Question about my undergrad

[xavier555210]

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I'm a 20 year old student majoring in economics. I have decided I want to be a physical therapist. I only need 50 hours to complete my economics degree, but I have only taken a few of the prereqs for PT school, which were required for the A.A. degree in business that I recently got. Should I finish my bachelor's degree in eco or load on prereqs? The PT school I will apply to does not require a bachelors degree. My GPA for my prereqs so far is a 3.75 and my overall GPA is 3.4. I already have about 100 hours of volunteer hours. I asked one of the PT's where I volunteer at if I should take my eco classes and PT prereqs,and she told me that I should bypass the economics degree and finish my prereqs, since I already know that's what I want to do. What do you think would be a good route?

 

[goyo1010]

I'm a 20 year old student majoring in economics. I have decided I want to be a physical therapist. I only need 50 hours to complete my economics degree, but I have only taken a few of the prereqs for PT school, which were required for the A.A. degree in business that I recently got. Should I finish my bachelor's degree in eco or load on prereqs? The PT school I will apply to does not require a bachelors degree. My GPA for my prereqs so far is a 3.75 and my overall GPA is 3.4. I already have about 100 hours of volunteer hours. I asked one of the PT's where I volunteer at if I should take my eco classes and PT prereqs,and she told me that I should bypass the economics degree and finish my prereqs, since I already know that's what I want to do. What do you think would be a good route?

You could do that, but then if PT school does not work out, you don't have anything to fall back on--no safety net. Things don't ALWAYS work out the way we want them to. I'm not trying to be pessimistic! Just realistic, especially in these kinds of cases! And you're already more than halfway through your economics degree.

 

[NeophyteParkour]

Finish up the bachelors degree. There is no guarantee GPA that will get you into PT school, and if there was, a 3.4 wouldn't be it. If nothing else, just about every other PT school requires a bachelors degree, as well as any jobs you could potentially land in the field of economics.
You could try applying before finishing your bachelors degree and see if that works out, but I really wouldn't rely on that.

 

[GTT4DPT]

I was also an economics undergrad. Having the econ degree specifically didn't do anything professionally valuable for me (though passing actuarial exams did). That being said, it was helpful that I had a degree of some type.

As a college student, I lamented having to jump through so many hoops that felt arbitrary. My dad explained that enough other people jump through those hoops that it will weigh you down if you don't do the same. I thought he was being stuffy and that I was being clever. In my thirties now, I'm glad I finished and got a BA in econ. It makes things simpler.

If there is a way to bypass the economics degree, get your pre-reqs done more quickly, but still get a degree of some type, I'd say that is an idea worth considering. But in this day and age, not having a bachelors will very likely hold you back at some point down the road, even if there is a PT school that will overlook it.

Would you be willing to share the name of the school you will be applying to? I haven't been aware of any programs that don't require an undergrad degree. Given standards for accreditation, I'm curious.

 

[xavier555210]

The school is university of Texas health science center at San Antonio