What are my chances?

[diehrdgiantsfan]

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Hi,

I live in California, and I graduated last year with a Biology BS degree.
I am currently finishing my some of my prereqs before applying to a PT program for the 2013 school year.

My cumulative GPA is 3.28
My GRE scores are 159 (82%) for quantitative, 155 (69%) for verbal, and a 5 for the analytically writing score

I currently have about 160 hours of volunteering/shadowing experience (2 general outpatient, 1 inpatient spinal cord injury) and by October/November I should have about 210 - 220 hours

My gpa is so low because I screwed around my first 3 years of college and finally got my act together for my senior year courses and post graduation courses (when I realized that i am passionate about PT). I got straight A's my senior year and i am currently getting all A's in the 6 pre-req courses that I have/am taken/taking since graduation.

I don't have any other extra curricular activities except for part time jobs...

What are my chances of getting into a program? And what can I do to improve my resume/chances of getting in?

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!!

 

[Fiveoboy11]

Hi,

I live in California, and I graduated last year with a Biology BS degree.
I am currently finishing my some of my prereqs before applying to a PT program for the 2013 school year.

My cumulative GPA is 3.28
My GRE scores are 159 (82%) for quantitative, 155 (69%) for verbal, and a 5 for the analytically writing score

I currently have about 160 hours of volunteering/shadowing experience (2 general outpatient, 1 inpatient spinal cord injury) and by October/November I should have about 210 - 220 hours

My gpa is so low because I screwed around my first 3 years of college and finally got my act together for my senior year courses and post graduation courses (when I realized that i am passionate about PT). I got straight A's my senior year and i am currently getting all A's in the 6 pre-req courses that I have/am taken/taking since graduation.

I don't have any other extra curricular activities except for part time jobs...

What are my chances of getting into a program? And what can I do to improve my resume/chances of getting in?

Any help would be appreciated, thank you!!

you look to be competitive, sounds like you're a hard worker and passionate about PT so I hope you get in

 

[adh28]

Sounds like you are doing great now, just keep up the good grades and maybe get some more observation experience if you have the time. You are just as competitive as anyone else! Good luck I am sure you will get good results

 

[djb051]

Hi, I graduated with a BS in Biology as well, and I did not take my freshman year seriously, which lowered my GPA. After that though, I did really well, and I will be applying this year. My suggestion though is because those years lowered your GPA, continue to get all A's, but also try to make the other parts of your application look really good as a way of sort of "compensating" for a lower GPA. So volunteer in multiple PT settings, get to know professors and PTs really well for a great letter of recommendation. Study in preparation for the GRE to get a high score. Get started on your essay early. I would say definitely try to get involved in extracurriculars before you apply. It will look better on an application. Also, if you have time, you can even retake a few classes to improve your GPA. You can also apply for schools that look at your last 60 credits GPA or last 45 credits GPA, which may improve your chances of acceptance. You cannot erase those years, but there is a still a lot you can do to improve your application and show admissions that a you are a serious student now.

 

[diehrdgiantsfan]

Hey thanks for the reply. I really regret those first 3 years, even though I never failed a class, I always did just enough to get by... and always ended up getting mostly Bs and Cs.. and getting straight As for the past 2 years could only do so much to raise my GPA

I was really disappointed in my GRE scores, in my practices I consistently got 158 - 160 (570 - 610) for verbal and 163 - 165 (780 - 790) for quantitative... after my classes this quarter i'm going to start studying for the GRE again.

I'm not that worried about my letters of recommendation because I think i'm going to get a really good one from one of my professor and PT... how many hours of volunteering/shadowing do you have? I was thinking of trying to get 300.. but i don't think i'll get to that before i apply

My main question is where can I find these "extra curricular activities" that I see a lot of people have... I recently moved to a new town after I graduated and I don't know many people besides the people I work with, and most of them are only interested in partying, and that phase of my life is kinda over.. haha

 

[djb051]

Hey thanks for the reply. I really regret those first 3 years, even though I never failed a class, I always did just enough to get by... and always ended up getting mostly Bs and Cs.. and getting straight As for the past 2 years could only do so much to raise my GPA

I was really disappointed in my GRE scores, in my practices I consistently got 158 - 160 (570 - 610) for verbal and 163 - 165 (780 - 790) for quantitative... after my classes this quarter i'm going to start studying for the GRE again.

I'm not that worried about my letters of recommendation because I think i'm going to get a really good one from one of my professor and PT... how many hours of volunteering/shadowing do you have? I was thinking of trying to get 300.. but i don't think i'll get to that before i apply

My main question is where can I find these "extra curricular activities" that I see a lot of people have... I recently moved to a new town after I graduated and I don't know many people besides the people I work with, and most of them are only interested in partying, and that phase of my life is kinda over.. haha

I only have about 80 hours of volunteering/shadowing right now. I volunteer at an outpatient center for 4 hours every week and will continue to do so at least until the end of the summer if not longer. I already have some inpatient hours, and I am going to see if I can also start volunteering at a skilled nursing facility to add another setting to the application. The more hours and settings you have, the better it will look.

It depends on where you live with finding extracurriculars. Most schools have clubs and intramural sports you can join if you are still taking prerequisites. In my case, the school I attend for my remainder prerequisites have a small selection of clubs and sports, most of the clubs would not pertain to me either. So I mostly do extra volunteer work outside of school in my county, which I found through my county website. Your county website might list volunteer opportunities as well as who to contact and how to get started. Places love volunteers so it should be no problem finding something to do. Or you could always just do a google search for volunteer opportunities in such and such city, which will probably give you some results. Good luck.

