Hello all, I have an issue on my hands which I need some feedback on. I have taken Calculus two times so far. The first time I got a WC and withdrew at the very last minute because no matter what I couldn't understand my professors way of teaching. He's a straight out of the book type of guy. I took Cal back in fall of 2014 when I was a teenager attending an early college. It is now spring of 2016 and I failed it this time not because of understanding, but because of bad study habits. For years I have been procrastinating and managing a 3.75 GPA. Now that classes are becoming harder it is beginning to bite me. I am going to have to take the course a third time and make a more rigorous study schedule. I'm hoping that I haven't completely ruined my chances because of Calculus. I just recently realized what I wanted to do for a living. I am 19, a junior college, and I really want to break this procrastinating habit of mine and also become more active. I am not involved in any clubs and for the longest time I have just settled because of depression, but I have since recovered from that and I'm trying to recover from that leftover bad habit that has developed after all these yrs.
Third time taking Calculus (First time WC, 2nd time D) Physical therapist? Any chances?
- Thread starter sshackl2
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I know people advise that you go to pt school before going to medical school because you'll be more mature and have more experience when the times comes to go there. Becoming a pt was a recent change in aspiration so I still don't know everything there is to know about becoming one yet. The closest degrees related to a pt at my school is a Biology Pre-med degree and Sports Medicine degree. Considering I got credits in early college as a Bio Pre-med major continuing the Bio route was clearly the most convenient because the degree still requires all the subjects necessary to become a pt.
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Where?
Also, for a Bio Pre-med degree it IS a prereq to receive your undergraduate degree. I don't know why I forgot to mention that.
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Calculus is not a pre-req for most DPT programs, if any.... I would suggest you maybe get a tutor or take pre-calculus?
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Don't take calc if it's not your thing. It's not required usually and it will really bring down your pre req GPA by the looks of it. No, I don't personally think I've ever heard of anyone recommending PT school first before med school. Just go to med school if that's what you want to do. PT school is WAY too much work, way too much education and way too expensive to simply do it as an extended prep course.
You can be any major to apply to PT school. Just shift your major to one without calc.
You can be any major to apply to PT school. Just shift your major to one without calc.
I actually already took Pre-Cal. Weirdly enough, I took pre-calc before trig back in spring of 2014. Some things got a little screwy when I was in early college. Technically for my major pre-calc isn't reuqired...but I took it. In order to get my degree, I still need to pass the class with a C or better.
So...from what I'm hearing is, as long as I can bring my GPA up from this bad semester I shouldn’t struggle too much with getting into a pt school?
I am still new to everything and really understanding what path needs to be taken to get to the "final destination." All I know is that I want to become a physical therapist. I don't want to spend any more money than I have to. I don't mind doing several internships, working in my field, and getting experience under my belt, but I don't want to do anything I don't have to or anything where the loss outweighs the benefit. I would call myself rather "green" when it comes to all of this stuff considering I decided less than 2 months ago this is what I wanted to do with my life. Usually there are several different paths that can be taken to achieve your goal, but considering that that the W and D letter grade is already set in stone for the same class, I just want to know the BEST path to take from here. I know no matter what both Bio Pre-med and Bio general require calculus. The final option is an Exercise Sports Science Physical Education and Recreation degree which involves changing departments completely.
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I know Northwestern and UIC require calculus.
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That leaves the vast majority of programs that do not require calculus. One of the neat things about PT programs is that you could major in History if you wanted to, and still successfully apply to DPT programs if you also complete the prereqs for your desired programs. If OP is finding calculus to be a road block, there are lots of ways around that one. It would be different if s/he were having problems in, say, anatomy or physio.
I took stats 3 times and as long as they take the highest grade on your pre-req, your highest grade will be used. It certainly wont help your PTCAS overall or UGPA but it will for school specific prereqs. So ultimately, if you absolutely need it take it again and obviously get some help. But anyways I applied to many many programs because I had to, and none of them required calc. So unless you're specifically determined to attend that school maybe check out some others.
People advise people to go to PT school before medical school? I don't think this is very accurate..
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I was thinking this, too. I tried to find someone giving that advice online, and all I could find was people who went to med school after pt school because they didn't know they wanted to go to med school until they were already in pt school, and no one recommended going that route on purpose. That's a lot of unnecessary debt and extra time.
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True dat.
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Well yes on paper GPA is very important. But other factors are considered when your application is being evaluated: GRE, essay, pt observation hours, letter of recommendations....
It also depends on the schools you are interested in and what their requirements are....
