Question re: poor grade in A&P, but solid grades in kinesiology classes

[Dragonash]

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Aloha Everyone!

I am currently a senior in a Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science program, and starting to finalize my plans for PT school. I have read that many schools care more about the core classes than your major's classes, but I was wondering how much that may affect me in my applications as my major is directly related to the PT field.

The reason I ask is because our school has a very poor upper level "Anatomy & Physiology" professor. She grades extremely harshly, and is well known to include material not covered in the class/books on exams. However, despite having a large amount of complaints against her from students, shes on tenure and there seems to be no chance of getting her out of the program anytime soon (when I brought it up to my adviser, he simply said they are "looking into it"). I ended up with a B in her 301 class (anatomy focused), and a C in her 302 class (physiology focused).

However, in all of my KRS classes (Biomechanics, Principles of Sports Medicine, Upper/Lower Extremity Assessment, etc) I have As and Bs. I will likely have around a 3.3-3.5 GPA upon graduation, but seriously worry that the C I got in my General Physiology class will hurt my applications. Should I be worried? Should I try to explain any short comings in my applications? What do you all think? My school of choice is the University of Washington if that helps at all. Thank you!

 

[pursue]

Dr. Merritt huh. Dont worry the anat/phys that most schools require as prerequisites are the 141/142 anat/phys. Hopefully you did well in those if not you can retake at a cc (a minority of schools require that it be taken at a 4yr university). Im not sure about UW you would have to call and ask. I graduated from the same program your in. The sad thing is that all those tough kinesiology classes dont really matter when it comes to getting into PT school. All most all schools look at chem, bio, physics, and anat/phys with a few other prerequisites varying by program. Those upper/lower extremity, prins courses, & the lovely 301/302 were just to better prepare us for pt school. Sometimes I wish I would've majored in something easy and took the prerequisites at kcc so I would have a higher gpa but I feel now we're better prepared. Good luck

 

[Dragonash]

Dr. Merritt huh. Dont worry the anat/phys that most schools require as prerequisites are the 141/142 anat/phys. Hopefully you did well in those if not you can retake at a cc (a minority of schools require that it be taken at a 4yr university). Im not sure about UW you would have to call and ask. I graduated from the same program your in. The sad thing is that all those tough kinesiology classes dont really matter when it comes to getting into PT school. All most all schools look at chem, bio, physics, and anat/phys with a few other prerequisites varying by program. Those upper/lower extremity, prins courses, & the lovely 301/302 were just to better prepare us for pt school. Sometimes I wish I would've majored in something easy and took the prerequisites at kcc so I would have a higher gpa but I feel now we're better prepared. Good luck

Lol, that's exactly who it is! Small world!

I had A's in 141/142, so at least I have that going for me. You're probably right about just opening a dialogue with UW and see what they say. I really wish the KRS degree had more weight behind it when applying to PT school since it covers so much of the same material.

Where did you end up going if you don't mind me asking?

 

[pursue]

haha Yea that class was horrible. I'm still in the application process and only applied to one private school on the east coast that I have an interview for soon. Some would consider this not smart and to cast a wider net, but I know where I want to go and believe I will eventually get in. I agree about the Kinesiology degree holding more weight. Schools should definitely factor it in, considering that the anatomy, biomechanics, and special tests learned are going to be covered again in PT school and a kinesiology student is in my opinion a little better prepared.

 

[pursue]

Also with A's in 141 and 142 you should be sitting pretty. Good Luck