Btw, there should be a spot on the PT application, if you apply through PTCAS, where you have an opportunity to explain those 3 years or however long it was by saying it does not reflect how you are now ect. Also be prepared to possibly talk about it at a school interview.

 

[diehrdgiantsfan]

I only have about 80 hours of volunteering/shadowing right now. I volunteer at an outpatient center for 4 hours every week and will continue to do so at least until the end of the summer if not longer. I already have some inpatient hours, and I am going to see if I can also start volunteering at a skilled nursing facility to add another setting to the application. The more hours and settings you have, the better it will look.

It depends on where you live with finding extracurriculars. Most schools have clubs and intramural sports you can join if you are still taking prerequisites. In my case, the school I attend for my remainder prerequisites have a small selection of clubs and sports, most of the clubs would not pertain to me either. So I mostly do extra volunteer work outside of school in my county, which I found through my county website. Your county website might list volunteer opportunities as well as who to contact and how to get started. Places love volunteers so it should be no problem finding something to do. Or you could always just do a google search for volunteer opportunities in such and such city, which will probably give you some results. Good luck.

Btw, there should be a spot on the PT application, if you apply through PTCAS, where you have an opportunity to explain those 3 years or however long it was by saying it does not reflect how you are now ect. Also be prepared to possibly talk about it at a school interview.

Do IM sports count as extracurricular activities? I did IM flag football, basketball, and softball when I was an undergrad... how can I get that verify? I just got done with one of my classes this week, so I was gonna go around town asking PT clinics if they needed help/if i can shadow to get more hours... and i'll definitely look into the county website. thanks for the advice

I do feel a little better now that i know one of the program/school i am applying to only looks at pre-req GPA when ranking applicants.. and my GPA would be 3.68 for that school (CSU Sacramento). i'm gonna retake my GRE in October and continue to stack up my hours. i really want to get in!!!

 

[Oholit]

You actually have an impressive resume thanks to your extra-curricular activities. Try to get your grades up, though if you still can.

 

[djb051]

Do IM sports count as extracurricular activities? I did IM flag football, basketball, and softball when I was an undergrad... how can I get that verify? I just got done with one of my classes this week, so I was gonna go around town asking PT clinics if they needed help/if i can shadow to get more hours... and i'll definitely look into the county website. thanks for the advice

I do feel a little better now that i know one of the program/school i am applying to only looks at pre-req GPA when ranking applicants.. and my GPA would be 3.68 for that school (CSU Sacramento). i'm gonna retake my GRE in October and continue to stack up my hours. i really want to get in!!!

Yes, sports do count as extracurricular. I do not think you have to have the sports verified when you put it on your PT application under extracurriculars. However, I have never applied before so I cannot say that with 100 percent certainty. If it does require verification, PTCAS will tell you how to do it.

 

[joeyjukebox]

Do IM sports count as extracurricular activities? I did IM flag football, basketball, and softball when I was an undergrad... how can I get that verify? I just got done with one of my classes this week, so I was gonna go around town asking PT clinics if they needed help/if i can shadow to get more hours... and i'll definitely look into the county website. thanks for the advice

I do feel a little better now that i know one of the program/school i am applying to only looks at pre-req GPA when ranking applicants.. and my GPA would be 3.68 for that school (CSU Sacramento). i'm gonna retake my GRE in October and continue to stack up my hours. i really want to get in!!!

IM sports do count as extracurricular activities, and you don't need to have them verified. I applied last year and put recreational league basketball as one of my ECs. As far as other ideas for ECs, I would say any type of community service volunteer work would look good. My adviser told me PT programs like it when applicants are involved in their community.

And I think you have a good shot at getting accepted! 3.68 is a really good GPA, and your pre-req GPA is even better. CSUs care more about the pre-req GPA anyway.

 

[Minh Chau Huynh]

Your GRE scores are pretty good, but GPA is a bit low. Its extremely competitive these days. My friends and I applied to loads of schools and got rejected to most of them. As I see it, if you want to get into the school of your dreams, you need at least a 3.5 to be competitive. You can retake a few classes to raise your GPA and compensate by getting to know your teachers and PTs real well so they can write you a solid letter of recommendation. Worse comes to worse, I advise you to apply to university of st. augustine, as they are not on PTCAS and not a lot of people know about them, so less competition. They're located in san diego and since u love in CA, itd be real convenient. I had worse stats than you, but got into that school. Best time to apply there is summer. Hope that helps and wish you luck!

 

[diehrdgiantsfan]

Your GRE scores are pretty good, but GPA is a bit low. Its extremely competitive these days. My friends and I applied to loads of schools and got rejected to most of them. As I see it, if you want to get into the school of your dreams, you need at least a 3.5 to be competitive. You can retake a few classes to raise your GPA and compensate by getting to know your teachers and PTs real well so they can write you a solid letter of recommendation. Worse comes to worse, I advise you to apply to university of st. augustine, as they are not on PTCAS and not a lot of people know about them, so less competition. They're located in san diego and since u love in CA, itd be real convenient. I had worse stats than you, but got into that school. Best time to apply there is summer. Hope that helps and wish you luck!

Hey, thank you for the suggestion, i will definitely look into that school. I don't think i will have time to retake any classes this summer... as i will be working full time and studying for the GRE again to retake it in September... if you don't mind me asking, what were your stats? and were you accepted to anywhere else? thanks