Year Off

[navybluedreams]

Hey guys! So I originally had planned to apply this cycle. I was beginning to do so with low confidence in my stats. With a lot of emotional power, I decided to be smarter and take a year off and apply for the next cycle. I was wondering what you guys suggest I do with my time off before I apply next year to increase my chances of getting in. Here are some of my plans for the next year and some of my stats:

Stats

• Cumulative GPA: 3.418
• Exercise Science GPA: 3.558
• C's in Anatomy, Phys, Physics 2, Bio 1
• A's and B's in everything (more B's than A's)
• 500+ hours as an outpatient physical therapy aide
• Continue working at a LTAC hospital

Plans

• Retake Anatomy, Physiology, Physics 2, and Biology 1 - I received C's in all of the classes. Anatomy and Phys will be retaken at a 4-year institution
• I would retake a few more classes that I got B's in but I heard it doesn't look good if you have to retake so many classes
• Study and take the GRE
• Probably get a few more observation hours at different settings

I'm from VA, and my ultimate dream would be to get into VCU, but I'm not sure of its likelihood. I'll probably apply to the main VA schools, GW, and a few more schools out of state. To be honest, I'd just love to get into school as soon as possible haha.

Sorry, this post was super long! I'd appreciate any input! I've emailed various programs about it but they are very vague in their suggestions. Thanks!

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[Rgvmed]

Well, if you haven't studied for the GRE yet this may be a good idea. However, you should ask yourself this question: do you just want to take a year off to relax or is it truly to build your application for PT applications. If it's the latter, I'd recommend studying for the GRE now and taking it to see if you can score a 310 or above. If so, go ahead and apply now. Your application is strong enough to gain acceptance to at least one school if you apply to say 8 to 10. This might seem costly but so is the cost of retaking courses and the opportunity cost of a missed year of salary. Think about this thoroughly. It's certainly not an easy question to answer but you should be able to come to a solution here shortly. There are plenty of programs that have latter deadlines for applications. Worst case scenario, you take a couple of your retakes this spring after using the fall for the GRE and application process.

 

[navybluedreams]

Well, if you haven't studied for the GRE yet this may be a good idea. However, you should ask yourself this question: do you just want to take a year off to relax or is it truly to build your application for PT applications. If it's the latter, I'd recommend studying for the GRE now and taking it to see if you can score a 310 or above. If so, go ahead and apply now. Your application is strong enough to gain acceptance to at least one school if you apply to say 8 to 10. This might seem costly but so is the cost of retaking courses and the opportunity cost of a missed year of salary. Think about this thoroughly. It's certainly not an easy question to answer but you should be able to come to a solution here shortly. There are plenty of programs that have latter deadlines for applications. Worst case scenario, you take a couple of your retakes this spring after using the fall for the GRE and application process.

Thanks for the input! I definitely want to give myself more time to study for the GRE. I don't want to risk taking it so soon only to end up doing poorly.
I just see such a wide variety of statistics on the forums on here, I'm not too sure what my likelihood is to get into a program. Do you know much about VCU?

 

[davidtheusername]

If I was you I wouldn't take the B classes over this year. I think you'd be better off having the extra time to make sure you retake those C's for A's and knock the GRE out of the park. Retaking the B's doesn't improve the GPA as much as retaking the C's and it may make it harder to get A's in the C classes. Good luck!