School Choice

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With a 3.4 cgpa, you are starting in the right direction. The other stats you provided are good too. Do well on your GRE, write some strong essays with some strong recommendations letters, and you should have a good chance at admission.

The only school on your list I'm familiar with is GWU, a PT tech at a hospital i volunteered at applied there and got in. He had to shine in other areas besides GPA b/c he was accepted with a 2.9 cgpa.
 
Hi everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. Spartan, I'm going to post in your thread and i hope you don't mind 😉 If everyone made their own thread on this topic there would be a million of these. This way, we can share ideas on schools in the same thread.

Here are my stats and list of schools i have been putting together since before last summer. Originally i had over 35 schools that i was interested in, and after months of research and gathering data I've incorporated it all into an excel spreadsheet. I'm now having trouble narrowing it down even further, and quite frankly I'm not sure that i need to. The reason i say this is because the last thing i want is to have to sit out a year and re-take classes. This route seems to be an unnecessary expense and I'm really not willing to risk it by applying to 7-10 schools. I've read way too many stories on here of people restricting themselves by either applying to too few schools, or applying to a group of schools that are similar in difficulty to gain admission to and not getting in anywhere. I believe this list is pretty diverse, and there are a multitude of schools of different difficulty in regards to admission.

I realize how valuable the opinion of everyone on this board has proven to be over the last year and would greatly appreciate some input. If any of you have had bad experiences or have negative things to say about ANY of the schools I've chosen and listed below, please feel free to elaborate. I'm also posting my spreadsheet of how i chose the following list of schools. Thanks again for your time.

Stats:
cGPA - 3.72
pGPA - 3.56
GRE - 152Q/148V/5AW
Hours: 200+ in 8 settings

Schools:

1.Belmont
2.Bradley
3.Evansville (Non PTCAS)
4.FIU
5.Franklin Pierce AZ
6.Franklin Pierce NH
7.Gov State
8.GVSU
9.IU/IUPUI
10.Midwestern(AZ)
11.Midwestern(IL)
12.NIU (Non PTCAS)
13.Nova SE
14.Ros Franklin
15.Tennessee State
16.Touro Nevada
17.UF
18.Bellarmine
19.Uindy
20.USF
 
Couldn't figure out the excel sheet, but here's the criteria i went by in my gathering of data from each school's website and their profile on PTCAS.

School Name
Deposit after acceptance
Deadline
Start date
Class size
Supplemental application/materials req'd
#Hours
Interviews
Personal statement
GRE
App fee
Tuition
LOR's
In state vs Out of State %
GPA
PTCAS or not
Extra pre-req requirement outside of the normal
Any other extras
Board Pass rates
Contact info

Thanks again for any responses!
 
Thanks Spartan2014, could you be more specific? Are you talking about In state vs out of state? Or just generally how many they accept and how many actually enroll?

Also if anyone doesn't want to be negative about schools publicly, feel free to PM me and it'll all be confidential. I would really like to know if i'm out of the loop on anything with these schools. I've put a lot of time like Spartan said to condense to 20 schools, so any further help would be much appreciated!
 
Hey like the first responder posted, you'll need to shine it all other aspects of your application. The only school I'm familiar with is Emory (i'm a 2nd year in the program). So if you have any questions regarding the program itself, I'd be happy to answer your questions
 
Spartan:

You are not restricting yourself by applying to 7-10 schools. I think 10 is enough, and might be too much. The more schools you apply to, the more complicated the application process will be. How many interviews can you go to? Each interview will cost you 1-2 days and will interrupt your life. If you cannot get accepted by one school in ten, then your application is weak.

Honestly, I think you will get accepted somewhere. I like how you have 200 hours in eight settings. I've never seen someone get hours in eight settings. Are you sure they are eight separate settings?

I see you have applied to some schools in Florida. I haven't heard much about FIU. I've heard a couple people saying that the students there were more interested in life in South Florida than the actual program. Nova SE and UF are both solid programs. USF is ridiculously hard to get into. I suggest you don't apply.

