My plan was to complete two years of community college, then transfer to a University. Do you think this is setting me back in any way? Do programs care if the applicant completed some of his prerequisites at a community college?
-Would transferring to a University/College with a physical therapy program increase my chances of getting into that program? Ex: going to Arcadia University to increase odds of being accepted into their program after graduating from their University.
-What extra things can I do to better my odds? such as working as a Physical Therapists aid in a hospital or volunteering at specific places that would make me stand out.
-What are some respectable programs within reason I could shoot for?
-If anyone knows any good applications on the iPhone to help better understand Sciences or even a specific YouTube series that helped you better understand Bio/Chem/Anat would be AWESOME.

Thanks in advance to every respondent! im new here so if I did naything wrong im sorry, also sorry if I wrote a bit much I tried breaking it up nicely😀

 

[futuredpt01]

Hey powerlifter,
I am a NJ resident as well and began my first 2 years at a local community college just as you are. I did well there received a's in all the pre reqs and then I transferred to Richard Stockton college to finish my biology degree. I am graduating this May and was accepted to each of the 4 Pt programs that I applied too. So to answer one of your questions many admission committees do not frown upon pre reqs being taken at county colleges. Some universities may be inclined to favor undergraduates from their school, however, I am not too familiar with that. At stockton they do waive the fee to apply to their graduate program though if you are doing your undergraduate work there. Also, many schools with Pt programs have a lot of "pre-admit" students in their program so it is a lot tougher to get accepted into their program. When it comes to volunteering it is best not to spend ALL of your volunteering time at one location. Do your best to volunteer in multiple areas (i.e. inpatient, outpatient, SNF, etc.). Also, get involved with some other extra curricular activities on campus as well, many questions in interviews are directed to other activities you participated in during your undergraduate career. This helps the adcom's learn about you and how you excelled as leader, team player, commitment to clubs and things of that nature. The best way to gauge yourself when it comes to being accepted is through ptcas (if you haven't done so already) and also the sticky on top of the pre-Pt forum shows everyone's stats and whether or not they were accepted to a particular school. Study hard, keep your gpa up, and you will be fine. good luck!

 

[P0W3RL1FT3R]

Thanks for the fast reply futuredpt01!
Quite impressed by how generous and helpful people on this site are
That's very comforting to hear that you had a very similar start. If you don't mind me asking, what was your finishing GPA and what programs were you accepted to? Also, which one program are you leaning towards?

 

[MissAllycat]

I would recommend Khan Academy's website for Bio help. Great videos - very helpful.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology

 

[P0W3RL1FT3R]

Thanks Missallycat for the advice, I'll definitely start watching khanacademy videos to better prepare myself for next year. Appreciate the feedback 🙂

 

[hmmmatt]

I would recommend Khan Academy's website for Bio help. Great videos - very helpful.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology

This is exactly what I was going to post. There are plenty of chemistry and physics videos on there as well. Khan is an amazing teacher and if you really pay attention and take notes, when you take the actual classes you will be miles ahead of everyone else in terms of understanding the information in a meaningful way, rather than just memorizing a bunch of crap and being able to regurgitate it on an exam... which is what most students do in 100/200 level bio/chem/physics courses.

 

[P0W3RL1FT3R]

Thanks for the input matt!
I'm guilty of regurgitating information onto tests then forgetting about it once I leave the classroom haha but now that I have something to strive for I'm trying to truly understand the information. I'll certainly be watching a ton of Khan Academy videos this summer!