- Joined
- Jul 14, 2019
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 21
Hello everyone, as the cycle is coming close to an end, I thought I would take the time to go through my statistics and experiences in order to be a more competitive applicant in the future. I only have one last school to hear from, and I really don't think I will get in due to a few particular concerns with my application that appear as a hole/gap. I know that there is still a chance, but I'd like to start improving early if I can. To start things off, I wanted to first share my basic statistics in the usual format to any current DPT students or applicants who have been successful this cycle. This will be a bit of a longer post so that I can also include as much detail as I can!
University: Northern Illinois University
Major: Biological Sciences
Overall GPA: 3.70 from PTCAS
Pre-Req GPA: 3.65-3.75 depending on the school. Most are above a 3.70+
GRE: V-149 / Q-146 / AW - 4.5
Extra-Curric: Employment with Kohl's (2,200+ hours), Seasonal employment at Meijer (280 hours), BLS Provider Certification, Adult and Pediatric First Aid / CPR / AED Certification. I also have 400-500+ hours working as a rehabilitation aide, but it wanted me to include experiences non-pt related here.
Volunteer: N/A
Hours: 600+ hours from both shadowing and working at an outpatient orthopedic setting (400-500+ are from working, 170 are from shadowing), 17 hours at a pediatric setting, 25 hours at an aquatic therapy setting, 17 hours at a private outpatient orthopedic setting, and 18 hours at a skilled nursing facility.
LORs: 1 from a PT who I've shadowed and currently work with, 1 from a PT who is also the assistant facility manager where I work, and 1 from a professor at NIU who is the anatomy lab director.
Acceptances: N/A
Applied: NIU, Midwestern-Downers Grove, Rosalind Franklin, UIC, and Carroll University
Waitlist: NIU (low on ranked waitlist and class is full)
Rejections: UIC, Midwestern-Downers Grove, Rosalind Franklin
Interviews: Midwestern-Downers Grove, NIU, and Rosalind Franklin
So to start things off, I believe my GPA and grades in prerequisites are where they should be and don't need much improvements. I have never retaken any sort of class either. Actually, what pretty much has lowered my pGPA is that I received a B in both General Chemistry I and II and were both 5 credits each and hit hard. All other common prerequisites are mainly A's and very few A-'s. Is it recommended to improve the grades in these two courses, even with my GPA?
Next, I believe this is the crucial part to my application and may be a reason why schools either rejected or waitlisted me. With a crazy final semester last year in the spring, along with shadowing at several different clinics to diversify my experiences in the summer, I had only 3-4 weeks to prepare for the GRE since some deadlines were in October 1st and only take exam dates up to a certain day. I felt rushed as a result, so I didn't do well as I had hoped! I was going for at least a 151 in both sections, but didn't meet that goal. I was happy with the writing score, but I know that these are below average and definitely want to improve this score again. Depending on the school, do most usually weigh the GRE just as heavily with the GPA, even if it is high? I have seen applicants with similar scores get in somewhere, but they had other aspects of their application that likely helped which I will get into later next on this post.
Apart from the GRE, what I think is even the biggest hole in my application is the lack of any extracurriculars and volunteering outside of PT. I had to spend a lot of time studying on weekdays being a full-time student and worked practically all day on the weekends for pretty much every semester. I also commuted to my university. As a result, I was not able to dedicate much time into doing any sort of volunteering or participate in any clubs. I know now from rejections and looking at schools, that they value these a LOT since applications are looked at holistically. From current DPT students or successful applicants, what recommendations do you have that would be relevant and make me at least equal with other applicants to make myself more competitive? Since I haven't ever really volunteered or participated in these kinds of things, I'm clueless with where to start! I thought about volunteering in a hospital in the past, but are there better options? One thing I thought about adding, but just didn't know how to add it on is that I am a macro photographer. I've been doing it for two years and also sell prints with them through a website, as well as communicating and getting to know others throughout the world. It's mainly one of my biggest hobbies, but I have no idea how to really include this on PTCAS or if I should. Any suggestions?
I recently contacted Rosalind Franklin University in particular, and they basically suggested to me that retaking the GRE, additional healthcare experiences, volunteering in underserved populations and research would help me out the greatest and pretty much confirms with what I need to improve on, at least with their school. As far as research goes, I saw that a local community college offers a cadaver dissection lab with the consent of the instructor where you can present your findings to the professor and classmates. Would this even count as research experience at all, or is it mainly just a class to get a grade in? I'm planning on asking this to help clarify this question too.