Kevin
 
Kevin, I'm not sure if you're talking to me or Spartan. I Have 200 hours in 8 settings (i guess its this many because they're all considered separate on the application). Here they are:

Inpatient Acute PT
Wound Care PT
Outpatient Orthopedic PT
Pediatrics PT
ICU PT
Cardiac PT
Aquatic PT
SNF PT

Planning on checking out Neuro before i get my application in.
I also have a friend who's attending USF and their stats weren't great nor was their essay attention grabbing at all. So who knows what the deal is there.
 
DPT dreamer I am a current first year student at Midwestern's Glendale campus. If you have any questions about the program let me know.
 
yuns554 said:
nicolej5, how do you like it so far? What's the campus like? Is there housing close by?
Click to expand...

I like it so far. It's definitely challenging and overwhelming at first, but once you start getting in a groove you settle in. The professors expect a lot but they are also very approachable and have an open door policy. We work in quarter systems, which was different for me because I had a semester system in undergrad. It's really fast paced, but you just have to appropriately allot your study time. We do a clinical experience at the end of the first year which I think will be an awesome experience. The campus is great, it's actually one of the reasons why I chose MWU over another school I was accepted at. You aren't confined to just one classroom or building like you are at a lot of other schools. There's a pretty nice cafeteria and a fairly decent rec center. The labs (both anatomy and pt) are awesome. Everything is clean and well taken care of. The staff is extremely kind and welcoming. There's plenty of housing nearby (both on campus and off). I live in an off campus apartment right across the street and bike to class. Several of my classmates live on the on campus apartments and seem to like them. I know they are in the process of building new student apartments right now on campus.
 
@DPTdreamer:

You're welcome to email [email protected] for a profile of last year's class. Looks like you're competitive with the last couple of years and we look forward to your application!

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]

DPTdreamer said:
Hi everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. Spartan, I'm going to post in your thread and i hope you don't mind 😉 If everyone made their own thread on this topic there would be a million of these. This way, we can share ideas on schools in the same thread.

Here are my stats and list of schools i have been putting together since before last summer. Originally i had over 35 schools that i was interested in, and after months of research and gathering data I've incorporated it all into an excel spreadsheet. I'm now having trouble narrowing it down even further, and quite frankly I'm not sure that i need to. The reason i say this is because the last thing i want is to have to sit out a year and re-take classes. This route seems to be an unnecessary expense and I'm really not willing to risk it by applying to 7-10 schools. I've read way too many stories on here of people restricting themselves by either applying to too few schools, or applying to a group of schools that are similar in difficulty to gain admission to and not getting in anywhere. I believe this list is pretty diverse, and there are a multitude of schools of different difficulty in regards to admission.

I realize how valuable the opinion of everyone on this board has proven to be over the last year and would greatly appreciate some input. If any of you have had bad experiences or have negative things to say about ANY of the schools I've chosen and listed below, please feel free to elaborate. I'm also posting my spreadsheet of how i chose the following list of schools. Thanks again for your time.

Stats:
cGPA - 3.72
pGPA - 3.56
GRE - 152Q/148V/5AW
Hours: 200+ in 8 settings

Schools:

1.Belmont
2.Bradley
3.Evansville (Non PTCAS)
4.FIU
5.Franklin Pierce AZ
6.Franklin Pierce NH
7.Gov State
8.GVSU
9.IU/IUPUI
10.Midwestern(AZ)
11.Midwestern(IL)
12.NIU (Non PTCAS)
13.Nova SE
14.Ros Franklin
15.Tennessee State
16.Touro Nevada
17.UF
18.Bellarmine
19.Uindy
20.USF
Click to expand...
 
Spartan2014 said:
I have noticed someone else post this a few days ago and wanted similar comments/advice on my choice of schools without posting under their thread (didn't want to be rude). I am a Kinesiology major, and my cumulative GPA as of now is 3.406, will be taking GRE in September. By the time I submit my application, I am aiming on having about 200-250 hours of volunteering/observation including 3 different PT settings as well as volunteer abroad trip. Also have experience in undergrad research in KIN dept. The only thing im concerned about are the following classes:

Bio II (took it with 3-4 difficult science classes and got 1.0--bad idea)---retook it and got 3.0)
Anatomy (2.5)
Physics (2.5)

