Would like to know your opinion

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lowflyer14

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to gage your opinion on how I could improve my chances of getting accepted into a PT program when I have an average GPA.

First off, here are my stats:
pGPA: 3.2 (on PTCAS)
cGPA: 3.35
*I'm about to complete a few more prerequisites which will bump my pGPA to a 3.30. I have two more planned for the summer.
Observation hours: 200+ outpatient, starting to volunteer at an inpatient site this week.
GRE Scores:
V 156
Q 151
W 4.0

I have strong letters of recommendation and a good essay, but I know I didn't get accepted this cycle due to my average grades. I'm hoping to get my pGPA to at least a 3.4 before I apply again. I'm considering retaking the GRE in order to boost my quant score, but I believe my Verbal is ok where it is.

So my question is, would you think that doing a semester at an outdoor leadership school would be worthwhile? Aside from "being young and doing it while you get the chance" idea, I would like to know your opinion about whether a leadership school experience would stand out on my application. I am currently in my "year off" phase, and since I did not get accepted this cycle, everything I do will be scrutinized in its relevance to improving my PT application, etc. I am currently taking my final prerequisite classes and volunteering in a different PT setting to get more experience, but I want to know if I should add leadership school experience to my "year off" phase as well.

Also, if you have experience with leadership schools, I would love to know about your experience. I'm considering a NOLS course for this fall. Feel free to message me over this forum if you have any tips or advice.

Sincerely,
WSS

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Now that you will have inpatient under your belt you should be fine. You'll see from other threads that you need to find which schools you have a good chance at getting into, then apply in July as soon as PTCAS opens. I have very similar stats and got in to 3 programs this cycle. The shotgun approach to applying is a waste of time and money.
 
I would like to know your opinion about whether a leadership school experience would stand out on my application

Will probably marginally improve your chances. Will not compensate for your poor grades at most schools unfortunately.

Also, most schools seem to value the Verbal GRE score more than the Quant, FWIW, so don't think that you shouldn't bother with trying to improve in that area. Bumping that AW up to a 4.5 or a 5.0 will help too, but that can be tough if you don't have natural writing abilities.

I would try to retake any pre-reqs you got less than a B in if at all possible. A semester of straight A's in pre-reqs at your local community college shouldn't be too killer expensive and would help your cause a lot if this is at all feasible for you. Getting your pre-req GPA to >3.6 is needed to significantly effect your chances in light of you cGPA. Be sure to target your application to school that are willing to do grade replacement for retakes rather than averaging. Lots of threads on this and other topics regarding what to do about low GPA, lots of good reading on this subject.

You need to diversify your observation hours significantly too. Prioritize getting an acute care hospital experience as well as one other inpatient experience (which you appear to have underway). Remember, diversity of settings >>> number of hours.
 
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Will probably marginally improve your chances. Will not compensate for your poor grades at most schools unfortunately.

Also, most schools seem to value the Verbal GRE score more than the Quant, FWIW, so don't think that you shouldn't bother with trying to improve in that area. Bumping that AW up to a 4.5 or a 5.0 will help too, but that can be tough if you don't have natural writing abilities.

I would try to retake any pre-reqs you got less than a B in if at all possible. A semester of straight A's in pre-reqs at your local community college shouldn't be too killer expensive and would help your cause a lot if this is at all feasible for you. Getting your pre-req GPA to >3.6 is needed to significantly effect your chances in light of you cGPA. Be sure to target your application to school that are willing to do grade replacement for retakes rather than averaging. Lots of threads on this and other topics regarding what to do about low GPA, lots of good reading on this subject.

You need to diversify your observation hours significantly too. Prioritize getting an acute care hospital experience as well as one other inpatient experience (which you appear to have underway). Remember, diversity of settings >>> number of hours.
This post just saved me from typing a bunch:)
 
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Thanks for the responses. Just curious, are all of you in programs right now?
 
DPT applications is one of the few subjects where a 3.2/3.5 is considered poor grades by some. I honestly think your GPA is something to be proud of.

But, this is DPT, and the numbers game is ridiculously competitive. Unfortunately that will set you back, it's just the nature of the beast. Numbers are vital to get an interview. However, a growing trend among schools is to skip the interview and place a greater emphasis on essay, LOR, and diversity of observation. I think that is your golden ticket, if you can write a successful essay.

If you have a program within driving distance, make yourself known to the head of admission. Don't be annoying, but stop in every few months with questions. Attend as many open houses as possible.

Diversify your observations, but don't go crazy. I got around 600 hours in some very diverse fields , and no one cared about the amount of hours. It was the diversity that helped me, so I recommend you get a little more than you need and call it good.

Also, this is your year! You get a year to do what you want, so take advantage! I had a year to myself once, so I moved out to Vail, Colorado and taught kids how to snowboard. And you know what, interviewees favored that experience over most of my observations! It made me stand out from the typical inpatient, outpatient experiences, and demonstrated I can teach complex movements to kids. Point is, you don't have to slave away doing observations to improve your resume , go do something awesome that can strengthen you as a person and a PT. I really encourage you to look into something like this, it feel so good to spend your "year off" doing something you otherwise never would.

That's all I got, I hope you found this advice useful.
 
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Point is, you don't have to slave away doing observations to improve your resume , go do something awesome

I agree. Once you've gotten solidly above the minimum number of hours required by your schools, and you've got them spread out over several settings (preferably at least 4 IMO) then there are seriously diminishing returns for observation hours from their. And let's all be honest, after the first day in a new setting the novelty factor wears off and then spending hour after hour after hour standing their watching somebody do their job just totally sucks.
 
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Thanks for the input guys, and I totally agree, once the novelty wears off...observing sucks haha.
 
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Heya!

Currently a DPT'17 here - but I applied to similar stats to you (round 3.30-3.35 for both PTCAS GPA's, 149 V 151 Q 4.0 AW GRE). Do not get so caught up in the numbers and just perform adequate research in your schools. Do not fear the high average GPAs!
 
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