Thinking about changing majors from business to Bio-pre professional/pre PT

[Mushman18]

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Hope fully someone can help me out and give me some advice.

So I'm 24 years old and graduated high school in 2011 and have been in and out of college trying to get my associates in business since then. In between i tore my ACL twice (same knee) and got my first surgery in 2012 which put me out of school for about a year. the second surgery was in september 2017 and i didn't go to school in the fall because it was my right knee both times. While all that was going my parents went through a bit of a rough patch which lasted from the age if 16-22 which resulted in me not making great life decisions and dropping classes/semesters, not attending classes or if i did attend just not retaining any knowledge because of household issues. My gpa is currently at a 2.4 and 24 credits. I have most of my gen-ed course work completed and after maturing a bit and going through physical therapy a second time I feel like I've found my calling. Im fairly active so I did remember a lot of the workouts and exercises from my first time being in PT in 2012/2013 and i caught myself always listening to my PT and what she was telling other patients and grew more and more interested. I know how competitive PT school is to get into and with such a low gpa is it still possible to have a fighting chance. I also don't have an option but to work and have been bartending/ serving for the last 7 years and im burnt out. i got both my surgeries at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC (i live in central jersey close to rutgers) and was thinking about getting a PT aide/tech job there since i have friend who works there and she said the pay scale is almost double from what I'd get in jersey. Would the name of HSS on my resume in itself add to my chances of acceptance in PT school? i would of course work on boosting my GPA and all that. I want to make a change in my life and Physical Therapy is what i want to do. just need help from others who were in my shoes with a low gpa and turned life around.

 

[wdpt98123]

I'm not sure what kind of credits(quarter/semester) you're at in terms of school standing, but I believe you'll need to first finish a Bachelor's to apply for doctor of physical therapy programs. So the next step for you would be to either finish out a business degree while taking prereqs required by various PT schools if you can. If that's too much, then it might be easier to change majors so that most of the major's requirements may align with the prereqs required by many PT schools. I totally have your back on trying out what you want to do especially after your hardship. You would definitely need a site where you can volunteer, preferably in both hospital and smaller clinic environments, to really see if this is for you and get the required hours of observation. As hard it might be to maintain school with work, try not to overload so you can really excel in your prereq courses and your cumulative GPA so that your 2.4 can be boosted. I got into schools with a GPA of 3.18 and prereq gpa of about 3.25 with each individual grade of prereqs ranging from 2.4-4.0. I guess my personal statement and letters of recommendations from people who really know me helped me out, but don't slack on GPA like I did. At least you know this going into the classes instead of after taking them. Good luck!

 

[Mushman18]

I'm not sure what kind of credits(quarter/semester) you're at in terms of school standing, but I believe you'll need to first finish a Bachelor's to apply for doctor of physical therapy programs. So the next step for you would be to either finish out a business degree while taking prereqs required by various PT schools if you can. If that's too much, then it might be easier to change majors so that most of the major's requirements may align with the prereqs required by many PT schools. I totally have your back on trying out what you want to do especially after your hardship. You would definitely need a site where you can volunteer, preferably in both hospital and smaller clinic environments, to really see if this is for you and get the required hours of observation. As hard it might be to maintain school with work, try not to overload so you can really excel in your prereq courses and your cumulative GPA so that your 2.4 can be boosted. I got into schools with a GPA of 3.18 and prereq gpa of about 3.25 with each individual grade of prereqs ranging from 2.4-4.0. I guess my personal statement and letters of recommendations from people who really know me helped me out, but don't slack on GPA like I did. At least you know this going into the classes instead of after taking them. Good luck!

Im currently in a county college and have 24 credits completed and i plan on switching from an associates in business into an associates in Biology Pre-Professional since it knockouts all of the prereqs that i would need to apply to Rutgers DPT program. Also 7 years of attempting being a business major didn't really workout and it could be that im not meant for the business world and sitting behind a desk all day. I plan on transferring to Rutgers New Brunswick since it is literally 10 mins away from my house and get my bachelors in Exercise Science/ Kinesiology which i feel would help me practically in the future once i DO get my DPT degree. Trying to stay as positive as possible. But as far as volunteering, I had my follow up appointment with my surgeon at HSS yesterday and he said that he can arrange for me to shadow him a for couple of weeks and while doing so introduce me to the Physical Therapists at the hospital and they have inpatient, outpatient and sports physical therapy facilities within the campus so im trying to network as much as possible right now. The hospital is also contracted with a few of the New York professional sports team like the Giants and Knicks which i know of so potentially aiding a PT in rehabbing a pro athlete would be cool! Since I was stuck at home from September-December recovering and had all the time in the world, i put together and excel spreadsheet of all the PT schools id like to apply and what they require as far as Prereqs, observation hours requirements, GRE scores and GPA even though im no where close to that point just yet its a good reference. I've had a lot of time to think when i was stuck at home and having been in a PT facility as a patient for close to a year with both surgeries i did observe quite a bit but obviously i can't put that on my application! but thank you makes me feel better that im not the only one who has a lower than usual GPA in this industry and if you were able to get into a program so can i!