What do you think about my school choices? Would all of these be considered reach schools? Or do I have a good chance? 😕

University of Minnesota
Medical university of South Carolina
Virginia Comonwealth University
University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston
George Washington University
Emory
NOVA
University of Illinois-Chicago
University of Maryland- Baltimore
Drexel University


ANY feedback (regarding chances OR simply the schools themselves) is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!🙂
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Wow just noticed my above typo sorry...I can only attest to Nova. I live in Miami and have been to Nova and walked through there facility. Beautiful facility's and extremely nice students/professors. South Florida is one of the best places to live in my opinion. Nova is # 2 on my list next to University of Miami
 
@IndianaDPT

I've began filling out applications. Is there a fee waiver for the $60 application fee by chance? If you're not the correct person to ask about this, could you direct me to the person who is please.

Also, where do we send the Course Prerequisite Form?

Thanks!
 
@DPTdreamer:

Full admission details are here: http://shrs.iupui.edu/physical_therapy/admissions/. The prerequisite form is on our website here: http://shrs.iupui.edu/physical_therapy/admissions/materials.html. You'll want to review the entire website carefully including the About and FAQs sections.

I am the contact for all admission inquiries. Please use 317-274-7238 to contact me. Only under certain circumstances are the application fees waived.

Best,

Josh Morrison
Director, Student Enrollment Services
IU School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, IUPUI
www.shrs.iupui.edu
[email protected]
 
Got it, thanks!

One more question that isn't as self explanatory 🙂 ....

The website says to have ETS send GRE scores to 1325 (the University code) for PTCAS to receive test results and share them with your program. However, the PTCAS code listed is 7692. Which one do we have scores sent to or does it not matter? I wasn't sure if this was a typo or if i just misunderstood.
 
You should be able to check their PTCAS profile for the code...most of the time it's the PTCAS code that the school wants you to send the scores to
 
Thanks Alex. Thing is a lot of my schools have two codes and don't specify on their website, or their specification isn't clear. Therefore, I usually just ask.
 
Spartan2014 said:
Yes indeed! :laugh:
Click to expand...

Woot woot!! That explains why you didn't do so hot in Bio...hahaha Not to mention I take it you probably talked to that one advisor who shall remain nameless which probably got you extremely scared about PT school? lol

To be honest, my gpa was a 3.2 that went up to about a 3.4 after a full semesters worth of retakes. I had a good GRE score though and had slightly more hours than your planning. I also volunteered for HERL (a few years ago though...but we might actually recognize each other! haha).

I know they aren't on your schools list but I did get into Andrews University and UM - Flint (I know...i know...still a Spartan though! 😀). And oddly enough, I got waitlisted for Northwestern. lol So I think you would have a good chance for those schools anyways... 🙂
 
Spartan2014 said:
hahaha yeahhh msu's bio is ridiculous, and I know exactly which advisor you are talking about lol😉 Thanks for your insightful response!! Really brought my hopes up. Do you mind sharing your GRE scores?
Click to expand...

Haha, exactly. The lady that runs the Bio department is nice but she is a crazy harsh grader when it comes to labs. I remember times when, for example, we would have a lab worth 15 points. I would get a few points off for stupid silly things like not explaining enough why a tree trunk is only 38 inches in diameter despite the fact that I wrote a full 2-3 pages about it in the lab book. And then Id get a point or 2 taken off for writing outside of the allotted space in your lab book. Then, there would be a -1 for not coming up with a title that was creative enough for you lab... All of the sudden, your lab that you spent hours doing and getting things right comes down to a 10/15 or a 66% for small stupid petty things! I still get fuming when I think of MSU's Bio department...hahaha

Sure thing! I took the old GRE but after looking at my account, they have an estimate of what my scores would have been with the new exam. I unfortunately had to retake this exam 3 times because I didn't take the studying as seriously as I should...lol I have no idea what happened on my second attempt because I studied my a** off for three months after I took it the first time and did worse...lol Then a month later I took it the final time before the test was going to change and finally nailed the Verbal which raises some questions about its validity...but maybe thats why the GRE has changed..haha So STUDY!

