Second Round Applying DPT

[rower]

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I am applying for the second time to PT schools. I was 1/9 for interviews my first round and I understand that it is because my GPA isn't too good. Any thoughts on my chances for the second round. My undergrad GPA was a 3.10 and I am finishing up retaking Chemistry a C+ class for me, I got an A in the first semester and have to get a 65 on the last two tests to get an A in the second semester. I have 1300 hours working in an orthopedic outpatient clinic, 90 in a pediatric orthopedic clinic, 51 in an assisted living facility, and am scheduled to observe inpatient acute care as soon as I finish chemistry. I took the GRE in 2012 and got a 155 verbal, 157 quantitate and 3.5 writing. I am enrolled to retake Physics in the fall and spring another one of my C+ classes. I was also a varsity athlete and letterman throughout my collegiate career, and was a three time national champion. I received 1st team all conference honors for athletics my senior year, and 2nd team for academics my junior and senior year at a major conference.
I currently have a job coaching not sure if it'll help too much with PT school, but I think it correlates since I am helping correct erroneous movement patterns and it shows ability to communicate as well. Any thoughts about additional steps I should take.

 

[starrsgirl]

I was in your boat last year. I wouldn't worry about any more hours at all at this point. If it were me, I would retake both classes in the fall and then apply after those fall grades hit. Target schools with late application dates otherwise those fall classes won't really help.

I would also retake that GRE ASAP and at least get the writing above a 4 and maybe get a few more points there too.

Finally, put a ton of time into your essay and make it awesome.

 

[rower]

Do you think the GRE would help I have talked to several schools that I did not get into and they said that they would not recommend retaking the GRE because of how I did on the quantitate and verbal sections, and having dyslexia that it didn't matter too much how I did on the writing since I met the standard. I don't expect the observing in acute care to have much impact on my status I am basically doing it because I haven't seen that setting yet and I would like to experience it. Thank you for the tips I am waiting to apply till I get the second summer chem grade back in a couple of weeks, but there aren't many TX schools that have deadlines after the fall semester is over. I went out of state for my undergrad and can't afford to do that again.

 

[aaronlp88]

What is your pre-req gpa? Many school weigh the prereq gpa more than the overall gpa. I think your GRE is fine as long as the schools you talked to said they don't weight the writing that much.

 

[AlanWattsBlues]

I took the GRE in 2012 and got a 155 verbal, 157 quantitate and 3.5 writing. .

rower,

How many of the schools didn't recommend retaking the GRE? Did they make other recommendations regarding how to improve your application?

Your application in general seems solid, but that 3.5 AW score sticks out. Things are crazy competitive these days, and I know that in our program people are looking for any reason to decline an application just so the pile of applicants to interview can become manageable.

Also, did you have a process for getting your essay in top shape (like getting comments from trusted friends who are strong writers)?

Best,

awb

 

[rower]

Because I am applying to TX schools it varies greatly from school to school anywhere from 3.01-3.49 depending on what courses they require and how they convert quarter hours to semester. I am going to need to rework my personal statement for the ptcas, but the essay questions for most of the TX schools are identical to last years. Prior to applying I had been working on that essay for a year and a half, received input from therapists, and for one application had to get it from 1500 words to less than 500 which took quite a bit of editing, but think after all the hours put in the shorter essay is better than what I would've sent out without that requirement. The biggest thing that I have heard from schools was to improve my prerequisite GPA. Also one school said that some references from sources not in the field, coaches academic advisors put unable to rate on certain fields which hurt my chances as well. Thanks for all the input!

 

[starrsgirl]

If you've talked to the schools and they are cool with a 3.5, then great....but I still think it's important to realize that schools won't "see" any classes that are in progress. In other words, for someone in your boat, any class this isn't completed when you apply won't help you out. It was a hard lesson for me to learn. I had quite a few in progress retakes when I applied the first time. The schools made their decision about whether or not I would get an interview before academic update. It sucked as I got straight As in everything....but it makes sense to me now. How many classes have you retaken AND completed since you last applied? That's probably the best look at your situation.

 

[rower]

Chem 1 & 2 will be done by the time I submit. I am holding off on submitting the PTCAS till after I get my grades back for chem 2 which I should have by next Tuesday or Wednesday. I can submit some of the TX schools earlier since they ask you to send in a separate self report of hours form after completing their graduate school application. One other thought I've had is that I'm around a month away from taking the CSCS exam would it benifit me to take that before submitting or does that not matter to schools. For the non PTCAS schools I can let them know by email if I pass though.

 

[starrsgirl]

I'm a personal trainer as well. In my opinion I don't think any of my certs made any difference in applying. If you put it on, great, but i wouldn't hold off just for that.

 

[omfgitscrystal]

If you've talked to the schools and they are cool with a 3.5, then great....but I still think it's important to realize that schools won't "see" any classes that are in progress. In other words, for someone in your boat, any class this isn't completed when you apply won't help you out. It was a hard lesson for me to learn. I had quite a few in progress retakes when I applied the first time. The schools made their decision about whether or not I would get an interview before academic update. It sucked as I got straight As in everything....but it makes sense to me now. How many classes have you retaken AND completed since you last applied? That's probably the best look at your situation.

So there's not much point in taking classes fall quarter then huh? So basically I'm retaking a physics class right now, but I have 3 more Cs I wanted to try and retake. Should I just submit with one retake? Does it matter if you retake all the classes? It sucks because the timeline is so off... I didn't receive rejections from school until feb/march and by then it was too late to take classes. So the only time I had was in the summer... but they dont even offer that many classes!

 

[rower]

I hate the quarter system for applying it's the biggest headache trying to figure out a gpa or if I meet the prereq requirements especially for one term upper division classes. The benefit is that if you do get interviews you can improve your gpa prior to final decisions at some schools since winter quarter ends early march.