Hi everyone. I'm Charity, and I'm currently working on a Bachelor's degree in Integrative Physiology. I'm going into my senior year and am planning on applying to PT school next summer (sort of taking a year off). I took a nontraditional route to get here. I completed two years of college in high school and will graduate college when I am 19. Needless to say, despite the fact that I have a fairly good GPA (around a 3.7), volunteer experience, and know that I can do well on the GRE, I don't have a lot of extracurriculars or lab experience, etc. And I'm feeling stuck. My degree is a set-up for grad school. If I can't get into grad school, I don't know what to do. I also don't know what to do in my year off since my degree doesn't really train me to do a job. It just gives me knowledge and information. What do I do with a degree in Physiology? I need some help. Thanks, everybody.
What am I supposed to do???
- Thread starter xcharityx
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Wow, I've only met one other person who graduated college that quickly. I think that in and of itself will help you get into grad school. Why don't you do something in your yer off that isn't school-related? Travel, volunteer more, etc. You probably have a lot of options as far as employment goes as well, depending on your interests.
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I agree with the traveling part for your year off, I know a lot of people in school who regret not traveling before going to school. Once you get into school you wont have much time traveling and vacations (probably wont be able to go on a nice vacation till I graduate in 3 years), if I was in your shoes I would spend half the year traveling with the other half volunteering/lab experience stuff. But of course before all that I would just focus on beasting the GREs, your GPA is pretty good and I wouldn't be worried about not getting into a decent program.
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My priorities if I were to be in your position would be: take the GRE (do great, and if you don't, you at least have time to retake it before applying), finish college, observe at at least 3 different type of PT settings (you don't have to do a ton of volunteering or lab experience; I had neither), build relationships with those PTs and at least one professor, then apply to PT school. If you don't get in, which I would doubt since your GPA is good (and if everything else is on point), then you're young enough to take a short break (6 months) and then reapply by improving what you were lacking last round (asking schools about why you didn't get in). Make sure that you don't have an C's in any of your pre-requisite courses and retake them if you do at that point. Good luck!
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Hello Charity! Are you going to CU Boulder by chance? I majored in IPHY + PSYC at Boulder and took a good 4 yrs off before applying to graduate school. Because your GPA is good, and you already have volunteer experience and you're certain you can get a good GRE score, I would take it one step at a time. Focus on the GRE, make sure all your pre-reqs are finished and apply! Plan B can involve working as an aid, retaking any necessary pre-reqs, and traveling! No need to rush
Good luck!
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Dude, take some time off, travel, have a crappy retail job for awhile and BE 19! There is no reason to press the fast forward button on higher ed if you got through undergrad that quickly. Granted, having a degree that doesn't automatically put you into a pool of candidates for immediate hire is scary....and not easy to transition to (I majored in dance, so, I can completely understand). However, you are considering a profession that values life experience and personal growth (among other, quantifiable things, like grades, GRE scores, and specific gpas). So you should go out, and have some life experience and get some of that personal growth.
I am a non-traditional PT student. I had a dance career first, with multiple retail and food service side jobs, and then once my dreams were sufficiently crushed by the recession and general burn-out due to my unpaid status, I switched to massage therapy. Massage then brought all those dreams I set aside to be a PT to the forefront, and I dove in headfirst and got into 2/2 fabulous schools my first round of applying (after 2 years of post bacc, let's be honest here).
My class is divided, probably 2/3 of people came directly from undergrad and 1/3 of us had some other life trajectory that brought us to PT school. Everyone is amazing, and has a lot to offer, but the people who had real-world experience outside of the warm cocoon of college already have experience that directly affects their clinical reasoning, interaction with patients and teachers, and other students in a very good way. I think adcoms don't specifically look for people who have had more life experience when they apply, but it never hurts.
Bottom line: PT school is hard. It's draining. The amount of content you NEED TO KNOW is ridiculous. If there is any opportunity to have a break and be a person and not a Kendall-toting goni zombie for 3 years, you should take it. PT school will still be there when you are ready. Also, if you aren't yet 21, then you can't have the post-first-anatomy-test bender (legally) and who wants to miss out on the celebratory tequila shots while talking about the pathway and axonal components of the ulnar nerve?
I am a non-traditional PT student. I had a dance career first, with multiple retail and food service side jobs, and then once my dreams were sufficiently crushed by the recession and general burn-out due to my unpaid status, I switched to massage therapy. Massage then brought all those dreams I set aside to be a PT to the forefront, and I dove in headfirst and got into 2/2 fabulous schools my first round of applying (after 2 years of post bacc, let's be honest here).
My class is divided, probably 2/3 of people came directly from undergrad and 1/3 of us had some other life trajectory that brought us to PT school. Everyone is amazing, and has a lot to offer, but the people who had real-world experience outside of the warm cocoon of college already have experience that directly affects their clinical reasoning, interaction with patients and teachers, and other students in a very good way. I think adcoms don't specifically look for people who have had more life experience when they apply, but it never hurts.
Bottom line: PT school is hard. It's draining. The amount of content you NEED TO KNOW is ridiculous. If there is any opportunity to have a break and be a person and not a Kendall-toting goni zombie for 3 years, you should take it. PT school will still be there when you are ready. Also, if you aren't yet 21, then you can't have the post-first-anatomy-test bender (legally) and who wants to miss out on the celebratory tequila shots while talking about the pathway and axonal components of the ulnar nerve?
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Wait- this is PT school forums right? You don't need any research credentials or lab experience. Do your minimum required observation hours (or more if you worked as an aide or you're a try hard) and smash up the gre