With LOR's, I feel that my assistant manager and physical therapist were helpful. However, I plan on changing the professor, since he doesn't know me as well due to his huge class size and think that one of my current professors would be more helpful, since I talk to her very frequently. Although I have three, I was also planning on asking one additional physical therapist that I very frequently work with as a rehabilitation aide for a LOR since she would be able to comment very well on how I work and interact with patients. Would having an extra one be of any use, even though my assistant manager can already comment on work experience? I never work the same hours as her, so she hardly gets to see much interaction but hears about it.
I also would like to apply to more schools in the future. I thought 5 would be enough, which were primarily ones close to home. I want to apply to additional schools that are out of state, but many of them require interviews, and I don't really have any money to book flights to so many either. There were some that even require a certain prerequisite that is mainly offered in that school and not anywhere close by, which makes it more troublesome for me to do. Are there any recommendations for schools out there worth applying to that could be considered out of state for me (I live in Illinois) at all based on my stats and any future experiences I decide to do?
One last thing (I promise) I have thought about is whether or not it has to do with my interviewing in any way. I have a feel for what to say for many of the common PT questions, but wonder whether interviewers thought of something in particular that they didn't like, such as communication or way of speaking. Having English as my second language learned, I find myself sometimes pausing in between sentences in normal conversations and is just how my brain works and try to avoid this. Specifically, my first language is Polish, and I normally talk fast sometimes as a result and think that because of this, I make these pauses. Do interviewers see this as being bad in terms of communication? I've worked with many patients and haven't had anyone tell me in particular that have had a hard time understanding me in any way. It happens even if I plan out my thoughts in my head. Other than that, could it even just be the GRE and lack of extracurriculars/volunteering even after an interview? Schools won't specify to me whether it was due to my interview and really emphasize certain aspects like what Rosalind mentioned.
Sorry for such a long post, but I'm really determined and motivated to get in somewhere, and it's disheartening to me to have been rejected from so many schools already with my stats. I know that it is a competitive process and several students are in the same position as me. I'm currently in my gap year as well but am willing to definitely make improvements for a more successful cycle. Thanks for taking the time to read, and please leave any suggestions you have for me or would like to clarify anything more in detail or that I did not include!
University: Northern Illinois University
Major: Biological Sciences
Overall GPA: 3.70 from PTCAS
Pre-Req GPA: 3.65-3.75 depending on the school. Most are above a 3.70+
GRE: V-149 / Q-146 / AW - 4.5
Extra-Curric: Employment with Kohl's (2,200+ hours), Seasonal employment at Meijer (280 hours), BLS Provider Certification, Adult and Pediatric First Aid / CPR / AED Certification. I also have 400-500+ hours working as a rehabilitation aide, but it wanted me to include experiences non-pt related here.
Volunteer: N/A
Hours: 600+ hours from both shadowing and working at an outpatient orthopedic setting (400-500+ are from working, 170 are from shadowing), 17 hours at a pediatric setting, 25 hours at an aquatic therapy setting, 17 hours at a private outpatient orthopedic setting, and 18 hours at a skilled nursing facility.
LORs: 1 from a PT who I've shadowed and currently work with, 1 from a PT who is also the assistant facility manager where I work, and 1 from a professor at NIU who is the anatomy lab director.
Acceptances: N/A
Applied: NIU, Midwestern-Downers Grove, Rosalind Franklin, UIC, and Carroll University
Waitlist: NIU (low on ranked waitlist and class is full)
Rejections: UIC, Midwestern-Downers Grove, Rosalind Franklin
Interviews: Midwestern-Downers Grove, NIU, and Rosalind Franklin
So to start things off, I believe my GPA and grades in prerequisites are where they should be and don't need much improvements. I have never retaken any sort of class either. Actually, what pretty much has lowered my pGPA is that I received a B in both General Chemistry I and II and were both 5 credits each and hit hard. All other common prerequisites are mainly A's and very few A-'s. Is it recommended to improve the grades in these two courses, even with my GPA?
