My kid just got accepted into Baylor ( half scholarship ) and University of Michigan Ann Arbor ( no scholarship). Her tentative major is Kinesiology. She hoping to eventually go to Physical Therapist for graduate school. So she needs to get good GPA, intership, letter of recommendation to be accepted into DPT school later. We are not too concerned on prestige and ignore financial aspect. Can someone give me some feedback on improving chances of getting into PT?
Sorry for this cliche type of answer but it really depends on her story and how passionate she is about the field-why she wants to be a DPT, what experiences have led her to this, etc. She has a lot of time ahead of her to truly figure this out but it’s always good to start early! I think as a freshman, she should focus on grades and making sure she does well in her science classes in particular. I would also recommend she tries to shadow DPT’s or work as a physical therapy aide now so that she’ll have experience. She should also try to get to know her professors in her science classes by going to office hours, participating, getting to know the professor outside the classroom and maybe if she asks, they’ll help her out with obtaining internships/research opportunities. There’s a lot more that could be done but I think for now it would be best to just focus on maintaining a good GPA and gaining some experience to figure out if this is truly what she wants to pursue. I wish her the best of luck and congratulate her on getting into those schools!
@aquapt may have some DPT ideas for you.
If money truly is no issue, then she should visit each campus, meet with the pre-DPT advisors, and see what she thinks.
Well, direct-entry or guaranteed-entry programs are especially nice if you’re sure you want PT. But if that’s not on the table… then yes, it’s similar to being premed in that you need the grades, test scores, and relevant experience. Given that Baylor is neither geographically nor institutionally adjacent to Baylor Med, I don’t know if it’s a particularly advantageous place to get those experiences, whereas UMich Med Center is in Ann Arbor.
Is it down to those two choices for sure or are there other options pending as well?
Is your daughter an athlete, or particularly interested in working with athletes? At big sports schools, there will be a lot of varsity athletes in the kinesiology department. At UMich there are multiple tracks that split the most serious pre-health STEM students off from those who are interested in more practical or business-y applications and career paths like coaching, sports management, etc. (Not saying there’s anything wrong with those paths, at all, but it can be good to have a like-minded cohort and a program that’s fully oriented toward laying the groundwork for your goals.) It’s not immediately evident to me that the same is true at Baylor, but I’m really not familiar with either program - that’s just an aspect of it to investigate and consider, fit-wise. My gut says there could be better opportunities in a number of ways at Michigan, but I’m not an authority on either school so others may explain why I’m wrong.
Baylor does have a 2 different DPT programs. One is a hybrid program which will be accredited in 2020. The other is Baylor’s Army DPT school. If one is interested in military service it can be an interested path to consider. University of Michigan’s DPT program is run out of their Flint Michigan campus. Having a DPT program does not have any influence in getting accepted into PT school, however, it may give her options to visit the Physical Therapy school as a student of that school and get questions answered and possibly have an affect on advising (but I can’t imagine U of M being deficient in that area).
Another thing to consider is the possible competition for grades. DPT programs weigh both overall GPA and prerequisite course GPA rather heavily in considering students for admission. I would think that the academic level of the students at U of M might be higher than that at Baylor based on the ACT/SAT scores on the common data set. Would that mean the competition at U of M is greater than Baylor for the best grades? I can’t answer that. I doubt she would have trouble finding opportunities to shadow at either location. In the end the question becomes which school does she like. Both will offer tremendous opportunities if she is a good student and seeks them out. As an undergrad find the pre PT group and attend their meetings. Meet with a pre PT adviser and be the best student you can be. Stay on top of the courses you need for prerequisites and check out the prerequisites for schools you interested in. They will differ though there is a core group of requirements that seem to be common to all DPT programs. Talk to your professors and volunteer where you can. Shadow in as many different environments as possible and keep track of your shadowing.