Leave calculus alone lol
Although the first time was because of understanding͵ the second time was not. There was no problem with my Cal teacher the secondtime I took it
Well, you can't comletely trust me on that. I may have mistaken those notcing the maturity in those that already attended pt school before med as "more recommended" when it didn't mean that at all. I still don't have an absolute grasp of what path should be taken to become a pt so if I say something inorrect I apologize.
At the end of the day I still have Physics I and II that I need to take as well and those courses have some Calculus in it as well. From my understanding quite a few pt schools require at least that.
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I believe all dpt programs require physics 1 and 2 but, it's not bad if you have the luxury of having a good teacher and put time into studying equations etc. Chem 1 and 2 is also required... Along with Bio, A&P and statistics.
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Yes most schools require physics 1 & 2 but I took a non calc based physics.
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Physic I & II are offered as calc-based and non-calc-based. Most PT programs require a "life sciences" level of physics, which means no calc. You really need to pull up the prereqs list of all programs you're considering applying to and read through each required course carefully. You don't want to disqualify yourself by taking a class that doesn't actually meet a requirement, but you don't need to waste time/energy/GPA on classes than that are harder than needed, either. HTH!
Due to my laziness, my gpa will be seeing a .2 drop, but I can't say it's much of a surprise. If I play my cards right do I still have a chance to succeed?
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My bad, I thought you had said .2 difference so I just calculated that way. Whatever it is, same rules apply. 2.25 one semester can really be difficult to bring back up, but once again like I said your PTCAS GPA will most likely be even lower than whatever your university GPA is. I had a 3.8 according to what I graduated with and a 3.4 according to PTCAS, with a. 3.14 in. Math and Sciences because I made the mistake of taking a math class I didn't need. Talk to an advisor and see if you can take a different path that still relates to the courses you have taken and then talk to the admissions office of the schools you are looking to apply to.
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PTCAS uses standard GPA calculation. Very few students will have any changes from their transcript GPA to PTCAS GPA. We just do not hear about people complaining that PTCAS did not change their GPA. I do know some historically prestigious schools use a more friendly GPA calculations but for most people it is a non issue.
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The real difference is for repeated classes, if sshack retakes Calc, his local institution may replace the grade with the new one, however with PTCAS, it will count both grades. So I think the point being made is that for PTCAS gpa, retaking a non Pre-Req might not be a great idea if he is able to take a path with a class he can ace instead.
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If you retake it and you're confident you can make a good grade, I would say just go ahead. It's not a requirement for most PT schools so I doubt it will look bad that you had to take it more than once, and the new grade will replace the old one and your GPA will be happy.
But if you still struggle with calc, you look ahead on your degree plan and see that more courses will give you trouble, AND you don't enjoy your major all that much, I would advise you to switch your major to one that 1) doesn't require calc 2) prepares you well for PT school 3) allows you to complete your PT pre-reqs and 4) is enjoyable and interesting to you.
But if biology is the love of your life, then stick with your major, retake calc and study hard for it! Let this experience be a stepping stone to better study habits, it'll only help you in the future, especially if you get into PT school. 🙂
But if you still struggle with calc, you look ahead on your degree plan and see that more courses will give you trouble, AND you don't enjoy your major all that much, I would advise you to switch your major to one that 1) doesn't require calc 2) prepares you well for PT school 3) allows you to complete your PT pre-reqs and 4) is enjoyable and interesting to you.
But if biology is the love of your life, then stick with your major, retake calc and study hard for it! Let this experience be a stepping stone to better study habits, it'll only help you in the future, especially if you get into PT school. 🙂
For my undergraduate institution we could replace 3 grades completely if we wanted to. Meaning the old grade is completely gone, and PTCAS would never even know you took the course twice, so they would only see that second time around grade. It's not a well known thing but I was told after I graduated that we had that option.
Sshackl2 I think you should just take a step back and focus on doing well in your undergraduate degree, what ever it may be. Take classes that you can do well in and that you might enjoy. Don't worry about sculpting your classes for PT or med school right now. Its hard to focus on doing well in school at any age and if you just decided you want to be a pt a few months ago you may still change your mind. If you don't change your mind you can take the remaining pre-reqs fairly easily. You'll want to have a really solid idea of which ones are worth taking and which ones aren't going to add much to your application. In the meantime the best thing you can do is apply yourself to your undergraduate degree and getting a strong GPA. Also if you have some free time on summer break or between classes get some shadowing hours in at a few different settings. That way you can keep PT in the forefront of your mind and keep thinking about if it is what want to do. There is a lot of research that you can do that will help you decide how to apply to PT school, and if it is really what you want to do. Taking some time to do that will be a much better use of your time that throwing yourself at calculus again.
Which programs?
I've only seen a few that require it! Most don't even require pre calc lol
