Too Late to Change?

[oNoes]

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Hello,

I am curious how many of you did not consider PT at the beginning of your undergrad? I am asking in hopes I didn't shoot myself in the foot with my immaturity over the last couple of years.

I went to community college right after high school being told that's just what the next step is. So not knowing what the heck I wanted to do with myself I just decided to choose business administration as a major. Over these 2 years I was in excruciating pain from chronic and acute injuries, largely due to the fact I wasn't taking care of myself (280 lbs, now I am 170). I didn't have a quality of life, I didn't really have a life. I'm not going to delve into all the dark moments but I would show up to school, sometimes. I would just sleep in fairly often, yet I did manage mostly A's and B's. I genuinely believe I could have walked out of community with a 3.8+ had I given a you know what, but I walked out with a 3.1 and a D in calculus.

The point is, physical therapy saved my life. Maybe not literally (or maybe 30 years down the road literally), but without quality what is the point of life? When I would show up all the therapists all seemed to love their job, and it didn't seem like they were putting on a facade just for their patients, they really seemed to love it. I have come to realize I don't want a career in a cubicle, I would love to return the favor to others who are not living a happy life, and help them achieve what I have achieved.

My saving grace is due to me starting from a business background I have not taken any of the pre-reqs so I believe I can ace all of those and my goal is nothing less than a 3.7. Also this semester while I'm basically finishing up business gen eds at my first semester at University, I can easily still achieve a 4.0 this semester. Absolute worst case would be starting off at a 3.66.

Would schools look down on me starting my college career at community not seriously enough? I didn't do too bad, it's just with how competitive admissions are from what I've read I'm disappointed in myself for putting myself in the hole to start. I'm getting to the age where (in my opinion) the benefits of a major change still outweigh the costs (tuition, opportunity cost of work, etc.) Although you can't put a price on loving what you do every day.

Please ignore any typos , sent from my phone and in a bit of a rush.

 

[samMin95]

Hello,

I am curious how many of you did not consider PT at the beginning of your undergrad? I am asking in hopes I didn't shoot myself in the foot with my immaturity over the last couple of years.

I went to community college right after high school being told that's just what the next step is. So not knowing what the heck I wanted to do with myself I just decided to choose business administration as a major. Over these 2 years I was in excruciating pain from chronic and acute injuries, largely due to the fact I wasn't taking care of myself (280 lbs, now I am 170). I didn't have a quality of life, I didn't really have a life. I'm not going to delve into all the dark moments but I would show up to school, sometimes. I would just sleep in fairly often, yet I did manage mostly A's and B's. I genuinely believe I could have walked out of community with a 3.8+ had I given a you know what, but I walked out with a 3.1 and a D in calculus.

The point is, physical therapy saved my life. Maybe not literally (or maybe 30 years down the road literally), but without quality what is the point of life? When I would show up all the therapists all seemed to love their job, and it didn't seem like they were putting on a facade just for their patients, they really seemed to love it. I have come to realize I don't want a career in a cubicle, I would love to return the favor to others who are not living a happy life, and help them achieve what I have achieved.

My saving grace is due to me starting from a business background I have not taken any of the pre-reqs so I believe I can ace all of those and my goal is nothing less than a 3.7. Also this semester while I'm basically finishing up business gen eds at my first semester at University, I can easily still achieve a 4.0 this semester. Absolute worst case would be starting off at a 3.66.

Would schools look down on me starting my college career at community not seriously enough? I didn't do too bad, it's just with how competitive admissions are from what I've read I'm disappointed in myself for putting myself in the hole to start. I'm getting to the age where (in my opinion) the benefits of a major change still outweigh the costs (tuition, opportunity cost of work, etc.) Although you can't put a price on loving what you do every day.

Please ignore any typos , sent from my phone and in a bit of a rush.

Hey oNoes!

Your situation is not an uncommon one at all! What I'd say is this: you are at a disadvantage because of the rocky start, but it is a disadvantage that will not handicap you at all, unless you continue to perform the same way as you have been. What I'm saying is, the low grades only hurt you if you do not change those grades from here on out. Let's say admissions see that you got straight C's in all your business classes in the beginning, but then the next year (when you take PT prereqs and are now fully pursuing PT) and you perform outstandingly with A's and B's (try and get mostly A's haha), they'll definitely see how dedicated you are to PT, and your poor start will not cause you to be at a disadvantage. Yes they want their students to have good grades, but if you show a change in your academic career that is just as good (C/D's>>> A's).

