<p>Hey I’m a HS Senior lookin to go into Athletic Training or Sports Medicine…if I go Sports Medicine I’ll go onto to med school probably but Athletic Training/Physical Therapy has always been my number one choice. Is an Athletic Training program strong enough for med school, incase i decide to go that route anyways?? Anybody else majoring in any of these?? if so, where and what are some good schools for them? Right now these are what I’m looking at (prefer Div I schools w/ strong athletic programs) in order of interest</p>
<li>Oklahoma State (took campus visit, loved it, lots of scholarships and good sports)</li>
<li>Iowa (about 1 1/2 hours away, in state, both Sports Med and AT)</li>
<li>Iowa State (about 1 hour away, in state, AT)</li>
<li>UNC Chapel Hill (took campus visit, loved it, very competitive out of state-somethin like 17%?!?! and most expensive)</li>
<li>Colorado State (havent done campus visit yet, but love the mountains and have been to the area, affordable i guess)</li>
</ol>
<p>My GPA is somewhere between 3.5 and 3.75 and I got an ACT of 27 w/ the Writing Option…thanks for help from whoever it comes from!! ahh sorry this was long…Later</p>
<p>There are med programs for sports medicine, just like their are for dentistry and pharmacutical sciencs, some of the best in the Northeast are UConn, Northeastern, and BU, UConn, I believe is one of the best, Northeastern is none for having the best clinical rotations, through their co-op program, which can be done with major and minor league baseball teams and even with the Patriots, whereas most schools will have rotations done at local high schools or for their college teams.</p>
<p>One thing to evaluate for each of your schools are where you do your rotations and what rack the students are on (are they heading for grad program or straight to the field?) I can only reccomend those three schools, we have many great programs, but most are at comphrensive program and are made for students to graduate into the field, mainly for high school and interscholastic team jobs.</p>
<p>I am not an expert in this field, but I know a lot of bits and pieces b/c I am learning as I help my best friend look for schools in this major, if you can ask smaller question, maybe I can answer them better or give you some resources.</p>
<p>FF..are you looking for schools with strong athletic programs because you want to participate or for the training experience? My S was considering this as a major until he realized he wouldn't be allowed to play sports at the same time...coursework/clinical rotations would conflict. He could maybe play one sport, but he wants to run 3 seasons.</p>
<p>doc53....i'm looking for schools with strong athletic programs for the training experience. I prefer schools w/ a wide variety of sports that are successful...more emphasis on the variety though. I've always played sports but I know that w/ the rotations I cant play in sports and still complete the rotations on time. I've been through several knee surgeries and I just love being around the training room and helpin people out b/c I know what it's like to be on their side...oh well that's my blabber for the day.</p>
<p>ok, so I've been thinking about this (and researching) and realize that high schools are in need of Athletic Trainers who are also teachers at the school (cuts down on their costs of hiring a non-school trainer) and ever since i was little i've always sorta wanted to be a teacher at some level. Since I'm very active in my schools FFA Chapter, I'd like to teach agriculture somewhere or possibly Physical Education. But AgEd is my top choice...so basically I'm looking for good public schools (preferably still Div I) that offer both athletic training AND Ag Education degrees. I know it will probably take 5 years to graduate since the AT program requires 1000+ hours (at most schools) of observation and w/ education there's a semester of student teaching. I read about a 5-year combined AT/Teaching program but I cant remember the school and i dont think it was a school with an agriculture program. School started on Wednesday, so I now have my official stats:</p>
<p>Caucasian, medium HS (1000 in 9-12), Iowa
GPA: 3.7
Class Rank: our ranking system is funky, no idea; last i knew it was like 35th of 230 but that was christmas of last year
ACT: 27 second time (8 out of 12 on writing); will probably take in October again
AP U.S. Gov't---did NOT take AP Test because I missed about 13 days that semester due to illness
Currently taking College Calculus (5 Credits through local CC but taught at my HS), College Chemistry (8 Credits, same as Calc)
Academic Letter 9th, 10th, 11th, will get 12th
ECs--Varsity Soccer Letter 8th, 9th, 10th as manager (blew out knee in XC), 11th as manager (knee), plan on playing Sr year
Basketball 9th, Varsity Basketball Letter 10th as manager (knee), 11th as manager (knee), plan on playing Sr year
Cross Country 10th and blew out knee, Varsity Letter 11th as manager (knee), managing Sr year
Volunteer for Athletic Dept (running scoreboard, concessions, secretary type work)
FFA Chapter Secretary, involved in nearly every activity
HS Service Corps
HS S.A.D.D.
