<p>Hello, I'm a high school junior and I really want to become a Physical Therapist. I have done some research on the education requirements but I need help sorting it all out. I live in California if that helps. My first question is what type of major should I pick. I know that most dpt programs (which I want b/c of the 2020 vision where all PTs need to have a doctorate)? I know that the prereqs for grad school is not universal but which degree would help me the most and make sure that I meet most prereqs. </p>
<p>My next question is do you recommend doing a direct entry dpt program or splitting it up.</p>
<p>Also, could anyone give me more info as to the types of pt jobs? I want to focus on muscles and injuries (like athletic training but I want to be a pt because I can help a broader range of people)
Also what is kinesiothology? How does it differ from pt?
My final question is do u have any schools that u recommend. I am in the top 5% of my high school but my sats are nothing to scream about. Thank you so much for any help. I'd tremendously appreciate any help</p>
<p>Not quite familiar with the difference between PT and Kinesiothology but my cousin is studying Kinesiothology at Waterloo so I’ll ask her for more info.</p>
<p>The top 4 physical therapy programs in the country according to US News are:</p>
<p>University Of Southern California
University Of Pittsburgh
Washington University In St. Louis
University Of Delaware</p>
<p>I highly recommend Pittsburgh, it’s a great school in a great school, plus it’s a public school so it’s very affordable. I think Pitt has a guaranteed admissions program to its graduate school too (also top in the nation) if you meet the following requirements:</p>
<p>Physical Therapy Guarantee
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences</p>
<p>Indicate Pre-Physical Therapy on admissions application.
Achieve a minimum SAT score of 1300.
Complete an undergraduate degree at Pitt with an overall quality point average (QPA) of 3.3 or higher, as well as a QPA of 3.3 or higher in the prerequisite courses.
Achieve a combined score of 1000 or greater on the verbal and quantitative sections and a minimum score of 3.5 on the analytical section of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
Demonstrate evidence of adequate exposure to the field of physical therapy.</p>
<p>Thank u so much pierre0193! So they really are not picky about your major? I’ve done some research and the common ones are exercise science, health science, exercise psychology, and even kinesiology. But what one do u think is the best for grad school and meeting the prereqs? Or us it too hard to tell bc each school is different? I’ll definitely look into univ of pit… I was looking into Arcadia and Lebanon valley too. pit Is pretty close by to them. Have u heard any good word about either of those two? Thank you again! I really appreciate it:)</p>
<p>PS- do u happen to know how long one has to live in a state before they are considered a resident? I was looking at univ of pit and out of state tuition is almost twice the amount of instate! Would I be elegiable for instate tuition during sophomore year in college? I was born in Allentown, pa but moved to Cali.</p>
<p>Beaglefan09, my advice is coming from the perspective of a parent of a student who has just finished her 1st year of a DPT program. She was a direct admit and was very happy to not have to undergo the stress of applying to the program. In her case she completed the requirements for her exercise science major by the end of her junior year so she could overlap her senior year with the 1st year of a graduate program. Her classmates in the DPT program have many different undergraduate majors. As long as the pre-reqs were taken, the major didn’t matter.
If money is an issue and you happen to have qualified for NMF, my daughter’s school, University of Evansville, is a great choice for physical therapy. NMF’s receive full tuition scholarships which are good for 12 semesters if a student enters the DPT program and overlaps the senior year and first year of the DPT. (Note: tuition for the summer course work is not included in the scholarship.)</p>
<p>All of the schools that I mentioned are among the best in the nation for physical therapy and will all be excellent for graduate school. I am not sure about residency rules for Pennsylvania, I would call or email the school to find out more.</p>
<p>hoosiermom, thanks so much for your help. So your daughter did not feel overwhelmed with the direct entry program at evansville? I agree that a direct entry way is much less stressful than having to apply to grad school. I have looked into evansville as well and am familiar with the program. I was thinking about exercise science as a major…do you think most schools (or even just evansville) are lenient and willing to help you make sure that the prereqs are met? I want to try to take as few extra courses as possible (since more outside classes= more $$$$) Also, could you clarify as to what NMF stands for? Money is definitely an issue as my family probably won’t get much out of FASFA and I am a twin so we have to put two people through college at the same time. I would love to know more about the scholarship. Also, if you don’t mind, could you please tell me more about what your daughter did to be able to get into the direct entry program (SAT/ACT scores, high school sports/clubs/involvement, etc). Thank you again. I really appreciate your help and insight.</p>
<p>I have heard good things about St. Louis University, which I believe is a direct admit Physical Therapy program. There seems to be a lot of kids from my school who want to become Physical Therapists that go there. Good luck. </p>
<p>[Physical</a> Therapy : Saint Louis University : SLU](<a href=“http://www.slu.edu/x2309.xml]Physical”>http://www.slu.edu/x2309.xml)</p>
<p>Definitely look into Ithaca College. Their PT program is a direct entry DPT and it’s one of the top in the country.</p>
<p>Also, don’t bother with programs that aren’t direct entry DPT. They won’t be worth it because it’ll take you longer to complete, and probably cost more.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! It sounds like a direct entry is the way to go. I’ll definitely take all of your school suggestions into consideration. Anyone have any stories of someone they know who got accepted into one of the direct dpt programd? I want to see how I compare. Also does anyone know of some schools with generous merit scholarships? Do you think I’ll still have time to enjoy the infamous college life if I go the direct route? Or will I be swamped with books?</p>
<p>Also, look at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, the school is renown for its health sciences program including pharmacy, physical therapy, nursing, occupational and athletic training all of which benefit from great access to all the many hospitals in the area.</p>
<p>Hello again. I stumbled upon slippery rock in PA and wanted to know if anyone has heard any good remarks about their pt program. Thanks</p>