Next, I believe this is the crucial part to my application and may be a reason why schools either rejected or waitlisted me. With a crazy final semester last year in the spring, along with shadowing at several different clinics to diversify my experiences in the summer, I had only 3-4 weeks to prepare for the GRE since some deadlines were in October 1st and only take exam dates up to a certain day. I felt rushed as a result, so I didn't do well as I had hoped! I was going for at least a 151 in both sections, but didn't meet that goal. I was happy with the writing score, but I know that these are below average and definitely want to improve this score again. Depending on the school, do most usually weigh the GRE just as heavily with the GPA, even if it is high? I have seen applicants with similar scores get in somewhere, but they had other aspects of their application that likely helped which I will get into later next on this post.
Apart from the GRE, what I think is even the biggest hole in my application is the lack of any extracurriculars and volunteering outside of PT. I had to spend a lot of time studying on weekdays being a full-time student and worked practically all day on the weekends for pretty much every semester. I also commuted to my university. As a result, I was not able to dedicate much time into doing any sort of volunteering or participate in any clubs. I know now from rejections and looking at schools, that they value these a LOT since applications are looked at holistically. From current DPT students or successful applicants, what recommendations do you have that would be relevant and make me at least equal with other applicants to make myself more competitive? Since I haven't ever really volunteered or participated in these kinds of things, I'm clueless with where to start! I thought about volunteering in a hospital in the past, but are there better options? One thing I thought about adding, but just didn't know how to add it on is that I am a macro photographer. I've been doing it for two years and also sell prints with them through a website, as well as communicating and getting to know others throughout the world. It's mainly one of my biggest hobbies, but I have no idea how to really include this on PTCAS or if I should. Any suggestions?
I recently contacted Rosalind Franklin University in particular, and they basically suggested to me that retaking the GRE, additional healthcare experiences, volunteering in underserved populations and research would help me out the greatest and pretty much confirms with what I need to improve on, at least with their school. As far as research goes, I saw that a local community college offers a cadaver dissection lab with the consent of the instructor where you can present your findings to the professor and classmates. Would this even count as research experience at all, or is it mainly just a class to get a grade in? I'm planning on asking this to help clarify this question too.
With LOR's, I feel that my assistant manager and physical therapist were helpful. However, I plan on changing the professor, since he doesn't know me as well due to his huge class size and think that one of my current professors would be more helpful, since I talk to her very frequently. Although I have three, I was also planning on asking one additional physical therapist that I very frequently work with as a rehabilitation aide for a LOR since she would be able to comment very well on how I work and interact with patients. Would having an extra one be of any use, even though my assistant manager can already comment on work experience? I never work the same hours as her, so she hardly gets to see much interaction but hears about it.
I also would like to apply to more schools in the future. I thought 5 would be enough, which were primarily ones close to home. I want to apply to additional schools that are out of state, but many of them require interviews, and I don't really have any money to book flights to so many either. There were some that even require a certain prerequisite that is mainly offered in that school and not anywhere close by, which makes it more troublesome for me to do. Are there any recommendations for schools out there worth applying to that could be considered out of state for me (I live in Illinois) at all based on my stats and any future experiences I decide to do?
One last thing (I promise) I have thought about is whether or not it has to do with my interviewing in any way. I have a feel for what to say for many of the common PT questions, but wonder whether interviewers thought of something in particular that they didn't like, such as communication or way of speaking. Having English as my second language learned, I find myself sometimes pausing in between sentences in normal conversations and is just how my brain works and try to avoid this. Specifically, my first language is Polish, and I normally talk fast sometimes as a result and think that because of this, I make these pauses. Do interviewers see this as being bad in terms of communication? I've worked with many patients and haven't had anyone tell me in particular that have had a hard time understanding me in any way. It happens even if I plan out my thoughts in my head. Other than that, could it even just be the GRE and lack of extracurriculars/volunteering even after an interview? Schools won't specify to me whether it was due to my interview and really emphasize certain aspects like what Rosalind mentioned.
Sorry for such a long post, but I'm really determined and motivated to get in somewhere, and it's disheartening to me to have been rejected from so many schools already with my stats. I know that it is a competitive process and several students are in the same position as me. I'm currently in my gap year as well but am willing to definitely make improvements for a more successful cycle. Thanks for taking the time to read, and please leave any suggestions you have for me or would like to clarify anything more in detail or that I did not include!
Good luck!