SCA--Student Conservation Association in summer 2005
French Club
SCAB Board Member (Senior Class Athletic Boosters, 12 seniors selected to be on Board)
Work 10-15 hrs/wk at JCPenney's (it sucks but it pays!)</p>
<p>Obviously my two biggest passions are sports and agriculture/FFA, so this double major seems to fit me. I want to teach/work in a rural location. Here's the school's I'm considering, these I know for SURE have both Ag Ed and AT Programs(mostly same as previously stated):</p>
<p>Oklahoma State
Iowa State
Purdue</p>
<p>anybody else know any others? if anything i could always go strictly in Ag Ed or AT</p>
<p>FFAGIRL06<br>
After reading all your posts above - Just some advice for you - where Ag Ed requires a large time committment - along with the teaching piece as well - please bear in mind that AT will also require a few hunderd hours of committemnt outside of class - you may have to make a choice on this one.</p>
<p>You will have no problem getting into any of your schools, IMO. Why not look better, unless you really like those schools? </p>
<p>I agree with Roger. I applied to Indiana, they have a terrific HPER program. That's what i'm doing as well. And they have one of the best recreational sports programs in the country. </p>
<p>I'd also consider U Iowa. It's in-state and cheap for you, and still a great education.</p>
<p>Thanks guys...JeepMOM I talked with my Ag Teacher and she was thrilled that I wanted to go into it...but it would take probably 6 years at the minimum to complete an AT and AgEd degree. So I'm going with the AT/Pre-PT track. I've applied at Iowa State and OK State. I'm thinking of applying to U of Nebraska-Lincoln. and I've been looking into Indiana and U-Indy. My mom doesn't want to pay for gas to visit these schools and its hard to get a feel for a place w/o going. Although I have been to Indianapolis before and liked it for the most part. Oh well...senior year's supposed to be stressful. lol and its kickin in about now</p>
<p>FFAGIRL - sounds like a good plan to me - just curious - have you actually talked to anyone who is doing AT now?? I ask cuz - if you are really heading towards Physical Therapy - the science piece - for requirements to the grad school piece - may not be the same - and you will need to make sure to get in all those pesky sciences in to apply to PT school - soooo - you may want to consider - take a look at - exercise physiology/kineseology for undergrad also - just a thought.</p>
<p>The benefit of doing AT tho does make you employable as soon as you are done - so that is also a good option as well. Just things to consider.</p>
<p>In the last three years I have had 2 knee surgeries and an ankle surgery and until June, had been seeing a PT an avg of 2 times a week, and when it was slow we talked about PT school. I understand the sciences thing, it does seem like a pain in the butt, but it is do-able. My PT graduated w/ an AT Degree and a Bio minor, and went onto PT school at U of Iowa. I visited Iowa State on Friday and spoke directly with the Head of Exercise Science, and she showed me the graduation requirements. Alot of students at ISU go with AT/Pre-PT and the AT courses require basic bio, chem, and physics and students who have been accepted to PT from ISU usually just have to add one more bio, one more chem, and one more physics class. Chem and Bio/Anatomy come easily to me, but this year i'm struggling with HS physics but getting a tutor. (does it really matter how fast the ball drops from the top of a building? or what its avg velocity is over a 2 sec interval?). sorry, off topic. anyways, i've been doing some research on it. I've wanted to be an AT for as long as I can remember, and my PT kick started after blowin out a knee. That's my story. yall have been great help!</p>
<p>FFAGIRL - well ya sure have done the research - and have all the ducks in a row - so go for it!!! I have a feeling you are gonna be awesome at it - you seem to have the fire and drive - and having been there and done that - you will be very good at what you do.</p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck - and keep us posted on how the college aps are going - think good thoughts for ya.</p>