Seeking Advice for a Non-traditional Student.

[MakingMovement]

Hi there,

I was hoping to get some advice as to whether it would be impossible for me to get into a dpt program with my academic history.

Some background: I pursued a degree in psychology did relatively well the first three years (maintained a 3.0 gpa), but interned for a state mental health department and realized how corrupt the system was, which ultimately steered me away from the system completely. Long story short, I was a young college student and lost the motivation to continue pursuing that degree, fell into depression and failed my last year there.

I spent the next four years working full-time and getting promoted every year in the field of higher ed accounting (taking care of financial issues), but realized that I had no passion in working in administration in which I am not actively helping a person in need--made that epiphany when I got a second job in customer service and realized how much I enjoyed work involving face-to-face interactions and providing service to others--and after a year, got promoted to supervisor.

Now that I am finally at a place where I feel mentally and financially ready to finish my degree and have the confidence in myself to work hard towards something I may find passion in, I came across the possibility of working in the field of physical therapy as I have a constant desire to heal others any way that I can, nursing being another field that I found myself attracted to as well.

I currently work full-time at the same school that I left and they have a program that allows former students to return without penalty and also has a "fresh start" program in which they eliminate your prior GPA and you, ultimately get to have a fresh start, along with your prior credits transferring over into the program with a GPA based on the courses you take, going forward. The previous grades will, however, remain on my transcript with a notation that I opted into the fresh start program/that they are not calculated in my current GPA.

My question is, if I work hard to take the required pre-reqs maintaining the required grades that I need to get into the program, would it be impossible for me to get into a DPT program with my undergrad GPA from four years ago? I am giving myself the next two years to work my butt off studying and taking the pre-req courses, supplementing with job shadowing as many areas of PT that I can while I finish my degree.

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[deleted797640]

PTCAS and schools will use a combination of all your grades to calculate your GPA despite you being in a "fresh start" program (unless the same course was retaken) which is specific to your university. Without knowing your exact pre-req gpa or cGPA or GRE scores or even PT experience I cannot give you any advice on your changes of gaining entrance into a PT program but I will tell you that I applied with a very low GPA, low enough where people on these forums told me to find a different career but I was accepted into 2 PT programs and am doing well in the program I'm currently attending. So yes you do have a chance just make sure you have something that is above average since your GPA will most likely be below average. Best of luck, feel free to pm me.

 

[PAPERCLIP_DPT]

If you are looking to change careers and looking generally for a field to heal others, I would recommend pursuing nursing or becoming a physician assistant (PA). Realistically, the return on investment for a career in physical therapy is not always great since many graduate with heavy debt and low starting salaries. If your only interest in pursuing physical therapy is a desire to heal others, there are so many other healthcare careers with a better return on investment, less loans/higher pay, and programs that will save you time (Nursing and PA schools are often 2 years versus the 3 years for PT school).

To answer your question, yes it would be possible. But unless you have an immense passion for the field aside from an overall sense of wanting to help others, it might not be worth the investment.

 

[deleted797640]

I agree with the above poster that PA or nursing is a shorter and more lucrative route and that starting salaries for PTs are low compared to the amount of schooling required. However, salaries vary greatly in PT it is what you make of it. You can travel PT or find positions that pay great especially if you know how to negotiate a salary, you will also have the opportunity to open your own practice. Just don't expect to be driving anything fancy

 

[MakingMovement]

Thanks for the responses! Money isn't really the driving force, although I understand that it will be an expensive route should I decide to pursue it. There is a great state DPT program that would be "affordable" in comparison to other programs that I have been researching -- $26,000/year.

And also, PA sounds great, but I thought PA school was much harder to get into that DPT?

 

[deleted797640]

Thanks for the responses! Money isn't really the driving force, although I understand that it will be an expensive route should I decide to pursue it. There is a great state DPT program that would be "affordable" in comparison to other programs that I have been researching -- $26,000/year.

And also, PA sounds great, but I thought PA school was much harder to get into that DPT?

DPT and PA school are equally hard to get into I would say there are more applicants for PA school but there are also more PA schools. The requirements are different in terms of letters of req, pre-req courses and experience since most PA programs were designed for medical professionals seeking to further their education they require 1500-3000 medical patient contact hours depending on the school. Average accepted GRE and GPA scores and interview to accepted class size ratio is the same.

 

[MakingMovement]

DPT and PA school are equally hard to get into I would say there are more applicants for PA school but there are also more PA schools. The requirements are different in terms of letters of req, pre-req courses and experience since most PA programs were designed for medical professionals seeking to further their education they require 1500-3000 medical patient contact hours depending on the school. Average accepted GRE and GPA scores and interview to accepted class size ratio is the same.

If you don't mind my asking, what made you decide to choose the PT route as compared to other avenues?

 

[deleted797640]

If you don't mind my asking, what made you decide to choose the PT route as compared to other avenues?

I worked as an EMT, Pharmacy Technician and ER scribe before becoming a Physical Therapy aide and then later lead PT aide. To be honest I just had experience in viewing or participating in most medical fields and that helped me determine what I liked and what I did not like. I did not like the limited hands on care I saw MD's or PA's have with patients, a specific bacterial infection will always be treated with the same antibiotic (in most cases) regardless of the treating practitioner or the patient. In PT no knee replacement is the same, everyone has different ligament lengths, tendon lengths, motor patterns, joint and bone sizes etc. which will effect how you specifically design and implement treatment for a patient. This part of care intrigued me as well as enjoying being really hands on and enjoying physical activities and sports. PA is a very good choice and was my initial choice prior to PT but I slowly changed my mind. Also, if you want to open your own business you cannot as a PA but you can as a Nurse Practitioner, MD, DO, DPT and others.