Attempt 1: 350 Verbal, 630 Quant, 3.0 Writing (Estimated at 143 Verbal, 150 Quant.)
Attempt 2: 340 Verbal, 550 Quant, 4.0 Writing (Estimated at 142 Verbal, 146 Quant.)
Attempt 3: 480 Verbal, 540 Quant, 4.0 Writing (Estimated at 152 Verbal, 145 Quant.)

Andrews University took my most recent scores - Attempt 3 only - and did not look at the others. UM - Flint took the highest in each category of the attempts so they saw 480 Verbal, 630 Quant, 4.0 writing (152, 150, 4.0).

I kinda question how accurate these estimations are because I remember 630 for Quant being awesome and above average back in the day but now it seems like 150 in Quant which is the estimate of my best Quant attempt seems to be the average nowadays...but eh who am I to say how it should go when I haven't taken the new GRE. hahaha Times change too and people get smarter as well so eh.. 🙂


SIDENOTE: One thing to keep in mind if you are thinking about Andrews University for any reason, they are a private college so its VERY pricey. However, if you dominate the GRE, you can get a hefty discount. To put it in perspective, tuition was about $100K for all 3 years and I actually believe this is for in-state AND out of state tuition believe it or not (they do a block tuition thing so it might be worth asking).. However, if you can achieve a combined score of 300, you get 10% off. If you score 310, you get 25% off. If you score 320, you get 50% off your tuition....So if you get a combine score of 320 on your GRE, you might want to look into Andrews to save some money possibly. $50K for tuition is definitely not bad for PT school, let alone a private PT school at any rate.
 
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Hey Spartan2014! I was a Kin major and I will be attending George Washington starting next month. So if you have any specific Q's about GW I'd be happy to answer them.

I know I retook anatomy due to a bad grade the first time around. I got an A the second time around, but I know some schools I applied to would average the two grades. Also some schools will only accept a B or above in anatomy and in physiology.

I also applied to Medical University of South Carolina & Virginia Commonwealth University. Both are very difficult to get into. Especially MUSC because I think their class size was something like 18 people and I believe they give preference to in-state students. VCU is challenging to get into because it is a state school as well. So the lower tuition makes it so evvvvverrrryoneeee is applying to it.

Good luck with your application!!
 
Spartan - I don't know much about your schools. We have had two PT students do rotations with us recently, and both did extremely well. They are attending Drexel. Unfortunately, Drexel's program is huge and the two students we had did not know each other beyond name. Apparently they had 50 students in the program. I recommend a small class size. What you are embarking on isn't just a degree. It's a career path aimed at changing the health of people and a community. You need as much one-on-one time as possible to soak up the knowledge of each of your instructors. Not all programs can afford you the opportunity to build personal relationships with your instructors. Good luck!

__________________________
Licensed Physical Therapist
 
I thought a small class size was important while I was applying to school. I no longer believe this. I would place less emphasis on the size of the class. Most DPT programs think that 36 is the magic number. My school has between 55-60 DPTs, not to mention another 20 MOTs and a few students pursuing the dual degree. Somehow, I know everyone at least on a casual basis. With e-mail, it's never hard to ask professors questions. You will need less "one-on-one" time than you think.

Kevin
 
NewTestament said:
I thought a small class size was important while I was applying to school. I no longer believe this. I would place less emphasis on the size of the class. Most DPT programs think that 36 is the magic number. My school has between 55-60 DPTs, not to mention another 20 MOTs and a few students pursuing the dual degree. Somehow, I know everyone at least on a casual basis. With e-mail, it's never hard to ask professors questions. You will need less "one-on-one" time than you think.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Well, as you know, schools always accept more than the seats they have available due to expectations of students choosing different schools and whatnot. Well, at UM - Flint, the maximum seats we have was 60. At orientation, we discovered that were going to have a class size of 73 because everyone pretty much decided to go there...lol Oops. So we start class in a month and the faculty is frantically rearranging our schedules right now to accommodate the extra 13 that they expected to choose other schools...haha
 
@schnell how do you like flint? I am thinking of applying but there are so many essays! Lol, anyways anything you could tell us would be great
 
ptlover said:
@schnell how do you like flint? I am thinking of applying but there are so many essays! Lol, anyways anything you could tell us would be great
Click to expand...