I'm also guessing you are starting or already in a 4 year institution?
PM me if you need any other advice, I'd be glad to help!

 

[astarblaze]

Hello,

I am curious how many of you did not consider PT at the beginning of your undergrad? I am asking in hopes I didn't shoot myself in the foot with my immaturity over the last couple of years.

I went to community college right after high school being told that's just what the next step is. So not knowing what the heck I wanted to do with myself I just decided to choose business administration as a major. Over these 2 years I was in excruciating pain from chronic and acute injuries, largely due to the fact I wasn't taking care of myself (280 lbs, now I am 170). I didn't have a quality of life, I didn't really have a life. I'm not going to delve into all the dark moments but I would show up to school, sometimes. I would just sleep in fairly often, yet I did manage mostly A's and B's. I genuinely believe I could have walked out of community with a 3.8+ had I given a you know what, but I walked out with a 3.1 and a D in calculus.

The point is, physical therapy saved my life. Maybe not literally (or maybe 30 years down the road literally), but without quality what is the point of life? When I would show up all the therapists all seemed to love their job, and it didn't seem like they were putting on a facade just for their patients, they really seemed to love it. I have come to realize I don't want a career in a cubicle, I would love to return the favor to others who are not living a happy life, and help them achieve what I have achieved.

My saving grace is due to me starting from a business background I have not taken any of the pre-reqs so I believe I can ace all of those and my goal is nothing less than a 3.7. Also this semester while I'm basically finishing up business gen eds at my first semester at University, I can easily still achieve a 4.0 this semester. Absolute worst case would be starting off at a 3.66.

Would schools look down on me starting my college career at community not seriously enough? I didn't do too bad, it's just with how competitive admissions are from what I've read I'm disappointed in myself for putting myself in the hole to start. I'm getting to the age where (in my opinion) the benefits of a major change still outweigh the costs (tuition, opportunity cost of work, etc.) Although you can't put a price on loving what you do every day.

Please ignore any typos , sent from my phone and in a bit of a rush.

A 3.1 GPA after 2 years of study will not kill your prospects for PT school. You need to do well (read majority As) from here on out. I'd shoot for 4.0 or as close to it as you can get. Some schools use last 60 credit hours in lieu of cum GPA, so I would also suggest looking into applying to some of those types of programs and getting your last 60 to be as close to 4.0 as you can do. Do really well in your remaining (2?) years and your GPA won't hold you back from applying to most programs. (As a hypothetical example, if you had half of your credits left to do and were to get a 4.0 from here on out, you could pull your cum up to 3.55, and even higher if you do extra coursework.) When you do apply, you'll want to focus on programs where your stats are competitive (ideally at least a bit above the average for accepted students). Do well (mostly or all As) in prereqs, study for and do well on the GRE, get observation hours in at least 3-4 different settings, get to know some profs/PTs who can write you excellent rec letters, etc. If you search through this forum, you'll find stories of plenty of people who had a rough start GPA-wise and have since improved their stats and were able to get accepted. I think you also have a cool story about your motivation for going into PT, which you can talk about in essays and interviews (though you'll want to definitely make it very clear that you've overcome and learned from the challenges you've faced and they won't affect your performance in PT school. A complete turn-around in GPA is good evidence for this.)

 

[DPThopeful1859]

I actually didn't consider PT when I began my undergrad. I started off as a biology major, thinking I really wanted to be a doctor. After my first semester, I changed my mind, switched to psychology for one semester then changed to exercise science for the rest of my undergrad. I had never had any experience with PT before I chose to go down that path, but I'm certainly glad I did. I was incredibly naive when I was in undergrad, so I graduated with a 3.1 GPA and a 2.75 pre-req GPA. I didn't realize how competitive PT school was, so I retook some classes over time and gained more experience to make my academic resume look much better. Granted, I only bumped my total GPA up to a 3.3 and my pre-req to a 3.2.-3.3, my post-bac GPA was a 3.85....so I focused my energy on picking out schools that would like these scores. After 6 years of trying to get in ANYWHERE, I finally did it and I begin next year. I don't think you'll be at a disadvantage at all if you can show your improvement and document it as well. Maybe even get letters of recommendation from those who know you and can help back up your statements 🙂