 

[wdpt98123]

Im currently in a county college and have 24 credits completed and i plan on switching from an associates in business into an associates in Biology Pre-Professional since it knockouts all of the prereqs that i would need to apply to Rutgers DPT program. Also 7 years of attempting being a business major didn't really workout and it could be that im not meant for the business world and sitting behind a desk all day. I plan on transferring to Rutgers New Brunswick since it is literally 10 mins away from my house and get my bachelors in Exercise Science/ Kinesiology which i feel would help me practically in the future once i DO get my DPT degree. Trying to stay as positive as possible. But as far as volunteering, I had my follow up appointment with my surgeon at HSS yesterday and he said that he can arrange for me to shadow him a for couple of weeks and while doing so introduce me to the Physical Therapists at the hospital and they have inpatient, outpatient and sports physical therapy facilities within the campus so im trying to network as much as possible right now. The hospital is also contracted with a few of the New York professional sports team like the Giants and Knicks which i know of so potentially aiding a PT in rehabbing a pro athlete would be cool! Since I was stuck at home from September-December recovering and had all the time in the world, i put together and excel spreadsheet of all the PT schools id like to apply and what they require as far as Prereqs, observation hours requirements, GRE scores and GPA even though im no where close to that point just yet its a good reference. I've had a lot of time to think when i was stuck at home and having been in a PT facility as a patient for close to a year with both surgeries i did observe quite a bit but obviously i can't put that on my application! but thank you makes me feel better that im not the only one who has a lower than usual GPA in this industry and if you were able to get into a program so can i!

If you've got the right motivation and the proper work ethics, I trust that you'll be able to get into a good program soon enough. Don't give up.

 

[mlb_25]

The nice thing about the DPT programs is that they don't care what major you are as long as you take all of their prerequisites. Personally, I think pursuing business would be beneficial. It could help your application stand out if you play up your strengths and possibly be useful after completing your DPT if you want to start your own clinic or take a job with more administrative responsibilities.

With all that being said, I would NOT pursue a business degree if it is something you aren't interested in. The next few years of school will be hard enough trying to maintain good grades, extracurriculars, jobs, preparing for grad school, etc. and the burn out will come much faster if you aren't learning about something you are interested in. Biology is a great choice for pre-med careers and Kinesiology is great for pre-PT. Take the time to focus on getting it right this time around, and develop good time management and proper study skills. Your cumulative GPA is much easier to fix at this point than closer to 120 credits when you are finishing your Bachelor's.

 

[Mushman18]

The nice thing about the DPT programs is that they don't care what major you are as long as you take all of their prerequisites. Personally, I think pursuing business would be beneficial. It could help your application stand out if you play up your strengths and possibly be useful after completing your DPT if you want to start your own clinic or take a job with more administrative responsibilities.

With all that being said, I would NOT pursue a business degree if it is something you aren't interested in. The next few years of school will be hard enough trying to maintain good grades, extracurriculars, jobs, preparing for grad school, etc. and the burn out will come much faster if you aren't learning about something you are interested in. Biology is a great choice for pre-med careers and Kinesiology is great for pre-PT. Take the time to focus on getting it right this time around, and develop good time management and proper study skills. Your cumulative GPA is much easier to fix at this point than closer to 120 credits when you are finishing your Bachelor's.

To clarify a bit I intend to get my associates degree in biology which would knockout all the prerequisites for PT school. I then plan on transferring and getting my Bachelors in exercise science/ kinesiology.

 

[Mushman18]

According to you guys do you think it’s a good idea to take chem 1, bio 1 and physics 2 in the same semester? I plan on doing calculus and physics 1 in the summer