Well, I don't start for another month but so far the staff has been fantastic and the facilities are very nice! The essays are rough but that is literally their way of doing interviews. Keep in mind HIPAA Laws and be prepared to 'stab your best friend in the back' by tattling on them with that story essay...hahaha I pretty much went on about how despite our friendship, I would have to confront my friend and tell him that he needs to tell faculty as well as the professor what he said on facebook.If he didn't I would have to let faculty members know as well as the professor about the info being made public and stuff and how the ramifications of his actions could include being dismissed from the program and how this can get your license revoked when your a PT and all that fun stuff....haha Make sure those essays are proof read a few times over by different people too!

Let's see...There are a good handful of graduate research assistant stipends available too. I was thankfully hired for the upcoming year and its going to pay me about $4000 from September to April which translates to a monthly stipend check of ~$570 which pays bills and gas so thats definitely something to think about and apply for if you get accepted!

Campus has everything there for you within walking distance. Theres a nice large library and fitness area (free of charge for students) across the river and a decent food court in the other direction. Despite being in Flint, it is actually fairly safe with tons of patrols and is ranked slight above the middle for being one of the safest campus' in Michigan (MSU being the most dangerous...haha).

We do have our own 4 story building that we share with the nursing students. We have our own 'mini-library' about the size of a very large walk-in closet but has most of the books we need. The program has a good focus on keeping the subjects even across the board meaning they specialize in General PT. The program is 3 years exactly with the last half year being nothing but clinicals.

They are very good about keeping us connected with students from different years. We also have our own designated facebook page so we can all communicate with each other very easily. We already have a Cedar Point trip planned in a few weeks before we even start. 🙂

Anyways, tuition isn't bad...its about $60K for three years in-state. Graduation rates were perfect last year as well as job rates.

Hmm...what else....oh! Orientation was fun...we had a 2-day orientation. the first day we got to go to this base camp where we got to do rock climbing, a ropes course and other fun physical team building exercises. Second day was the REAL orientation..complete with a free 2GB flashdrive and a taco bar! :laugh:

Anyways, until I start classes, thats about all I can really say.. Our schedules right now allow us for some good breaks here and there for food and studying and whatnot. I am definitely happy with them for sure and I think it is definitely worth applying to! 🙂
 
PThopeful89, I am interested in GWU. I would love to get accepted there. Would you mind sharing your stats? I didn't find a minimum GRE score on their website. I think they just had an average of their past class. Also, how is tuition?
 
@schnell it sounds awesome! I would need to take an exercise physiology course of accepted. But what were your stats?
 
ptlover said:
@schnell it sounds awesome! I would need to take an exercise physiology course of accepted. But what were your stats?
Click to expand...

Hope its not too confusing...haha I retook some classes that rose my GPA according to my transcripts but appeared in PTCAS as much lower...maybe PTCAS calculated my GPA based on old and new grades?

University: Lansing Community College -> Michigan State University
Major: Kinesiology - Exercise Science
Overall GPA: 3.23
Prereq GPA: 3.17
MSU Final GPA (with retakes): 3.24
LCC Final GPA (with retakes): 3.45
Extra-curricular: MSU Bowling Team for a year (quit due to cost and time..lol), Pre-Physical Therapy Association (PPTA), Human Energy Research Lab (HERL).
Volunteer: 60+ hours Outpatient Orthopedic, ~20 hours Outpatient Neuro, ~20 Inpatient Acute, 240 hour internship Inpatient Orthopedic. ~340 total hours.
GRE: 480 (~152 current) Verbal, 630 (~150 current) Quat., 4.0 Writing
Applied: GVSU, CMU, OU, WSU, AU, Northwestern, UM - Flint
Interviewed:Andrews University
Alternate List: Northwestern
Acceptances: Andrews University, UM - Flint
Rejections: GVSU, CMU, OU, WSU (lack of requirements apparently)

Also remember for my GRE that those are the highest scores I achieved for each category after retaking it three times...haha UM - Flint takes your highest from each category regardless and how many times you take it. They confessed to me that they think the GRE is dumb and that it is not good predictor of whether or not you will be a good PT. haha
 
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