Strengthening My Application

[Mperaza]

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Hello Everyone,

Just to give you guys a little background, I majored in Linguistics as an undergraduate and am now taking my prereqs for a DPT program. I absolutely love the work the PTs do at the outpatient clinic where I volunteer. My first question for you is the following:

Would getting certified as a personal trainer make my application stand out? The reason I ask is because I am a competitive powerlifter and truly love fitness. I've heard that working as a PT aide is also a huge plus, which I eventually plan on doing after taking physiology.

I've been working as a vocational consultant for people that have settled their Workers' Compensation cases for the past three years. This is where I became interested in PT and was exposed to working with physically disabled people.

My second question is, would it be worth it to quit my job to complete my prereqs in two years? The reason I ask is because I'm still working about 30 hours and am taking three classes. I am constantly swamped and having a hard time balancing school, work and training. I've even considered taking an extra year to complete them. To me it's not worth it to struggle and barely pull off a 3.3 GPA. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!

 

[jblil]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=991535

 

[cali122]

In my experience getting a certification isn't the thing that makes your application stand out. It's the experience you get by actually working as a personal trainer. Certifications is really just a small part on the PTCAS application and no one in any of my interviews asked about certifications. How it would help is if you had enough experience as a trainer to talk about it in your essay or take examples to use in your interview. But it sounds like your plate is full as it is and you wouldn't have much time to actually work as a trainer. I would get a PT aide job (you can do that before you take physio) and that will get you a leg up on both your app and the interviews.

I don't know about quitting your job, as I have no idea what your financial status is and what kind of bills you pay now. I can say that to make your app as competitive as possible you'll definitely want a pre-req GPA higher than a 3.3. If you can put all your energy into getting the best grades...do it. If you can't, I would take your time and not sacrifice lower grades (and a life) to apply earlier.

 

[NewTestament]

How it would help is if you had enough experience as a trainer to talk about it in your essay or take examples to use in your interview.

That's the only way it will help. Otherwise, it's just more work for you. If you have the certification but don't actually train people, then it's a waste of your time. I was a trainer before I applied to PT school. I made training a part of my background and a part of my story. That definitely improved my application, but the certification did not.

If I were you, I would go full time for a year and just concentrate on school, granted that you have the money and resources to live on a part-time job while you go to school. Otherwise, you risk sacrificing your grades. Not only that, it'll take longer to complete all your classes before you can apply. I think it's best to go to PT school as soon as possible.

Kevin