I have a child who will be applying to DPT schools this summer. She is a junior and has taken a slightly atypical path as a pre PT as she is a Dance major. She will have one more prerequisite for several schools she is interested in after this semester. Good luck to your D!
Thanks to all on the quick response. You are very helpful.
@Aquapt : Is it down to those two choices for sure or are there other options pending as well?
she has more schools pending. Some public colleges and some private. She like sports and keen in sport related medicine. Enrolled in sport medicine camp in summer. She’s also interested in pre-med. But it’s very competitive to get into med school. Not sure she is ready for that commitment.
One difference between the 2 schools not yet addressed is religion. Is your D comfortable with Baylor’s religion requirements (2 semesters Chapel and 2 introductory religion courses)?
For Kinesiology and PT, Baylor with scholarship is a great choice. As far as religious courses, those should be easy elective credit and interesting perspective about theology, definitely good for intellectual development and useable material for social conversations, regardless of where you stand on a religious spectrum.
Hi all, Thanks for all the reply. My D also got accepted into Pitts. So we are now considering between Umich vs Pitts vs Baylor. They are all good in undergraduate Kinesiology and PT school. We are visiting these school soon. Meanwhile, any feed back (ignoring financial aspect ) would be greatly appreciated. Especially in the area of getting a good GPA.
I will try and not sound like the strong Baylor “disliker” that I am. By the way, where is your home state?
Baylor is in the middle of Waco. Have you been to Waco? It’s one long strip of town off of I-35. The campus is right off the highway. There are some random restaurants around and now they have the attraction of the HGTV show and Magnolia Market. Once you go there though, it’s not really a destination. I believe there is a hospital in Waco but there is no major medical center. Baylor Medical school (not even affiliated with Baylor Waco anymore) is in Houston. Baylor Nursing school forces it’s students to relocate to Dallas in order to get relevant clinical experience. They have an excellent nursing school BTW. But really…that should tell you something. Your daughter will really really have to go out of her way to get shadowing experience. Baylor is decent in academics and I know the students who are pre-PT, pre-med, etc. do work hard for their grades. She won’t find any easy A’s there. School spirit and sports are a big thing so that’s definitely a pro if that is important to your daughter.
Beyond the shuttle system on campus I don’t think there is any public transportation. We know kids who go to Baylor and lots of them seem to return to the DFW area for the weekends or go to Austin.
University of Pittsburgh is a campus within the city. There is a distinct campus but it flows into Oakland if that makes sense. All Pitt students get public transportation to the entire city with their tuition. The city has many museums and neighborhoods to explore. There are at least three hospitals ON campus for students to dig into research, shadowing and paid work. I know of quite a few pre-med and pre-PT/OT students who are working there. You said cost should not be a factor but if Pitt is out of state for you guys, you are going to pay a hefty hefty price for OOS tuition unless there is some scholarship $$ involved. Is she accepted to the guaranteed PT program?
I have no experience with University of Michigan. Looks like you got good advice above.
For your interests, both schools are equally good. Decide according to the cost and personal preference. Your chances of getting a higher GPA and more personal attention/stronger recommendations are probably better at Baylor.
OK. We just came back from visiting Baylor, Pitts (university of Pittsburgh) and Umich ( Ann Arbor). D narrow down to Pitts and Umich. She omitted Baylor cause she does not like the religious vibe that has an obvious present on campus.
Too bad we won’t be able to leverage from half scholarship offered to her by Baylor.
She will pick either Pitts or Umich that has good kinesiology program (Bsc). Her hope is to pursue DPT after that. Which mean she needs good GPA (3.5) and internship. Base on our research , she may have better chance to attain that at Pitts. Plus it’s cheaper (we are out of state). So what do you guys think? Any feed back would be much appreciated
One last thing to add. she also admitted to guaranteed PT program at Pitts for graduate studies assuming she meets all criteria. We are hoping to convince her to commit to Pitts. Tuition is high for OOS. But not as crazy as Umich. Baylor being the least expensive due to scholarship.